Book #4 in the (TAINTED IV Series)
He grabbed my wrist and squeezed it. "Face the facts, Athena"
"We don't even know if this is true." I said pulling my wrist free.
He picked up the paper and threw it at me. "Don't be naive, it's the truth. This...
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I knew that I shouldn't be here, and I knew that Ciro would be mad at me. Now that I was here I couldn't leave. I was so tired and frustrated with everything that I had been through and not only that but everything that they put me through. I wanted answers and he was the only person that was able to give them to me. I don't know what came over me when I challenged him like that. Maybe it was the fact that I was so tired of his games, and I finally wanted to beat him at it. I kept trying to tell myself that I didn't love him, how could I? Everything that he's done to me and my family, there was no way that I could love him. As much as I kept denying it, I couldn't deny the feeling of being betrayed by him. Before we met, he didn't have any feelings towards me at all, except for the ones that his father gave him. He told me that he fell in love with me, but I just don't see it because when you love someone you're honest with them, right? That was the one thing that bothered me the most about him. He kept telling me that he loved me, but he wouldn't be honest with me even if his life depended on it.
"Why does it matter? The only thing that you're going to do is open old wounds, and I'm trying to close that door. You said that you didn't want anything to do with me and I've walked away. After you got shot, I wanted to keep you safe."
"It's bullshit and you know it. You're not trying to close any door because if you were, you would be honest. You try to paint this picture that you're my friend and you're on my side, and you fell in love with me, but I'm not buying it. A friend would be honest with you, even if it hurt them, and you are not that type of man. The only person that you care about is yourself, and it shows in every single thing that you do. You said that you didn't tell me because you wanted to protect the love that I have for my father, but that's a lie. The only person that you wanted to protect was yourself because you didn't want me to hate you more than I already do. You hope that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel for us to be friends. But knowing what I know now makes me never want to see your face again."
He smirked, "well, there is the door. I didn't ask you to come and I'm not interested in being your friend. I told you that I loved you and that's true. Am I going to apologize for not telling you about your scum bag ass father? Hell no, that's not my place. Your father is the one that sold you out and I accepted his offer. You know what type of man I am, so why do you keep seeking me out? If you think my attitude and my personality is going to change just because I fell in love with you, you're wrong. I am who I am and I'm proud of it. We can't all be like Satoni, right? He changed to be with you, but I'm not going to."
I shook my head in disbelief, "it's not about that. You're missing the whole point, Vain. You try to make it about Satoni when there is no competition."
"No, you're missing the point. All this time you spent running back-and-forth and you're still unhappy. You keep blaming me for everything that happened when there was so many hands involved. I told you from the beginning that the mafia has a fucked up history but you fail to believe me or anyone else. You get hurt by everything that you hear, and you expect people to apologize for it. Go home and stop searching for answers that you can't handle. I'm sorry that your father was a fucked up person who sold you out. I'm sorry that your father only looked at you as a way to gain more resources and get more money. I'm sorry that you're still so unhappy with your life. None of that has anything to do with me and you know it. You just want to find someone to point the finger at and I'm over it. I want to let the past be the past, and you should too. Stop hating your life because of things that you can't change. You can't change that your father didn't love you like he said that he did. He sold you to the highest bidder in as many ways as he could. He took advantage of everyone around him, including his children." He walked towards the door and opened it, and I stood there for a moment, silent.
