“One night, I was in a bar with Tony, having our last big night out before work in the morning. The whiskey was flowing, the music was thumping, and then there she was – Maria de la Garza. Hair like a raven’s feathers, skin that looked as though Midas himself had created it, and eyes like a tiger’s.
“We talked, we danced, we drank and we sang … we spent the weekend together, and then I went to work, thinking that that was the end of it. I didn’t hear from Maria again for a long time after that, until I saw her on my doorstep.”
“So … how did you find out she was pregnant?” Antonio asked, his voice softening. From the sounds of it, a weekend of passion had ended in a more than surprising manner, but so far he couldn’t find any fault. Questionable decisions, perhaps, but nothing that would cause any ruckus. From the look on both his father’s and Maria’s faces, however, he suspected the worst was yet to come.
David cleared his throat and continued the story. “It was about six months later when Maria turned up on my doorstep, almost ready to go into labour. She marched into our house, told me the baby was mine, much to my father’s anger, and that she was too far along to get rid of it. My father, as you can imagine, was less than impressed.”
Antonio couldn’t help but chuckle out loud, remembering his grandfather’s temper all too well. Luís Blackwood had been famous for his anger, although he had tempered it with a fair hand. Unplanned pregnancies with unmarried women, however, would have warranted a lashing with the belt as aminimum.
“Maria refused to abort you, so we looked at having you adopted, but that required her consent. Naturally, she refused to consent, saying she’d rather raise you by herself, so we asked what it would take for her never to bother our family again. She didn’t want any money from us, she didn’t want anything like that – all she asked for was my surname.”
Antonio raised an eyebrow at his father, the irony not lost on him as he realised that Alyssia had asked him for the exact same thing when she’d asked for the divorce. His father chuckled wryly, the irony not lost on him either, and then continued.
“When I asked her what she meant, she told me that she wanted you to be named a Blackwood. After some discussion, I agreed, but on the condition thatIwould raise you. After all, without Maria being married to a Blackwood, we couldn’t givehermy surname, and you having a different surname from your mother was bound to raise questions further down the line.”
“But Maria married Uncle Tony,” Antonio’s brow furrowed. “Surely you could have returned me to her then, if she married my uncle and had the Blackwood name. I mean, I was what? five?? when they got married?”
“Tony was a sentimental fool, but he was also realistic,” David smiled fondly. “He knew that if he offered to take you back, people would ask even more questions about who your parents were. As it was, we had to make up a story about you being found at a fire station, which nobody really believed. Thankfully your grandfather had enough power in the underworld by then that nobody questioned ittooclosely.”
“I bet that caused some rows.” Antonio laughed bitterly. “I don’t thinkNonnospoke to Tony for well over a year after the wedding.”
“Eighteen months, it was, before those two spoke again,” Maria sighed, taking a mouthful from a hip flask that she’d produced from her handbag. “To be honest, we were all surprised that he even went, given how angry he was. I didn’t mind, to be honest – Luis didn’t like me even before you were born, so I was glad of the peace.”
Antonio shook his head, the twist in his family tree threatening to overwhelm him again. He could scarcely believe what he was hearing, but one look at his father’s face told him that it was true. An awkward silence fell, and he began to wish that his in-laws weren’t there to hear it all, but there was nothing he could do. The only saving grace was that Alyssia wasn’t there – he didn’t think he could bear to see the hurt and betrayal on her face.
“So … why isn’t Maria listed on the birth certificate that I have?” he asked. “The one I’ve got just says ‘name withheld’ on it.”
David smiled sadly, shaking his head and reaching over to put his hand on Antonio’s.
“YourNonnorefused to let us tell you the truth.” David explained. “We gave the original to Maria, and thenfound a forger to create a duplicate without your aunt’s … yourmother’s… name on it.”
“Your father swore me to secrecy. If Luís had ever found out, he’d have killed us both with his bare hands,” Maria shook her head, taking another swallow from her hip flask. “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hold anything against the man, but I always thought it was wrong of him to prevent us from telling you.”
“He’d have shot you where you stood, and you know it!” David’s voice shook as he remembered his father’s temper. “If he’d found out about the duplicate, nowhere would have been safe.”
The room fell silent as everyone’s thoughts turned to Luis. He’d been a very proud man who held marriage in the highest esteem, and the thought of a bastard child would have shaken him to his core. One of his brothers had fathered a bastard, and had it not been for the cousin emigrating to Australia, Luis would have chased him down and beaten him half to death. As it was, Luis had disowned his brother, and didn’t even go to his funeral.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Antonio asked eventually, his voice sounding as weary as he felt. “I mean, it’s beenyearssince I turned eighteen, and even longersinceNonnodied. If he was who you were worried about?”
“It wasn’t that,” Maria looked at David. “All the while Luís was alive, we couldn’t tell you. Then Luís died, and your father promised to tell you, so I kept my mouth shut.”
“My grandfather’s been dead for six years, though,” Antonio glared at his father. “I mean, what you thinking, keeping this secret? Didn’t I have a right to know?”
David stared at the table, unable to answer his son. Antonio waited for a few moments, and then banged his hand loudly on the table, making everyone jump.
“Answerme!” he roared, anger and tears choking his voice. “Six years,Babbo!Nonno’sbeen dead for six years and you didn’t tell me? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it was easier not to!” David shouted back, tears springing to his eyes. “Maria was in Nebraska with Tony, and I didn’t think she’d ever come back to haunt me, so I just … kept quiet! I’m sorry,figlio mio, I really am, but I couldn’t lose you too.”
The two men glared at each other for a while, both of them angry and sad at the same time, and then Maria cleared her throat, making everyone jump. All eyes turnedto her, and she adjusted herself in her chair, soaking up the attention like a dehydrated cactus.
“Anyway, everyone knows everything now, don’t they?” She coolly took another sip from her hip flask. “Now, as much as I know the Blackwoods love a good old talk round the campfire, we need to sort out the matter at hand. WhatIwant is what’s rightfully mine.”
“I’m not about to give you half of my assets, Maria,” David protested. “Even if I wanted to, we’re not married and never were, nor do we really have a family link.”
“We do if you tell the world the truth.”
“I can’t do that!” David sounded horrified. “We still don’t have proof of Tony’s death, for a start, and if heisalive, the shame that would come from airing our family laundry would destroy him! And think of my late wife’s memory!”
