by S. C. Ellen
“As good as one can be in this situation.” I turn around, placing my hands on his waist, peeking up at his face. His expression is troubled. “How are you doing? I know my father was like another father to you, too, and Jase like a brother.”
He lets out a deep sigh, narrowing his eyes at the two graves next to one another. “I looked up to them. Both of them. Vinny was the only family I ever knew. I just hope I can honor him and live up to be the great man that he was.”
I lay my head against his chest, inhaling his scent. God, I missed that smell. “They would both be so proud of you.”
He reaches down to kiss me and pulls back with furrowed brows. “What? What is it?”
His focus is solely on Tessa. “I have to do something.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
“I need you and Tessa to meet me inside of the church in ten minutes.”
“Is everything alright?”
I can see the inner workings of his mind play out in his gaze. “It’s time I tell the truth about who I am.”
Tessa and I are now huddled in the corner by the confessional booths as Carson approaches us. I feel in my heart that whatever he’s going to reveal is about to change all of our lives forever.
“Before your father died, he said something, something about a Bible he kept hidden in his office at home. He said that was where I’d find all the answers I was searching for.” Carson pulls out a small Bible from the front pocket of his suit.
Inside, folded neatly, are worn-out pieces of paper. A set of adoption papers and birth certificates, to be exact. What could these things possibly have to do with us?
Carson pulls out a letter and begins reading it out loud.
To my beautiful children,
If you are reading this, then it probably means that your father and I have passed. I am sorry for the lives we have brought you into and the heartache you must feel living life without us. We knew that there was a certain danger bringing children into our world, but if that meant losing our lives to save yours, then we would do it ten times over. Your father and I love you both so very much. We have given specific directives to the only men we trust: Vincenzo Pentalini and Tony Fabiola. We know they will take very good care of you both and treat you as if you were their own. Please don’t let what happen to us deter you from living your life to the fullest. Our only wish is that you learn from our experiences and use it as a lesson for your own. Your father and I will continue to watch you both from above, and dream of the day we are once a family again.
With Love Always,
Luna & Giovanni Costanelli
We all stand in shock reading an actual letter from the original family.
“This is not making any sense, Carson,” Tessa says.
“Read this,” Carson passes over the adoption papers. Tessa takes them out of his hands and begins reading.
“The now-deceased parents, Luna and Giovanni Costanelli, give legal guardianship to…Vincenzo Pentalini and Tony Fabiola…on behalf of their son, Carson, and daughter, newly named…Tessa,” she whispers, turning pale the more she says out loud.
“Then that-that would mean…” My voice trails off, looking over at the girl who looks like she’s on the verge of passing out.
“That Tessa is my sister.”
Tessa takes a sharp intake of breath, her back sliding down the wall behind her. “But-but?” Her eyes fill with unshed tears as Carson approaches her cautiously, kneeling beside her.
“You’re my brother?” Tessa whispers, looking at Carson in disbelief.
Carson bows his head, his own demons staking claim on his features. “I tried to protect you by staying away, even though I wanted nothing more than to be there for you as a brother should. I’m sorry I failed you too.”
“How long have you known?” she softly cries out.
“Since the first time I saw you again.”
Taking Carson by complete surprise, Tessa holds him tightly in a warm embrace, sobbing quietly on his shoulder.
Carson soon winds his arms around her, holding her just as tightly, sharing a moment that he has probably dreamt about for years.
“I don’t even know who I am anymore,” Tessa cries out.
“I won’t lose you again. I can’t,” Carson replies with fierce determination.
Tessa pulls back, her eyes red-rimmed. “I lost everything, Carson. Everything I have ever known about my life is gone. I don’t even know my own real name.”
He hands her one of the birth certificates. “Rosa. Your name is Rosa Costanelli, the princess of the Costanelli empire.”
“Carson—” I begin, too shocked to voice the actual truth of what this now means.
“And my name is Carson Giovanni Costanelli. The rightful heir to the Costanelli throne.”
Alayna
Carson makes it a rule to carry on with the tradition of family dinner on Sundays, hosted at my childhood home. Now that Liliana is living with my mother and keeping each other company, they are more than happy to help prepare the meals.
With Carson now in charge, he has made Elliot his financial advisor so he frequents Michigan a lot more than he usually would have. Thankfully, I believe that Liliana has grown to actually enjoy having Elliot around, and I sometimes find them sneaking sweet eyes when they think no one is watching.
The only person I’ve grown to worry about is Tessa. She has become more closed off and keeping to herself in recent weeks, even after learning the truth of her upbringing.
I know Carson is worried as well, and I can’t even begin to understand what she’s going through. I couldn’t imagine my life without Carson, and sometimes I hold a lot of guilt in my heart for loving him even after witnessing what he did to my brother. Of course, I know it was ultimately Jase’s choice, and they were forced to do it, but that still doesn’t make it any better.
She’s been avoiding Carson and me for weeks now, and it isn’t until today, when Carson calls a mandatory family meeting, that I realize how different everything is now that my father is no longer sitting at the head.
“I know you are all probably wondering why you are here,” Carson begins before taking a look at all of the curious faces and landing on mine.
