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“When I did, well, I’m not proud of it, but that was when I took the chance to see him.”
“A Russian booty call. Who would have thought?” Nestor snorted out a laugh, slapping Alexei on the back. I choked out a laugh when my mother looked mortified, and Alexei gave Nestor a scowl.
“Shut your face. There is a child present.” Alexei said.
“I’m twenty-five, but okay.” I chuckled.
“I have a question.” I said to Alexei. “Wouldn’t you have been able to track her down?”
“I would, if she ever bothered to give me her real name. She loved to play games with me and gave me different names, like a damn spy she thought she was. Back then, you can say I was a bit young and dumb.” He shook his head with a slight smile. “I did look for her, but the names never matched her description.”
“It’s Jacinta.” I clarified, and he raised a brow at my mother.
“Is that your real name or something you made up?”
“Jacinta is my real name.” My mother confirmed.
“What kind of name is that? Your parents really fucking hated you, didn’t they?” He laughed as if it was the funniest thing ever. If my mother had another knife in her hands, she would have thrown it at him.
“But, you know, time passed, and I stopped caring. She was too much of a headache for me, anyway.” Alexei gave a dismissive wave, acting like he didn’t care. Of course, I didn’t buy it. They were both playing hard to get.
“What? Was I too opinionated for you? Did I challenge you too much? Did I hurt that stupid ego of yours? No surprise, since I was this close to being able to kill you.” My mother scoffed loudly at him.
“Close. You didn’t succeed.” Alexei fired back.
“Only because I changed my mind at the very last second.” She countered. His eyes narrowed, turning into two cold slits as he stared at my mother.
“You should get checked for psychotic disorders.”
“Oh, go cry to your mama, you big baby. That old hag was the reason I went crazy!”
“Mom!” I gasped in shock that she would say that about his mother.
“Careful, Solnishsko. That’s my late mother you’re talking about.” He sneered, and my mother rose to her feet in rage.
“The same mother that prevented me from ever telling you we were going to have a child!” She shouted at him.
It went dead silent as they stared at each other.
“…What are you talking about?” Alexei frowned. My mother let out a breath and briefly closed her eyes to calm down.
“I am not a heartless person. I was going to tell you the minute I found out. I knew she was yours because, at that time, Gaetano was away for over four weeks. Two weeks after I saw you, I started to get symptoms, and Gaetano was still not back from his trip.” She ran a hand through her hair.
“May she rest in peace, but your mother was doing the most to keep us apart. She never liked me, but in your eyes, she could do no wrong. I showed up to tell you, to figure out what you wanted to do. But I ran into your mother first, and she prevented me from seeing you. I explained to her it was urgent and then had to tell her the real reason. She tried to kill me on the spot.” My mother shook her head in disbelief.
“But she knew. She knew I was carrying your child, but she kept it from you. I had no choice but to return to my life with Gaetano. What other options did I have? I couldn’t risk your mother going after me to end my pregnancy. I stayed for protection.”
“Fortunately, I didn’t show after a while, letting Gaetano believe it was his child. Althaia’s file says she was born prematurely, but it’s not true. I manipulated the dates for it to align the last time I was with Gaetano.”
My mother explained, her voice filled with pain, and sadness as she averted her gaze from him.
“...My own mother...” Alexei muttered. He struggled to conceal his emotions, but they overwhelmed him.
He rubbed his jaw and without a single word, he turned around and left.
one hundred twenty-three
Althaia
