Page 7 of Sinful Mafia Prince

“It really is you,” she said so quietly that Luca barely caught it. Where her husband was oversized and far past his prime, Gabriella was a wisp of a woman, decades younger, and with dark, wavy hair. Her eyes roamed over Luca, and when they landed on the freckle they shared on their cheeks, she smiled.

“No denying you’re mine,” she said lightly, as if trying to make a joke, but Luca scowled.

“That didn’t seem to count for much when you decided to give me away.”

Gabriella’s eyes widened, and Luca heard Fiore grunt his name, but he didn’t care. He didn’t feel anything more for this woman than he would a stranger on the street. They might look alike, but that was it. He didn’t know her or Fiore, and more than that, he didn’t care to.

“I didn’t want to. I didn’t—”

“Gabby,” Fiore said sharply. “You don’t owe him an explanation.”

“But I think we do. We’re strangers to him, Constantino. He deserves to know why.”

Luca wouldn’t argue with that. Even if he wanted nothing to do with them, he was still curious about how he’d come to be Luca Davis, and who Fiore—or Constantino—and Gabriella were. And what about his brothers?

Constantino wiped his brow with his handkerchief again and waved his wife off, as if to say,Do as you want.Luca doubted he let anyone else do what they wanted. Maybe Constantino’s weak spot was his wife.

“You have to understand what things were like back then,” Gabriella said, folding and refolding her hands in her lap. “The Rossettis were ambitious and willing to do anything to hurt us—”

“Why?” Luca cut in.

Gabriella shifted her weight. “Power, of course. It makes people do crazy things.”

Luca cocked his head, watching the way she fidgeted. She was lying. Or at least leaving out an important part of the story.

“You were so young,” she said. “Defenseless. An easy target. I— We couldn’t bear to lose you. Your brothers were already in this world and able to fight back, but you…” She shook her head. “We sent you away to save you.”

As Luca took in what she was saying, he looked back at Constantino, but the old man only sat there, expressionless.

“You sent me away to save me,” Luca said slowly. “And then you brought me back tied up in the trunk of a car.”

Gabriella blanched. “What?”

Luca held up his red, irritated wrists. “Is that how you wanted to welcome your long-lost son?”

“Enough,” Constantino barked, but Luca ignored him.

“Why couldn’t you have left me where I was? You already have two sons. I have a life in Connecticut. A really good one—”

“I don’t,” Gabriella said. “We don’t. Not anymore.”

“What do you mean not anymore?”

“It means you’re the last of my bloodline,” Constantino said. “You are the only thing that stands between the Fiores retaining power and those no-good Rossettis thinking they can rule the city.” Constantino leaned forward, resting his thick forearms on his knees. “Don’t you understand? Vincenzo and Dom killed your brothers in cold blood. You don’t think they were going to do the same to you?”

Luca wasn’t sure why he was so shocked. It wasn’t like Dom was a pillar of society. Hell, he’d threatened Luca’s life on an hourly basis when they first met. But to hear that Dom and his father had murdered these two men—Luca’s brothers—in cold blood made a shiver skate up his spine.

“Yes.” Constantino nodded. “Now you’re starting to understand. If there is anyone for you to blame for the upheaval of your life, it is the Rossettis. They love nothing more than to fuck over a Fiore.”

“Constantino,” Gabriella said under her breath, and laid a hand on Luca’s arm. Her wide eyes implored him to believe their tale of woe, but still something didn’t add up. As ruthless and formidable as Dom and his father were, it always seemed they had a reason for their actions.

I mean, they kidnapped me to stop a bloodline, right?Yet here he was, still alive…

Luca scrubbed his hands over his face, his mind racing. “This is…this is a lot.”

“Of course it is,” Gabriella said, her voice soft. “Why don’t we show you to a room and you can rest up a little? We can bring you something to eat.”

For some reason Luca’s mind immediately flashed to Chef making him chorizos, and he wondered if the Fiores were into poisoning their prisoners that way. Then again, if he was the heir to the family, the likelihood they were going to off him was pretty slim…right?

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