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Chapter 9
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The Life Rebirth Chapter 10
LYON From the way my mother reacted when she walked into the room and saw the image on the wall screen, I knew no one was pranking me. Up until then, I was almost certain that it was some elaborate hoax, which now that I think of it made no sense because we're not known for pissing around when it comes to serious business. I watched her as she got closer to the screen and reached her hand back for my father. "She must be Eloise's. Must be." "Who dafuq…who is Eloise Ma?" "She was my favorite cousin. She and I were so close; we looked alike in some ways, but not like this. She's the only one I can think of that would have a daughter or granddaughter that looks like this." "She's the spitting image of you, love." Ma started crying, and the pothead hugged her into his chest like they hadn't just dropped a bomb. "Cousin, what cousin?" "Remember we told you how we left our home way back when even before you were born because our family did not accept us being together ev
The Life Rebirth Chapter 11
GABRIEL I had the insane urge to hug my dad. Like I didn't know I wanted him here until he was standing there in front of me. He'd found me, outplayed me. I was almost too proud of him not to smile. "What do you mean what I'm doing here? You're here." "I know, but how?" He walked over and hugged me, and I almost cried like an infant. Something about that touch, the fact that he'd gotten on a plane to come after me and most inspiringly, the fact that he'd been ten steps ahead of me this whole time, made me feel things I'd long given up on feeling. For the longest while, I'd battled my feelings about myself and what my father really felt about me. I know he said and showed he loved me in many ways over my lifetime, but that could've been out of a sense of duty. Until this very moment, I didn't realize that that was in me. Have I been testing him all this time? If I had, he'd just passed with flying colors. *** DRACO *** What a rush! I'd spent the last eighteen hours or so
The Life Rebirth Chapter 12
GABRIEL I didn't hear the news about Felice's passing until I left the hotel and went back to the palazzo. I still couldn't get over the fact that Pop was here, that he was no longer fighting me on this, though I think his presence is a two-edged sword. I'm sure that though he says he's given up fighting me on this that there's some underlying purpose going on that I can't see clearly yet. Sal was looking even more beleaguered than he had this morning, and the house was a whole lot fuller than it was then too. Everyone had gathered to commemorate and commiserate with each other over the dead woman. "I'm sorry niputi, that you had to be here for this. I will understand if you want to take dinner in your rooms, but it would do me a great honor if you should stay." "If you want me to, I will." He clung to my side all evening, introducing me as his grandson, and the proof that he held such power over everyone else in the room was evident by the mere fact that no one asked how I came
The Life Rebirth Chapter 13
GABRIEL The whole place was somber the next morning when I went down to breakfast, so I adjusted my mood accordingly. There was no sound other than the din of cutlery against dishes or the occasional clink of ice settling in a glass. Alonzo gazed off into space as he nibbled on a triangle of toast, and both his children looked like Children of the Corn rejects with dark circles under their eyes and a look of being lost in their gazes. Still, as bad as I felt for them, maybe, I had a job to do. Once breakfast was coming to a close, I retrieved the envelope Pop had given me the day before from beneath my shirt and slid it over to Sal, who was sitting back sipping his coffee. "What's this niputi?" He kept his voice low, so I leaned in to whisper close to his ear. "It's the meeting you wanted." "No!" He fumbled the envelope open and pulled out the sheaf of paper inside. "How did you?" All sadness was gone from his face now, and his eyes brimmed with excitement. In his hand was th
The Life Rebirth Chapter 14
GIANNA "What?" Lyon, why does that name sound so familiar? I knew I'd heard it somewhere in the not too distant past but couldn't for the life of me bring it to mind. It came to me in a rush when the woman spoke again. She'd just been standing there with her mouth hanging open as she stared up at me. "Oh, my word, Daniel, that face!" "I see; I told you she looked like you. Spitting image of you at that age." "It's uncanny, first little Catalina and now this beautiful girl." She came forward with one arm outstretched and the other clutching Thor to her chest and enveloped me in a hug so warm it brought tears to my eyes. "You dear-dear girl, I'm your aunty Elena, your grandmother and I are cousins." I was so flabbergasted I couldn't think of anything to say when she finally released me, so I said the first thing that came to mind. "How did you get Thor?" "Oh, that, Eloise said the boy sent him to her a few days ago. She asked us to bring him with us so you'd trust us." We wer
The Life Rebirth Chapter 15
GIANNA "You, okay?" "What happened to Gabriel?" Isn't it weird? I could've sworn not ten seconds ago that I hated him with a fiery passion. Well. Not fiery exactly, but I have spent many a moment strongly disliking him. "Nothing's happened to him; he's fine, sort of. We think he might be in danger." "Gabriel? I don't understand; what kind of danger?" "Do you know why he pushed you away?" "I'm not interested!" I don't know if it was embarrassment or fear of hearing a truth that was more devastating than my own thoughts had been for the last two years? A fear of finally getting the explanation that I never received, but hearing this relative stranger ask me that question made my hackles rise. He didn't seem to believe me, though, if his smile was any indication. "Well, I'll tell you anyway, but be prepared; it's rough." My heart started racing so fast and loud I could hear it in my ears. I almost told him to stop, that I didn't want to know. Even though from the time I saw th
The Life Rebirth Chapter 16
GABRIEL I had to move and speak fast before anyone inside realized we had a visitor. Pop was in no mood to take my word for anything, so I jumped in the backseat before he could get out of the car and ordered Tommy to drive. "Where?" He looked in the rearview between Pop and I for instructions, but Pop was too busy looking me over. "Anywhere, just get outta here." "You're good; tell me what happened in there." "Give me a minute, Pop; I'll tell you everything." First, I had to get my thoughts together. Now it all makes sense. The gaunt, far away look I'd noticed since my return that I'd suspected was about more than her mother being ill or dying. And Jr., nothing will convince me that he didn't know or suspect something. The look on his face when he ran into the room, his own rebellious nature that seems to have ramped up here of late, and his willingness to self-destruct. Why didn't I think of any of this? Because I didn't care. I didn't expect to, at any rate. But I can'
