The Mafia Prince And His Reincarnated Nemesis-Chapter 184: Antonio’s Acceptance!

Maya snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Eduardo’s arm slip around her waist, holding her close as he whispered into her hair.

Just with his hands wrapped around her waist, she felt her body trembling in excitement. His huge hand was around her... that’s all she could think about.

Before she could strain her ears to hear his words clearly, a knock came from the hallway, followed by the deep, familiar voice of Eduardo’s father.

"Dinner’s getting cold, you two. Unless you’ve both decided you prefer each other for a meal instead!"

Maya jolted back, eyes wide. "Did he just...?!"

Eduardo groaned.

"God, he has the worst timing. You’ll get lucky next time, Maya," he said and walked away.

For the past week, Antonio had been calling both Maya and Eduardo down for dinner. The house was almost empty as Viola and the others had returned to the US. Fabio, on the other hand, was out of the Ivanov estate.

The two dressed properly before heading down the stairs to join Antonio for dinner.

—

Dinner was quiet—at first. The clinking of silverware and the soft hum of jazz music filled the grand dining hall.

Jazz music?

That was a new thing Antonio made. His head rocked slowly as he sat at the head of the long table, his gaze shifting between his son and Maya with a knowing smile, and at the same time chewing his meal slowly.

Eduardo and Maya were both whispering to each other.

"This is the perfect chance for you to tell your father..."

"But, I don’t want to yet... I’m not mentally ready," he whispered back.

"Don’t be childish now, Eddy," she gritted her teeth and he sighed heavily. He was getting himself ready to reveal the truth to his father. He has never felt this nervous before.

Halfway through the meal, Eduardo finally broke the silence. He cleared his throat, placing his fork down. "Father... there’s something I want to say."

Antonio raised a brow, sipping his wine.

"Go on, son."

Eduardo glanced at Maya, who gave him a small nod of encouragement. He took a breath.

"I’m gay."

The words hovered in the air for a moment. His heart thumped in his chest. He was confused.

’Gay? Should I have said bi? Will he think I’m weird?’

He had a lot of things going on in his head. His heart thumped even harder.

Antonio didn’t blink. He just chuckled, setting his glass down.

"Eduardo," he said, voice amused. "I’ve known that since you returned home. You thought you were slick sneaking out to meet that mafia prince—what was his name? Ah, Marcello."

Eduardo blinked. "Wait. What? You knew?"

"I own the beach house you two spent the night in the other day. Judging by the report of the messy room, you two must have had a... steamy night," He gave Eduardo a wink.

Eduardo lowered his head in embarrassment. To think his father knew if that day he hid from everyone. That means the six hours of fake sex he had with Maya that day... he knew it was all a lie.

Maya choked on her water, coughing into her napkin as Eduardo stared in disbelief.

"You knew all this time?"

"I didn’t want to embarrass you. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready." Antonio leaned back with a grin. "And I’m proud of you for finally doing it."

Eduardo felt like a balloon about to pop. He hadn’t expected anger, but he definitely hadn’t expected... acceptance. Not this easily.

"What about Marcello?" he asked quietly.

Antonio’s eyes twinkled. "I like the boy, not his background. His father still owes me his life for stabbing you. If he makes you happy, he’s welcome. But, you still have to get married to Maya,"

Eduardo let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head.

"Don’t be shocked," Antonio added, "I just need to make sure someone in this house gives me a grandchild. The Ivanov line needs to continue, after all."

At that, all eyes turned to Maya—who nearly dropped her fork.

"M-me?" she stammered.

Antonio gave her a wink. "You’re the madam of the house, aren’t you? The Ivanov house will be protected in your capable hands. You’re strong after all,"

Maya’s face turned redder than the wine in her glass. "W-well... I mean... it’s not like we’ve planned anything yet. Listening to your words, it seems like you know my real identity,"

"There’s nothing in Russia that can be hidden under my nose. I know everything that’s happening," Antonio said with a shrug. "All I need are grandbabies."

Eduardo burst out laughing, clutching his stomach while Maya buried her face in her hands. The tension around the table melted completely.

Antonio leaned forward, pointing his fork at Maya.

"And when that child comes, I expect it to be trained in at least three languages and martial arts before the age of five."

"You’re joking, right?" Maya muttered, peeking through her fingers.

"I never joke about grandchildren," he said with mock seriousness.

Eduardo grinned and grabbed his wine glass.

"Welcome to the family, Maya. You’ve officially been Ivanov-ed." He raised his glass and his father joined him.

"I hate you both," she muttered... but the smile on her face said otherwise.

The rest of the evening passed with stories, laughter, and Antonio embarrassing Eduardo with tales of his awkward years. The ones he dug after searching deeply for what his son had been through throughout the years he was away from the house.

Eduardo felt so relieved after telling his father everything. He was even thinking if to reveal the other secret about him not being his real son but he shook his head, dismissing the thought from his head.

He remembered the real Eduardo, showing him all of his memories from when he was young till he died. He wouldn’t have done that if he wanted him to expose the truth.

Besides, exposing the truth would only make the old man sad. The warm smile on his father’s face would be replaced with something else.

He didn’t want that. He already liked this life he was living and nothing would replace it.

.

.

While the atmosphere was warm in the Ivanov mansion, it was different in the Diabolo mansion.

A few weeks ago, when Nikolai sent a message to Alessandro about their short meeting related to Viktor, they met, and Nikolai told him about everything the old man was planning.

With Marcello’s permission, Viktor moved back into the house, making it difficult for Philip to find Viktor.

Viktor apologised deeply to Marcello about what he did and also hid the truth from him.

He exposed everything the old man had done.

Apparently, Viktor was Marcello’s mother’s butler even before she married into the Diabolo house. It was an arranged marriage and she had just one task to do in the house. That was to give birth to an heir.

He was so ruthless that he got rid of the first two foetus in her womb, all because they were girls. After five years of marriage, she finally birthed a boy. Marcello.

The old man was so happy that he threw a party. As Marcello grew up, she was restricted from spending time with her son. His schedule was so tight because of the gruesome training he was meant to go through.

She planned on running away from the house with Marcello. She couldn’t bear to see her son go through all of those tortures in the name of training.

The only person who heard about her plan was Viktor; her most trustworthy butler.

Unknown to her, Philip heard it through the door and reported it to the old man. The only thing he did was to get rid of whomever was in his way of training his son and that’s how he killed his wife.

He wanted to kill Viktor, but Viktor surrendered to him, pledging his loyalty to the old man. But he did that all because of Marcello. His mother left him alone in his father’s hands. He’s going to be behind him and help him secretly in any way he can.

Due to the loyalty he pledged to the old man, he obeyed him when he was ordered not to send those documents to the Morano family. That’s how they were killed by Marcello.

It wasn’t Marcello’s fault, neither was it Viktor’s fault. Everything was all because of the old man.

Viktor was done explaining. He limped towards Marcello, taking his hands in his.

"I’m sorry for telling you this now,"

Marcello still remained silent, trying to process everything he had just heard. He bit his lips till they were swollen and that’s when he decided.

"I’m going to make him pay. For what he did to Carlo, my mother and even you. He’ll pay with his life, I swear it!"

That was what he decided a week ago...

Presently...

Marcello had started his move. It was going to be his father’s last night on earth.