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“You’re playing with something that will undoubtably destroy everything you’ve worked so hard to gain.”
Sienna shook her head slowly like she was tired of me, and it only made me see red.
“How about this?” She took hold of her long white gown with her perfectly manicured hands and readjusted the skirt. “Despite you trying to kill me, I’ll give you an opportunity to fill in a blank for me. Then perhaps I’ll fill in what I can for you.”
“I’m listening.” I folded my arms.
“You should…” She inclined her head. She looked so damn confident I wanted to punch her in the face, but I knew I had to hear her out. “Tell me the rest of the sentence. I saw the indents from something written on the photo. What does it mean?”
Then like the sun returning after an angry storm, it hit me…she doesn’t know.
Don’t smile. You’ve got this.
“All right, Sienna.” I lowered my eyes and tried to calm myself so it would sound convincing. It was time to play the last card I had. “I can’t keep running from my past, so let’s do this. But you must promise me, if I tell you the truth, Elio can only know a part of it.”
“I’ll decide that after I hear it.”
If only I had my dinner knife, I could do so much damage right now.
“Fine.” I sagged against the door. “I was and will always be in love with your father.” I watched her face fall, but she cleared her expression of emotion quickly. “When your mother married Theo, I hated her for it. I still do, so I did the one thing I could think of to hurt them both. I dated and got pregnant by Bosco. He was one of Theo’s biggest rivals. It was a kick in the gut to Elenora that now I’d forever be linked to the Capris when she couldn’t. It worked. Theo took me back, which, of course, upset Elenora and made me beyond happy.” I gave her a sickeningly sweet smile to drive my hate for all things Elenora home to her daughter.
“Nice,” she snickered.
“We kept our secret from Rosa Coppola. I knew she’d carve it out of me much like she did Francesco’s baby.”
Sienna looked away from me, twisting her mouth. Then she finally spoke. “And my father was okay with raising a Capri as his own?”
“Francesco did it with you. What’s the difference?” I jabbed at her past. “I never said your father was a good man, Sienna. Theo felt the pressure and needed to have a son before his brother did. It was a race to the finish line. Which brings me to this…” I pulled out the baby photo and tossed it on the table. “Let’s back up here for a moment. When Elenora had you, a girl, the pressure was on him again. Theo was beside himself, which was why when I got pregnant, we hatched a plan with Rosa. I’d provide information on the Capris and, if I had a boy, we’d secretly raise my son as a Coppola.”
“Sienna!” Wyatt burst through the door, and I jumped to my feet.
“No!” Sienna shook her head, holding a hand up to both of us to stay put. “Wyatt, just give me a moment alone with her.” Wyatt’s face fell then he looked at me.
“Then let me just…” He made a motion, and I lifted my arms a little. He patted me down for weapons, then indicated my purse, and I saw Sienna nod.Damn.He found it and held up the vial for Sienna to see. “Don’t drink or eat anything around her.”
Sienna closed her eyes and cursed under her breath but stayed calm and said nothing.
“I’ll be right out here.” He shot me a nasty look as he left, and I sank back down in my seat. I knew my time was limited.
“Wow,” Sienna shook her head in disgust as he shut the door, leaving us alone, “the way you play with people’s lives is revolting.”
“It’s war out there, Sienna. It’s either them or you.” I brushed off her pissy-face look. “Where was I? Oh, yes, but Theo, being the man he was, took it one step further. He took another woman to bed just to ensure he got what he needed.”
“Stellar father I had.”
“Well, we agree on one thing.” I broke eye contact as the hurt spread through me. Theo could have at least waited a few months to see what I was having before he took someone else to bed. When I looked back to Sienna, I saw her mother looking through her eyes, and I felt fire lick at my insides. “You never lived in that house then. You couldn’t understand the darkness that lives in them all. Even you.” I jabbed again, but it didn’t seem to affect her. “That baby in the picture,” I paused to drag out the moment, needing it to hurt more than anything else, “is your half-brother.”
“What?” She snatched the photo up and studied it then looked at me. “Where is he now?”
I let her stew on that for a long, hard moment, and just when I thought she’d burst, I went on. “Before I tell you, you have to understand something. His mother’s been blackmailing me for years over this. Threatening to tell Bosco, telling him where I was staying, what I was doing. That went on all through my pregnancy, too. She’s drained my bank account. If that gets out, Sienna, it’ll destroy everything!”
"Noemi, stop.” She tried to stem the flow.
“I’m already on the outside of that family. Bosco loves Amara, and I’m stuck in limbo. I know Greta moved in years ago because she always suspected me of playing both sides, but she couldn’t prove it. Do you know what that was like? Living under the eye of that old bat? What could I do? She’s a syndicate elder.” I shook off the coldness that came with that thought.
“Am I supposed to have sympathy for you?” Sienna looked skeptical as she shook her head. “You played games. You were a traitor to the family that took you in. You were given a life that should never had been yours in the first place. Now, years later, you tried to kill me in a fire!”
“Please, you must understand, I was brainwashed into thinking you were going to tell Bosco my secret! I was out of my mind thinking that if you knew, then my sons would be without a mother! God, the money I took from the family just to keep her quiet…” I started to cry, and her face finally softened, so I went for it. “Bosco’s just looking for a reason to kick me out so he can bring Amara in. Please have mercy on someone who’s just been trying to keep her family together.”
