Chapter 17
AXEL
I can't do this anymore.
The thought loops in my head all morning while I wait for Luca to return from Chicago. I've been pacing my room since dawn, rehearsing different versions of this conversation, and they all end badly.
But I'm done lying. Done hiding. Done pretending that I can keep this secret forever while it eats me alive from the inside.
Aurora deserves better than being trapped between Leo and me. Deserves to know where she stands instead of living in this nightmare limbo.
And Luca deserves the truth, even if it destroys our friendship.
Viktor finds me in the library at noon, staring at whiskey I poured but haven't touched.
"Boss, you look like death. What's going on?"
"Is Luca back yet?"
"Just pulled up. Marco's helping him with his bags." Viktor studies me carefully. "Why? What are you planning?"
"Something that's going to blow up in my face."
"That's specific and not at all concerning." He sits across from me. "Want to elaborate?"
"I'm telling him. About Aurora. About everything."
Viktor goes very still. "Axel. Think about what you're doing."
"I have been thinking. For three weeks, I've been thinking, and I can't keep doing this. Can't keep lying to my best friend while I'm sleeping with his daughter."
"So you're going to confess and hope he doesn't kill you?"
"Something like that."
"That's a terrible plan."
"You have a better one?"
He doesn't. We both know there's no good way out of this. No scenario where everyone walks away happy.
"At least let me stay close," Viktor says finally. "In case things go sideways."
"They will go sideways. That's guaranteed."
"Then I'm definitely staying close."
A knock on the library door. Marco sticks his head in.
"Luca wants to see you in his office, Axel. Says it's important."
Here we go.
I drain the whiskey in one swallow. It burns but doesn't help.
Viktor follows me upstairs, stopping outside Luca's office while I go in alone.
Luca is behind his desk, still in his travel clothes, looking tired but alert. He smiles when he sees me.
"Axel. Good. We need to talk about the engagement situation. I've been thinking, and I might have found a way to..."
He keeps talking, but I'm not hearing the words. I'm watching his face, memorizing this moment before I destroy everything between us.
"Luca," I interrupt. "I need to tell you something."
He stops mid-sentence. "What is it?"
"It's about Aurora."
His expression shifts slightly. "What about her?"
I close the office door. Lock it. Turn back to face him.
"I slept with her."
Silence.
Luca stares at me like I just spoke a foreign language. "What?"
"Before I knew who she was. Before I came to you with the marriage proposal. I met her at a club. We spent six days together. Then she left, and I didn't know..." I stop, force myself to continue. "I didn't know she was your daughter until the engagement party."
More silence. I watch him process, watch the pieces click together in his mind.
"The baby," he says slowly. "The baby she's carrying."
"It's mine."
Something in his face shatters.
"You." His voice is deadly quiet. "You're the father."
"Yes."
"You got my daughter pregnant. Then you came to my house and arranged for her to marry your son."
"I didn't know it was her! I swear to God, Luca, I didn't know. She was just Aurora. I didn't know her last name. We used first names only. I had no idea she was your daughter until I saw her at that engagement party."
He stands slowly, and there's something terrifying in how calm he looks. "Let me make sure I understand this. You fucked my daughter. Got her pregnant. Then arranged a marriage for her without knowing she was the woman you'd been with."
"Yes. And as soon as I realized, I tried to end it. That's why I've been pushing to break off the engagement."
"Oh, now it makes sense!" His voice rises, the calm cracking. "Now I understand why you've been so fucking protective of her! Why you shield her with your own body! Why you look at her like she belongs to you!"
"Luca, please..."
"Please what?" He's shouting now. "Please forgive you for betraying me? For ruining my daughter? For getting her pregnant and then trying to marry her off to your bastard of a son?"
"I never would have suggested the marriage if I'd known it was her! I was trying to help you with your pregnant daughter's situation, trying to settle Leo down. I didn't know they were the same person!"
"But you know now!" He slams his hands on the desk. "You've known for weeks! And instead of telling me, instead of being honest, you've been lying to my face! Living under my roof! Probably still fucking her while I'm off on business!"
