Alex, Adriano’s Half-Brother
“Son, do you really believe that monster won’t see right through you? That he won’t know you orchestrated the missing files?” my mother, Beauty, asked, walking out of the kitchen. She held a glass of juice and came to sit with me.
Her words made my stomach twist. Even she thought I wasn’t smart enough to fool Adriano.
“Keep your voice down, Mom,” I said, looking around. “You don’t want Dad to hear, do you?”
She smiled, but it looked cold. “No, son. That pathetic old fool always tries to hide things. He thinks I don’t know how much he loves Adriano. I know he loves that boy more than he loves you.”
Even my own mother said it out loud. The truth I’d been running from my whole life.
“I don’t care about father’s love,” I lied, shrugging my shoulders. But insi
