“Tell me what happened.”
I pull in a deep breath to clear my head then fill her in.
“This is part of the same problem.” She brings her hands to her cheeks.
I still have that letter with me. I haven’t taken it out of my jacket pocket, not even to re-read it. I don’t need to. Those words will forever be embedded in my mind.
Her being here gives me the chance to talk and maybe get some ideas.
“Estelle, I found something quite disturbing on the day of the bombing. I need to talk to you about it.”
“Of course, what did you find out?”
I hand her the letter. She takes one look at it, and her eyes go wide, then she looks ashamed.
She looks back at me and allows the letter to float down onto the table.
“Where did you get this?” Her voice waivers.
“It was in a box at the facility. There were more letters, but they were destroyed. You knew, didn’t you? You knew about me?”
A slow sigh releases from her lips, and her dark eyes look older. She brings her hands together as her gaze clings to mine.
“Yes. I promised myself that if I lived long enough for you to ask me that question, I would tell you the truth. A lie would nullify all that I ever was to you. I’m sorry you had to find out this way, my boy.”
I relax my shoulders. “I’m assuming Sebastiano gave you this one to give to my mother.”
“He did. Giving me their letters was the only way they could communicate without Salvatore knowing. I warned your mother it would blow up in her face, but she wouldn’t listen.” She shakes her head. “I thank God you never knew that side of her. I hate to speak ill of the dead, and speaking out back then would have cost me my job, but I warned her when she was having her affair with Sebastiano, and I warned her after it stopped and you were born. She didn’t care, Alejandro. Very much like what you told me about Priscilla.”
She was the first person I confided in when I found out about Priscilla.
“She didn’t care,” she repeats. “And it drove them both crazy. Sebastiano and Salvatore were both in love with her. That gas explosion that killed them was not what it appeared to be.”
I narrow my eyes. “Why do you say that?”
“There was an explosion for sure, but it was a convenient way to cover up what must have also happened. Your mother was shot, and so was your father. Sebastiano fell over the side of the protective railing and… Eduardo was there, too.”
“Jesus, what are you saying to me?”
“I don’t know the details. It was he who told me he was there. Nothing more, but I’m sure something more happened. This letter was written a few years before their deaths. After you got chosen to take over the cartel, your mother convinced Sebastiano not to tell you.” She looks weary. “Getting the cartel was the happiest anybody had seen you since Vanessa’s death, so she convinced him to keep quiet. It doesn’t surprise me that Eduardo had them because he found out what was going on just before they died. I think your mother started up the affair again and your father found out.”
“Estelle, the intel I got the other week said I’d find evidence of El Diablo in Eduardo’s things. What if he’s either my father or Sebastiano?”
“They were both monsters in the end, Alejandro, so it’s possible. They wore masks to you because you are the cartel king and they both wanted what you had, but so did the others. If this letter was at that facility and you were supposed to find some evidence, then I think you found it, and you’ve got the list of suspects narrowed down to two people.”
I nod, but at the same time, I am hollow inside.
“Now it’s to find them.”
“Yes.” She reaches across the table and takes my hand. “Alejandro, it is because of what happened to you why I don’t want the same thing happening to Mia. Think of how you felt when you read this letter. That’s how you found out your uncle was your father. It’s not fair. It will be worse with you because Mia lives with you. She’ll grow up with you and wonder why you never told her the truth. Please do the right thing by her, not Eduardo.”
I’m listening, and for the first time since she’s tried to persuade me to be Mia’s father, my ears and my heart are both open.
I know what the right thing is, and it was never to uphold Eduardo’s name.
“Okay. I will.”
She looks like some of the life has returned to her.
I’ll do what’s right. There’s something else I have to do to make sure Mia is safe.
What’s happened to Cristiano has made me realize that I have to have more than one backup plan, and it’s not fair for me to rely on him so much.
Since Estelle is out of the picture, there’s only one other person I can think of who I know I can trust with my child.
Lucia.