I can tell by his expression that he must have the blood test results in his hand.
“What is it?” I ask, rising from my chair, my heart hammering. “What’s it say?”
Looking Juliana square in the face, he crosses the room toward us, stopping in front of her chair. Then he runs a hand over his mouth, and I see he’s got this look in his eyes that I can only describe as…shock. Or, no. It’s more like…wonder.
And then he lets out a disbelieving laugh.
“Here. This is yours,” he says, passing the paper to Juliana.
“What is this?” she asks.
“The results of the sibling DNA test.” His voice is cool, collected, calm. As if he’s trying to soothe a skittish horse.
“Sibling?” Juliana shakes her head as she scans the page. “I don’t have any siblings.”
Armani clears his throat and then says, “You do. You’ve got three brothers. Me, Dante—he’s the oldest—and Marco. Marco’s the baby.”
Her head snaps up. “Bullshit.”
“The blood doesn’t lie,” he says.
I can see the paper trembling in Juliana’s hand. Armani leans over and taps something printed on the page.
“There. See? You matched with me, Dante, and Marco. All of us, full siblings. Same mother, same father. It’s right there in black and white.”
Juliana’s face is a mask of disbelief and suspicion. “This isn’t real.” She whips her gaze back over to me. “This is fake, right? He made this all up. To—to fuck with me. To try to get me on their side. Right? Or he switched out the blood or something. How can—how can—”
She starts shaking, but she’s still gripping the paper tightly. Her mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out. Her whole world must be imploding.
“It’s real,” I tell her gently. “Nobody tampered with the test.”
“But how…why…” She trails off as her chin starts to wobble. I can see her fighting back tears, fighting to process this.
“It isn’tpossible,” she finally chokes out.
“The probability that we’re a sibling match is 99.95 percent,” Armani says.
He kneels in front of her chair and looks her in the eye.
“The truth is, your real name isn’t Juliana Guerra,” he says softly. “It’s Liliana. Liliana Bellanti. You’re my sister.”
25
ARMANI
My brothersand their wives should arrive any moment. I called Dante and then Marco on the way from the B&B over to the Bellanti estate, and although I didn’t reveal the results of the DNA test, I did let them know that the situation is urgent. There was just no way I was going to tell them that Juliana is our sister over the phone. They deserve to hear the news in person.
Neither of them questioned me, they simply agreed to meet me at the main house right away. Having provided me with blood samples themselves just a few days ago, I’m sure they know exactly what this meeting is about.
Meanwhile, Juliana seems to be in shock. She’s been quiet and closed off since Candi and I escorted her from the B&B to my car. To an extent, I can empathize with how she’s feeling. I’m still shell-shocked myself. The possibility that she was Liliana isn’t something I ever really took seriously, despite Marco’s insistence on the matter. Now, it’s confirmed. Like I told Juliana, the blood doesn’t lie.
This test changes everything.
In the living room at the front of the house, Juliana sits stiffly on the sofa with the expression of a caged animal. Candi is on the other end of the sofa beside her, and both of them are ignoring the steaming cups of tea that I had Becca bring out from the kitchen along with bottles of water and a pile of sandwiches that remain equally untouched. Juliana—no, Liliana—nearly jumps out of her skin at the sound of the heavy front door creaking open.
“Hello?” a voice calls out. It’s Marco.
“We’re in here,” I call back.
