Survival Under Protection - Book Two (Sequel)

39 - Revelation

RECAP...

Leo gently patted my head and sat beside me, "what if I say that I neither going to scold you nor console you. Rather, I can share with you something that is one of the biggest secrets of your family?

I rose my head, wiped my tears and looked at Leo and he nodded back.

AND NOW...

BEAUFORT: RIA'sPOV

My eyes were begging to get closed, my lips parted slightly to yawn, but my head did not allow me to sleep. I quickly took a little water out of a bottle and rubbed it over my eyes and face, sat erect and exclaimed, "I am all ears, Leo. Tell me the secret!"

Leo chuckled at me while he was comfortably inclined to my bedpost, "As long as I have known, my father, your father, your uncle Garry, and Jonas Green, Gino's father had always been great friends. They were so close that when Gino's parents died in a car accident, your uncle Garry adopted their son and raised him as their own. In fact, he never differentiated between Mark and him."

I grunted and straightened, "I thought you were going to talk about some biggest secrets! But looks like you think I don't know our family past, specially Gino."

I got up from the bed when Leo called me back and made me sit beside him as he huffed, "Come here back, miss Impatient."

I rolled my eyes while resting my back by the bedpost, "Leo, I am tired, I am sleepy. So I don't want to listen to our old and boring family history. And definitely not about Gino."

I was still contemplating about Gino. On one hand, he tortured me to hell, send threatening letters to my brothers for past 6 months and on the other, I saw him in that helpless, disheveled state. I really don't know what to believe, what to conclude.

But I knew clearly that I uttered about meeting Gino in Rincon, I would be in for a house arrest for sure.

Leo placed his large hand over my shoulders, "I am sorry I brought up Gino's name, lilRee. We all know what you have gone through, and after that idiot Logan showed you the letters, you must have been feeling terrified. I promise, you don't have to be."

I nodded back at Leo, "I know that, Leo. But you should also know that I am much stronger now."

Leo kissed my forehead, "Definitely, you are. And may be that's why you didn't react much when Logan told about Gino being awakened from coma, to be found nowhere, and then his threatening letters. Trust me, I was hell scared about how you would react. But you remained so calm."

I gulped down my throat. Of course, I didn't react much because I already got the greatest shocker of my life when I saw him in real, just 2 nights back.

I had to change the subject soon, "Leo, the secret, please..."

"Hmm, yes" Leo yawned and added, "So, as I told you, our fathers were very close friends since childhood, born and brought up in the same locality and went to the same school. But fate took another direction when your father, uncle Garry and aunt Rosie became orphans very young. They were barely teenagers when this happened, and so got a lot of help from my grandparents and father. Eventually, my mother too joined the group."

Leo had a faint smile and then became silent for a while. He barely used to talk about his parents. His mother, such a sweet lady, died of cancer 6 years back. Leo's father was too shocked after the incident. His health kept on deteriorating and 4 years ago, he too died of a heart attack.

Leo has an older brother too. But he was never attached to his family or Beaufort like Leo or us. He left Beaufort, even the country, for studies and then got a job a decade back, and didn't come back even for his parents' funeral.