Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Six

Luca

I sat across the aisle of my jet, watching as our daughter laid fast asleep in Charlotte's chest.

My daughter.

God, I never imagined I would say those words. I was still trying to wrap my mind around all of this. How the fuck could Charlotte hide something like this from me? Did she hate me that much?

Sure, I never really thought about having kids, but now that I knew Layla was mine, there was nothing in the world I wanted more. And nothing was going to stop me from raising my daughter. With or without Charlotte.

I was too furious to even speak to her on the entire flight, although I'm sure she wouldn't have answered my questions, anyway. She refused to even look at me, which only infuriated me more. I was the victim here, not her, and she deserved every bit of this. How stupid could I be? This was the ultimate betrayal, worse than anything I ever could've done to her.

I called Angelo at the airport to let him know what was going on, and I was hoping he'd have more information by the time we landed. I couldn't count on Charlotte telling me everything I wanted to know. Apparently, she'd become quite a liar while she was away.

She couldn't have done this all on her own. Someone had to have helped her, and when I found out who it was, God help them. Every single person who knew about this and helped hide it from me would pay. Jenni. Elena. Every single one of them.

As the flight attendant came out to let us know we would land soon, I got a text from Angelo.

You're not going to like what I found.

I clenched my jaw and looked over again at Charlotte. What did you do, tesoro?

"Where are we, mama?" Layla asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes and cuddling into her mother's neck. She had a piece of Charlotte's hair in her fingers, gently twirling it. It was surreal to see them together. To see how much they adored each other, how connected they were. I couldn't tear my eyes away. I was so mesmerized by the two of them, I almost forgot why we were here.

It was lucky for Charlotte that my daughter loved her so much. I'd never do anything to hurt Layla. Charlotte, on the other hand, was severely testing my patience.

"We're in New York, sweetie." Charlotte kissed her forehead, wrapping her arms around her. I still couldn't grasp that Charlotte was a mother. A mother to my child.

Layla's face lit up. "Like where Grant lives? Do we get to see him?"

I fought every urge in my body to fly out of my seat and throw Charlotte against the wall, demanding answers. Why the fuck did my baby girl know who Grant was? And why did she want to see him?

Charlotte's face turned ghost white as I narrowed my eyes at her. The grave she was digging herself just kept getting deeper.

"I don't think so, sweetie." Charlotte nearly whispered.

"I think we could arrange that, Layla. Sounds like Grant and I have some things to discuss." An evil smirk crept across my lips.

Charlotte snapped her neck towards me, shooting me an icy glare. I chuckled and shook my head. She certainly wasn't the girl I remembered.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Angelo.

Grant?

Yep. There's more. I'll fill you in when you get home.

Fantastic, there was more. This was the last thing I needed right now.

Charlotte

This definitely wasn't the way I pictured Luca and Layla meeting for the first time. He was furious, and he had every right to be, but the last thing I expected was for him to kidnap us and take us to New York.