Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“Don’t shoot. I’m your brother, Michael,” I plead.
“I know who you are. That’s not the question I asked.”
I pause to think over the question he did ask me. My heart is racing, and my mind goes blank for a second. If he knows who I am, why does he have a gun to my head?
“I wanted to meet you. We all do. We don’t understand why you’re being kept from us.”
“You have come here on your own? You are either very smart or very stupid,” he says.
I note that he has an accent that’s much different from mine. It’s not Italian like the rest of ours. It has a hint of Italian mixed with a British one.
He removes the gun, allowing me to breathe. I still don’t move. I’m fighting with everything in me not to show my fear.
“Turn around,” he commands in Italian.
I turn to face him and put my hands up. I suck in a breath as we come face to face. Nico and I look a lot alike, but my brother standing before me now could pass for my twin. Even though there is a five-year age gap, he looks just like me.
The same blond hair, the same blue eyes, we have the same exact face and build. We are almost the same height. Give it a few years and I might catch up to him.
It’s like looking into a mirror. However, the scowl on his face is not the same as the expression I have in this moment. I give him a slight smile, wanting to pull him in for an embrace.
“I will ask you this once. If you don’t give me the answer I want to hear then I will shoot you and make you disappear.”
I nod as I lick my lips and wait for his question. This is not at all how I thought this would go. I wasn’t expecting him to be so … cold?
“How did you find me?”
“I followed Mama. She always looks so heartbroken after her visits with you. I noticed and decided to follow her. I didn’t know it would lead me to you. I’ve been searching for you since I turned eighteen.”
“You have found me, now what?”
I shrug. “I would like to hug you. After that, maybe we could talk and get to know each other. You are my brother. I want to get to know you. Nico and Annabella miss you. We only want to be a part of your life.”
“Have you ever thought that it’s safer for you not to be in touch with me?”
“But why? You are my brother. Why wouldn’t it be safe to get to know you?”
He furrows his brows as he looks back at me. He’s silent for a moment and I don’t think he’s going to answer me. My shoulders slump. I envisioned this going totally different.
Without a word, he walks by me, leaving me here lost in my own confusion. I don’t know what to tell Nico and Anna. I know they will be as disappointed as I am.
“Michael, you’re not proving to be smart. You’re going to have to do better than this, mate. I move, you move. Let’s go,” he calls over his shoulder, to my surprise.
I suck in a deep breath and rush after him. I fall in step with him and peek out of the corner of my eye at my brother. Uri wraps his arm around my shoulders and gives it a squeeze.
“It’s nice to see you again, Michael. You were just learning to walk the last time I saw you.”
I chuckle. “Yes, I remember that.”
“You do?”
“I do. We have never forgotten you.”
He snorts. “You might wish someday that you did.”
“Never.”
“We shall see.”
CHAPTER 2
Training
Michael
A year later …
I lie on my back, looking up at the ceiling as I pant for air. I do believe Uri is trying to make me regret the day I found him. There is training and then there is this.
He is kicking my ass unapologetically. This is what I asked for, so I’m going to suck it up and continue. When I learned what my brother does for our uncle Nic, I wanted to learn.
I wanted to be a part of the side of our family I don’t know. I was hurt to know Uri has been connected to our father’s family all this time. My mother made it seem like they didn’t want anything to do with us.
However, listening to Uri speak of our grandfather, who he was with before our uncle Nic, has made me wonder if he was truly any better off than we were. I couldn’t imagine having to live like that. Our grandfather was a monster.
“Get up, Michael. You are a Donati. We don’t quit,” Uri growls at me.
His words are like fuel. I hate that I’ve been raised with the last name Zuko. My father was a Donati, and so am I.