Page 20

Fury

Kissing the side of Carly’s face as she held tight to Drew, I whispered, “No matter what happens or what I say, just agree with me, okay?”

The second Carly rushed over and saw Lorenzo, I thought she was going to faint. The resemblance was uncanny. Even I had a hard time figuring out who was who when the Valentinetti twins were together. Total carbon copies. I even found it hard to look at Lorenzo and not see my dead friend Luciano.

Within an hour, Cesar Vitale showed up and paid handsomely to clear out the Play Palace as he, along with four of his brothers and Giovanni Valentinetti, arrived with his wife and children, who were now in the foam pool with my girls having a grand old time.

“Baby, why don’t you let Drew go play so the adults can talk,” I said, wrapping my arm around her.

Looking up at me, she reluctantly released Drew.

All eyes watched as Drew ran toward the foam pool, giggling as he dove in.

“He’s fearless,” Giovanni whispered in awe, never taking his eyes off Drew. I didn’t dare imagine the emotions Giovanni was feeling. Luciano was a beloved member of the Valentinetti family. The identical twin to Lorenzo. The family took Luciano’s death hard.

“Yes, he is,” Carly murmured.

“Does he know?” Lorenzo choked up, clearing his voice before asking. “I mean, who his father is?”

“Yes.”

“My God, Gio, he looks just like Luciano.” Layla smiled as her son, Michael, threw a foam cube at Drew, who laughed, throwing one back.

“He paints as well.”

All eyes turned to Carly as I held her tighter, her body lightly trembling when Giovanni sighed, shaking his head. “Ms. Mitchell—”

“Moreno. We were married before we left the city,” I firmly informed him as her fist tightened against the back of my shirt.

Leaning back in his chair, Giovanni grinned, shaking his head. “Lie to me all you want, Fury; however, the fact is, your supposed wife is the mother to my brother’s only child. Which makes him a Valentinetti.”

“Drew’s last name is Mitchell.”

“His last name is Valentinetti,” Lorenzo growled.

“What I would like to know is, why your wife didn’t reach out to the family when she learned Luciano had died? We would have happily welcomed her and Luciano’s son into the family.”

Carly looked up at me as I took a deep breath and sneered, “You already know why she didn’t.”

“That’s right.” Gio narrowed his eyes and accused, “She is Sienna Mitchell’s daughter. Tell me, Ms. Mitchell, did you enjoy spending time with my brother Salvatore before he too died at the hands of your mother’s schemes?”

Carly stiffened.

“She had nothing to do with Sal’s death and you fucking know it,” I argued. “That was all Petrovitch and Baranov.”

“I know nothing it seems,” Giovanni replied, glaring at the both of us. “What I do know is that my nephew is being raised by Sienna Mitchell’s daughter and her supposed husband is a wanted man. I wonder what Reaper would think of this new development?”

“I will ask him in a few days, when we show up at his compound in California,” I declared as Carly’s head whipped up toward mine. Holding her tighter, I prayed she stayed silent. I didn’t want her revealing anything to Giovanni at that moment. Not with him pissed and ready to do or say anything to take Drew away from her.

“My family has already lost too much from this war, and I refuse to allow Luciano’s only child to become the next victim,” Giovanni firmly stated, adding, “So tell me, my dear, can you honestly reassure me that my nephew, Luciano’s only son, will be unincumbered by the war currently brewing? Because if you can’t, I see no other option but to take him away from you.”

“You can’t!” Carly cried.

“That’s where you are wrong.” Giovanni glared, sitting up straighter. “I can do whatever the hell I want. I’m the head of my family.”

“He’s all I have.”

“He’s all we have left of Luciano.”

“I’m his mother!”

“We are his family.”

“Enough!” I roared. “You know damn well you won’t take Drew away from his mother. You are not that vindictive, Gio.”

“After losing two of my brothers and countless cousins in the previous fucking war, you know nothing of who I am anymore, Fury. So, do yourself a favor and shut up, before I call Montana and tell him exactly where you are.”

“Don’t threaten me, asshole.”

“My son is Golden. You can’t touch him,” Carly blurted out as I slowly closed my eyes.

Shit.

This was not good.

Giovanni laughed. “Nice try, my dear, but I don’t care anymore.”

“Sienna and Issac Mitchell were not my parents. They just raised me.”

Slowly getting to his feet, Giovanni sneered, “Who the hell are you, then?”

“I am the daughter of Shane Keller and Angela Goldman.”

“Bullshit,” Lorenzo snapped, taking a step toward her. “Angela had no more kids after she gave birth to the twins.”

Shaking her head, Carly cried as tears rolled down her face. “It’s true. I swear it. My father is Shane Keller. My mother is Angela Goldman. I am the half-sister to Savage and Sandman. Tell them I’m telling the truth, Layla!”

And just like that, all eyes turned to Giovanni’s wife, who had been sitting there silent as the night, listening while everything played out. When Giovanni looked at his wife, waiting for her to reply, the beautiful woman took a deep breath and sighed.

“She is telling the truth.”

Nobody moved as Layla continued, “Gio, you already know that Kitty, Max, Dylan, Carly, and I worked together to infiltrate and bring down the Society . There were things we learned and discovered along the way that not only shocked us but helped in our pursuit of revenge. While all of us suffered, what Carly endured was much worse in a way.”

“What are you talking about, Tesoro ?” Giovanni roared. “You suffered horribly at the hands of Diablo. You still have nightmares.”

Layla nodded. “That’s true, I do, but what I suffered was physical. Wounds heal, Gio. You know that, but Carly, what she suffered was mental. Every day since she learned the truth of who she was, she had to play her part without getting caught. And considering who was raising her, the mental fortitude it took was tremendous. We didn’t ask for this life. We only wanted to survive it. None more so than Carly. From the very beginning, she wanted out. Begged us to help her escape, but even she knew the only way out was to kill all those responsible. Somehow, she found the strength to persevere and continue, because without her, we would have surely lost the fight.”

“What are you saying, Layla?” Lorenzo asked.

“I’m saying that if anyone can protect Drew, it’s Carly. She’s been protecting all of us from the beginning.”

Confused, I looked down at Carly as she hung her head, saying nothing when Giovanni sat back down and Lorenzo frowned.

Yeah, I knew they caught that bit, too.

Taking a seat myself, I pulled Carly down onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her, and asked, “Carly. What did Layla mean by that?”

“No one was ever supposed to know.”

“Know what, baby?”

“That I’m the real Oracle.”