I go to turn when I hear the sound of tires skidding along the gravel road and relief pours through me. Whatever the hell this is can be over. The boys can take me back home, and I can pretend that I didn’t hear a damn word, or that her eyes aren’t scarily similar to mine.
Gia’s guards flinch as the boys barrel out of the car and make their way toward me, their eyes quickly scanning over mine to make sure I haven’t been harmed. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she warns them as they move closer. “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here.”
Roman’s stare shoots to Gia and my brows furrow noticing how casually they move. Why aren’t they storming in like usual? Why aren’t their guns already in their hands? “You had a lot of nerve coming into my home and taking what’s ours.”
“Yours?” She laughs as all three of the boys step straight through the circle of guards, not one of them trying to stop them. “You kidnap my daughter and expect me to stand back and watch you corrupt her?”
Marcus steps into my side and curls his hand around mine, silently letting me know I’m safe, but I turn to face them, my gaze shifting over each of their guilty expressions. “You knew about this, didn’t you?” I demand, spitting my words at each of them and tearing my hand from Marcus’ as the fiercest wave of betrayal crashes through me, destroying the trust I have for the boys in one fell swoop. “How could you not tell me something like this?”
Levi clenches his jaw, his gaze snapping back to Gia’s before returning to mine. “It was part of the deal. We keep you safe from Giovanni, and she allows you to stay with us.”
I laugh, my hand curling around my stomach. “Allow me?” I scoff, turning my furious gaze on the woman who’s supposedly my mother. “You don’t have the right to allow me to do anything. Your blood may run in my veins, but you are no mother to me.”
“How dare you,” she spits. “I checked in on you every month. I paid your way through life.”
“Well, you did a fantastic job,” I scoff, turning back to the boys. “Get the fuck in the car. We apparently have a few things to discuss.”
Guilt crosses their gazes again and I shove my hand into Marcus’ side to get him moving, but Gia strides forward, halting our escape. “You are not going anywhere until I am done with you.”
I glance back over my shoulder, my irritation making me stupidly brave. “You were done with me the second you shipped me off to live with my father. You said so yourself, you were rising in power. You had the funds and the resources to raise me in an appropriate setting and keep me safe. Hell, ever heard of boarding school? Instead, you chose to send me away to a man you barely knew. Admit it, you just didn’t want to be my mother. You wanted to ship off your mistake and live your life at the top of the world.”
Gia shakes her head and something breaks deep in her eyes. “I did not know your father was abusing you. Had I known, I would have stepped in. One of my men would meet with your father once a month and return with a full report. Clearly, someone has betrayed my trust, and I will look into it.” She moves toward me and takes my hand, warmth filling her eyes. “I know you don’t want to believe me, but you are wrong. I would give it all up to go back and be the mother you always deserved.”
Sincerity pours out of her and my eyes well with tears. “What would have been so horrible about raising me by your side?” I whisper over the lump in my throat.
Gia glances at the boys by my side and shakes her head. “Look at them,” she says. “Look at the life they’ve been raised in. They learned to slaughter men before they learned to drive. How could I inflict that same life on my only daughter?”
I swallow hard and glance at the boys, a part of me knowing that she’s right, while the other part of me desperately wishes I had the life I was always meant to have. “I don’t know about you,” I murmur. “But when I look at them, I see three incredibly strong men who’ve overcome all odds. They’re not weak for being raised with their father, they just had to learn the true meaning of what it takes to survive much earlier than anyone else, and because of that, they’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Gia watches me through a curious gaze and her intense stare has me ready to crumble. “You’re in love with these three men, aren’t you?”
I nod, knowing she sees it just as clearly as I feel it.
She lets out a sigh before quickly glancing toward the dreadlock henchman. “That’s going to be a problem.”
The guard nods back to her and she returns her gaze to me. Then without a moment of warning, the dreadlock guard raises his gun and lets off five perfect rounds in the space of two seconds, each bullet spearing right through the eyes of the remaining guards in the room.
They drop to the ground and my eyes bug out of my head. “What the hell?” I screech as Marcus grabs me and yanks me behind him, all three of the boys with their guns out, two trained on Gia while the third is aimed at the sole remaining guard.
“I am sorry you had to witness that,” Gia says, not disturbed by the boys’ guns on her in the slightest. She takes a heavy breath and focuses her hard stare on me. “I’m sick, Shayne,” she finally says, telling me what it is she’s dragged me all this way to say. The boys stiffen beside me and my brows furrow, not understanding what’s going on. “I have a year, maybe two left, and when that happens, it will be expected of you to step into my position.”
Horror tears through me, but before I get a chance to tell her how sorry I am for her illness, while also telling her that she’s insane if she thinks I’m going to step into her position as head of the Moretti family, she continues. “The DeAngelis family is our greatest enemy and has been for generations. It’s taking me great restraint not to pull my gun on them now and end their miserable lives, however out of respect for you, I will not. But the issue at hand is that the moment you step into my position at the head of the family, every one of your dirty little secrets will be exposed, and the moment they discover your romantic connection to these men, you will be slaughtered like an animal.”
My gaze shifts to the dead men around us. “That’s why they’re dead?” I question.
Gia nods. “I cannot risk word of this getting out.”
“Well, fuck.”
“Exactly.”
Silence rests between us as a heaviness rests over my shoulders. I still don’t know how I feel about the most dangerous woman on the planet being my mother, and I sure as hell don’t know how I feel about her being sick and dying within the next two years and forcing me to take a long as hell walk in her shoes. It’s clear that’s why she’s come to me now, but the whole thing has my chest constricting and struggling to breathe.
Not sure where to go from here, I’m thankful when Levi steps up and asks the one question we all want to know. “So, what now?” he questions. “We’re sure as hell not giving her up.”
Gia shakes her head, her eyes constantly coming back to mine. “I don’t want you to give her up,” she tells the boys. “I want you to continue to keep her safe, keep loving her, keep giving her the life she was always meant to have.” She pauses as she steps toward me again. “Just know that I will always be watching, always lurking, and when it’s time, I will find you again.”
With that, she nods to her guard and the two of them start walking out of the old factory, but just as they go to step out through the big doors, I race after her. “Wait,” I call out, bringing them both to a stop. Gia looks back with hopeful eyes and something breaks within me. “Earlier when you said that I was hard to get a hold of. What did you mean by that? Have you tried to reach out before?”