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That alone puts her in my good books.

Even Marcello, for all his sputter and protests, managed to surprise me by inviting Bianca and Adrian. It might not be much, but there's always strength in numbers, especially when they happen to be an assassin and a trained fighter.

Just then, Enzo and his wife stride through the door too. My eyebrows shoot up as I realize Marcello's really gone big with this.

"Nero should be here soon." Is the first thing Enzo says as he takes a seat around the table.

"You," Bianca spits out, launching herself at Allegra. Her eyes widen, and she barely evades Bianca's attack, Enzo quickly placing himself between the two of them and shielding his wife.

"I guess no one told B about the new developments," I joke, but no one seems to be laughing.

A short explanation from Enzo and Bianca finally retreats with a huff, plopping herself back on her chair where Adrian promptly tries to comfort her.

"It's nice to meet everyone," Allegra says after a complete rounds of introductions. Her accent is thick—thicker than Enzo's—and probably the best way to tell it's not her sister, since Chiara had developed a flawless English accent from all her years of travel.

Safe to say that Chiara hadn't beenanyone's favorite, least of all Bianca's, since she'd had an affair with her father, while also trying to come on to her husband.

While we wait for Nero to show up with the highlight of today's meeting, I quickly catch everyone up with what we'd found out at Sacre Coeur.

"Sisi," Catalina gasps, horrified when she hears that Sisi had been the target of such a transplant. Marcello's fists are clenched as he undoubtedly blames himself again for what happened to her.

"But that's not the most important thing," Sisi interjects, and I can tell she's trying to move the conversation away from her, since she doesn't like to be seen as a victim. "There was something else that Mother Superior said." She gives me a worried look, but as I nod, she turns toward Marcello.

"Nicolo was my biological father," she explains with a sigh.

Marcello is trying his best to stay still, but I can tell how much this is affecting him, especially in light of his own conflictwith Nicolo. He'd been so obsessed with Marcello's mother that he must have assaulted her at some point, resulting in Sisi's birth.

"But the most unexpected twist," I add, "is that Nicolo fathered another," I pause and everyone looks expectantly. "Michele Guerra."

"You're joking," Marcello is the first to interject, and I just shake my head.

"I wish I were," I reply, telling him all about Michele's leukemia diagnosis and the fact that Sisi had been a match.

"It makes sense why he would prefer Raf for the succession," Catalina notes and I nod.

Michele was already hated for his attempted assault on Catalina, but as everyone hears about his current involvement with the clandestine transplants, it's safe to say he's now most reviled.

"That bastard," Enzo curses out, vowing to kill Michele himself.

"Children," I put my hands up, "we're getting ahead of ourselves. Right now the most important thing is to break down the organization, and then we can pick them apart one by one."

"Good, because Michele is mine." Marcello grits his teeth.

"Do you want to call dibs too?" I ask Sisi, since she hasverygood reasons to hold a grudge against him.

"Not really," she shrugs, "he's such a shit human being that he'll end up dead one way or another. I'm not particularly keen on being the one who kills him."

"I'll do it for you," I eagerly propose the alternative.

"No." She puts her hand on top of mine. "Let him flounder. Once Miles' operation ends, he won't have any more resources. I want to watch him drown like a fish on dry land," she says, her eyes full of fire as she turns them toward me.

I can't help myself as I grab her nape, bringing her into me for a quick kiss.

"And there he goes again," Marcello mutters.

"You know, Kuznetsov, for someone who proclaimed he'd never exchange bodily fluids withanyone, you're exchanging quite a bit." Adrian chuckles.

"And there goes our truce, Hastings," I groan, still keeping Sisi next to me. "But she's not justanyone," I grumble, almost offended he'd lump Sisi in the same category as all other ordinary people.