The Dictator (Banker 2)

“That’s inaccurate. I don’t want to be a father. I will be a father because it’s my obligation.”

She shook her head slightly. “Doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, you’re here—with me. That makes you a good man. It would be easy for you to kill me or have your brother do it. But you don’t. You’re protecting your child without even knowing them. That’s what a father does.”

She gave me more credit than I deserved. “Do you think I’ll be a good father, then?”

She turned quiet, like her next answer wasn’t as good as the previous one. “Given your situation, I think that answer is obvious.”

“Not to me.” I tried not to be disappointed by her answer, but what else did I expect?

“You’re a crime lord, Cato. Our child will always be a target for kidnapping and ransom. They’ll be exposed to the kind of lifestyle I don’t want them to see. And if they follow in your footsteps, they’ll have the same empty existence that you do. I know the money inflates your ego, but we both know you aren’t content with your life. No, I don’t think you’re the ideal man to be the father of my child.”

The answer wasn’t surprising, so I shouldn’t care about her opinion.

“So if you had it your way, you would raise our son on your own?”

She opened her mouth to answer but then shut it abruptly again. “I…I want to say yes, but I can’t. Because I don’t think I would ever deprive my child of the right to know who his father is. I would never keep you two away from each other…because it would be wrong.”

I immediately thought of the pledge I made, that I would kill her once the baby was born. That was exactly what I would be doing to our child. I would take away their mother, depriving them of the right to know her. Maybe Siena gave the answer she did because of that reason…or maybe she didn’t think about it at all.

I watched her for a long time as I gathered my thoughts. This conversation hadn’t been planned, and I didn’t know why I was asking her all these questions.

She stared at me, her beautiful eyes reflecting the light from the TV screen. “My turn. What do you want from me?”

I held her gaze without blinking, unsure what my answer was. “You know I want you.” There was no point denying it. Every action I took showed that truth. The second her lips were on mine, I caved. “And only you.” Bringing those women back to the house was a mistake. I wasted their time and my own.

“Then let’s be together. I’ll move back home, and we’ll start seeing each other again.”

“You know we can’t do that.”

“Then I’ll live here, and we can start seeing each other again. No more pushing me away. No more pretending there isn’t something here.”

That sounded good in theory, but it wouldn’t work in reality. “I know you don’t believe me, but when the day comes, I will kill you.”

Her pupils dilated slightly, the threat clearly affecting her.

“It doesn’t matter if I don’t want to. It doesn’t matter what we have. I’m Cato Marino, and I don’t let traitors go. If I let you walk away, the world will see me as weak. If I kill you, then my reputation will be amplified tenfold.”

Her eyes filled with disappointment. “And that’s why you’re so miserable, Cato. Because you care more about power than what really matters. You’re just like my father…and you will die like my father. But first, you will watch all the people you care about disappear…one by one.”

No other words had resonated with me like those did. She painted a picture in my head, an image of my ending. I did my best to stay ten steps ahead of my enemies and my allies, but it would be arrogant to think they would never catch up with me. One day, someone might be smart enough to take me down. When that happened, what would I lose? Only my wealth because I had nothing else I was afraid to lose.

“If you do it, you’ll regret it. You’ll regret it every single day for the rest of your life.”

“Maybe. But you didn’t give me another option.”

“Forgiveness. That’s your other option.”

I shook my head. “That’s something I can’t give you. Everything we had was a lie.”

“And look at us now. We still want each other as much as we did before. In fact, we want each other more. You’re telling me you want to spend the rest of your life with dumb bimbos who want to do it on the staircase? Who only care about your money?”

“You said I wasn’t your type—and you meant it.”

“You weren’t,” she said. “Not at all. But things change…”