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Chapter 35
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The Life Rebirth Chapter 36
DRACO I hate this, hate telling my children about their brother's birth, hate having to utter the words that would reveal that he didn't come from me. How can I ease the blow? Even now, I'm more worried about Gabe than the others because it's always been about protecting him. It's always been about him knowing that he belongs. I would've given my life, so he never knew about any of this, but it's too late; it's been taken out of my hands. I tried not to resent my wife once again for her selfish act that had brought us to this. She's been beating herself up for days over this and maybe even longer. "What do you mean not your son?" Anna was rightfully angry, and I wish I could take the hurt away, but it was only going to get worst. I had yet to tell them how their mother was abased. It was her choice to tell them the truth. I knew she was doing it in part for the sake of Ricci's other children, who were now under our care. In order for the girls to accept them as their brother's si
The Life Rebirth Chapter 37
GABRIEL "Gianna, baby, where are you?" "I'm in here!" I played with the ring box in my pocket as I made my way towards the bathroom, where the sound of her voice came from. I still get a little choked up these days when I walk into the house, and they're here. It had taken at least three or four days before the pit in my stomach disappeared. That feeling of dread that they'll all be taken from me again. Maybe that's why I've been rushing to do things, trying to bring us up to speed and correct what was wrong in the last almost two years. She doesn't know it, or maybe she does and just hasn't said anything, but everything is new to me too. When she was no longer here, there were things I didn't let myself enjoy or even participate in; now, I have a hankering for all those things. My sisters, in their bid to keep her here with me, keep giving me advice on dating. They seem to think that their brother is a colossal screw-up in that department, and there's no guessing who they hold
The Life Rebirth Chapter 38
GABRIEL I sat at my desk while my family slept, staring at the computer screen where I'd been following the continuing conversations between the women since that first day. I'm still amazed, blown away more like it, at what had transpired in the days since. At first, I had no idea what was going on. I thought I'd just picked up a conversation between the women here in this room, but then it stopped making sense until I saw the name Kat and recognized it as the name of Lyon's wife. I still wasn't a hundred percent sure from their first conversation what was going on because there was a lot of talk about kids and the island, pretty tame stuff, and nothing to ring any alarm bells. Until things started to not add up. I held off on contacting Lyon to get his take until I realized that I was getting only half of the conversation, and the other half was taking place in his neck of the woods. I wasn't sure what he could do at this point unless he had a similar setup to mine, with the aut
The Life Rebirth Chapter 39
GIANNA Sometimes I'm afraid to be as happy as I am. I think it's a fluke, an anomaly, and that someday something's going to go wrong, and it'll all be snatched away from me again. I find myself lying still in bed some mornings, waiting for the fog to clear, so I'm sure it's not a lingering dream but reality and then somedays like a child, I wanna pinch myself because my life has become too good to be true. I guess there was never any doubt that I'd forgive Gabriel; how could I not, once I heard his story? And even though I tried to hold onto that anger in the face of that because I thought it was justified, there was some innate part of me that knew it would've been wrong. Wrong to punish him further, to make him suffer even more than he already has. But now I see clearly that my forgiving him has wrought wonders in mine and my children's lives. In short, I've gained more by letting go than I would've had I held onto anger and hurt feelings. Gabriel says it means I've grown up, I
The Life Rebirth Chapter 1
Continued from Part 3: The Life Sacrifice GABRIEL I let Sal take me around, introducing me to everyone at the party that night, both his friends and his sons'. I didn't show any interest or even let on that I could hear the questions being thrown at Ricci in harsh whispers, and of course, I turned a blind eye to the stares of disbelief. Believe it or not, Alonzo wasn't my first target of the night, no. A fish rots from the head, sure, but in this case, I want that head to watch as everything around him crumbles while he lives in fear of what comes next. While at Sal's side, I kept my face neutral and only spoke when spoken to, though I kept target number one in my peripheral at all times. I know she must be dying inside, and I'm pretty sure she's anxious as hell to get Alonzo alone. The eight suspects kept giving each other looks from across the room while trying not to appear guilty or afraid. I didn't know Sal was going to drop Ma's name like that, in essence letting his son kn
The Life Rebirth Chapter 2
GABRIEL The next morning bright and early, Sal was at my door. I'd been up for some time after hearing someone who I suspect was Ricci outside my door. I'd locked it the night before to avoid a solo meeting with him. I hadn't missed the fact that he kept staring at me the night before or that the only reason he'd kept away was because of the uproar my presence had started in the room of people at the party. I'm sure he has questions, and now he knows that I know how I came to be; I wonder if he's going to try the same spiel he'd given his father on me. Plus, me meeting this guy alone is not good for anyone or anything at this point. My fight or flight has been on high alert ever since we drove through the gates, and I've never been one to fly. I'd gone to bed and slept peacefully after making sure the stuff I'd hidden in my luggage hadn't been disturbed. I wouldn't put it past Fabrizio or one of the others to have gone through my stuff. It's their job to look after the old man af
The Life Rebirth Chapter 3
GABRIEL I knew this time would come, the time when I would stand face to face alone with Ricci. I was proud of myself as I stood there outside in the winter garden where I'd purposely gone to isolate myself making it easy for him to follow. After placing little devices where needed throughout Sal's tour, which I recorded with the camera on my watch, I'd gone back to my room to rest and to check up on my handiwork. Felice and the kids had taken off somewhere, and I knew Sal was in his study with his two sons when I went on my first expedition back to Felice and Ricci's room. If anyone saw me, I could just explain myself away as being lost as it was my first time in this big house, but no one saw me, and I didn't hang around long enough to get caught. Of course, I could've probably walked in without issue since the whole staff seemed confused by my presence and because no one had kicked me out and I seemed to be Sal's new favorite grandson; who would dare object? But I didn't want
The Life Rebirth Chapter 4
GABRIEL I didn't stick around for the theatrics, and unlike the others here, I knew the noise level was about to go way up, and the crazy would kick in. I headed back into the city, just for a walk, minding my business, and just so happened to end up in front of Teresa's place of business. I stopped outside the plate-glass window of the little boutique she owned and ran, looking down at the map as if lost. "Scusi!" I heard the door open behind me and the tread of high heels on cement. I stepped back out of the way as she approached me with a tentative smile. "Scusi, you're Gabe, no? Alonzo's son, we met at the party, you remember, I'm Teresa." "Oh, sure, uh-huh, I think I remember you. Do you live here?" I looked around at some of the high rises that flanked the row of stores and cafes. "No-no, this is my shop." She indicated the store behind us, and I turned to look at it in surprise. "Oh, okay, well, I'm sorry to have interrupted you, please don't let me disturb you. It was n
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