Page 143 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

“Cazzo,” I breathed, pressing her head back into my chest. “I’m sorry. If it helps, I apologised to him last night. Not sure what good it did. He still looks at me like he wants to rip my limbs from my body.”

“That’s because of Callum, not the fight. He won’t ever forgive that, but he’s willing to let you live for my sake.”

“What?”

She moved back, her lips parting as she realised I had no idea what she was talking about.

“What about Callum?”

“Maddox hasn’t said anything to Gio? I thought… I thought you all knew.”

“Knew what?”

“Maddox had a brother, Conor Moriarty. Maddox let Sean take him captive to save his siblings. They were all adopted, and their names were changed.”

I frowned. “Okay.”

“Callum was Conor, Sani. Callum was Maddox’s brother. He was a Moriarty.”

I stared at her. That couldn’t be possible. I stood up. “I don’t understand. Callum worked for Sean. He tried to kidnap Aria and killed her mother. Why would he do that if he were a Moriarty?”

Raya’s lips trembled as she squeezed her knees in her hands, bracing herself for whatever was about to come out of her mouth. “Because he made a deal with Sean. He was trying to free his brother, Sani. Everything he did was to save Maddox.”

I ran my hand through my hair and paced a few steps away from her. My stomach tied itself in knots. My mind flew back through every interaction I’d had with Callum, seeing them in a whole new light. It didn’t excuse what he’d done, but I understood. I’d have done anything, whatever it took, to free Raya from Sean.

No wonder Monster tried to kill me in that cage.

I spun around, realising it meant something else. “Why hasn’t Maddox said anything?”

“I don’t know,” Raya huffed. “He’d lost his memory. Perhaps he doesn’t remember anything.”

“He remembers,” I said, rubbing my jaw. “He looks at me like a man who remembers. He’s here for revenge, isn’t he?”

“When he didn’t remember me… yes. I think so.”

“And now?”

She stood up and moved across the room. “He won’t kill you. You can trust him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know him,” she replied, opening her bedroom door. “He isn’t the monster everyone thinks he is. He won’t hurt anyone I love because… his love for me outweighs his need for revenge.”

She seemed so confident, but I wasn’t convinced. I wasn’t proud of how I handled the Callum situation. I took out a lot of my rage on him at the end. I was crippled with worry about who was targeting my wife, and the more he refused to talk, the worse I made it. I knew he had to be protecting someone. I just believed it was Sean.

“This is so messed up,” I grumbled as I followed Soraya down the stairs towards the front door.

“I know,” she whispered. “But there’s only one thing you need to do today.”

“What’s that?”

She turned to face me and lifted my wrist, the one with our Papi’s broken watch. She placed her hand over it, like we always did. Our own secret meaning that we would always be there for each other. Do anything for each other.

“Bring Maddox back alive. Help him kill Sean. Don’t let him do anything stupid to Aleksandr.”

“You’re trusting me not to do anything stupid and to stop that nutter too? Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?” I smirked, trying to lighten the mood.

“I’m talking to my best friend and my big brother.”