Chapter 15
Alcee looked at the phone ringing in her hand, aware the number belonged to Tank.
“Are you going to answer it?”
“No.” She shook her head at Susana’s question.
A text message popped up.
“Answer the phone, Alcee or it’s going to be worse.”
She grimaced as Amal read over her shoulder.
It rang again and she answered it quietly. “Hello.”
“You have something which belongs to me.”
Don Torquato Lozano’s voice was low and the heat of his anger as he glared out the window of her apartment with the phone of his subordinate stuck to his ear. His fist was clenched and held knuckles out against the glass.
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
“You’re a coward, Alcee Fina Mariani and cowardice is not a trait I hold in high regard.”
“I’m not a coward, Don Lozano.”
“You ran away with my son.”
“Do not confuse a mother’s wish to protect her son with cowardice, Don Lozano. My son is my entire world, and I will protect him from the monsters of the world.”
“You think I’m a monster?”
“I know you are. You forget, I was in the next room, naked and afraid while you killed three men in cold blood.”
“They put bombs in my car. Should I have let them live?”
“You shot your own father”
“He stole my money.”
The careless comment made her stress levels rise. “You shot your own flesh and blood over money?”
“It was a lot of money.” The bored tone was not anything like the vision of the man opposite her. He looked tense and rigid.
“If my son makes an error in judgement, will you shoot him in the leg and nearly kill him?”
“I believe what you meant to ask was if our son stole five billion dollars of my personal wealth would I hold him accountable, and the answer is a resounding yes. However, I am hoping his mother will help me teach him how to not be a sniveling worm who would steal from his own flesh and blood.”
“Corrado stole five billion dollars?”
“Of my personal money. Not even money which belongs to the family but straight from my personal investments. Since he did not possess the funds to cover it from his own coffers, I took what he prized most, and it was his title as head of the family.” He rested his forehead on the glass and looked to the street below. “I’m a better leader than he is anyway. I got the money back too, with interest.”
I want better for my son than this life. Arranged marriages, murders in hotel rooms and men who would beat their own children for not doing what they’re told, none of these things are what I want for him.”
“He won’t make it to the age of six if you run.”
“Are you threatening him?” bile rose into her throat threatening to choke her off.
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Chapter 15
“No. I’m telling you he is my son, and it puts a massive target on his back. If I don’t keep him with me, the world is going to think I won’t protect him. My enemies outnumber my allies, Alcee. For his safety, you need to bring him to me.”
“Nobody knows he is yours therefore there is no target.”
“Yet, five minutes ago Tito issued a bulletin at my behest to my entire family to be on the lookout for my son who is in the possession of the Mariani Principessa. How long before you think the flies descend on your carcass?”
“Why?” the pained whisper as she stared at the man who was completely unaware of where she was. She could see his frustration from his posture.
“Because he is my son. Why did you leave? You clearly knew who I was to him.”
“No,” she denied it as she looked at her son. “I truly didn’t have any idea. It never once occurred to me you were the man I slept with the night before you and I were supposed to meet for the first time to go over the contract for our engagement.”
“I don’t believe you. You ran. You ran back then, and you ran today.”
“Don Lozano,” she wasn’t beyond pleading as her son let out a little snore from his spot on her sofa, “I didn’t know. I ran last time for a variety of reasons. One I initially thought you were a businessman with too much money to burn. It never dawned on me the heir to the Lozano family would ever pay a virgin for her innocence. I thought you were a guy named Bruno, but it was never my intention to stick around with a guy who bought my hymen. Two, you killed someone in the room right next to where I slept. I would know exactly what was going on even if I didn’t peek in the window. I’ve heard enough guns with silencers in my childhood to know exactly what happened. Three, and I admit this is likely the dumbest admission I can make, I never once hacked your identity. In my mind, I was using a fake name, and I respected you likely were as well. If I’d simply been a bit more suspicious and did my research, I would have figured it out sooner. I didn’t. I got rid of all traces of our transaction. I did go back to the hotel when I found out I was pregnant, just on the off chance you were still there. You weren’t.”
“Yet somewhere between that night and today you figured out.”
“No” she cut him off quickly. “Even when you were in the bathroom getting changed today, I wasn’t putting you with the guy from back then.” She gave a humorless laugh, “I even snuck a peek and saw how fucking huge you were and made a mental comparison.”
“Then why run.”
“When you were walking back to the bathroom to fix your tie, I saw your face reflected in the window. I freaked out.”
“You should have shown your face.”
“Are you kidding? I saw you execute a man! I’m a fucking witness. I’m not stupid. It was scary enough when I thought you were just a crooked businessman. Knowing I watched Don Torquato Lozano, the guy everyone calls The Grizzly behind his back, commit murder is more than a tad scary. I ran for my life. Then and today.”
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