He bit the inside of his lip. Just like I did when I was nervous. And the act made me smile. “You got any photos of her?”
“No,” I told him with deep regret. “I left my photo album with my foster parents when I ran away. I was seventeen and stupid. I didn’t even think.” I huffed out a long breath. “I’d do anything to get it back.”
He must have really wanted to see that album, because the next thing he said was, “I’m good at finding people. If you give me their names and whatever other info you can, I’ll see what I can do.”
I smiled at him then, and I grinned wide. “Lev’s already looking for them.”
Alessio shrugged. “Can’t hurt to have two people looking.” His lip twitched. “Many hands make light work, you know?”
The conversation was getting easier. My heart warmed.
But my smile fell. “You’ve never seen a picture of Mom?”
“Yeah, I have, but those were at the club. Laredo has a stack of ‘em. She was all dolled up for the stage. I guess I wanted to see how she looked in real life, you know?” His lip twitched and he caught my eye. “Those photos at the club…I’ve seen our mother’s tits.”
A bark of laughter came out of me so hard that I had to cover my mouth. “Oh, man. Ewww.”
His body shook with silent laughter and the scars around his mouth stretched. “Yeah, not cool.” His smile stretched as far as it could and he winced, reaching up to rub the thickest scar at his lip.
I noticed.
He noticed that I noticed, and his smile fled.
He lifted his hand and ran it in front of his scarred face. “I wish I could change this.” He paused a moment before adding, “I haven’t always looked this way.”
I tried to smile. “I haven’t always looked this way either.”
Alessio pinned me with a stare. “You’re beautiful though.” He shook his head. “You don’t scare kids with your ugly mug.”
His words were pained, and it hurt to listen to them, but he was my brother, and if he wanted to talk about it, I would listen attentively, because he needed me to.
“I know about what happened. I know about your wife and Sasha.” I reached over to lay my hand over his, the hand that rested on his knee. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Don’t be. She was a fucking lunatic. We married in Vegas after a drunken night out. We met a few hours before. I didn’t even know her. I sure as fuck didn’t love her. She was beautiful though.” He shrugged. “My own fault for thinking with my cock.”
I removed my hand, flushing at his crude admission. “I see.”
He glimpsed down at his wristwatch. “Shit. Is that the time? I…” He looked up at me, wearing a hesitant look on his face. “I gotta go.”
Disappointment filled me. “Oh.” I stood and he followed suit. I forced a smile. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Alessio.” I wasn’t sure how my next request would go. “I know it might sound crazy, but if you have any pictures of Enzo, I’d really like to see them. I know I can’t call him my father, but I was made from part of him. I’d like to see how he looked.”
His face brightened. “Yeah, I got a few. I can bring ‘em down one day.”
A breath of relief left me. “That would be great.”
Alessio grinned then. “I’ll bring ‘em down if you let me find your foster parents.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, but did it smiling. “You really want to see that album.”
His smile softened. “I know I can’t call Clara my mother, but I was made from part of her.”
Without permission, I reached out and took his hand, squeezing. I released it quickly and walked into the hall for a pen and piece of paper. I returned with the written details and handed it to him. “Here. These are all the names of the family members and where they used to live. I can’t remember much more than that.” I pointed out the phone number on the corner of the page. “That’s my number.”