I've never seen him react to anything with such raw pain.
"I know." His voice is barely audible. "That's the thing I hate most about myself. The thing I will never forgive."
"Bruno—"
"I kept it from Riccardo." His hands curl into fists. "He never knew. He died never knowing he had a child. A son. And I could have told him. I should have told him. But I didn't."
The anguish in his voice cuts through me.
"Why didn't you tell him?"
"Because I was protecting the family." The words taste like ash, even secondhand. "That's what I told myself. Luna was a traitor. She'd gotten our men killed. If Riccardo knew about the child, he would have gone to her. He would have claimed his son. And that would have destroyed Lorenzo. Destroyed everything."
"So you chose to protect Lorenzo over telling Riccardo the truth."
"I chose wrong." Bruno's voice breaks. "I chose wrong, and now my brother is dead, and his son is growing up without ever knowing his father. Without ever knowing his family."
I don't know what to say.
What can anyone say to that?
Bruno carries this guilt.
"After Riccardo died," Bruno continues, "I started supporting orphanages. Children's homes. Any facility I could find that helped kids."
I look at the building beyond the fence. St. Catherine's Home for Children.
"This is one of them?"
"One of many." Bruno finally meets my gaze. "I can't undo what I did. I can't bring Riccardo back. I can't give him the years with his son that I stole from him. But I can help other children. Other families."
Something clicks into place.
Lily.
"That's why you have such a connection with Lily," I say quietly. "Isn't it?"
Bruno's breath catches.
"She reminds you of what Riccardo's son might have been like. What he might have had."
"Lily is..." Bruno swallows hard. "She's innocent. Pure. She looks at me and doesn't see the monster. Doesn't see the wheelchair. Doesn't see any of it. She just sees someone who will tell her stories and let her sit on his lap."
"You're not a monster, Bruno."
"I kept a child from his father." His voice hardens. "I let my brother die without knowing he had a son. That makes me a monster."
"It makes you human." I squeeze his hand. "You made a terrible choice. An impossible choice. But you made it trying to protect your family."
"That doesn't make it right."
"No. It doesn't." I hold his gaze. "But it doesn't make you irredeemable either."
Bruno stares at me like I've grown a second head.
"You're not going to run?" he asks. "Not going to tell me I'm a horrible person?"
"Would it change anything if I did?"
