Page 20 of Blood and Penance
“We have to have faith,” Gianni says.
I roll my eyes. Faith? There isn’t too much that I have faith in anymore. But I’m willing to hear Sergio out, and if I smell bullshit, me and Giancarlo will disappear.
I close the door and follow Gianni back into the living room where Sergio is sitting on the couch with his legs propped up on Gianni’s coffee table, and his arm thrown on the back of the couch.
I sit across from him, and Gianni takes a seat beside me. “What did you find out?” Gianni asks one of his younger brothers.
Gianni has three brothers, Lorenzo, Dante, and Sergio. Out of all of them Sergio is the one I hate. If he were going to call one of them, it should have been Lorenzo. At least he’s not insane like this one who’s sitting across from me with a smirk on his face.
“I found out a lot big brother.”
“Is he dead?” I ask.
That’s all I need to know. I don’t have time to sit here and watch him stretch this shit out because it seems Sergio is having a field day with whatever information he’s uncovered.
His smile widens. “No, he’s not. One of his men found him drugged and was able to save him.”
My heart sinks to my feet. I might have to go into hiding.
“After his recovery,” Sergio continues, “he identified his attacker as some model who he says got pissed off because he turned her down when she wanted to fuck him. You know him being a married man he didn't want to be unfaithful to his wife.”
Lio isn’t turning any woman down, and he didn’t turn her away either.
My brows furrow. “Then that means I’m safe.”
Sergio chuckles.
“What, Sergio?” Gianni asks. “Spit it out.”
“No, you’re not, safe, Phoenix. Apparently, Lio D’Amico has already been scouring New York looking for his missing wife and her son. Or should I say my nephew?”
Fuck!
Gianni’s head whips toward me. “What the hell is he talking about, Phoenix?”
Sergio stands, a wide grin splitting his face, eyes shining with uncontainable joy. “Well, my job is done here. But, Phoenix, my father expects you at our home immediately. He would like to meet his grandchild and discuss what the hell you’ve gotten our family into.”
Fear moves through me. There’s no fucking way I’m taking my son to see Giovanni Puglisi.
The door slams, and the silence is deafening. Gianni hasn’t taken his eyes off me, and I don’t know what to say. This isn’t how I wanted him to find out the news, but here we are. There’s nothing I can do about it now.
“What’s his name?” he asks.
He tightens his fists at his sides, and forces control in his voice, but I hear his thinly veiled anger.
“What’s his name!” he screams, causing me to jump when I don't immediately answer.
I take a deep breath and release it. “Giancarlo. Giancarlo Blaine.”
Chapter Thirteen
Gianni
Giancarlo.
“I have a son.”
A wave of disbelief washes over me. Icy dread and anger settles in my gut as I replay all the lost moments with my son over in my mind. The birthdays, him crawling and walking for the first time. His first words. Him calling me Papa.
