Cara’s brows furrowed, a deep crease forming between them as Adonis handed her the empty glass of water.
“Do you feel better now?”
He grunted, a wry smile playing on his lips, yet the bead of sweat trickled down his temple despite the cool air, and his clenched jaw told her he was just trying to be strong.
“I think we should end this discussion here for now. You’ve done enough talking for one day.”
Miguel scoffed, pouring a shot from the whiskey that was brought to taunt Adonis. The ice clicked together as he swirled the drink around, eyes closing in pleasure at the strong smell.
“Don’t tell me you’re that weak?”
“Dad!”
“What? He’s out of the coma; the worst is over. He should be able to withstand any other pain. Just saying.” He raised one hand in surrender, taking another sip to hide the mischievous curl of his lips.
Adonis knew well what Miguel was playing at.
Forget medication. He’d do anything just to get a glass of the whisky he was having. However, for some reason, Cara seemed to think that taking painkillers would work better.
He asked for a shot, not drugs…
The elderly man was having a little too much fun, teasing him about his predicament. Nonetheless, he was right; time wasn’t on their side.
So, drawing in a deep, steady breath, he blinked rapidly, starting to feel better than he did a few seconds ago.
“Your father’s right, Cara. I can manage.”
Her eyes roamed all over Adonis. Other than his pale face and slouched posture, he looked okay. That’s if his dark circles and slow pain management breathing strategy were ignored.
“Are you sure? You don’t have to do what my father says.”
Adonis gave her hand another squeeze, pulling her closer to him before he turned back to triumphant Miguel.
“Where did I stop?”
The man didn’t even try to hide his smirk.
“Your mother being Adrian’s mistress.”
Adonis threw him a glare before replying,
“Yes… Sarah,” he emphasised, “dated Adrian for a while… more like his plaything, but she fell in love with him either way. The love she didn’t have to give my father or her first husband was all for him.”
Slowly, cautiously, Cara traced small patterns on his palm. Her mind, settling from her worries about him.
They had mentioned two names of which she had no recollection; neither had she heard them before.
“Who’s Adrian?” She carelessly asked, watching as her father cut off Adonis who was about to respond,
“Let me do the honours.”
And then he proceeded to fill her in on his private discussion with Luca. By the time he was done, she had more understanding as to why Luca was behaving so coldly and how dire the situation was. The information had her mind running one thousand miles per minute as it guessed every possible outcome that could result from the issue on the ground.
Predominantly, she couldn’t hide the disgust on her face as her lips pulled down in revulsion, her nose wrinkling in distaste.
“My father, Sebestien, and your grandfather are all of the same age group, am I right?”
Unsure of where she was heading with her question, Adonis slowly nodded. “Yes?”
“Then if my father married late and had me, Sebastian had his two sons, the Grecos, then a boy and Tina, who seems to be of our age group-
“Antonio and Carlo are older. A few years younger than my father himself. My grandfather married early, and my father had me when he was twenty-five.” He explained. “What are you trying to say, Bel?”
Cara gagged.
“Salvatore is Nonno’s elder brother. Doesn’t that make his son like old, old? Your mother loves an old man?”
Before he could contain it, a snort flew out of his lips.
Was that what she was disgusted about?
It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who found it funny as the sound of Miguel’s small laugh reached his ears.
“Adrian is not so old. He’s a few years older than my father, so let’s say early seventies?”
“Same thing.” She cried out.
“That’s just about twenty years older than Sarah. She was way younger than my father. Just like you and me.” Adonis pointed out.
“That’s totally different, but whatever. I don’t know why she’d settle for a mistress when she had two men who were ready to love her to death.”
“He saved her.”
Miguel was taken aback.
“Diavolo?”
Adonis hummed.
Sometimes even the most wicked people have their way of being nice.
“She was being used as a sex slave; he bought her, putting a stop to it.”
Cara sighed, relating the new information to what she’d heard about Sarah before.
Could it be the reason why she ended up like that?
Miguel rose to his feet, pacing back and forth, his hand clasped behind his back.
“So Dimitri left her and pretended to be unaware to see where it’ll lead?”
“Yes. Although nothing happened for a few years, then Grandma died, and the thing with my father began; by the time it was all over, she’d left. I guess nonno thought there was no use pursuing it further.”
