Page 51 of Rotten Men

“Know what, asshole?” I shout in his face, and from my peripheral vision, I see a sneer rise from Ciro’s lips.

Il Bastardo must be loving this.

Vincent continues his incoherent assault, but luckily Dominic comes to the rescue, and I don’t have to push the fucker off me.

“Not here, Vince. You’re making a scene. Not here, brother,” he warns with bared teeth. Vincent takes two steps back, with his fists still balled and ready to pounce on my pretty face.

Yeah, like that shit’s happening on my watch.

Dominic tilts his head, suggesting we move Vincent’s meltdown to the office downstairs, and disgruntled, he abides. I walk behind Dominic, not sure whatever set Vincent off won’t bite me in the short walk there.

As soon as the office door closes behind me, I have an enraged bossagain latched on my throat.

“You! Talk!” Vincent growls like thunder.

“The fuck you want me to say?” I bark in his face, pushing the mad man away from me. I have no idea what is going on, but knowing Vince, only one thing has ever turned his cool, collected persona into a full-fledged, irrational storm.

“The truth! She never once lied to you. Never! I want you to tell me if you knew about my son!”

“The fuck! Your son?” I shout, wide-eyed.

Vince scrutinizes my every feature, and I swear on the holy mother I have no idea what he’s on about.

“Vincent, what’s this all about?” Dominic interjects, placing a calming hand on Vincent’s shoulder, but he shakes it off, wanting to pace around the ugly, grey carpet instead. But not before slamming a photograph on the oak wood desk. Both Dominic and I go to it, and right there, in living color, is our Selene smiling at the camera with Anna Maria at her side, and in between them, a dark-haired boy with Vincent’s eyes staring back at us.

“Please, Gio. Did you know?” I hear him beg, and the misery touching each syllable breaks my own shattered heart further.

“No, brother. I swear on my life and hers. She never said a word,” I tell him truthfully.

Selene never once even hinted at having a child, much less Vincent’s. I fall on the couch trying to grasp this new piece of information, but I’m having a shit time in trying to make sense of it all.

“This isn’t possible,” Dominic mumbles. I have to admit; I’m as bewildered as the big guy.

Vincent scoffs, taking the picture back in his hands, looking at it as if it holds all his answers.

“Not only did she not want anything to do with me, with us, but she didn’t even want us to be a part of their lives,” he mumbles, lovingly tracing each face with his finger.

“No. This is not Selene.” I shake my head. “There has to be another reason. She wouldn’t do this to us,” I choke out, unprepared to deal with this type of treachery.

“There isn’t. We gave our hearts to the heartless, Giovanni. It’s time we make peace with that,” Vincent adds, slumping to the floor. His head leans on the desk for support, while his eyes never leave his infant child.

“Careful there, brother. Don’t say something you might regret. Gio’s right. Selene must have had her reasons from keeping this from you. From us,” Dom counters, steadfast in his belief myprincipessais above such a betrayal without due cause.

“She lied, Dom. About all of it. James was nothing but another one of her masks. She’s playing with him the same way she played with us.”

“What do you mean?” I question, my brows furrowed in concern.

“He’s not her husband. Not really. Their marriage was just a ploy to keep Selene and Jude hidden from us,” he explains.

“Jude?” Dominic asks and throws a knowing glance my way.

“My son’s name.” Vincent smiles wistfully, looking at the image of the boy.

A distant memory comes to mind of a night we three hid behind a boulder, watching Pietro’s initiation and the patron saint being burnt to a crisp, while he made his pledge to the Outfit. My chest grows heavy remembering how I pledged to be hers forever, later that same night—a promise I stayed true to, even after all these years of heartache.

I watch Vincent place the photograph on his lap, and look at both of us with so much fervor and resolution. My heart leaps into my throat, desperate to prevent whatever words he’s about to utter.

“Selene is dead to us.”

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