Christ. Why did he have to go and say that? I was hoping to spill the beans to Dove once we were back at the house.
“Wha-what is he talking about, Zane?” Dove blinks, but the shocked expression on her face doesn’t dissipate.
Tension fills the vehicle. “Dammit, I didn’t want to do this yet, Matteo.”
“Why not?” He shifts in his seat. “There is no better time than the present to let my daughter know that her father isn’t dead and didn’t abandon her.”
“You’re my father?” Dove whispers so quietly I almost don’t hear her. “How… how is that possible?” She looks from me and back to Matteo, and I wish, now more than ever, that I had told her no when she begged me to go see Donna one last time. Maybe if I had said no, none of this would’ve happened.
Matteo snickers. “Well, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you where babies come from, so I’ll skip that part, but you see, your mother was actually a married woman who happened to fall in love with me. When she found out she was pregnant, we had planned to run away together. However, she had a change of heart and disappeared. When I finally found her, she was dead, and you were gone. I looked everywhere for you, but every trail led me to a dead-end. I was sure I would never find you, and then Zane came to me. As soon as he told me that Christian had been looking for you for many years, I knew who you were.”
Just from the way she tenses beside me, I can tell Dove isn’t just shocked but uncomfortable as well.
Turning toward me as if I can shield her from the truth, she opens her mouth and asks me the one question I know will be the final nail in her coffin. “Is it true? Is he really my father?”
My throat tightens, and as badly as I want to lie, I know it won’t change anything. It won’t help her. Finding out Matteo is her father, was a surprise. I thought I could get help and slip away into the night with Dove, but now I know that’s not possible. Matteo is going to do whatever he can to keep Dove in his life, and I’ll be fighting a war I can’t win if I try and keep her from him.
“Yes, he’s your father,” I say.
All I can do is watch with an ache in my chest as she works through the emotions, agony, fear, and confusion flicker across her beautiful features. After watching her closely for years, I can almost tell how she’s going to react to a situation before she even does. It’s weird, but an added plus to having stalked her for years.
“I know it’s a lot to take in on such short notice, especially after everything that’s happened, but I want you to know that now that I’ve found you, I plan to get to know you better, and be the father I never got to be,” Matteo says.
Father? I choke back my laughter. I haven’t known him long, but Matteo doesn’t take me as the father type. He’s the leader of the Castro family. All he knows how to do is order his men around and threaten people. Plus, what kind of parenting is he going to do? Dove’s an adult now and doesn’t need his money or protection. Not when she has me.
Dove is quiet the rest of the way back to the house, and when we arrive at the mansion, she seems a little overwhelmed. Once out of the car and inside the house, I take Dove’s hand into mine. “Thank you so much for helping me find her, but I think it’s time we end this charade. Her safety is my biggest priority.”
Matteo stares at me, his face blank. Two of his men hover just outside the massive wooden front door. I can feel their eyes on me.
“There is no safer place for her than here, surely, you can agree, given that you were the one to put her in the situation that got her taken by Christian in the first place?”
His remark is a kick to the balls, and if it wasn’t for Dove standing beside me, I’d have him pinned to the wall. Strangling the air from his lungs. Still, fighting with him on staying for the night isn’t something I want to do. Not when I could be holding Dove in