Page 108 of Redemption

Kilian had two guards carry him up the stairs. After he brought us into his father’s office, he called his mom, who said she was on her way back with Aria. I cleaned the blood off my hands and face. My black clothes hiding whatever is left.

“She has no idea.”

“About Aria?”

He shakes his head. “She figured that out. She isn’t dumb. She knows what my father’s life was like, what mine was like.” He pauses as he looks out the window from the couch he is sitting on with his leg propped up. “She doesn’t know you are here. Or who you are. She doesn’t know Alistair is dead.”

I swallow down the thoughts that she knows about Aria’s lineage. Instead, I decide to ask him about the things we need to talk about before Aria shows up.

I sit on the coffee table in front of him. “You chose this over us.” My words are quiet.

His head snaps toward me. “No. I will always choose you and Aria over everything but I know how strong you are and I know you would never let anything happen to our daughter. I know you would put a knife through Giancarlo’s heart if he threatened her.”

“I shot him,” I say as I pick at my cuticles, avoiding eye contact with Kilian.

“What?” he asks in shock.

“I shot him. I thought he had killed Magda and Salvatore. I thought he took Aria. I thought he did something to you. And I couldn’t take his lies anymore, so I shot him.”

“Fuck, Bella.” He grabs my hands. “You’re going to have a target on your back now.”

I shake my head. “Dante was there. He let me go.”

“He just let you go?”

I nod. “He seemed upset with Giancarlo. The truths or lies, whatever Giancarlo was saying, didn’t seem to go over well with Dante.” I bite my lip as I think about what happened. “He tried to save him. But I don’t think he really cared. I think he did it so others thought he was fulfilling his duty.”

“Is he dead?”

I shake my head. “Dante said he was in a coma.”

“Fuck, Bella. I can’t believe you did that.”

I shrug. “Apparently I’m in a mood for killing these days.”

He reaches forward, wincing at the movement as he cups my face. “Alistair deserved that death.”

I nod. I hold back the tears that threaten to spill over. The thoughts that I am a killer now. No better than my uncle or cousins or my brother.

Another thought pops into my head. “You killed my parents.”

“I swear to you, Bella, I didn’t know.”

“They were my world.” My voice breaks.

“If I could take it back, I would. I was young and hungry for power. I would do anything my father said.”

I take a deep breath before I ask my next question. “Did you know who I was in Dublin?”

“What?” he asks, surprised. “I had no idea.”

“Giancarlo told me you knew. Your father said you knew.”

“Lies told by men who thrive on breaking others. On holding power over people.”

I look up at him. At his beautiful blue eyes, his strong jawline. The man I would have spent my entire life with if we weren’t in this position. “Yet here you are, ready to take your father’s seat. A seat you made it seem like you didn’t want.”

He sighs and lets go of my hand, running his through his hair. “I want it to set things right. To run this business like it should be run.”

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