DRACO "Sofia, upstairs, now." Both she and Sheila, who was in the kitchen having one of their gabfests, turned to me in shock. I hadn't raised my voice, but it was obvious that I was pissed. I turned and walked away, heading up the stairs to our room. Like I said, I've never raised my voice to my wife, was never even tempted to, but when she walked into our bedroom, I was barely holding back my anger. "Draco, what's the matter? Did something happen?" "Do you know where our son is?" "Gabe? Did something happen to Gabe?" She walked towards me, and for the first time since we'd met, I stepped back away from her. I could see the hurt and confusion on her face. But I was way past caring at this point. Gabe is smart; he's the smartest person I know, truth be told, and I went to one of the leading Ivy League universities in the world. But he's a child, my child, and I can't help but hold her responsible for this. There's also the guilt of not stepping up and putting an end to this s
GABRIEL I wasn't surprised at the results the next day, but I was by the fact that Sal cried. He never stopped thanking me and was already making plans for me to come to his palazzo and meet the rest of his family. I begged off with the excuse that I had to get back home. "Ah, it's Alonzo; you do not want to meet him yet. Still, this is your home, the home your great-great-great-grandfather built, and where all the eldest sons have continued the line." "Yes, but I'm not part of that." "Who says? You are the eldest grandson; of course, you must come." "Doesn't your sons have any children?" I knew, of course, that Alonzo had a son and a daughter. "Si´ but you are the eldest; this is the way it's done." "Do you really think that's fair? I'm not here to take anything away from your grandson. My father has more than enough.…." "No-no, this cannot be. I won't have it." I wore a confused expression, but in reality, I already knew this. I knew that his sense of honor
GABRIEL "Pop, I'm back." "Gabe, are you okay?" He looked me up and down as he came around from behind his desk, where he'd been sitting gazing off into space. His hug was meant more for someone coming back from war than a son who'd only been gone for a few days, less than a week, in fact. He pulled back and clasped my shoulders while looking into my eyes. "I'm sorry… "No, you're back, you're okay, that's all that matters. Are you going to tell me what you did over there?" "Not yet!" I could tell he had a hard time accepting that answer, but, in the end, he let it go. I already knew he'd gone to see nana; she's been keeping me up to date on his activities. "You needn't have worried Uncle Guy had someone on me the whole time I was there. I was never in any real danger." "You knew you were being followed?" "Of course!" "Ah, stupid question, sorry. So, you should go see your mother. She's been worried about you. And call Lancelot before he drives both his dad and I
GABRIEL Continued from Part 2: The Life First Love I watched and listened to Fontane's meltdown and couldn't dredge up even an ounce of sympathy for the man still. His wracking sobs of lament were just the beginning as far as I'm concerned and not a reason for me to ease up on him or show compassion. There are just some things in life that shouldn't be so easily excused, forgiven, yes, but swept under the rug, hell no. His daughter has been living with the repercussions of his actions for more than a decade. She's almost an adult now, almost able to stand on her own two feet, at least that's my hope, so it's too late for him to pull his head out of his ass and get his shit together. I'm going hard on him with no letup because I dread what would happen, could happen if I leave him in her life. There's no guarantee that he won't mess up again. It's taking him this long, with all the evidence thrown uuuuuuuuat him, to come to terms with the truth. What could be his reason for not
GABRIEL I think my sisters may have rubbed off on me some in the last couple of days because I don't recall being this majorly petty before. But as I walked her towards her family home, hand in hand, her mother's car, now hers parked on the driveway behind us; I was almost bursting with anticipation at the havoc I was about to cause. I could give less than half a shit whether Felix Fontane knows that she's leaving the country. Pounding the nail deeper into Victoria's coffin, though, is high on my priority list. I guess I've decided to come down to their level to deal with them since not one of the three, Becky, Victoria, or Felix, seems to have a working brain cell to share between them. Had my opponents been more formidable, I wouldn't go this route, but since they have the underbelly of a half-dead fish that had been caught and thrown back in, this is where it's at. "Hello Fontane, may we come in?" He answered the door looking his usual flustered self with red-rimmed eyes. Bast
GABRIEL Like a kid in a candy store, that's what watching her reminded me of. She took to the water on sight, and had I not dragged her out each day after giving her swimming lessons in the mornings, she'd have spent the whole vacation in the tropical paradise in the water. That worked out in some ways because she was so tired at night that there was no question of us making love. She'd be asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow most nights, but tonight she'd worn me down, and I, of course, had given in. I hated the look of uncertainty on her face when I tried to gently turn her away. And since I didn't quite yet have a ready answer as to why we should put the brakes on, I gave in, not that it was a hardship, except for the guilt I knew would follow. Now she's asleep, cuddled up to my side while I lay awake thinking about our future, both hers and mine. In truth, I was trying to figure out the best way to fix what I now saw as my screw-up. I'd made up my mind not to do this aga