He reaches out a hand, grabbing tightly onto my own. I squeeze it lightly, reassuring him to go on.
“I’ve been keeping you all in the dark about something because I needed to get all of my ducks in a row before I told you.”
I speak up with a questioning tone, “What is it, Carson?”
“Not what…but who.”
My mind reels at a figure moving across the hallway before entering the dining room. I almost upchuck my dinner at the sight of the broad and tall man I never imagined I would see again.
Carson gets up from his seat and greets Maks with a handshake, gesturing to take a seat on one of the chairs at the dining room table.
My eyes find Carson, staring in wide and questioning alert. He has the nerve to ignore my outraged stare before he sits down at the head of the table again.
Maks clears his throat, “Lovely to see you again, Alayna.” He smirks, before nodding in acknowledgement at the rest of the confused table.
“What is he doing here, Carson?” I ask, unable to hide my disgust.
Has Carson lost his mind?!
My mother sends me a scolding look at my brashness, before Carson begins, “It started after the meeting we had at the Christmas Gala. We knew that the American bratva Dmitri was leading was heading down a dangerous path, and the Moscow bratva was beginning to grow tired of cleaning up their mess. That’s when we decided it would be in both of our best interests to work together and try to take Dmitri and his crew down.”
I stare at Carson for a long moment, not knowing at all where this is going.
Maks speaks up, running a hand under his chin. “Ah yes, and of course we ran into a few obstacles along the way that we didn’t foresee happening. Like our Alayna here getting pregnant and kidnapped. Unfortunately,
due to the events leading up to that, we weren’t able to get to her on time, but she set up a beautiful trap that had Dmitri eating out of the palm of her hands and had him distracted until I could get there.”
I cut him off, needing clarification. “You were helping the familia the whole time, and still made me witness your brutality against Nina?”
Maks shrugs with a sickening sneer, “I had to keep up with pretenses, and do how you say? Get my rocks off.”
“Enough,” Carson demands. “Yes, Maks had to keep up with the conviction that he was helping them, and even came up with the ingenious plan of how we could take them out and save you at the same time.”
“Oh, yes, because sacrificing Jase’s life was a great plan. Worked out just beautifully,” Tessa bitterly whispers out, earning a sharp glare from Carson.
My mother wipes a few stray tears from her eyes and reaches out to hold Tessa’s hand.
A spring of tears fills my own as well at the flashback staying on repeat in my mind.
Carson runs a tense hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. “Maybe this will be easier if someone else explains it.” He dials up a number on his phone, taking a look around the eyes that are all glued onto him still. “You can come in now,” he says to whoever is on the other line.
And as if I’m seeing a ghost, a person I never dreamed of ever seeing again appears in the doorway of our kitchen, looking as healthy and fit as I remember him.
“Jase?” Tessa whispers out into the stunned silence, looking as if she’s about to pass out.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” he replies with his famous goofy smile, that I only prayed to see one more time.
Tears fill my vision as Tessa runs into Jase’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably inside of them with my mother following quickly behind.
My tearful expression finds Carson’s smug smile. “How?”
“I’ll let Jase explain that one.”
My eyes find Jase’s, and I can’t help it, pregnant or not, I run to him with a soul-crushing embrace that he returns just as fiercely back. “Don’t ever risk your life for me ever again!” I sob onto his shoulder.
He chuckles, rubbing a gentle hand down my hair. “What are big brothers for, Al? It’s part of my job description.”
“Can someone please explain what the fuck is going on? Or are more people going to be coming back from the dead?” Elliot curses, causing Carson to send a menacing look his way.
Jase holds onto Tessa’s hand even after they sit back down at the dinner table. “Well, it wasn’t until recently that I realized I had a lot more to lose than just the life of the familia.” His eyes stray to Tessa’s who looks like she’s scared he might disappear again. “I didn’t want to live the rest of my days picturing my life, living the way others decided for me. I wanted to live happy, and free. I realized I never really wanted the familia life for myself, and the only life I wanted was to enjoy it with the girl I have loved for almost all of my life.” Tessa wipes away tears from her eyes, that are now falling happily down her cheeks at Jase’s words. “The only problem was that I made an oath, live by the code, die for the code, so death was my only option. It wasn’t until I was presented with the idea of faking my own death by the hand of the fighting ring, to not only save Alayna, but to use that as my light to be free from this burden, that I took it and ran.”
I nervously fidget in my seat, “But I saw it, Jase. Those hits were real, and hard, there was no way you could have survived something like that.”
“Yes, those hits were very much real, and I was actually knocked unconscious, but that’s when Maks shut off the lights as a distraction, and replaced my body with a dead bratva member that had on the same bloodied clothes as I did, and took me to an on-call doctor.”
“Then what took you so long to reveal yourself?” Aunt Valentina asks, with Uncle Ro comforting her cries of joy as well.
Jase shrugs, “I hid in the shadows of my own funeral, not because I wanted to see it, but I wanted to be there for dad. He knew all about the plan, and even though he didn’t like it, he still respected my decision, and I couldn’t even give him a proper goodbye.”
