Chapter 47

That next evening, Luke was livid. He hadn't sat down since he discovered Claudia was MIA. His mother and father just sat in his study, watching him pace the floor, while he was almost ready to tear his hair out. Lilith sat with her hand folded across her lap, wanting nothing more than to heal her son's heartbreak.

"Son, please relax. Why don't you let me make you some nice tea?"

"Mom, I'm fine. I just need to process this. You and Dad should go home. I'll deal with this."

Standing, his father meandered around the room, suddenly shaken. Looking back and forth between his mother and father, he knew something was wrong. It wasn't like the older man to be so absentminded, but today he seemed off.

"Dad, are you all right?"

"This is a nice you, isn't Maria? I remember Don Ricci had a library like this. He likes to read those history books. Remember, he used to let us play in there and he'd read all us kids' stories. I miss those days."

Looking at her husband, his wife couldn't hide it any longer. "Mario, honey. I'm not Maria. Your sister died when you were a teenager, remember? A car hit her."

"Huh?" his dad said, more shaken now than ever. "Maria?"

Going to him, Luke watched as his mother fussed over the man. She always did, but this was different. She looked as if she was losing her best friend.

"Momma, what's wrong? Talk to me. And don't lie to me."

"He's tired. Just tired," she insisted as she tried to keep a brave face.

"Mother! What's going on? That's not just tired. He doesn't know where he is and who you are. Dad, look at me. Do you know who I am?"

"Of course, Santino. You're my brother. How long have you been back from the war? I thought you were in Korea."

"Dad," Luke pleaded as he stepped forward. "Please, look at me. It's Luke, Dad."

"Luke, please. He needs rest," she said, trying to hush him.

"Mother, tell me what's happening. I want answers."

"Luke?" his father said, suddenly clearing his mind. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to get married to that wench in two days."

"Dad, that was yesterday. Claudia left me at the altar."

Taking a moment to think, his father nodded, now understanding where he was. "Oh, yeah. We were just discussing that. What are you going to do about the cartels?"

"Let me worry about that. Right now, I want you and mother to sit down and tell me what's happening to you."

Looking at his wife for support, Don Gambino gave his wife a sad smile. "We need to tell him. I got lost again, didn't I?"

"Yes, my love. You did."

Agreeing, she led her husband back to the large leather couch, taking her hand in his and kissing his temple with a hum. With a loving smile, she looked at the aging man as if he was the most wonderful thing in her entire life. As Luke sat across from them, a tear rolled down his father's cheek. A gesture he'd never seen from the man in all his thirty-two years as his most loyal son.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"He's sick, Lucius. Your father has dementia. He didn't have any Amazon infection. He didn't want you to think he was going crazy, so we took a little time to adjust and figure things out for ourselves until the doctors could help us with proper treatment."

Luke shook his head, covering his face with his hands, trying to not break down. It was all too much. Becoming the new Don, dealing with Claudia and her lies, now this. The strongest man in his life, and his one rock, was sick, and he didn't think he could handle much more. He was going to break any moment.

"How long have you known?"

"A few weeks before you got engaged," his mother responded. "I'm sorry we lied to you. We thought we were doing what's best."

"Son, I just wanted to show you the ropes before… before my mind goes."

"Dad, you should have told me. Is this why you made those dangerous deals with the cartels?"

His mother nodded. "You know how he likes those old crime movies. He thought he was in one. Esteban Santiago found out about your father's illness from a nurse at the hospital. She was dealing drugs for him and lost a huge amount of cocaine, and to pay off old debt, she gave him the information about your father. He used Marios' illness to manipulate him. Your father didn't want to do it. He had no choice."

"Momma, you could have told me. They are going to be wanting their money."

"I know. You said you have money to pay them."

Luke's eyes dropped as he looked away. "It's gone."

"What?" her eyes shot wide open. "What do you mean, it's gone?"

"Claudia, most likely. That bitch got the loot and ran."

"When?"

"I guess when she pretended to be sick and the rehearsal dinner."

Hearing the door swing open, his brother stood there with tears in his eyes. "No. She's been gone for weeks. We just got intel you asked for me to look into. I don't know who that woman is, but the one you've been seeing wasn't Claudia." He handed him a file, showing the trail of Claudia's tracks as far as they could find. "My bet, Roman knows she's not her. Maybe a paid actor or something? He's been fucking with you about this because of Beau."

"What?" Luke stood, going to his brother, ripping the file from his hand. When he saw Tony glance at his mother, he knew. "You knew father was sick. You didn't tell me? Son of a bitch! Who else knew?"

"We all knew, brother. Deep down, you did too. You were just so caught up in all this business with Beau and Roman that you wouldn't see it. Dad's always been the one you look for to find answers. When he couldn't give them anymore, we didn't want to break it to you when you were already dealing with so much. Don't blame Momma and Dad. They just didn't want to see you hurt. You've always been closer to Dad than any of us."

"We will discuss that later. You all let me down. The fact is, I want to know exactly what you're talking about. What do you mean I wasn't talking to Claudia? How long has she really been missing?"

Tony glanced at his father and back to Luke. "You're not going to believe this."

"Try me."

"Since the week that Pink Halo store opened."

Luke just chuckled. "Dude, you're fucking with me. Are you trying to say that Claudia has a twin or something?"

Looking at Luke, his mother seemed confused. "She does. I thought you knew that."

Looking over his shoulder at his mother, she seemed truly surprised that he wasn't aware. "What? Claudia never mentioned it. Mom, I could never even go near the Ricci's when we lived in Italy. You kept us away from there because you said it was a hot zone for bullets and crazy people."

"Well, he was," she snorted. "I didn't want my babies subjected to this life. You were just a little then. Why do you think we moved to Chicago? I know little about those kids, but I remember he had a set of twins or something. I remember no one was to talk about them around the Godfather. Something about one of them dieing. Maybe she didn't, and I just misunderstood."

"Dad, is it true? Does Don Ricci have twin daughters?"

"Well…"