Page 100 of Angelo

Her stomach knotted. "I don't know how to respond to what you just said."

"In my defense, when I brought Gianna back to Sicily, I did not know that she had just given birth.To you. She should have mentioned you sooner."

"I don't blame my mother for keeping her mouth shut. You weren't exactly the world's most understanding parent."

With a weary sigh, Benedetto shook his head. "I do not blame her, either. The fault is mine. More than anything, Gianna wanted to keep you away from this life. In her mind, if I did not know about you, I would never come for you. Hell, your mother stayed away from you this whole time because she knew I was tracking her movements."

Her heart felt battered and bruised. Elyse didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Gianna's efforts to keep her hidden. So valiant yet unnecessary. The mafia still found her in the end. "Did my mother end up marrying your friend’s son?"

"No," her grandfather confessed, "Gianna's suicide attempt changed everything."

"Really?"

"It was eye-opening for me. So much so that I set aside my duty as head of clan and dissolved Gianna's engagement. We faked her death, and I helped her escape. Once she was settled in London, Gianna made me promise to never contact her again. She wanted to be free from me, and I gave in to her request because the alternative was... unthinkable."

Elyse could see that her grandfather had been deeply affected by this tragedy. It altered him to a point where he had chosen Gianna overcosca. Yet, she refused to let him off the hook. In many ways, he was still the villain in her mother's story. "I don’t know whether to hate you for hurting her so much. Or pity you.”

"No need to rub salt. My wounds are deep enough. Even though Gianna did not die, I lost her all the same. When she called me after Robert's funeral—" Benedetto's voice cracked with distress. "It was the first time we spoke to each other in decades."

There was so much sorrow in her grandfather's dark eyes when he spoke of Gianna. It almost made Elyse believe that her cold, calculating mafia boss of agrandfather was capable of love.

Would she be able to forgive her grandfather for what he'd done?

Elyse felt wretched and torn. Alessandro reached for her hand as though sensing her inner turmoil. His touch filled her with strength in this moment of heaviness. A barrage of conflicting feelings rammed into her. She didn't know how to carry on, pretending not to know her mother lived in London. Should she reach out to Gianna—no, Isabella—and try to build a relationship? In a way, it already felt like a lost cause.

Elyse cleared the lump in her throat. As much as she wanted to weep like a lost, motherless child, there were more pressing matters at play. This wasn't the time to fall apart. Later, the tears could fall. For now, she needed to keep her shit together. Her mind snapped back to the police chief and his agenda. "What… does Boris intend to do with Isabella?"

Benedetto gave a pause. "Boris threatened to reveal her to my enemies if I do not comply with his demands."

"What are his demands?"

"Boris wants me to plead guilty to twenty-six charges of corruption and bribery. He has been collecting evidence against me over the past six years. His case is ready to go. The only thing holding him back was the secrets I had on him."

She gasped. "Oh,Dios."

It appeared Benedetto wasn't willing to risk Gianna's safety even if it meant putting himself at risk. It also appeared karma was finally catching up to her grandfather's many crimes. Maximum sentence for corruption and bribery in Italy was twelve years. Her grandfather would be turning eighty-two by his next birthday. If Benedetto was charged the maximum sentences on all counts, then he was going to die in a cell. No question about it.

Benedetto cast a sharp look in Alessandro's direction. "Gianna's life must not be put in danger, and I do not want to spend my final years in prison. I see no other option. We must kill Boris."

Alessandro's features grew tense. "There has to be another way. Our plans have been going well so far. I refuse to fuck up our hard work. Boris is too visible to the public eye at the moment, the media hails him as an anti-mafia crusader, and we are being placed under heavy scrutiny with all the ongoing trials. Killing him would only cause more problems."

Benedetto drawled, "What do you propose, then?"

"Offer him someone he wants more than you."

"Like who?"

"Me," said Alessandro.

Green eyes locked on to him. Did her husband intend to turn himself in like a fucking martyr?¡El loco! The madman!There was no fucking way she'd let him go to prison on her watch.

Elyse snapped at him, "Like hell you will!”

He cast a beseeching look in her direction. "Hear me out."

Fear sharpened her anxiety, but she willed herself to say, "I'm listening."

"Boris has hated my father for years. But Boris was not able to touch my father while he was alive. Now I amcapo. He finally has the chance to take down the entire Vitale clan through me.”

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