Chapter 22 Sebastian #2
A small laugh escapes. “I don’t know. When the five families fell in NYC because of the RICO act, the heads came together and decided that it would be the prime spot to create a farce to evade the feds.
Most of all the organizations’ legal businesses are situated in Manhattan with a mutual respect and understanding that it’s a one for all kind of thing so we all stay above their radar. ”
“That’s why you have an office in Manhattan.”
I nod. “Yeah, though we prefer the one here.”
“So you already had a seat at the table before you got the tattoo.”
I work my jaw back and forth, not enjoying the comparison. Most days I admire how smart she is, but she’s too quick to connect the dots on others.
“The world changed, we had to adjust. There was an understanding that I would be the forefront face in Manhattan,” I explain.
“And now that you have the tattoo?” she asks, glancing uncertainly between us.
I shrug, trying not to allow my anger about that night to show in my expression. Arthur will pay for how he forced our hand, but she doesn’t know that. “The London timeline probably needs to be moved up.”
Her eyes narrow, her mouth opening before Nico cuts her off.
“Now that we’re all out in the open with our secrets, you gonna tell us why you ran during college?” He waves his fork at her before shoving another bite in his mouth.
We both stiffen for different reasons. Gianna has already told me about that night, but I never got a chance to tell Nico. Nor have I gotten a chance to further divulge what happened that night with her, and I know the full details will upset her.
Nico notices our silence, leaning back in his chair. “What?”
“She told me before we got summoned, and we haven’t had a chance to discuss it further,” I say, drawing out a warning for him to tread carefully.
Gianna sits down, her fingers fidgeting on the table. “I saw something that upset me that night.”
I clear my throat. “She saw me dispose of that man following us.”
Nico’s eyes widen. “The one her brother sent?”
My face falls into my palm with a groan. I should have expected him to clarify, because Nico fails at being discreet about anything. For a man so smart, he can sometimes be the most oblivious at reading the fucking room.
Gianna jerks as if she’s been hit. “What? What are you talking about?”
I reach over for her, but she pulls her hands away and crosses her arms over her chest.
My tongue drags along my lip and I nod. “Remember I told you that we’d have a discussion that you wouldn’t like?”
Her chest starts to rise and fall faster, her face paling. “Stop speaking in riddles. Tell me what you mean.”
“Your brother—or someone in the Famiglia—sent a man to stalk us, or kill me.”
She’s shaking her head before I finish. “No, no, no. You’re lying. He would never send a hitman.”
Nico sighs. “He would, Gianna. Your father is rather high in the ranks—”
“My father is dead!” she cries out, tears lining her eyes.
A pen drops and I realize we’ve left out a crucial part of Matt’s connection to the Famiglia, of her connection to Famiglia. Nico glances at me and I nod solemnly.
He swallows roughly. “Fair enough. Your biological father is—”
“Bio—what?!”
I stand up, pulling her out of the chair before she can object. My hand cradles her head, shushing. “Calm down, Gianna. Nico is going about this the wrong way.”
Her eyes shift between mine, manic desperation to understand making them darker.
Nico clears his throat. “We should move to Sebastian’s office. I can show you, Gianna. I’m not trying to hurt you.”
She swallows, looking toward him. “Show me what?”
“Your brother, his involvement with the Famiglia. It’s deeper than we explained. When we were in college, I believed men were aiming to hurt me, which they were. But I thought it was my father’s enemies, not your brother trying to get rid of me.”
Gianna sucks in a breath, her voice shaky. “Like his security team?”
“No,” I say gently. “Like members of the Famiglia. It took us years to piece it together, but we finally found the connection. Matt’s biological father is Eduardo Moretti, the Capo of the Famiglia in New York. It’s not the man who raised you.”
She trembles in my arms. “No, because that would mean everything is a lie. I don’t understand.”
Nico frowns. “I think he was just trying to protect you, Gianna.”
“By lying? Our whole fucking life? That’s what you’re saying, right?
That my parents aren’t my parents, that my brother doesn’t own a security company but he’s a mobster instead, that the whole time I was scared out of my mind of you finding me, I should have been afraid of the man at my back?
” She’s on the verge of tears, frantic almost.
We both stare, unsure how to comfort her.
Matt has been lying her whole life, but we don’t know the full extent.
Only he does. There’s nothing I can offer her to soothe the betrayal, and anything more I say could just fuel the flames.
I may not like the guy, but I’ll always understand wanting to maintain the sibling bond.
Gianna rubs at her face and then faces me with sad eyes. “My parents weren’t who raised me?”
I grimace. “It seems your mother had a relationship with Eduardo Moretti before he hid her away with his cousin.”
She blows out a long breath. “That—I don’t understand. My brother knew this?”
I rub my hand down her back. “I think he hid it from you, Gianna.”
“Why?”
“To protect you, I assume.”
She frowns harder. “And the man you killed that night? My brother sent him? To kill you?”
The answer could tip her into a deeper spiral, but Nico doesn’t proceed with the same caution.
“Yes, and he wasn’t the first or last.”
Gianna snaps her attention to him, misplacing her anger immediately. “And what about you guys? Have you sent men to kill him?”
“That’s not our style. We prefer to gather information and ruin someone’s life over time,” he says while giving a wolfish smile.
I grab her chin and turn her face back to me. “Look, I can understand where your brother comes from… wanting to protect you. I would never blame him for that. I hold a grudge for him hiding you, and I will retaliate, but I’d never kill him because it would upset you.”
Her teeth dig into her bottom lip. “You threatened to kill Jeremy.”
A growl bursts out of me at the reminder of that fucking weasel. “Did I, though?”
She softens, rubbing her hand against my chest to calm me. “I want—no, I need to speak to my brother right now.”
I look around for her phone and she shakes her head.
“In person. I want him to look me in the eye and explain why he lied about everything,” she says, her fury bleeding through.