The Mafia and His Obsession: Part 1 (Tainted Hearts 4)

He growled, taking a step forward. “I am done with your disrespect, boy. This ends here or I will be forced to take you down, got it? Don’t embarrass yourself in front of your brothers.”

Game on, Father.

His eyes sparked in warning and anger. When I took a step forward, he snapped.

Moving forward in a flash, his fist made contact with my face before I could move. He grabbed me by the throat, slamming me into the wall. I winced at the impact but stayed stubbornly quiet.

Whatever he believed, and the disrespect I pushed his way, I wasn’t going to raise my hands on my father. Call me a pussy and make me wear a fucking pink tutu, at least I knew when to draw a line.

His fingers tightened around my throat, but I didn’t give him the satisfaction of wincing again. I bore the pain and stared straight into his eyes. “This isn’t going to make me submit…” I strained to get the words out.

His hold loosened just a little, giving me enough space to talk without choking me. “You fucked up and now I’m paying for it. Before I was even born, you messed up my life.”

At my words, he lost the angry demeanor. His expression turned almost sorrowful. “I didn’t think it would come to this. If I knew what I was doing then, I would have stopped. I would never fuck up your life willingly, son. Believe me or not, if I had a choice, I would have protected you from this stupid game.”

He let me go and took a step back. The regret in his voice couldn’t be mistaken, and for a moment I forgot my anger too.

Isaak shook his head, his eyes staring down at his feet for a moment before his hard stare pinned me against the wall again. “But we are too deep into this shit—and we have no choice. To protect those we care about, we make sacrifices. And this is a sacrifice you have to make. I’m just sorry that my past brought you to this path.”

When I remembered the shit hole I had to crawl back into, the anger came back. Ten times worse.

His past fucked up my future, and now I was an unwilling piece in this game. Some days I was the pawn and others, I was the knight. A slave and then a fighter.

“Because of you, now Solonik thinks he owns me. He thinks I am someone he can use. All because of you, Isaak. If you’re looking for forgiveness, you aren’t getting it,” I mumbled.

I moved away from the wall and turned my attention to Alessio, who was watching the scene silently, his face void of any emotions.

“You are leaving tomorrow,” he said when Isaak didn’t reply.

I nodded, my back straightening at his order. “Get back to Solonik and do whatever you have to do. Make him believe you, play the cards carefully, and when the time is right, he will fall and we will rise yet again.”

Alessio looked thoughtful for a moment, but he didn’t say anything. I knew whatever he was thinking was another fucked up plan. He loved games, and he never did anything without a back-up plan.

“Back to the hell hole, huh?” Phoenix muttered from the other side of the room.

“Couldn’t have said it better,” I agreed.

Alessio’s expression didn’t change. No sympathy whatsoever. One minute he was a caring brother, but he could be a heartless son of a bitch when he wanted.

Speaking of being a heartless bastard…there was a big fucking loophole here.

“Why is Ayla not pissed off or surprised that I’m alive? Actually, Maddie doesn’t seem that surprised either,” I asked.

Alessio closed his eyes before resting his head back against his chair.

“Oh! That’s a story you would want to know. Epic, man!” Phoenix laughed. Even Nikolay was smiling—or half smiling—well, smiling in his standards.

“Fuck you,” Alessio snapped, his eyes still closed. If I knew better, he was probably hoping a hole would open and swallow him whole.

Well, that was new.

“Ayla heard us talking a few months ago. She was spying behind the door,” Alessio started. “When I went back to our room, she confronted me. I couldn’t lie anymore. It was no use. She already heard us talking.”

“Tell him what happened afterwards,” Phoenix pushed, still laughing like a fucking hyena.

“Shethrewavaseatme.”

“Huh?” I asked, not understanding a word he said during his gibberish.

“She threw a fucking vase at my head!”

Cue. Laughing like a hyena.

“He has a scar to prove it,” Lyov jumped in. His face was red as he tried to hold in his laughter too. “It’s close to his hair line, so it’s hidden.”

“Ayla threw a vase at your head?” I asked again, not believing them.

He shook his head, finally opening his eyes. Alessio threw everyone a glare, effectively shutting them down. “Her…umm…hormones have been a little off since she became pregnant again. I don’t know if today is the day she cries her eyes out every minute, or she wants to kill me or she suddenly decides that I am the perfect husband.”