“Of course not.” I motioned for him to get Wyatt, and we headed out.
Francesco parked the car but didn’t move when I started to get out. He hadn’t spoken one word the entire drive. He just kept checking the rearview mirror, which put me even more on edge.
“Are you coming?”
“Sienna,” his hands squeaked as they ran over the leather steering wheel, “whatever happens from here on, I need you to know one thing.”
“Okay.” My hand fell away from the doorhandle.
He turned, and his haunted look said volumes about what might be ahead.
“I need you to know you can trust me.”
“I do know that.”
“No,” he shook his head and reached for my hand, “you’re going to hear a lot of things, and you’re going to be led down many paths, but no matter what, you must remember that I will be the one person you can always trust to tell you the truth.”
I pressed my lips together as a cold prickle shot up my spine and made my scalp tingle. A hundred questions blew through my mind at that moment, but one lingered there the longest. “Do you know my mother?” Clearly, he did. He had known her name, but then everything had happened so quickly. I wasn’t exactly sure of anything.
His gaze fell, but he quickly recovered, and he swallowed hard.
“Yes.”
“Wow.” A strangled laugh choked out of me, more from shock than anything else. “Well, tell me this. Did you always know she was my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Right,” I whispered, once again feeling like I was caught in an alternate universe. How…how could he keep this from me? How had he let me go all those years without so much as a whisper of the truth?
“Sienna—”
“Trust you?” I pushed open the door and didn’t look back. An icy chill spread through my veins as I took the steps to the Il Giglio hotel. I made a beeline for the lobby and saw the men who had been with my mother earlier. Oscar, who looked to be around my mother’s age, and the one who had manhandled me stepped forward and blocked my path.
“Ms. Sienna, Elenora would like you to join her in the dining room.” He stepped aside to let me pass, but at the last second, he blocked it again. “My apologies for earlier. Sometimes I forget my own strength.”
I glanced up at him and saw his eyes had softened, so I gave him a little nod and waited for him to move again. I wanted to lash out and put him in his place, but I was in uncharted territory here, and I knew I would need to stay calm. No matter how hard it was.
To my surprise, the dining room was empty. The staff was serving Elenora while the rest of her men were standing guard. She sat perfectly straight, ankles crossed, with only her wrist resting on the table. Large windows lined the balcony which overlooked the gardens and driveway below. Soft music played, and some pretty, pink flowers popped against the stone interior. When she spotted me, she gracefully rose and pointed to a seat across from her.
“Thank you for coming.” She moved as though to hug me but hesitated, then decided against it. “Please take a seat. I took the liberty of ordering you something. I hope you enjoy fresh pineapple and oranges.”
I ignored the food that was placed in front of me and kept my purse on my lap for something to hold on to. I studied her features and mannerisms, trying to catch things we might have in common. She sat, adjusted her linen napkin, and began to eat as if we met up every Sunday for brunch. No hurry to jump in and explain where she had been my entire life.
“You remind me a lot of my mother,” she finally said, dabbing gently at the corners of her mouth, “the way you watch me and observe those around you.” When I didn’t comment, she went on. “It’s a good trait. It’s important to be aware, especially with the company you’re surrounding yourself with.”
“Don’t,” I warned, feeling my back go up. “No one will speak badly of the Capri family in front of me.”
“We will be circling back to that later.” She once again ignored my tone. “But first I have some questions for you, as I’m sure you do for me.”
“Just a few.” I found it hard to curb my sarcasm. She glanced over at me and pushed her plate away, waving at the waitress to remove it. Her deep navy-blue eyes stared into mine, and I pushed down the hurt. This was not how this was supposed to go. We were supposed to hug and cry and say a billion and one things at the same time.I can’t believe you’re hereandI can’t believe we’re hugging. Not this cold reunion where apparently many secrets lay just under the surface.
“When did you first meet Francesco?” I jumped in, wanting some kind of control of the situation.
“A long time ago.” She glanced over at Francesco, who stood in the doorway, then brought her eyes back to me. “How was your life growing up?”
“Seriously?” I scrunched up my face, disgusted with her question.
“Yes, seriously. I’m trying to understand how on God’s green Earth you got tangled up with the Capri syndicate.”