Shame?
“Just his name and that he was married to Maurice’s daughter. Shots were fired before I could figure out much more than that,” I tell him. “I know his wife was pissed about it and supposedly told Maurice.”
“And then what?” Enzo urges.
I pull my legs in closer, not sure if I should tell him. What if he already knows? What if once I tell him about Annanias being made a soldier for his family, he finds the reason he needs to end me?
“What else did The Bishop say to you? What did he tell you about Gianni Levanesse?” Enzo says fiercely.
“He told me Gianni was low on the totem pole and wanted to gain respect and a higher rank by orchestrating a deal with Papa. But Papa laughed at him and made his refusal known in front of everyone. Papa humiliated him. Gianni retaliated by taking my brother and sending him away until he was old enough to …” I trail off, not sure if I should tell him, but somehow, I muster up the courage.
You’ve come this far. You need to know the truth.
“To what?” Enzo puts his hand in mine, giving it a squeeze.
“He said that Annanias was put in a special academy and was plucked out when he was old enough to join the Venatti ranks asa soldier. He’s now working for your family somewhere in Texas. It was the confirmation I needed that he’s still alive.”
“And what are you planning on doing with this information?” There’s suspicion and, if I didn’t know better, I’d say genuine concern on his face.
“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far. My only plan was to find Annanias. I’ll figure out the rest from there.”
“I’m afraid that’s not acceptable,” he growls. “How will you explain to Caspien that you found his son? The same son he’s thought was dead all this time. And oh, by the way, he’s been living at the Venatti Academy and working for them ever since? You know what he’ll think. What will happen.”
“Well, what would you have me do? Because I’m not keeping my brother’s existence a secret from them, Enzo. They’ve suffered enough. They deserve to know the truth.”
“You’ll start a war between our families. Is that what you want?”
“No. Of course not.” I sigh. “But what am I supposed to do, Enzo? My parents mourned a child they never truly lost. Am I supposed to keep it a secret? No, absolutely not.”
“All right. Then we’ll tell them. Together. But first, we need to get married.”
What did he just say?
22
ENZO
“You’re not serious?” Althea says, shaking her head. “I’m not marrying you. Why would you say I’m marrying you?” She’s nearing hysteria now.
“We won’t do it right away. I’ll need a few days to set some things up and, of course, talk to Maurice about your brother.” I ramble off to myself, making a mental checklist of all the things I’ll need to do when we land.
Grabbing my laptop, I wake it up and send off an email to the forensic department head at the police station and let him know Althea will no longer be working for them. It'll make things easier to resign rather than tell them she had a family emergency. Especially with who her father is—that would send up alarm bells, I’m sure.
I’ll need to ask Nazario to bring Giselle out here with him, because I know he’ll be coming. She’ll be out a school in a few days for break, so maybe I can plan it for a day she’s off. Otherwise, she’ll get pissed at me for making her miss school. But she would be even more upset if she learned I got married without her being there.
Oh, and maybe I should have Chloe brought out too.
“Do you want Chloe to be your maid of honor?” I ask, but don’t wait for a response. Instead, I take it upon myself to send Naz a text asking him to bring them both when he comes to Italy. “I know it’s not the ideal wedding you probably had in mind for yourself, but I can at least provide your best friend to be your maid of honor and stand next to you.”
“Enzo.”
“What about flowers and a dress? What flowers would you like? Any preference in color? I personally prefer deep red, but I’ve never thought about what my wedding day would be like, so I’ll defer to you on the matter of decor.”
“Enzo.”
“I’m sorry we won’t have a traditional wedding with all our family, but it’s not feasible to have everyone together until after we’ve said our vows. I’m almost certain your father would object, and …”
“ENZO!”
