Page 46 of Tease

Another man came into view. He was tall with light brown hair. I couldn’t make out any more of his features because he was standing with his back to the camera.

“What do you want to know?”my father asked.

The sound of his voice almost gutted me. I’d not heard it in so long.

“Why did you do it?”came the other man’s voice.

My father looked at the floor.

“It was meant for your aunt. We didn’t know your family would be with her that day.”

“That why you killed her too?”

My father let out a sigh.

“No. She wasn’t supposed to die, Emmett. If Gennaro went to prison, it would have made our position more precarious after our father died. The case had to die. And it did at the expense of your family. I understand why you hate me for that. Trust me, I hate myself for what happened that day. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you.”

Emmett stepped closer to my father.

“But she’s dead. Teresa is dead.”

My father hung his head.

“Gennaro ordered it. She shouldn’t have spoken to Vince. That was her mistake.”

“She did it for me!”

Papáraised his head and met Emmett’s gaze head-on.

“I’m not proud of anything that happened to your family, but you don’t know my brother. There’s a reason I removed myself from that life. You and Teresa should have stayed away from the Villettis.”He sighed.“If you want your revenge, take it out on me. Don’t go after Gennaro. You’ll end up like Teresa.”

Emmett laughed, but it was hollow.

“What your brother did was despicable. He should have been locked up.”

“Don’t you think I know that? He massacred an entire family for power, only they couldn’t get him on that, so they went down the fraud route. We couldn’t allow him to go down for ten years. And no, he didn’t give a shit about your family dying. He called it collateral damage. I didn’t feel the same way, so I left the mafia life. I didn’t want my girls getting wrapped up in it. Not when Gennaro is in charge. He’s a monster. My own brother is a monster and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

My father shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Emmett. I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry Gennaro had your aunt killed. Nothing I can do or say can bring them back. So I understand if you need to take it out on me, but trust me when I tell you, revenge is never the answer.”

“Your apologies are meaningless to me.”

My father nodded slowly.

“Then I’ll let you do whatever you need. I deserve it but don’t go after anyone else. Let this end with me, please.”

“This will never end, Orsino, but I’ll enjoy watching you die all the same.”

Emmett walked closer to my father and gripped him by the chin, forcing his mouth open. He dropped something into it. Releasing my father, he stepped back.Papáswallowed whatever he’d been given. I could see the abject misery and pain in his eyes. It hurt me more than anything else that had been said. Then Emmett walked out of the shot and the camera shut off.

No one had told me exactly how my father had died, other than I knew he was murdered, but from that, it was clear Emmett had poisoned him.

I didn’t know what to think of what I’d just seen. How did I even process that? I couldn’t. Not when I needed to concentrate on dealing with Emmett himself. My eyes darted back to his message.

Emmett: It’s not grief I’m suffering from. I hate your family for what they did to mine.

Rina: My father’s death wasn’t enough for you?

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