Chapter Fourteen
Santino
I do my best to sleep, but I’m still trying to get a handle on everything that I learned. My heart hurts for the man I never met and the life we missed together. Then I think about my mother. Would that be Giada? Would she mourn me? Probably not, but damn, I miss her so much. I can’t stop thinking about her.
My cell phone rings as soon as the sun is up, and I wonder if my brother wants to threaten me again. I scoop it off the nightstand and see it’s a private number. “Hello,” I answer, remaining guarded.
“Hello, this is Alexei Bykov. I received a call from Mr. Santino.” I hadn’t given my last name because I didn’t want to use Marchetti, and I didn’t have my real last name at the time I called.
“Yes, sir. That’s me. Unfortunately, I have some bad news.” I pull off the covers and get up. I’m not going to be able to sleep anyway.
“They got him, didn’t they?” He sighs.
“Yes. I’m sorry, Dimitri is intensive care at the moment in a medically induced coma.”
“Please inform me where to come, and I shall be there tomorrow. I cannot believe he got involved in my business issues. I must go.” He ends the call, and I can tell that he’s pissed, and he should be. Dimitri was my friend.
As I get dressed for the day, I call the hospital, but the result is the same. It’s not looking good, but I hope he pulls through.
A knock on my door disrupts my thoughts. “Come in.”
Mom walks over to my bed and sits on the edge.
“Good morning, Mother. Are you feeling better?”
Her eyes are swollen from the tears she shed last night. “Yes and no. I’m glad that you know the truth no matter how painful it is, but the memories of the loss. It feels so fresh all over again.”
“Tell me about him, please.”
“You are his spitting image, but that I’m sure you’re aware of. You also have so many of his good qualities. Your sweetness in all this adversity has shone through and not just with this, but well before you ever went to prison. You thought past the violence and murder to become a better man.”
I can’t think past it now. “Are you trying to talk me out of killing your son?”
“No. I can’t ask that of you and as much as I don’t wish it, I don’t know if he’ll leave you alone unless you do.” A part of her will always love her son, but she knows the monster he is.
“Has Junior ever hit you?”
“Almost. What he saw at his father’s hands made him believe it was okay, but for all his faults, and there are oceans full, Rafael told him that I was never to be touched.”
“It’s strange that he would do this because he loved you and then do everything to hurt you.”
“That’s because he doesn’t love me. I’m a possession. At first I was a challenge, then I became an obsession, then his property to guard. He could misuse me, but no one else could.”
“I don’t get it.”
“That’s because you have a good heart. You are repulsed by the evil and yet they continue to drag you back into the fray. My sweet boy, I’m hungry and you look exhausted. Let’s eat and you can tell me about Giada. Can you walk me downstairs?”
“Of course, but there’s nothing to tell.”
“You can lie to others, but you cannot lie to me. From the second you saw her, you had that look your father used to give me all the time. From the first moment we met, I knew he loved me. She needs a man like you to make things right.”
“Mother, then I will be no better than Signor Marchetti.”
“You are a million times better. And she looked at you with loving eyes as well, my boy. Something I never did with my captor.”
“I don’t know.” I want her to look past it all and see me for the man I am. Frankly, I’m not sure she’s going to speak to me again after dumping her on a beach. Locked away. Caged again.
“You’re lying to yourself.” She kisses my cheek and stands. “Let’s go. I’m sure I can make something special for you. I’ve deeply missed you, Santino.”
I watch my mother make me breakfast, seeing a new light in her eyes. Rita comes in and smiles. “You two are up early. Do you need my help?”
“Coffee, please,” I say.
“Coming right up.” Rita needs to feel useful after all this time. I love having her here to care for my mother and soon to keep Giada from working too hard while she’s pregnant with our babies.
After breakfast, I excuse myself because there’s a lot to do before I head into work tomorrow. The bell to my gate rings just before noon. I check my cameras and almost laugh at the absurdity of the murderous bastard standing at the gate with my brother. “Can I help you?”
“Bring my wife out here,” he demands, making me laugh.
“Ha. No. Go away before I have you arrested for trespassing.”
“I will get her,” he persists, as if that’s going to work with me.
“Actually, you need to stay away from her. After all, that recording did say you planned to kill her. There’s a restraining order on you. I know that means bullshit to you, but I’m prepared to deal with you should you try.” My guards not only surround my home, they are armed. It’s one luxury of being well off and with known threats.
“I see. This isn’t over. You know, I should have drowned your ass as a baby.”
“Well, your fault you didn’t. On another note, before you go...does my brother there know that his mistress had your kid and not his?”
“What kind of lies
