Chapter 96: Chapter: 96

ANDREA

Hearing Alice's voice, safe and sound, felt like a huge boulder being lifted off my shoulders; it was strong and jovial, like always. The poor woman was worried about me, which made me feel guilty for the trouble I'd caused her.

They'd been worried, trying to call me, but my line wasn't going through. I had made up a few lies about how I lost my phone, how I decided to extend my stay, and how I'm touring Italy and might stay here for a while.

I promised her I would call whenever I could. I also talked to Tom, then Katie, who, as always, kept pestering me with questions, like she suspects something. That girl has always been a suspicious little thing. Of course, I lied to her, then I quickly said goodbye, and I cut off the phone.

Neither Alice nor Katie has told me that she was shot; she probably didn't want me to worry about her, not knowing that I was the reason she almost died.

That only made me feel more guilty. I'm glad she was alive and had already been released from the hospital, though.

I'm also grateful to God that she didn't have any complications that might have impacted her life negatively. I could never have forgiven myself if that had happened. Alessandro, coming into the lounge brings my thoughts to an end.

“How did it go?”

“She's healing, her voice sounded strong. I didn't let on that I knew she was shot, and she didn't tell me,” I muttered, frowning.

“Maybe that's for the best,” he said, striding to the little bar to his right. He picked out a glass and a bottle, then walked back to where I was sitting.

“You're going to drink? It's still midday” I said, perplexed, wondering why he needed a drink at this hour of the day.

“And what has that got to do with anything?” I didn't reply; I just watched him pour his scotch and take a sip.

“And me?” I asked, when I noticed he didn't pour me a drink.

“You're pregnant, you are not going to drink. It might be harmful to the baby,” he stated, irritating and surprising me with his high-handedness and caring attitude.

“How did you know that?”

“I looked it up, '' he replied nonchalantly, like it was nothing special. But Alessandro was already getting attached to the idea of becoming a father, and he embraced it really well, surprising me. I went to argue with him.

But quieted down when he took something from the table. A book? No, it was a journal. He handed it to me, taking a sip from his glass. I turned the journal in my hand, which had a faded black leather jacket that was almost gray. You could tell it was really old.

“Open it,” Alessandro said. I glanced up at him, then back at the journal, and finally opened it.

An old picture was on the first page; it was a picture of a young, beautiful couple. The woman had light blue eyes, which stared at the camera while the man stared at her adoringly, though I could only see the man's profile. I could see the resemblance between him and Alessandro.

They were both smiling; you could tell they loved each other from the way the man held the woman's hand and stared at her as if she were his entire world. They were young; the man is probably my age, but the woman was younger, maybe twenty years old.

There's another picture of two dark-haired, chubby babies. There was no doubt that this was Alessandro and Nicklaus' baby picture. I was right. They were brothers!

“Nicklaus is your twin brother!” I whispered.

“He is,” he confirmed, swirling the scotch in his hand. I patiently waited for the background story to come, because surely there's one.

“Sofia Arcuri is our mother. She was born and raised here in Italy, in a rival famiglia. She grew up in the mafia her whole life and had always hated it.

She left for the state after her parents were killed in an all-out war with another famiglia. She lived there for half a decade before she was forced to come back when her maternal grandmother died.

Sofia was a gentle soul, a good person, but fate had already decided she would love and marry Franco Marchetti, my father.

They fell in love, got married, and she became pregnant. But as gentle a soul as Sofia is, she's also a strong, formidable woman. She loves Franco, but she didn't want his way of life; in fact, it disgusted her, especially when she found out what kinds of business my father and grandfather were conducting.” He paused.

“Marco Marchetti, the man you also know as my grandfather, was a despicable human being. He was the lowest of the lowest, his business didn't stop in arms and drugs alone, he also deals in human trafficking, especially that of women and children.

My mother didn't want that life not for herself, my father and definitely not for her unborn children. Marco Marchetti made it especially hard for her to adjust to her new world, he was cruel, abusive and oppressive both to her and my father, he was a tyrant.” Alessandro takes another sip of his scotch, his dark eyes hard with hatred, then continues.

“My mother was forced into making a hard decision; she gave my father an ultimatum. Either he quits this life and secretly leaves the country with her, or she goes alone, and he loses her forever. Franco Marchetti loves Sofia; it's probably the only good thing he's ever done in his life. And knew she was stubborn and determined, so he agreed.

For weeks, they made preparations in secret; a few days before Sofia delivered, they left Italy for London. Two days later, she gave birth to two identical boys. For some time, they were happy, away from the life of crime and violence.

Until Franco was killed a year later, in order to protect her children and herself, Sofia faked her death, taking one twin and leaving the other at the crime scene to stop Marco from continuing to chase her. It worked, he believed Sofia would never willingly abandon her own child as long as she was alive!”

Alessandro was silent, pouring more scotch into his glass. My heart aches for him. The sadness he would never believe was in his eyes, confirmed what I already suspect, I know the twin that was abandoned was him. Sofia had left behind one son to save the other; how much that hurt, I could never know.

But I know it couldn't have been easy for any mother to do. Sofia must have been helpless and desperate,, even so, a part of me hated her. For choosing to leave him in the hands of that evil man. What he must have suffered growing up with that man, only God knows. I wanted to get up and hug him, comfort him, and take away some of his pain.

