Page 50 of Mafia Don's Secret Twins

“It is not such a long time,” she says with a little tilt of her lips. “I became a grandmother before I was ready.”

“I know. But I just… I thought that seeing him again wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Do what?”

I tuck myself smaller, burying my nose in her shoulder. “He’s basically a stranger, Mamá. We didn’t date. We didn’t know each other. There’s nothing there between us.”

“And you felt like there was?”

I nod into her shoulder.

She sighs. “Ay. Well. You did have his children, you know. You know him through them.”

“I never told them that he’s their father.”

“Does he know that?”

I nod again.

She clucks her tongue softly, squeezing me. “What a mess, my Marisol,”

“I know. I messed it all up.”

“You didn’t, my love. You didn’t even a little bit mess anything up. Is he going to watch over them? Does hewant to be…”

“I don’t know.”

“Well. Did he ask you to stay?”

I pull back and wrinkle my nose at her. “Not really.”

She raises her brow again. “What does that mean?”

“Well, he didn’t ask. He just kind of… demanded.”

“Demanded?”

I nod. “Yeah. He told me that I was going to stay, and that he was going to… keep me there.”

She swears. “He sounds like your father.”

“No!” I say, a little too loud. My mom pulls all the way back and gives me a look. I shake my head and repeat myself. “No. Not like dad. It’s like he…” I stop.

The words that are on the tip of my tongue areit’s like he cared about me.

But that can’t be true.

I’m not anything to Dino. He’s not anything to me. We made two beautiful girls together, but only because we were so irresponsible that night all those years ago.

It’s not like we’re in a relationship. We literally don’t have one.

So he can’t care about me.

It’s kind of familiar. I have to remind myself of things like this a lot, because other than my mom… people can’t care about me.

I’m notsomeoneto anyone. I’m Benicio Souza’s daughter. I’m a pawn, something that people move around on a board to get what they want.

I’m not just… me.

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