By Virtue I Fall (Sins of the Fathers #3)(95)

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, not nearly enough when a knock rang out.

“I fear this might be my mother,” Anna said with an apologetic smile.

Valentina came in as if on cue. She was still dressed in a dark green evening gown, with an elegant updo and high heels. She was dressed to celebrate her daughter’s wedding, but instead, she visited me in the hospital for what I knew would be a very unpleasant conversation.

Valentina’s face made her displeasure very clear. I couldn’t believe that she’d stopped the wedding alongside Anna. One thing was sure, she hadn’t done it because she wanted Anna and me together.

“Let me have a word with Santino,” she said, and her voice was pure steel, not brooking an argument.

“Mom.”

“Anna,” Valentina said sharply. “You and Santino have been playing your father and me for a long time, and I think it’s my right to talk to Santino now. I want to hear his take on things.”

I gave Anna an encouraging smile. I was a big boy. I could handle her mom.

Anna slinked out but not before giving her mother a pleading look. I doubted it made much of an impression.

I had to admit, I would have preferred a confrontation with Dante at this point. Valentina looked like a lioness determined to protect her cubs and she had every intention of ripping me apart.

“Did you lie?”

I raised my eyebrows, trying to figure out which instance she was referring to.

“When I talked to you shortly before we flew to Paris, you said you had absolutely no interest in my daughter and only saw her as a job. Were you lying? Did you already have an affair with my daughter at that point? Maybe even before she was of age?”

“There was nothing between me and Anna before she turned eighteen,” I said immediately, which was mostly true. “And it was my determination to keep a professional relationship with her, so I didn’t lie that day.”

“But you knew she was interested in you, and you weren’t completely disinterested.”

My first instinct was to lie, and I probably would have done it if the thought that Valentina might become my mother-in-law one day hadn’t crossed my mind.

If Dante didn’t kill me for sleeping with his daughter and ruin the bond with the Clarks. I didn’t want to start a possible family bond with a lie. “Yes, I did. But I was sure I was strong enough to stay professional.”

“You weren’t,” Valentina said in a clipped voice.

“Anna is a very strong-willed woman. She knows what she wants and how to get it.”

“So you’re saying you couldn’t possibly have resisted her advances and you’re not at fault?”

“Oh it’s my fault. I fell in love with Anna, and I pursued her once I realized it. I enjoyed the time we got to spend together in Paris and I hated the idea of her marrying Clifford.”

“You love my daughter?”

“I love her more than anything. If I’d woken in time, I would have stopped the wedding myself. Hell, I would have pushed Clifford aside and married her myself.”

Valentina regarded me in silence for a moment before she gave a satisfied nod. Then a small smile spread on her face. “If my husband doesn’t kill you, I’m sure I can eventually make peace with you.”

“Thanks?”

The door opened again but this time it was Dad. The tension in his body told me he wasn’t alone. He gave Valentina a quick nod in greeting before he moved to my side and sank down in the chair that he’d occupied for countless hours in the last few weeks. Dante stepped in after him. I stifled a groan.

Valentina headed toward her husband and whispered something in his ear before she slipped out. Dante’s expression was absolutely unreadable.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Dante said as he stepped into the room. “Give me a moment with your son.”

Dad didn’t budge. I’d never seen him refuse a direct order from his Capo. I touched his arm. “Grab a coffee. You look like hell.”

Dad rose from his chair but still didn’t leave.

Dante didn’t say anything, but his jaw tightened.

“Dad, I’ll be fine.”

Dad stepped back and slowly walked toward the door. Dante nodded at him, then said, “I’m a man of honor, Enzo. I have no intention of harming your son.”

Some of the tension left Dad, and after another glance at me, he finally left.

“The last few weeks were enlightening. And the last few days in particular so.”

I had to stifle a grin. I really wished I’d witnessed Anna saying no in church. That was my biggest regret right now.

Dante narrowed his eyes as if he could see my excitement.

“How long has this been going on?” Dante asked in a voice I’d heard during interrogations before. I was treading on thin ice, but I had no intention to deny my feelings for his daughter.

“I never touched her before she was of age.”

“So you waited for her birthday to touch her?”

“No, I never intended to extend our relationship past professional but Paris changed things.”

If I had to die for this love, then I’d do even that. I wanted Anna. I’d downplayed my feelings for this woman for too long. I’d taken several bullets for her and I didn’t regret a single one, nor would I ever regret a single moment with her. I’d dreamed of them while I’d been in a coma, if you could call it dreaming or hallucinations, and those precious moments had helped me pull through. I’d wanted to add more memories with her to my life.