I turned to leave, but he chose that moment to speak. “Maybe you don't want to know the truth then.”
Glancing at him over my shoulder, I asked, “What truth?”
After a series of grunts he finally had himself back against the wall with his head falling back. “You know what I'm talking about—Your brother said it— My secret.” He grinned. When Nathaniel had called him out on his secret, I wasn't sure if he was bluffing or if our father really had a story to tell. Knowing he had many secrets, this one seemed more important because it almost seemed like he never wanted to share it.
“You have many secrets—”
“Have you never wondered why I always treated you and your brothers like workers and not like my sons.” His head tilted, eyes gazing at me intently. Of course the thought had crossed our minds a time or two, but we figured he was simply cruel and couldn't love anything. “In our world, a man's son is his prized possession because he is supposed to rule after the father is gone. So when a man has a son, that son is cherished and trained from the day he is born.”
“What's your point?”
“Think about it. If I had two sons, why weren't they cherished or trained to take over my empire? I trained you, but only in certain things, never anything to do with my actual business, and I never cherished either of you.” My mind raced, thoughts of growing up and being treated like dogs, him acting like we were burdens. It was suddenly clear. Why I never saw it before was my sheer stupidity, or maybe I didn't want to believe it was true.
“I didn't love your mother when we first met. I'm sure you already know that from all the times she said it, but she was right. All I wanted was what her family had, so I married her. Even thought I knew she was good for nothing, I still kept her, thinking maybe one day I could love her.”
“Let me guess, you never did.”
“No I did. It took a while but I did—”
I snorted shaking my head and folding my arms over my chest. “Right.”
He shifted his gaze to the floor. “Your mother complained a lot about me being gone and I didn't care, I was a busy man. I returned home one night and that was when I found them.”
“Who?”
“One of my guards. He was fucking her in the living room.” He grinned deviously. “I slit his throat then and there and then had him buried in the yard right beyond our bedroom window—your mother tried to play it off, but I knew she loved him. She cried herself to sleep at night for almost a month after staring at the grave and I always reminded her that it was her fault he was dead.” What the fuck. I always wondered who that grave belonged to and whenever I asked him he would say someone close to our mother's heart. I never understood that because I knew he wasn't family, but as it seems, he was.
“When she told me she was pregnant, I knew the lying bitch had to be punished. You and your brother weren't mine. I had a vasectomy when I was eighteen.” My jaw clenched, fists tightening. He never liked us, he never saw us, he never wanted us, because we were never his. We never truly had a connection to this man, because he was never our father. “She didn't know about the vasectomy and tried to pawn you kids off as mine. I made sure it was a choice she regretted until the day she di—”
He didn't have time to finish before my foot was pressing against his jugular while he laid gasping on the floor. I should break his fucking neck for his callous attitude. The woman was my fucking mother and hell, he deserved whatever he got from her, because no matter what he said before, he never fucking loved her.
“Don't.”
“Touchy—touchy,” he said between breaths before I let up. With one large breath, he started laughing. “What was I supposed to do?”
“I don't know, how about not be a dick? You fucked around on her, you just admitted to marrying her for her money. Now, when she turns around and fucks with you, you get neurotic.”
He scowled. “She was my wife—”
“And she was my mother. She didn't deserve what she got,” I said between clenched teeth. “She didn't deserve you.”
“Yeah well, we both got each other.”
“So why keep us? If you knew we weren't yours why keep us there?”
His smile returned and he tisked. “The best way to manipulate someone is with something they truly love. Your mother betrayed me— so to punish her I kept her sons and promised her I'd raise them to be just like the man she hated. It hurt her knowing her prides and joys were slowly becoming me.” Maintaining eye contact his smile widened. “It damn near killed her.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Nathaniel
In a private room at Materno Sur hospital, I closed my eyes before opening them again to the same sight that was there before. I was hoping this was nightmare. That after everything I’d been through I had simply fallen asleep and this was all in my head, but I felt a pain in my chest that kept increasing with every passing minute. Nothing could have prepared me for this.
After Leo called that night, I left with Costas and found the ambulance driving away from the scene. That son of a bitch who took her was dead, and he was lucky, because had he lived nothing would have stopped me from killing him. Leo saw the whole thing. Said he was on his way to the house and saw the lights of the car before it swerved off the road and hit the tree.
I was pissed. Pissed at the guy who took her, pissed because she didn’t fight hard enough to prevent this, but when I saw those lights drive away I knew that without a doubt if she died, I’d have nothing else to live for. I had lost too many of the people I loved and to lose her too, would be losing myself completely.
I knew something now. Something Izzy didn’t because she was unconscious and could barely breathe. On impact the entire front of the car was crushed leaving Izzy barely alive. Her brain was swollen, ribs crushed and a broken bone had her right leg slung up in a cast. They had to induce a coma for the swelling to go down and wasn’t sure how long it would take. And to think I was pissed about her confession at that table. Didn't seem important now that she was almost dead. And what was worse? If she didn’t pull through neither would our baby.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I wasn’t even sure if Izzy herself knew and if she did, was she keeping it from me? When the doctor left, the soft beeping of the monitor was the only sound giving me some peace. She was still alive.
