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I hadn’t heard from him in years, I was pretty sure he was in prison and had been for at least eight years on various charges.
My father hid my son, forcing me to raise him in secret from the families, not that rumors didn’t start after a while. It was hard to hide the pregnancy and a newborn.
When my father was killed, my life was a little easier. He and I had no love lost between us; I was a pawn in his game to be given to the highest bidder. The only friend I had was Gianluca. He had been my best friend and my brothers.
As kids, my brother Nicolo and I were thick as thieves, he defended me against my father’s wrath and Gianluca had become part of our group. He was like a second brother, always beating on any kid who tried to bully me.
Their friendship broke when my father used me as a business deal pawn. Nicolo was being groomed to take his place and Rocco had been in his ear since he turned twenty-one.
The cracks had begun to show in those early years but in the last year before my father’s death, we had broken completely and Gianluca chose to side with me.
I walked out of the church to see the man in question leaning against the black Mercedes, scrolling on his phone.
He was the stereotypical good-looking Italian boy with dark hair, eyes, a strong jawline, and a cocky smile. He prided himself on looking good, working out every day, and treating his body like a temple.
He had the best trainer in Sinclair Bay, Eric was hard to get time with and expensive as hell – not that his family didn’t have the money to pay for it.
He looked up at the sound of me approaching, smiling that cheeky smile that always made me laugh.
“Hey, gorgeous. Are you, ready to go? We have that lunch meeting with your accountant.” I nodded, pulling the strap of my bag up onto my shoulder as he opened the car door for me.
We had a business meeting to go over my assets and figure out what was still in my name, protected from Rocco and my brother. They had taken over the Moretti house, banishing me and froze all my cards and access to accounts that were in my father’s name.
I glanced at my phone, sending a quick text to Fabian to check how he was. He replied almost instantly with a picture of the Xbox game he was playing on the TV.
I may regret meeting his father, but that boy had opened a part of my heart I never knew possible, and it had been hell living every day without him.
“Come on. I am dying for some of Lucello’s pasta. I don’t care if he jumped ship to work with the Maddens. That man is a maestro with food.” Gianluca said, patting his stomach as he started the car.
I rolled my eyes, dropped my phone into my bag, and sighed. I could go for a good pasta too. I got the feeling this meeting wasn’t going to end up being a happy one.
Chapter two
Gianluca
“I’mafraidIhavesome bad news.” The accountant said as he swallowed nervously. Aurora sat forward in the chair next to me, a frown on her face.
Her shoulders were tense, and I desperately wanted to reach out and rub them, to rest my hand on her thigh in comfort.
I had been in love with her for as long as I could remember but she saw me as a brother, not a friend. Being with her every day was a slow kind of torture, death by a thousand cuts so to speak as I watched her date other men and live her life.
I had been there for the birth of Fabian when no one else was, I was his godfather and I had witnessed every day she struggled as a young woman transitioning into a mother.
But I had been put in the friend/family zone for my efforts. I suppose I was a coward since I never had told her how I felt, fear held me back. Fear that I would ruin everything we had together, and I would much rather have her in my life than not at all.
“What is it?” she asked, glancing at me with those dark chocolate eyes of hers. I had vague memories of her mother, a child’s memories but she had seemed like an etheric goddess and Aurora was just like her.
Oh, I know she worried that she had a mom body now, forever trying to fit herself into those Spanx things to tighten it all up and hide the stretch marks and scars from her birth but she was a goddess less, the spitting image of her mother.
“It would seem that your brother has blocked all your accounts and put a hold on every business that was held in your name. For the time being, all your assets are frozen and temporarily in his name.” Aurora sighed. It wasn’t a surprise; we knew this was coming. Rocco and Nicolo had been laying low for a while now but the demands for someone to step up and claim the Italian head of the house were getting too loud for anyone to ignore.
“So, what am I supposed to do?” Aurora asked as she tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair.
“I would suggest getting yourself a good lawyer, Ms. Moretti. This is out of my hands.” He sat back as if to signal he was done with the conversation and Aurora stood stiffly.
“Thank you for your time.” She said as I followed her out. She turned to me with a look of despair. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Hey, gorgeous it’s okay. We will figure it out.” I said as I ran my hands up and down her back.
