I put myself in front of her and aim my gun at Alessandro’s head. But then an idea hits me. I lower my gun and use it to hit Alessandro in the head, knocking him out cold.
“What are you doing?” Emma asks as I drag Alessandro down the stairs. His head bumps against each step, making me laugh. “Leo? Leo!”
“I am going to show you what kind of man your father really is. I promised, didn’t I? This is my chance.” I bring him down to the basement and set him on my torture table. Emma hovers behind, clearly uncomfortable by this but she stands there, trying to look brave.
I strap Alessandro to the table. “There. Now I can torture him. Make him pay for what he and his brother did to Gabriel’s family.”
“Why do you care so much?” she whispers. “Gabriel’s family is not your own.”
“Because Gabriel is like a brother to me. What hurts him, hurts me. I will get revenge for him even if he can’t see that. But it’s for the best. Besides, I can get more information out of Alessandro.”
“What kind of information?”
“The kind where he tells us where all of his men are stationed. Then me and Gabriel can attack, killing off his followers. That will prevent a war. No one will mess with us then.” I slap Alessandro’s face, waking him back up. “Hi there. You fucker. You thought you could come into my home and steal my wife from me?”
Alessandro spits in my face. I don’t let it faze me. “She is my daughter.”
“The daughter you didn’t help raise. You really didn’t know about her?”
“I knew Valentina had kept something from me when she ran away. She disappeared. But I never knew it was my own daughter. I have a right to her.”
I turn to Emma. “You hear that, Emma? He thinks he has a right to you. I think you can tell that your father is not a good man. You didn’t want to go with him. Why?”
She hesitates before speaking. “He came in and grabbed me. It didn’t feel right.” She looks into her father’s eyes. “Why didn’t you just ask me to go with you? You’re my father. If you had promised to keep me safe, I would have gone. You didn’t need to use force.”
“See?” I say. “That’s the kind of man your father is. He only wants what he wants. He doesn’t care about anyone else. He doesn’t care about you, Emma. You’re just a prize to him because his wife denied you him.”
“Your mother never should have kept you from me,” he snaps.
“What were you going to do to me?” Emma whispers. “When you took me.”
“I was going to bring you to my home where you belong.”
“And keep me safe?”
“Of course,” Alessandro says.
“Lies,” I snap. “It’s all lies.” I grab Alessandro’s face, forcing him to look at me. “What were you going to do to Emma? When you took her. What were you going to do?”
“You really want to know? Fine. I was going to punish her for her mother’s mistake. That bitch took my own daughter and ran away. I was going to make Emma pay for it.”
I can hear Emma gasp behind me but I keep my eyes glued to Alessandro. “How? How were you going to make her pay?”
“I want her dead,” he snaps. “If she’s dead, then you can’t use her against me. Her own mother would feel the misery of keeping her from me.”
“You wanted to kill your own daughter? You’re an evil fucker, aren’t you?”
Alessandro laughs before spitting in my face. “I have nothing left to lose. You have me strapped to this table. You’re going to kill me.”
“Why be reckless?” I ask. “Why come here and grab Emma?”
“Because you’re an arrogant fucker. You don’t have any security around your house, watching her. The moment you left, I made my move.”
I press my forehead to Alessandro’s. “She is mine. Not yours. Mine. And you will feel the pain of knowing you lost everything before you died.” I walk over to the table covered with knifes and pick one up. It’s a large, butcher knife.
“Emma?” I say, turning to her. “How do your father’s words make you feel?”
She frowns. “He wanted me dead. How could you want me dead?” she asks to her own father.
