Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
He speaks in an even tone. “I don’t see how this is any of your business. It’s between the McAllisters and my family.”
“What about Savannah? What about what she wants?”
He stares me down. “You think I’d let her marry you? You’re a criminal.”
I let out a laughing scoff. “You really want to go there, Gallo? Don’t you think that’s the pot calling the kettle black?”
No reaction.
“Besides, if you’ve had me checked out, as I’m sure you have, you know I’m innocent.”
“Doesn’t matter. On paper, you’re guilty.” He shuffles through some paperwork. “You confessed. And I’ve never even been under arrest.”
“You want to play that hand already? You kidnapped your own daughter.”
“From what I understand, she went willingly.”
She did, at that. “You sent armed thugs to my place to take her.”
“Did I?” He widens his eyes in a ridiculous attempt to look innocent. “That’s the first I’ve heard of such a thing.”
“Right.” I roll my eyes. “And I’m just that gullible. They may have been the McAllisters’ men, but you and I both know what’s going on here.” I stand up and slam my hands on the desk, causing a few knickknacks to fall to the floor. “Tell me what it will take to free Savannah from whatever deal you made with the McAllisters. I’ll pay anything. Do anything.”
He eyes my fists but does not stand. “Stay out of what doesn’t concern you.”
“Come on, Gallo,” I urge him, my voice low. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Gallo’s mask slips for a minute. Is that a flicker of regret I see in his dark eyes?
“You think I don’t love my daughter,” he finally says. “You’re wrong.”
I open my mouth to tell him he’s full of shit, but then I think about Savannah.
Her father got her out of the marriage at eighteen. He somehow—after locking her into a meeting room with no means of communication—got her out of the marriage at twenty-two as well.
“Then what’s really going on here?” I ask. “I love Savannah, and I swear to God I will not let her become some slave to Miles McAllister.”
He sighs then, rises, and walks out from behind his desk. “This isn’t something you’ll understand, Mr. Bellamy. This isn’t your world.”
I grit my teeth. “Savannah is my world.”
“And you think she’s not mine? She’s my only daughter. I’ve already lost both my sons. She’s all I have left. My legacy.”
“So you sold her to the highest bidder?”
“Damn it!” His fist comes down hard on his hardwood desk. “You really think this is that simple, don’t you?”
I take a step toward him. I’m taller than he is, broader. But I don’t underestimate him. He’s powerful. And in his eyes is a hint of desperation.
That’s what this is about.
Never underestimate a desperate man. He’s already lost two sons. In organized crime, women are worth less than men. He may truly feel he’s got nothing left to lose.
“Miles McAllister tried to rape her that night,” I say quietly, taking another step. “My buddy and I got to her before that happened, thank God, and I swear to you, if that piece of shit ever lays another hand on her, I’ll take care of him myself.”
Gallo’s gaze falls to a bookcase in his office.
Are there hidden cameras and microphones in this office?
Of course there are.
“Watch what you say in this office, Mr. Bellamy.”
Yeah, not smart. The whole place is probably wired.
“Nothing I say here will ever be admissible in a court of law. You and I both know that.”
“You think I give two shits about any court of law?”
Good point. This is a man who’s selling his daughter into matrimony. Clearly the law doesn’t trouble him. Not a bit.
“I want answers.” I demand. “Savannah herself thinks there’s more at play here. You let her off twice, and then you let her out of family obligations for good when she moved to Summer Creek. Why the fucking change of heart, Gallo?”
He stares at me, his face unchanging.
But he’s not indifferent. Not by a longshot. His eyes flicker with unease. I can recognize almost any look on a person’s face after my time inside. My life and the lives of the guys on my cellblock depended on it.
“Look, Bellamy,” he says, his voice calm but strained. “There are things at play here that you don’t understand. Things that go beyond a simple marriage alliance between families.”
I narrow my eyes, attempting to read between the lines. So Savannah was right. What is her father hiding?
“Enlighten me, then,” I say, my tone firm. “You promised Savannah her freedom, and now you’ve reneged. You sent fucking gunmen to my place to take her.”
He presses his lips together. “I had nothing to do with that.”
“Do I look like I care?” I point at him. “This is all on you, Gallo. Your daughter’s trauma is on you.”