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“Don’t act like you fucking care.” He spits out at me with venom in his tone.
He’s never talked to me like this before. What the hell happened?
I shoot the two men a glare before narrowing my eyes on Joseph. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play coy with me. I know you’ve been meeting with Giuseppe Rossi. I have proof of the text messages and call logs. I know you’ve been feeding him information from our meetings.” He crosses his arms and clenches his jaw.
Shit. This isn’t good. This is exactly what I was afraid of happening.
“Look, I can explain.”
He scoffs. “Explain what? Explain how you lied about your identity, Alex Wilson. How you lied about your family’s debt to Giuseppe Rossi? Or how you lied about your loyalty to my family?”
I feel as if all the air has been punched out of my lungs. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I feel like I’m drowning in an abyss.
“It’s not like that.” I whisper.
“It is like that. I know everything.” His tone is harsh and cold. It’s the same tone he uses with hostages.
Does he really think I’m an enemy? Does he really think I would betray his family?
“Please, just listen to me. I’m begging.”
I can beg until I’m blue in the face, but he’s already made up his mind.
“I’ve already heard enough.” I can see the hatred in his eyes. If I were anyone else, he’d throw me in the interrogation room and let his frustration out on me.
But he took it out on himself already.
With no fight left in me, I whisper, “Fine. If you won’t listen to me, listen to your father.” It’s my last ditch effort to keep him from completely hating me.
“I’ll pass. I’m not listening to anyone except the few I trust. Oh, by the way, your access to the house, to the arena, and to our accounts has been revoked. You can stay in the apartment for one month, but after that, you will be evicted. So I’d start looking for other employment as soon as you get back.”
Gage eyes the bag in my hand. “What’s in the bag?”
“A gift for Joseph.” I whisper.
A gift that was supposed to reunite us, not tear us apart.
I drop the bag and get back in my car without another word. I fight off the tears until I can no longer see the Marino house in my rearview mirror.
I pull into a parking lot and let out the sobs I’ve been choking back.
How did my life spin upside down in just a few minutes?
How did I go from being giddy and hopeful to being ripped to shreds and feeling less wanted than the dirt on the bottom of his shoe?
I don’t hold back my sobs. I let it all out.
The only thing that’s clear is if I ever recover from this heartbreak, Joseph Marino will never be involved in mine or my baby’s life. He will be a long forgotten memory, like my childhood.
Chapter Sixteen
JOSEPH
It’s beena week since I’ve seen or heard from Alexandra. Gage keeps tabs on her when he’s home, but we’ve had back to back away games and haven’t been home in three days.
Being away has given me a chance to process everything alone, with no one voicing their opinions or telling me what I should do.