Page 13 of Blood and Redemption

Even if the past tastes like blood on my tongue.

“We didn’t get close until after I took over. Back then, he had a loving family. He didn’t need to dirty his hands, not yet. If it weren’t for him getting thrown in the position with poor preparation, if he didn’t come to me for help…” Ren sighs again, his smile melting away. “He wouldn’t have made it to where he is today.”

“What happened? Why did he–”

My brother scowls, his eye darkening as he stares blankly at his phone. “His father was murdered. He had no choice.”

Ren and Rocco are practically twins. Two sides of the same coin. Does that mean…

“Did he—”

“He didn’t,” he quickly answers. “Someone else took out his father. Elio was…”

I watch the way his face pinches up, and I can see the wall he’s suddenly building.

“Honestly, the details are grotesque. You don’t want to know, seriously.” He forces a laugh and brings his cups to his lips, drinking his coffee. I’m willing to bet it’s cold.

He’s always wanted to keep me in the dark about the fine details of the lives we grew up in. Ren can’t always be the one to protect me from the shadows. I’m an adult, not the tear-eyed little girl I used to be when it was just us against the world.

I can handle myself. When it involves Rocco, I want to know what I’m getting myself into. I don’t think the damaged man is going to reveal the information himself.

“Renato, I want to know.” My frown matches his, our stubbornness equal. Finally, my face softens. “Please.”

“I don’t want you to be scared of our guest,” he shoots back, refusing.

Fear is the last emotion that man is going to draw from me, that’s for sure.

“He can’t be that bad if you left him here with me.” Jutting my chin, I cross my arms across my chest.

Cursing under his breath, he sighs. “Fine. But don’t even think about locking yourself in your room when I leave again.”

Nodding in agreement, my brother continues.

“Elio was not a cruel man. He loved his kids. Hell, he took me in a few nights when Rocco and I were still befriending each other. Maybe he had selfish intentions, or maybe he had a good heart. Either way, he cared about his family. Loved them in a way many would call a weakness. Like how I love you.”

Meaning, Rocco’s father was overly protective, stopping at nothing for their happiness.

He tells me about Rocco’s mother. About her affair with another man behind his father’s back during his youthful years. He mentions Camellia’s name again, his half-sister, a bastard child.

But to Elio, she was his. His princess. An anomaly in what typically happens when such betrayal takes place.

“She looked identical to their mother,” he explains, his eyes going off in a daze. “Down to those same cold blue eyes. Appearance-wise, they could’ve been twins. Personality-wise, opposites. His sister was sweet. His mother?”

He doesn’t finish. Doesn’t need to.

The silence says it all.

“Camellia found Elio dead, poisoned. Rocco discovered their mother had been the one behind it. Rumours spread like wildfire before that Camellia’s real father went missing after her birth, and more whispers came out that she had been planning his demise since.”

I hold my breath. “And what did Rocco do?”

Ren squints, his lips parting.

“I killed her.” Behind us, a tired voice speaks out. “Then staged her disappearance as a runaway case. The bitch got off easy for what she did to us.”

We both jerk, taking him in. Hovering in the archway of the kitchen, it’s unknown how long Rocco’s been listening.

“She admitted what she’d done, claiming that my family had ruined her happiness.” Lifting away from the arch, he approaches us.

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