LANCE I couldn't wait to get back home. Ever since Gabe made that statement, something dark and ugly has been gnawing away at my gut. I'd spent the last day on the island pretending for the girls' sake, but my mind was in turmoil. As soon as we landed, I hot-footed it to his house in search of Unc. I had to wait for the reunion to end before I could get him alone, and by then, I was a mess of nerves. "Gabe's up to something. Do you know what he's planning?" Even I could hear the panic in my voice. "What did you see?" "Nothing, as usual, he keeps everything hidden, but I get the sense that he's about to make a move. He had his special computer with him on the island." That got a rise out of him. "So it's not about Gia? It's about the other thing?" "Looks like it." "Why are you so stressed all of a sudden? You knew about the secret computer long before this." "Yes, but… he told me he loved me. Although I know it, Gabe isn't one to say it like that just out of nowhe
FELIX "Who was that? Is that Gia and that boy? I just got home; I'm in no mood to deal with those two right now…." "I told you to have a seat. I'm having a drink; why don't you join me?" "Felix, I'm serious. Because of them, I spent a week in jail for an honest mistake." "Mistake? What kind of mistake was that? Who gave you the right to sell Gia's car?" "I admit I was a bit hasty there; I was just upset at what they did to Victoria. Besides, it was that Russo kid who burned her car; it's only fair." "I see. What about the rest of it?" "The rest of what? It's all nonsense. You yourself know how hard I've tried to be a good mother to Gia. I was her mother's best friend… Why are you looking at me like that?" "No reason, go on." "What do you want to hear? I still don't know what's going on. Something happened between Victoria and Gia, a silly prank with her hair, and everyone's blowing it out of proportion." "Was that all?" "Of course, it was. What else
GABRIEL "Pop, I'm back." "Gabe, are you okay?" He looked me up and down as he came around from behind his desk, where he'd been sitting gazing off into space. His hug was meant more for someone coming back from war than a son who'd only been gone for a few days, less than a week, in fact. He pulled back and clasped my shoulders while looking into my eyes. "I'm sorry… "No, you're back, you're okay, that's all that matters. Are you going to tell me what you did over there?" "Not yet!" I could tell he had a hard time accepting that answer, but, in the end, he let it go. I already knew he'd gone to see nana; she's been keeping me up to date on his activities. "You needn't have worried Uncle Guy had someone on me the whole time I was there. I was never in any real danger." "You knew you were being followed?" "Of course!" "Ah, stupid question, sorry. So, you should go see your mother. She's been worried about you. And call Lancelot before he drives both his dad and I
GABRIEL I wasn't surprised at the results the next day, but I was by the fact that Sal cried. He never stopped thanking me and was already making plans for me to come to his palazzo and meet the rest of his family. I begged off with the excuse that I had to get back home. "Ah, it's Alonzo; you do not want to meet him yet. Still, this is your home, the home your great-great-great-grandfather built, and where all the eldest sons have continued the line." "Yes, but I'm not part of that." "Who says? You are the eldest grandson; of course, you must come." "Doesn't your sons have any children?" I knew, of course, that Alonzo had a son and a daughter. "Si´ but you are the eldest; this is the way it's done." "Do you really think that's fair? I'm not here to take anything away from your grandson. My father has more than enough.…." "No-no, this cannot be. I won't have it." I wore a confused expression, but in reality, I already knew this. I knew that his sense of honor
DRACO "Sofia, upstairs, now." Both she and Sheila, who was in the kitchen having one of their gabfests, turned to me in shock. I hadn't raised my voice, but it was obvious that I was pissed. I turned and walked away, heading up the stairs to our room. Like I said, I've never raised my voice to my wife, was never even tempted to, but when she walked into our bedroom, I was barely holding back my anger. "Draco, what's the matter? Did something happen?" "Do you know where our son is?" "Gabe? Did something happen to Gabe?" She walked towards me, and for the first time since we'd met, I stepped back away from her. I could see the hurt and confusion on her face. But I was way past caring at this point. Gabe is smart; he's the smartest person I know, truth be told, and I went to one of the leading Ivy League universities in the world. But he's a child, my child, and I can't help but hold her responsible for this. There's also the guilt of not stepping up and putting an end to this s
