Page 28 of Mafia Don's Secret Twins

She waves her hand, interrupting me. “You are, Marisol. You’re one of us now. I understand that you know what you’re doing, and that you want to keep us safe. I appreciate that,” she says, looking at the babies snoozing in her arms and in the high chair. “But you have to know that we protect our own. You’re one of us now. Let us help,” she murmurs.

I wish I could.

“I’m going to tell the girls. The plan is that they’ll be here with their dad until their avó can come get them,” I add, making sure she knows the Portuguese word for grandmother.

The girls will know it, so it’s good to be consistent.

Caterina nods. Tears gather in the corners of her eyes, but I shake my head. “Trust me,” I whisper. “It’s better this way.”

However, I don’t know who needs to hear that more. Caterina…

Or me.

5

DINO

Elio takesall of us down to his basement offices.

Marco included.

I still can’t believe that Marco is here. How the fuck did he get out of Ireland?

And, does this mean that the protection he got for the girls and me in exchange for being in witness protection is done?

That, more than anything, makes me restless. Despite the fact that they all seem to think they have a better grasp on the situation, better than Sal or Caterina, I know Marco. I’ve lived with him as my barely-older brother for my entire life.

I know that Marco is significantly colder, more calculating, and less trustworthy than anyone thinks he is.

So if he’s here, with us…

Something changed.

In the office, there’s silence, until Elio looks over at Marco. “Well?”

“What, Elio,” Marco says, his lips pulling into a frown.

“What the hell do you have to say for yourself?”

Marco looks up, a glimmer of defiance in his brown eyes. “Absolutely nothing.”

“You’ve been missing for long enough that you have new nieces and nephews that you know nothing of,” Elio snarls. “And yet here you sit, in front of me. Not dead. Not even a fucking scratch on you.”

I look over at Sal, who is starring as passively as he can forward.

Clearly, Sal didn’t tell Elio everything about his time in Ireland.

Good.

Now I can use this against Sal, if I need to.

Having some ammunition against my brother feels good. I don’t know if I’ll need it, but if I do…

I’ll use it.

“I had my reasons,” Marco says stiffly.

“Your reasons? To abandon your family? To let us think that you were dead?”

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