Page 76 of Sins of the Son

Papà raised his hand in submission. “Don’t blame me, Rosa. If it were up to me, I’d rouse Father Luca out of his bed and demand he marry us this very night. It’s Amara who refuses to consider it. She says it’s too soon.”

Rosa puffed out her chest like a flustered chicken. She tossed her supplies into her basket one by one with an angry huff. “I shall give a good talking to that girl in the morning. She cannot continue to live in sin with you. A girl should be married and settled.”

As she stood and tucked the basket handle in the crook of her arm, my father stoked the flames further. “And just think, the sooner she marries me, the sooner we give you babies to help raise.”

Her eyes lit up as she clasped her hands to her chest. "Oh, i bambini. S, abbiamo bisogno di bambini in questa casa di nuovo. Parlerò con lei per prima cosa domani per farle ragionare. Forse cercherò la guida del Padre Luca su come persuaderla al meglio. Pensa solo. Una casa piena di bambini di nuovo!"

She was still chattering animatedly as she left the room.

I shook my head. “Amara is going to be mad as hell when she finds out what you just did.”

Papà smirked. “All’s fair in love and war, my son. I need Amara to agree to marry me soon or Father Luca is going to get that damn new roof for the church he’s been hinting at, because I’m going to need him to look the other way when I show up at his altar with a hogtied and gagged bride.”

I lifted my glass. “Care to make that a double wedding?”

“That bad?”

I leaned forward and rested my forearms on the tops of my thighs as I stared down at my drink. “It’s all my fault. All of it.” I took a deep breath. “I thought I understood when you talked about Mom and the guilt you felt… I didn’t, not really… but I do now.” I gestured with my injured hand. “It’s like this weight crushing down on my chest.”

He rested a hand on my shoulder.

“What they did to her… what they had planned to do to her… because of me. All that pain and terror she must have suffered. I can’t get the image out of my mind of her curled up on that fucking floor, alone in the dark, beaten and broken… and all the time thinking I had betrayed her.” I wiped the heel of my palm over my eyes as my vision blurred.

I stood up and paced the room. I drained my glass and stormed over to the sideboard to pour another. Tossing my next words over my shoulder, I snarled, “I just want to go over there right now and burn that entire fucking school to the ground.”

“Do you want to use C4 explosive charges or just good old-fashioned gasoline?”

We both turned to see Enzo strolling into the room. He crossed to me and clasped me to his chest, hugging me close as he patted me on the back.

When we pulled apart, he laid the flat of his hand against my face. “I’m serious. I have the explosive charges back at home from that side project I’m working on. Just say the word, brother.”

The family business was wine and land management. Enzo had expanded that to development, but only to an extent. I organized certain projects and Enzo cherry-picked the ones which interested him from an architectural point of view. Usually it was limited to historical renovations. He had no interest in my "from the ground up" projects, only the preservation ones.

Papà slapped Enzo on the back in greeting as he moved behind us to pour him a drink. “Don’t encourage your brother. I’m not paying for a fucking new school in the village.”

Enzo accepted the glass from our father as he cast a worried glance between the two of us. “We’re still going to kill the bastards responsible, though, right?”

Papà and I answered in unison. “Hell, yes.”

We all returned to take seats before the fire.

Papà asked, “So, what do we know?”

I told them as much as was necessary. I hated I had to betray Milana a second time to resolve this. She had kept this secret for years and now that she had finally unburdened herself, the first thing I was doing within hours of hearing it was telling my family, but it had to be done.

Milana had never benefited from the support and love of a family in her life. She didn’t understand what it would feel like to face a problem with a small army who had your back as opposed to facing it alone.

She would now.

She was no longer alone in this, and never would be again.

But family loyalty stretched in multiple directions.

I studied my father’s profile before speaking. “If we do this, it could cause problems for you and Amara. She’s smart, both of them are. They are going to put two and two together.”

Papà lifted his glass and stared down at the amber contents for a moment before taking a sip. He then leaned his head back and closed his eyes before responding. “You mean, am I worried Amara will find out her stepfather and stepbrother are currently pig shit fertilizing my northern field, instead of enjoying life somewhere else other than Cavalieri village?”

I smirked. “Something like that.”

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