GIANNA Traumatized! What made me think I could do this on my own? Giving birth was the easy part. Connie yelled for them to give me every drug available once the pain started. Well, not exactly easy, but the pain was nowhere near what I expected. But once the ordeal was over and I could breathe again, the real fear set in. I spent the first few minutes after marveling at the fact that I'd given life, imagining it and living it are two separate animals altogether. But once the adrenaline wore off, all the fears came at me hard. I'm terrified. I'm giving serious thought to going home, or at the very least to grandma's. One minute I wished Gabriel was here, I wanted to share this with him, and the next, I was mad at him for not being here. I hid my fear well once I was allowed visitors, and Connie and Ron came into the room. I didn't correct the staff who thought they were grandma and grandpa, but it reminded me that my parents weren't here. That thought only made me break down ag
GABRIEL I stepped off the plane in Palermo and into the car that was waiting there for me. I'd planned ahead because even though I'd never been there before, I knew where I was going and that I needed to be there at a specific time. It had taken weeks of research to pin down the specifics once I came up with a plan. I couldn't act right away; I had to be sure before making my move. Now that the routine was set, I was almost certain, barring natural disaster, that my prey would be there when I showed up. I'd given myself a few days here just in case things didn't happen the first day because I know Pop won't let me out of his sight no time soon again, so there was no room for failure. No one back home knew where I was, but I'd brought the ninja turtles with me just to keep Pop off my scent for as long as I could. I could hear the four of them mumbling once we got off the plane, the words 'not again' were said plenty, but I ignored them, only talking to them long enough to send the
DRACO "So, where we at now? Still nothing?" All four of them shook their heads at me the same way they've been doing every time I asked for the last eight months or so. I'm beginning to think we're never going to find this kid, and I'm not sure what that means for my son. Watching over him is like babysitting a tiger; you never know when but there's always the possibility that he'll strike. For the first few months, when we all held out so much hope of finding Gia, he was able to keep an almost positive outlook on things. But, somewhere in the last couple of months, he'd switched into some sort of mode that not even I recognized. Of course, life for everyone else has moved on, but my boy, I don't know what's true and what's not. He tells me daily that he's fine. He'd thrown himself into his new studies at my old alma mater even though he'd opted into studying from home instead of heading to campus. His mother and sisters spend almost every day worried about him, and since he move
GABRIEL Nothing! I spent all night into the morning looking. It's like she never existed. There's no way she could've disappeared that fast on her own, but then again, she had help, didn't she? The contact I got from Diego is lucky she does good work for women in need, or I would've ended her already. She gave me nothing when I called and even refused to meet with me face to face. I've played around with the idea of holding someone hostage until I get some answers, but that's the monster in me. I have to keep that shit on lock, he's already cost me more than enough, but it's hard not to lose it at every turn. I even paid Felix a visit, but he had no idea where she was and was now spending his days worrying about her instead of the sentence he was facing. Good, the monster is very pleased that he's not the only one suffering. Her grandmother had returned home with a promise to come back soon. For some reason watching her go was like losing my last connection to Gianna. Now I'm beg
GABRIEL It only took five minutes into the car ride back home for me to realize what Pop had said to my Uncle Marvin, or at least for me to get the gist of it. He spent the time switching off between trying to comfort his son and keeping me calm. I don't know why they thought I would do something; I hadn't said a word, and Lance didn't give a shit about some low-wage scumbag with one too many bags of Doritos under his belt using some outdated insult that really just boils down to calling him lazy. And as if to prove my point, Lancelot said just as much to his dad. "Dad, that word doesn't mean the same thing to me as it does to the people on television and in the news. Gabe and I defanged that word when we were about ten." "Oh! How did you do that?" Lance looked at me as if to ask if I wanted to explain. "You do it." "Okay, remember how Gabe and I met? When those kids used to bully me? Well, when Gabe went back to New York that time, I think we were like seven, he did some res
GABRIEL I admit to blanking out on the way up the steps and into the building since I could pretty much guess where this was going, and my mind was rightfully still back in that little grove where I'd last spoken to her. Lance's words were making me on edge a bit as well. Why did her grandmother have to come get her? Of course, I expect her to be upset, I'm upset at the situation, but the thought of her hurting so much she had to leave school is making me feel like even more of an asshole than I already do. Whatever this is Pop's about to do, I want over with, so I can get back to the house and have the twins go look after her. Levi, the snake charmer, met us inside the doors, and that's when my focus shifted. Why the heck is Pop bringing him in? Somebody's feelings are about to get hurt and hurt real bad. "Gabe, Lance, you boys have grown." Since when? He just saw us a few weeks ago at the twins' sweet sixteen. I didn't say a word, though, because he was wearing his yellow tie.