He shot a man in cold blood, right in front of me.
He knocked his wife unconscious with no remorse.
He’s letting his daughter bleed on the floor without a second thought.
“She’s not my daughter, Alessandria. These two women I entrusted with your life have been lying to me. And that man I shot? He was having an affair with not only Penelope but my wife as well.” He stops right in front of me and I hit my back on the wall.
His gaze sweeps me from head to foot. This time he grimaces, his eyes stopping on the patches of dirt and blood on me.
“Not to mention what he tried to pull with you.”
My mouth drops open in shock.
“That’s right. I know. Patricia filled me in as soon as you called her.” He smiles, but it holds no humor as his tone drips with bitterness. “I should have killed him back then, but Penelope begged me to spare him.”
I’m shaking my head: my mind is hazy with everything he’s throwing at me. He wants me to understand, speaking with a soft voice, pleading for me to understand the reasons for his actions.
“Alessandria. I had every intention of taking care of you andPenelope, but I found out she had known she wasn’t my daughter for years. She, along with Patricia and Colin, had hatched this plan to get rid of you so Penelope would inherit my company.”
My heart stops and Gabe’s words come back to me in a flash.
Get the girl. Kill the agent.
“Wait. You-you don’t mean?”
“Yes, Alessandria. That message the FBI intercepted came from Penelope. I would have never been that sloppy. She took advantage of the fact that I was dealing with the feds seizing one of my bigger shipments—a shipment that was secured by your husband during his work undercover. Penelope had no idea that Noah wasn’t with you. She was handling some of our European contacts at the time, and she knew I was indisposed. This was her one chance to get to you without me knowing.” He grits his teeth, revisiting a memory that enrages him. “When I was finally able to get in touch with my contact, you were already in witness protection. I was livid, and it didn’t take me long to figure out who double crossed me. But I couldn’t kill her. Not yet. So I bided my time. I decided then that I wanted all three of them alive to give you that option.”
“What option?”
“The option to choose their punishment.”
I gasp, my free hand coming up to cover my mouth while the other still grips the gun.
“I would never!”
My father releases a breath, his face full of resignation.
“I can see you are more like your mother than you are me. Marrying a federal agent has also lent to your ability to only see things in black and white.”
His hand grips my chin, tilting it up so he can get a better look.
“You look so much like Chloe. Except for those eyes. Those are mine.”
He says it so softly I almost miss it.
I swallow audibly, pressing my lips together to keep myself from flinching.
This was not what I figured would happen when I finally met my father. There is no warmth or fluttery feeling whatsoever. Just sheer terror.
There’s intent to murder in his eyes when people don’t fall in line.
He’s staring at me and suddenly the terror gives way to understanding.
This man is still in love with my mother. He is projecting it onto me thinking I could somehow fill that gaping hole inside him that my mother left. He is taking out his anger at missing a life with Mom out on Patricia. Missing out on being my dad on Penelope.
He will not stop until every person who dares covet me is dead.
And that includes Noah.