Page 35 of Powerful Deception

I grab her by the elbow and walk her down the hallway, away from prying ears.

“You seriously want me to trust a twenty something year old twat, one that lied about her name, to be around my children? Because I’m not, I’m not going to fucking trust her until she proves herself. Until then of course, I’m going to fucking stress too much, as you put it.”

I don’t tell Evelyn that something at the back of my head is telling me that Arianna is here for something other than being a nanny. Why else would someone that thought she was interviewing for a dancer or bartending position accept a nanny position.

She has to be here because she wants answers. That’s the only logical reason.

“Would it make you feel better if I say I’m running a background check on her?” She raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me.

“You should have done that before the fucking interview.” I say through my teeth.

Evelyn lets out a sigh. “I did, and all I was able to find was the bare minimum. Name, phone number, address, place of employment. I wasn’t able to dig deeper until I had all the other information. Now that I do, I’m doing a thorough check, but I don’t think that anything serious will pop up.”

Especially if her father had anything to do with it, I don’t voice.

Joseph Vitale was someone that I have known since I was a teenager. He was one of the only individuals in the Chicago Police Department that not only knew me as Dante but also as the devil himself. Our relationship changed a lot throughout the years, but he was always there. That is until he got himself involved in shit he wasn’t supposed to and ended up paying the price with his life.

The bastard.

I told him that was going to happen.

Now I have his daughter in my fucking house and she either knows her father and I had some sort of connection, or this is the biggest coincidence in the world.

My gut has told me from the very beginning that it’s the former, but I’m not going to call her out on it.

If she wants answers, let her ask them. Joseph would have wanted me to tell her.

And if she wants to take me down, then she can fucking try, I’m not going to stop her.

Everyone but my kids would be better off if Dante Rosetti was in the ground six feet deep.

I hear footsteps and when I look up, I see Arianna approaching with Angle on her hip.

“As soon as you have something on her, I need to know.” I whisper to Evelyn, not taking my eyes off the new nanny.

I have to remind myself that she’s Joseph’s daughter and possible the enemy.

“Yes, sir.” Evelyn whispers back before turning to our guest, planting a smile on her face. “Ari, is everything okay?”

Ari. God, why does it irk me to hear the nickname?

Also, why the fuck is she dressed just like Evelyn? Shouldn’t she be in casual shit since she will be running around?

“Yes, everything is okay.” She says nervously to Evelyn, not meeting my eyes. “I just looked at the time and I was wondering if it was time to get Alessandra ready for school?”

I look down at my watch and I realize she’s right.

“Fuck.” I mutter, turning on my heels and walking over to Alessandra’s room, acutely aware of the footsteps behind me.

I open the door to my daughter’s room and let out a sigh of relief when I see that she is already awake and sitting up in the middle of her bed.

“Good morning, Gioia Mia.” I say as I sit on her bed and place a kiss on her head. “Did you have any bad dreams?”

On top of not talking, Alessandra occasionally wakes up from nightmares. When she does, she runs directly to my bed and stays there until morning. I’ve talked to countless doctors about this, but they all say that we won’t know what is causing them unless she talks about it.

She hasn’t and everything in me is telling me that she never will.

I know they are about the accident, but I won't know for sure unless she tells me.