“No,” he choked out, wiping his eye with the back of his hand. “I hope you never have to make the kind of choices I made for the sake of survival.” This time, he looked at Angelo. “I hope you never force her to make them.”
“I would never,” Angelo shot back, his voice like a growl.
Dad nodded.
Angelo and I had the kind of love that people write stories about. The only thing which could tear us apart was death, and even then, we would still live inside each other’s hearts. My parents never had what I have with Angelo. Their marriage was strained for years. Mom turned to the bottle, and I was pretty sure my dad turned to his assistant, though I couldn’t prove it.
I tapped the button on the recorder on my phone, satisfied with the evidence he’d provided me. Reaching down to my feet, I lifted my purse onto my lap, slipped the phone inside, and stood. I couldn’t look at him anymore. He made the steak in my stomach turn with each second we spent together.
Angelo rose along with me, removed his wallet from his pocket, and dropped a few hundred dollar bills on the table. My dad attempted to stand, but Angelo held out his hand, ordering him to stay put.
“Gianna, please.” My father begged, and it killed me that I no longer felt a thing for him.
Almost every significant moment in my life involved either my dad or Angelo, and I was turning my back on him forever. He broke my heart along with my trust. How could I ever look at him the same way again?
“I need some time,” I told him, even though it was a lie.
No amount of time or space would help me heal from the gaping hole he’d left in my heart. A void, which could never be filled, would always be there because of him.
As I walked out of the vault with Angelo, I contemplated what to do with the information.
Angelo always told me blood demanded blood. I couldn’t do that to my father. But he had to pay for his sins.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Gia
Another week had passed before I came up with a concrete plan to take down my father. A girl I knew from college was now an investigative journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. But I could never involve myself in the case. After careful research, I figured out how to make a tape from the audio clip of my father admitting he killed my mom. It wasn’t as hard as I had thought.
I scanned copies of the documents, omitting the handwritten note that mentioned O’Shea. For now, I wanted my father to pay. The O’Shea family would, too. But not today. This was about ruining my father’s election and making him pay for the sins of his past.
Sonny and Faith were out for a walk when someone knocked on my office door, startling me. I glanced up from the envelope I’d just sealed and addressed to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Angelo stood in the doorway in a thousand-dollar suit and a smirk that dampened my panties. His effect on me was always instantaneous. All he had to do was enter a room for me to want to throw myself at him.
“Hey, beautiful.” He locked the door behind him and strolled over to my desk.
I smiled so wide my jaw hurt. “What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the day.”
“I want to see you.”
“Did you do something bad?”
His face lit up in answer. He raised his index finger, beckoning me to come to him, and I got up from the chair without a word.
I stood in front of him, and he towered over me, all six feet three inches of him. “Faith and Sonny will be back any minute.”
“I saw them on my way into the building.” He pushed my curls behind my ear and cupped the side of my face in his hand. “We have the next hour to ourselves.”
I flashed a wicked grin and slid my hands to his chest, feeling his muscles beneath my fingers. “What do you want to do with all this free time?”
He pressed his lips to mine, invading my mouth with his tongue, his kisses greedy and passionate. His hunger for me made me desperate for more. I could never get enough of Angelo. The more he kissed me, time folded in on itself, and I became lost inside him.
Angelo lifted me up with one hand, my body so small in comparison to his. I molded to his muscular frame, clinging to him as he pushed the papers on the edge of my desk out of the way. He lowered me onto the wood, his hand sliding up my inner thigh.
He cupped my ass with his big hands, his erection digging into my stomach as he found his place between my thighs. Planting hungry kisses on my lips, Angelo didn’t waste any time exploring my body. His hands traveled beneath my shirt and bra to cup my breasts. He massaged my nipples, giving them a little pinch.
Angelo owned my body, always taking what he wanted from me without asking. For the longest time, we’d only felt something real with each other. Until we had Faith. She warmed both of our cold, dark hearts.
He shoved my skirt up to my waist, moved my panties to the side, and slid his hand between my thighs, ripping a moan from me. My eyes shut from the intense sensation that rocked me to my core. Locking eyes with me, Angelo pulled me closer and bent forward to roll his tongue over my clit, three fingers spreading me open. Angelo wrecked me from the inside out. I was sure someone in the office had heard us, but I didn’t care.