The temptation of my brother-in-law-Chapter 182 - One Hundred and Eighty-Two

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Two

Alicia’s POV

We pulled up to the estate. Signora Moretti was waiting at the door. She looked like she’d been crying.

I got out of the car slowly. Walked toward her.

She opened her arms.

I stepped into them. Let her hold me. Let myself be held by this woman who was my grandmother. Who I’d never known existed.

"My girl," she whispered. "My Giuliana’s girl. I can’t believe you’re here. That you’ve been here all along."

I started crying. Couldn’t help it. All the stress and fear and loneliness of the past few weeks came pouring out.

"I’m so sorry," Signora Moretti said. "I’m so sorry we didn’t know. Didn’t find you. Your mother... if I’d known she had children. If I’d known she needed help..."

"She didn’t want help. She chose to leave."

"Because we were going to force her to marry someone terrible. Someone cruel. She fell in love with your father and we forbade it. So she ran. And I let my pride keep me from finding her. From making amends."

She pulled back. Looked at me. Really looked at me.

"You have her eyes. Her spirit. That same strength that made her choose love over comfort."

"I don’t feel very strong right now."

"You are. Look at what you’ve survived. What you’re still surviving."

Alessandro cleared his throat. "Mamma, she should rest. This has been a lot."

"Of course. Come inside. Sophie is here. We called her. She should hear this too."

We went inside. Sophie was in the sitting room, looking confused and worried. When she saw me crying, she rushed over.

"What’s wrong? What happened?"

"Sophie..." I didn’t know how to say it. How to explain.

So Alessandro did. He explained everything. About our mother. About Giuliana. About the family we didn’t know we had.

Sophie’s face went through the same progression mine had. Shock. Disbelief. Understanding.

"We have a family?" she whispered.

"You have us," Signora Moretti said. "I know it’s overwhelming. I know it’s a lot to process. But you’re not alone anymore. You’re Morettis. You’re ours."

Sophie started crying. I pulled her close. Held my baby sister while she cried.

"We have a grandmother," she said. "A real family."

"Yes."

"And you..." She pulled back. Looked at Alessandro. "You’re our uncle?"

"Technically yes." He looked uncomfortable. "Though I’m only six years older than Alicia, so it feels strange to say it."

Francesca walked in then. She stopped when she saw us all gathered.

"Alessandro called me," she said. "Told me what you found."

She looked at me. At the niece she’d slapped. The family member she’d treated like garbage.

"I’m so sorry, Alicia. If I’d known—"

"You couldn’t have known."

"But I should have been kinder. Should have been better. Regardless of who you were."

She was right. But I was too tired to be angry.

Signora Moretti gestured to the couch. "Sit. All of you. We have a lot to discuss."

We sat. Marco arrived with his children. They’d been called too. The whole family gathering to meet the relatives they didn’t know they had.

Matteo and Isabella stared at Sophie and me like we were aliens.

"You’re our cousins?" Matteo asked.

"Apparently," I said.

"Cool."

It was all so surreal. So overwhelming. This morning I’d been a housemaid. Now I was surrounded by family. By blood relatives who wanted to claim me.

"There’s something else you should know," Signora Moretti said. "About your mother. About why she ran."

"What?"

"The man we wanted her to marry. He was dangerous. Violent. Connected to very bad people. We thought it was a good match. Good for business. We didn’t realize until later what kind of monster he was."

"Who was he?"

Signora Moretti exchanged a glance with Marco. "His name was Lorenzo Russo. He’s dead now. Killed in a business dispute fifteen years ago. But at the time, he was one of the most powerful men in our world."

Our world. The world of wealth and power and the darkness that came with it.

Just like the Blackwoods.

My mother had run from one dark world only to have me marry into another.

History repeating.

"The important thing," Marco said, "is that you’re safe now. You’re family. And family protects each other."

"Alessandro mentioned you’re hiding from someone," Signora Moretti said gently. "Someone dangerous. Do you want to tell us about it?"

I looked at Sophie. At Alessandro. At this family I’d just discovered.

Did I tell them? Did I explain about Malachi and the Blackwoods and the mess I’d made of everything?

Before I could decide, there was a commotion outside. Shouting. In Italian.

Alessandro stood up. "What’s going on?"

A security guard burst into the room. He spoke rapidly in Italian. Alessandro’s face went hard.

"What?" I asked. "What’s happening?"

"Someone tried to get onto the property. They had your photo. They were asking the guards about you."

My blood ran cold. "Malachi?"

"No. Asian male. Mid-forties. Professional. When the guards refused to let him in, he left. But Alessandro’s people caught his license plate."

Alessandro pulled out his phone. Made a call. Spoke quickly in Italian. Hung up.

"The car is registered to a company based in Shanghai. Owned by someone named Zhao Wei."

Zhao Wei. The name from my childhood. The boy who’d tormented me. The man who’d watched me at the charity ball.

He’d found me.

"Who is Zhao Wei?" Signora Moretti asked.

"Someone from my past. Someone I thought I’d never see again."

"Is he the one you’re running from?"

"No. But he’s..." I stopped. Didn’t know how to explain. "He’s dangerous. And if he’s here, if he knows where I am..."

"Then we need to increase security," Marco said. "Double the guards. No one gets in or out without approval."

"This is my fault," I said. "I brought this to your door. I should leave. I should—"

"You’re not going anywhere," Signora Moretti said firmly. "You’re family. We don’t abandon family when things get difficult."

"But you don’t understand. The people looking for me, they’re not ordinary criminals. They’re powerful. Connected. They won’t stop until they find me."

"Then let them try. The Morettis aren’t without power ourselves. Whoever these people are, they’ll learn that you’re under our protection now."

Sophie grabbed my hand. "We’re really staying? We’re really safe?"

I wanted to say yes. Wanted to believe it.

But I knew better.

Zhao was here. Malachi would find me eventually.

And when he did, when he learned about the baby...

Nothing would keep him away.

Not the Morettis. Not distance. Not anything.

The monster I’d run from was coming.

And I didn’t know if I was ready to face him.