Page 57 of Chaos & Corruption

There’s no argument there.

“I know why you did what you did and while it should’ve been me who handled that little cunt, I’m grateful there is a man who cares about my daughter so deeply that he’ll risk everything he’s worked so hard for just to defend her honor. It says a lot.”

“I didn’t plan on your daughter, Mr. Bianci,” I admit. “If I’m being honest, I didn’t want anything to do with her. I knew I couldn’t afford a distraction. But she wormed into my life and now all I want is her. I don’t care about football. I don’t care about this fucking school either. I just want her. I put you in a bad position last night. Hell, I put a lot of people in bad situations last night, including Mila. But I couldn’t help myself and as soon as your daughter wakes up, I’m going to tell her I love her because that’s the only thing I am sure of. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ll take that gun, if you’re offering it to me, and I give you my word, no one will ever touch her again. No so long as I’m breathing.”

It’s true.

I’ll kill anyone who hurts her.

He stares at me for a beat, then jerks his chin.

“Love, huh?”

My response is instant.

“Yes, sir.”

I don’t know when it happened, or how I allowed it to even happen, but for the longest time it was football I loved. No more. Now, it’s the girl with mis-matched eyes.

“She love you too?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “But if she doesn’t, there’s time. I’ll earn her love.”

“Think you already did, kid,” he grunts. “You plan on telling her what happened?”

I didn’t get that far, but I don’t see how I can hide it from her when Mila was a witness.

“I don’t plan on lying to her,” I reply.

He lifts an eyebrow.

“And you think she’ll be okay with that?”

I think she’ll understand why I did what I did. There’s a chance she’ll be angry. I mean, the girl came here to fix the justice system.

“She’s your daughter, what do you think?”

“I think it’s a good a thing the girl wants to be a criminal attorney. Saves me a whole lot of money.” He blows out a breath. “If she’s anything like her mother, and trust me she is, she’s gonna accept it. She might not like it, but she’s gonna defend it and maybe even love you more for it. You get her love, you do everything in your power to keep it. You turn the page and write one fuck of a story with her.”

“I can do that.”

“You better or you’re going to find yourself in a hole not too far from where I put that piece of shit.”

Right.

Good talk, Mr. B.

Good talk.

Twenty-One

Alex Reggiano

“C’mon,Alex. Today is going to be the day. I can feel it,” Mila calls from the living room.

She says that every day, and every day I pray she’s right. That today is the day Victoria opens her eyes.

I swipe my car keys from Victoria’s dresser and fit my baseball cap to my head. I have been staying in Victoria’s room since the night of the incident. After Mr. B took me for that drive and schooled me on the ins and outs of protecting his daughter, we went to the hospital to spend time with our girl. She was still sedated, and the doctors said she would be for a while. They also warned us that her bruises would get worse before they got better. As hard as it was to sit there and see her like that, I never wanted to leave. But I got the feeling Mr. B and his wife wanted to spend some alone time with their daughter. Not to mention, Luca had flown in, and that guy hated me. It didn’t matter that he knew absolutely nothing about me or that his father had somewhat welcomed me into the fold, I was the guy dating his little sister, therefore I was the enemy.

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