My view of my mother was dimming fast. “Yeah, she sounded like a real peach.”
“We grew careless,” Laredo ignored my snide comment and went on. “It didn’t take long for Enzo to grow suspicious. He walked in on us one night and I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I fought my brother tooth and nail. I fought so hard that I broke his bones as well as mine. But Clara…she’d had enough of us. She took off, leaving Alessio behind.”
Poor Alessio.
My throat thickened at the harsh fact.
How could she?
“My brother tried to take Alessio’s life a week later. He attempted to drown him in the bathtub. But he couldn’t see it through.” He turned to look at Alessio. “He didn’t want to love the boy, but he did. A month later, Enzo was found in his home office stone-cold dead. He’d died of an accidental drug overdose that I presume was not so accidental. Enzo’s wife didn’t want Alessio. She knew he was the product of an affair, so I adopted him. He should have been my son in the first place. I love him very much. I tried to find Clara, but she hid well, funnily enough, right under our noses. I didn’t even know she passed away until two years ago.” He eyed me. “I didn’t know she had a daughter.”
Hope beamed from somewhere deep inside of me. “How can you be so sure you’re not my father? You said you were intimate…”
But he was already shaking his head. “No. I’m sorry, Mina. I’m not your father. We never took our affair that far. It’s just not possible that you’re mine.” He huffed out a breath. “But I would’ve killed to be your dad, sweet girl. Know that.”
Tears prickled my eyes as I nodded solemnly.
Alessio had heard enough. He sneered at me from across the table. “While you were out picking flowers with your ma, I was hiding bruises from my friends.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my eyes shining.
“What are you sorry for? You had a good childhood. I was forgotten. That’s life.” As I looked down at the table, he spoke into the silence. “What? You don’t want a brother any more?” My heart broke. He huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Not good enough for you, am I? Just like ya mom.”
Lev gripped my hand so tight it hurt. “Shut your mouth.”
He said this at the same time Laredo called out, “Don’t speak out of anger, my son. You best be quiet, Alessio.”
“No,” Alessio went on. “How about we tell her about the time my father kicked me so hard in the chest that I stopped breathing? Or about the time when he came home from the club, pulled down his pants, and pissed all over me while I slept.”
Tears were trailing my cheeks now. My chest ached with every beat of my heart. I fought desperately not to sob out loud.
Lev growled, “I’m warning you, Alessio.”
“While she had sunshine and lollipops,” Alessio began to shout, “I had cigarette burns across my fucking arms.”
The men around me had started to object angrily at Alessio’s outburst. All I could do was blink through my tears and speak quietly. “I didn’t know.”
Alessio stood. “How could you know? Living your perfect fucking life in your perfect fucking house with your goddamn whore of a mother.” He pointed at me hard. “You got the life I shoulda had.” He clapped slowly, humiliatingly. “Congratulations, Mina.” His lip curled as he whispered, “You got it all.”
By this point, Lev had enough. He threw his chair back so quickly that it flew to the ground. He was quick, but I anticipated the attack before it began. Alessio laughed viciously, his arms wide, welcoming the impending attack. The men stood, Nicolas and Roman rushing to pull at Alessio while Davi and Philippe moved to see what Lev would do.