Page 11 of My Sweetest Obsession

I nodded, launching into the details of the nightmare I’d been navigating.

“I’m surprised this news hasn’t reached you, Al,” Dante remarked.

Alphonse took a swig of his drink, swallowing it hard, then rested the glass on the armrest, tapping his covered ankle.

“Why would it?” he asked. “I don’t want to know shit about what the other dons are doing as long as it doesn’t threaten me or my country.” He firmly rubbed his chin. “And what the hell does this have to do with my daughter?”

Dante sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and clasping his hands between his legs. “The Puppet Master has a lot to do with Gigi’s disappearance. Mayor Walsh of Chicago was running a sex trafficking ring when?—”

“What?” Alphonse cut him off. “Are you telling me that bastard sold my daughter?” Before Dante could respond, Alphonse's furious gaze locked onto me. “What is your involvement with my daughter, Moretti?”

“I fell in love with her,” I said simply, watching for his reaction. I was expecting him to go into beast mode, ready to put a bullet in my skull for assuming a man like me, a cold-hearted killer, could be with his daughter. But to my surprise, his face remained an unreadable mask of indifference.

“You fell in love with my daughter?”

I nodded.

“Then where the hell were you when she was taken?”

“Shit,” Luca muttered, lifting his glass to his lips.

I braced myself for Alphonse’s wrath, knowing I deserved every bit of it. “The Puppet Master told me she was sent to spy on me.”

“Did you believe him?” Alphonse asked.

I clenched my jaw, pulling my shoulders back. “You know better than anyone that someone’s word doesn’t mean shit in our world.”

His eyes narrowed into slits. “And you think I’m blind to that? I’ve built an empire! I know the dangers. But I also knew my Angelica. She was fucking pure, loyal, and put others before herself. I have no reason to question that my daughter is any different.”

“Love doesn’t shield you from betrayal, Alphonse!” I snapped, regret creeping into my voice like a motherfucker. “I’m not defending my actions. I was raised to believe that just because she’s blood or how much I would fucking bleed for her, it doesn’t earn her a free pass.”

Alphonse’s anger flared, and I could almost see the flames in his eyes.

“But I was wrong,” I quickly added.

The instant I had let doubt creep in about Gigi, I understood I had made a huge fucking mistake. My father’s past continued to haunt me and had flashed before my eyes when I believed Gigi had betrayed me.

“What did you do?” Each word dripped with menace. It was the same tone I had wielded like a sword against my own traitors, and now it was aimed at me.

I let out a breath. “I questioned her.” I closed my eyes, revisiting the haunting look on her beautiful face, sadness mingled with betrayal that had pierced through my heart.

I opened my eyes to see Alphonse leaning forward, his jaw clenched as he scrutinized me.

“Howdid you question her?”

“How do you think we deal with betrayal?” I shot back. I knew it was a fucked-up thing to say, but my emotions were a raging storm, and I was losing control. Alphonse leaped from hischair, hurling the glass at me. I ducked just in time as the crystal shattered against the wall, inches from my head, sending a spray of sharp shards flying.

“You motherfucker!” he bellowed, storming toward me. Dante sprang from the couch, positioning himself between us.

“Move.Now,” Alphonse growled, his eyes burning with rage as they remained locked on me.

The atmosphere shifted when the door swung open, and Alphonse’s men flooded the room as they leveled their weapons at us. The click of guns being cocked echoed in the air.

Luca tensed beside me, slowly rising to his feet. I gripped his arm, signaling him to stay put. He looked at me, but I shook my head, determined to face this alone.

“I’m not proud of what I did, but trust doesn’t come easily to me,” I admitted to Alphonse, trying to maintain my composure.

“Let me guess,” Alphonse snarled. “You were fucked over in the past and now you thought it happened again. You let your past cloud your judgment!” he roared.