Page 25 of Beautiful Vows

“And Leonardo?” I ask, my voice trembling as I think of the man I killed.

“That man raised sons to believe women were beneath them. He and Eduardo wanted to eliminate the Moretti bloodline,” he reveals, exposing the dark motivations that drove them.

“And you... you are Fredrico Rossi?” I wait for him to confirm it, already knowing the truth but needing confirmation.

“Somebody died in that car crash,” he replies defiantly.

“But not Fredrico Rossi.” I find myself answering for him, realizing that this man, my father, was supposed to hate the Mafia, yet he himself had engaged in callous acts. “Per the dictates of syndicate law, you are now instated as the leader of the Rossi family.”

“I never wanted it then or now.”

I nod. “Can I ask you why you didn't stop my mother from going back to Italy?” With each word I utter, a tinge of sorrow seeps through my voice. “You kept her safe for four years. Why then?”

“What I told you before was true. They kept killing her family. She wanted it to end.” He sighs. "That's what she told me."

"She lied to you?" I ask.

He nods.

“You never wanted her to leave?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I loved her. Never loved anyone like I loved her.” He blinks away the tears lacing his eyes. “After I made a deal with Aurora to fake my death, and for us to run away together, I never expected to fall in love with her. I never expected to have children with her,” he confesses with watery eyes. “I never wanted her to leave me ... to leave us. But she believed it was the only way. She told me she was going to beg for the murders to stop and renounce her family’s involvement in the Mafia.”

Tears stream down my cheeks as I comprehend the depth of their love and the tragic circumstances that tore them apart. “You thought she was coming back,” I whisper.

He nods, the pain etched on his face mirroring my own. “She only left me a letter, a letter I was only supposed to open if she hadn’t returned after five days.”

“So you are the Rossi heir, and Milly Bailey, or Amelie Rossi, is the next Rossi heir,” I state, my mind racing to piece together the intricate puzzle of our identities and legacies.

“No, please, don’t tell her,” he pleads, his voice filled with desperation. “My name is Mac Bailey. I'm not going back to that world. You killed my father, and now my nephew has taken his place.”

I stand there, feeling adrift, my world crumbling around me. “It was your idea for me to kill Giuseppe Rossi first. You wanted your child to carry out your vendetta,” I accuse, the weight of all these deaths and the tangled history suffocating me. “You pushed me to kill Milly and Amara’s grandfather.”

“Because he is the reason that your mother is dead. My mother too. What do you not understand about what I’ve told you?” he yells, his voice coated in anger. “He wanted you dead!”

Surrounded by the shattering truth, I realize that the revelation is far more complex than I could have ever imagined. “I need to get away from here,” I state.

“Don’t go anywhere Lia. We need to talk.”

There’s a flutter in my stomach. I hold my hand over it and say, “I’ve heard enough for now. I'm going to my room.”

I walk from his room to Milly's, popping my head inside and whispers, "You awake, Milly?"

"Yeah." There's a small sob in her voice.

"What's happened to you?" I ask, worried she overheard the discussion with our father. "Why are you here?"

"I needed to get away."

I step into her room, close the door behind me, and sit next to her on the bed.

"Romeo dumped me, and I can't face him."

I'm glad, but I keep that opinion to myself. "I need to get away for a few days. I was going to ride up to Noosa. Come with me," I say.

She turns to me and says. "Do you want to go to Dominic's yacht? It's moored in the Whitsundays."

Chapter 9

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