Page 99 of Ruthless Oath

“Why do you do it?”

None of this made sense. Why couldn’t Marchello be a car dealer and my father be a nightclub owner? Why did they have to kill people? Why did they have to associate with men who were far more dangerous than they were?

“Like I said, Nico always looked out for my family. When my football career ended, I left college with very few skills. I had always been an athlete. Not much else mattered. But then I needed a job, and he gave me one.”

“It’s not a life sentence.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere else. I know it’s been a struggle for them to find the right kind of work for me since I don’t exactly fit in. I’m not like all the other security people.”

“You have a heart.” I rested my hand on his knee. “You’ve been so good to me.”

“Marchello has been good to you too.”

“He’s coming around.” I smiled. “I think.”

“He’s not an easy man to deal with.”

“That’s why I want to understand him better. If I could do that, maybe we could find a way to be together.”

“You are together.”

“For now, but our families are at war, and you said so yourself that my father is brutal. I want to stop what’s coming.” I sprung from the step and paced the foyer. “If one of them kills the other or they both end up dead, what good does that do any of us?”

“These are not your problems to solve.”

“Was it Marchello’s mother’s problem? She ended up dead. How did Nico let that happen? Mistakes arise. Things don’t always go as planned. How many more people have to die?”

“Lissia.” Ricardo got off the step. “I know you want to help, but you can’t.”

“You don’t know me that well.” I pushed the hair from my face. “I don’t like being told I can’t do something. Marchello isn’t fighting an unknown enemy. He’s fighting my father. I can stop this.”

That was a big statement, even for me. I had no reason to believe my father would listen to me, but if I didn’t try, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

“I don’t want to be the damsel in distress. I want to be the princess who saves them all.”

“You can’t save these men,” Ricardo said. “They don’t want to be saved. They want control, money, and respect. They don’t want wild cards or anything that stands in their way.”

“Then Marchello shouldn’t have taken me. I’m the definition of a wild card.”

“I have a feeling he knows that, and it scares him.”

“Nothing scares him.”

“Don’t be so certain.” He held onto the banister. “He may be holding you hostage to get at your father, but I think you’re here because he wants to protect you. He’s trying to keep you safe.”

“I want to keep him safe.”

“Then do what he asks of you.” Conflict settled into his dark features. I had a way of doing that to men. “The Accetti men don’t develop feelings for a reason. What I see happening between you and Marchello is something I never expected. I’m sure Milo, Nico, and Lucas are all surprised.”

“Why?”

“Because when Julia Accetti died, so did her husband’s desire to get close to another woman. He ingrained that in his sons. If you don’t fall in love, you can’t suffer.”

“That’s terrible.”

Was that why Marchello tried so hard to keep me at a distance?

“Marchello and Milo have watched their father suffer, and they suffered along with him.” He shook his head. “Enough to make them never want to feel for a woman they could lose.”

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