He looks up at me and smiles.
“These are really good. Want one? I’d love to feed it to you,” he says, holding out a cookie for me to take.
Panic makes me back away to run, but I stumble into a wall. I turn to see Andreas, and relief washes over me.
“Andreas, Vlad is inside the kitchen,” I say, grabbing his shirt. My hands are shaking so much I can’t stop them.
“Now, now, Emelia, don’t you worry. You see, he got inside the kitchen because I let him in. We arrived in the same car, stopped for a bite to eat,” he explains with a smile. My jaw drops.
I release my hold on his shirt and backpedal. He walks toward me as I back right into the kitchen, right into danger.
I don’t know what he’s saying. He’s Massimo’s brother. He must know that Vlad is a dangerous man.
As I take in the sinister expression on his face, it dawns on me. Of course… he does know Vlad is dangerous man. This is something else.
“What’s going on here?” I look from Vlad to Andreas and shake my head.
“I’m going to tell you a very interesting story about secrets, and I’m gonna give you the major spoiler.”
“Is the spoiler that you betrayed your family?” I throw back. I can’t believe this. Not at all.
“No, it’s not that. That’s not news since I’ve always been the odd one out. There’s a reason for that. The reason is, they’re my half-brothers, and the spoiler is… you and I have a lot in common. Like how we have the same father.”
I gasp and bring my hand up to my heart.
“What!” I don’t understand.
“Ready for the story?”
“I am,” Vlad says with a smile. “Nothing like a juicy piece of news to get the blood going.”
“I like this guy,” Andreas states. Vlad tips his head.
“Thanks. It’s great to be appreciated.” His eyes lock with mine, and a shiver runs down my spine. I only look away when Andreas clears his throat.
“Ready for the story, Princesca?” he asks with emphasis on the last word. “That’s what Massimo calls you, isn’t it?”
I stare back at the man claiming to be my brother. Yes, indeed, I’m ready to hear the story. I’m fucking ready to hear it. Another secret revealed.
“Tell me,” I answer.
“It started with the death of my grandfather. That’s what started this whole thing. The man I thought was my father doesn’t favor tradition in the least. Or I’d be boss and king of the empire, not Massimo,” he says with a chuckle. I remember my thoughts about him that night at the dinner. He didn’t look happy when Massimo received his ring and everyone raised their glass to accept him as the new leader. “When I wa
s told Massimo was chosen, it knocked me. In my life, when shit happens, I’ve always sought the company of my mother’s belongings. That day, I went searching through her stuff and found a journal I don’t think she wanted anyone to find. It carried her secrets. There I learned that she was with your father before Giacomo D’Agostino. She found out she was pregnant with me after she got together with him and never told him I wasn’t his. She couldn’t bring herself to ruin the relationship she’d always wanted.”
I start to shake. I don’t want to believe it. I want to tell myself it’s a lie, but I know it’s not. It feels like the truth.
“I went to your father, and we got tested. The tests confirmed he’s my father. Then we planned. I lived a hard life I shouldn’t have because she decided to stay with my father. You had everything, while I had to go through shit my other brothers didn’t have to go through because I was the eldest. I took care of everything. The last blow was Pa giving Massimo the empire. And to spit in my face further, Massimo chose Tristan to be part of the syndicate, not me.”
“So, you want to wipe them out? How could you be so cruel?” I seethe.
He grabs my face and squeezes hard. “Don’t talk about things you don’t understand. You haven’t lived my life. You don’t know me, and you don’t want to. I have no desire to know you either. I accepted some hard truths when I found out my mother didn’t kill herself, but it was your father, my father, who pushed her off a cliff, all because she chose Giacomo D’Agostino.”
My mouth falls open, and I stare at him wide-eyed.
My God… I can’t believe what I’m hearing. My father is indeed evil, but how can Andreas just accept it?
“How can you be okay with that?”