I don't deny it. Can't deny it.
His expression goes from anger to something worse. Betrayal.
"You have been," he breathes. "You've been sleeping with her this whole time. In my house."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" He laughs, bitter and broken. "You're sorry? You slept with my daughter before you knew who she was. Got her pregnant. Arranged for her to marry your son. Then continued sleeping with her while pretending to be my friend. And you think sorry covers that?"
"What do you want me to say? I fucked up. I know I fucked up. But I'm trying to fix it now. I'm trying to..."
"To what? Take responsibility?" He's coming around the desk now. "You've destroyed her reputation. Gotten her pregnant. Complicated everything. And now you want credit for confessing?"
"I want to make this right!"
"There is no making this right!" He's in my face now, and I can see tears in his eyes mixed with the rage. "You were my brother, Axel. My brother. I would have died for you. I let you marry my daughter to your son because I trusted you. And this whole time you've been..."
He hits me.
His fist connects with my jaw so hard I taste blood. I don't fight back. Don't even raise my hands to defend myself.
I deserve this.
He hits me again. And again. His fists are flying, landing on my face, my ribs, anywhere he can reach. Each blow carries twenty years of friendship being shattered.
"You bastard!" He's sobbing now, still hitting. "You fucking bastard! She's my daughter! My little girl! And you..."
I take it all. Every punch, every hit. Let him break my nose, split my lip, bruise my ribs. Because he's right. I betrayed him. Used his daughter. Lied to his face.
This is the least of what I deserve.
The office door slams open. Viktor and Marco burst in, grabbing Luca from behind and pulling him off me.
"Let me go!" Luca's struggling against them. "Let me fucking go!"
"Boss!" Viktor's trying to steady me, but I wave him off. "Luca, you need to calm down!"
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?" Luca's still fighting. "He fucked my daughter! He got her pregnant! He..."
"I know!" Viktor's voice cuts through. "I know what he did! But killing him won't fix it!"
"Maybe not, but it'll feel good!" Luca finally stops struggling, but his eyes are still wild when they land on me. "Get out."
I wipe blood from my mouth. "Luca, please. Let me explain..."
"I said get out! Get out of my house! Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you again!"
"The baby..."
"Is MINE to worry about! Not yours! You lost the right to care about my daughter when you lied to me!"
"She's carrying my child. I have a right..."
"You have no rights!" He's shaking with fury. "None! You're nothing to her! Nothing to me! We're done, Axel. Twenty years of friendship, gone. Over. Because you couldn't keep your dick in your pants!"
The words hit harder than his fists.
"Get him out of here," Luca says to Marco, his voice going flat. "Get all the Santegos out. I want them gone by sunset."
"Luca..." I try one more time.
"If you're still here in an hour, I'm calling a hit on you. That's a promise." He turns his back on me. "We're done."
Viktor grabs my arm, starts pulling me toward the door. I let him. There's nothing left to say.
In the hallway, I can hear Luca shouting for Aurora. Hear his voice breaking as he calls for his daughter.
I've destroyed everything.
Viktor gets me to my room. Starts throwing my things into bags while I stand there bleeding and numb.
"I told you this would blow up," he says, not unkindly. "I told you."
"I know."
"What's the plan now?"
"I don't have one."
"Boss, you need one. Luca's serious about that hit."
"Let him." I slump onto the bed. "Maybe it's what I deserve."
"Don't talk like that." Viktor stops packing. "You made mistakes. But that baby is yours. Aurora is... whatever she is to you. You don't give up on that."
"She's Luca's daughter. He'll protect her. Keep her safe."
"From everyone except Leo. You think Luca's going to maintain that broken engagement? He'll probably arrange something new. Someone else."
The thought makes my blood run cold.
Someone else touching Aurora. Someone else raising my child.
"I can't..." I start, then stop. "I can't let that happen."
"Then figure out a plan. Fast. Because once we're out of this house, getting back in is going to be a lot harder."
He's right. I need a plan.