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“Vincent is my son. My first born,” my dad says. “He will always be mine, but the truth is this isn’t the first time Luca has taken something that wasn’t his. He took your mother.” My heart starts to race.
“But your dad found me. I was broken and scared. He put me back together and claimed me as his own.” All the pieces begin to click into place.
I remember Mom telling me when she met Dad she knew he was the one. That they never spent a night apart. Their marriage was a whirlwind and not long after, she was pregnant.
“Does he know?”
My mom can only shake her head.
“No. Only we know and the doctor who delivered him. We had his birth date forged so Luca would never think for a second Vincent might be his.”
I step back to sit on my bed. All of this information is a lot to take in.
“And now he’s crossed another line.” My father’s tone hardens. “It can’t be undone, Liv.” I can see the fire in my father’s eyes. All bets are off. He’s going to kill all the Talettis now. Including Sergei.
21
SERGEI
I’m downstairs when the cars roll up, all of them fanning out in a row and parking in front of the warehouse.
I remain still, my gaze landing on the final car in the column. My father isn’t visible, but I know he’s in the back seat.
Sal jumps out of one of the cars and jogs over to my father as he steps out.
A dozen soldiers step from the other cars, all of them staring at me. It makes my blood boil, the fucking nerve of them rolling up on me like this.
My father strides over to me, his beady eyes moving around, taking in every detail. It’s what he does. It’s why he’s survived this long. I respect it, but nowhere near as much as I did before. Something inside me has shifted, and I know exactly how it happened. Olivia. The fact that my father intended to hurt her–it’s fucking unforgivable. My hands fist, and I force myself to relax. After all, he’s not my enemy.
I can talk to him, show him that the Fernandinos aren’t what we thought. They don’t have to die screaming. My father drummed into me again and again that they wronged us long ago, that they’re the reason our lives have been so hard. Now I have to wonder why I didn’t ask him for more. Why did I never question him? Why did I never doubt him? Because now, after seeing Olivia and how her brothers would do anything to protect her, I can’t imagine that they’re the rancid cesspool of human filth that my father described with vigor again and again.
All these thoughts swirl and collide as he finishes his walk to me and tilts his head up just a hair, just enough so that he can meet my gaze.
“Is my little virgin bitch waiting for me inside?” He smiles, his wrinkles deepening as he does so.
Sal is at his elbow, his face unusually ashen. He must know what I’ve done. I didn’t have to say a word to him, but somehow he knows I’ve set my father’s quarry free.
Dad reaches out and grips my shoulder hard. “You didn’t sample her before me, did you?” He tsks. “Is that why you’ve kept her here instead of bringing her to me as I instructed you?” He squeezes harder. “Is that why youdisobeyedme?” His eyes flash, and I see the rage inside him.
That’s when I realize he’s fed me that same rage for years. Like milk from a mother’s breast, he’s poured his anger into me, tainting me from the very beginning. Telling me over and over that the Fernandinos are why we’ve suffered, why we’ve had to fight so hard, why we had to prove ourselves again and again.
But now as I look at him, I have to wonder if any of it’s true. Because the man I’m looking at, the man who’s known for doing anything and everything to come out on top, for betraying those close to him, for climbing on top of a mountain of bodies to claim his crown–he’s far worse than anything Olivia or her family could ever be. I refuse to believe evil could have created someone as pure, as fucking wonderful as Olivia. It’s not possible.
“Nothing to say for yourself?” He bears down on my shoulder.
Maybe he thinks he’s hurting me. He’s definitely trying to. It would be laughable if it weren’t for the dangerous anger simmering in his eyes. I’ve seen it lash out before, destroying everything in its path. But this is the first time it’s ever been aimed at me.
“She’s not here.” I inhale, my back straightening as I stare down my own personal demon. “I let her go.”
Sal winces.
“You’re kidding.” My father smiles thinly, then turns and walks back toward his soldiers. “My son is having a little bit of fun with me, boys.” He barks out a forced laugh. “Because I know, and you all know, how much I’ve been looking forward to meeting that little bitch Olivia Fernandino. Right?”
“Right.” The men nod and smirk.
“Because her cunt belongs tome!” He beats his chest. “I earmarked it for myself the moment I heard she takes after her mother.” He turns back to me and shakes his head. “Oh, Sergei, if you could’ve seen her mother when she was young.” He does a chef’s kiss on his fingers, that wild anger rising and rising inside him. “She was the most decadent piece of ass I’d ever seen. I spotted her one day in the city. She was shopping with some of her friends. Have I told you this story?” he asks.
“No.” Something in his tone makes nausea churn in my gut.
