Vicious Minds (Children of Vice #4)(3)

I smiled; I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know what it was I was feeling, but reaching over I brushed the side of her face. I laughed as I said, “That’s a spoiler, Giovanna.”

“A spoiler?” she muttered, her eyes already closed. “What’s that?”

There was no point answering because she was already fast asleep. Watching her sleep was like magic. Nothing exciting, or amazing, or even out of the ordinary was happening and yet it was like magic. I was curious. How could she fall sleep so easily? So simply? She had no clue where she was, except for fact that she wasn’t where she grew up…and yet she slept.

Turning, I heard the door open as my grandmother entered, holding a small object.

“She’s asleep?” she whispered softly, closing the door behind her. Nodding, I got up from Giovanna’s bedside.

“What is that?” I asked softly, pointing to the object in her hands.

“It’s a humidifier,” she smiled, lifting it to me. “When you were young, you’d get stuffy noses in the winter. I figured since she was also coming from Italy, she’d need some time getting adjusted to the drier air here. I increased the temperature for your room too.”

“I didn’t think about that,” I admitted as I took the device from her.

“I’d be stunned if you did,” she patted my arm and walked around me towards Giovanna who was breathing deeply.

“How close or far do I put this?” I asked, not exactly sure what the directions were.

She grinned and pointed to the bedside table on the opposite side of the bed Giovanna was sleeping on. Nodding again I walked over as she said. I didn’t say anything but turned on the machine and watched as she lifted Giovanna’s arms out from under the covers and tucked her in tighter.

“It’s magical isn’t it? Seeing yourself in another living being? Knowing they trust and love you unconditionally even though you’ve done nothing to deserve it.” She smiled, brushing Giovanna’s cheek with her fingers, which looked so much older next to my daughter’s smooth skin.

That was it.

My uncle Declan did the test the moment she came here. By the time she first hugged me, he had already confirmed everything. Everyone, especially my grandmother and uncles, cared about the reputation of this family. There was no way they’d even let them both stay in house if they were not one thousand percent sure.

So, they were sure.

And so was I.

“Ethan?”

“Yes?”

“Breathe.” My grandmother smiled and the look she gave me was like she could read my crumbled thoughts. I listened. I took a deep breath. “Good. Now that she’s asleep you can go talk to that…to Fiorello. I rather not seem him more than I must. I’ll stay with her for the night so she isn’t alone.”

She looked away from me, her head hung low. Her anger, her pain, was clear and deep.

“Thank you,” I said, walking to the door.

“Ethan…you already have all the makings of a good father.”

How the hell did she know that? Because I sure as hell didn’t feel like a good father. Then again, what was that supposed to feel like?

I glanced back at them on my bed. I could only think of the irony. She hated Fiorello with a passion I’d never seen her hate anyone. Yet she looked at Giovanna as if she were her own daughter.

What if it’s a ruse and she plans to hurt Giovanna to get back at Fiorello? The thought came to my mind so quickly it stunned me. I was doubting my grandmother now? The list of people I trusted was small and my grandmother was always on it. Even now, knowing that she most likely knew my own parents were alive, I still trusted her. So where fuck did that thought come from?

Evelyn was in pain and hearing why, I could understand her rage at Fiorello. Normally, whoever caused my family pain would die, without question. But this was different. Fiorello was loyal to my grandfather, he did what he did because my grandfather told him to, and I couldn’t hold him at fault for that. And even if I wanted to, I couldn’t because he…he was now family. His great-granddaughter was my daughter.

For my grandmother, this must have been like a second twist of fate. Her son married the daughter of the man who ordered her death, as well as the death of said son. Then her grandson has a child with the granddaughter of the man who physically obeyed the order.

In the words of my brother…this family is fucked up.

As the door closed behind me, I noticed Wyatt in the hall, standing on crutches because he was the most moronic and stubborn doctor in the world. He was just released from the hospital this morning; his dark brown hair was a curly dirty mess on his head. He had bags forming under his brown-green eyes, and his damn shirt and trousers were rumpled. All signs that he needed rest, but would he take it…no.

“You have kid!” he snapped at me.

“Thank you for restating the obvious…again,” I muttered, walking down the hall.

“Did you know you had a kid and just didn’t tell us? Tell me the truth, because this doesn’t make any fucking sense. There is no way you, of all people, could have a child and not know. You hid her away to protect her?” he questioned, keeping up with my pace, and if he didn’t look so pitiful already, I’d kick his ass.

“No, I did not.” I wanted to ask him if I looked like our parents, who hid in the shadows to “protect” us, but knowing him, he’d comment that I actually looked like our father.