From the icy glare in his eyes, I could tell he wouldn’t think twice about doing it.
“You could, but you won’t, because you know it would crush your daughter. And you don't want to be the reason she loses the man she loves.”
Alphonse sneered. “You think my daughter is going to forgive you for what you did to her?”
“No,” I admitted. “I’ll crawl on my goddamn hands and knees and beg my girl for forgiveness for the rest of my life.”
“She was no longer your girl the moment you fucking betrayed her!” He was a vengeful storm as he took a step toward me, but I kept my ass firmly planted on the couch.
I draped my arm over the back of the couch, meeting his gaze head on. “And I’ve owned that mistake.”
“Which doesn't mean shit to me,” he retorted, a flicker of rage igniting in his eyes.
“Then I don’t know what to tell you,” I replied.
“I want you to tell me she’s alive. That she’s happy, that she’s living without fear.” At that moment, I realized he wasn’t just talking about Gigi. He was also talking about Angelica.
“We can’t change the past, Alphonse,” I reminded him. “All we can do now is focus on the present and the future.”
He slipped his hands into his pockets as he stood there, appearing forlorn and lost.
“You can’t blame yourself for what happened to Gigi's mother. You did what you had to do to keep her safe,” I continued, trying to reach the part of him that still held onto the pain. The same pain I held onto for Gigi.
“And she was killed for it,” he said, his tone filled with regret. He closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to turn back time.
“This is our world,” I replied, my own heart heavy with the truth of the words. “It’s what we were born into. She knew that, and she accepted her fate. But at least she gave her daughter a safe and comfortable life for as long as possible. That has to mean something.”
The shit thing about our lives was that we were criminals, and we subjected our families to a life full of pain but of love too. It sounded like a fucked-up fairytale, but when it came to the people we loved, there were no limits to how far we could go to protect them. To keep them safe. To give them the world.
“That may be true,” Alphonse finally said. “But I willneverforgive myself for what happened to my girls.”
I met his gaze, nodding in a silent acknowledgment, a shared understanding of our burdens.
“Signore.” The older woman from earlier stood by the door, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. “Dinner is ready.”
Alphonse turned to her, his expression softening for a fleeting moment. “Grazie.”
She nodded, a hint of warmth in her eyes, and turned away.
He faced me again, a look of resolution on his face. “Let’s eat and form a plan to bring my daughter back home.Alive.”
After dinner, we ventured back into the room from earlier but now gathered around the table. Luca sat across from me and Dante, while Alphonse was at the end of the table to my right.
“Let’s get back to the task at hand,” Alphonse remarked, his gaze hardening.
“Mayor Walsh mentioned he spoke through encrypted channels with someone about Gigi. He also brought up someone I know named Davina,” I said, taking a long drink from my glass. But the burn of the liquor did little to ease the tension coiling in my gut.
“Have you managed to track downthisDavina?” Alphonse asked.
“No, not yet,” I admitted. “But my men won’t stop until they do.” I kept mulling over the mayor’s words in my head, trying to understand what role Davina had in all of this. What would she have gained that would make her agree to work with him? But nothing came to mind.
My phone vibrated against the table. Glancing down, I saw a text from Lo flash across the screen.
Lo
Any luck with Gigi’s whereabouts?
I clenched my jaw. Gigi’s absence was an open wound that pulsated painfully with each passing moment. No matter how many bandages I applied, blood laced with regret oozed through the cracks. The only treatment that would soothe the deep-seated ache was my angel.
