Page 47 of Surprise Twins for the Mafia Heir

I remember exactly what he’s talking about. But the conversations were fuzzy in the back of my head. I barely remember anything about that time, but Nick always spoke about a person he used to be very close with before he went into foster care. He never said who the person was. I figured that was just a Nick thing.

He was always aloof about his life before I met him, and because I knew he had a lot of trauma in that area, I didn’t feel comfortable asking him.

“Well, I had a sister,” he whispers. “A little sister who was barely six months old when I got taken away.”

“Really? I had no idea,” I mutter.

Nick’s eyes are red. “Do you have any idea what it’s like watching your little sister grow up with the person who caused you pain? The person who hurt you and promised to do the same to her?” He gets choked up and stands up.

“I had no choice but to work hard and get her back. But I knew even back then it would take hard work. It wouldn’t be a walk in the park,” he continues.

I clear my throat. “Nick, where are you going with this?”

He has a wild glint in his eyes. “Rosa, Vinny.” He draws in a bated breath. “She’s… my sister.”

I choke back a laugh. “You don’t have to be funny.”

“Why would I joke about that?”

I sit up abruptly, my heart banging in my chest. “What are you saying, Nick?” There’s no way he waited all this time to fess up to something that huge. Rosa is Nick’s little sister? That means this wasn’t just some plan to take down my dad. This was something in the works for years.

“I don’t expect you to understand my methods, man. I don’t expect you to forgive me for lying. But please know that when I say I will do everything to protect Rosa, I mean it.” He moves towards the door without another word, and I have no choice but to believe it.

That’s the last I see of him for a couple of days before he finally comes back. Surprisingly, he’s with Rosa. When I first get eyes on her, she looks like a completely different person. Her hair is cut short, right above her collarbone. Her eyes are hollow like she’s seen a ghost. I also notice that she’s a lot thinner than when I last saw her.

Immediately, I notice the absence of our baby boys, and I start to get the worst feeling deep down in my gut. I move in closer, not sure if I should go in for a hug right away. But when she finally sees me standing in the hall, Rosa runs towards me and throws her arms around my neck. We both begin to cryand sink to the ground. We remain there long enough for me to forget about the time.

Time seems to slip away as we try to grieve the last couple of months; the stress of not knowing where our kids are, and also not knowing what the outcome with my dad will be. However, I know that there’s a huge conversation that needs to be had between Nick and Rosa. We all settle down in the living room with hot cups of coffee. Rosa has a blanket draped over her and Nick can’t seem to stop twiddling his thumbs. I wait for him to make the first move, but he keeps his eyes set on the floor.

I take a deep breath as I say, “Nick have you told her?” Nick looks at me as if I just asked him the most embarrassing question in the world. Rosa looks between us, confused.

“Told me what?” she says, her brows pinched together. Nick leans forward, setting his coffee mug on the floor.

“It’s a very difficult thing to admit. I honestly never thought I would get here,” he says as he finally looks up at Rosa. Rosa, still confused, doesn’t say a word.

Nick continues, “There are so many things about your life that I’m sure you’re pretty confused about, Rosa. I wish people would have been a lot more transparent with you.”

Rosa looks back at me, her confusion turning into anger. “What is this? Another surprise about to be thrown at me?”

I wince. “Unfortunately.”

Rosa pushes her hair off her forehead. “Look I don’t know where my baby boys are and my life is a shambles. Actually, correction. My life hasbeena shambles since I was born. Whatever you have to throw at me, just get it over with.”

Nick clears his throat and finally says the thing that he’s been keeping inside for all these years: “Rosa, I'm your brother.”

She stares at Nick blankly, blinking several times until she bursts out into laughter. I also try to hold back my laughter, as if it's the most hilarious thing I have ever heard Nick say.

Rosa collects herself. “Okay, that’s fine. You want to make a joke out of whatever it is you need to say,” Rosa chuckles. Nick shifts uncomfortably.

“It’s not a joke. I’m telling the truth, and I’ve been debating the best way to get this out,” Nick admits. “At the end of the day, everything that has led up to this has come from me. Suffering at the hands of our parents and Vinny’s parents. We deserve to put them both to rest,” he says with his hands clasped together.

“Your parents,myparents, Rosa, are going to be a lot harder to take down. But that was why all of this had to happen.”

Rosa frowns, and stands up. “What do you mean all of thishadto happen? Because if you don’t remember, I was kidnapped and Vinny nearly killed me.”

I hang my head in shame as I remember the person I used to be when I had first kidnapped her. I also glare at Nick as the reality starts to sink in.

“Don’t tell me that you knew all of this would happen? That we’d nearly die and—”

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