And the smoke became a raging fire within seconds as I tried to melt back into the seat away from my cousin’s probing gaze.
I looked at Remo and his expression was a clear,“Decide, boy. You want answers, your cousin needs to know the truth.”
“What’s going on, Ray?” Trent’s concerned features morphed into a gentle coaxing. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
I stared at my cousin, unsure if I could tell him without coming across like a total ass. “Lorenzo and I...” I trailed off, trying to find the right words.
Trent moved to crouch in front of me. “You’re in love with Lorenzo, aren’t you?” Stunned, I searched his faced for signs of contempt, disgust, hate. There was none. When I said nothing, he growled, “what the fucks wrong with you?”Oh shit. I had a sudden urge to hurl the whiskey lining my stomach as words defeated me. “Jesus, Ray, we’ve shared some fucked-up shit and I’m actually pissed you couldn’t open up to me about this.”
Okay, didn’t see that coming. “I just thought—”
“What?” He shook his head, his grimace deepening. “That I’d hate you if you were in love with a man? I offered my wife to another man.” He darted a quick glance at Zayne who smiled in response. “I’m the last fucking person to judge you. And even if I didn’t do that with Ash, I still wouldn’t judge you. You can’t direct the heart how to love, Ray as long as you’re true to it, it’s all that matters.”
I swallowed down the ball of emotion wedged in my throat. “Thanks, Trent.”
“Now, we got that out of the way.” Remo sat forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and leaned his chin on his linked fingers. “I’ll state the facts and you can stop me when you’re confused, got it?”
His matter-of-fact tone had me biting my tongue to tell him fuck off. I needed answers and he was the only one who could give them to me. “Fine.”
“Good. Lorenzo has been in love with you for the last nine years.” Trent and I shared a look on that statement. My cousin’s ‘what are you waiting for’ message apparent. Remo continued, “when Zena fucked him, he asked me to watch her. He feared she wasn’t good for you and didn’t want it to look like he was jealous. He didn’t know about the baby because—”
“What do you mean he didn’t know about the baby?” I frowned.
Remo sighed. “Okay, let’s start from the beginning. The guy you saw Lorenzo killing in the club, was party to our sister, Arabella’s rape. But it was only six years later that we got the man responsible. Luca D’Angelo. Lorenzo set Bianca up to get the information from her and that’s were your messed-up girlfriend arrived in the picture—”
“She paid Bianca money to sleep with Lorenzo because she wanted a baby with him, hoping to make him fall in love with her and forget about me,” I finished for him.
“Right. But, her plan backfired. Lorenzo killed Luca. D’Angelo kidnapped my younger sister as payback and demanded Lorenzo marry his daughter and give him an heir. My brother agreed, just to save my sister. When Zena arrived at the club to tell him about her pregnancy, my mother asked me to kill her so that Lorenzo never found out about the pregnancy. Mother needed him to marry D’Angelo’s daughter. Still with me?” I nodded. “Instead of killing Zena, I had Dario kidnap her and leave her on the island because I couldn’t kill my brother’s baby. We drove Zena’s car off the cliff with a dead body, burnt beyond recognition obviously and in her clothes, added some belongings, got one of our girls to act like she’d been injured in the accident and staged death success.”
“You fuckers are sick,” I muttered.
“You fucked one of us, remember,” Remo scoffed, and I flipped him the bird.
“Lorenzo didn’t know about Zena’s kidnapping?” I asked. Remo shook his head. “That night you came to the bar tosave me,” I emphasized the words with a grimace, and he grinned. “Why did you ask about Zena if you kidnapped her?”
“My brother’s welfare is more important to me than anything, Rayden,” I cocked a brow at the use of my name, and he shrugged. “That first time when you and Zena left, it wasn’t an escape like you believed, Lorenzo let you go. He asked me to follow and check that you reached home safely. I’ve been watching over you ever since.”
“Fuck, a personal guardian angel and you want to give up on that,” Trent chuckled, making me smile.
“My brother married Alessia, D’Angelo’s daughter, to save her from her abusive father but Lorenzo told her he’d never give his heart because it belonged to someone else. You. She agreed to stay married for her protection from her father. D’Angelo then got antsy after the time was up and wanted the heir Lorenzo promised. That’s when I told Lorenzo he had a baby that he could hand over. He flipped and only now I realized why.” He paused, taking his time to run his forefinger over his bottom lip.
“Why?” Trent asked, more impatient that I was to hear the rest of my drama.
“He knew he couldn’t have children and that Zena not only played him but Rayden as well,” Remo replied.
My mind went into a complete meltdown. I dragged a hand through my hair trying to make sense of what he just told me.
“What’s up, Ray?” Trent asked. “You look baffled.”
Slowly, I nodded then looked at Remo. “If Lorenzo didn’t know about the kidnapping or the pregnancy, why did he pretend he did? Even when I fought him, he did nothing to stop me. Fuck, he let me hit him until I tired. Why?”
Remo sat back and crossed an ankle over the other knee. “Because he didn’t want to break you some more. He knew how broken you’d been over your father’s betrayal. Lorenzo hoped, that by spending time would him, you’d learn to trust him, so when the truth about Zena and the baby came out, he’d be your shoulder to cry on. Only, you pushed him away. Again.” Although steel lined his words, there was no threat there, just disappointment.
I understood his irritation. I broke Lorenzo’s heart and Remo was just expressing his annoyance with that. Another question clicked and I looked at Zayne. “You seem like a man who knows your shit, so I find it hard to believe that you thought D’Angelo kidnapped Zena and when did you have time to make a phone call? As soon as the chopper appeared, you made me swim. So, what the fuck am I missing? My gaze shifted between him and Remo. “If Lorenzo didn’t know about the baby, how did he know I’d be on the island?”
Remo and Zayne shared another look before Zayne grinned. “You’re fucking smart, boy.” I glared at him. “When Trent came to me about your little problem, I knew it was a Rossi kidnapping because I’d seen them leave the restaurant the day Zena left the message for you. I called Remo, asked him what the fuck was going on, and told him about the message.” He tipped his chin up at Remo.
The other man shoved a hand through his hair and the corner of his mouth quirked up. “I played cupid for my brother, Rayden.”
