Page 95 of Dangerous Deception

Raffaele approaches Pascal, who kneels on the floor spitting venom at anyone who comes near. He looks up at Raffaele and his eyes harden into pure hatred. “You think you’ve won?”

“I know I’ve won,” Raffaele replies calmly. “I always win.”

“That cockiness will be your downfall.”

“Maybe. It’s working for me so far.”

One of Raffaele’s men walks up to him and hands him something I can’t quite see.

“Do it,” Pascal hisses.

“I’m going to,” Raffaele replies. “But first you need to know that this is your fault. We do a lot of fucked up shit in this line of work, and not all of it is nice. Not all of it is kind. But you?” His eyes narrow to pinpoints. “You spat on everything Italian to shack up with those Irish cunts and dumped their poisonous runoff into the reservoir that feeds water into our territory. You knowingly endangered the lives of thousands.”

Raffaele’s voice grows strained.

“How many people got sick and died? Carlos’ sister? My wife?”

“What?” Pascal glances at me. “The fuck are you talking about?”

Raffaele scoffs. “You didn’t do your research, did you? My first wife, Serena. She got sick. Died. No one knew how, but now I know because of that shitty doctor you paid off. Same as what happened to Adelina’s mother. You let your own wife die because of this shit, Pascal. And maybe I’d let that slide. Maybe we could exist in the world with me despising your existence but letting you live your life. Until you did the unthinkable.”

“Suddenly, you have morals,” Pascal growls between bloodied teeth.

“I always have. You just never saw them. But then your assassins attacked and assaulted my wife. And you hurt her mother. God knows how many of the sick kids she adores so much are ill because of you. And then you took her from me. My wife and my baby.”

My heart stalls in my chest and a rush of cold darts down my arms and legs.He knows? He knows I’m pregnant?

I glance at Vito and he smiles softly. “Caterina.”

“She’s alive?”

“Yes, she is.”

Holy shit, I need to sit down.

“Even by the standards of every Mafia family in this city, you have done the unforgivable. I hope you rot in hell like the scum you are.” Raffaele lifts his hand and in the same second that I realize that guard gave Raffaele a gun, he shoots my father several times.

Once in each leg, making him scream in pain. Twice in the chest. Then one in the head.

The silence afterward is deafening.

My heart races and a curl of nausea tightens in my gut as I stare at my father’s body bleeding out across the warehouse floor. Raffaele’s actions seem to be a signal as the rest of his men shoot the rest of my father’s guards.

Should I feel… sad? Seeing him lying there is an odd, out-of-body feeling. He was my father, so I feel like I should be heartbroken, but there’s currently nothing but relief pulsing through my body.

Then Raffaele is back in front of me but this time, he maintains distance.

“Adelina.” His voice is soft. “I love you. In fact, love isn’t even a strong enough word because ever since he took you from me, it’s like a part of me has been missing. And I understand if you hate me for this.” He gestures back to my dead father. “Or for anything that’s happened to you in your time with me. I understand and I don’t blame you. But I love you and even if you detest me, I will spend the rest of my life building the perfect life for you and our baby. I swear it. Because I love you, Adelina. I love you so much that even living with your hatred is better than not living with you at all.”

His voice quavers at the end of his speech and he swallows hard, watching me intently. Vito seems to melt away into the shadows until it’s just the two of us.

“Our baby?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper.

“If you want it to be.” His eyes dart down to my belly.

“I was scared to tell you,” I admit. “And my father, he… he made good points about not telling you too early. I see now that it was part of his plan, but at the time, it…”

“You don’t need to explain,” Raffaele says as I stand there, struggling for words. “You did what you thought was best, and I won’t ever fault you for that.”

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