Chapter 125

Alessio

“I need you to tell me, when it comes down to it—will you choose us or her?”

I stood rooted to the spot. How could he ask me to choose between Mena and my family, when they were both my family?

Mena was carrying our baby. A Fanucci.

“I will do the same as I did when she begged me to spare Anson’s life,” my jaw clenched as I recalled her desperate pleas for his life. “I will do what’s best for this family—so don’t you worry about me.”

"But it’s not you I’m worried about," Dad argued. "It’s her and her loyalty. She’s so good, too innocent,” he shook his head slightly.

I understood his worries. Mena’s kindness was part of what made her so special, and the reason I fell in love with her. It was because she was so different, but in our world those traits were seen as a vulnerability.

“I don’t want to have this conversation,” I stated, looking the other way. “I thought you liked her, I thought we all liked her,” I said. “Not that I care—because I’m the only one that has to like her.