The soft ticking of the clock feels like it’s taunting me as we wait for his arrival. My father found out about Kat and Joey’s little escape attempt last night and has insisted on coming to the house today to discuss my lapse in security.
“Do I really have to be here for this?” Joey says with a sigh and an eye roll.
“Yes, you fucking do,” I snap. “You’re the reason he’s coming here.”
“Ugh,” she groans as she flops onto the sofa.
“It will be over soon. Let him have a gripe about your safety and how I need to keep a more watchful eye on you. It will make him feel like he’s being a good father, and then I’ll offer him a Scotch and he can leave.”
“Fine,” she sighs. She rolls her eyes again at the sound of his voice filling the hallway outside.
I look over at her. “It will be fine. Be nice to him and we can get him out of our hair as soon as possible.”
She makes another disapproving noise from deep in her throat right before he walks into the room. As soon as he’s inside, she stands and smiles at him. It’s a well-practiced routine.
“Hi, Papá.” She goes to hug him, but he brushes her off and storms across the room, planting his hands on my desk and glaring at me. “How the fuck did you let this happen? My daughter and your whore just walk out of here like it’s nothing.”
Pushing my chair back, I stand too, refusing to have him towering over me like I’m still a kid. “She’s not a whore,” I defend Kat even though I’m beyond pissed at her. “And they did not walk out of here. Maximo knew exactly what they were up to and he stopped them before they could leave.”
“She needs to be dealt with,” he snarls.
I’m aware that Joey is staring at me with her mouth hanging open, but I remain focused on my father. “She’s twenty-one. What do you want me to do, take her cell phone away?”
“Not Guiseppina. The whore,” he spits.
“Her name is Kat,” I snarl at him. “And she is being handled.”
“It was a mistake bringing her to this house. She has seen too much. You need to deal with her, Dante,” he insists, and now I know exactly what he means.
“I can’t fucking kill her, Pop,” I snap.
“Because you’re weak,” he snorts.
“No,” I shout at him. “Because she’s fucking pregnant.”
He blinks at me, and Joey gasps in shock, her hand flying to her mouth.
“With your child?” my father asks with a frown.
“Yes, with my fucking child.”
“Dante, I didn’t know,” Joey says. “If I had, I would never…”
My father turns to her, his face twisted in anger as he raises his arm and slaps her so hard that her head snaps backward.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I round the desk to get to him as he goes to hit her again. I grab hold of his wrist as Joey staggers backward, her hand pressed to her face as she stares at our father in horror and shock. He hasn’t hit her like that since she was a sullen teenager.
“She needs disciplining. You’re too soft with her,” he bellows as he shrugs his arm free.
“And you need to calm the fuck down, old man. And if you ever lay a finger on her again, I will cut off every single one.”
He trains his glare on me now. I haven’t seen him this pissed in a long time. He’s always cruel and a constant pain in my ass, but he’s so angry right now he’s practically foaming at the mouth. “I’ve called Lorenzo this morning. Told him to make arrangements to come home. He’ll be back in a few weeks.”
My brow furrows into a scowl. “You didn’t have to do that.”
His lip curls in disgust. “It seems I did.”
“We don’t need him.”
“He’s had more than enough time away. He should be home looking after his family instead of playing the fool in Italy.”
“He’s looking after his sick wife,” I remind him.
“He will be returning. It is done,” he says with a dismissive shake of his head.
I grit my teeth before I say something that I’ll regret.
“If you’re not going to kill this Katerina,” he spits out her name, “then you will marry her.”
“The fuck?” I growl at him, my teeth bared as I advance on him.
“Your mother would never forgive you if you raise her firstborn grandchild as a bastard,” he insists. “Put a bullet in her head or a ring on her finger, mio figlio. Because I will not allow a bastard to inherit my empire.”
“Get the hell out of my house. Now!”
His nostrils flare as he stares me down, waiting for me to back down. But that is never going to happen.
“Set a date or dig a grave, Dante,” he snarls before he marches out of my study.
As soon as he’s gone, I walk over to Joey who’s still holding her hand to her cheek. “Let me see,” I say as I gently move her fingers away to reveal the beginnings of a deep red and purple mark bruise.
“What the hell, Dante?” she winces as I run my fingertips over her cheekbone. “What just happened?”
“Nothing is broken,” I tell her as I inspect her face. “You should see Sophia about getting some ice for it.”
“Dante?”
I shake my head and sigh. “I have no idea why he reacted like that. I’m sorry he hit you. He will never do it again, I promise you.”
I wrap her in a hug as tears trail down her cheek.
“Is Kat really pregnant?” she whispers.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t know. I swear. I would never have helped her if I had.”
“I know, kid,” I say, giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head before I let her go.
“What are you going to do?” she asks. “Are you going to marry her?”
I blow out a breath as I walk back to my desk. As much as I hate to admit it, my father is right. My mother would want her first grandchild to be born in wedlock. A pure blood Moretti through and through. But how do I marry a woman who hates me and whom I can never trust?
