by Tara Lee
Sweat drips down his body; the pain becomes unbearable. His body twitches as he tries not to show the agony clearly written on his face.
“She is my wife, you will treat her with goddamn respect.”
“Women make you weak, they make men stupido- stupid.”
“What Mother and you had was.—”
“Your mother was a puttana- whore.”
My fist connects with his jaw. Feeling the ache, I keep going. I hit him three more times while he chuckles darkly.
Brantley grabs my hand, stopping me before I kill him.
Just then my phone rings and, wiping my bloodied fingers on a handkerchief, I glower at the caller ID. Unknown, of fucking course.
“Bastardo- bastard, you better not—”
“She’s safe. As a matter of fact, we’re upstairs.”
I nod at Dexter.
“Bring him to me.”
Moments later, Jacob appears behind Dexter.
Before he speaks, I land a punch straight to his nose.
Jacob groans, holding his nose, then wipes the blood on his leather jacket.
“I should put a bullet straight between your eyes. In fact...” I grab my gun, lifting it to focus on him.
Jacob doesn’t flinch, he's not reaching for his gun or the many knives he carries.
“Seems fitting, for a traditore- traitor like you.”
Jacob smirks and looks past me to where my father is slumped back in his chair.
“ I see you got started on the fun without me.”
“Seems you two have something in common. Maybe you can share a cell and rot in fucking Hell.”
I go to walk away, annoyed by both of their presence.
I want to sink deep inside my wife until I forget all about the man who raised me.
“I think there’s something you should ask your father, my amico- friend.”
“Where is my sister?” I come face to face with Jacob, the other man I want to end.
“Like I said, upstairs, her and your wife are getting acquainted. Seems they have taken a liking to each other.” He smirks.
I smile, knowing Callie is there with Savannah. She’ll be telling her all about the baby, no doubt.
“Call Ethan,” Jacob requests.
“He’s just left,” Brantley states.
“Second thought, get Lorenzo here, too.”
Brantley eyes me with suspicion but makes both calls.
“On their way,” he says a few moments later, pocketing his phone.
Dexter leads both Ethan and Lorenzo downstairs minutes apart before retreating back up-stairs to keep an eye on my wife and sister. The last thing I want is for them to see or hear something they have no need to.
Lorenzo is shoved in a chair, looking toward my father who is tied, beaten, and bloody. He cocks his head to the side. You can see the sickness has taken its toll. I will be surprised if his time was soon.
I know he’s been too sick to continue being Il capo- the boss.
Brantley, like me, has flourished into his role. It seems we take after our fathers more than we ever want to accept.
Being Il capo- the boss has a certain power, one I've grown accustomed to.
“What is this all about?” Lorenzo hurries us along as if he’s got somewhere more important to be. He coughs, trying to cover it as nothing, but we all know it’s more.
“Why don’t you tell them?” Jacob insists.
My father glares at him.
“Chiudi la bocca. Feccia Inutile- shut up, useless scum.” My father’s Italian echoes across the room as he struggles to free his hand.
Jacob gets right up to his face and chuckles.
“You’re lucky I don’t slit your throat right now, old fucking man.”
“You were senza valore- worthless then, Jacob, and even now I can look at you and see nothing has changed.”
My father spits in Jacob's face. Jacob sniggers, wiping the spit from his cheek and recoils. His fists lands on my father’s jaw, knocking him over and onto his back.
“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Ethan pleads.
“I didn’t sign up for this life, I have Luna and I have Madden. This...” He waves his hand in our general direction.
“Is not what I signed up for.”
Ethan goes to walk away, but Jacob stops him with his hand on his shoulder.
“Trust me, Ethan, this is something you want to hear, as much as I know what it is, it needs to come from them.” He nods at our fathers.
I see the shared look they give each other. So they know whatever Jacob knows, and don’t want us to know.
“Father?” I fold my arms over my chest, waiting for him to speak.
He lets out a sigh. Clearly this is something he doesn’t want us to find out about.
“When I said your mother was a puttana- whore, it’s because she was.”
I growl in warning.
“Bishop, your mother isn't who you thought she was, that's why I had to kill her, end her life before she took you down with her.”
What the fuck?
I can’t see, I can’t even hear what the fuck everyone is shouting about, because everything is gone. My mother. He was the one who killed her? He made me. Fuck, he made me.
“You killed her”?
I go to rush him, but Jacob holds me back with his hand to my chest.
“Trust me, Bishop, you want to hear the rest.”
Trying to control my erratic breathing, I nod for my father—, no fuck it, he doesn’t deserve that title anymore—. For Pasquale to continue.
