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I opened the door to my study and stepped inside. My grandfather was sitting in one of the chairs by the veranda doors drinking a cup of coffee as he glanced at something on the tablet in his hand. I was always amazed how up-to-date he stayed with technology.
"Good morning, Nonno."
"Luca," he said as he glanced up. "How is your boy this morning?"
A smile cracked my stone mask. "Sleeping."
"Good, good," my grandfather replied. "He needs the rest. He also needs a few hearty meals. He's too skinny. Your grandmother is going to have a fit when she sees him."
Yeah, probably.
"Nico hasn't mentioned it, but I think his parents used food to punish him."
"To punish him?"
"He says he was never physically abused by his parents except for the other night when his mother shot him up with some drug that paralyzed him, but the emotional and mental abuse was pretty heavy."
My grandfather waved me to the seat across from him. "Have you worked out a plan for them?"
I nodded. "It's in the works now. In fact, I'm supposed to call Vinnie this morning and get an update."
"Why don't you go ahead and do that?" my grandfather asked. "I'd like to hear what he has to say. Those disgusting people need to pay for what they did to you and your boy."
I took a seat across from my grandfather and pulled my cell phone out, dialing Vinnie and then putting it on speaker. I had no problem with my grandfather listening in on the call. He had decades of experience and could give me some good advice on how to handle things with Nico's parents.
"Good morning, Luca," Vinnie said when he answered.
"Morning, Vinnie," I replied. "I have you on speaker with my grandfather." It was polite to let him know.
"Ah, well, good morning, Mr. Sabatino."
"Mr. Borelli," my grandfather said. "Please, call me Alessio. I'm not in charge anymore."
"And please, call me Vinnie."
"I wanted to get an update on Nico's parents," I stated. "Are they still insisting that Nico was kidnapped?"
"They are and it's rather nauseating," Vinnie replied. "If I have to hear that woman scream one more time that her precious little baby has been kidnapped, I'm going to put a bullet in her head."
"Precious little baby?" I snapped. "Seriously?"
That woman had never treated Nico like he was even human let alone precious. He was a commodity to her, something she could trade for a luxurious lifestyle.
"I showed the marriage license to that detective," Vinnie said. "I also told him that Nico eloped with you, but he wants to hear it directly from Nico so we need to set up a video call or something. I worry that they might force Nico to come back and speak to them in person, and that would expose Nico to the risk of his parents getting their hands on him again."
My hands fisted.
"No, that actually might be a good idea."
When my grandfather said that, I glared at him. "Are you insane?"
He had to be.
"Hear me out, Luca."
I clenched my jaw.
"I know you have a plan, but why drag this out? It's not good for you or Nicolas to do that. If you go back to the states together and confront his parents with the proof of your marriage, what can they do? And it would be even better if you did it in front of that detective."
