Page 130 of The Deal

“You don’t need to thank me, I love that kid too.”

Releasing him, I take a step back and clear my throat, trying to loosen that damn knot now forming. “Where were they?”

“About five hours from here.”

“You didn’t …” I let the sentence drift off, but I’m sure he gets my meaning.

“Wack her? No, but I would’ve liked to. That bitch has had it coming for a long time. I did rough up that dick she was with, though. He demanded a million dollars in exchange for the kid. Can you believe the fucking hide of him?”

So I was right, this was money-oriented. “Did you pay him?”

“Fuck no.”

“What did you do?”

“I beat the fuck out of him, and he cried like a little baby.”

“He did,” Giovanni chimes in, balling his tiny hands into fists and wildly punching the air. “Pow, pow, pow,” he says with all the enthusiasm. “It was epic, Dad.”

“Okay, Rocky,” I state, chuckling as I shake my head.

I’m not sure who suggested taking him in exchange for money, but either way, he went along with it, so he deserved whatever my brother gave him. I would’ve done the same.

“I have something else for you,” Dante says.

“What?” I ask.

He pulls out a small stack of folded papers from his back pocket and hands them to me.

“What’s this?”

“She signed over her parental rights to you.”

I rear back at his words. “How did you manage to convince her to do that?”

He casually lifts one shoulder. “I have my ways.”

“Is this legit?”

“Yes, I got my lawyer to email me the paperwork.”

“None of this makes sense. She would never freely agree to give him up. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

My brother gives my shoulder a light squeeze. “The difference is that you are not me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Simple. You have a heart, Alexander … I don’t, and she knows that.”

“What did she get out of this? Did you have to pay her to sign these?” I ask, holding up the papers in my hand.

“No, her payment was she got to live,” he says matter-of-factly.

“Okay, maybe I don’t need to know the finer details.”

“Good call, but if I were you, I’d head back to Sydney as soon as possible and file those papers.”

My eyes scan the paperwork in disbelief. Is this actually happening? Is Giovanni finally mine? “I’ll get the jet organised.”

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