Page 47 of Sinful Daughter (Dark Mafia Sins 2)

“I do, Aria, and this is why I have to end it. Can you honestly say you can still love me when I plan to ruin every part of your father’s life?” he growls, stepping away from me like I’ll burn him if he touches me.

“That’s my life too.” My words catch in my throat. “It’s my family.” The eyes looking down at me are no longer Theo’s but replaced with ones filled with hatred and vengeance.

I force a swallow, my eyes tearing up. I fight for them not to spill over, but it’s wasted as each drop gradually rolls down my cheeks.

“Don’t cry when you’re not willing to sacrifice anything for us. How do you think it would look for me if people knew we were together? People would assume I’m dirty, that I’m on the payroll. Hell, I’d be fired. But I’m willing to risk it… for you.”

I wipe the blurriness from my eyes. “You don’t understand. You’re asking me to sign my own death wish. It’s not the same.”

“Maybe not to you. But my career is my life. Without it, I might as well be dead. Sorry if I don’t see the difference.”

“Fuck you, Theo.”

“Goodbye, Aria.”

He walks away easily. His steps are determined, while my heart breaks. I can’t catch my breath, my heart squeezing like it’ll implode.

CHAPTER 29

“Close the doorbehind you, Fox,” my captain directs me as I walk into his office.

I plead my case. “I know I let you down by us losing the case with Marco. But I have evidence, hard proof, that Nicoli Rossi killed my father. This evidence will put him away. This is the break we’ve been looking for.”

“Theo. You’ve made a mockery out of our department. Because of you, there are more questions than answers. There’s also an investigation into our chain of custody because of you and the missing gun from evidence. As of immediately, you are being placed under suspension.”

I rear my head back. “I told you—I have proof. A video that shows Rossi’s face.” I stress, “We can finally get him now.”

A frustrated sigh leaves my captain as he rubs at his temples. “Where did you get it from?”

“Grant.”

“Your partner? Don’t you see it won’t hold up right now? Grant is too close to you. Maybe if someone else had found it first….” His words linger in the air. “I’m sorry, Theo, but you fucked up. I would have expected this from many others, but not from you.”

“How long is my suspension?” I already know the rules. Never in my life have I ever believed I would be suspended. I have never changed so much in so little time.

I blame it all on Aria. If she never got in my head, I could have stayed on my path. If my heart didn’t hurt every time I’m reminded she was never mine to begin with, I would have never planted the evidence. If only my heart could have stayed away, removing all emotion from my decisions. In the end, it was my emotions and attachment that screwed me over.

“Three weeks. I’m hoping by then this will all settle down.”

Every cell in my body vibrates with rage. “What of Grant?”

“He’ll have a temporary partner until your return. I need your badge and gun.”

When I hand over the badge, I’m handing over who I am. The finality of my suspension begins to vine its way into my chest, wrapping around it until I feel nothing. I blink, and I’m tearing my badge off and throwing my gun down. I blink again, and I’m at a bar drinking. Another blink, I’m at home.

I spend the next two days drinking. I was so close to my dream of getting Nicoli Rossi. I had him at my fingertips. Everything I have worked for my whole life has taken a thousand steps back. I call Grant, only for him to tell me he can’t talk to me while I’m suspended. I’m agoodcop. I’ve never once taken a bribe. There are cops on our force who are dirtier than the garbage put out on the curb each week.

As the days blur together, I realize a few things. One, I will never stop hunting Nicoli Rossi. Two, I don’t regret planting the evidence, because I love Nicoli Rossi’s daughter. She and I were destined for failure the moment we met.

I became reckless when I was with her. Not only did I endanger myself, but it could have cost her too. I wish I could rip my heart out and give it to her. I’m tired of feeling it ache deep in my chest. I would have been better off never meeting her. Thinking about her hurts like hell. Aria Rossi was no doubt my soul mate. Ironic that we can never be. My addiction and need for her runs deeper than I thought. Our distance has me feeling lost and on the verge of madness. I keep reminding myself it’s all for a purpose. When we first met, I thought she would be a means to an end. Now, she is so much more.

Her scent is on my pillow, and it burns into me. I toss the pillow outside my window, needing no more reminders of her. I need to bury myself into my revenge, lose the person she brought out in me. I need to go back to Theo, the cop. The emotionless, bloodthirsty person who only had one vision.

That vision is now blurred. I have a hard time remembering why I’ve kept going. I need to get back to the place where I lusted for the life I once had. I need to forget about the options Aria made me think of. My future should have never wavered from avenging my father, and it should have never had Aria. I should’ve never allowed myself such fantasies.

I keep reminding myself that she’s the reason I’m in this mess, and each time, I’m reminded I miss her. It’s the same gut-wrenching feeling I had when my mother died, leaving me with no family. That same isolated loneliness stays in my bones. Aria Rossi is the only person who has made me feel like Theo, the person. Not Theo, the cop who’s avenging his father.

I tug at my hair and give my face a slap. Aria Rossi is the reaper of souls, and she took mine, leaving me miserable. She turned my world upside down, and now all I do is crave her.

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