Page 13 of When We Fall: Part Two

And that terrified me.

We spentall day making music. I had no idea how talented my dad was. He taught me a few new singing techniques that even Anson didn’t seem to know. Or at least I assumed he didn’t know since he’d never mentioned them to me.

We recorded a song together that we spent the day writing. Happiness swept through me. He hadn’t made any snide remarks about the guys and genuinely seemed happy to be spending time with me.

After dinner, we got back into the car, Enzo’s men behind us, and drove back to the house. We pulled in, and he cut the engine.

“Dad, today has been great. Thank you for coming.”

He gave me a sad smile. “Of course, pumpkin. It was a good day.”

“Are you going to come in? We have an extra room. It’s a little late to drive back to Detroit tonight?—”

“We need to talk,” he said thickly.

I swallowed hard and stared at him. “OK. What’s wrong?”

He sighed and looked out the window. “You remind me of your mother,” he finally whispered.

I said nothing to his strange words.

“Damnit,” he muttered, wiping at his eyes.

“Dad? You’re scaring me. I-Is Mom OK?”

He shook his head. “Mom is… fine.” He breathed out. “I never thought I’d have to have this conversation with you. This life, what you’re doing, I-I never thought we’d have to go through it.” He paused, and I let him gather himself, my heart banging quickly.

“Rosalie, pumpkin, I met your mom at Mayfair. Your r-real mom.”

“My… real mom?” I crinkled my brows, my heart thrumming harder.

He closed his eyes briefly before continuing. “Marcy isn’t your real mom. I met her when you were nearing your second birthday. She’d lost a baby. I had one. We got along exceptionally well. It made sense.Wemade sense.”

I swallowed. “M-Mom isn’t my mom?”

“No, honey. She’s not. I’m sorry.”

“Where is my real mom? Why was this kept from me? I don’t understand…”

“Rosalie, your real mom’s name was Calista Ivanov, and she was the love of my life. We met in college. I got her pregnant.Planned on marrying her. Then…” He rubbed his eyes, and it was then that I noticed he was crying.

“Dad?” My voice shook.

“This world will take you away from me, too, just like it did to my Callie. Please, Rosalie. Reconsider your marriage to Lorenzo.”

“What happened to my real mom?” My voice wavered as I tried to keep my breathing calm.

He blew out a breath. “You deserve to know. I’m telling this to you because you deserve to know, not because I want to hurt you.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I loved your mother more than anything in this world. She got pregnant during our third year of college with you. We were so happy. She’d given up everything to be with me. Her family disowned her for being with me. I was a nobody. Just a dumb kid who loved music and her. She was an heiress to a Russian mafia syndicate. I worked at the bar and played gigs for cash while attending Mayfair. I didn’t have much going for me. She loved me anyway.” He let out a soft, sad chuckle.

I sat silently, listening to him.

“Calista was beautiful. She modeled. She sang. She was so smart and funny. And god, was she the kindest soul. That meant she didn’t go unnoticed. A man named Everett wanted her.”

My stomach rolled at that name.Everett. Church? Was that who he was talking about? God, please no…

“He hated me. He did everything he could to ruin what little I had. Everything from trying to get me to believe she was cheating to ruining my music career. She never wavered in her loyalty to me despite Everett’s attempts. Then one day, he’d had enough, and he took her from me. He’d learned of her pregnancy and was furious. He had men come to me and beat me until I could barely stand. He was powerful even back then. Ran asecret society they referred to as the underground. I thought it was just a bunch of rich kids playing. I was so wrong.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. It was the same Everett. I was going to be sick, but I was rooted in place and needed to see this out.