Though Vittorio pretended to remain calm before his sons, as if nothing touched him, a storm churned violently inside. Cristiano had always been the obedient one, never daring to interfere in his father’s affairs. Even when Vittorio had shamelessly bedded his son’s girlfriend, Cristiano hadn’t confronted him. Vittorio knew his son must have been aware of the affair, yet he never defied or argued against his father’s choices.
He also knew how fiercely protective Cristiano was of Soraya, but Vittorio found that almost natural—after all, he himself had once placed his own mother above everything and everyone. In that way, father and son were alike. And perhaps that was why Vittorio had always been secretly proud of Cristiano. The boy carried his blood, his instincts, his ruthlessness—everyth