“Your poppa loved you very much, mio caro. He loved all of you,” my mother cries, running a napkin under her eyes to catch her tears.
“I know he did. After everyone left, I said my peace, and decided now that I have this newfound freedom, I needed to start over in a new place. A place where no one could ever recognize me, and a place where me and the absolute love of my life could live the peaceful life she always wanted to have. So, what do you say, T?”
Tessa pulls onto Jase’s shirt collar, pulling him close to her face. “I’d go anywhere you want me to go, Jase Pentalini.” And with that, she smacks his lips up against hers in an unforgiving and passionate kiss.
My eyes fill with happy tears this time. God, these pregnancy hormones have made me turn into such a crybaby! Carson’s hand snakes its way into mine, holding it tightly against his.
“Thank you,” I whisper as he kisses the palm of my hand.
My eyes find Maks, growing noticeably uncomfortable with the amount of love that is filling the room. He begins to get up from his seat, straightening out his suit.
“Well, I must leave as my flight back to Russia is set to leave at a quarter past ten and I have more grueling issues to deal with than your little soap opera here, yes?”
“Wait!” I get up from my seat, causing Maks to stare at me in amused curiosity. “Thank you, for what you did for my brother. I know you probably don’t get that a lot, and something tells me you’re not used to giving out favors for people, but it’s appreciated, nonetheless.”
He nods, regarding Carson. “I look forward to continuing our new business partnership, and I expect to put to good use the favor that you owe me.”
Carson lets out a deep breath, “Something tells me I’m going to regret ever asking for your help in the first place.”
Maks gives a lasting smirk, “Your second foolish mistake.”
“What was the first?” I ask aloud.
“Falling in love.”
Alayna
It isn’t until a month after everything settles that I’m finally able to face my demons head on and get the treatment I need to cope with my new outlook on life.
It’s been really helpful seeing as I still get night terrors from time to time, even when I’m sleeping next to Carson, but they have been getting a lot better, as well. I’ve also enrolled in online classes to start my psychology degree. Taking baby steps but definitely moving in a more positive direction.
Carson has also been really supportive in my decisions, and even went so far as to completely stop the awful trade of human trafficking from the business altogether, and he retired his days of being Blizzard. Of course, now that he claimed the title of the new boss of Michigan’s La Cosa Nostra, he also inherited his rightful title of Italy’s first and original heir to the familia empire there, as well, taking on his true name, Carson Giovanni Costanelli.
“What are you thinking about, mio angelo?” he asks as he pulls me into his arms.
I take a look around the room, taking in the beauty of our home. We wanted to start new in a beautiful estate that backs right up to Lake Michigan and gives us the space I always wanted to start a family in.
I remove myself from his embrace and walk over to peer outside the moonlit windowsill. I feel him brush up against me a moment later, placing a single kiss on my exposed shoulder. “Tell me,” he whispers.
I sigh, rubbing my swollen belly. “Sometimes I just sit and wait for the other shoe to drop. Like I’m getting too comfortable when I need to be on edge. Not only for me, but for our babies, as well.”
Carson rubs a gentle and loving hand across my stomach. “I told you, Alayna. I’d never put you or our babies in harm’s way ever again. Don’t let those demons inside of your mind run your life, mio angelo. It’s okay to let them go.”
I turn and smile up
at him, placing my hands across his neck. “And how do you know that?”
A genuine smile breaks across his face. “A stubborn, yet beautiful angel might’ve told me the same thing, maybe once or a couple of times.”
“She sounds like a smart woman.”
“She is.” His lips find my own, placing a deep and gentle kiss on them. “And she is all mine.”
With a smile, my hands run down his broad shoulders, stopping when I feel something large taped up with gauze. “What’s that on your back, Carson?”
“Why don’t you find out?” He smirks, kissing me briefly on the forehead before he moves to turn around.
I grab onto the back of his thick arm and peel the tape off slowly, gasping out in surprise once I finally see what was under the bandage.
“Carson, I—”
The words “Forgiveness is the remission of sins” are beautifully etched into his skin, right above the angel wings that adorn his back with the initials A. C. in the middle of them.
“This is beautiful, Carson. But what does the A. C. stand for?”
He turns around with a bright green penetrating stare. “You.” Before I can question him further, he grabs something from his back pocket and I take a sharp intake of breath once he reveals a small box with a glorious-looking diamond ring inside. “I love you for not only loving me and carrying our two miracles inside of you, but I love you for the fact that you have brought hope back into my life. A hope that I had lost and have found again.” Tears well in my eyes as he grabs onto my hand and slides the ring onto my finger. “Marry me, Alayna.”
I don’t give it another thought. I jump on him—pregnant belly and all—and kiss out my answer. He swings me into his arms and gently places me on the bed, trailing kisses up and down my neck. His beautiful green eyes sweep over me before he strips me of my pajamas, gently removing my panties along with them. He removes his own clothes and braces himself on top of me, his fingers trailing on my skin, followed by a sweet and gentle kiss from his lips, like I’m the most delicate thing in the world.
He finally enters me, and I moan at how amazing he feels. “I love you, Alayna. I loved you even when I didn’t think I could.”