But I’ve always believed what I can see with my eyes. Sight doesn’t lie. Words, actions, emotions, and even smell can deceive, but it’s hard to dismiss the things right in front of you.
“Who are you?” I ask after a beat, my mind going a hundred miles a minute.
He huffs and paces to the right. I go left, being sure to keep distance between him and Siân. We stare at one another, but he’s not nearly as thrown off as I am. This tells me that while this is the first time I’m ever seeing him, he’s extremely familiar with me.
“Oh, come.” He tilts his head with a click of his tongue. “It’s it obvious who I am?”
I don’t respond, so he continues.
“I’m you—well, a part of you. But I see dear ole Dad kept that from you.”
I shake my head. “Why don’t you fill me in?” I spit.
“You know, I don't know whether to be offended that you haven’t a clue about me or excited to finally be face-to-face with the infamous Christian Russo…my long-lost twin brother.”
“Yeah, well, the feeling isn’t mutual. What do you want?”
“Your bride here asked me the same thing.”
“It was you? You’ve been the one after her?”
He grins. “Ding. Ding. Ding. Uno per il mio caro fratello.” Ding. Ding. Ding. One for my dear brother.
I growl under my breath and continue to block Siân from him as he moves about the space. Neither of us drops our weapons, and we seem to move in sync with each other.
“And the families. You’ve been taking them out too?”
“And to think Dad said you were an incompetent idiot.”
I see red flashing across my vision. “He set this up?”
He stops moving but never takes his eye off me, the gun still pointed in my direction. “Something tells me you already know the answer to that.”
“Why?”
“That’s a question for him. If I’m being honest, I’ve wondered that myself.”
“No. Why am I just now finding out about you? Where have you been?”
“Oh, brother. We don’t have nearly that amount of time.”
“Find the time. You’re here now and will die one way or another, so you might as well spill it.”
He laughs. A deep, guttural chuckle echoes off the walls of the empty warehouse.
“Fair enough.” He smirks. “What have you been told about your mother—our mother?”
I roll my shoulders uncomfortably but don’t answer him. The truth is, I know nothing. From my earliest memory, it’s just been Samuele and me—no mother and no brother. He’s never even mentioned it, and now that I think of it, I never questioned it.
“She was the daughter of a rival family. Apparently, she and Samuele weren’t supposed to be together, but he went after her anyway. And when he was done with her, he discarded her like yesterday’s trash. But she couldn’t just return home. She was pregnant by the enemy, and her family would never accept her or us. She managed on her own for a while, but eventually went to him for help, demanding that he take us in or she would go back to her family and tell them everything they wanted to know. But you know his temper, and he didn’t take too well to being threatened.”
I listen intently, hanging on word for word. It doesn’t make sense, but rarely does anything make sense when it comes to my father. We do what he says because it’s the order of things. He’s the Don, our boss. Besides, how can one miss what they’ve never had? No brother. No mother. He’s just a man with my face, sharing a tale that is hard to wrap my mind around.
“He killed her,” I interrupt, some weird feeling spreading through my chest.
“Yeah. And tried to get rid of me right along with her.” He lifts his shirt, showcasing the gunshot wound in his abdomen. “Only he failed when it came to me. He shot us both, her in the head, killing her instantly. The bastard didn’t even have the decency to make sure I didn’t suffer. He left us on the side of the road, bleeding out. It was hours before someone found us.”
“When was this?”
“We were four.”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t make sense. I don’t remember any of that.”
“Why would you? You were the chosen one. For some reason, he spared you, kept you safe while he drove our mother and me away and executed us. They say I was lucky because, by the time I was found, I was on the brink of death.”
“Where have you been all this time?”
“The people who found me took me in, nursed me back to health, and raised me. Ironically enough, it was our true family. They found me lying in a pool of blood next to our decomposed mother. It’s still unknown if Samuele deliberately dumped us near her family's estate, but lucky me because I wouldn’t be alive otherwise. They shared what they knew when I was older, but they could fill in only so many blanks. It was all speculation, really, because it had been years since she’d run away. But over the years, I’ve managed to piece together enough.”