“Bullshit! The plan was to kill him last so I’d have him watch as the people most dear to him died first. Like he did to me.”
I cough out a laugh, infuriated by his claims. How dare he fucking lie to me?
“I'm only standing here because my daughter deserves a life better than this. I’ll do anything to make sure she’s safe and ifbeing your prisoner again guarantees Sophie’s safety, I’ll do just that, for her.”
“You keep forgetting she’s my daughter, too!” he yells.
“Luca, calm the fuck down,” Bianca yells at him.
I take a step backward to maintain distance.
He hisses roughly and curses in Italian.
“Do you ever think you’ll get the chance to see your daughter acting like a fucking asshole?” Bianca adds.
Her words seem to have an effect on him as he takes a few steps backward.
“You should have seen her, Luca. She has your eyes.”
Luca is calmer now as he uses both his fists to cover his face for a second.
“I want to see her.”
I stand on the spot, static, as I watch him stare back at me. I’m shaking my head in response.
“She is my daughter, Gianna.”
“You gave up being her father the moment you walked away, threatening to kill me when I was pregnant with her. Your need for revenge has turned you into a monster… into someone I don’t want her knowing.”
He goes silent for a moment. There is pain in his eyes as he stares at me. “You can’t stop me.”
“Yes, I will. My daughter deserves a better father than you. I can’t have her know the monster you have become.”
Luca’s expression changes. There’s a sorrow in his eyes and I do not feel any remorse for my stand.
“I will be marrying Mateo; it is better that way.”
“You can’t let another man have my child. She is mine!” His anger is beginning to resurface.
“I’d like to go now, Bianca.”
“Please, Gianna, I beg you to let him see her. Just this once,” she says in response.
I hate being put in this position. He has no idea how much he has hurt me. How much I longed deeply for him to be with me when I found out I was pregnant.
I had no one but myself to stay strong for my baby, even when my parents were against me keeping her. Luca was never around when I had non-stop morning sickness for months or when I wasso fucking terrified of going into labor… he never experienced all those sleepless nights I spent trying to breastfeed her or calm her into sleep.
The man I loved dearly left me all alone when I needed him the most—to raise our child. Those first weeks of being a mother without him around were almost unbearable—the midnight cries and staying up all night just to watch over my little girl.
I no longer recognize the man standing in front of me. Certainly not the man I fell in love with. He would have never had me locked up in his house like his fucking prisoner.
Luca always made me happier than I’d ever been when I was with him. He used to be my safe place. Then I lost him. This was all I ever wanted with him. A family of our own, where we didn’t have to hide anymore.
Remembering our past, I realize my thoughts are quickly shifting. If nothing else, I owe the man with whom I experienced love for the first time a chance to see his child.
“Please,” Bianca adds.
I let out a sigh. “Just this once."