14

Alessio

The beeping sounds of machines fill my ears as I walk into my father’s hospital room.

Not that I wanted to come before, but I might not have gotten past his guards at the door. Now that they’re mine, I have free rein of where I go and when I do it.

Dim lights create a heavenly glow in the room. I make my way to the bed in the center of the room, where my father lies motionless.

I stop at the edge of the bed and stare at him, finding myself fixated on his face. This is our first meeting. Him being kept alive by machines, unable to see me, and me full of vengeance.

Earlier, I noted how similar my brothers and I look. But seeing my father now throws me off balance.

I look just like him. Like a clone. Like his younger self. I’ve seen pictures of him, so I should have been prepared. But I’m not.

Mom told me who my real father was only days before she died. Prior to that, I didn’t know. I even had her surname. I suspected Leif was my father because he was always in my life. I’d neve