Page 336 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

I know how much I’ve missed but I’m here now.

That’s what counts.

Papa’s lips lift into a smile as he speaks into the phone. His deep, raspy voice is so familiar and I’ve missed it…a lot more than I would have ever imagined.

“Bellisima,” he says. “I am so happy to see you.”

I try to return the smile, but I can’t. My lips quiver, my shoulders quake. “Papa, I’m so sorry…so sorry for turning my back on you. I didn’t know what happened that night. I didn’t know the truth. And even if it was true, I never should have ignored you that way and left you here by yourself.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t cry,mi amore. I always knew Frankie would get you to come for a visit.”

“I-I shouldn’t have waited,” I sputter. “I should have come on my own.”

“I am just so happy to see you,” he whispers, a tear in his eye. “I don’t care why you didn’t come before.” He peers behind me. “Did you come alone? Is Frankie with you?”

“No, Papa.” I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand, my voice cracking as I deliver the news that no parent ever wants to hear. “Something happened. Something bad, and he…he…” I shake my head, knowing I need to speak the words, but also fearing what the reality will do to my father who’s already lost so much.

But Papa doesn’t need me to say a thing. He can see it in my eyes and on my face, and big tears slide down his sunken cheeks as we grieve over our loss.

I long to reach out and grab him, to pull him close and to bury my head in his neck like I did when I was a little girl who needed the comfort of her papa. Back then, I always believed he’d protect me and keep me safe.

I know he’d do the same right now if he could.

Except now he’s behind bars serving a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit.

And the Plexiglas prevents me from giving him comfort when he needs it most.

I’ll never be able to hold him, to hug him, to feel his warmth.

I’ll never be able to cry on his shoulder.

I’ll never be able to hold his hand.

And I’ll never be able to kiss him goodbye.

There are so many things I’ll never be able to do…things I took for granted before because I didn’t accept him or the life he lived.

But now I understand his truth and the price he is paying for his own sins.

He may not have killed the Russian soldier, but he battled with others and took plenty from them.

His penance is living with the harsh realization that almost everything good in his life is no longer.

Almosteverything.

Because he still has me.

And I still have him.

I hate that I wasted so much time, but at least, I have the rest of his life to make up for it.

That is, if he doesn’t disown me for falling in love with the son of his enemy.

But if it’s one thing I’ve learned in the past twenty-four hours, it’s that the lives we lead are a direct result of the choices we make…good, bad, or otherwise.

I think we’ve both made enough bad ones to last us a lifetime.

It’s time to start making some good ones.

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