Chapter 2

Unspoken Truths - Chapter 2

Gino Morelli

On one side stands my bella bambina, Sareena. Her shoulders are squared, and her fingers are intertwined with my new Captain, Damian. There’s a silent promise in the way they hold each other: loyalty, defiance, and love. I saw it all before he left. Damian was hunting for her, breaking for her, and risking everything just to find her and bring her back. I know the boy loves her, no question about it.

But on the other side stands my princess, Sophia. She has always been a part of my life. When Maria sent Sareena away to university at twelve, just before her thirteenth birthday, I missed out on years. But Sophia - I watched her grow. I was there for every step. I know she’s spoiled, manipulative, and deceitful. She’ll do anything to get her way, but right now, she needs my protection.

This is all Riccardo’s fault. My son set all this into motion. He lied, cheated, and twisted everything for power. He used Sophia to do his dirty work, and he paid the price, with his life. But Sophia - she was sentenced to a lifetime of hell.

Because of her crimes against the Familia, Luca ordered her to work in Gennaro’s strip clubs. She’s being exploited, degraded, and shamed, all because I failed to raise my son right - to teach him right from wrong.

Sophia stands in front of me, claiming Damian is the real liar. Says he seduced her, took her virginity, and manipulated her into sleeping with him and other men during their engagement. She claims he used her and then cast her aside for Sareena. Then there is the police report. It says she broke into his apartment, drugged him, and tried to rape him. But no man would press rape charges against a willing woman, especially not a beautiful one. Men like Damian don’t press charges. They just lay back and enjoy the game.

She even handed me his apartment keys. “They were mine, Grandpa” she whispers. “He gave them to me, but then he lied and said I stole them.” The keychain didn’t just have his apartment keys. It also had the keys to all his cars, and his offices. Even the one he shares with me. He must have trusted her if he gave them up.

Sofia also has other proof I can’t ignore. The daughters and granddaughters of my allies are ready to vouch for her. Their loyalty, and their silence; it’s all tangled up in this. There are even pictures, taken at the Matteucci pool party. My assistant Anita confirmed it. She took some herself.

So, what if Sophia’s telling the truth? What if Damian really used her; then cast her aside for Sareena? Can I let him get away with it? Can I risk him doing the same to Sareena? I want to dismiss Sophia’s accusations. God knows I do, but the evidence is damning. I love them both. Always have. Blood or no blood, they’re mine. But this isn’t about love. This is about loyalty. Honor and control.

I have to decide, fast. Before the Familia sees what, I’m trying to hide. These girls; they’re my weakness. A weakness that could be used as a weapon by my successor.

Especially now that Damian is in that position.

Sareena

Nono, Damian, Matthew and Sophia. They’re all yelling, but I barely hear them; everything is drowned beneath the numbness curling around my chest.

Sophia’s voice cuts through like static. She’s claiming Damian preyed on her insecurities. Says he manipulated her into sleeping with him after they were engaged. That after weeks of this… he handed her off to other men in the Familia. And Nono, he believes her.

When Damian demands names, she turns on the waterworks.

“I…I can’t say,” she whispers. “I’m too ashamed.”

Her lower lip trembles; eyes glossing over. She even goes as far as hiding her face in Nono’s chest, and he holds her, like she’s the one who needs protecting.

This is complete and utter bullshit.

“If Damian was trading her off for business,” Matthew cuts in, voice razor-sharp, “why was she caught with Tommy Bianchi? Damian wouldn’t give Tommy one of our cheapest whores.”

Sophia gasps and Nono tenses, but Matthew doesn’t stop. “Sophia might be a disgusting whore, but she’d bring in higher clientele, if she wasn’t busy screwing nobodies like Tommy. Being with him lowers her stock value.”

“Cum dumpster,” Damian mutters under his breath, disguised by a cough.

Sophia’s eyes narrow, venom sharp. But neither of them back down.

“Sophia,” Damian says coldly, “do you have any messages or call logs that prove we even talked?”

“Of course I did,” she says with a pitiful sigh. “But I just switched my phone provider. All the old records are gone, all of our messages and our complete history. Gone, Damian.”

How convenient.

“But I do have a few pictures,” she adds, fishing out her phone like it’s a magic wand. The images are blurry. She’s straddling a man’s lap, but his back is to the camera.

“Do you have any that actually show my face?” Damian snaps. “Those pictures aren’t of me,” he says. “And if they’re time stamped, I can prove where I was.”

She bats her lashes. “You hate taking pictures, Damian. Everyone knows that.”

“No, I don’t hate taking pictures. I take lots of pictures with the people I like, and even have plenty of Sareena and me together,” Damian says, turning his phone’s lock screen toward Nono and Sophia.

It’s a picture of the two of us, the day we first kissed.

Matthew scoffs. “Let’s check your socials then,” he says, already pulling it up. “You post daily, and you post about everything. If you and Damian were so serious, there should be something.”

Then Damian drops the final blow. “Sophia, you just said you got a new phone. So, tell me, how did you get these photos? You were in custody until my father took you. I wasn’t home except the night of the pool party.” He steps forward; eyes locked on her. “So, when were these taken? And where?”

Silence.

“Interesting,” says Matt, breaking the quiet. “There are no pictures or mentions of Damian on your socials, and you post every single day.”

Her story’s unraveling fast. The more she spins, the tighter I cling to Damian’s hand. I can feel the fury building in him, but he’s still. Eyes completely focused on Sophia.

They keep pressing her. Every lie she tells, they slice down, one piece at a time. But Nono… he’s still hesitating. Still watching her with soft eyes. Damian and Matthew don’t have proof yet, just contradictions.

Me; I don’t need any proof. I know her, and I know Damian.

“Liar!” I scream, my voice ripping through the room.

And then everything goes black. Something struck me from behind. Hard.