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“So, Alessio is your stepbrother?” Well, that explains the lack of family resemblance.
“The don’s son from his previous marriage. He was the price Mom had to pay for the don’s coming in to save the family.”
“The price being, Alessio becoming the heir?”
Bruno nods.
“Otherwise it would have been you. You seem to be taking it well.”
“That’s the really funny part. It should be Carlo.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Mom and Dad were sure that they couldn’t have children. They tried everything. Nothing worked. But as well as them both really wanting children, they really had to have an heir.”
I freeze with my cup halfway to my mouth.
He says, “So, in the end, they adopted. They told me about it. I knew from the start.”
“You?”
He nods. “I could not have wished for better, more loving parents. They were kind and attentive. The only thing I could have wanted more was to have them for longer.”
“But, Carlo…?”
“He’s the one and only real Fortuna boy. I was about five when Mom got pregnant. It happens all the time after an adoption. The pressure is off, and nature takes its course. So Carlo is by far the least likely to inherit, but he is the only true heir.” His eyes gleam when he talks about Carlo as a baby.
“Were you jealous when your adopted mom was going to have a baby?”
He gets up and starts to move around the table. “Hell, no. I was grateful as hell to have the best parents on earth. They loved me, they doted on me, and they chose me. I couldn’t imagine anything better than seeing the two of them also getting their own baby. They had dreamed about it and worked for it. They completely deserved it. It was so right, and I was totally happy for them.”
That might be the longest speech I’ve heard Bruno make. He’s also describing himself as a five-year-old, but with totally adult reasoning and emotions. His voice sounds completely sincere, and his face gives nothing away, but when he’s giving me so much explanation, I believe he’s trying to cover something.
I ask him, “So, what happened to your dad?”
The sun is behind him and I can’t see his face. I have to blink as he talks. “Dad knew Mom was pregnant, and I never saw him so super-happy. He walked on air. But he died before Carlo was born.”
It hits me in the chest. “How?”
He strolls and chews his cheek. “We were told it was a boating accident. We all know that’s horseshit. Best I can dig up, he was sent to do a thing for the Romanos and he never came back.” My urge is to go to him, but Bruno is not a man who wants sympathy. I can’t sit still but, even though I have to keep blinking and squinting, I stay seated.
“Your mom really did have a tough time.”
He takes a long breath in through his nostrils. “And then some.”
“But neither of you resent Alessio?”
“Alessio’s okay, considering what a humungous ass he is genetically. And he’s really not an ass about the situation. Not to either of us. We break his balls about it all the time, but only in private. He won’t be so bad as the don. I think he may do better than his dad, anyhow.” His head shakes. “But Carlo would be the best. You can see it.”
“And you do miss your mom.” I feel like I’m taking a risk, probing somewhere so tender.
“I do. But she gave herself for us. She stayed with the don for years, waited until Carlo and me could at least take care of ourselves. She couldn’t give either of us back our inheritance, but she stayed as long as it took for us to be safe and strong enough to survive.”
“To survive?” The sun is making it too hard for me to see his face. I get up and move to the window. We’re at opposite ends of the table but at least I can see him now.
“I don’t know if she really thought that the don would kill either of us, but remember, Alessio was very much an unknown at the start, and he came with issues.”
Now, I want to know more. And I need to know about Wood Street. But right now, my urge to go to him is stronger.
