“Would it have changed things or would you have killed me alongside my father and his men?”
“I don’t kill children or innocent women,” Vitiello said.
It was difficult to believe he could spare anyone. Marcella’s story of her father simply didn’t fit the image of the man that I had.
“So you would have turned on your heel and left if you’d known I was there?”
It was a rhetorical question. The look in Vitiello’s eyes hadn’t been that of a man capable of turning his back on bloodshed. He’d thirsted for violence and rampage. Nothing, not even a little boy could have stopped him.
His penetrating stare gave me the answer I’d expected.
“What would you have done to me then?”
“Locked you in my car so you wouldn’t have to watch in an ideal world.”
“Your kind of ideal world includes locking a young boy in your car so you can slaughter his father and his men?”
“I doubt your ideal world is filled with sunshine and rainbows.” He narrowed his eyes. “And you kidnapped an innocent girl, so you certainly don’t have a right to judge me. My only judge will be God.”
“You believe in God?”
He didn’t reply.
“You’re forgetting the law authorities. They might one day judge you too.”
“Unlikely. But that’s not the point. You kidnapped my daughter.”
“Which would have never happened if you hadn’t slaughtered my father and his club!”
I breathed harshly, losing myself to the anger of the past again. Fuck. I still wanted to kill him.
“You deserve death and I want nothing more than to kill you, but I can’t because I love your daughter!”
Luca took a step closer, glaring. “You deserve death as much as I do, and I want to kill you more than anything for what you let happen to Marcella, but I can’t because I love my daughter.”
We stared at each other, trapped with our hatred and reined in by our love for one girl.
“And now, here we are,” I said wryly. “You could let one of your men kill me and stage a suicide scene. Tell Marcella guilt wrecked me over getting my club brothers killed.”
“That’s an option,” Luca said. “Are you feeling guilty about it?”
“Most of them had to die for Marcella to be safe.”
Luca didn’t say anything for a long time. Maybe he really considered the suicide plan. “My daughter thinks you are loyal to her.”
“I am,” I said. “I’d do anything for her.”
Luca smiled darkly. “I think she’ll test both our love for her. I don’t know if I should hope you fail or not. Either way, Marcella will face obstacles I never wanted for her.” He tilted his head in consideration. “I don’t have to tell you what I’ll do if I think you’re messing with her.”
“I’d have put my life down for her. I won’t ever hurt her.”
“If that’s the case, you should leave and never come back. Go to Texas and ride into the fucking sunset with your brother but allow Marcella to have the future she deserves and had always planned for herself before you destroyed everything.” He tossed a book at me that read bullet journal. “Look at the first page.”
I opened the book and squinted down at the paper. It was a sort of bullet journal and Marcella had listed her plan for the next five years. Get a degree at twenty-two, marry the same year, create marketing plans for Famiglia businesses, first child at twenty-five…
“Life can’t be planned like that,” I muttered, but seeing Marcella’s hopes for her future hit home. Her life plans weren’t in line with my life choices so far. “You sure those aren’t the things you wanted for her?”
“She wrote them down. You really think you and her could ever be together? Marcella is educated and socially adept. She thrives on social events. She’s always been careful to protect her public image. If news got out that she’s with you, everything she’s built for herself will crumble. Do you really want to ruin her?”
I couldn’t believe he was paying the guilt card, and I couldn’t believe he was actually making an impact on me. “Would you have let the woman you love go?”
Luca smiled darkly. “I’m selfish. Maybe you want to be better than me.”
“You’re not doing this for her.”
He grabbed me by the throat and in my weakened state, I couldn’t fight him off. My back collided with the wall. His eyes burned with pure fury. “Don’t tell me that I’m not doing this for Marcella. I’d die for her. I only want the best for her and that’s sure as fuck not you.” He released me and stepped back, breathing harshly.
I rubbed my throat. “Marcella isn’t a child. She can make her own life choices.”
For a moment, I was sure Luca would kill me right on the spot but then he turned on his heel and left. I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t approve of me being with Marcella. We came from different worlds, there was no denying it. I wanted nothing more than to be with her, but I wasn’t sure how our worlds could ever merge.