The room fell into another round of silence as they pondered everything that had been revealed.
Humans could be so cunning and secretive. Their selfishness would lead them to do anything, as long as they were happy.
The revelations were testaments to that. Cara sighed, thinking about how similar the mafia was to the rest of the world.
They were just as humane…
A thought that no one had considered popped into her head, “What about your birth mother? I think she ran to protect herself from your father’s world. When he saw her again, did he let go? Or did he protect her?”
Adonis shook his head negatively.
“He didn’t have the chance to make that decision. She died whilst giving birth to me. Apparently, she reached out to him knowing she would die. She had been in labour for days, and there was nothing the doctor could do. He said she wanted me to have a home. Better than growing up as an orphan anyway.”
That caught Miguel’s attention, and he paused, “He said?”
His attentiveness caused Adonis to smile again.
He truly was like him.
“My father. I’m sure you’re both wondering how I know all this when I didn’t even get to know him. Nonno told me of a journal in the Italy home just before he passed. It’s all written there.”
Nodding in acceptance, the man resumed his pacing.
It sounded like something his old friend could do.
To Adonis, it made him understand his father better. The hate he had in his heart, which turned into disappointment when he heard the truth about his death, had vanished completely the day he read the journal.
He was going to find out the truth discreetly by himself.
Who knew things would turn out this way?
“So everything Luca had been doing, the picture in your safe, his plans with my father, do we discard them?” Cara asked.
They didn’t seem like useful information anymore.
Her husband pulled her closer, “Why would we do that? It’s a good cover. No one’s going to believe me anyway, as they’re all set in the knowledge of Sebestien being my father.”
“That’s true.” Her father supported. “I have given it some thought, and honestly, it’ll be hard proving that it isn’t true. Sebastien is dead. And so is your father. Running a DNA is out of it.”
“But showing that he isn’t related to Sarah or Tina should do the trick.”
“That would only raise more questions, corazon. Sarah was known as the lady of the house, their previous Capo wife. If he had no relation to her, then how sure are they that he will be related to her husband?”
Miguel was right.
Taking that route would only open things that need to be buried. Although they’d be able to prove that, it’ll just raise suspicions about Adonis’s not being his father’s son making it more difficult to clear the air.
They needed a way to quench the rumour once and for all. Only then would they be able to fight for the throne.
Everyone was in deep thought on how to solve the dilemma at hand.
It wouldn’t be sensible to fight for the throne and lose it at the end because no one trusts Adonis’s paternity.
Adonis exhaled loudly, “That’s why I’m going in search of him-Sarah’s son. A DNA test should be able to prove they’re related, setting me free being the imaginary son.”
“But it still doesn’t completely solve the question of your parental roots.”
Adonis rubbed at his chin.
“That is where Adrian comes in.”
Cara’s father ceased his brainstorming, marching over to the couple sitting-particularly Adonis. His fierce gaze was a swirling pool of bluish-green.
“Don’t tell me…”
“I’ll just run a test with Adrian’s sample.”
Magnifico (Magnificent).
Slowly, a proud smile began to etch itself on Miguel’s face. Cara couldn’t believe her eyes. Her father was actually smiling.
Not smirking or curling his lips.
Lost in awe, she didn’t know when it radiated her way, causing a proud smile to bloom on her face. Adonis had displayed his charm to her father.
The one only she could see.
The man took his son-in-law’s shoulder in a tight grip, earning a small wince from him.
“Eres un lider nato. Dimitri hizo un buen trabajo (You’re a born leader. Dimitri did a good job).” He commented while walking over to his forgotten drink to pour another glass.
Adonis’s face remained expressionless, yet Cara could feel his grip on her hand tighten as he entwined their fingers.
At that point, she wanted to jump into her father’s arms and give him a big hug for his words.
As a child who wasn’t loved enough, little comments of assurance like that meant a lot to Adonis, even if he’d never admit it out loud.
She moved even closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she nonchalantly voiced her thoughts.
“I wonder why you were in the picture with Tina then.”
Miguel spun around.
“It probably happened when you were kidnapped as a child.”
The couple frowned.
Kidnapped?