Salvatore: a Dark Mafia Romance(69)

“Izzy? What the hell is going on?”

She plopped her bag down on the coffee table and rubbed her eyes with her hands. She looked defeated in that moment, and I saw through the tough facade she put on more and more.

“Luke’s out of surgery,” she said, heading to where Dominic had left his glass, filling it with the same whiskey and drinking it down. “He’s going to make it.”

She stood quietly a moment before her body slumped, and she broke into sobs. I went to her and embraced her, the crutches tucked awkwardly under my arms. I held her so tight that she finally surrendered herself, letting herself go, weeping, hugging me back.

“I thought…I thought…God, if he died?” She sucked in a loud breath and wiped her eyes, leaning back. “I prayed, Lucia. I haven’t prayed in five years.” She shook her head. “I love him. I love him, and all I’ve done is hurt him.”

“Luke?” I was so confused.

She nodded, and we walked over to the sofa and sat down.

“He was adopted,” she started, as if that was what I was concerned about. “We’re not blood relatives.”

“I know, Izzy. God, I know. It’s okay. I don’t care. It’s fine.”

“I owe you an explanation. Multiple, probably.”

I nodded.

“Five years ago, more than that, actually, I met Dominic. It was accidental, nothing planned. I was seventeen. It was a party in the woods, and I didn’t know who he was. Same for him. He didn’t know me, and we didn’t exchange last names. It was just Dominic and Isabella. That’s all. We hit it off, and things got heated over the next few weeks. Months.”

“You still didn’t know who he was?” I didn’t believe that.

“By then we knew. Hell, by our third date, we knew. But there was something there. I don’t know what it was, maybe even the whole Romeo and Juliette with warring families and the romance of it all, the sneaking around, meeting in the woods, sitting under the stars. Just us. Together.”

“You fell in love with Dominic Benedetti?”

She nodded her head. “He wasn’t like this, not then. We were each other’s firsts. First love, first…”

“Then you got pregnant.”

“Yes. It was right around when things were coming to a head between the families. Dominic was going to tell his father. I told Papa.”

“That’s why he was so mad.”

She nodded sadly. “I was pregnant with the enemy’s child. Never mind that I was barely an adult and unmarried.”

“He disowned you because it was Dominic’s?”

“Yes. He couldn’t accept it. It shamed him. Infuriated him. Looking at me pissed him off. I think I was the ultimate reminder of his disgrace.”

“How long did he know before you left?”

“A month. He gave me an ultimatum. Abort the baby or lose everything.”

“Abortion? Papa?” He was a devout Catholic. As old school as they came.

She nodded, her eyes glistening again. “I couldn’t do that.” She glanced up the stairs. “I’m so glad I didn’t.”

“Does Franco Benedetti know?”

“No. Dominic never told him. In fact, we stopped seeing each other as soon as I found out I was pregnant. Well, it trickled to a stop. But things were different then. He sent money, though, after I left.”

“Well, isn’t he a prince?”

“We were both kids, Lucia, and I’ve forgiven him. You don’t have to, but this is between him and me.”

“Does Effie know?”

She shook her head. “No one does.”

“Well, I think Salvatore may.” She opened her mouth, but I continued. “He and Roman suspected it was Luke, and Roman had DNA tests done.”

“Fuck.”

“When it came back that Luke couldn’t be the father, Roman, who apparently had his suspicions, used his own DNA to test against it. Traces matched, and he’s running Dominic’s now.”

“My fucking uncle is always sticking his big fucking nose where it doesn’t belong.” Dominic leaned against the entrance to the kitchen eating a sandwich, not bothering to hide the fact he was eavesdropping. “Not that it fucking matters. Not anymore.”

Isabella stood, suddenly fuming, and went to him. “Was it you? Did you order the hit on Luke?”

He walked around her, biting off another piece, chewing like he didn’t have a care in the world. “I didn’t realize you loved him,” he sneered.

She grabbed his arm, making him turn to face her. “We had an agreement! Goddamn you, we had a fucking agreement!”

“You’re the one who wanted him involved.”