Page 139 of Mafia King's Secret Baby

Dino nods at Elio, who has gone stock still behind me. “He didn’t give a fuck about honoring that contract from our parents. He doesn’t want to be part of our family. He wanted to hurt us, Caterina, and he knew that the only way to do that was to kidnap you and use you as leverage to hurt us.”

“Dino,” I say, admonishing him. “How could you possibly know that?”

He snorts, and a fleck of blood flies onto the concrete. “How could you possibly think otherwise? Don’t be a fucking idiot, sis.”

I blink. “Are you calling me stupid?”

“You are if you think a Rossi would actually love you,” Dino spits.

I shut my eyes.

It’s not like I married Elio for any less savory reasons. There’s zero reason that I should be offended right now, because I didn’t marry Elio for love. I didn’t even marry him to grow the business, or anything like that.

I agreed to it because it would help us find out what he did to kill our parents.

The thought is so ridiculous now that I truly want to just laugh out loud. Elio and Gia lost their parents as well. They’re just as broken by the loss of their mom and dad as we are.

Neither one of us could have coordinated the death of the other’s parents.

Clearly, someone was willing to get between us. I have a feeling that, whoever it was, they’re also the ones who decided to tangle all this up now too.

It’s someone who has something for Elio. I’m not certain what, exactly, but from what I can tell, Elio is the one at the root of everything.

Or, is he the cause of it?

I suck in a breath. “Dino. Tell us where Marco is, so we can help him.”

“Marco is just as bad. He can rot for all I care,” Dino snaps.

Jesus Christ.

I turn and stalk from the room. The door slams behind me, and when I see Sal in the hallway, tears are streaming down my face.

He immediately pauses. “Cat?”

“He’s your brother. You figure out what to do with him,” I sob.

I don’t wait to see Sal’s reaction.

I march outside. I don’t stop until I get to the nice little garden area that Elio had placed adjacent to the pool. It’s freezing; the cold air bites at my skin.

It feels good.

I sit down on a stone bench, wrapping my arms around myself. I let the icy air lick at the tears on my cheeks, wondering if they’ll freeze there.

God, I’m a little maudlin when I’m this angry.

How on earth could Dino be so awful to me? How could he be so awful to Marco, his own brother? Had he given Marco up?

Questions swirl through my mind, chasing each other like a pack of wild dogs. I feel like my head is going to explode, and I’m not sure for how long I sit there.

I notice, however, when I’m not alone any longer.

“Caterina,” a deep voice rumbles.

Elio’s outside with me.

He wraps something around my shoulders and settles on the bench next to me.