Page 38 of Daddy's Mad Love

“Men can be dangerous.”

“They can, but there’s no reason for them to be dangerous to me. Besides, you married the Don’s son, and I’m your best friend.” She grinned at me. “Are you saying you would not protect me?”

My bottom tingled, almost as if in warning, but I knew the answer.

“I would do what I could, but I fear you’re overestimating the influence I might have.” Though considering the events of the past day, I might be underestimating the influence I had with Giacomo. Daddy. Especially when I was willing to call him that. Still, I wasn’t willing to bet Clara’s life or future on my possible influence.

“Am I?” Clara asked archly, lifting the broadsheet she was still holding and shaking it at me. “Are you telling me you had nothing to do with this?”

Immediately, my heart started to race, and my mouth went dry. I could practically hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I stared at her, answering too late to appear sincere, but there was nothing else I could do.

“Of course, I didn’t. What makes you think so?”

Clara rolled her eyes at me.

“I know how upset you were about Chief Barnes refusing to help her. How upset we both were. And men like Mayor Smith… men like that don’t put a bullet in their own head. They especially don’t leave notes admitting any kind of wrongdoing. He didn’t care about hurting anyone else, and it certainly wouldn’t drive him to suicide. But within a day of you marrying Don DiNardo’s son, all of the sudden, he did. Granted, I was coming to share the good news, but with Mrs. Smith and her son sitting at breakfast with you, I can put two and two together.”

“It’s not true.” My stomach churned, and I leaned forward, gripping the arms of the chair. “Clara. You cannot let anyone suspect that you think that is true.”

I was not scared for Giacomo. He’d already amply demonstrated his power over the police. I was scared for what might happen to my friend if he or his family thought she might have loose lips and accurate suspicions. No matter what Giacomo might felt for me, what concessions he might be willing to grant me, threats to the family were always dealt with.

“I am not stupid, Hailey. You are the only person I am going to talk about this with.” She snorted, glancing at the paper. “Trust me, I am not at all upset about the sudden loss of our departed mayor. The man got what was coming to him, and thankfully, it happened before he could irrevocably hurt anyone else.”

Taken aback, I stared at my friend. Clara had always been so sweet, so bubbly, so devoted to helping people… even when she was angry, she was sweet. Before this moment, I would have said she couldn’t harm a fly, but now I wasn’t so sure.

“Sorry,” she said with a half-smile. “But he made me so angry. And I was even more angry that we couldn’t help her at all. Chief Barnes…” Clara took a deep breath and exhaled, obviously wrestling with her temper. “All I’m saying is, I’m glad she and Arthur are safe, and I don’t particularly care what had to happen to Mayor Smith to get that done.”

Wow. I’d had no idea. And yet… I agreed. Hearing Clara say it helped ease the guilt I felt—the guilt about not feeling guilty. I felt like I should feel guilty over being the cause of a man’s death, but I didn’t. All I felt was relief that his wife and child would no longer be in danger from him.

Maybe that made me a bad person, but it did make me feel better that sunny, sweet Clara felt the same way. Maybe it wasn’t just because I was my grandfather’s blood, maybe… maybe Mayor Smith was just a bad man who’d gotten what he deserved.

Though how that aligned with who my husband was, I didn’t know. He was not a good man. He wasn’t. Murdering a bad man—or at the very least ordering him to be murdered—did not make him a good man.

But I wasn’t sure I was a good woman anymore either. Because I was glad the mayor was dead. And when it came time to pay the piper, I was going to do it more than willingly – I was going to do it eagerly.

Jack

“You need to stay away from Clara.”

Curious, though fairly certain I knew what was going on, I turned the corner in the hallway. Sure enough, my wife was standing in front of my cousin, pointing a threatening finger at him. Gio stared down at her in amusement while I sighed with exasperation.

“No, I don’t think I will,” Gio replied, tilting his head at her, as if he was wondering what she was going to do. Considering he towered head and shoulders above her, she was hardly intimidating.

“You have to. She’s not interested in you.”

I should have expected this. Ever since Clara left, every time Hailey and Gio had been in the same room, she’d been shooting him suspicious little glances. I’d thought it was because she assumed he was responsible for Mayor Smith’s untimely demise, but I should have realized it was about her friend. I’d thought she’d feel guiltier about the mayor, but apparently, her protectiveness for her friend overrode that completely. When she’d hurried after him following dinner, I’d been only a bit behind her, wondering what she was doing.

Now I knew.

“Little one, what are you doing?” I asked, coming forward. Hailey jumped, spinning around to face me, a guilty expression on her face. I nodded at Gio, who grinned at me and slipped away down the hall, leaving me to deal with my wife.

“I… I was just talking to Gio.”

I raised my eyebrow at her.

“You were trying to interfere with him and Clara, you mean.”

The guilt in her expression evaporated, turning mulish, and she glanced over her shoulder to see that Gio had disappeared before glaring at me. It was not a very heated glare—nothing compared to the ones she’d leveled my way before our wedding—but I found it interesting that she still had the courage to do so for her friend, if not for herself.

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