Chapter 118
A R I A N A
“Sit. I’ll get you some water. Or tea? Something stronger p>
“Water please” I whispered. My throat was raw from crying.
As promised, Marcus picked me up and brought me to his place.
He came back with a glass and sat in the chair opposite me, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. “Now start from the beginning. Tell me everything p>
I did, I told him about Melissa arriving. The argument in the garden, how Dante took her side. The crushing loneliness. Then, Angelo revealing the truth that Melissa was Dante’s ex-wife, that Leo was his son.
“I went to Angelo’s I was desperate… I had no where to go after the incident in Dante’s office. I thought I could stay there for the night before o figure things out and he could maybe help.” I took a gulp of water. “But he wasn’t alone in his house, she was there, Melissa p>
Marcus’s eyes widened. “At Angelo’s p>
“Yes and I heard them talking. I heard everything.” I repeated their conversation word for word as I remembered it the plan and all.
When I finished, the room was silent.
Marcus had gone very still with his face was pale.
“I knew it,” he finally said, his voice low and tight. “I knew there was something off about this about her showing up out of the blue. About how Dante was acting p>
I blinked. “You knew p>
He turned back to me. “Not this not about Angelo. My God Angelo He looked sick. “But about Melissa being his ex wife”
I felt like I’d been slapped.
“He was falling apart Ariana after you left Melissa came back and he thought he could use her as a rebound but it didn’t last, he only wanted you. Dante was terrified of losing you. He didn’t know what to do even after you left him. “
“I told him he had to tell you and have to be honest. That you will understand, you will forgive you but he was paralyzed. He thought if he just handled it got Melissa settled somewhere, it would go away. He thought he was protecting you p>
“Protecting me?” I cried. “By letting her live in our house? By lying to my face every day p>
“I know It was the worst possible way to handle it! I told him that! But he was… he was being manipulated even then. She was whispering in his ear by playing” he sighed, “Ariana listen to me. What you heard tonight proves it. It proves that it was a setup p>
My head was spinning. “But the things he said to me… the papers… taking my girls p>
“That wasn’t him and you know that.,” Marcus insisted, his voice fierce. “The Dante you know would he ever, ever take Asher, Isabella and Sofia away from you? In a million years p>
“No”
“Exactly. That was Melissa’s cruelty, they know his biggest fear is losing you and his greatest guilt abandoning his son and they twisted them together. They backed him into a corner and told him the only way out was to let you go”
“But why?” I asked, my voice breaking. “Why would Angelo do this? He’s his uncle p>
Marcus’s expression darkened. “Angelo has always wanted what Dante had. The business, the respect… the life. I never thought he’d go this far p>
“He said he loved her,” I mumbled into my palms. “He said he wanted his real family back p>
Marcus let out a sharp bitter laugh. “That’s a lie… Ariana, look at me p>
I looked up.
“That man,” he said, “loves you more than he has ever loved anyone or anything in his entire life. You and the kids are his whole world. I have seen him with Melissa back in the day. It was a trainwreck, a drama-filled, toxic mess. What he has with you… it terrified him because it was so good so real and he was afraid he’d ruin it and, in his stupid cowardly way, he did but he never stopped loving you. I don’t think he can ever. He would never hurt you intentionally p>
I gulped a lump “I don’t know p>
“He deserved your anger Ariana, he He lied and messed up but he doesn’t deserve what’s being done to him now too”
“What do we do then?” I asked the words feeling small. “Everything is ruined p>
Marcus leaned forward. “No. It’s not We’ll figure something out”
“How p>
“We need to gather as much proof as we can and take the kids away without them knowing so they don’t get hurt in the process”
I nodded in agreement” okay”
Dante loved me and was in trouble… he had pushed me away to try and save me.
It was the stupidest, most noble, most infuriating thing he had ever done.