“Mr. Gessati, hiring a hit man is a very serious offense,” one of the detectives began to say.
“Mr. Gessati did not hire a hit man. He hired someone to look out for his assets and be available to apply some pressure if things didn’t go as planned. There is no evidence or incident that has Mr. Gessati’s attachment,” his lawyer stated.
“I can see where this is headed,” one of the detectives stated sarcastically, as he rolled his eyes at Benson Fortworth.
“I want to hear what he and my father have to say,” Chiara interrupted.
“You’re not going in there alone with them. We know very little about this guy, and your father hasn’t exactly been very caring about you,” Zane stated firmly. She squeezed his hand and Cash’s.
“That’s why you’ll be in there with me.”
Zane gave her a wink and kissed the top of her head.
“We’ll go in with her,” Cash told them and then they followed Angelo into Robert’s hospital room.
* * * *
Robert was resting, and glad that the bullet had hit his shoulder bone as opposed to his heart. He would have died. But at this point, after everything that had happened, he wanted to die. He had done everything wrong. He deserved to suffer.
The sight of Angelo entering the room with Chiara made him angry, jealous, and hateful. It brought back memories of Patricia. Memories he had buried twenty-five years ago.
“Robert, the detectives have agreed to let us talk and explain things to Chiara. I’m going to cooperate with the authorities if any charges are made against me. But I think we both know that Chiara deserves to hear the truth.”
“Chiara.” He held out his hand. Chiara hesitated, and he didn’t blame her one bit. He had been a horrible father, and he had pushed her away the moment Patricia was gone. He had lived with the lie for too long to bear.
She walked closer and took his hand.
“You’ve done some terrible things, Daddy. You tried to make me marry Marvin and break things off with Cash and Zane, when I love them.”
“I didn’t want you to suffer as I had. Marvin was a creep, and from my understanding after reading the e-mail you sent out to everyone, he’s a thief as well. I always knew you were smart. You’re business sense, your determination to succeed, is impressive. If I weren’t so caught up in the
past, I would have embraced this time with you. I would have given you more, including the company, if I could just forget about the past, and stop punishing you for it.”
“Punishing me for it? Why would I be to blame for something in the past? Do you mean between you and Angelo?” She looked at her men and Angelo. Angelo was stone-faced. Robert had to make things right. Chiara and Angelo had suffered enough.
“Like the love you have for your men, Cash and Zane, Angelo and I shared your mother, Patricia.”
Chiara gasped.
“What?”
“We were both in love with Patricia. But Robert felt more compelled to claim her as his own,” Angelo said with anger.
“I did some terrible things, Chiara. I set Angelo up to be caught for a crime that he didn’t commit, but that would bring Patricia and I closer. I hadn’t expected it to be for so long—”
“Bullshit, Robert. Tell the woman the Goddamn truth for once and stop lying. You paid off the judge. You greased the palms of people on the inside so that my time tripled. I have the proof,” Angelo stated firmly and Robert felt his chest tighten.
“Patricia didn’t belong with you. I loved her first. I found her first.”
“I loved her just as much. We were best friends, Robert. We wanted that type of relationship and had discussed it for years. What went wrong? We were making great money, and Patricia was happy with both of us. Why did you sabotage me? Why?”
“Because I didn’t think I was good enough for her. I thought she loved you more. I thought that type of relationship was fine with me, but then I grew paranoid. Your little talks with her late at night on the docks. The way she smiled up at you was different. She didn’t love me as much.”
“You started pulling away. I remember that. Why didn’t you talk to me about it? We would have worked it out. That’s what you do in combined relationships like what we had. There’s no jealousy, no tit for tat. The relationship is a hundred percent three ways. All in. What the fuck changed?” Angelo demanded.
Robert felt his anger grow and then the jealousy and hatred toward Angelo build up. It came down to one simple thing.
“Because Patricia got pregnant,” Robert stated.