Page 101 of Sweet Deception

He snaps his head up, misery clear in his gaze. I extend my hand and wait for him to place his in mine. The minute he does, his face crumbles.

"Dad. I'm okay."

"I'm so sorry, Kylie. It's my fault he took you." Tears stream down his face. I've never seen my dad cry, even after receiving his diagnosis. He never cried.

"No. It's not your fault." My own tears spill down my face.

"Pumpkin, it is. I arrested him years ago, and he took you to get revenge. If I hadn't—"

"Stop." I say firmly. "He's at fault. I don't ever want to hear you blame yourself again. You taught me better than that. Like me blaming myself for getting hit by a boyfriend because I made him angry. Remember that?" I glare at him, only to show him how serious I am about this. He doesn't need this now when he's finally free of cancer.

Dad squeezes my hand before bending to kiss my forehead. "You've always been a smart girl. I hear what you're saying."

I search his gaze and see he needs more convincing. "Hear it and believe it."

He huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. "Okay, pumpkin. Okay."

"Love you."

He cups my cheek, wiping my tears away with his thumb. "I love you too."

A nurse comes in, interrupting the moment. I shove my worry for my dad to the back of my mind, knowing I will need to check in on him soon.

It took a couple of hours before the paperwork was completed and now my dad's pushing me in a wheelchair to the pickup zone where Luca pulls up in his Escalade. While he throws it in park and jumps out to round the front of the car, I stand with my mom hovering beside me.

Smiling, I pull her in for a hug and whisper in her ear. "Watch over Dad. I don't want him stressing about this."

Mom pulls back enough to kiss me on the cheek before whispering, "I will, honey. He'll be fine. It may take some time, though." She pulls back to cup my cheeks and gives me a watery smile. "Let Luca pamper you. He needs it as much as you do." She lets me go and Dad takes her place. I wrap my arms around his waist and lean my head on his chest.

Dad takes a deep breath and squeezes me before pulling back.

"Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Why don't you come for dinner tomorrow night? I'm sure you'll need to see for yourself how she's doing and besides, I'd like for you to get to know Joseph, her bodyguard. You'll feel better knowing he's looking after her." Luca extends his hand to my dad, who hesitates for only a second before clasping it.

"Bodyguard?" I tilt my head at Luca, who releases my dad's hand.

"Driver, bodyguard. Same thing." He shrugs and smiles.

I roll my eyes, but wince at the brief pain of doing so before bringing my attention back to my parents. Mom has a huge smile of her own, clearly entertained by our banter. She winks at me before switching her attention to Luca.

"We'd love to. And please, call us Kathy and Kurt." Mom steps into Luca to hug him, catching him off guard. His eyes move to my dad's with a frown.

I want to laugh at his discomfort, but don't dare.

Mom finally lets him go, then reaches back for Dad's hand. "Kylie, text me the address and a time to come. Love you." She blows me a kiss.

Finished with our goodbyes, Luca helps me into the Escalade. He doesn't get more than one block from the hospital before I fall back to sleep with his hand resting on my thigh.

Chapter forty-three

Luca

The last week was spent at my brownstone working out of my office while Kylie and Gio recovered from their injuries. Neither one makes a great patient, but their extended time together has bonded them further if the giggling coming from the living room is anything to go by.

I refuse to leave Kylie's side, so Rafael continues to be the contact between Rome and me. The raid took place while we were all in the hospital. It made for a better alibi than our planned trip to Miami. Without going into detail, Rome assures me the syndicate is gone and will not return. The latest news is that the two families in Italy have also come to an agreement not to get involved since Rome handled everything so brilliantly.

I can now breathe easier knowing Kylie is safe and we can all go back to normal. I've also decided to break the contract. She deserves so much more from me and I can no longer deny I want anything other than a real relationship with her. I just hope she can forgive me for my deception.

When I first contracted with her, my intentions were mutually beneficial. She would receive the money she needed and I would pursue my attraction, ultimately purging her out of my system with both of us going our separate ways at its end. Therefore, she never needed to know about my ownership of the company.

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