Page 53 of Tainted Ties

He had aged better than I expected, with salt and pepper hair that reached the nape of his neck and wrinkles that somehow didn’t detract from his handsomeness.

Without a doubt, if Enzo was alive, he would have looked exactly like our father at this age.

“I’m not surprised you came,” he said, removing his glasses.

I sat on the leather chair on the opposite side of his mahogany desk, facing him. “Good because I’m not leaving without answers.”

“Answers… to what?”

His callous demeanor had me biting my tongue, wanting to unleash my wrath on him.What kind of father didn’t want to rain hell on the people who killed his son?

“The first being, how was Enzo murdered?” I asked with a quirked brow.

He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together. “He was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest.”

“Enzo was meticulous. It’s hard to believe that he was gunned down.”

My father regarded me closely. “He must’ve been ambushed. We won’t know for sure.”

We won’t know.Oh, but I planned on finding out.

I swallowed, trying to get rid of the tangy taste in my mouth before asking my next question. “And the funeral, when is it?”

“There won’t be one. I have my men burying him right now.”

Something in me snapped and I let my pent-up rage surface.

I stood and slammed my palms on his desk. “You hadnoright! Enzo wasmybrother, and he deserved a funeral.”

My father mirrored my actions, getting in my face. “He wasmyson and last I checked, you haven’t been a part of this family for over adamndecade! Know your place because it willneverbe with this family.”

That hollowness in my chest filled with agony. Physical abuse didn’t hurt as much as the words that came out of his mouth and I knew he meant every single syllable.

It was hard to believe that this was the same man who had loved me once upon a time, like a father was supposed to love his daughter.

I blinked away the burning sensation tightening the back of my eyes. I had cried over my father enough already and the last thing I wanted was to satisfy him with more tears.

“Is it because I look like her?Mamma?” I laughed bitterly. “It is, isn’t it? And you can’tstandit. I bet you even wish I was dead instead of her.”

He sat back down in his chair, eyeing me with cool indifference.

Understood.

“Was there anything else you needed?”

At this moment, I needed him to self-evaluate himself and figure out why he’d become such a horrible father because losing his wife wasn’t cutting it. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself.

“No, but you do.” I pushed off the desk and crossed my arms. “You sold me to the Mancinis to get back everything you lost, and we both know a breached contract still won’t make them hand it over. Stop trying to manipulate me and spit out what you have to say.”

A hint of a smile played on his lips. “I’ve underestimated you. Very well,” he said. “You’re in a unique position that could help me.”

“Position?”

He nodded. “You’re still Roman’s wife and if we play our cards right, we can destroy him for what he’s done and take back what is rightly mine.”

I sat back down in my chair, digesting what my father was implying.

“Even the most soulless man learns how to love.” His eyes drifted away for a moment before settling back on my face. “You will go back to him and earn his trust. How you plan on doing that is up to you. Then, you can spy on him and find crucial information we could use as leverage to help take him down. Or find the files on my assets.”

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