Luca

I couldn't stay in that house any longer. Just being around Charlotte was driving me fucking insane. It was ripping my heart out.

One minute, I was so fucking pissed at what she did, keeping my daughter from me, lying to me for all these years. And the next minute, I was pining over her, realizing how deeply I still loved her.

There was no denying it and part of me even understood why she did what she did. I lied to her and hurt her in a very similar way. She thought she was doing what was best, but it still hurt so fucking much.

Charlotte was remorseful, and I could clearly see that, but as soon as she opened her damn mouth, I remembered why I was so pissed. She was constantly antagonizing me and undermining everything I did. I didn't like what I was becoming when she was around, and I didn't want to cross a line I couldn't come back from.

I stalked into the warehouse and felt the eyes of every single one of my men on me. By now, I was sure they had heard, but I didn't feel like explaining anything to anyone right now.

Being at work was like being back in my element. I could throw myself into something other than obsessing over Charlotte and Layla, and pretend like everything was normal.

Angelo, Carlo, and Marco were already waiting in my office by the time I got there.

Marco and I made amends. When I had asked him to protect Charlotte, I never expected that he would be protecting her from me. His deceit hurt at first, but once I knew Antonio was involved, I realized he had no choice. He was following orders, something he had vowed to do years ago. And even though I didn't agree with it, I had to respect it. And it made me feel slightly better that he had been looking out for the two of them over the years that I couldn't. Marco wasn't just one of my best guys, he was one of my best friends. A brother to me. I was pissed, but I wasn't going to let it ruin our relationship.

I slammed the door behind me, nearly sending it off its hinges.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." Carlo smirked. "Get tired of playing family man and came back to join us?"

"I am not in the fucking mood for this." I growled, throwing my body into the chair. "Tell me what I've missed."

Angelo scratched his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. We had three drops, everything went smoothly. Chaplin wants to up his order for next month, but we're going to need to either cut someone else's or come into more product in a short amount of time."

"How many does he want?" Chaplin was one of our best weapons clients and we needed to make sure he was happy.

"30%." Carlo chimed in.

I rubbed my chin, trying to determine what we could do. That was a lot of fucking guns that I had no idea where I was going to get them.

"The new group out of China is behind on their payments." Marco interjected. "Maybe we could restrict their supply until they settle up. With interest."

"That's not a bad idea. How behind are we talking?" I asked, leaning back in the chair.

"Three months." Carlo mumbled.

My eyes bulged. "You want to tell me how we let an account get three fucking months behind on their payments?" I barked, livid that I was having to deal with this shit. I hired people to keep our accounts current. Somebody was slacking.

"It's not so simple. They have ties to an old enemy. We've been treating them with kid gloves until we know exactly what is going on." Angelo tried to smooth over.

I wasn't understanding. No one out there posed a big enough threat that we should lose money, so something fishy was going on. "Care to elaborate?"

"It's Silvano, Luca." Angelo said flatly.

Silvano. It couldn't be. There was no fucking way he was back to mess with us. He went into hiding after everything went down in Miami and as far as we knew, he basically fell off the face of the earth. Apparently, he had just gone across the pond to China, though.

"This doesn't feel like a coincidence." I clenched my jaw. Charlotte was back in my life and Silvano resurrected himself from the dead? That was too suspicious for comfort.

"No." Marco said. "It doesn't. But we've already got men on it. He's under surveillance, and nothing is going to happen. Obviously, we're being more proactive than usual with Charlotte and Layla in the picture."

"I want eyes on them at all times. Charlotte will be a pain in the ass about it, but I don't care. We take no chances where they are concerned."

"Should we brief her?" Carlo asked. "So she knows what's going on?"

"I'll handle Charlotte." I growled. Charlotte would lose her shit if she found out. It would only further her stance that Layla should be kept away from me.

"Are you sure that's..."

"I'm fucking positive, Marco. And you better watch yourself before you question me again."

He dropped his head, not saying another word.

"I'll get Parker over to the house immediately. I can meet him there to brief him." Angelo offered.

"No need." I stood up. "I'm heading there now and will fill him in."

"You just got here." Carlo quipped.

"And now I'm leaving. Are you bastards incapable of handling things around here or what?" The last of my patience was wearing thin.

At least these guys were used to it and didn't take it personally. My temper was something I should get a handle on if I was going to be any kind of dad to Layla. I hated seeing the tears in her eyes because of me last night. It was a heart-wrenching feeling.

Carlo shook his head back and forth.

"I'll be in touch." I grabbed my jacket and headed out the door. It was silly, but I needed to see for myself that they were okay. Silvano probably had no idea they were even back, but there was no way I was taking any chances where Layla was concerned. Or Charlotte, for that matter.

After all this time, after all her lies and deceit, buried deep behind all of my anger, I still loved her, and it fucking infuriated me.

Charlotte

"All done?" Layla looked up at me, holding the broom in her hand.

"All done!" I smiled, giving her a high five. We just finished cleaning the kitchen after her mess. She was a trooper for the most part, but I think we were both glad to be done.

"Swimming?" She beamed.

"Breakfast first." I laughed. "And then we need to go to the store and get you some clothes."

