Page 84 of Unspoken Obsession

Antonio: If you do not return home by eight this evening, I will send my men out into the city to hunt you down - and when they find you, they will show no mercy to you for stealing my grandson and disobeying your father.

Antonio: If you do not come back to the mansion tonight, I will rip that bastard child from your arms, and you will never see him again. In fact - you might never see the light of day again.

"Stop," I say when he reads the next message. "I can't take it anymore. I just wanted you to understand how he is escalating."

Dante nods, his jaw clenched in anger.

"I will fucking make sure that man suffers. Death is too kind of an ending for him. He needs to rot miserably and with regret." It shouldn't be easy; his pain should be drawn out Like Dani's. "I have a detective who will want to hear this story - and who will be happy to take down one of the biggest criminals in Las Vegas." They have been trying to crack down on organized crime for years and drove us all out of New York, but here in Sin City, there are a lot of dirty cops. Here the mafia runs things, not the law.

I chew at my bottom lip nervously.

"It will take time if we involve the authorities." It's a fact. "What are we going to do about the immediate threat to our son?" I ask with desperation in my voice. "What can we do to make him leave us alone right now? The cops will need time, and he'll have a plan. At least one of the judges he pays—if not more—is working against us. And he can definitely afford bail.

"Tomorrow you are going to message him and arrange to meet him in public. We are both going to be there with copies of the evidence against him." I have enough copies hidden all over the city, with my allies, and lawyers. He can't destroy them all; his secret is out there now. "We will confront him together and warn him that if he doesn't back off, he is going to end up rottingin a jail cell. They love men like him in there, the ones who hurt young girls."

Dante's voice carries a deadly threat in it. He has reached his limit. We are both done with my father and Dante has no mercy for his enemies.

"Where is Damion?" He asks, taking a breath and rolling his shoulders to ease the tension out of them.

"I put him to bed. It's been a long day. I thought we could just enjoy some alone time?"

He grins, nodding. "I would love that. Shall I run a bubble bath?"

"That sounds perfect."

Every night I spend with Dante is more intimate and special than the last. I can't believe how close we have become and all I can think about is how I want nothing more than to spend my life with him. But my father is making it almost impossible. I cannot do anything about him threatening my son.

In the morning, even though our night was amazing together, I woke up anxious. We are going to confront my father; I must face my personal demons and the fucking sins of my father head-on.

He is not a man who takes threats lightly even though he has no problem dishing them out to other people; he will be furious to be cornered. There's no way to know what he will do; he can be so volatile. If his control is taken away, he might turn into a feral animal and attack anything that moves.

I hope Dante knows what he is doing.

We are making the right choice. If the evidence is as condemning as Dante says it is, then my father will have to back down and leave us alone.

I am pacing up and down in the kitchen, unable to sleep even though everyone else is still resting, and the sun is only justtouching the sky with light. Dante's voice makes me jump and I spin around to face him with my heart racing.

"It's just me. I woke up, and you weren't there." He says, pulling me into a hug.

"I am nervous about today."

"It's going to be ok, Frankie. Today, or tomorrow, or the next day. I don't care how long it takes, I will not stop until our son, and you, are safe."

His words reassure me.

Just having him here with me is like a safety net for my emotions.

"Lorenzo is bringing over a copy of the evidence." I'm not sure I want to see it.

"You can message your father and tell him you want to talk with him - somewhere out in the open, but not too public." It needs to be outside; I do not want to be trapped in a room with him. I will panic. "We don't want bystanders hurt if anything goes wrong," Dante says, setting off my anxiety again.

"I'll text him now," I say. My hand already shaking, I pick up my phone and start typing out a message to my father while Dante makes us coffee. I am careful with my words, thinking it through over and over again until I have the perfect message. I don't want to anger him or upset him before this even starts.

At eleven o'clock in a quiet parking lot at the start of a hiking trail, Dante and I are waiting. I am nervous leaning against the car. "Do you think we picked the wrong place?" I ask for the tenth time.

"This is perfect, Frankie. Take a breath; look at me - it's going to be ok."

In the distance, I can see dirt stirring up into the air as cars approach. I suddenly want to puke. Of course, he wouldn't come all alone, he needs an entourage of goons to make him appear important.

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