“How the fuck do you know?” Lorenzo barks.
“Did a little digging, and to be honest didn’t believe it to start with because I thought there is no way they haven’t mentioned this to them before, but here I am, and you haven’t. They deserve to know.”
“It was best kept quiet, Jacob, you need to learn to not be such a snoop,” Lorenzo says to him.
“Wait, what do you want in return?” Brantley states.
“Jacob?” I urge him.
He sighs.
“Fine. I know this will shock you and you will want to kill him even more, but I want to be the one to do it.”
“Do it?” The way Ethan’s voice quietens has me agreeing with him.
“Fine, you can kill him, gut the pig for all I care. He had my wife kidnapped just to teach me a lesson,” I snarl.
“Tell them,” Jacob demands.
“Fine.” They both huff.
“You’re mother isn't the sweet angel you thought she was. She claimed to be loyal, but she was far from it.”
The sneer in his voice has me shaking my head. There is no way my mother wasn't loyal to my father. She hated this life, but she loved him. I’m certain of it.
“I fucked her twice.” Lorenzo snickers, looking pleased with himself.
“Shut your mouth,” my father yells, glaring at him.
I guess he’s not over my mother betraying him.
“Blood is blood remember, Bishop.” The way those words drip from my father’s mouth, makes my skin crawl. Hearing them again doesn’t make sense.
Brantley murmurs the words as if he’s heard them before.
“Will you stop with the fucking riddles, stronzi- assholes. Just tell us,” I demand, losing my patience.
“You’re brothers,” he finally spits.
What?
Lorenzo eyes us cautiously. My father, however, sits with a delighted smile over his face.
“We’re—” Ethan can’t grasp the words.
He looks pale; as he tries to find a seat. He staggers trying to breathe.
“Brantley.”
He almost collapses, but Brantley catches him before he goes down. He tries to calm Ethan as he whispers something in his ear.
I want to kill Brantley and he’s... fuck. What does this all mean?
Brantley looks over his shoulder, our eyes connect, and we both know what needs to be done.
Brantley
stands, cupping Ethan’s shoulder, silently letting him know he’ll fix it. Then he holds a gun to Lorenzo's head whose eyes widen just seconds before he pulls the trigger.
Blood sprays all over the wall behind him, and we watch as his body slowly slides off the chair in a dead weight and lands with a thump. Brantley wipes the small speck of blood that landed off his cheek, relief washing over him.
Jacob lifts a gun to Pasquale’s head. He’s anxious to pull the trigger. His hand shakes, making him tense, but I can feel the fight he’s having with himself, knowing what my father did to his family. Unshed tears fill Jacob's eyes.
I can feel his pain, his heaving as his finger curls around the trigger.
“Do as you wish, I no longer care,”
I tell Jacob, patting him on the shoulder, and that’s all the permission he needs.
I watch as he smacks the gun across my father’s cheek, and he grunts, blood spilling from his mouth.
I lead Ethan and Brantley out, stopping at the top of the stairs. Hearing my fathers screams, and I close the door. I want to end my father, but Jacob deserves to do this, he has the right to avenge his family.
My father is an evil fucking man. He may be my blood, but blood isn’t always family.
We stand face to face in a circle. No one knows what to say. How to even come to terms with the fact that we’re brothers.
“So,” Brantley finally breaks the deathly silence.
“You're my brother?” Ethan’s voice breaks at the end, and without thinking, I yank him to my chest and hold my brother.
Fuck, I have a brother? No, I have two brothers. Somehow I gained three siblings in a matter of months after always feeling alone all my life after losing my mother.
Ethan reaches for Brantley, pulling him into our circle, and I vow to always protect my family, even if it kills me.
My famiglia- family comes first.
I hear talking as Savannah sits up straighter, looking every bit the shy young girl I have been speaking to for a while now. The fact she is so nervous to meet Bishop,
makes me nervous for her. She told me she always wanted a brother.
“You’re back.” I stand, reaching for my husband.
He places his hand in mine, curling his fingers through mine as he kisses my cheek.
Darkness shadows his eyes, and the way he holds my hand makes goosebumps appear over my skin. My free hand reaches for my growing belly.
My bump is starting to show, and Bishop has gotten even more protective since. I love my husband, but his alpha shows way more these days, not that I’m complaining about how much I love his control in the bedroom.
“Bishop.” I nod toward Savannah who is smiling nervously at my husband.
I’ll admit he’s intimidating, all broad shoulders, the beard he’s grown giving him that sexy-as-fuck dominant look.
