Page 33 of Wild Heart
I keep staring at him, but I don’t sit down. I’m not sure if he brought up Charlie as a threat, but if he mentions her again, I’m ready to tear his heart out.
Then I remember this is my future father-in-law. For Isabella’s sake, I need to do this right.
Forcing a tight smile, I sit back down.
“Daughters are precious.”
“Yes,” he agrees. “Which is why I need mine back in my house, where I know she’s safe.”
“What if Isabella doesn’t want to go?”
Carlo takes a deep breath. “I have powerful enemies, Raiden. And powerful men know that their women are their weaknesses. Isabella is a target. As was my late wife.”
He swallows hard at the mention of his wife, and I wonder if the old crime boss has a heart after all.
“I will not let my enemies get to my daughter. I have ways of keeping her safe. Plans that will ensure her safety in the future.”
His hand forms a fist on the table, the only indication of how agitated he is.
A surge of empathy flares inside me. It must be horrendous to fear your daughter will be taken. But Isabella can’t live her life behind bars. And not when that life is with me.
“I can keep her safe.”
Carlo tilts his head and regards me. He must read something in my expression, because his look softens. “You love her.”
He says it matter-of-factly, no emotion, and I wonder what he thinks of a man the same age as he is being with his daughter.
“Yes,” I say simply. “I’m going to marry her.”
Shock flashes across his face and then it’s gone, replaced by a neutral expression.
“And I suppose this was her idea?”
I shake my head. I don’t think it was, only that she’s withholding sex until she’s wed, but even without that incentive, I was going to make her my wife someday.
“No. I proposed this morning, and she accepted. We’d like your blessing.”
His lips turn up in a smile, and a low chuckle rumbles out of his throat.
“The little minx is cleverer than I thought.”
He looks down and shakes his head, amused. I don’t know what’s so funny, and I get the feeling I’m missing something.
“Explain.”
Carlo looks at me, and now there’s pity in his expression.
“I’m sorry, Raiden. It looks like she’s played you.”
I don’t like being left out of the joke, and I reach across the table and grab him by the lapels. His men spring forward, but Carlo speaks rapid Italian and they pause.
“Tell me what the fuck you mean.”
“Okay, but I hate to be the one who breaks your heart.”
What he’s saying doesn’t make sense. He’s talking as if Isabella has been using me, but that’s not the case. Everything we’ve shared is real.
I think.
