Chapter 187 Discussing With Her Father

Chapter 187 Discussing With Her Father
Dante POV

I’d hated the Conti family for so long, but spending time with them had taught me to respect them because they were honest, honorable, and compassionate.

If Conti didn’t love his daughter so much, he wouldn’t be sitting with me right now. “It is the reason I fell in love with her in the first place. She has.bigger balls than most men I’ve met and she stood up to me when men twice her size would have shit their pants. She didn’t hesitate to try to kill me, unlike most women. She’s told me off more times than I can count… I never knew that was the kind of woman I was looking for. I respect her because she’s the first woman who didn’t just earn my respect, but commanded it and I see where she gets it.”

Conti picked up the glass, lightly tapping the side with his finger. “When I met my wife, she was the same way. Outgunned yet she stood
no chance at all but that didn’t stop her from fighting. She put me in my place so many times and I respected the way she never stopped fighting then I wished that my sister had been the same way…had fought harder and longer.”

Conti eyes lifted up to meet my eyes, pain in his look. “I was close with my sister the way Varos and bella are close. Varos looks after her even when I’ve never asked him to and they argue, but he loves her with all his heart.
When I told him you were in the picture, he said his sister was amazing and deserved better, deserved the best. I wish I could tell Isabella what he said, but he forbade me.”

“She already knows.”

Conti set his glass down. “It’s been over thirty two years, but I’ve never gotten over it. When my parents were gone, my sister turned into a daughter to me. As the oldest son, I became
responsible for my three siblings. I was there when your father pulled the trigger and I watched the bullet enter her skull and spray blood everywhere. Her eyes had been on me at the time, and when she was dead, they just glossed over… It’s the kind of shit you never forget.”

He grabbed his glass again and took another deep drink. “Your father told me to bring twenty million, and he would make the trade....her life for the cash. I showed up and did exactly as he asked. He took the money and killed her anyway.”

He looked at me, his eyes full of accusation, like I’d been present that very night.

We were supposed to keep the conversation light, but we’d somehow returned to our roots. “I’m sorry.”

My apology meant nothing in this situation because his sister’s death wasn’t my fault, but as my father’s son, I felt obligated to right the wrong. “Sorry for what?”

“My father wasn’t a good man and he did something unforgivable to your family which I can’t apologize for because I wasn’t alive when this happened but I am sorry for wanting to follow in his footsteps, for ever wanting to hurt your family in the first place. You’re good people…you deserve better."

“Don’t kiss my ass.”

“I’m not.”

I set my glass down and rested my elbows on my knees. “I think you’re blindly stubborn and need to let go of the past. I think your brothers are a hotheaded idiots, and you’re the arrogant but pragmatic one. I’m not afraid to be real with you but I do acknowledge the wrong my family committed against you. I never should have wanted vengeance. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn and narrow-minded. My father provoked your family in the first place.…”

I took a long drink of my scotch and returned the glass to the table. “Now that I love a woman with all my heart, I constantly want to protect her and the idea of something like that happening to her… I don’t even want to talk about it.”

Conti kept a straight face even though discussing this probably killed him inside. “My wife is a survivor, not a victim and that’s not how I see her or how she sees herself. Would never want her to view herself in any other
way.”

“When are you going to talk to your daughter?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure, my wife has made peace with the past and she’s been happy for a long time, to stir up those memories will just bring her down and It’ll be hard for her to talk about it, especially with her daughter.”

“I can imagine…”

Conti opened the bottle again and refilled the glasses. “Do you watch sports?”

“Occasionally. You?”

“Never.”

“Then what do you do?”

“I work then go home to my wife,” he said.

“What else would I do?”

“Sounds kinda boring,” I teased.

“You think so?” he questioned. “Then what’s your day like?”

“I work in the morning and then…” My voice trailed away when I realized my life was the same as his. I immediately went to Isabella, watching TV on the couch or making dinner together in the kitchen. My whole life revolved around her because there were no more parties or late evenings on the town.

Everything else had been sacrificed to accommodate for the diamond in my
life.

Conti gave a slight smile before he drank from his glass. “Look who’s boring now.”

“Yeah…guess so.”

He set his glass down. “I’ve talked to my wife about this situation many times. It’s all we talk about now and I mentioned the similarities between our relationships and asked her about it…asked if she would change anything. Her answer was no…that there wasn’t a better man for her out there. She wonders if you’re right for Isabella…and we just can’t see it right now.”

“I am right for her.” I fought for her every single day, and I wasn’t going to downplay my confidence. “I’m the only person man enough for her and you can sleep well knowing I’m
taking care of her.”

Conti shook his head slightly. “I don’t feel that way at all.”