The door to her room opened a few minutes later, as I turned my attention to my brother. He looked tired as he walked in shutting the door behind him. “How is she?” he asked standing at the foot of her bed with his hands in his pockets.
I looked away from him gazing down at Izzy. Her pale skin looked even paler now, until it was almost translucent. “The same as yesterday.” I adjusted my position in the chair, leaning forward with my hands on my thighs. “How’s it going?” I watched him, knowing he knew what I was referring to without having to elaborate.
He moved toward the window and peered out with his hands still in his pockets. I watched as his shoulders visibly sunk with a released breath. “It’s coming along.”
“Is he still alive?” I hadn’t returned to the house since I left three nights ago. Nathan had Nicolae chained in the basement which was where he had been for the last three days.
“For now, but he won’t be much longer. I was only keeping him alive for you. To give you your chance.”
I sighed rubbing the back of my neck. I had waited a long time to see our father fall. Hoped that when it happened I’d get to see his face, hear his screams, and witness his anger because he knew there was nothing he could do to stop the fall of his empire. All his hard work and all he did to conceal his crimes were now out in the open.
Leo hadn’t found Michael, but got the next best thing. His son. The same man who was calling the shots back at the boat yard. It would seem he wasn’t too loyal to our father and with Leo and his men killing everyone at the ship yard, he became very compliant when there was nowhere to go. He took Leo right to the warehouse where the locations of the other twelv
e warehouses were found. Once Leo relayed this information to Justine, she immediately got the information to her boss and within a few hours the FBI had every last location on lockdown.
The FBI wanted my father as well, but Justine had explained that once Nicolae knew of the raids, he fled the country. Looking over at Izzy, that annoying beeping sound that I wanted to stop when she opened her eyes and looked at me, was a moment I knew I would miss if I left her side. I couldn't do it, so I stayed. “As much as I want to take that chance, I can’t leave her.”
He nodded in understanding. “I understand.”
“End things if you must, I’ll be okay with it. And how are you holding up after everything?” Nathan looked exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, hair a mess and he was more quiet than usual. He could probably say the same for me since I had been asleep in a chair for the last three days.
His brows frowned when he gazed at me. “I have to tell you something.”
“What?”
“The reason that guy, Izzy’s ex-boyfriend was here— was because of me.”
My face drew in before it hardened with rage. I stood from the chair and approached him. “Explain yourself.”
He sighed with his head down. “When I went to her hometown to get information for Nicolae, he was there. I told him where Izzy was in exchange for some information. He showed up in Brazil when you left to do the job and he took her— I went after them and got her back, but not without him firing at me first.” He looked down at his left shoulder before watching me with regretful eyes.
I was seething g. I bowed my head pinching my nose while trying to get control of my anger. He did this? My own flesh and blood? I stood straight and before I could think about what I was doing I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall. “You hurt her—”
“I know and I’m sorry.”
“Bullshit. This is what you always do. You don’t think,” I yelled close to his face. “I trusted you with her—”
“I know.” He swallowed looking me in the eyes with deep remorse. “I’m sorry.”
Grinding my teeth I released him with a shove and turning away. “Why tell me? I would have never known unless Izzy decided to rat you out.”
“I didn’t want it to be like it was before.”
I dragged my fingers through my hair glancing at him before turning back to Izzy. “You mean before dad pinned us against each other?”
“He wasn’t our father,” he blurted turning back toward the window.
I faced him with narrowed eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“At the table you called him out. You said he had a secret.”
“Yeah but I was just fucking with him.”
“Yeah—There was a minute where he seem surprised by your question. I saw it in his eyes, I saw him cover it up, too. So I asked him what his secret was and do you know what he said?” He answered before I could reply. “Mom cheated on him. So as punishment he raised her bastard sons, raised them to be monsters like him, just so she could see what a failure of a mother she was buy choosing another man's love.”
I sat down, processing. I may have been sleep deprived and worried, but what he had said made perfect sense. I always wondered why Nicolae was the way he was. Why he never acted like our father, why he never loved us. It was because we were never his. And what was even more surprising was the fact that our mother cheated on him. Maybe she was planning on leaving him and I wouldn’t surprised that he was forcing her to say and keeping us was her punishment.
“He say anything else? Like who the fuck our father is?”
“Yeah. Remember that mysterious grave in the backyard, just beyond the kitchen?” He watched me with one brow raised.
I remembered the grave. As a kid I thought it was creepy as fuck, the way a single grave was in the backyard. One time I think I even asked mom about it, and she looked sad saying it was a good man. “The unmarked grave was our father?” I said in surprise.
“So it would seem.”
“What was his name?”
“That I don't know. All he said was that he was a guard.” The grave was a simple stone headstone with a large x on it and nothing else. I was happy to know I wasn't related to Nicholae, but now I wanted to know who the hell that grave belonged to.
