❤ Innocent Rebel ❤

Chapter 43

♡⃛♡⃛ Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but love leaves a memory no one can steal ~From a headstone in Ireland♡⃛♡⃛

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Lex
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Ace. This was all his doing. I haven't seen him in weeks, he had stopped by the shop. It seems like forever ago. I keep Mia behind me. My eyes dart over to Chris who stands right beside me, ready. I'd give anything to have him take Mia to safety. But that's not an option right now. Ace knows I won't take a chance on something happening to her. He has me right where he wants me. And I can't do a fucking thing about it! 

"I knew you would come for her," Ace's Uncle William speaks to me calmly. "You were foolish, Alex D'Amore. You should have kept her hidden a little better. It's was too easy to find your weakness, it was her." The man then turns to my father, who is standing on my other side. "And you, John D'Amore, it's been a long time, my old friend. I've known your weakness for a long time, it was Miranda for a long time,  and then when she was gone, all there was left was your precious little boy."

I glance at my father, who is fuming with rage. Then back to Ace and his uncle.

"What is all this about, William?" I snap.

"Do you want to tell him, John? Or should I?" he asks my father.

"Just let them go, Will. This is between you and me, not them."

William grins. "I will tell you then. Long ago, before you were even thought of, your father and I were the best of friends. We grew up together in the slums. Between the two of us, we found ourselves in more trouble than you can imagine. Good times. And then one day, we grew up. You're father and I still remained close. Both working hard to achieve our goals. But still as close as brothers. Then a new family moved into our neighborhood. A pleasant little family. And a beautiful young girl. From the moment I saw this girl, I knew that I had found the one. I loved her the moment I saw her. You're father didn't seem the least bit interested in her. In fact, he often bullied her. I took up for the girl. I loved her, she loved me. I knew that one day, she would be mine." Williams eyes start to tear. "And then like the snake, your father is, he slipped by me and stole Miranda right out from under me. I begged her to be mine but she said that she had fallen for him. How, I still don't know. All I know is that he stole the love of my life from me and for that I have never forgiven him. But that isn't the only reason for this. No, not by a long shot." William Shakes his head, in a mad crazy man kinda way. "He had her but I had my business, with my heart still broken, I worked until my fingers bleed to become a strong business man, even if it was in the underground gang world. I was becoming stronger and without my knowledge of it, so was your father. He took the title of the most feared man before I could. He took my idea of shipping illegal weapons to others. Illegal merchandise. Every idea I had ever sharred with him, he took from me. And then...... You, Alex D'Amore, we're born. I went to see Miranda in the hospital afterwards. She told me how happy she was. How much she loved you and your father. How she had everything she had ever wanted. And it nearly killed me to hear it. I saw you then, when you were just a baby and I couldn't help but think, you should have been mine too. You should have been the son Miranda would have given me. It was, in a way, like he had even stolen you from me." William starts to pace in front of us. "Time went by, your father becoming the most wanted man in L. A. Everyone was out for him. Me most of all, though I kept it on the low. I wanted your father dead but then..... A gang leader found your parents late one night. They beat John until the point of death, but death didn't come to him. While he laid there, nearly unconscious, he watched as they rapped and beat my love to death. When I heard of this, I went quiet mad. Losing the last bit of my mind I had left. But I swore that one day I would make John pay for not keeping her safe."

My father loses it. "You think that I wanted that night to happen?! You weren't the only one to love her past the point of sanity! I tried to stop it!"