Chapter 51 Massimo
MASSIMO
“Sooo, has anyone talked to Mom or Dad yet?” Gui asks, breaking the silence while Liana is in the spa talking to her mom.
“Well, obviously I haven’t,” Gio says.
“I’m not sure how I’d handle speaking to either one of them after what they’ve done,” I grumble.
“We’re going to have to break the silence eventually,” Gui says.
I let out a sigh, knowing he’s right and I’m the one who’s going to need to do it.
I’ve just been avoiding it because what the fuck am I supposed to say?
They kept a child from their parent for over a decade.
That’s grounds for a fucking war in our world.
And for it to be my wife they did this to?
I don’t fucking know how I’m going to manage this.
The call waiting pops up on my phone and I see it’s my dad calling.
What a fucking coincidence.
I’m tempted to answer it, but I press ignore, knowing I can’t click out of the call I’m on with Liana.
“Dad just called me,” I say.
“Oh, look, he’s calling me now,” Gui says. He smirks and looks over at Gio. “Guess we know the order of favorites now.”
“That’s so fucking dumb, Gui. He’s only calling you because he doesn’t know I’m in Sicily right now.”
The smile on Gui’s face flattens.
“Give it to me, Gui,” I snap, holding my hand out to him.
He slaps the phone down into it and grumbles, “Whatever.”
“Dad,” I say.
There’s a pause on the other line, then he finally says, “Massimo. I just tried calling you but—”
“I’m talking to you now, so what do you want?”
“Is that anyway to speak to your father?”
“When your father’s a lying son-of-a-bitch, I’d say yes.”
I’m not sure what my plan was when answering his call, but I can’t help the anger that takes over my body when I think of him now.
“Massimo, you better be careful because you’re toeing a fine line right now.”
“No, you better listen. Keeping Liana from her mother for all these years was the wrong fucking move to make. Not only does it put our family in a bad fucking spot with the DiMaggios, but you all took a woman’s life and fed her this fake fucking bullshit.”
“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” he snaps. “The Faracis are very powerful—”
“I don’t fucking care what you have to say, Dad! What you did is unforgivable!”
“You don’t—”
“No, I don’t want to hear anymore fucking excuses. You sided with the wrong fucking people here, and you’ll never be forgiven for it.”
“What exactly are you saying, Massimo?”
I bow my head and rub my temples, letting out a sigh.
Liana is my life, and my father betrayed her.
He can no longer have a purpose in our world, but it still fucking pains me to have to remove the man I looked up to my entire life.
He’s my family—my blood—but Liana is my future, and there will never be someone above her.
Not even my parents. I have to choose her. I will always choose her.
“Before you say something you can’t take back, you need to know something,” he says.
I don’t say anything, so he continues.
“Ignazio knows you’ve made contact with Vittoria.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“He has people looking for you as we speak. You need to get out of here.”
“And why do you care?”
“You’re my son, Massimo. I would never wish harm on you.”
“Well, I can tell you we’re not leaving without Liana’s mom.”
“And I can tell you that you’re asking for a war if you take her.”
“Then a war is what we’ll start.”
“And you’re going to do that in a country you have zero ties to?”
I grind my teeth because my dad is right. My brothers and I are alone here. If we’re going to bring Liana’s mom back to New York, it’ll be of our own doing. That means we have to be really fucking smart about it.
“Just heed my advice and go home. Pretend you never saw anything, and go home.”
“Yeah, go home and pretend like my wife’s mother is still dead? Sure, Dad, sounds like a fucking plan.”
“Vittoria has a great life here. Ignazio treats her well and she’s happy. They’re happy. The past is the past, and it should be left there.”
I scoff out a sardonic laugh. “You’re fucking deranged.”
He lets out a long sigh. “If you know what’s good for you and that wife you claim to love so much, then you’ll leave and forget about everything you’ve seen here.”
“Is that a threat?” I growl out.
“It’s a warning of what could happen if you don’t listen to me. Remember what I said. I’m trying to help.”
I clench my jaw so hard it nears on painful. “Helping would’ve been telling the DiMaggios about Liana’s mom being alive years ago,” I say, then hang up on him.
I hand the phone back to my brother from over my shoulder.
“Damn,” Gui whistles out.
“What?” I snap.
“I’ve never heard anyone speak to Dad like that, let alone you.”
“Yeah, well, that man is no longer my father. He’s a stranger to me moving forward.”
A warm hand lands on my shoulder. “We’re with you, brother,” Gio says, then another warm hand finds its way to my other shoulder.
“The three of us have and will always stick together,” Gui says.
“Thanks guys,” I say. Knowing we’re all each other has left is a fucking striking thing to think about. Our family has always been close, but now we’re falling apart, and I just fucking pray this doesn’t become the end of us.
Liana’s voice sounds from my phone. “Massi?”
I pick it up and press the unmute button. “Yeah, baby. I’m here. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, we’re done talking.”
I glance across the parking lot to where Vittoria’s guard is, and notice he’s fucking sleeping.
