Page 92 of Ties That Bind Us

I sat at my desk, staring at the frame on the corner. The picture behind the glass was of Ava and me in Saint Lucia, happy as could be, only a few weeks ago. Tucked inside the corner was my copy of the ultrasound. I took it out, running my fingers over it. It hardly resembled a baby, more of a dust storm. We hadn’t even gotten to find out whether or not our child was a boy or girl.

My thoughts were interrupted by someone pounding up the stairs.

“Sir, you can’t go . . .” I heard my assistant’s voice right as the door was thrown open and Alessandro and my father walked in.

I stood up, ready for whatever fight this would become. I hadn’t told Alessandro about the accident, at Ava’s request, and I was pretty positive that was the reason for his visit.

“What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull here, Caponelli? My daughter was hospitalized and you don’t have the decency to call me or my wife?” He gritted his teeth, anger exuding from his body.

My dad stood back, recognizing that this was something I needed to handle myself.

“She’s my wife, Alessandro. I will always respect her wishes, and she didn’t want you there.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

Alessandro’s face turned into a terrifying glare. “Don’t you dare stand there and act like you give a damn about her. You did this for your place in the business, and my daughter turned into a casualty.”

“Right,” I scoffed. “Like you weren’t using her for your own purposes from the very beginning. You’re getting old, so I know your memory may not be what it used to be, so let me remind you that you were the one who came up with this deal to begin with.”

“A deal for your marriage, not for you to brainwash my daughter and whisk her off to a foreign country to get married. It’s probably not even legal, I have my lawyer checking out the validity of it right now.”

“Knock yourself out. Ava chose to marry me, she wasn’t forced into anything like she would have been under your watch. Everything was done completely legally.” I pressed on. He had picked the wrong day to storm into my office; he was just the scapegoat I needed. “You’re lucky I don’t put out a hit on you for trying to back out of the deal.”

“Yeah, well, I feel like the terms being changed without my knowledge makes the whole thing null and void.”

“You’re right,” my dad interjected. “It does, but since the kids went ahead with the marriage, it doesn’t matter anymore. Nick will take over the business for me in a few months.”

“If you think you’re getting your hands on my business you have another thing coming.”

“I don’t want anything to do with you, Alessandro. It’s pretty telling that instead of asking me how your daughter is you’re still here arguing specifics of a botched arrangement that would have only benefited yourself.”

“I hear the hit was actually on your brother. How does it make you feel that Ava was hurt in the process because of a decision you made?” Alessandro chuckled, trying to get under my skin.

“I’d appreciate it if you would get the fuck out of my office.”

“Not until you tell me when I can see my daughter.” He stood his ground.

“I’m going to leave that up to her. She’s going through a lot right now and—”

Alessandro rolled his eyes dramatically. “She’s going through a lot because you’re keeping her from her family.”

“You have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about,” I scoffed. He really had a lot of nerve. “Ava was pregnant, Alessandro. She lost the baby in the accident. That’s why she’s going through a lot.”

The color drained out of his face. The baby was as much of a loss for their family as it was for us. Our child would’ve been an heir to both the Moretti and Caponelli crime families.

“And yeah, she’s hurting right now, so I’m going to do everything in my power to protect her. God knows you never did. And if that means keeping her from you and anybody else, I’ll fucking do it.” I had had enough of his bullshit. He had no right to come in here like this, especially after what he’d pulled at the fundraiser.

“She shouldn’t have even been in that damn car.” For the first time ever, I saw tears well up in his eyes. “This is your fault, Nick.”

With that, he stalked out of my office and left the warehouse. My dad’s gaze fell on me.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I growled. “He needed to know.”

My dad sighed. “Go home, Nick. Be with your wife, she needs you right now more than we do.”

He left, shutting the door softly behind him.

I flung my hand across my desk, knocking everything off of it and onto the floor. I usually wasn’t one to let words get to me, but the truth behind what Alessandro had said was haunting. This was all my fault. If I had just taken my own car. If I had just killed Asnikov after the shooting. If I just quit this entire fucking thing and ran away with Ava.

Those were a lot of ifs, though.

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