Chapter 43

Selena thought that such knowledge must have been a very frightening burden for a little boy to carry around with him. Introduced to that culture of secrecy and fear at a very young age, it was hardly surprising that he had matured into so reserved a character.

‘Perez is not the name I was born with,’ Alejandro continued. ‘In fact my mother changed our surname a couple of times after she came to London because she was afraid of being traced. She was running away from her heritage and I’ve spent my life denying it,’ Alejandro admitted harshly.

‘What heritage?’

‘My mother was Adrian Fernandez ’s daughter and my father was the son of another crime family.’

It took Selena thirty seconds to work out what he was telling her and if she was aghast, it was not for the reasons he had expected. ‘My word, that old man who died this week was your grandfather and yet you didn’t trust me enough to tell me that. No wonder you were upset last night!’

‘No my dear ! I wasn’t upset!’ Alejandro launched a