Page 46 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

“Hey, buddy. Ella and I will be right back. Okay?”

Matteo nodded and demanded, “Giù.”Down.

Putting him onto his feet, he took three steps to Nonno, taking his wrinkly hand. And then surprised me by taking Luciano’s hand. A heavy sigh left my lips seeing my toddler holding hands with his father and grandfather.

“Excuse me,” I muttered with a trembling breath, turned away from the men and strode towards Ella, all the while committing the image of Matteo with them into my memory. If it wasn’t for this whole fucked up circumstance, it would be a heartwarming sight to see Matteo holding hands with those two.

We both started walking towards the wide door, leading to the back garden and the pool.

“What’s going on?” I whispered as soon as we were out of earshot.

I glanced around and noted all the men could still see us, and each one of them watched us. I was so tempted to flip them a bird but Nonno was still there with Matteo.

Pulling her away to the side, so they couldn’t see us, I repeated, lowering my voice further.

“You are freaking me out,” I mumbled. “What’s going on?”

“I hacked into your uncle's network again.” Her voice was barely above the whisper.

“Did you find out who his kid is?” What could have shaken her up so much?

“I’m not sure,” she mumbled.

“What do you mean?” I questioned her in a low voice. “Why are you so shaken up?”

She took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. “He’s funding his illegal business with your assets as collateral.”

“What?” I hissed. “How?”

“His lawyer’s help.” Of course! Because the lawyer that handled my inheritance was the one and the same as my uncle’s lawyer. Ian Laszlo. And coincidentally my uncle’s lover. But nobody but Ella and I knew the latter. That lawyer was the executor of all my parent’s estate that was supposed to come into my possession on my twenty-fifth birthday. My parents trusted him; I trusted him.

“But that is not all, is it?” I have known Ella for a long time. She could read my emotions as well as I could read hers.

“No.”

The fact she kept her answers short told me this would be bad. Really bad. I watched her face, and I knew. I knew what was coming and still my damn hope refused to be extinguished. It was just two days ago that our life was good and we were content and happy.

“They know we are here.” Her voice shook with fear. “They know about Matteo and want to transfer all your assets to either your uncle or an anonymous person. But they never mention who it is. I think it is his kid.”

My heart squeezed in my chest with worry.I won’t let them!I’d protect my son with my last breath; I wouldn’t let them get their hands on him. He was innocent in all this. If the worst thing that happened was my uncle taking away all my inheritance, so be it. As long as he was safe and lived to grow up to be a man.

Thank God I didn’t have a girl.

From all the imaginable thoughts and worries, that was the one that mattered the most to me. How could my family do this, to their own flesh and blood? The worst part was that my grandmother has been running it all and had no qualms sending me to pay our family’s generational debt.Who even does that?It sounded like some bad movie.

“We have to run,” I muttered and my heart clenched. Two nights back was all it took for them to find us. It would be hard to disappear again. But now that they knew about Matteo, we were running out of time. I wanted a happy life for him, not one on the run. I swallowed hard, knowing what I needed to do but just not having the strength to follow through.

“Yes, we have to run. But it will be hard this time. We need new identities, everything. It will take time, and I’m not sure if we have that kind of time.”

I hated my family. I knew my uncle was no good, from the moment I heard him threatening my mother backstage all those years ago. I learned his identity after my parents’ death and knew there was a good damn reason why they never went around my father’s family. They were protecting me. I wanted to make my uncle and grandmother pay. Hurt them like they hurt so many others.

“Maybe we can fight back,” I muttered under my breath. “Until we have new identities and are back on the run, we’ll have to fight.”

“How?” Ella was scared, and it showed. I was scared too, but knowing I had to protect Matteo at all cost gave me strength.

“What if we just say fuck it and send my family’s empire crumbling?” The plan was forming in my head as I spoke. “We hit them where it hurts them the most.” She watched me, her expression slowly changing. “Money. We take it all. Or do we kill them? Kill my grandmother and my uncle.”

“What about your inheritance?”

---