Sleep evades me as I consider everything Chloe shared about Matteo. Something about the situation doesn’t sit right with me, and I can’t shake it. I need him to understand why this is so important to Chloe. She deserves a chance to explain herself, and he needs to listen.
It takes an insane amount of willpower to crawl out of bed and leave Chloe behind. She looks peaceful, mindlessly grabbing a pillow in my absence. I’m tempted to stare at her for a few minutes but decide against it. I’ll never leave if I keep it up.
After putting on my prosthetic and some clothes, I make my way toward Matteo’s house. I press the ringer on his gate.
“Chi e?”
“Santiago Alatorre.” I keep my voice neutral.
Nothing happens. Minutes pass, and not a single sound comes from the speaker. I move to press the button again but stop myself when the gates creak open.
Morning sunrays guide my walk up his long driveway. I barely pay attention to my surroundings, instead focusing on Matteo standing on his porch.
“Come inside.” He sighs and ushers me through his front door.
I take in my surroundings, eyeing knickknacks and photos lining the walls.
“I know why you’re here.” He takes a seat on an old chair.
I follow suit, taking a seat across from him. “I need you to talk to Chloe. Today.”
“I can’t.” He shakes his head.
“Why the fuck not?”
He pauses. His eyes move around the room, landing on a spot behind my head. “Because I’m not her father.”
“She has a DNA test that says otherwise.”
He visibly swallows as he avoids my gaze. “I heard. But the test is wrong. I’m not her father.”
I can’t believe this guy. “I’m curious to know who you think the fuck her father is then if it’s not you.”
He looks up at me with eyes that weren’t glassy a second ago.
What the hell?
A single tear streaks down his cheek. “I can’t be Chloe’s father. I’ve never been with a woman from America, and I was faithful to my girlfriend—now ex-wife—at the time of Chloe’s conception. She’s not mine. She can’t be mine.”
“Are you denying this because you’re afraid of your ex-wife or son finding out that you were unfaithful back then? Is that it?”
He shakes his head. “No. Not at all. My ex is the least of my worries.” He shuts his eyes. “It’s just not possible. I’m being truthful, I swear it.”
I try to wrap my head around the nonsense Matteo spews from his mouth but I struggle.
“The test linked Chloe to you. I don’t care what fantasy you create to deal with this, but Chloe is your daughter.
He bolts out of his chair. “No. You need to understand. There’s only one possible way Chloe is related to me.”
Something about the wild look in his eye has me biting on my tongue.
He paces the small living room space, running his hands through his hair. “Mio fratello mi sta fregando, persino dall’aldila.”
“What?”
“My brother is still screwing me over.”
My heart halts in my chest. I don’t dare breathe. I don’t dare move. I can’t do anything but look at Matteo in silence.
Brother?
Matteo doesn’t bother saying anything as he leaves the room.
I tap my fingers against my knee. The slamming of different drawers in the distance lets me know Matteo is still somewhere nearby. At least he hasn’t run away from the property before he has a chance to clear up whatever the fuck is going on.
The longer I wait, the stronger my nausea grows. What did he mean by his brother screwing him over?
Matteo steps back into the room, clutching a picture frame. He wipes the glass with his sleeve before passing it to me.
Fuck. I couldn’t have made up what I was seeing even if I wanted to. And damn, I want to because this is the last thing I expected.
The frame rattles as the shaking in my hands increases. There are two identical Matteos standing side by side. One Matteo beams at the camera while the other keeps a neutral face, looking rail thin and pale.
Matteo runs a finger across the face I stare at. “That’s my twin brother. Dominic.”
Thank God I’m sitting down because I don’t think I would’ve made it to a chair before passing out.
Matteo returns to his seat across from me. “He’s the only explanation for all of this. I never had sex with someone in New York…and my brother…he would get into all kinds of trouble when we visited my mom.”
I don’t care what his brother did as long as I can get his sorry ass here pronto. Chloe won’t give a damn about Matteo’s rejection if I can manage to secure her real father.
“Where is your brother? I need to find him. If I can convince him to come here, then he can get to know Chloe, and it’ll solve all our problems.” And then she will stay.
I can fix this. Sure, Chloe spent the whole summer getting to know Matteo instead of her real dad. But it’s not exactly time lost. He is her uncle after all.
Matteo’s reddened cheeks lose their coloring. “My brother can’t come here.”
“Why not? Where is he? I’ll pay for anything he needs to get here.”
Matteo’s head hangs against his chest.
My stomach drops, and a chill spreads across my skin. “Where is your brother, Matteo?” I bite out harsher than intended.
Matteo sits in silence, staring at his hands.
My patience wanes as Matteo fails to respond. “I’m going to need you to tell me how I can get in contact with Dominic. I don’t care if he’s a bad person or troubled, I just need to meet with him once to clear the air. I’ll fix the rest.”
He looks at me, pain etched into his face like permanent wrinkles. “You can’t get in contact with my brother because he’s dead.”