The Life Rebirth Chapter 17
GIANNA I think I have changed my mind. It's one thing to theorize about sticking it to Gabriel and a whole other ball game when it comes to the execution. My stomach has been in knots ever since Colton said it's time. Two days, that's all the time they gave me to get to know my would-be husband. Thankfully, Jimmy is funny and has no designs on me past the appreciative male for a beautiful female stage. It was simple, really; Jimmy and I just had to move in together in my old family home and pretend to be shacking up. This is supposed to bring Gabriel running back from wherever he's gone that they think he's in danger, and I don't know how they're going to do it, but my fear is what if Gabriel doesn't care? What if he doesn't come back like they expect? Colton promised not to tell him about the pregnancy, which is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, if he comes back without knowing, I'd know he came back for me. On the other hand, if he finds out and comes back, I'll never know th
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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 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 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 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 35
LYON We were packing up to go since things were pretty much settled on this end. The boy seemed to be getting his shit together and was no longer hell-bent on destroying himself. Then again, the fact that he didn't know where Ricci was could have a lot to do with his easy acquiescence, but who knows. I don't exactly trust these brainy types because they always got some shit going on. If he's anything like the rest of them, namely my own kid, I know he could stand in front of me and lie with a straight face while plotting chaos and mayhem in his head. My phone rang, and I answered without checking. "Lyon!" "Hey Dev, is everything okay?" The others stopped what they were doing to look at me. Since the call was coming from the island, it could be anything. "Yeah, uh, Nia tried to hack into the secured again." "Wait, I'll put you on speaker. Say that again." He repeated himself. "How far did she get this time?" "A little further than before, but we caught her just in time." "
The Life Rebirth Chapter 34
GIANNA I made the call, not sure what to expect. Once the congratulations were over after I told them about Gabriel and I meeting again, and they got through asking about the kids, I kinda got down to why I was calling. Now that I had them on the phone, I wasn't even sure where to begin. I was just going on instinct at this point and hoping that they could see a way to help us out. I wasn't exactly asking them to have their husbands kill someone, but I figured with Natalia's story added to the mix, they'd at least want to investigate this Ricci guy seeing as how they were into rescuing women and young girls from such situations. The truth is, I had no idea what the guys' plans were now that things with Gabriel had been settled somewhat; no one had told me what the next steps were. They didn't say much more than that they'd get back to me after discussing it with the guys, but then they asked a lot of questions which I didn't have the answers to, like where in Sicily Ricci was, et
The Life Rebirth Chapter 33
LANCE I felt like Daniel heading into the lion's den when I approached the door to the twins' suite of rooms. Only I doubt any angel anywhere would tussle with these two. I knocked on the door and opened and entered when given the okay to come in. As soon as they saw that it was me, Anna turned her back while Rosa stuck her nose in the air. "So you're still upset with me, okay, let's hear it; what is it that has got you two so mad at me?" "You know the answer to that already, so why pretend?" "Are you two seriously jealous of this girl? Why? What is she going to take from you?" They didn't have an answer, just looked at each other with frowns on their faces. I guess it's mine and their brother's fault that they're so spoilt, though I've never seen them acting this shitty before. I'm trying to understand their position, hell I'm confused myself with a lot of things that are going on right now, but the one thing I know for certain is that I don't want them acting like this. The
The Life Rebirth Chapter 32
GABRIEL It's weird what comes back from the past to jar you in the present. As I watched Pop play with the kids, his words from earlier kept playing over and over again in my head. Until he said it, I don't think I'd have realized that I'd stopped addressing him the way I used to as a child. It had been so long that it just got lost in the fog of everything else that has been my life. I remember the twins calling him Poppa, but vaguely and only because he mentioned it, recall myself doing so as well, which leads me to believe that since my sisters had always followed my lead, that they'd stopped calling him that when I did. I felt just a little bit sad that I'd robbed him of that. We stayed for a good half an hour until he got all the hugs and kisses in, and then it was time to go meet with Lyon, Mancini, and whoever else they had hanging around. I'd given up trying to find anything on these guys because they were ghosts. From their public persona, you would be hard-pressed to fi
The Life Rebirth Chapter 31
GABRIEL "I've already told you, none of you are leaving here. If there's something you need, just say the word, and it's yours." Why does my patient tone set her off? She's been like a grizzly ever since waking up this morning. Maybe I'd kept her up too late. It's not my fault I find her body so appealing. Now that I don't have impending death hanging over my head, I find new freedom in our lovemaking. In fact, I'm finding freedom in a lot of things that I never gave myself a chance to enjoy. But as much as I have changed, she seems to have done some changing of her own. Her mouth, for one, has gone through a drastic metamorphosis. She never used to talk back before. In fact, I can count on one hand the times she'd raised her voice before and never at me. Now she gives me looks, sucks her teeth, and rolls her eyes. Italian brat! "I'm guessing your ass isn't sore anymore, right." And the truth just positively enrages her. It's like stating the obvious is anathema to her. I have to