But I didn't want him to think it was out of pity, because it wasn't. For a man like Alessandro, showing him sympathy wouldn't bode well. He's so strong and too proud. So I stay seated and watch him. He swallowed a generous amount of scotch before he continued.

“She flew to the United States, where she met Theodore Montgomery, a millionaire with a reputable company, who fell in love with the single mom. The only problem is that Theodore's company is on the verge of bankruptcy; and Sofia saved it as a silent partner. She invested a large amount of money, from both her inheritance and her children's, in the company, making her the major shareholder.

She didn't love Theodore, but she married him and tolerated his abuse and womanizing ways. After the birth of Meredith, Sofia had a coincidental encounter with Santorini, the then Consigliere of the Marchetti famiglia, who informed her that Marco is still searching for her. So she faked her death a second time to protect both Alessio and Meredith, in case Marco's search led to her.

I didn't meet her until she visited me in jail. I was twenty-seven years old and serving time over a crime I hadn't committed but I chose to take the blame for. I'd already have a reputation as the shadow; very few really know my true identity and face. I broke out of jail a year later.

I decided to stay in the US. I never intended to be Don, even before I found out about my parents. I lived in New York, establishing my own businesses, until she contacted me again. She was sick, dying from cancer. She asked me to take care of my brother and sister.

And that's what I did. She gave me all the means and information she could before her death; the rest I did myself. That's how I became Nicklaus, but that didn't really happen until Nicklaus' accident, which occurred a few weeks after her death. At first, I thought it was his wife, Juliette, but I found out later that Marco might be behind it.”

I was shocked and confused. “Why would he want to kill his own grandson?”

“Because he hates him,” Alessandro said before gulping down his scotch. I was extremely curious and confused.

“Why would he hate him? Why would he love one twin and hate the other? You're both his grandchildren, from the same parents, I don't understand.” Alessandro poured another scotch into his tumbler and took a sip. He's drinking too much, I'm beginning to worry.

“Because Alessio stood for everything Don Marco Marchetti had failed to achieve. He is a living monument of how much he failed. Alessio is a sign that a mere woman had stood against the mighty Marco Marchetti and had won, that she had bested him.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “When he found out about him, he got so enraged that Sofia had played him and succeeded,”

“Right now, I had lied to him that Alessio is dead and I had taken over his company, he believed me, and was even proud of me for that. It is vital for him to continue to believe that my brother is dead. It is also why he wants to control me and everything in my life. He wants to succeed with me where he'd failed with my father; he wants me to carry on the Marchetti line. It's history repeating itself. That's why he wants to take our child; he wants me to raise him as he raised me. For him, the fight with Sofia Arcuri isn't over yet!” Alessandro ended and finally sat down on my right. So close I could smell the scotch on his breath.

“That's quite a grudge against someone already dead,” I said.

“To him, Sofia had turned his son against him and robbed him of his heir. And to add insult to injury, she'd taken his grandchild from him, not to mention, she'd also faked her own death and made him believe it, outsmarting him. So naturally, he wants revenge, and having me become the Don of the famiglia is his real revenge. Turning me into a monster like him isn't enough…”

“You're not a monster, Alessandro, you're not him!” I argued, sure, I wouldn't go so far as to say the man is good, because let's face it, he's not. But he wasn't all bad, unlike his grandfather, who is evil and manipulative, and I refuse to let Alessandro think he's the same as that monster.

“Something he knew my mother would have hated with every fiber of her being—is what he's hoping to achieve. That's the kind of man he is; that's why he wants to take our child from you. He thinks he'd already planned everything and knows how it would all play out. Only I know his next steps; it's going to be a game to remember.”

“I never knew he could be this ruthless and heartless. When I first met him, he made me believe he was just an ordinary old man,” I replied. He nodded knowingly.

“That's why I need you to be extremely careful. For now, just do as he says, try as much as you can to avoid him. He won't hurt you because it would be against our deal. But that doesn't mean he would be nice to you; he's also manipulative and has ears all over the house, so watch what you say around the house,” he advised.

“I understand, but Alessandro, although we didn't plan for this baby. Know that I'll never allow him to get his hands on my child,” I swore. His dark eyes became cold.

“It's our child, Andrea,” he said with possessiveness, making my heart beat faster, and my mind to imagine a world where he and I could be more.

But somehow I get the feeling Alessandro doesn't want a relationship with any woman, not just me.

“And I would die before I ever let that happen. This I promise you!” he vows. And I believe him.

“How did you know so much?”

“My mother's journals, which I found with a lot of her other things, she has several, and they were very detailed and helped me with my plans in impersonating Nicklaus.”

“So, you're saying right until Nicklaus Montgomery's accident, you've never met him?” I asked curiously.

“No, never. I knew of him, I saw him after I got out of jail, but we've never met. I doubt he even knows he has a twin.”

“No one knows about me except for Alex, who surprises me. He was the only one who noticed something different about me. Normally, twins are opposite of each other, and we are. But Theodore's mistreatment of his children had made them all darker.

Only Alex saw through me. Now, enough of that, just trust me, I will take care of everything!” he promised, his face hard. I nodded, I have no doubt about his capability. I just pray my friends don't get hurt by either his actions or Don's