All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(64)
“I did,” I admitted.
Dante turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “How?”
“When I was in Viladembursa, I started seeing a man named Luca Caruso. I found out later, much later, that his father was Sal Natori, though he was raised by his mother and his parents never married. Andreo didn’t want me to reveal that Sal Natori had another son, because he felt he was keeping Luca safe by hiding him from our family. But I know you, Dante. I know you’re not going to go after Luca just because of something totally beyond his control.”
“Go on,” he said, his voice low.
“Andreo is determined to keep his brother and me apart. He thinks it’s dangerous for Luca to be anywhere near our family. That was no problem at first, because I was so angry when I found out Luca had been keeping that huge secret from me that I left immediately and came home to San Francisco. Over the last several days, Luca’s been texting me and begging my forgiveness, but I haven’t been replying. Finally, Luca told me he was going to come here and speak to me in person. He’s on a flight to SFO right now. Andreo found out his brother is coming here and hopped on a more direct flight. I really don’t know what he’s planning to do when he gets here, but since he’s bringing along a couple thugs, I doubt he’s coming to chat.” I exhaled slowly and said, “I think that’s all of it.”
“You need to get out of town,” Dante said, pulling his phone from the pocket of his black suit jacket and looking at the time, “and someone needs to head to Nana’s and try to think of some excuse to get her out of her house until we can deal with Andreo. If she finds out what’s going on, she’s going to try to get right in the heart of the action.” He turned to Trevor and said, “I don’t want to bring Jerry in, or else this whole thing’s going to spiral out of control. I’d like Vincent to back me up, though. Are you going to be okay with that?”
The slender brunet said, “Of course. My husband wouldn’t have it any other way. Do you want to tell him what’s going on or should I?”
“You should talk to him,” Dante said. “After you call Vincent, take your son to a friend’s house to spend the night. It’s a long shot that Andreo Natori will look for Nico at your house, but I want to give him a wide berth. Make sure you call my brother Mikey, too. He and his boys probably should stay in a hotel tonight. Better safe than sorry.”
“On it,” Trevor said, pulling out his phone as he headed for the back door.
“What can I do?” Charlie wanted to know.
“Can you get Nana and Jessie out of her house this afternoon? I need her somewhere safe overnight, and like I said, I want to make sure she has no idea what’s going on. I don’t know when Andreo might show up at her place, but when he does, she needs to be anywhere but there.”
“Not a problem.” Charlie got up and asked, “Should Nico come with us?”
“I think it’s best if I go off on my own,” I said. “The last thing I want is to draw Andreo to Nana.”
“Alright. I’ll go make some plans.” Charlie headed for the stairs at the back of the building, which led to his and Dante’s apartment.
I turned to my cousin and said, “Andreo might be able to find me pretty easily, since he was monitoring my credit cards. That’s how he kept tabs on Luca and me. I got a different card when I returned to San Francisco, but I wouldn’t put it past him to have found that out and hacked the new account, too.”
“I’ve got you covered.”
“Thanks.”
“What are you going to do about Luca? If he’s a Natori, then he—”
“But he isn’t, not really. Sal Natori was little more than a sperm donor from the sound of it. Luca said he saw his father less than a dozen times in his life.”
“He’s also a liar, though. That’s why you left him, right?”
“I left him because I felt like he betrayed my trust. I kind of have a hair trigger after my last relationship, as you can probably imagine, and I bolted the moment I learned he’d kept that from me. But I can see why he didn’t tell me who his father was. Just look at the mess it’s stirring up.”
Dante considered that for a moment, then said, “If you decide to give Luca another chance, I need to meet him. I have to know he’s not a threat to this family.”
“He’s not a threat, but I’ll make sure you two meet.”
“Good. Now come on, we have work to do.”
I followed him to his office at the back of the building, and he opened a wall safe and handed me a thick stack of cash. “That should keep you going for a while,” he said.
“Thanks.” I flinched a bit when he reached deeper into the safe, pulled out a nine-millimeter Beretta, and checked the clip. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“You never know.”
“I’m so sorry about all of this, Dante. You’re going to end up in danger because of me. I never intended for that to happen.”
“This isn’t your fault, Nico.”
“Like hell it’s not.”
“All you did was fall for some guy on vacation. Where’d you say you met him, Viladembursa?” I nodded and he said, “The Natori family’s roots are as deep there as ours are, so I can see how you crossed paths. But you didn’t ask for this, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”