Page 68 of Corrupted Memories
“No,” I say gently. “Like members of the Famiglia. It took us years to piece it together, but we finally found the connection. Matt’s biological father is Eduardo Moretti, the Capo of the Famiglia in New York. It’s not the man who raised you.”
She trembles in my arms. “No, because that would mean everything is a lie. I don’t understand.”
Nico frowns. “I think he was just trying to protect you, Gianna.”
“By lying? Our whole fucking life? That’s what you’re saying, right? That my parents aren’t my parents, that my brother doesn’t own a security company but he’s a mobster instead, that the whole time I was scared out of my mind ofyoufinding me, I should have been afraid of the man at my back?” She’s on the verge of tears, frantic almost.
We both stare, unsure how to comfort her. Matt has been lying her whole life, but we don’t know the full extent. Only he does. There’s nothing I can offer her to soothe the betrayal, and anything more I say could just fuel the flames. I may not like the guy, but I’ll always understand wanting to maintain the sibling bond.
Gianna rubs at her face and then faces me with sad eyes. “My parents weren’t who raised me?”
I grimace. “It seems your mother had a relationship with Eduardo Moretti before he hid her away with his cousin.”
She blows out a long breath. “That—I don’t understand. My brother knew this?”
I rub my hand down her back. “I think he hid it from you, Gianna.”
“Why?”
“To protect you, I assume.”
She frowns harder. “And the man you killed that night? My brother sent him? To kill you?”
The answer could tip her into a deeper spiral, but Nico doesn’t proceed with the same caution.
“Yes, and he wasn’t the first or last.”
Gianna snaps her attention to him, misplacing her anger immediately. “And what about you guys? Have you sent men to kill him?”
“That’s not our style. We prefer to gather information and ruin someone’s life over time,” he says while giving a wolfish smile.
I grab her chin and turn her face back to me. “Look, I can understand where your brother comes from… wanting to protect you. I would never blame him for that. I hold a grudge for him hiding you, and I will retaliate, but I’d never kill him because it would upset you.”
Her teeth dig into her bottom lip. “You threatened to kill Jeremy.”
A growl bursts out of me at the reminder of that fucking weasel. “Did I, though?”
She softens, rubbing her hand against my chest tocalm me. “I want—no, I need to speak to my brother right now.”
I look around for her phone and she shakes her head.
“In person. I want him to look me in the eye and explain why he lied about everything,” she says, her fury bleeding through.
Chapter 23
Gianna
My head is throbbingby the time we reach my brother’s house. My body aches from the tension it has held since we left Sebastian’s office, unable to relax because none of this feels real.
The slowing of the car has me focusing out of the window as Sebastian leans over and locks my door. I glare at him, but he shakes his head and points to the front of the house. When I turn, there are two men in dark outfits coming around the sides with guns raised. I scoot back into Sebastian’s chest as they get closer, their eyes cold and impassive. Faces of people who would shoot without asking any questions.
“What is going on?” My voice cracks and Sebastian pulls me tighter to him. I hate that I take comfort inhis warmth. I’ve been to my brother’s house plenty of times and never been greeted like this.
A click echoes in the car, letting me know the men outside aren’t the only ones armed. “Want me to go first?” Nico asks from the front seat.
“No,” Sebastian rumbles near my ear, his deep voice sending shivers across my skin. “I’ll go with Gianna right behind me. They won’t shoot with her near.”
I frown. “I’m sorry… Are you using me as a bullet shield?”
