Chapter Thirty Six

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Luca

"This is great, Ma." I said, taking a bite of the gigantic meatball sandwich she had made for lunch. One of the perk of having my mother here was the authentic Italian cooking in the house. Charlotte was a phenomenal cook, but it was hard to beat momma's home cooking no matter how old you got.

She smiled widely at first, but it spun into a frown. "I'm worried about you, you look too thin."

"Yeah, daddy. You are too thin." Layla giggled, like she had any idea what she was saying. She was chowing down on a sandwich of her own.

"Very funny, munchkin." I tickled her ribs. "Are you done eating? It's almost time for your nap."

Layla grimaced, ready to throw an epic fit, but all it took was one look to stop her in her tracks. Apparently, our talk about consequences last night was still holding weight. I hated being disciplinarian all the time, but Layla was used to getting her way, and that was a hard habit to break.

She nodded, surprising me with her agreement. "I'm ready, daddy."

"See you soon, sweetheart." My mom smiled at her, kissing the top of her head. Seeing them together was so surreal, and I was loving every second.

I scooped Layla up into my arms. "I'll be right back."

While Layla slept, I was going to have to come clean to my mother. It wasn't feasible for Charlotte and me to keep this act up, and it wasn't right to lie to her. She would be upset, but with the way she had taken to Layla, I didn't think it would last too long.

This was a conversation I should have had with my mom a long time ago. When everything unfolded with Antonio, I kept my distance from everything associated with him, and I hadn't told my mom about any of it. She had no clue that Charlotte and Elena were alive, let alone that the two of them were about to come waltzing through that door any second. I usually prided myself on not getting nervous, but I was terrified to talk to my mother about this.

Thankfully, Layla went down relatively easily, and my mother had lunch cleaned up by the time I came back down.

"Coffee?" she asked, handing me a steaming cup.

I took it from her, thinking that having something to hold might calm my nerves. "Thanks, mom."

We both took a seat at the dining room table and settled in. "So what is it you need to talk to me about that couldn't be said around the girl?" She gave me a knowing smile.

"What makes you think..." I started to defend, but she held her hand up to silence me.

"You're a terrible liar, Luca. Always have been." She smiled, losing herself in a memory. "Remember the time you and Seth got into that apple orchard a few houses down from us? You swore it wasn't you guys, and I knew you were lying, but I decided to give you a chance to come forward. And a few days later, you did. You always did, because you have a conscious. That's what makes you an anomaly in this world."

I couldn't help but laugh. I guess I should have known I couldn't lie to her.

That night she was talking about was burned into my memory. The orchard down the road had the biggest and most delicious looking apples we had ever seen, and Seth and I were just sure they were the best apples in the world. The temptation had gotten to be too much and one day we jumped the fence and took some.

It would have all worked just fine if we hadn't picked the day after a rainstorm. I climbed the tree and when I went to jump out, I slipped and fell flat on my ass. Seth and I laughed and laughed and finally took off with our loot. The only problem was that our trail of mud led the guy who owned it right to the door of Antonio's estate, where we all lived. The suspect pool wasn't very big, and I knew we'd been caught, but Seth convinced me to lie about it. After a few days, the guilt was too much and, just like my mother said, I confessed to the whole thing. My dad beat the shit out of me for it, but I never gave Seth up.

A month later, our parents came clean that they'd seen the security footage of Seth and I sneaking in with arm fulls of the apples and Seth got in even more trouble than I did. To this day, we both hate apples.

"What's on your mind, figlio?" She asked, reaching for my hand.

"Ma, I need to talk to you about Charlotte." I sighed.

"I know you're not really married." She narrowed her eyes at me, but had a small smile on her face.

I was so dumbfounded, I could hardly even speak. "How did you..."

"Bad liar, remember?" She smirked. "I could tell right away. You're not married, but my guess is you love her?"

Women must get some kind of sixth sense when they give birth, something that allows them to read the minds of their children and always know what was going on.

"I do, mom. I love her very much and someday I do want to marry her."

"So why haven't you?" She arched an eyebrow. "The girl is her's right?"

"Jesus, yes, of course she is mom." I shoved my fingers through my hair at her insinuation. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

My mother laughed. "I'm just clarifying, Luca. So why haven't you married Charlotte if that's what you want? Since she was willing to cover for you like that, I'm sure she feels the same about you, too."

"It's complicated, mom." That was an excuse, but it was entirely true. Everything about our relationship was complicated. "Charlotte, she's... She doesn't like my line of work."

"Smart girl." My mom agreed.

"Gee, thanks." I rolled my eyes, reverting to my angsty teenage self with her.

"Well, what do you expect? You know I never wanted this life for you and if I had any kind of voice with your..." She snapped her mouth shut and folded her arms on the table, digressing. "I'm sorry. This isn't about your father. Tell me why this is so complicated if you both love each other."

I dove right in, talking a mile a minute. "I just recently found out about Layla. Charlotte and I weren't together for a while, and she never told me she was pregnant. I mean, she tried, but... some things got in the way." Like Antonio. I couldn't launch into that story without her knowing who Charlotte really was.

"I kept a big secret from her." I clenched my jaw, composing myself. "A really big secret and we broke up because of it. After a couple of years, I ran into her at her father's funeral. We had dinner to catch up and then I went to visit her and found out about Layla." I said.

"I'm sure that was difficult to find out. Did you ask her why she kept the baby a secret?" My mother could have been a psychologist in her past life, both her and Angelo. I hadn't planned to share all of this with her, but I suddenly felt compelled to.

"She kept it a secret because she wanted to raise Layla outside of the Mafia. But when she was in labor, she had a change of heart. She wanted me there and asked a friend who was visiting her to call me. The guy told her he did, and that I told her I wasn't coming and never wanted to see her again. Which was a lie."

"So she thought you were rejecting her and the baby?"

I nodded.

"And now you both know the truth, which is why you're together?" She pressed.

"Yeah, we're trying to fix some things, but we're together."

"Luca, I think that's wonderful. And I'm sorry you felt like you had to lie to me about it. Charlotte seems like a lovely girl, and I'm happy you've found someone you care so deeply about. And Layla," My mom's smile got wider. "I've always wanted a granddaughter. Sweetheart, this is the life I always wanted for you, but I never imagined it was even possible. I don't care that you're not married. All I care about is that you love each other, and she makes you happy. I can see that already, and that's something I haven't seen for a very long time."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Thanks mom." That had actually gone so much smoother than I had imagined. I had gotten through that part at least, but I still had to tell her that Elena and Jocelyn were still alive.

"There's something else I need to..." I began

"Hello?" I heard Charlotte's voice in the foyer.

Fuck. They were earlier than I thought they'd be.

"In the kitchen, darling." My mom called out.

Charlotte peeked around the corner, and in the next second, Elena appeared at her side. I looked back at my mother quickly, who stared in utter shock at the two of them. She must have recognized Elena immediately and then starting putting the pieces together about Charlotte, too.

My mom dropped her coffee cup, causing it to shatter. I couldn't help but remember the parallel of Elena dropping the pitcher the first time she saw me.

"Elena..." My mother said slowly.

Elena smiled sheepishly. "Hi Carmen."


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