Fucking amateur.
“I’m going to pull up to the door. Your mom’s guard is sleeping, but I don’t want to chance anything.”
“Sleeping?”
“Yeah … Fucking idiot,” I mumble. “See you in a second.”
I pull up to the front door, and Liana comes running out, swiftly getting into the car. I glance back at the guard, and the asshole is still leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed and his mouth agape.
“How are you doing?” I ask her.
“Honestly? I’m not sure. I feel elated that the conversation went well, beyond angry that Ignazio has stolen over ten years of my life from me, exhausted from all the emotions I’m feeling, and anxious for what’s to come.”
“Well, I have to tell you, I just got off the phone with my dad.”
Liana whips her head in my direction. “You did?”
“He was calling to let me know Ignazio is looking for us. It seems your mom tipping him off has sent him on a warpath to find us.”
“So he’s warning you now?” she says, turning her head to face forward. She crosses her arms and stares ahead at the road. “How nice of him.”
“Don’t worry, sis, Massi had your back and reamed him,” Gui says.
“You have terrible fucking timing sometimes, dude,” Gio mutters.
“What? I thought she’d want to know we all have her back. What our parents did was fucked up, and she needs to know we’re here for her. Whatever we can do to help you and your mom, we’ll do it because we’re family.”
It’s silent for a moment, then Gio says, “Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the worst fucking timing on your part.”
“Never doubt me, bro.”
Liana glances back over her shoulder at my brothers. “I really appreciate that, but I’m not trying to force you guys to take sides. They’re your parents. I understand what losing them could mean for you all, and I don’t want to be the reason that happens.”
“What they did is unforgivable, Liana,” I growl out. “They might still be our parents, but they’re strangers to us now.”
Liana faces forward again, her shoulders rounding forward.
I let out a sigh, not liking the tone I just used with her, but she needs to understand how serious I’m taking this. I’m surprised she would think I’d feel any other way.
“So what’re we going to do now?” Gui asks.
“Well, that depends on Liana. What do you want to do?”
She lets out a sigh and turns her head to look out the window. “It’s not right that he took her away from me,” she mutters so low I’m not sure she wanted us to hear. But I do, and it lights the fire of rage inside me. I clench my hand around the steering wheel, whitening the knuckles on my fingers.
“She said she has a lot to think about—understandably so—and that she’ll reach out to me when she figures out what she’s going to do.”
“There’s just one itty bitty problem with that,” Gui says.
“Yeah, what’re we going to do about Ignazio? It’s only a matter of time before he catches us,” Gio says.
“Then we’ll handle him,” I say.
Liana whips her head in my direction, and I feel her eyes boring into the side of my face. “What does that mean?” she asks.
“Exactly how it sounds. We will defend ourselves if it comes down to it.”
“But, Massi, it would be the three of you against however many men Ignazio has. We would be outnumbered.”
“Ehh, don’t you worry about the numbers, little sis. We can handle whatever Ignazio sends our way,” Gui says.
Liana keeps her sharp gaze on me, so I finally glance over at her. Concern consumes her eyes. “I don’t like that plan, Massi,” she mumbles.
I take her hand in mine and place it on my lap, giving it a light squeeze. “You don’t have anything to worry about, mia moglie. We’re not going to let anything happen to you or your mom.”
“But what about you? What about your brothers? If anything were to happen to any of you, I wouldn’t be able to liv—”
“Nothing will happen. I promise you that,” I say.
“You can’t make a promise like that,” she mutters, and I lift her hand, placing a small kiss on each of her knuckles.
“I can if I mean it.”
“You can’t predict the future, Massi. This is getting very serious. We’re treading dangerous waters still being here.”
“I promise you, Liana. Nothing will happen to any of us. Any of us.”
She pauses, studying me for a moment, then gives me a small nod and sits back in her seat.
“I’m not sure how long my mom needs to figure out what she wants to do, but if she decides to stay with him, I’m not sure I can just return to New York like none of this happened.
He’s a monster for what he did to my family.
Forcing myself to walk out of that spa knowing she’s going to return to him was already difficult enough. ”
“We can always take her with us. Against her will if needed,” Gui says.
“Do we really think that’s a good idea?” Gio asks.
If Liana wants us to do that, then I’ll do it, no questions asked, but as I gaze at her while she stares out the window, something tells me that option is not on the table.
“I don’t think forcing her is the answer. She’s already been forced for the past decade of her life. I just need her to …”
“To what, mia moglie?”
She glances back at me. “I just need her to remember. She had a dream—more so a memory—about me and my dad, which is why she believes what I told her about her previous life. I’m sure she’s questioning everything with Ignazio, but I think if she can just start remembering more, it’ll push her over to completely leave this life she had here and come home with us.
” She glances back out the window. “But I don’t know how long that could take. ”
“Then we’ll stay here until it does.”
“Massi, you guys can’t—”
“There’s no discussion, Liana. We’re not leaving Sicily until your mom comes with us. We’ll figure it out.”