Page 32 of Captured Innocence

After they left, I returned my attention to my father, lowering my weapon but not out of respect, more because this was the wrong time to commit patricide.

“If you fucking touch Tommaso ever again, I will kill you. Do you hear me, old man?” I’d never laid a finger on my father, which was obviously a mistake. I should have pushed my weight around sooner.

He lifted his head, obviously winded. Then he grinned as if he’d pushed me into the action, testing what I was made of. It was something else he was damn good at doing and both D’Artagnan and I fell for his bullshit every time. Goddamn, I hated the man.

“Solo uno dei miei figli sopravviverà, prendendo il timone. Vuoi scommettere su chi sarà?”

I stared at him, shaking my head as the meaning slipped into my mind. Only one of my sons will survive, taking the helm. Care to place any bets on who that will be?

“Fuck you,” I hissed, turning around and taking long strides, determined to get the hell away from him before I used the weapon still in my hand. He had far too many loyal soldiers or I would have no issues in doing so.

“Be careful, son. Often what you think you want is nothing more than a viper ready to bite.”

I thought about his comment and chuckled. “It would seem the only snake in the house is you, Pops. Maybe it’s time to eliminate rodents. Heed my warning. You touch him and you will die.”

“I should have killed you when I eliminated your whore mother.”

Now he was goading me. He’d murdered my mother in cold blood, accusing her of having an affair with someone else, both Tommaso and I sons belonging to a different monarchy. Yet there was no proof. However, it was the reason D’Artagnan was in our world.

“Then why didn’t you? Oh, yes, because you thought I bought your lies.”

When I walked out, I was fuming. I headed outside, my mind already processing the choices I had for the night, still seething. If I played my cards carefully, I could take control in less than six months. However, that could mean I’d need to put my intentions with Sophia on hold. The thought of waiting until she was twenty-one might work to my benefit.

As soon as I was outside, I heard a rustle from beside me and turned around. Tommaso remained in the shadows staring at me, his hands in his pockets. D’Artagnan stood off to the side, glaring at me as he usually did. The two of them had developed a friendship where I’d found it impossible to talk to my own flesh and blood without arguing with him. Tommaso and I had never been but so close, the divide getting wider since our father hadn’t seen fit to consider him soldier material. Sadly, my younger brother’s face was still swollen, his eyes almost devoid of emotion. I was sick that the kid with the indelible laugh had lost his spirit.

Correction, that it had been beaten out of him.

He searched my eyes, both of us uncertain what to say. Once we’d been close, but it seemed everything had changed because of my father and the loss of our mother. The murder of our mother. What the hell was I saying?

I’d moved on. Tommaso hadn’t. He looked exactly like our beautiful mother, his eyes the same color, his hair lighter as hers had been. Only now, his handsome face was marred by bruises, a split lip from the beating our father had given him.

For not measuring up to being the soldier our father expected him to be.

“Leave him alone, Mattia,” D’Artagnan snarled. “He doesn’t want your brand of crazy right now.”

There was also no love lost with Dar and me. He knew I would fight to take the throne, even if he was older and had been groomed to be a killer. “I understand you’re leaving.”

We walked closer at the same time and I sensed his anger bridging the surface. “Ordered to do so, which is fine by me.” His voice held no emotion either.

“You’re going back to school. I’ll make certain of it.” D’Artagnan folded his arms across his massive chest.

After glancing at Dar, Tommaso laughed, his lips pursed as he glanced toward the house. “I was never good enough for the fucking asshole.”

“None of us are,” I told him. “Don’t let it bother you, brother. Think of it this way. Now you’re free now to live your life the way you want. Dar and I aren’t so lucky.”

“Free? I will never be completely free, Mattia. I have tainted blood.”

“All three of us do.” I glanced at D’Artagnan, realizing that the three of us were damaged in entirely different ways. Sadly, we’d never be friends.

“Live your life, Tommaso. Make it matter. That’s my best recommendation.” What the hell good advice could I offer? Our father had shunned him. The truth was likely something neither brother would believe.

I was jealous as fuck of the fact Tommaso was completely off the hook. He didn’t need to worry about ridiculous protocols or family obligations. I’d once believed all that mattered in life was money and power.

Now I knew differently.

Shit. All because of a single taste of innocence.

When Tommaso said nothing, I yanked out my sunglasses, turning away.

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