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“What do you want to know?” I ask, my eyes now wandering to the same skyline she was admiring.
“What were they like?”
That’s an easy question. I can do that.
“My mother was kind. Patient. Doting. Everything you imagine a picture-perfect mother and woman to be. It was like she was out of a story book, to be honest.” Glimpses of her smile, the same one I have, flood my memories.
“Really. So you two got along?”
“She was my best friend. Both my parents were, but my mother had more time to spend with me.”
Emelia hums a sound of interest.
“What?”
“Nothing. It's just you are so hardheaded and cold, but you say your best friend was this loving and soft mother.”
I nod.“True, but I said both parents were my best friends. My mother, Lealena, was able to teach me patience and how to keep my cool when things got a little… messy. That’s why I’m so good at negotiating and keeping calm. That’s why I am the devil to most.”
“I wouldn’t know about business dealings, but I will take your word for it,” she adds. “Also, your mother’s name is beautiful.”
“Thank you. She was born in Sicily and moved here with her family when she was six.” I take this chance to ease my twitching palms and reach my now soapy arm out to her to pull her in. She doesn’t reject it. This tub could fit four people, and that makes it easy for her to lie flat against me.
She places her head on my chest and continues.“And your dad?”
“He is where I get my—” I tilt my head back and forth and think of how I should phrase this. “—business side from.”
“Nice. Phrased that beautifully. Was he as feared as you?” she questions.
“No. He was feared, but the game has only become more ruthless, with higher stakes, and more evil since he died. I had to adapt to that. He just gave me the tools.”
“Did he ever, you know, hit you?”
“No. My father never hit me. He had me fight men double my size and train with them, but never did my father hit me.” I look down and see her eyes drop. Seeing her feel the pain of her own parents treating her so poorly only makes my quest to end them that much stronger.
“Emelia, my parents were rare in this world. When my father died, it was because of me and….” I trail off, and this has her eyes back on me.
She moves and straddles me quickly before wrapping her hands around the back of my neck. She begins to softly rub the hair at my nape, as if she knows her touch can fucking center me, which it does.
“Nico, you don’t have to tell me if you aren’t ready.”
“No. It's important you know.” If she is going to see me take down her father and his empire, I need her to know that not only did he hurt her and destroy her life, but he also took my parents from me. This is the first time I have told anyone. Not even Giulio knows the full story of why I hate the Notellis so badly and why I was persistent in refusing to make them an alliance for so long.
“I was supposed to be at the warehouse to train that day, but I decided going out and drinking with my friends would be more fun. But I didn’t realize that one of those friends happened to be an enemy. He was a mole. The youngest one the Notellis ever had.”
She pauses her caresses on my neck, and I can almost feel her hand go cold.“What?”
“Your brother, Sal, and I were friends. He was sent to the private school I attended here in Seattle. Simply told me his shitty parents back home sent him here to teach him how to be independent and be a man.”
She’s looking up at me as I adjust us a bit and try to find my next words.
“That day, I got so drunk nothing really made sense. I wasn’t as on guard as I usually am. But I was still aware enough. Sal thought differently. He thought I was so far gone that I wouldn’t remember.” I take a deep breath, roll my shoulders, and wipe at my lips for a minute, looking out my bathroom window again.
“Sal asked me where my father was, and I told him he was waiting at the warehouse for my training. Most of it is vague, but I remember enough. He laughed, and I joined him, saying my father would just train me harder when I’m hungover as a punishment. Sal disappeared a few minutes later. Something about going to the car to grab more drinks.”
This time, I slowly turn my head and prepare to tell her what I never fucking thought I would.
“Then, two hours later, my distraught mother told me the warehouse had been raided. My father was left for dead.”
