Kon spat a mixture of blood and saliva on the floor. “Get your fucking hands off me.”
Dominick stepped forward. “Tony, let him go.”
Tony’s head jerked to the side. “Are you serious? He jumped Gian.”
“Release him right now,” he said, enunciating each word. He advanced to the front door of the restaurant and flipped the lock. “They came here to talk. We’re going to hear them out. Then, they will leave, right, Alix?”
“I don’t have a problem with that as long as pretty boy over there keeps his hands to himself.” He raised his arms in the air, and I saw the last three letters of my name peeking out of the sleeve of his shirt.
No way. This isn’t happening.
Shock rippled through me, and I couldn’t look away from him. His eyes looked like my eyes. His hair resembled mine interspersed with gray. That bump on his nose was eerily similar to the one I saw every morning in the mirror. Bile burned the back of my throat, and I staggered into the chair behind me, my heart racing and my mind buzzing with a dozen contradictory emotions.
“He’s my dad,” I whispered, my entire body vibrating and my chest incredibly tight like I couldn’t suck enough oxygen into my lungs. “I haven’t seen him since I was five. I didn’t remember much about him. My mom called him Al when I was younger. Then, she stopped talking about him entirely after he disappeared. He was more like a ghost than a real person.”
My eyes sought out Gian. His head was bowed, his face was pinched, and his shoulders drooped with something akin to defeat. “I’m so sorry, Gian. I didn’t set you up. I promise. I would never hurt you or your family intentionally.”
I reached out my hand, pleading without words for him to say something. Anything. I didn’t know what to do. My heart squeezed with the urge to comfort him, but deep down, I knew he wouldn’t welcome my touch.
Gian cursed under his breath, his eyes glazed with rage and darkness. He shook his head, clearly unable to believe what was happening. “We’re all busy men. Let’s get this over with. What do you want, Alix?”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
Gian
I looked everywhere except at the woman who’d stolen my heart one piece at a time. She might as well have cleaved open my ribcage and wrenched my still-beating heart out of my chest. A bitter brew of humiliation mixed with hope churned inside my gut.
Humiliation because I had fucked up. I should have made sure I knew everything about her before I invited her into my life for real. Hope because every cell inside of me wanted to believe she didn’t have anything do this with this. I’d witnessed her reaction when her mom called and mentioned her dad. Her reaction wasn’t fake, not entirely.
Dammit, how did this happen? How could the one woman I should stay far away from end up being my sister’s best friend, and the one woman I wanted more than any other?
“I want to clear up something first,” Alix said, his voice gruff.
I curled one hand around the top of a chair, and my knuckles whitened. “Go ahead.”
“Evangeline is telling the truth. I haven’t had any contact with her for nearly twenty years. As for her ex, I only screwed with him because I couldn’t stand the thought of my daughter marrying that schmuck.”
Evie gasped. “What? Why would you do that?”
Alix flicked his wrist. “He was a piece of shit. All I had to do was dangle a little bit of money and a piece of ass in front of him, and he took the bait. Believe me; you’re better off without him. You don’t want a man who can be manipulated so easily.”
“You had no right.” Evie’s voice cracked on the last word. “I didn’t ask for your help.”
He shrugged. “I did it for me as much as I did it for you. I wanted you to give up your acting pipe dream and move back to Nebraska, and I didn’t want anyone using you to get to me. As long as you’re in New York, you’re a liability. I can’t protect you here.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to get my rioting thoughts under control. “But you’re okay using her to get what you want. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” I sneered. He’d been playing with Evie’s life behind her back. He didn’t even have the guts to come out of hiding until she had something he wanted.
He flung one beefy arm wide. “The stars aligned. What can I say? While I love my daughter, that doesn’t mean I’m above capitalizing on an opportunity that lands in my lap.” He chuckled. “You know, I always considered her a burden. Boy, did she prove me wrong. She reeled in a member of the Trassato family. I’ve been trying to negotiate with your father for years, but she batted her eyes, showed a little leg, and bam—” he punched his fist into the air “—she secured a proposal from you in a matter of days.”