Page 92 of Second Chance Daddy

For a second, nothing. Just the sound of my breathing—fast, uneven—and the steady tick of his wall clock counting down whatever’s left of my sanity.

“You went digging.”

I meet his stare head-on. “Answer me.”

“It’s a ring, Cass.”

“Don’t,” I snap, the panic bleeding into my words. “Don’t turn this into another deflection, Dante. I saw it. I know what that crest means.”

He goes as silent as a snowfall.

“The crest. The Russian lettering. It’s not just some tattoo club.”

“You know your crime families,” he hisses in self-defense.

“I was married to one. You don’t forget something like that. Tell me the truth now, Dante. It’s not just a ring, is it?”

He sighs, and a wave of guilt passes over his face. “No. It’s not.”

I swallow hard, bile scraping my throat. “Bratva.”

His silence confirms everything.

“Jesus Christ,” I whisper, a tremor cutting through me. “Tina never—she didn’t?—”

“Tina doesn’t know,” he cuts me off. “Not everything. She knows we come from power. From blood. But the legacy? The weight of it? The family never laid that at her feet. It was safer that way.”

I swallow hard, my throat burning. “Earlier, when Tina saw the blood… when she asked what happened?—”

His eyes darken, storm clouds building behind them.

I step closer, my heartbeat crashing in my ears. Dante’s stare glues to mine like he’s bracing for impact.

“What did you do out there?” The words come out shaky. “Tell me!”

“I killed him.” Dante looks away. “Gino.”

The world tilts sideways. My stomach lurches. I press a hand to my mouth, fighting the wave of nausea. “Jesus Christ, Dante.”

He takes a step closer, agony painted in his look.

“I killed him for what he did to you. For every bruise, threat, and time he made you look over your shoulder.” His eyes dip lower. “He drugged Aria, and he would have hurt you both again and again.”

My knees nearly buckle.

Dante keeps going. “I made sure he paid for making you lie. For making you survive him. For putting you in a position where you thought you had no choice but to live in his chains.”

I cover my mouth, shaking. “You killed him…”

“I ended him. For taking something that wasn’t his to take.”

The room’s spinning. But deep under the shock? I feel it.

The terrifying, horrible, anchoring relief.

Gino’s gone.

For good.