Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 142640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 475(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 475(@300wpm)
“He wasn’t happy…” I mutter under my breath, of course he wasn’t.
“Why hasn’t it gone to either of you?” I ask the boys.
“Your father wanted it to go straight to you,” Andrea replies.
“And you’re okay with this?” I snap.
They both give a shrug. “It was his wishes.”
I stare at them, and they’re just going to take that sitting down?
Wimps.
“Your father always said that only his oldest and youngest son were born for this role. Enrico…and now, you.”
I drop my head as the room spins once more, I stay silent as I try to process everything.
I can’t even begin to, it’s impossible.
“You have four thousand staff and another twelve hundred personal staff.”
“What for?” I spit. “What on earth would anyone need twelve hundred personal staff for?”
Mario and Lorenzo exchange looks.
I snap as I lose my patience. “Explain this to me, now.”
Mario exhales heavily. “The Ferrara family has run Italy, the good and the bad, for many generations.”
Criminals.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.
“Not all Ferrara businesses are reputable. Stefano, your grandfather….”
Grandfather.
I had a grandfather? I was told he died before I was born.
Everything is a lie, my stomach rolls with nausea.
“Stefano built an empire, and because he died on the same day as your father, Enrico learned of the business this way too.”
“He didn’t know?” I gasp.
“No, he and his brothers, like you, were kept in the dark. Your father wanted you all to have a normal childhood, a privilege he wasn’t offered.”
“How the fuck could I have a normal childhood when he had another wife and family?” I spit. “I don’t want anything to do with this. You’re lying and none of this is true and if it is, I hate him.” I look around the room and stand abruptly. “And I hate all of you.” Adrenaline is pumping hard through my veins. “I’m going home. Stay the fuck away from me.”
Lorenzo stands and pushes me back into my chair, I fall hard back into my seat. “I know this is a lot to take in, Giuliano and with your personality it won’t be easy to conform with family tradition.”
“Because it isn’t my family,” I yell. “Stop fucking lying!”
“We are all here, at your service. You have your brothers’ full support and in time, you will learn to lead as your father wanted.”
I stand and march from the office, Alex and Valentino immediately stand. “We’re leaving,” I snap as I storm past them.
“Not without security,” Lorenzo calls from behind me.
I turn toward him, infuriated. “Fuck your security.”
“Who do you think murdered your brother, Giuliano?” Lorenzo bellows.
I struggle for air as adrenaline courses through my veins, I’ve never been so angry.
“You are now a marked man,” he cries. “You have two choices. Learn to lead us into the next generation. Or be the next murdered Ferrara, because trust me, they will come for you.”
4
Giuliano
Nightfall, the bringer of evil.
At the going down of the sun, dark thoughts have rolled in. And as the whole world peacefully sleeps, mine has come crashing to a devastating halt.
The lines have been blurred between a nightmare and reality.
I lie in the dark and stare up at the ceiling, my mind a clusterfuck of confusion.
Why is this happening?
I’m on the trundle bed in Alex’s bedroom, next to him. His regulated breathing calms me, a peaceful reminder that I can depend on someone.
My friends are all I have now.
I can’t go home, because then, I’ll have to see her.
I can’t bear it.
My mother’s words of wanting nothing to change between us are now crystal clear in meaning. She knew how I would feel.
My entire life has been a lie, her betrayal runs deep. I am the child of a mistress.
My heart broken beyond repair.
The only thing that I know for certain is that I didn’t know my father at all.
I’m not who I….
He was married to another woman.
My beloved father is nothing more than an adultering criminal. Head of the Mafia.
And I…I don’t even know who I fucking am anymore.
Unable to lie still for a moment more, I get up and go to the window and stare out through the darkness at the cars parked on the street.
The guards who now watch over me.
It all makes sense now; the reason Enrico treated me with such contempt. How must they have felt when they learned of me? His father’s mistress’s child.
The betrayal, to them too.
This is why I felt that he hated me before we even met. I didn’t imagine it.
She’s, my sister.
Francesca and I can never be together, no matter how much we care for each other.
There is no answer, this can’t be fixed.
I imagine us together, kissing in the darkness, the closeness we felt.
The love.
Oh….
My chest constricts with sadness and as I sit in the darkness, I feel so betrayed.
So alone.
The salty tears run down my face. I thought the day my father died was a bad day.