“Are you okay?”
She jumped at the unexpected sound of a voice, but immediately relaxed when she recognized it as Connor’s. He came to stand beside her, and the concern in his eyes just made her feel worse for some reason.
“No,”she said. She didn’t even realize that she was crying until she blinked and a tear ran down her cheek. He wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. “Those poor women.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. The trauma they experienced, the sickening fear in their eyes, it’ll haunt me forever. Because I know that my own father is the cause of it. My own flesh and blood.”
“That doesn’t make you responsible.”
Then, why do I feel so guilty?
“I know, but it’s hard to accept that I’m related to such a callous bastard.” She swallowed thickly and turned her eyes to the overgrown fields. “It’s even harder knowing that I need to make a decision for the greater good.”
“And what’s that?”
“Made dad needs to go. He can’t be allowed to keep running the mafia. He’s a monster.”
Conner arched a single eyebrow. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
She nodded. “My father willneverwillingly give up his power, so…someone has to take him out.”
Saying the words out loud made her wonder if she was a horrible person.
“Maybe I’m a monster too, for suggesting such a thing,” she continued. “But I think I’d be even worse if I kept looking the other way.”
“You’re not a monster,” he said, and he looked like he meant it. He really never did lie to her. “But even if your dad was gone, we would need someone to take his place that was better. Someone that wouldn’t cross these kinds of lines.”
Alessia thought about that for a moment. “Joe Costa,” she said, remembering the way that he told her to stay away from Dave. She’d heard that he was a devoted family man, so much so that her father had started to question his loyalty to the organization.
“Are you sure?”
“I think he’d be the best option.”
“I trust your judgment. I’ll have Owen reach out to the guy for a private meeting.”
“Can we go home?” she asked, suddenly exhausted.
Connor grinned. “Yeah. Let’s gohome.”
Alessia thought that he might have liked hearing her refer to his place that way, but she couldn’t be sure. Her emotions were so fried that she didn’t know if she was imagining things.
When they got home, he held her hand as they walked into the house, leading her to the bedroom. She felt like she was in a daze, relying on him to take care of her in her overwhelmed state.
He helped her out of her clothes, but there was nothing sexual about it. He pulled one of his shirts over her head and led her to the bed. Turning out the light, he covered them both with the blanket. She was lying on her side, and he moved in close behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist, and kissing the back of her neck.
“You did a good thing by coming to us, you know,” he said. “You saved those women.”
How did he know the right thing to say to make her feel better? Placing her hand over his, she finally felt herself fully relax in his arms. The moment she closed her eyes, she was drifting off to sleep.
16
CONNOR
“Brogan isn’t joining us?” Connor asked as he took a seat beside Owen. Declan was already sitting at his other side.
“He and Amy have an appointment with her doctor,” Owen said. “I guess they are having an ultrasound today.”
