Page 14 of Ti Amo

“She isn’t going anywhere with you.” Kei smirked.

Mira shook her head. “Kei you promised. You promised you would let me handle this.”

“I’m sorry sweetheart. You aren’t handling it. I won’t allow him to hurt you again. They won’t leave this airspace with you and get away with it. You think I haven’t planned for this day?” Kei spat at Giovanni. “You have no idea how far I will go to protect her.”

Giovanni smirked. “I think I do. You’re the man that helped fake her death; that makes you resourceful.”

“Damn right.”

“Kei! Stop!”

“Quiet, Bella. This is between Kei and I.”

“No. I have Eve here. Look at her, the both of you! I don’t want this in front of her. So stop.”

Her words seemed to have a cooling affect. She felt the tension shift in the room. However, her heart hammered so hard and fast in her chest she was panting and breathing hard through her nose.

“You have Eve to think about.” Kei touched her shoulder. “You were standing here about to hand over your daughter to this… this man.”

Mira lowered Eve, who walked away bored with the scene. She turned to Kei and stepped in his face. “You’ve been a good friend to me. I love you for wanting to protect me, but you have to trust me to do what’s best for my daughter. I need to talk to Giovanni.”

“Why don’t the three of us have a fucking chat?” Giovanni interjected. “Since you two have had plenty of conversations without me.”

“Watch your mouth in front of my daughter.” Mira said.

“Watch your mouth in front of me.” Giovanni warned.

Mira seethed. “This is between you and me, leave Kei out of it.”

“Why? Why! You brought him into this!”

“I brought him into this? What about you? What about—.” Mira bit down on her lip. He would kill Kei if she didn’t appeal to his heart, and quick. Did she think he was a murderer? If you had asked her two years ago after he showed her his heart she would have said no. But now with the blood of her best friend between them she had no illusions over who he truly was. And there was something else. He felt different to her. Cold and indifferent. The act of communicating with Eve seemed to exhaust him. As if he hadn’t worked his heart muscle for love and compassion in quite some time. “I will go with you. Eve and I will leave right now if you let Kei go.”

“Mira no!” Kei grabbed her arm. “You don’t have to bargain for my life. I can handle him. He can’t force you to go.”

Giovanni smirked. “She’s coming with me regardless.”

Dominic and Lorenzo chuckled with their boss. The cold reality was certain. Not even the presence of their daughter would prevent him from having his way. And that scared her too. She had to protect Eve. Mira pulled her arm free of Kei’s hold. She approached Giovanni.

“You’re angry with me, Kei has done nothing to you. Please. Just let him go. Promise me,” she said.

Giovanni tossed another look in the direction of Kei and processed her request. Compassion wasn’t something he dealt in, personally or business wise. No one ever had any compassion for him, including her since she fled and allowed another man to enter his daughter’s heart.

“Uccidalo,” he said, with a smile in his voice.

Mira stepped in front of Kei. Giovanni froze as did his men. Did she understand his order? How could she? She didn’t speak Italian. He had ordered Dominic to kill the man who stood between him and his Bella.

“Take it back! Take it back, Giovanni, right now. I won’t let you hurt him!”

Eve reappeared and went straight for Kei. The toddler pushed past Dominic’s legs to give her stepfather the toy. “Poppy!” she said.

Giovanni narrowed his eyes on the man as he lifted his daughter in his arms. She called him father? Mira allowed this? And he was to be compassionate? Dominic looked over to Giovanni not sure how to proceed. He could sense the same astonishment from Lorenzo. What she had done. Taking his child was one of the most unforgivable sins. In a blink he could have his way. Now he was too mentally wounded to act. His hesitance showed his men a sign of weakness Flavio had predicted. His father had waged a mafia war and sacrificed his honor and family for the love of a woman. Here he stood two years into doing exactly the same.

“Do you hear me? I said no.” Mira shoved him square in the chest. He barely moved but she had shoved him hard. He felt her conviction, and it furthered his pain. Had she shed one single tear for him? Missed him? Had she felt anything for him at all?

“No!” she shouted in his face. As if his silence was due to this fucker, and not her blatant lack of loyalty.

He grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward. His mouth curled into a snarl. “Nessun movimento!” He ordered his men not to move and pulled her toward the first room he could locate. He heard Kei call her name and knew his men wouldn’t let him get any further. Giovanni tossed Mira into the room and slammed the door. She whirled around angrily.

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