"I like it here at daddy's, don't you?" She smiled, jumping up onto the counter as I grabbed some cereal off the top of the fridge. Luca didn't have many options for breakfast around here, so I'd probably have to pick up some food, too.

"Mhm." I mumbled.

I poured Layla her cereal and myself another cup of coffee. I hadn't slept well last night and was definitely feeling it today.

I waited up for Luca, hoping we could finish our conversation after he had some time to cool off, but once midnight rolled around, I gave up. I wouldn't have even noticed that he came to bed at all if it hadn't been for the sheets being messed up this morning.

It felt weird sharing a room with him, like we were two ships passing in the night. We hardly saw each other, and it was even rarer that we spoke. When we did, it was about Layla or it was mean. I knew I deserved his anger, but I hoped we could work past it for the good of our daughter. So far, it wasn't working out that way.

Suddenly, a man came around the corner, nearly bumping into me.

"Charlotte." He said, stepping back a bit and steadying himself.

It took me a minute, but then I realized who was standing in front of me. "Gabe. Hi."

"It's good to see you. I didn't realize you were... are you and Luca...?"

"Oh, no. We're not back together. I, um..."

"Mommy, there is too much milk in here!" Layla whined from behind me. Gabe craned his neck around, seeming to notice her for the first time.

"Oh." He said, staring back at her intently, putting all the pieces together.

"Okay, I'll get you another bowl." Gabe completely flustered me. He was the last person I expected to see here.

"She's yours. And Luca's." Gabe couldn't tear his eyes off of her.

I nodded. "Layla, this is Gabe."

"Hi, I'm Layla!" she cooed, sticking her little hand out to him.

Gabe smiled and took it in his. "It's nice to meet you, Layla."

"Mommy, can I go get my Ellie?" She said, turning her attention back to me. Ellie was her stuffed elephant she had since she was a baby. She took it everywhere with her, and would hardly sleep if I didn't tuck it in next to her.

"Sure, honey." I lifted her off of the counter and she scurried off and out of the kitchen.

"I'm glad you're back, Char. I want to apologize for the way everything happened. Maybe now that you're here, we can get to know each other a little better."

"I'd really like that." I smiled. I missed out on so much with my brothers and maybe this could be another chance for us, too.

"Honey, do you..." A woman's voice came from behind us.

"Lily." Gabe said suddenly.

"Sorry I didn't realize anyone was here..." the woman said, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"Lily, this is my Charlotte, my sister." Gabe said. "Charlotte, this is my wife, Lily."

She looked shocked at first, but then a warm smile spread across her lips. She reached out, wrapping her arms around my neck in a tight hug.

"Charlotte, I have heard so much about you. I am so happy to finally meet you!" She exclaimed. "Are you staying long?"

"I don't really know. I'm uh, I'm here because my daughter..."

"She's here so I can get to know my daughter." Luca's voice behind me sent a wave of panicked chills down my spine.

"Daughter?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "I'm not even going to ask. But all I've got to say is it's about time that you settle down. The constant stream of women in this house is getting old."

My body tensed at the mention of Luca bringing other women back here. It didn't surprise me, but it still stung.

"Lily, why don't we give them a few minutes?" Gabe said, putting his arm around her and leading her out of the room.

"Actually, I'm glad you both are here. Lily—Charlotte and Layla came kind of suddenly and didn't have time to pack a lot. Would you go with them to the mall and help them get a few things?" Luca asked, slipping his hand into his pocket and producing his wallet.

"Absolutely. It'll be nice bonding time." She gleamed. "Just let me go change really quick." She and Gabe disappeared, and Luca and I were left alone.

"You were gone early this morning." I turned to face him, unsure of what kind of mood swing I would be met with.

"Where is Layla?" He said, ignoring my comment.

"Upstairs." If he wasn't going to make any kind of effort, neither was I.

"Parker is going to join you guys at the mall." He said without looking at me and filling up a cup of coffee.

"Parker? You mean the guy had beat Marco within an inch of his life? Yeah, no thanks." I scoffed, crossing my arms defensively over my chest.

"It wasn't a request, Charlotte," He snapped. "And just so we're clear, what happened to Marco happened to him because of you and the choices you made." His words hit me like bullets straight from a gun. Luca didn't need to lay a hand on me for me to feel his wrath.

"Fuck you, Luca." I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes. I clenched my jaw, trying desperately to contain myself.

"How about you make good on that promise when I get home tonight?" He smirked with venom in his words.

I reached out to slap him, but he caught my wrist, twisting it painfully. I cried out in pain.

"Trust me, you're not going to like the consequences of doing that." He seethed.

I jerked my wrist away from him despite the pain.

"Mommy, I can't find Ellie. Can you help me? Oh, hi daddy!"

"Hi, sweetheart." Luca's entire demeanor changed as he bent down, sweeping a kiss over her cheek.

"Lets go find it." I reached for Layla's hand, but she was already running off.

"I shouldn't have said that, Charlotte. I'm sorry." He shoved his hand through his hair in frustration with himself. Why did he keep doing this then? Why be so hideous to me, only to turn around and apologize, obviously ashamed of how he was treating me?

I pressed my lips together, unable to even respond, and left Luca standing alone in the kitchen.

Why did I ever think we could work this out? He was out for blood, and the most sickening part was the enjoyment he was getting out of this.

He liked to see me hurting.