“Oh, don’t look so horrified, Giovanna. Aurelio wasn’t always the fat old troll he is now. He was actually quite handsome. He was a cross between Vin and Tommy: not quite as muscular as Vin, nowhere near as smart as Tommy. Beautiful eyes. And that scar on his face was so—”
“Can you just—Please?” I motion for her to keep it moving.
“In any case, to get back at your father, I gave Aurelio my virginity—”
“Oh my God,” I groan. This story is the worst.
“It didn’t make him love me nor me him, but it gave me leverage. We always had an understanding.” She wipes the counter under Lorenzo’s beer. “I walked down the aisle the next week feeling vindicated. I hoped that I would be able to seduce Lorenzo into loving me and me alone. But he slept with me the night of the wedding, and when he found out I wasn’t a virgin, he lost his mind.”
My dad rolls his eyes and grunts, and she smiles, patting his hand.
“In retaliation, I told him I was already pregnant.”
Lorenzo lifts his gaze back to my mother. “Weren’t you?”
She throws her head back and laughs. “Well, I guess, as of that night, I was, but Lorenzo, think! How could I have possibly known one week after losing my virginity that I was pregnant? I was 17, rejected by my husband, rejected by the man who took my virginity—I was hurt. I said the first thing that came to mind. And I guess it worked, because you never touched me again.”
My eyes widen. “Seriously? Never again?! Are you kidding me?” He said as much earlier, but I figured he was speaking euphemistically. My father just scowls into his beer. “Jesus,” I breathe. “So you had sex with two men, got married, got pregnant…”
“Yes. Aurelio took pleasure in reminding Lorenzo that he took my virginity. Lorenzo was beyond furious, and when it turned out I really was pregnant, he assumed the baby was Aurelio’s.”
“But that was me, and that wasn’t true, right?” I need her to say it again.
“I’ve already said that, Giovanna.”
“How did you find out for sure who the father was?” I really need to confirm that this is not true. I imagine Rossi’s DNA testing would have shown something if Tommy and I were related, but I doubt he would have told us unless asked.
“I had Aurelio get me a DNA test since I couldn’t ask anyone else for help. I took it, and it proved that Lorenzo is your father. I told Aurelio that the results were inconclusive, and let Lorenzo believe what he wanted. I’m sorry for that, Giovanna.” She sighs, shaking her head. “You were the biggest victim in all this. And it’s my fault. I was 17 and so very stupid.”
I frown. “They had DNA tests back then?”
“How old do you think I am?” she snaps.
I shrug. “I didn’t know.”
Tommy’s men come in the open front door with cleaning supplies. We’re all silent for a moment as they get to work removing the bodies.
Antonio rises, standing awkwardly for a second. He looks over me to Tommy, his jaw tight. “Tommy? We’re good?”
Tommy doesn’t say anything, and I poke his thigh. He huffs out a breath. “Check in with Vin.”
Antonio nods, setting the empty beer bottle on the counter. He barely raises his eyes high enough to meet mine. “Giovanna.”
My mother gives him a pitying smile as she waves goodbye. “So. Do you have questions, Giovanna?”
“I do. How did you know that Una was the one to orchestrate my assault?”
“I followed her in here and heard everything. When she shot that boy over there, I stopped the guards that followed me in and asked one of them to lend me his knife.” Her eyes brighten as her gaze falls on one of the men cleaning. She hands him the knife. “Here you go, dear. Thank you so much.”
Tommy’s fingers trail over my breasts and belly, making me shiver. He pulls me further on his lap, and I can feel his erection pressing into me. I shake my head at him, smiling.
My mother turns to my father. “I knew the whole time that you were sleeping with her, Lorenzo. I also know about your mistress and child in Sorrento, your second wife and family inMontreal, and your girlfriend in Boston, as well as the stable of whores you keep closer to home, including pretty much every female concierge you have ever hired at Luminous.”
My father’s voice is low when he speaks. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“A lady is under no obligation to subject herself to humiliation. And I am a lady, Lorenzo.” She turns to me. “We are descended from the Sforza family. I’m named after Catarina Sforza. She was a queen and a badass bitch, as you like to say, Giovanna. Look her up. Tommy, you’ve been warned.”
Tommy nods solemnly, his eyes on me, and I squeeze his thigh. He’s the sweetest.
