Gabriella presses her lips together, her eyes dancing with laughter.
“He was always much happier when Gabby was around. Those two were perfect together. Hell, he’ll be happy to see her,” Malcolm says, and I know he’s just saying it to piss me off. “Having you home would be great. The kids would be happy.”
“You fucked him?” I snarl, pissed that she’s been with Malcolm’s right-hand man. I can't control my outburst. The thought of her with anyone else sets my blood on fire.
“Not your business,” she replies haughtily.
I move so that I’m in her face. “That, Mama,” I say quietly, “is where you’re wrong. You’re my business. Every fucking inch of you. So have you fucked him?”
Her eyes flash with anger and need. “Not since I fucked you,” she sighs, her cheeks flaming with redness.
“Keep it that way. You’re mine, Gabby. Mine. Anyone else touches you, and they die.”
She rolls her eyes at me. God, she thinks I'm joking? Just let them try. “When it comes to you, Mama, I’m possessive, protective, and downright obsessive. It’s time for you to catch up.”
“Alessio,” she whispers. “I don’t understand,” she says. “After what I did—”
“I get it. I told you that, babe. I get why you did it. I’m angry as fuck that you did but I can forgive it. Just as you can forgive me for not coming back when I said I would.”
“Um, Gabs,” Raylee says, interrupting us. “You may want to brace.”
My woman frowns, her lips pulled into a thin line. “What? Why?”
The front door opens, and I reach for my gun, just as Joe Ranieri walks into the house. What the fuck?
“Put the guns down,” the man growls as he glances around the room.
Dante, Makenna, Romero, and I all have our guns drawn. Malcolm has a smirk on his face, and Raylee and Gabby are looking happy but confused.
“Seriously,” Gabby snaps. “Put the damn guns away. There’s a child present!”
Fuck. I quickly put my gun away, just as the rest of my family do, but I can’t help but wonder why the hell Joe Ranieri is walking into my woman’s house like he owns the place.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” Gabby asks, pushing me out of the way and walking over to the fucker.
I do a double take as the two of them embrace. Never. Not fucking ever did I think Gabriella would be Joe’s daughter.
“He’s your dad?” I ask, still completely fucking stumped at how we never uncovered it.
Gabriella beams at me. “What’s wrong, Alessio? You look shocked.”
“You,” Joe hisses at me. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Hmm, knocking up my daughter?”
Gabriella and Raylee laugh.
“Dad, stop it. Leave it alone. You can’t say anything. At least Alessio wasn’t married when he got me pregnant.” She pauses as she walks toward me. “Right?”
I glare at her and pull her into my arms. This is where she belongs. “Think if I were married, I’d be making you mine?”
She shrugs. “Have you met my father?” She says it low, so only Raylee and I can hear.
She’s got a point. Joe cheated on his wife with a woman that’s around Gabriella’s age. All reports that have come in are saying she’s pregnant and Joe’s divorcing Christina so he can be with her. I don’t blame him. His wife is a fucking bitch.
“Why didn’t you tell me your dad was Joe?” I ask, and she sinks into my body. I fucking love having her next to me.
“Same reason I never told Dad who you were. I knew you’d freak, and he’d flip out. Besides, I’ve stayed away from your world, Alessio. I’ve seen firsthand what devastation it can cause. I don’t want that.”
I grit my teeth. Fuck. That’s not what I wanted to hear. The Famiglia is my life, and I won’t be leaving it, but I’m not leaving Gabriella behind either.