The Don's Daughter He Left to Bleed novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: The Name

"We traced the rifle," the detective said again, to the whole table. "Bought on paper through a crew on the Castellane docks."

The word went into the room and stayed there.

Gabriel turned his head very slowly.

"The what?"

"The Castellane family," the detective said. "Brooklyn. Organized crime unit has had a file on them for thirty years."

Brooke made a small sound.

"Mrs. Falco." The detective looked at me. "Your name on your marriage license is Nina Rossi. Your mother's maiden name. Your birth name is Nina Castellane. Your father is the head of that family. Is that correct?"

I could have said no.

I thought about it for one clear second.

Then I looked at my husband, and I said it.

"Yes."

Nobody moved.

Gabriel's face went through three expressions I had never seen on it.

The first was confusion.

The second was a kind of dawning, and the third was fear.

"Nina," he said. "Tell me this is a joke."

"My father is alive," I said. "My brother is alive. My mother was shot in front of me when I was nine."

"You told me they were dead."

"I told you what I needed to tell you."

"For seven years."

"For seven years, and you never asked one real question."

He opened his mouth.

His hand had gone to his tie, and he was gripping the knot.

"You," he said. "You came into my house. You came into my life. You're one of them."

"I'm not one of anything. I left."

"You let me marry you!"

"I let you do a lot of things," I said. "I let you step over me."

← Chapter 6 · All chapters · Chapter 8 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend