Page 32 of Maddest Temptation

“So why are you here?” I ran my thumb under my lower lip, wondering what his head would look like with a bullet in it.

Donato looked at the door and then back at me. He seemed to ponder whatever he had to say, and I realized he was scared to do so. “You know I treat you like son, that I trust you above all,” Donato said looking deep into my eyes.

“I know,” I said despite knowing it was all a scene.

Donato took a deep breath and finally confessed. “Francesca is sick, she has been for a while.” The words slipped from his mouth and despite being momentarily shocked, I could hear the malice in his voice. Something wasn’t right.

“Sick?” I asked unbelieving.

“That’s why Paolo and I had a falling out. He never cared for my daughter as he should have.”

I almost fell back laughing, but instead, managed to keep quiet. He was right about one thing, Paolo never cared for her as he should have, but neither had Donato, and I couldn’t understand why all of a sudden, his fatherly instincts were kicking in.

“She needs to come home, Cassio, so we can treat her.” He sounded almost worried, which almost struck a chord in my heart, but then I knew he was playing at something here.

“Did you know Paolo had her taking pills, all kinds of them?” Donato said. “He had a friend who prescribed her these drugs. I tried to stop it, but Paolo wouldn’t let me talk to my daughter.”

Donato went on and on, rambling about Francesca’s life in Indianapolis, and it baffled me how much I hadn’t known. Then again, why would I? I had promised myself to forget her, and although that hadn’t happened, I did my best to ignore her existence. Regret pooled in my stomach, making me nauseous. If what Donato was saying was true, then I had to do something.

“Did you know her husband was embezzling money from us?” Once more I was hooked. Why hadn’t I heard of that before? “The money she’s living on is my money.”

I didn’t fail to notice that he said mine instead of ours. In the Outfit, when a man died without leaving male heirs behind, the money always returned to our coffers. It was the way, always had been. That was why most widows returned to their parents’ houses to be married again.

It made sense now why Donato wanted his daughter to go home. It had nothing to do with her being sick. Donato couldn’t fool me, I knew he was going to show his true colors eventually, and he did. He wanted her money. Donato wasn’t a poor man, but then again, he didn’t have to be in order to be greedy. Too much power bred ambition—the kind that usually led a man to an early grave.

“We should question her, send Luciano,” he ordered me again.

I clenched my jaw trying to rein in the anger. “And do what, Donato?” I threw at him. Did he really want our enforcer to beat his daughter up because of an assumption?

Albeit it was a very serious one, I didn’t beat women, not even those who annoyed the fuck out of me. I had never been that man. I wasn’t like my consigliere or Francesca’s late husband.

“We are not the Bratva. We don’t go after women.” I made myself crystal clear. Each word punctuated with determination.

If Donato touched a single finger on Francesca, he would lose that finger.

“So, you won’t send anyone after her?” His nostrils flared.

“I’ll deal with it.”

What are you doing, Cassio?

A cold shiver raced down my back, what was I supposed to do with her? The money wasn’t hers to begin with, but if I took it from her, then Francesca would be forced to go back to her father’s, and that… I wasn’t sure I could put her through that.

“I’ll deal with it,” I said again, convincing myself there was an explanation for all of this. The money had to have come from somewhere.

“Paolo was killed,” Donato said after a beat of silence.

I managed last minute to hide my surprise. “And how would you know that?”

“Because the fucker was in league with the Bratva,” he said calmly like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Where do you think all his money came from?”

Drugs.

Donato must have read my mind because he said. “Where do you think he got all those drugs from? He dealt with both us and the Russians.”

“Those are serious accusations, Donato.” I pointed. “A dead man cannot defend himself.”

He shrugged like it meant nothing. “The money must have come from somewhere.”

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