Page 50 of Wicked Rivals

“You will regret it,” I warned.

Hatred made her light eyes glow as she dared to get closer.

“I already regret everything with you, Stefano Vignali.”

Lust flashed through her eyes.

“No, you don't,” I said with a smirk.

Then I moved in and closed the last bit of distance between us, looming over her. I didn’t know if I wanted to grab her by the throat and actually strangle her this time or kiss her again.

“You're right,” she whispered.

The malice in her eyes melted, revealing something more. Regret? Fear? Both. Then she went on.

“Not everything. I love my son. I just hate that he’s no longer safe… because of you.”

Her gaze darted to the side for a second, then returned to my face like she had to force herself to look me in the eye.

Definitely fear.

She was scared. She had almost lost her son earlier, and then I dragged her into a life that she knew nothing about…

Val had probably watched one of those old gangster movies, and then convinced herself that was how shit would go down, how something bad would happen to our son if they had anything to do with me. I might have laughed if I hadn’t already been so pissed.

It didn’t have to be like that, not for my boy.

I had to make her understand things could be different for him. I was among the strongest. I had the greatest resources. I could protect them both.

How many times would she make me repeat myself?

“Just because you don’t want me, Val, doesn’t mean I’m not his father,” I said. “I would have accepted him and done everything necessary to protect him if I’d known about him.”

“From others, but what about you? Who would protect him from you? I’ll tell you who… me. And that’s what I was doing. He needs protection from who you are and what you do. And I need protection from the corruption and power and violence and all the heartbreak your life would bring. I need…”

A sobbing gasp escaped her. Her eyes filled with tears. And for the first time, I saw her complete truth reflected in them.

She hadn’t left me. She’d rejected my family, the business.

“Why do you think you need to be protected?” I asked, studying her face. “What is it you think you know about my life, about my family, my business? What makes you so afraid?”

There was plenty for her to fear, sure, but I needed to understand what she really thought. Or at least what she thought she knew… it might even have been close enough to the truth.

If I understood what exactly scared her, maybe I could show her how I would protect her from that very thing. Maybe I could convince her that her fears were based on lies.

She swallowed hard.

“I know enough. I see the news reports about the shootings in the streets. I see what happens with drugs. Gun trafficking. Crime is running rampant throughout this city. Every day there’s another tragedy.

“Someone missing. Someone found floating in the river or in a landfill. This street or that street, people killed in drive-by shootings. It all leads back to one thing.”

“Val, it’s not all?—”

“Are you really going to tell me you don’t know about every corrupt deal taking place in this city?”—a bitter laugh escaped her—“That you haven’t put money in the pockets of crooked politicians, police officers, and whoever else is willing to sell their souls to men like you?”

“I—”

“This is a city of widows and grieving mothers, Stefano. Victims of your family and families like yours. You can’t choose the family you’re born into, I know that. And I know being a Vignali isn’t your fault.

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