Marco moves to stand by his side, and a shudder runs through me. How didn’t I see the family resemblance before? I should have picked up on this. Everything makes so much sense. Maybe I didn’t want to see it, the way Marco followed his instructions to kill our papa, the way he disappeared to Italy then reappeared living at the Moretti family mansion. Why didn’t I see there was more to all of this? Since he got back, he has distanced himself more and more from me. I felt the isolation but kept thinking this was his way of dealing with all the loss and grief. I never in a million years considered he was working with Enzo and he would actually turn on me.
My eyes bore into him with all the hatred I now feel. “If he’s a fucking Moretti, he has no claim to any of my papa’s businesses.”
“Semantics,” Enzo tuts with a solid pat of Marco’s shoulder. The closeness they share sickens me. Can’t Marco see this man is only using him? He will be discarded like everyone else eventually.
“I will never give either of you anything,” I spit at him, doing whatever I can to lash out when I’m restrained so tightly by his goons’ hold on me.
Enzo’s boot connects with my stomach, knocking the wind from me, as a burst of sudden pain radiates through me from the solid kick. My hands reach for my belly as tears spring to my eyes. My baby.
“Take her to the den,” Marco instructs his men, sounding every bit like Enzo.
“Use whatever force is necessary, but don’t touch her pretty face,” Enzo adds. The way he says it makes me wince. What the hell does that even mean?
They glare down at me through their face masks, cruel and vicious. With a tug of my arms, I’m dragged to my feet. I fight them at every chance I get, bringing my elbow into the side of one of them and my foot up to kick the other in the junk. But my futile attempts are useless against their brute strength. I know once I’m inside there will be no way out so I keep trying. Thrashing around as they drag me up the front stairs.
When Enzo slams the door behind us, locking all of us inside, my head drops, defeated. I’m fucked. I couldn’t protect myself or my baby.
They escort me to the den.
“Tie her up. I can’t trust her not to run.” Marco smirks cruelly, looking every bit like his papa.
His goons make fast work of tying me to the chair, binding my legs and arms then looping them through the chair legs so there is no escape. Pain radiates through my exhausted body. I suck in ragged breaths, trying to get my breathing under control. I need a clear head so I can think. I search the room for an escape or a weapon I can use against them. There is an opulent desk in the center of the room, large and imposing, then a tan leather sofa down one side. Above that is a picture window with a view out over the estate. Strangely, this room was left off the tour of his place.
Marco takes a seat across from me, his expression cold and uncaring. Enzo sits beside him in a show of unity that makes me feel physically ill. How did none of us work this out? With all the research we have been doing into my family and the Morettis, how did we not know Marco was Enzo’s son? Better yet, I can’t for the life of me understand what all those women saw in him.How did he charm them into bed? My mother, Ricky’s, what the hell.
“When did you find out?” I snap at Marco, needing to know when he decided to turn on me and take his place in the fucking Moretti family.
His dark eyes hold mine for a second. “The week before I killed the man who had been lying to me my entire life.”
My skin prickles with a cold sweat. He knew all this time. “Why get me out of there then on my wedding night?”
Enzo scoffs. “Did you really think I was going to let some little whore marry into my family? You and your mother are good for one thing only—fucking.”
I see the way Marco flinches at his comment. He doesn’t agree, my brother is still in there somewhere.
“You want to side with this?” I tilt my head toward Enzo. “He might be your father by blood, but you don’t have to be like him. You loved our ma, and she loved you. It would kill her to see what you have turned into,” I cry, unable to help it. He needs to hear the truth.
Marco stands abruptly, shoving his chair back with force. He gets up in my face, his nostrils flaring, hot breath washing over me. “Our ma deceived us for years, and now I’m determined to claim what is rightfully mine in this world she brought us into. Enzo is right, she used her body trying to persuade Valentina to run away with her. She would have left us behind in a heartbeat to have what she truly wanted. The only one she truly loved. Isn’t that right, Papa?”
He offers a nod. “Your ma was a manipulative little witch. She charmed us both in the beginning, then she tried to take what was mine from me.”
“That’s why you killed her. On the night of Ricky’s tenth birthday, you filled her full of your drugs then left her to die. Lefther for one of your children to find. You’re a fucking monster, Enzo Moretti.”
“Your ma killed herself partying too hard, it had nothing to do with me.”
“Then why did you have a fight that night, blaming her for lying to you about Marco. Let me take a wild stab in the dark. You’d just worked out he was yours. That must have killed you. He would have been twelve already. You’d known him his whole life and you, the all-powerful Don, had no fucking idea.”
His face reddens, and he clambers to his feet, coming at me. Marco reaches out a hand, stopping him. “We still need her,” he growls through clenched teeth, the sound barely audible.
His attention comes back to me, and I glare at him. “Stop fucking talking, Lana,” Marco yells, his voice booming off the walls.
I shake my head, fear taking over because I know it’s too late to get through to him. “He’s brainwashed you.”
“The only one who has been brainwashed is Alex, Rick, Maddox, and Geovani by you. I’m not sure what you did to them, but it ends today. You will sign my contract, handing over everything you have kept from me. Then you will leave town, leave them all behind, and never come back. If you do, I will personally put the bullet in your head.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I never wanted to keep anything from you. I told you it was all yours as much as mine. I let you run it, so why come after me now?” I sniff.
“With all the trouble you have caused, do you really need to ask me that?” He runs his eyes over me, disgusted.