Paulie moved in and out of the room, pacing up and down the hallway. Something was off about him. He didn't want us to come to the hospital out of fear we would get whacked. And yet, there wasn't any threat here. Maybe he was overreacting as a precaution, but even Nico thought he was slightly over dramatic.
Several footsteps clicked on the tiled floor as they approached the waiting room. Vincenzo Vitale opened the door with his sons, Joey and Carlo, following. His wife and Vittoria accompanied them, as did the family's advisor.
My eyes widened in shock.
Nico hopped up from the chair, reached beneath his suit, and pointed two guns at them.
The men in the room followed suit, dozens of guns aimed at the Vitales. They were the reason my guys were hanging on for their lives.
"Give me one fucking reason not to kill you," Nico said with a bite to his tone.
"Because we saved your brothers' lives," Vincenzo confessed with a stern but sincere look. "If we hadn't shown up in time to call the ambulance, they would be dead."
Keeping his guns raised, Nico said, "They were meeting you at Monviso. You set the time and place. Not my family."
"We arrived five minutes earlier than scheduled." Vincenzo held up his palms and slowly approached Nico with caution. "Whoever shot your father and brothers left before we got there. I had every intention of brokering peace with Salvatore. Neither of us wanted another war, Nicodemus." He stopped a few feet from Nico. "If I wanted your family dead, they wouldn't be here."
Nico lowered the weapons to his sides.
"Can we speak civilly?" Vincenzo said in a calm tone. “Without shooting each other?"
Nico held his gaze for a long moment before tucking the guns back into the chest holster.
"I'm sorry about your father." Vincenzo put his hand on Nico's shoulder. "He was an honorable man. We were enemies for a long time, but we found common ground over the past few months. I was looking forward to working with him." He paused for a moment. "I hope you will honor our deals in his absence."
"My father's body isn't even cold." Nico's nose scrunched in disgust. "Dante and the twins are still in surgery. We're not speaking about any deals my father made with you."
Vincenzo stuffed his hands into his pockets, and then his gaze drifted to me for a second. "If Dante doesn't survive, will you marry my daughter?"
Nico glanced at me. "Yes."
Disgusted, I shook my head. "You're unbelievable."
Before I could walk away, he wrapped his arms around me. "He's not talking about Vittoria.”
I scanned the room, searching for another daughter of Vincenzo Vitale, and only found an angry-looking Vittoria.
"Vincenzo is your real father," Nico said in a hushed tone.
My blood ran ice cold in my veins, the shock of his confession chilling me to the bone.
“No, he’s not. Giancarlo Vianello is my dad.”
"The night we opened Giancarlo's safe, we found your birth certificate. Someone crossed out Giancarlo's name and wrote Vincenzo's." Nico loosened his grip on me, so I could angle my body to look up at him. "We collected samples from you and Giancarlo and sent them to a lab for DNA testing. You're not Giancarlo's daughter. He couldn't have kids. When we told our dad about the results, he explained that your mom had an affair with Vincenzo."
"She could have had an affair with another man," I pointed out, hoping this was a misunderstanding.
Because that would make Vittoria my half-sister. And after she watched me fuck Nico on the floor and I ended their engagement, I didn't want to face her. How could I ever look at her in the eyes after what we did?
If this were true, I had a sister and two brothers, one of which permanently disfigured one of my boyfriends. Angelo would never forgive Carlo, no matter our relationship.
"It's the truth," Vincenzo said in a hushed tone, keeping the conversation between the three of us. "I was with your mother around the time she conceived you."
It would take more than a peace offering to repair years of discord between our families.
Vincenzo inched toward me, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had any of his features. We both had black hair and brown eyes, nothing special. Thankfully, I had my mother's looks.
My pulse pounded in my ears, making it harder to focus on Vincenzo. Why did my dad pretend all these years? He taught me everything he knew and wanted me to be like him.
