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“We’ll be right outside the door,” Ilya informs me, and then they’re gone, leaving me with this Alpha.

In the back of my mind, I know this is symbolic in some way. They trust him implicitly if they’ll leave me alone with him.

“Please, sit.”

I move toward the chair beside his on the other side of the round table, and his expression grows soft, his voice gentle.

“Before I tell you what I’ve come to say, I want you to understand who and what I am.” He shifts in his seat. “I was born to a poor family in Compania, Italy. In those days, boys would pick up odd jobs for rich men to help feed their families. I did this. I ran errands and delivered messages, I stole sometimes. Small hands are hard to see.” He laughs. “When I was about ten, one of these rich men told me he saw potential in me. Said that I was smart and he could teach me to be dangerous, too. That if I would go with him to America, he’d pay my family. Make sure they didn’t suffer in poverty anymore. And I was a boy with dreams and aspirations, even if I didn’t know what those were, exactly. So, I agreed. I had no idea at the time that all these rich men me and my friends were working for were in the mafia.”

My brow rises. “I never knew the mafia was a real thing. I only ever saw it in the movies.”

He chuckles, raises his voice so it will carry. “I see your Alphas still have a lot to talk about with you.”

It’s like pieces of this strange puzzle start snapping into place, all from a simple verbal jab. My rich Alphas throwing lavish parties, but also mutating into a commando unit in a blink.

Holy shit. Yes, they definitely have some explaining to do.

“Don’t blame them too much,” Giovanni says with a conspiratorial grin. “They’ve been a little busy trying to keep you safe and grant you freedom.”

I can’t argue with that.

“Within the first fifteen years of my living in New York, I moved up the ranks quickly. Gained respect and notoriety, fear. My name was whispered so as not to draw my attention. But one day, when I was about thirty, I met the most beautiful woman. An Omega. She was a waitress, new to the city. We fell in love hard and fast, began a torrid love affair. It was my intention to marry her, but my boss, the Don at the time, didn’t approve. He wanted me to marry within the Family, someone who he knew could be trusted.” His fist clenches on top of the chair arm. “I decided then and there that I was going to leave the mafia life. That I was going to run away with her, even if we had to go into hiding forever. But, apparently, someone else had gotten to her first. When I showed up at her apartment, she was furious with me, screaming and shouting, telling me I was good-for-nothing and she was leaving me. Going back home.” He swallows hard, looks down at the floor. “When she told me she didn’t love me, that she never did, she said it with such conviction that I believed her. I believed her.”

When he whispers the last part, I can’t help myself. I put my hand on top of his, feel it tremble.

All I can think about is how terrible this story has become. How horrible for Giovanni.

“That was nearly thirty years ago. I never saw her again.” He looks up at me with a weak smile. “Until I saw you at the masquerade. The spitting image of her.”

“The spitting…?” My brain short circuits, unable to process what’s happening. “What do you mean? You think my mom was your ex?”

“Yes.” His voice is airy. “Maria. Your mother’s name was Maria.”

The world suddenly stops spinning.

“My name is Giovanni Vittorio, Don of the Vittorio Family. I’m your father.”

This can’t be happening. I have to be dreaming. There is no way in the world this is real.

“Y-you think that you’re…”

“I know it.” His voice is still impossibly gentle. “I never knew she was pregnant, Sin. I swear to you. I completely lost track of her once she left New York. That she gave you my family name…” he chokes on a sob that I can feel in my own chest. “I don’t know what happened that made her leave, but I will find out. I will destroy anyone still alive who was involved. You have my oath.”

“I still don’t understand. How do you know I’m not just your ex’s kid?” Every fiber of my being wants to believe this is true. Wants to believe that I’ve just gained family. Not only my pack, but blood. After so long of not having anything like it. I want it more than I ever let myself believe. But how could he know?

“It was actually Mikhail Petrov who found out for certain.”

My head whips back to him. “Petrov?”

He nods. “I told him my story one night, years ago, when we were all drunk. Gave Maria’s name. He remembered it. Tracked her down. Found out she’d died, but had a child. It wasn’t difficult from there for him to bribe hospitals and get DNA. A little more difficult to get mine and then test them against each other, but he was patient. Took him years. When he got the confirmation, he looked at you like his ticket into the big time. A way for him to gain more power and respect. The party was a trial run. He didn’t think I’d be there, since I hadn’t been attending functions for years, but when the boys saw your name on the guest list, and who you were with…” he trails off, his head shaking before he looks back at me with renewed determination.

“I swear to you, that if I’d known she was pregnant, even if Maria really wanted nothing to do with me, I would never have let you suffer as you have. Neither of you. I would have done everything in my power to support you, even from afar.” His voice quivers, and my vision blurs.

“This… this is real?”

His head bobs slowly, tears falling from his eyes. “It is.” He sandwiches my hand between his. “I understand if you need time to think about this. But I just want you to know, if you decide you want me to be a part of your life, I will jump at the chance.”

“What about your family?”