Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Thirty Six

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.