Chapter 65 ~ Family ties

Chapter 65 ~ Family ties
ADRIAN 

I had to leave Ella to make sure that no security had been breached. I missed her like hell, and having to do this was killing me. I wished I were making her my wife under different circumstances, but what could I do?

Being king had its downside. Wishes were for small children. 

As I drove to my mother's apartment, I couldn't help but think about how she would take the news once she heard that Ella was a prize everyone was after due to the ledger.

I didn’t give a fuck about it, but if it would weaken my territories, then I might as well own the fucking thing. 

I stepped on the gas to cloud my thoughts and sped through the night. She had fucked up on several occasions, but I was decent enough to get her a penthouse as far away from me as fucking possible.

My phone flashed, and I picked up using the button on my steering wheel.

"Just let me blow her brains out," Luca complained.

"Is that why you called? You can't handle one female?" I responded flatly, knowing this was his worst nightmare.

"You're doing so well yourself," he said sarcastically. I let him get away with it because he was mad about the fact that Ella had betrayed me and was still breathing. Hell, she was about to be my wife.

"I was about to call you anyway. I'm getting married in three days. You're the best man," I announced, and he cursed.

I stopped at a red light and waited for him to blow up before I ruined his night even more.

"What the actual fuck, A!?"

"Watch your mouth, Luca. You hate her. I get it. But I need to for us to get the ledger."

The light turned green, and I stepped on the gas, turning swiftly.

"Is that the only reason why?" he asked, sounding suspicious.

"It doesn't matter. It’ll happen either way. Tonight’s the announcement, so I need your backup. Put your bitch in order and get your ass here." I killed the line.

As much as I wanted to kill Camilla, I couldn’t because of the fucking debt. 

She might end up having to marry Luca to settle it once and for all. When I give him that news, he will surely curse all night, but there was nothing he’d be able to do about it. 

In this life, our paths were already decided for us upon birth.

I parked the car and headed up to face my least favorite person right now. 

The sleek elevator ascended to the top floor, carrying me closer to the penthouse that held the answers I had sought for years. 

Anger surged within me, a smoldering fire fueled by years of deceit and unanswered questions.

As the door swung open, revealing her composed figure, the air crackled with tension. 

A silent exchange passed between us, a language of unspoken grievances and unresolved emotions.

It had been so long since she had wrapped her arms around me that I didn’t even remember what it felt like.

"Sit down, Adrian," she gestured toward the immaculate couch, her demeanor poised but betrayed by a flicker of regret in her eyes.

I remained standing. First of all, no one told me what the fuck to do. Second, I had no fucking time for pleasantries.

"I'm not here to catch up with you. I want the truth." I got straight to the point.

A sigh escaped her lips a mixture of regret and resignation.

"You deserve to know."

"Right," I responded sarcastically.

"You are right, your father is not Carlos. I loved him very much, but he was too busy and obsessed with power. He drank too much, and that took a toll on his health."

"So you cheated on him?" I asked, disgusted.

"He was an abusive man. When he demanded a child, he blamed me for not getting pregnant in five years. People started talking, and your father hid the fact that he was impotent from me." Tears rolled down her face as she spoke, but I was too blown away to ache.

If he was impotent, that meant he wasn’t Ella's father either. Then who was her father, and what the fuck happened back then?

"Did you know Ella's mother?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"I did know her facially, but I never spoke to her. I knew he was having an affair, but I also knew he was after something. That man wasn’t capable of love."

"He showed me love and made me the man I am today!" I snapped.

She clicked her tongue before responding bitterly, "And are you proud of the man you became? I took you away from Italy so you could have a normal life. But this is something we cannot run away from, because it's in our blood."

Her words stung, but they didn’t hurt half as much as the news she had hit me with. The man I had loved and looked up to had been robbed from me.

"Did you know about the ledger?" I raised a brow at her, emotions swirling with what I’d do with this information.

"No. Women didn’t know much," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Who the fuck is my father?" I asked, clearly shocked by the revelations. But just when I thought nothing could top this, she answered and blew my mind away.

"John Moretti." She answered plainly, her eyes now red from tears that continued to fall.

"Luca's fucking dad?!" I asked, the shock hitting me to my core.

"Yes."

I ran a frustrated hand through my hair as I paced up and down, scratching my temple with my barita. 

"Does he know?"

"Yes," she responded like it was something to be proud of.

"Does the wife know?" I asked the question that mattered most to me.

I couldn’t be the one to break Aunty Juliana’s heart and tell her that I was the result of her husband’s infidelity. She was too pure for this shit. She reminded me of what I wanted Ella’s life to be like. 

Of all people to cheat with, she decided to fuck her husband’s brother!