Chapter 188 Make A Choice Now

Chapter 188 Make A Choice Now
Dante POV

Conti had insulted me plenty of times and he'd questioned my judgment, mocked my decisions, and thrown enough taunts at me to make most men lose their temper but I have learned to take his words without letting them get under my skin yet none of them had ever pierced me as deeply as that one.

“I’m constantly worried about my daughter,” he said, his voice carrying a weight that made it impossible to dismiss his words.

“And my dying wish is to know my two children are safe.”

I stayed silent, listening. “I’m afraid I’ve given her the foolish belief that she’s invincible. She thinks she can handle you, and now she’s put so much confidence in her strength that it’s become her weakness.”

“She’s blinded by lust, and it’s clouded her judgment.” He paused, his expression hardening.

“I want to know my daughter is taken care of by a great man and not just someone who can provide for her and take care of her, but someone who can actually be good for her.”

My jaw tightened. “To love her the way I love her,” he continued. “To care for her as the small woman that she is. That’s what I want.”

He looked directly at me..“And I don’t feel that way about you.”

For a moment, I couldn't speak because I could barely get the question out. “Why?”

My voice came out quieter than I intended. “You told her you want her to be with a powerful man. Someone who can take care of her.” I swallowed, forcing myself to hold his gaze. “And I fit that bill perfectly because nothing can get past me.”

I believed that because I had built my entire life around being the man who saw threats before they reached me.

The man who stayed prepared and could protect what belonged to him but Conti didn't look convinced. “But you’re also a target and one of these days, something is going to go wrong. Someone is going to want revenge, or an attack will arrive, and you’ll never see it coming.”

He didn't soften the words. “You won’t be able to protect her.”

That was the part I couldn't accept because the idea of someone hurting her while I stood helplessly by was unbearable. “I’d die before I let anything happen to her.”

I meant every single one of them, If protecting her meant putting my life between her and whatever came for her, then I wouldn't think twice.

I'd die before I let anything happen to her.

“And in this case, you may both die. The only way to ensure that doesn’t happen is to get off this life, live a quiet life with honest work and keep your head down, that is the only way to make.sure she’s safe.”

It seemed like he was asking me to quit my job, the only job I’d ever known. It paid my bills and gave me purpose. It gave me an outlet to release my rage and without it, I wouldn’t know my identity anymore.

“When my wife told me she was pregnant, that’s when I left that life. I told my brothers I was leaving the arms business and focusing on my wine. Stepping away from crime and corruption was the only way to give my family
the life they deserved. Karma came back for us, almost ripped us apart, and then Rhylen left his business and joined mine ever since then, it’s been nothing but quiet. It was hard in the beginning, but I don’t have any regrets."

"When I found out my son had been going to the Underground, I made him promise to.stop and stay away. I don’t want to get mixed up in that lifestyle ever again. You’re the gateway to that. If you really want to be accepted into this family you’re going to have to choose. If you really want to prove yourself to me, you’ll have to make that sacrifice, no way around it.”

I had to give up my line of work for.the woman I loved. “I’m just the messenger and I get paid
to kill someone, my victims only care about the person who ordered the hit, not who pulled the trigger.”

“Grief does crazy things to people and you expect them to be that logical? If someone killed my wife, you think I would stop at the person who ordered the hit? No. I would go after every single person involved. If you really believe you’re immune, then you’re a lot dumber than I anticipated.”

“I would be able to handle anything that came our way"

He sighed. “Your arrogance scares me more than your stupidity.”

“You don’t feel confident that you could protect your wife?” I asked incredulously.

“I do because I’ve removed myself from the possibility of threat. I don’t give people a reason to kill me. Therefore, it doesn’t happen. You, on the.other hand, are making an enormous list of possible attackers. Every night she stays with you, I grow more uncomfortable by the second. When I was your age, I was arrogant too and I didn’t care whether I lived or died because I had
nothing in my life so valuable. When I met my wife, nothing changed in the beginning but as I fell in love with her, I realized she was the most valuable thing on the planet. So tell me, is Isabella worth the sacrifice? Because if she is, I’ll take you a lot more seriously.”

Now he’d put me on the spot, asked me a question point-blank. He wasn’t going to give me much time to think about it and I never wanted to leave my business because it gave me a sense of purpose, the way art gave Isabella a sense of purpose.

Every person needed something to live for. All I’d ever known was killing. It paid well, and it gave me a serious adrenaline rush. Conti kept staring at me, not dropping his gaze until I gave an answer. “I asked you a question.”

“And it’s a pretty heavy question, Conti. I need time to think about it seriously before I spit out an answer. I don’t want to say something I regret, especially when I can’t take it back.”

“I don’t see what there’s to think about,” he said coldly. “You would either walk away from that life to protect her or you wouldn’t. Which is it?”