Page 98 of Mafia King's Secret Baby

“You remembered every single one of Luna’s favorite foods,” I whisper to him.

He nods. “Yes. Of course I did. Why would I forget my own child’s preferences?”

God.

Elio says that like it’s not a big deal. Like there aren’t generations of fathers, including my own, who can’t be bothered to learn a darn thing about their daughters.

It makes my chest feel tight.

For the first time, I know with certainty that Elio would make a great dad. The way he interacts with Luna, the intensity and seriousness that he brings to the situation… both of those thingsvery much make me think that he would take being a dad very, very seriously.

And, since he’s good at basically everything that he puts his mind to, I know he’d be good at it as well.

I’m depriving Luna of the experience of a dad like Elio.

I really am the worst mom on earth.

“Caterina?”

I blink through the tears that are collecting in the corners of my eyes. “Yeah?”

“Did I say something?”

I shake my head. “No. Yes. No. God, Elio, I wish I had known…”

I stop there.

It’s the closest that either of us has ever gotten to talking about the past.

“What did you wish you knew, Caterina?”

That soft voice seems… dangerous. I know that I shouldn’t feel this bad about the fact that I hid Luna from Elio for her whole life.

I made that decision for a very good reason.

Now, though, I think that I might not have made the right choice. Wrong choice, yes.

Right reason, though.

“Caterina?”

I shake my head. I exhale a huge sigh.

I’m not sure what inspires me to tell him the truth. It’s not like I’m planning on it.

But it just kind of…

Comes out.

“I wish I had known that you were this interested in being a father,” I whisper.

I shut my eyes so that he can’t see that I’m about to cry.

Or how scared I am.

What if I just made a huge mistake?

Elio could absolutely use this against me. Hell, he could be manipulating me into thinking that he’s a great dad so that he could steal Luna from me.