Arianna POV:
I drove to my father's house, a cold calmness powering me there. I wasn't going to let the charade continue any longer, but I needed to be safe. I didn't know how my father would react if he would lash out. The surety Gio spoke with about my father being dangerous, flashed into my mind as I turned my car off.
I found my palms slick with fear, a feeling of retreat attempting to grip me. I shook it off remembering my fury at the ongoing deceit. I wouldn't do it any longer, I had to open the door.
I forced myself into the house, I didn't focus on my unsteady footsteps, or my shuddering breath as I moved down the hall to his office. He was sitting at his desk going over paperwork.
I was about to enter the office when a thought entered my head. I don't know why but I turned around and went to the kitchen taking photos of everything in the file. Something in me warned me against handing over the information to him. I put the file back out in my car underneath my floor mat.
I moved back to my place outside his office before I took one last deep breath. I highly doubted he would fess up right away. Still, I walked into the room and he looked up at me with a surprised expression.
"What are you still doing up it's 3 am, you just get home?" He looked at me and his face darkened. "What's going on," he stood up.
Any and all words failed me, I couldn't remember a single syllable of the English language. I was ready to tell him I knew everything but a different fear had control of me now. I hadn't realized how scared I was of being alone, of no family, but the threat of it now had me mute.
"Kiddo you're starting to scare me tell me what's going on before I have to figure it out for myself," he came around the desk and looked me over like I had bumped my head or something.
"A detective," I sputtered. "A detective spoke to me today,"
He listened his grip on my arms and the expression of worry deepened. He walked back around his desk. "Oh yeah, what did he say?" He sighed rubbing his chin with his eyes closed.
"He claimed you were laundering money, and they had evidence of racketeering," I explained. "All things connected to the mob," I pressed.
He looked me in the eyes and nodded sighing and shaking his head. "That's true but there is no real claim they just don't like it when the little guy gets big Arianna, trust me I wouldn't do that. Risk all I've built-"
"I found the file mom had," I blurted out, as nervous as I was his lies were tiresome.
He deflated a bit I'm sure realizing there was nowhere left to run. He nodded stood up and walked over to his bar cart.
Did all mob bosses have a bar cart on hand at all times for when they were confronted with their sins?
He poured two glasses and handed me one, I hesitantly grabbed it. I didn't think he'd poison me, my mother knew for years and he'd never touched a hair on her head. Gio thought he was this devil, but even the devil must love someone. My mother was gone all he had now were me and my sister.
"I knew she'd kept something," He stated sitting down on one of his armchairs by the fire, if I wasn't so disturbed I would have found the cliche moment very funny.
"How could you not tell me," I demanded setting down my drink and getting to the root of the problem.
"Your mother had just died, I'm being investigated, and we've got Giovanni scratching at the gates," He listed off the various excuses I'm sure he had at the ready. "But most of all I didn't want you mixed up in this mess, I wanted you safe," He pleaded and I felt like I should believe him.
Though I couldn't tell if it was because I wanted to believe him or because I knew he was telling the truth, I felt as if it was a mixture of both. I wanted to say I was on guard the whole time, that I didn't believe a word out of his mouth, but when he looked at me I saw the sympathy only father can have for his daughter.
"I want the whole truth," I told him sitting down across from him and grabbing my drink back letting it rest in my hands.
In his defense, he gave me the whole truth. How it had started out as simply taking things off the back of the truck, then washing some money for some friends, fudging the numbers here and there on the tax report. Before he knew it they were in too deep and comradery of crime had been built. They were too deep in to get out, and they were against some bad guys.
Somehow my father had found the right amount of dirt on them and had come out top, but in doing so one of his friends got greedy and threatened to go to the cops if my father didn't pay up. That's who's in the photos after my father had refused to pay he came to our house and threatened my mother, which is how she found out. She'd hired a P. I after that tailed my father and found him getting rid of the loose thread, as Gio had put it.
He explained that after that it was a done deal, he'd owned the city, and my mother had left. He'd had nothing left to lose so he had started building up his empire. What had started out as just trying to make ends meet had now become a criminal empire.
A few years ago Gio showed up in town and started buying up businesses and making ground like lightning, my father didn't trust him at all but they were at a stalemate and both were being investigated by the feds. They were in this out of pure desperation, and both were trying to use the situation to their advantage.
I guess that was just their nature.
When he was finally over I downed my drink and sat back in the chair. It seemed to be believable, I'm sure the was far darker stuff he had kept out for my sake. There was no way he had grown that powerful without spilling blood. The photo flashed into my head again. If that's what he did to friends I can only imagine what he's done to his enemies. I sat for a second thinking of what to say, what to do, I knew everything now. Do I stay and turn a blind eye to all of his misdeeds just because we share DNA? Do I go home and forget he ever came back into my life? What about Guilia? I couldn't abandon my sister again, I didn't want to miss her wedding or her first child. If purely for my sister's sake I wanted to stay.
I now found the man across from me a total stranger once more, seeing him in a new harsher light. The efforts my mother went through to keep me in the dark now made much more sense, what child wants to live with the weight of this on their shoulders. I felt guilty for being angry with her, she had done the right thing. I felt like Pandora's box had been opened and it was sitting in my lap, all the evil in the world spilling out around me ripping the paint off the walls and tainting the carpet.
If I stayed I wanted no part in their organizations or their game of cat and mouse. I wanted only to be there for Guilia who would know nothing about this. She was happy and carefree, I will do for her what my mother did for me and keep the world bright and shiny. I think it helps those of us who look darkness in the face to see the sunshine on those we love.
"All right," I finally spoke. "I won't tell a soul,"
"I knew you wouldn't darling," He grinned, if he thought that meant I would play any part in this scheme he was wrong.
"Let's get this straight though, I am here for Guilia's sake and Guilia's sake alone. I will not snoop, cheat, or lie for you. As far as you and I are concerned we're polite to one another but we have no relationship," I clarified.
His jaw set for a moment and I saw something linger behind his eyes before he relaxed. "I wish you didn't see me as the bad guy darling, I only did what I did for our family,"
"I don't doubt that, but I'm not dirtying my hands," I reiterated.
"I wouldn't dream of such a thing,"
There it was the first lie of the conversation, I didn't know what he intended for me but staying out of this wasn't it. I was too prized by his opponent not to be and let's face it my sister didn't exactly have the wherewithal to handle being in the mob.
I stood up and walked out of the room going up to my bed, I didn't sleep all night, and I'm sure I wouldn't for a while, my price to pay for learning the truth.