Page 32 of Auctioned To Her Dad's Mafia Enemies

I run both hands through my hair and turn,pacing a few steps away from my brother, needing some space from thesuffocating weight of his words. My gut twists, instincts screaming at me thatthere’s more. The stench of panic hangs around him like a deadly poisoned fog.

“And this made you want to throw up?” I turnto Antonio, narrowing my eyes.

“He said Mario had an affair with CarmellaLambretti.” Antonio’s voice cracks, his fingers digginginto his temples as though he is trying to claw out the truth. “And Carlokilled him because of that. Mario was the one who betrayed Carlo, not the otherway around.”

“No.” The word shoots from my mouth like abullet, immediate and resolute. “That isn’t true.”

Alexis, who’s been watching everything fromthe couch, stands and approaches. “I’d have agreed with you, except Mama hintedsomething about it the last time I was there.”

“She did?” Antonio’s voice is as strangled asit would be if I had my hands around his throat.

Could it be true? Mario had a wandering eyeand an insatiable appetite for the carnal, but Carlo’s wife? That would beanother level of recklessness. Women come and go, but wives and family members,they’re not to be trifled with. And yet, the weight in his eyes hints atsomething even worse.

And then it clicks.

A cold wave of realization slams into me,knocking the air from my lungs. “Carlo didn’t believe Aemelia was hisbecause...”

Antonio doesn’t speak. He just shakes hishead, staring at the ground like he wishes it would open into a grave andswallow him. My heart thuds unnaturally hard as I draw together the courage toask what he cannot bring himself to volunteer.

“Who’s child is she?”

“Carlos,” he says, wiping his mouth with theback of his hand. “She has to be. She looks like her mother, but she carriessome of that cocksuckers traits. The eyes, her smile. But Enzo said that Carlobelieved her to be Mario’s daughter.”

The silence stretches between us, thick andchoking. The ground beneath me feels unsteady.”

“We need to find out for sure,” I say. “WhatCarlo believes and what is true could very different. She has nothing of Marioin her appearance. And there’s no way Mario would have kept something like thatfrom me. He wouldn’t have left his child for Carlo to raise. He’d have claimedher while he was still alive.”

“Exactly,” Alexis says.

I straighten, forcing down the storm brewingin my chest. I’m the boss. It’s my job to act, to keep a clear head wheneveryone else is unraveling.

“Get your keys,” I tell him. “You and Antonioare going to CarmellaLambretti’shouse. You’re goingto get the truth from her, one way or another.”

Antonio’s expression hardens, a deadly edgecreeping into his voice. “We’ll make her talk.”

“We need to know the truth.”

They both nod.My eyes drift to Aemelia’s room. “While you’re gone, I’m going to callDr. Rothberg. He’ll be able to fast track a DNA test.”

“So we know for sure.”

“Exactly.”

15

ALEXIS

A MOTHER’S TRUTH

I don’t even have a chance to pull the beltacross my body before Antonio accelerates from the parking garage, the darkMercedes SUV leaving a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes in its wake.

“What the fuck?” I say, staring at mygrim-faced brother. Antonio is usually serious, but today, he looks like he’sfacing the grim reaper.

“Don’t make me talk about it, Alexis. Please.”

Thepleaseguts me.

We’re going to CarmellaLambretti’ssister's apartment to ask her if what Enzo said is true. Did Carlo believe shewas someone else’s child? Who is Aemelia’s father? Antonio barely ever saysplease. I didn’t think it was within his vocabulary.

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