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“Then why bring it up?” Armando asked. “Do I sense bitterness, Roman? Perhaps some regret?”
“Never,” Roman growled, and it was the truth. “It was simply a reminder of what you stand to lose should I ever seek to take it back.”
Armando sighed dramatically. “And now you’re threatening me.”
“It’s not a threat. It’s a statement of fact. Now get on with it, Armando. After our last call, I didn’t think we would speak again. Ever again,” Roman emphasized. “Yet here you are, bringing up irrelevant shit.”
“You’re the one who ended the call so precipitately,” Armando reminded him. “You seemed very tense. And very protective of your new woman. I only wanted to talk with her—see how she managed to tame the great Rebel Mafia Prince.”
Roman gritted his teeth. “I swear, the next person to call me that will be sorry they were ever born. You’re lucky you’re on the other side of the country.”
Armando laughed. “As far as nicknames go, it’s a terrible one. When I first heard it, I thought I was going to die of laughter. I was so glad. I wanted you to suffer.”
That didn’t come as a surprise to Roman. “Fucking great.”
Armando huffed. “Anyway, the reason my brother never told me about Luca was because he knew I wouldn’t have approved. I peddle in flesh, it’s true. But not children. And certainly not babies.”
Roman knew that. It was one of Armando’s very few saving graces. But he also knew Armando slept with teenagers. He also trafficked adults. “Eighteen is still practically a child.”
“Hardly. Are you saying you were a child at eighteen?” Armando challenged. “Besides, eighteen is old enough to consent.”
“The whole point of sex trafficking is that the victims don’t consent,” Roman reminded his uncle. “And you have no problem with that as long as they aren’t underage.”
Armando made an irritated sound in his throat. “You’re arguing semantics with me. My point is that I have a line I don’t cross. I don’t condone, nor participate in, the selling of babies. And your father knew it.”
“So he didn’t tell you at the time. So what? What does that have to do with now?” Roman questioned impatiently. He was beginning to get a headache. “Did you just call to reminisce about the good old times?”
“No,” Armando retorted flatly. “I called you to give you the information you wanted.”
Roman jolted, his mouth falling open in shock. “Mi scusi?”
Armando’s self-satisfied chuckle came through the phone. “That got your attention. Do you still want to know Godfrey’s real name?”
Roman’s heart thumped in his chest. “I do.” He narrowed his eyes, wondering what his uncle was up to. “You said you weren’t going to give me the information unless I produced Angela.”
“I know I did. And I meant it.” He paused for a heartbeat. “At the time.”
Roman couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What’s changed?”
Armando cleared his throat. “Your call roused my curiosity, and I took a quick peek in the vault.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “As it turns out, Godfrey is the man your father sold Luca to when he was one day old.”
“What?” he ground out. He felt like an anvil was sitting on his chest.
“I was shocked, too,” Armando admitted, his tone strained. “I never gave any thought as to how Vincenzo went about the sale. After he was killed and you went off on your mission to find your brother, I just plain didn’t give a shit. But this unexpected development gives me a dilemma. Knowing makes all the difference.”
Roman rose from his seat on wobbly legs, turning the phone on speaker. He was lightheaded and kind of tingly all over, but he couldn’t sit still. He had to move. “Why does it make a difference?”
“Because I would have stopped your father had I known. Yes, I believed he was within his rights to discipline his lawfully wedded wife as he saw fit. And certainly, right to kill that bastard who dared to fuck his woman.”
“Discipline?!” Roman growled, his fist clenching. “He used to hit her. He was horrible to her, and she was miserable. And when she finally found something to make her happy, my father locked her up and tortured her—when she was pregnant.”
“That something was another man. She lied, she cheated, and she betrayed him!” Armando yelled, sounding furious. His panting breaths could be heard loud and clear. “And to have a baby in her belly as a reminder of her infidelity? You know that’s not on, Roman.”
Roman was appalled, walking around his office jerkily. “There is no excuse for what my father did. None.”
“Do you want the information or not?” Armando snapped, as if he was the wronged party.
Roman wanted to rip his uncle a new asshole—that’s what he wanted to do. But he forced himself to cool and speak more calmly. “Why would you give it to me?”
