“Come on,” Nazario suggests. “Let’s get a drink and we can discuss what the fuck is going on.” Papa looks to me. His men are standing beside him, their weapons still drawn. Nazario’s men lower theirs as instructed. We all wait with bated breath for Papa to give the order. When he nods, his guards drop their guns. “I want to talk to my supposed son-in-law first. In private.”
“No weapons!” I stand between the two men now. My gaze flicking between them both. “No weapons, or it’s not happening.” Both stubborn men stare at me like I’ve lost my mind, and maybe I have. But I’m not about to let these two get locked in a room without me and armed to the teeth.
When I don’t back down, they both agree in unison.
“Agreed.”
“Fine.”
I step into Papa, and he opens his arms to embrace me. I squeeze him, letting him see for himself that I’m all right, then lean up and kiss his cheek before whispering in his ear, “Papa, please go easy on him. Not everything you’ve heard is true, but the way I feel about him is. I love him, Papa.” I pull back and meet his eyes with mine and nod.
Papa’s eyes crinkle around the edges, studying me. Searching for the lie. But he won’t find it. I didn’t want to tell anyone before I told Enzo, but it might be the only way to guarantee my fatherwon’t try to kill my groom. Papa gives a curt nod of his own, and I finally release the breath I’ve been holding.
32
ENZO
Nazario led Caspien, Nonno, Eliseo, and me to the office.
“If you think I’m leaving you two alone in this house, you’ve lost your damn minds,” Nazario starts. “I’ve seen your daughter when she’s pissed, and quite frankly, I’m not going to have her threatening my lifeagain.” That makes both me and Caspien smile.
“My daughter does have quite a vicious streak,” he says proudly. Nazario grunts.
“So, here’s what’s happened.” Naz explains how we came to be in Italy. He tells Caspien everything from how Althea discovered her brother was still alive, to where he’s been this whole time. We discuss Gianni and his fucked-up plan to take over the Venatti empire with the help of the Malgeri family. We explained Gianni is no longer walking the earth, but that he managed to erase Annanias’s memories of everything prior to coming to the Academy.
Naz grabbed his phone and made a call. “Mauro, bring Daemon to the office.” Then he hung up.
“How can you be sure this man is my son?” Caspien asks, skeptical.
“Althea …” I start to explain, then decide to let him find out for himself. “You’ll see.”
There’s a knock at the door, and Mauro enters with Daemon strolling in behind him, and I see the moment Caspien recognizes his son. His eyes are wide. His chin hits the floor. It’s the same expression I saw come over Althea’s face the first time she saw Daemon.
“Jesus. It’s like seeing a ghost,” Caspien mutters. “Son?” He moves tentatively toward Daemon, who looks confused.
“Listen. I’m sure you’re all trying to process your own shit about the son you lost, and everyone seems to think is me, but I’m going to tell you like I told the girl,” Daemon announces. “Even if I am this long-lost kid of yours, I don’t remember any of you. I have almost no memory before I came to the Academy. I’m sure that’s not what any of you want to hear, but it’s the truth. And I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not just to ease your pain. I’m sorry.”
“Will you at least concede to coming to Vegas for a visit? Come learn about the family who loves you and raised you until you were brought here? Allow us time to get to know you again and vice versa?” Caspien asked. It seems a reasonable request. One Daemon agrees to once he gets approval from Rossario to take leave.
“And what is to be done about Sebastian and his conniving uncle? Have they been found?” Caspien turns to Nazario for answers.
Naz scrubs his hand down his face, releasing a frustrated sigh as he leans back in his chair. “No. We haven’t gotten any leads on either of them yet, but I have something I’m sure Bash will be looking to get back, and the only way to do that is to face me first.”
“Must be something of great value to him then, yes?” Caspien leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together.
“Let’s just say it’s the only bargaining chip he has left to play,” Naz smiles menacingly. “But he’s not getting it back.”
“You’re just going to dangle it as bait?” Nonno suggests sounding displeased with Nazario’s plan. “We’re talking about a person, Nazario. We don’tkeeppeople against their will.”
Naz’s eyes flash with fury. His hand slams down on the desk. “I’m not keeping her against her will. It’s a mutual decision. She came to me for help. How we decide to negotiate our arrangement is between her and me.”
Caspien is watching the exchange between Naz and Nonno, then suddenly turns to me. “And what of your arrangement with my daughter? Did she enter into this marriage agreement willingly, or is this some scheme to bring the families together in some sort of power move?”
“It started out as a means to prevent a war between your family and ours,” I explain. Caspien’s eyes narrow and his nostrils flare. “But it has developed into something much deeper than that. I can honestly tell you, if you and Naz wanted to tear each other apart, I’d do my job and protect my cousin. I’d much rather defuse the situation amicably.” I smile when I think of how to say this last part. “Because a war between you two would severely piss off my little devil, and as you said yourself, she has quite the vicious streak.”
“And do you love her?” Caspien asks point blank.
“I’ll burn everything to ash for her if she asked me to. But I won’t declare things to you I haven’t yet declared to my bride.”
