“Oh, Alessia,” I say, a tear finally shedding from her eye. I wrap my arms around her, bringing her in for a hug. “Tell me what happened.”
Wiping away the fallen tears, she says, “He changed his mind and said if I ended things with Colton, then he’d back off him. You’ve seen what my dad is capable of doing. He’ll own Colton for however long he wants. I can’t stand by and let my dad take his career—his livelihood—away from him.”
I haven’t told Alessia about Massimo pulling the strings. I don’t think her dad is innocent in any of this since this was his plan to begin with, but knowing Massimo is playing puppeteer all because of me in the background is killing me.
“So he changed his mind, just like that? But what about the money Colton’s dad owes him? I thought the whole point was to win bets?”
“He did, but I guess controlling who I see is more important to him. He said Colton can pay off his dad’s debt when he gets his signing bonus after the draft.”
“So he completely changed his mind, and then in the end got exactly what he wanted,” I mumble.
“Yeah, I know. It’s been a lot, and again, I’m so sorry. I wish I never brought it up. I should’ve just done this from thebeginning, but I was being stubborn and selfishly hoping he’d change his mind or there was something someone could do to convince him otherwise.”
“You were not being selfish. You were looking for some help in a situation where everything was going against you.”
Alessia chuckles, but it’s not humorous. It’s a pitiful sound as if she’s laughingatherself. “Yeah, I probably should’ve taken that hint and ended things with Colton back then instead of getting you involved. I hope my dad wasn’t an ass toward you or anything.”
“Oh, it wasn’t your dad who was an ass,” I mutter.
Alessia’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. I promise, your dad wasn’t an issue for me.”
She gives me another tight smile and wipes away the stray tears that were too much for her to hold back. “Well, it’s done and over with now. I appreciate you trying to look out for me. Our friendship means a lot, Liana. I’ve always looked up to you, especially since you’ve done so well for yourself outside of our world. It’s a life I was hoping I’d have too, but now… I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t really matter.” She brings her gaze back up to mine. “Just know I really appreciate you, Liana.”
Her words wrap around my heart, squeezing it uncontrollably. Alessia might be an adult, but all I see is a vulnerable girl being controlled by her father. It’s not fair. Having a life like this is not fair.
“I’ll always be here for you, and I know right now it might be hard to see, but everything will work out. I promise, Alessia.”
Marrying Massimo is the last thing I want to do, but when it comes down to it, this isn’t just Tomasso wanting to control his daughter. I’ve put myself in the middle of this, which is making everything ten times worse for her. If it weren’t for me, things wouldn’t have escalated the way they have.
I’ve gone back and forth on this numerous times, but I can’t stand by while knowing I can change everything for her. If Massimo is so desperate to have me, that means I can go into this on my terms, and that might be the only thing that will get me through this marriage with him.
13
MASSIMO
“Have we heard anything about the new supply coming in from down south? What happened with it?” I ask Gio.
“They got to the borderrightbefore the shift change, so they got held up. None of our guys were there to let them through, but they were able to delay a search of the trucks.”
“How the hell were they able to do that?”
“Gui was able to get in contact with one of the higher-ups on our payroll who told the team to leave the trucks for the next shift to inspect.”
“Well, that was fucking close,” I say, disgruntled with the fact that one of our largest shipments to date was almost seized at the border. “Since when do our men make mistakes like that?”
“I looked into it, and it seems our suppliers sent a new crew.”
“A new crew?” I grind out. “Where the fuck is our old crew?”
“Gui is working on that part, which is why he’s not here.”
I close my eyes and rub my temples. “This is fucking amateur shit.”
“I know. Gui and I have it covered, though. We’re making it crystal fucking clear to the suppliers that this type of shit is never to be pulled again or else…”
“Will the supply get here by Friday?”
