Page 69 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

“I know,” I murmured low, my eyes locked on my son. “I just wish they didn’t leave me so clueless. You know?”

In a blink, both my parents were dead. And I knew nothing of what awaited me. I went into it blind, trusting and came out burned. By my uncle, grandmother, and finally Luciano. They all used me.

“He wanted to protect you.”

“He should have made me stronger.” My voice cracked. “I walked into all of it blind and-.”

I couldn’t finish the sentence. The memory of those dark days when I had to endure my uncle and grandmother screamed in my mind. I pushed those memories out of my mind. I couldn’t go there now.

“Your parents loved you,” Nonno’s voice was soft.

“I know.” I turned to lock eyes with him. “Did you know Mom and Dad made you my guardian?”

He nodded. “I did. And I went after him when he took you. It was your parents’ wish to keep you away from them. I wanted to honor it more than anything. But I lost.”

Somehow it felt like Nonno lost a lot because of it.

“Was it really an accident?” I knew the official story. I’ve read the newspaper but I suspected there was more to it.

“No, Gracy.” Nonno sounded tired. “It wasn’t an accident. He went against your uncle and his mother. I helped your father. I didn’t want women trafficked in my territory. Or anywhere for that matter. We fought them together. Your uncle retaliated with the help of Benito King. It ended up costing us a lot. You, me, and many others.”

I was scared to ask, but I needed to know.

“Nonno, what did it cost you?” I whispered. I had a feeling it would be a revelation that might change our dynamics forever.

“It cost me my wife and my daughter.” A gasp escaped me. My hand reached out and took his wrinkled big hand into mine. Luciano lost his mother and sister to my family. No wonder he hated my guts when we first met. No wonder he kidnapped me to use me as his leverage.

“How did they die?” On one hand, I didn’t want to know. But it was time I learned.

“My wife and I took our daughter out for her birthday dinner,” he explained, sadness evident in his voice. “Luciano got held up with his casino business. I thank God each day he wasn’t there. When we left the restaurant, we were cornered. My men assigned to protect us were already dead. I didn’t have my gun on me. Lucia, my daughter, didn’t like guns or violence. Alphonso’s men shot my wife and daughter in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do. I fought them but one man against ten wasn’t a match. Your uncle watched it all from his car, the window rolled down, smoking a cigar and drinking a beer.”

I took his hand into mine and squeezed it. I couldn’t even imagine the pain he felt. You never get over something like that. It was impossible to get over something like that. His tone of voice was heart wrenching; to have witnessed your daughter and wife murdered in cold blood like that was unfathomable.

“I’m so sorry, Nonno.”

“You have lost your parents. We all have lost something.”

I kept my hand over his. He was right, we all lost a lot.

“He killed Ella’s parents too,” I muttered the admission. “Her father refused to work with him when he realized Alphonso was using him to smuggle women. So he killed them both.”

“I know,” he replied. “Her father was a crooked politician but he had limits. Sometimes I worked with him, but after losing my wife and daughter, I wanted nothing to do with the business. Luciano took over and he built his own way of doing business. Only with people he explicitly trusted. And all the while he went after your uncle and grandmother, to make them pay. But he didn’t know I started it all when I refused to let Alphonso into my territory, working with your father. What tipped your uncle into pure violence was that I refused to give you up.”

“You should have,” I rasped, the tears stuck in my throat. “It cost you so much.”

“And it cost you a lot too,” he replied. “You suffered under Sophia and Alphonso Romano. Your parents wanted you to be safe and protected.”

Swallowing hard, I couldn’t help but feel guilty at Nonno’s loss, my parents’ loss. All because the King family wanted a fucking Romano belle for their auction.

“I miss Mom and Dad,” I choked the words out. “It never goes away, does it?”

Nonno’s other hand cupped my one cheek. “No, it doesn’t. But we have Matteo now. We have a future in front of us. You, Luciano, Matteo.”

I swallowed hard.

“And you too,” I rasped.

He chuckled softly. “I’m an old man. I will be joining my wife and daughter sooner than you and your husband. And definitely sooner than our little Matteo.” I glanced at my son, his concentration on the sand. He had a big grin on his face, and the breeze shifted his curls onto his forehead.

---