Not A Heir

Luca gave Miguel a pointed look, waiting for him to speak up and say it was a prank, but the elderly man's face remained as stoic as ever.

He snorted. Then looking over to Cara, who had on a dumbstruck look, his eyebrows pulled down in a frown,

He wasn't the only one who thought that to be blasphemy. There's no way she believed Miguel, right?

Her expression said otherwise.

This time, he couldn't stop the snort from turning into uncontrollable laughter.

By the time he was able to pull himself together, Luca had moisture seeping out of the corner of his eyes.

They met Miguel's hard expression again, and all remnants of the smile on his face disappeared.

"You're serious?"

Miguel stared back in reply, and he let out a chuckle that wasn't by any means light.

"Antonio and Adonis are half-brothers? What sort of deceit is this? Are you feeding us lies? Why would his grandfather hide this from him?"

"Dimitri didn't know until his son confessed it during his last days."

Luca ran a hand through his hair in distress. "Mio Dio, mio Dio, Adone diventerà furioso (My God, my God, Adonis is going to go ballistic.)

Cara clutched at her chest in despair, finding her voice.

"This is so unfair." She whispered. "His life is an entangled web of lies. You should've told him." She repeated. "No. Dimitri should've told him."

"And he would've," Miguel replied. "But like you said, Adonis had been through a lot; it wasn't right to shatter the boy's last safe place. It was the only truth he had left to cling to."

"Then you could've told him," Luca yelled, sending the table beside him crashing into the wall.

"Be calm boy! It wasn't in my place. I was no longer involved with the mafia. Moreover, it is not a concern to me. I am not of the Italian side."

Cara pondered deeply on his statements.

How were they going to break the news to Adonis? He just accepted his past, and now Miguel was saying his past wasn't 'his past'?

Does that make any sense?

When Adonis had described his mother as a whore, she never knew he meant it in literal terms.

Sleeping with her husband's subordinates wasn't enough; she slept with his father's friend?

"That was the start of the enmity between Sebastian and Dimitri." Miguel continued. "Sebastien would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for the second child. When Adonis's mother got pregnant again, his father immediately knew it wasn't his, as they hadn't been intimate in a while, leading to doubts about Adonis's birth."

Luca scoffed, "You're saying Adonis has a younger brother or what?" He didn't have it in him to be surprised anymore.

"A younger sister to be exact." Miguel supplied.

Cara swallowed.

This information was dark and twisted. Filled with vile actions. How else would one explain an old man lusting after his friend's son's wife? Or the wife herself being a sex addict?

There was no other explanation for Adonis's mother's behaviour. Why else would she enjoy sleeping around when she was married? Or was it the drugs?

"The girl," Luca said calmly. "Where's she? Does she know?"

Miguel exhaled tiredly.

"I don't know where she is. Sebastien didn't acknowledge his illegitimate children, so I doubt she's living a good life. Adonis was lucky. Dimitri cared for him, nevertheless."

"Bullsh*t! He cared for him, yet he couldn't rein in his son's actions." He let out a dramatic sigh of understanding. "I think I get it now. Was that why Adonis's father treated him badly? Because he knew Adonis wasn't his?"

Miguel regarded him with a cool look. Rising to his feet.

"Your grandfather and his eldest son were the first set of people to threaten Dimitri's reign by selling out information to the enemy, but he caught on early and killed him off. Do you blame him?"

"That was different!" Luca seethed. "The information was for human trafficking. My uncle was following in his father's footsteps. Either blindly or willingly, he faced the consequences. He wasn't a child."

Miguel walked around with his hands folded at his back, admiring the antique paintings on the wall.

"The same goes for Adonis's father. Even after he found out the truth, he didn't abandon his son. Either bioligical or not, the boy was innocent, unlike his mother. I don't know the details, but the few times I visited the mansion, I knew Adonis was loved, regardless."

"Then he should've killed her." Luca fumed. "She caused a lot of mess. Nonno Dimitri didn't care that my grandfather was his cousin. He killed him still—that's the length we go to for family."

Miguel tutted.

"I see the old Dimitri in you. I can't wait to see how similar Adonis is to him. Tell me, didn't your father live due to Dimitri's mercy, even becoming consigliere? He was also involved, no? Blindly or not, he should've paid for his consequences..." He mused, catching Luca unaware.

"Well... well.. we—

He walked up to him, his cool breath fanning over Luca's face as he spoke.

"Then you wouldn't have been born. The same happened with Adonis's father. How could he kill the woman he loved?" He leaned back. "I wouldn't kill my Tatianna for anything in the world, and even in ours, violence isn't a tool that should be played with."

He paused, the suffocating silence enhancing the seriousness behind his words.

"When used, it should be real."

Cara wondered if the mafia was always this brutal, surrounded by lies and betrayals. Her ears had pricked at the words Luca revealed about Dimitri being his grand uncle, and she had thought it meant he and Adonis were related, but with the recent revelation, that theory was void.

To her, the major issue was making sure the truth remained a secret. Forget Adonis not being a direct descendant of the Bernardis; Miguel was right about the people not wanting him to rule because he was related to Sebastien.

She looked up at the two men having a staring contest.

"What do we do now? Adonis has come too far to have his world taken away from him. The Mafia is all he has ever known."

Miguel switched his gaze over to her, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"That's for him to decide, no? Except you think he shouldn't know...

"We should tell him." Both Cara and Luca asserted simultaneously.

He pursed his lips, hardened and resolute.

"Very well then. Alvaro—

Alvaro, who had lost interest in the conversation since they began sharing news that wasn't new to him, straightened up.

"Yes, Master Miguel."

"Get me a glass of water. All this talking has made me parched. And while you're at it, get their capo."

He bowed in respect, "Yes, Master Miguel," turned to leave, halted, then turned back again."

"Just one problem sir."

Miguel eyed him dubiously. He grunted.

"What is it again?"

"I don't think he's capable of walking or talking. The doctor said he slipped into a coma during surgery."