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“Whose side are you on?”
She sighs as she grabs my hands and squeeze. “Yours. Always yours. But I’ve been dealing with Mafia men a lot longer than you have. I’ve experienced the brutality from them firsthand. I just want you to be careful.”
“Do you mean Franco?” I ask in a low voice. I always wondered if there was abuse going on between my uncle and mom, but I never asked, and no one ever told me.
“Yes,” she finally says, looking me straight in the eye. “I mean Franco. I’ve … been working through what he did to me. All your older sisters know, and so does Antonio. I’ve kept it from you, Mia, and the twins because I didn’t want you to have to carry the burden of what I went through.”
“And what did you go through?” My heart pounds so hard, I almost can’t focus when my mom answers.
“He raped me,” she says pointblank.
I gasp. My knees almost buckled out from under me. “He …what?”
“Multiple times. He also hit me, but he did it in places I could hide the bruises. I was so ashamed at first.” She blinks hard. “I didn’t want to admit what was happening. But I couldn’t kick Franco out. He had too much power. So, I took everything from him, so he wouldn’t put it on any of you.”
I sit down hard next to her. “Why did you never tell me? Why didn’t Emilia or Gemma or …”
She holds up her hand. “Don’t blame your sisters. It wasn’t their story to tell. But I’m telling you now. I know what powerful men can be like, and you donotwant to get on Salvatore’s bad side. Trust me on that. You don’t want the life I experienced for the past twelve years since your dad died.”
“But Dad loved you. He was so kind to you.”
“He was.”
“So … that means real love exists. Which means I shouldn’t have to marry Salvatore. You and Dad are proof happiness can exist in a marriage. You have eight children together. That means something.”
Her eyes darken as she ducks her head. “Six children.”
“What?”
She sucks in a shaky breath and looks at me. I can tell it’s taking everything out of her to do so. “Your father and I had six children. Lucia and Luca are … Franco’s kids.”
My entire world drops out from under me. “But … you got pregnant soon after Dad died. Weren’t you two …”
“It was a lie. Your father was too sick to be intimate with before he died. And then Franco moved in, and that’s when he … did what he did. A month later, I found out I was pregnant with the twins. I just told everyone they were your father’s because … I didn’t want to face the truth. But I’m facing it now.”
“Do the twins know?”
“No. And I don’t want them to find out till they’re older, if ever. It could ruin their chances in life if the truth comes out. Itcould hurt them. So, don’t say anything. I’ll tell them when I’m ready.”
I nod slowly, taking in everything my mom just told me. There’s so much I want to say, but there’s really only one thing that matters. “I love you, you know that?”
Tears slip down her cheeks as she smiles. “I do. And I love you. Which is why I’m telling you to be smart about this. If Salvatore found out you went to see Theo in the hospital, he might get the wrong idea about you two.”
“I don’t care. Theo’s hurt. I never knew the full extent of what happened between you and Franco, so I wasn’t able to help you.”
“I wouldn’t have let you.”
“Doesn’t matter. Theo was attacked. He’s in the hospital. I can do something about that. I can be there for him. I’m going.” I stand up before she can stop me.
“I can’t stop you. Just be safe.”
I give her a hug, and she wraps her arms around me, pulling me close. We stay together like that for a while. My mom has been through a lot, and it will be a lot to process, but I really can’t sit by knowing Theo’s in the hospital, so I have to go.
I take the family car to the hospital by myself. Mom insists I take Sam with me, but I tell her he’s better off taking care of her and the rest of their family.
Once I arrive, I find a nurse’s station and ask which room Theo Williams is in.
The nurse behind the counter tells me he isn’t accepting visitors unless it’s from family.
