“She is Carlo and Rosa Orso’s child,” Kate says quietly. “But you…you aren’t.?
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Chapter 23—The Treaty
“What the fuck are you talking about?” My voice shakes as much as my hands.
Kate glares at me for my language but says nothing about my choice of words. Her glare quickly disappears as she begins to fret with her hands again.
The fact is, I don’t have to ask. I know exactly where this is going. I recall a video I once watched of a deaf child right after receiving cochlear implants and the look of shock and terror on his face as they were first activated, and he experienced sound for the first time in his life.
Everything about my life has been a lie.
“Nataniele, you aren’t an Orso at all. You were born to the Ramsays. You were the other half of the swap.”
I have been overwhelmed with so much new information surrounding the pack of lies I’ve been fed my entire life that this one shouldn’t even shock me. It does, of course. I can’t speak, but I can nearly hear the clicking inside my head as if the tumblers of a lock are falling into place, the combination revealed, and the vault door of my family history is opened, revealing all.
Except it’s not my family.
I’m not an Orso.
“You see,” Kate continues though I can’t really absorb much of what she’s saying, “Carlo demanded they turn over their newborn son to replace his brother Quinton, the family member he lost. In turn, he’d turn over his daughter, Cherice. Your father wasn’t fond of girls, and he already had one, so for him, the choice to give up Cherice was nominal though Rosa didn’t feel that way.”
My mouth is dry, and though I run my tongue over my lips, it doesn’t moisten them.
“Of course, Carlo wasn’t particularly interested in what Rosa had to say about it. They argued, but he made the final decision. She was devastated, but she learned to love you very quickly even though you weren’t her own. Of course, I don’t know how Leanne Ramsay felt about all of it.”
I can’t breathe. It’s all too much. Though I don’t see him, I can hear Pops’ laughter echoing in my head.
I’m a Ramsay.
No. I can’t accept this.
“This isn’t true,” I say softly. “You’re lying.” I know she isn’t. It’s the first time since Cherry entered my life that everything has made sense, but my mouth goes on without my thoughts behind it. “This is just one more lie this family has to throw at me.”
“I’m not, Nataniele. Why would I lie about this? The only reason I’m telling you at all is because it’s obvious you are falling apart without Cherry. I didn’t want you to think you had done anything…unnatural. You aren’t related at all, so you can still be with her.”
My brain hadn’t made that connection yet.
If Cherry is an Orso, and I’m a Ramsay, we can still get married. We can still be together. The whole idea sounds like a horrible daytime drama plot, but it wouldn’t stop us from sharing our lives, and it means we haven’t done anything wrong.
“Why…why didn’t you tell me before now?”
Tears well in Kathrine’s eyes.
“I failed you, Nataniele. I should have been watching you more closely after your father passed. I thought you were doing just fine with the family and the business, and I didn’t see what was going on inside of you. I realized who Cherice was the first night you brought her to dinner, and I should have told you everything then.”
“But you didn’t.” My voice is hollow and breathy.
“It was so long ago, and as far as anyone here was concerned, you were the head of the family. I didn’t want to dismantle all of that when you were just learning your new role. Carlo had sworn us all to secrecy when it happened—only a handful of us knew, and I think…well, I think I might be the only one left alive who was there.”
“He’s dead. You could have said something.”
“As you well know, he intimidates beyond the grave.” Kate lets out a long sigh and then downs the rest of her drink. “Carlo was my brother, and I knew as well as anyone what a tyrant he could be. He bullied all of us when we were children, and he embraced the most violent and unforgiving nature of this business. He pushed Micha into the same pattern.”
“This is why he always treated me like shit,” I say, no longer concerned about Kate’s sensitive ears. “It wasn’t just that Micha was his favorite; Pops had no claim to me at all, and he took it out on me every fucking day.”
“I don’t know, Nataniele. I never knew what was happening in my brother’s head. He was always cruel, but yes, he directed that cruelty toward you more than anyone else. Micha was also the eldest, so I don’t know if it would have made a difference or not.”