Page 77 of Ruthless Mafia Daddy

“You’ll give me a detailed answer to every fucking question I ask. Am I understood?”

She nodded repeatedly, her eyes wide with fear.

I repeated my question. “When?”

“Before I left. It was why I left.”

“Did you ever plan on telling me?”

“No.”

The answer was so fucked up I could only throw my head back in laughter. “Why am I not surprised? You listened to me talk about kids and families, and you kept my son away from me for years.”

“Mikhail, you know the situation was not exactly favorable for a child.”

“And whose fault was that, huh? Who made the situation unfavorable for a child?” I asked, pinning her with a hard glare.

“Even if things were different with me, your world is not the most child-friendly. There’s danger in every corner and—”

I scoffed. “Spare me the bullshit, Arielle. You knew about my world from the beginning. I never hid anything from you, and you know I would’ve let you raise this child however you wanted. Don’t try to shift the blame. This is not on me.”

She fell silent, looking everywhere but me. I had explored multiple ways I was going to handle the situation in my head while she was unconscious, but now that I had confronted the issue, I found myself unprepared for the emotions cursing through me.

There was the burning feeling of rage and the gut-wrenching squeeze in my chest that I’d already gotten accustomed to, but now, there was a hole expanding in my chest, and I had no idea what to do with it.

Heartbreak is one thing. The lies and betrayal were another, but hiding a child from me was something I never saw coming. I didn’t think she was capable of something so cruel.

“You’re the most selfish human I’ve ever met. What were you going to tell him when he grows up and asks for his father, huh? That I’m some deadbeat that knocked you up and kicked you to the curbs? You were going to let my son roam around for a lifetime without experiencing a father’s love.”

Her eyes flashed with rage at my words, and the tears came pouring down. “You think I wanted this? You think I loved moving to a new continent and living from hand to mouth like a fucking beggar? That I loved the nights I spent alone in fear and entering labor with no one by my side? Or the long nights of working double shifts to make sure there was food for my son? You think I loved busting my ass to provide for us?”

“You sure as hell weren’t opposed to it!”

We were currently engaging in a screaming contest, and I didn’t care if we shook the foundation of the building with our voices. I was a wounded man. Both physically and emotionally.

“What would you have me do? It wasn’t as if you’d be the most receptive if I told you the truth. Henry would’ve forced Jason out of me the moment he found out about him. I had no choice, for fucks sake!” she shot back, her chest heaving from the sobs she was holding in.

“I would never harm my child,” I replied in a firm tone.

“You wouldn’t, but what would have become of me? I’ve seen you handle people you call rats. I wasn’t going to take the chance.

She had a point, but that was the least of my concerns at the moment.

I allowed a brief moment of silence filled with heavy breaths and muffled sobs to pass between us before I finally spoke. “Here’s how it’s going to be. I’m returning to New York next week, and Jason is coming with me.”

She opened her mouth to object, but I silenced her with a cold glare. “You’ve had it your way for a long time. You don’t get a say in this.”

“What if there’s still a threat in New York? What if Henry has people that’ll avenge him?” she asked, her lips trembling with fear.

“That’ll be my problem. I already missed his first steps, his first words, and his first day in school. Heck, he thinks I’m your friend and calls me uncle. I’m not missing a minute of his life, and if you have objections, I’d like to see what the jury would think about a spy with a double identity raising a child.”

She clamped her lips shut, and every argument she might have had died in her mouth following my threat. She knew I’d easily win if we took legal steps.

“I owe Vivian and James an explanation about what happened, so New York won’t be a totally bad idea.” she finally said, accepting defeat.

“He will be staying in my house. You can do whatever you want, but he stays with me,” I added and she nodded wordlessly.

“You might also want to get a head start with proper introductions, I’ll punch a hole through the wall if I hear him call me uncle one more time.” I said, making his way out of the room.

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