Page 98 of This Life of Mine

“Nico’s cousin Lorenzo, on the other hand, wasn’t thrilled about Gianna and me.” I laugh. “Apparently, he’d been in love with her for years.”

“Yikes,” Lina says.

I give a slight nod. “That summer was also when my father’s wife realized who I was. I looked too much like my brother, Nico.”

“After I went home, the money stopped. The calls from my father stopped. Everything went quiet.”

Lina’s gaze tightens, brows drawing together. “I don’t understand,” she says gently.

I hesitate.

“She was aware I existed,” I say carefully. “But wanted my existence to be something she never had to see in person.”

Lina tilts her head.

“Oh,” she breathes. She understands.

The room shifts.

“You’re his,” she says carefully. “But not hers.”

I nod once.

“And that made you…” She trails off, searching for the word.

“Proof,” I supply, “of his infidelity.”

Her eyes flicker—not judgment, not pity. Simply understanding settling into place.

“So when you left,” she says, voice careful now, “she couldn’t ignore the truth anymore.”

“No,” I say. “She couldn’t.”

She exhales, shaking her head faintly. “You were only eighteen.”

“True,” I say. “But it took me years to really understand that.”

There’s a brief, comfortable silence.

She didn’t need everything spelled out. She listened until the truth found its own way to the surface.

Chapter thirty-one

Alex

Ihesitate before I ask this question. I think I already know the answer. But I want to know the story. I’m curious to know why Lina chose him, Cole.

“Do you remember your first?” I ask quietly.

Her eyes lift to mine. There’s no surprise there. She gets what I’m asking. If it was him.

“You’re asking if it was Cole?” she clarifies gently.

I nod once. “I didn’t want to assume.”

“Yes,” she says after a moment. “It was him.”

A quiet unease works its way beneath my ribs. Not jealousy. Confirmation. Context snapping into place.