And the way his eyes glow with darkness you can’t escape.
Bishop swallows as he lets my hand fall beside me. He stands in front of Savannah, making the blush grow over her cheeks.
“I promise you’re safe.'' His words give her some comfort, and she smiles softly at him.
“I always wanted a brother,” she speaks softly.
Bishop’s smile grows wide, and he looks over at Ethan and Brantley standing beside him. Neither say a word, just keep their eyes on Savannah.
“Where's Jacob?” I expect Bishop to get angry and forbid her to see him again, or worse, I expect him to say he’s gone. I imagined the worst when they showed up and Jacob had told me he needed to see him urgently.
Bishop wipes his bottom lip with his hand and sighs.
“Dealing with something. He’ll be back soon.”
Savannah's eyes widen with fear.
“I promise I didn’t hurt him.” Bishop declares.
“I love him,” she says before she realizes it’s slipped out.
She covers her mouth. Tears fill her eyes, and Bishop grabs her shoulders, pulling her to his chest. Savannah wraps her arms around him. He lets her cry, giving me a smile over her head. I think being a big brother suits him.
His protective nature will expand even more now. Poor Savannah, she has no idea what Bishop is like.
“Does he love you?” Bishop asks her.
She nods but then stops, nibbling on her bottom lip nervously.
“I-I think so.”
She seems unsure, and my heart breaks for her. She is so young, and knowing I’ve been where she is right now, the not knowing is the worst part.
“With every breath I take.”
We all turn to where Jacob is standing. Covered in blood.
Savannah breaks free of Bishop’s hold, running to him. He catches her as she jumps up. Jacob kisses her like he needs this. Like it’s the end.
“Are you okay?” Savannah slides down his body, and her fists wrap around the blood stained shirt. She ignores the fact he’s covered in blood.
Who’s blood, I don’t know, but nevertheless, Jacob just killed someone.
“Is he gone.” Her voice cracks, and she tilts her chin up, gazing at Jacob.
He nods softly, and then she’s in his arms looking like she’s relieved.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Bishops pulls me into his side.
“You told her.” Jacob smiles down at Savannah. The way he looks at her is priceless.
“Not yet,” Brantley says.
“Okay what?” I feel like I'm the only person who doesn’t know what is going on, and I kind of hate it.
“You know how you said you always wanted a brother?” Bishop says to Savannah.
She nods.
“Yeah.” She glances at Jacob who gives her a soft smile that makes his entire face light up.
Wow, I never knew Jacob’s face could do that.
“You have three.”
Bishop tips his head toward Ethan and Brantley.
Savannah’s face brightens and my jaw drops.
“Turns out my mother slept with Lorenzo twice.” Bishop kisses the side of my head, smiling.
My eyes just about fall from my head with how much they widen.
“Wait, so you're all...” I point between the boys and Savannah.
“Yep,” Ethan says, smiling.
Brantley slaps his back.
“I can’t believe they kept this from us,” Ethan murmurs.
“Our mother.” Brantley adds.
“Why did she let...” The pain on Ethan’s face rips me open.
I knew that Ethan and Brantley were forced into foster care, that’s how Ethan met Luna, but knowing that their mother was one and the same and she didn’t keep them but kept Bishop...
“This might explain some things.” Jacob pulls an envelope from his pocket. handing it to Ethan.
“What is this?” He holds it up.
I see Bishop and Brantley frown.
Bishop glares over at Jacob, silently demanding where he got it.
“I found it in your father’s things. I was trying to find evidence to show Savannah how little she knew about her father.”
“You opened it?” Brantley plunges for him, sending Jacob flying back.
Jacob collects himself, shoving Brantley back.
“It was already open. I barely scanned it, but I saw the words ‘sons’ and had to find out what it meant.”
“He wanted to kill us?” Ethan reads aloud.
“What?” Bishop asks.
“Pasquale demanded Mother get rid of us or he’d kill us. He made her choose.”
Ethan swallows, placing the letter back in the envelope.
“I can’t read the rest.”
He hands it to Bishop, who pockets it, and I know he will read it later.
“Well, I should go.” Brantley hitches his thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah, Luna will be wondering where I am.” Ethan smiles, but I see the sadness behind it.
Bishop brings Ethan to him. His forehead rests to his, and he whispers to him, but I don’t h
ear the words. Ethan nods and then he walks out.
Brantley stands to the side, unsure of what to do. It didn’t seem that long ago these two were enemies. Bishop hated Brantley for what he did to Ethan.
