#Chapter 71 - An Unexpected Alliance

Layla The weight of the revelation—of the truth—hung over me like a heavy blanket. I’d never questioned why I’d never met my mother’s parents, her family. She’d claimed to be estranged, and I’d been ten when she died. My father’s mother, my Nonna, had become my everything. And I’d never questioned it. Never wanted more. Never needed more. But now, with the evidence laid out in front of me, literally in my hands, I realized how much my own mother’s past—and her family—seemed like Vasco’s mysterious past I’d never known, never bothered to question. I’d learned the mistake of not asking questions. “How did this happen?” I tilted my gaze up to meet Irena’s eyes, shifted to study Dmitri. “And why did she never find you?” “A violent power struggle in the family left our family home in ruins.” Dmitri slid back into his own empty armchair. “In the chaos, your mother went missing. We searched for weeks afterwards. Offered rewards. Begged. Employed detectives and police, special i