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That’s what I do. That’s who I am.
I know that I am not an easy man or a soft man. I do not make apologies for who I have become. Caterina, when she had me beneath the trees, met a very different man.
Is that why she didn’t tell me about the child? She thought that I was too harsh?
I suppose it doesn’t help that I am her enemy.
A chilling thought comes to me then.
Did Caterina try to replace me with someone else, and the child calls another man her father?
How old would she be? Caterina and I created this life six years ago, but I suppose that because she had to remain inside Caterina’s body, she wouldn’t be six. Five?
A five-year-old daughter.
I pace down the hall. My shoes make a clicking sound against the marble, a steadier beat than my galloping heart.
I can’t believe this is happening to me. That Caterina had a baby, a girl.
That she’s mine.
It is only then that I remember the context of the moment. Caterina wanted to know where in Shamong the arson happened…
My phone is in my hand before I fully realize it.
The child, my child, might be in danger.
I’ve snapped out orders and texts to Nico and Luca, my two highest attendants, and by the time the door to the office opens I’m scrolling through a report that Nico put together.
I barrel forward, but Gia stops me. “Do not be a dick, Elio.”
“I’ll do what I want,” I growl and push forward.
She punches my chest. Hard. I frown at her. “What was that for?”
“I’m dead fucking serious, brother,” she levels me with a stare that lesser men run from.
She is serious.
I step back and look at her. “What, Gia? You are on board with this betrayal?”
“No. But I’m on board with having a niece.”
I look at her. “What do you mean?”
“She’s raised this baby on her own for five years, Elio. She has sole custody. There’s nothing that you can do that will earn youthis relationship, unless you treat her cordially, and prove to her that you have what it takes to be a father.”
“I’m not interested in being a father,” I hiss.
Gia looks at me, and I know that we both know the lie I just told.
“That might be. But I’d kill for a niece. So don’t fuck this up for me,” she says sternly.
“Gia, I…”
“You had a right to know, sure. Whatever. The point is that Caterina chose to have a baby, raise her, and not tell you a fucking thing. Don’t you want to know why she chose to be a single parent over-parenting with a grumpy old man like you?”
No.