“Fuck”
He turned walking closer. “I know. This thing is just one big fucking mess. The cops have been by the house by the way. Trying to gather evidence.”
“They didn’t go to the basement though?”
“Na, Justine was running the show.” He grinned. “You know that chick is pretty fucking badass when she’s got a gun and badge up her ass.”
My eyebrow curved, amused. “You know her name's not really Justine right?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, she damn near kicked me in the balls for calling her that. Said she never wanted to hear that name again… Hey, all that shit that happened that night, was that all apart of the plan?”
“The plan obviously had some flaws”—The flaw meaning Jovana's death since I had no idea she was going to be there—“but luckily it all worked out. It was simple, my uncles left Leo and Costas, with Costas making contact with Nicholae—”
“Yeah what was up with that? You didn't seem to know about that.”
“I didn't. That part of the plan wasn't relayed to me. They wanted my reaction to be authentic apparently. Costas contacted Nicholae about getting him what he always wanted… an in with the Donatellas. He offered Nicholae false information about our plan to prove his loyalty to him and not his family. The rest of it was pretty self-explanatory.”
“And the guards?”
We switched them out with Andrea's men… well except the one Andrea shot.” I grinned. “It's not our fault Nicholae forgot. Hey who's watching him right now?”
He frowned. “He doesn’t need to be watched, he couldn't go anywhere even if he tried.” Meaning he was so busted and bruised that death was probably knocking, or he was praying for it.
“God, we really did turn out like him.” I sat with a sigh resting my head back and glancing at my brother.
“I wouldn’t say that—” he shrugged with a slight grin, “he did teach us some pretty cool things. I doubt he knew some of those things would be used on him.”
I chuckled. He had a point there. We both glanced at Izzy then, and there was a silence that stretched on as we listened to her heart monitor. This would all be worth it, if she would just open her eyes. I hoped she would soon, to see what we did. To finally see that happily ever after she was always talking about. The monster would be gone just like we'd planned, and we could all move on with our lives. The way it was always supposed to be.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Izabella
And from the darkness, I returned to the light. Slowly my eyes opened, but either I had suddenly gone blind or it was very dark wherever I was. Where was I? My brain was frazzled, things were jumping all over the place and my head felt heavy. Like, I couldn’t even lift it heavy. What was that annoying beeping noise? It was annoying and really loud, and was beginning to drive me crazy. I just wanted it to stop. My arm jerked and suddenly there was movement at the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t move my head. It was too heavy.
“Izabella,” the gravelly voice whispered before moving closer. “Fuck you’re awake.”
“I—”
“Don’t talk. I’ll get the doctor.” Doctor? Where was I? I blinked and he was gone. I blinked again and my eyelids grew heavy so they remained closed for a long time. I wasn’t sure how long they were closed, but when I reopened them it was bright.
Everything was still fuzzy, but my head felt a little lighter; so much so I could even turn to see who was now touching my hand. “Nathaniel,” I said in a whisper of a breath, recognizing his touch.
He stood without releasing my hand while his body drew closer. When I could clearly see his face, I frowned at the sight of the dark circles under his eyes and the beared that was growing on his
face. He looked the complete opposite of the polished man I knew, which left me with a question. How long have I been here?
“Izzy.” His eyes gleamed with relief while the cold touch of his fingers skimmed my cheek. “I’m so happy to see those eyes.”
“You …I.” My throat felt raw and every word I tried to say caused me to wince in pain.
“Here.” He reached over to the side table and grabbed a cup, before pressing a button near the bed that caused the upper part of my body to move into an almost sitting position.
Placing the cup against my lips, I took a few sips, groaning when the water touched my throat. Lifting my hand I placed it against my neck as if rubbing it would ease the pain. “Hurts,” I whispered.
He nodded once before placing the cup down and moving away. “I’ll be right back, just stay awake for me okay?” I blinked watching him leave the room. I was guessing something was wrong with my head, since it felt strange when I moved my fingers along the bandage around it. My arms were fine, but my right leg was broken with the cast stopped under my knee. I don’t remember much of anything and as I tried thinking back, I drew a blank.
The door opened and in walked Nathaniel and an olive skin man with a bald head and brown eyes. A little shorter than Nathaniel, he stood at the foot of the bed while Nathaniel moved to my head, taking my hand. “Izzy, this is doctor Luis Sabastian. He’s going to check you over and make sure everything is okay. He doesn’t speak any English, so I’ll have to translate for him, okay?” I was confused for a few seconds as I watched Nathaniel, wondering why he didn’t speak English, or where I was exactly. He must have sensed my unease as he sat in the chair beside me and nodded reassuringly. “Everything is okay, you’re safe,” he whispered reaching over and kissing my lips softly before pulling away.
I nodded facing the doctor who moved forward pulling a stethoscope from the pocket of his lab coat. He smiled warmly when he popped them into his ears and placed the other end on my chest. As doctor Luis checked my heart, eyes, blood pressure, lungs, and muscle movement, I started to wonder what had happened that put me in this position. My brain was still fuzzy to many details, but I remembered a few things, Nathaniel being one of them.
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