"So, neither are any of the Sovranos. I grew up as part of the Mafia clan,you do realize that, right?’
"I am worse than the Mafia."
She scoffs, "What can be worse than the Mafia?"
"Someone who had a choice to leave the life behind, and didn’t take it. Someone who’s pursued revenge over anything else. Someone who won’t hesitate to lie and kill, if needed, to get what he wants." I stiffen as I hear my words. Goddamit, it rings true. All of it. It's why I arrived at the deal with Aurora. It's why I shot at Christian. It's why I have been tracking the Sovranos obsessively most of my adult life.
"So, you do remember more than you let on?" An expression of hurt crosses her features.
My chest tightens. Why do I care that she's upset? She's just a means to an end, remember? So what, if I am attracted to her? It doesn't mean anything. I roll my shoulders. "Like I said, I don't even realize what I have remembered sometimes until I have spoken it aloud."
"But you remember enough to realize that you want revenge?"
"What do you think?"
"I think you have spent most of your life searching for something. It’s what brought you here, but you are finally home, Axel."
I stiffen. "The fuck you mean?"
She tips up her chin, "You are with your brothers. This is where you belong. You should have grown up with them in the first place. That didn’t happen, but you are here now."
"For a reason. As soon as I am better, I'll proceed with my plan."
"You may have come here to hurt them, but you are not going to do so now."
I stare at her for a second, then laugh, "You have a rather innocent view of the world, don’t you, Sunshine?"
"You mean, I believe in the basic goodness of people?"
"I mean you are rather naive."
"I am not naïve; your problem is that you’re too cynical. You think you are capable of hurting your brothers, but I don’t believe you will."
"You don’t know what I am capable of."
"I know that you stepped in front of me and took a bullet for me."
"That was a mistake."
"I don’t believe you."
"Better believe it." I look her up and down. "As soon as I am better, I am going to make sure that the Sovrano’s regret what they did to me."
"You are a Sovrano," she points out.
"I wasn’t brought up as one. I sure as hell don’t feel like one of them. And I’m definitely not going to join forces with them."
"Hmm," she purses her lips, "I am guessing you haven’t been at the receiving end of one of Nonna’s speeches. She’s a very difficult woman to say no to."
"I’ve faced killers and survived. I am sure I can handle an old woman."
She bursts out laughing and seems to laugh even harder when I scowl at her.
"Nonna’s not your stereotypical old woman," she cautions me after a few moments. "Michael may be the Don, but make no mistake, Nonna wields a lot of power over all of the Sovrano brothers."
"You forget, I am not one of the Sovrano brothers."
She blows out a breath, "You are; you just haven’t accepted it yet."