I pinched the bridge of my nose, anticipating the onslaught of bickering.
Barely fazed by her barb, Papà folded his lean body into a chair and reclined back, eyeing her infuriatingly. “Ex-husband? Must have missed the memo, considering you’re into draining my bank account like you’re my current wife. Last I checked, you bought three new pairs of designer shoes on my credit card, Lucia, and I didn’t complain one bit. So are you going to rein in the attitude and welcome me home or keep acting like I’m a parasite?”
Mamma bristled. “This isn’t your home, Enzo.”
“It used to be.” He tilted his head, staring at her like he was enjoying watching her squirm. “Youused to be.”
A blush tainted her cheeks and she cocked a fist on her apron-clad hip, snapping, “What do you want? Have you come here to be fed scraps?”
He smirked with the sinister edge of a mob man. Papà was one of the best shots in the city and could take out anyone within the blink of an eye. No one dared to push his buttons. Except for Mamma. He loved it too, always letting her get away with it. “Some respect, for starters, would be great. But I’ll settle for a glass of your finest wine,principessa.”
“If you think I’m going to—oh.” Mamma’s eyes bugged out of their sockets as she swayed towards him. “Enzo, you’re bleeding.”
Papà opened his suit jacket, retrieved his gun, and carefully placed it on the table. “Now you care, huh?”
True to her words, he had a streak of blood smattered on his left temple. “Papà,” I whispered meekly. “What happened to you?”
“I’m okay,” he reassured and I went over to him with a clean washcloth. I dabbed at the blood. “I’m here to tell you that I’ve handled the situation.”
I paused, suspicion sinking into me. “What?”
“He’s gone. The one who taunted you. I killed him.” Papà gripped my wrist. “No one will ever hurt you on my watch,” he said vehemently. “Te lo prometto.”
The washcloth fell from my hand and Mamma gasped behind me at the news.
A sense of peace punctured through the worry that had accumulated for weeks. I closed my eyes, fighting back the sting in them and thinking about all those times that I spent frightened of a potential bad outcome and never truly feeling relaxed because of this situation.
“Truly?” I swallowed. “Is it really over?”
“Yes. Starting tomorrow, you can return to your apartment. We’ll double up the security in your building and Oscar can still shadow you if it helps you feel safer. But you’re free now, Gabriela.”
I hugged him tight. “Thank you so much, Papà. I love you.”
“You never have to thank me for protecting you. It’s my job, kiddo.” He kissed my head. “I love you too.”
“Who was it?” Mamma asked, shuffling closer.
Papà scowled. “Maverick. The security guard. Turns out, he had a vendetta against our daughter.”
I froze.
What? Maverick was responsible for the break-in?
“He wasn’t happy that you rejected him, Gabriela. The asshole had an extra set of keys and snuck into your apartment when you weren’t there. We installed new cameras on your floor last week and caught him on tape today, walking out with a bag of your spare…undergarments.” Papà coughed and looked away, awkward. “When Vance and I tortured him, he confessed that he started a lucrative side hustle where he sold your belongings—alongside those of other women in the building—online to men who are into that kind of thing…I’m so sorry all this happened to you,cara mia. You didn’t deserve it.”
I was wheeling between feelings of humiliation, fury, and shock. Maverick was stealing other women’s and my lingerie and selling it to creeps online? What. The. Hell. Every now and then, I’d notice a missing thong from my drawers and thought I was going crazy.
To top it off, the motherfucker actually had the audacity to break into my place and scare me because I rejected him?
It was very sad and disheartening that some men couldn’t take no for an answer. The lack of respect for women was astounding.
Call me cruel, but I was glad he was gone. Papà was a ruthless man, soft only with me and Mamma, so I knew he gave Maverick the ending he deserved.
“Good riddance,” I spat. “Did he say why he wrote that messed-up quote on my wall? I didn’t peg him as someone who read Shakespeare.”
“No,” Papà said right as Mamma placed a glass of wine before him. Her thank-you to him for protecting me. “He denied writing it and unfortunately, prior to your break-in, there were no cameras in the corridors of the units.” It was an older building from the ’70s in a vastly safe neighbourhood. There hadn’t been a need for cameras beyond the underground parking lot, ground floor, and staircases, as I’d been explained in the past. Clearly, the lesson was learned and new upgrades were installed. “But the CCTV footage showed him breaking into other women’s apartments enough times today for us to conclude it was him vandalizing your wall. For what it’s worth, he did beg for mercy and apologized for stealing from you, but I still gutted him like a fucking animal.”
“As you should, Enzo.” Mamma poured two more glasses of wine. One for me. One for her. “I’m so relieved the threat is gone. Our baby is safe and that’s all that matters.”
