Chapter XXXV: Liars And Cheaters
DANTE
After all of the information Chase just dumped on me, I felt compelled to get to the bottom of this mess. Nothing seems to make sense. Hell, my past actions didn't make sense. Who gets kidnapped and let's their kidnapper perform all types of intimate acts on them?
Who stupidly gets snatched up by facilitators of crime not once, but twice? This girl here.
Obviously, Angel seems to have known me before this whole ordeal. Did I see him somewhere before? If I did, I can't seem to recall. It's highly unlikely that one could forget a face like his.
I pondered this thought.
Aside from my first time seeing him at the law firm, I've never seen him anywhere before. This I was most certain of.
This was something I would have to ask Angel about when he gets here. All this time, all the things I've endured while under his eye he has to answer me. He owes me that much.
" Chase, when do you think Angel will be here?" I asked him. Me and him had decided to entertain ourselves with a game of uno to pass the time. I was waiting for him to put his card down, seeing as though he was close to losing.
" Who knows? That guy tells no one his plans and he's unpredictable." He simply answered me, letting out a puff of a breath as he folded the last game. He threw his remaining three cards onto the island and abruptly got up from the chair.
"You win." He said dejectedly. I let out a sigh and gently sat my last two cards on the countertop. My previous thoughts continued to occupy my mind, as I was slowly beginning to drift off into a daze.
" I'm only keeping you company until my brother returns. It's bad enough that he leaves you alone so often, I can't even imagine being here with no line of communication whatsoever!" He said to me as he walked over to the counter and leaned against it.
" Thank you." I softly thanked him, and looked down to my hands to see that I had been nervously pulling at my fingers. I was beginning to feel like I was losing a piece of myself everyday since I encountered these people. I became someone who grew accustomed to Angels harsh love, if he even loves me. I have been beaten, rather badly, and I feel like my heart is deeply wounded.
I never got the chance to properly mourn my father, who died too soon. I never got to stand on my own two feet with no one else's help. I've just been forced to do things. Sit there, shut up, and take it. That seemed to be the cycle my life was currently revolving around. I am to blame for my past decisions. I was loud, foolish, and ignorant. There was a time to shut up and there was a time to speak. I chose the wrong thing every time. Speak when it wasn't necessary and quiet when I needed to speak.
This life I was currently living, it wasn't a happy one.
• • •
ANGEL
Intrigued by her outburst, I slowly turned to meet her gaze. There she was on the ground groveling at my feet, it disgusted me to look at her for too long and yet seeing her in that position did not satisfy me one bit.
I noticed my brothers sharing a look to each other, the both of them uncertain in the idea of staying longer than necessary. I felt exactly as they did, but I was curious to hear what she believed she could tell me about Dante. There was nothing I didn't know about her already, but who knows? Maybe there was something I missed.
" Isabella, if I were you I would be very careful of what you say. I was never one too fond of liars." I told her straightforwardly as I looked down at her with glowering eyes. I could visibly see her gulp and there was something about seeing her so afraid of her own seed that satisfied me in a way that was unbecoming.
" Of course." She answered, rising to her feet and adjusting herself before us. I was certain that each one of us were sickened by her every move, and bothered by her presence.
I remained standing. I chose to stand in order to invoke fear in the heart and mind of Isabella. I was not my father, I may have resembled him but I was nothing like him. I am less forgiving, more the type where ' fuck with me and see' was a true threat and a promise.
" You all think that I am somewhat responsible for your father's death. Each one of you blame me for the death of that man all those years ago. There is nothing I can say to sway your judgment of me, so I figured I should give you what you want and vice versa." She began, lightly crossing her legs and folding her hands into her lap.
None of us moved, nor did I care for what she really had to say.
" Isabella, get over it. I care more about the information you have on the girl." Vito interjected.
" You bastards are all so cold to your mother." She snidely remarked. In which, truthfully I didn't get upset by what she said. I was becoming irate that she had yet to speak on the things we actually wanted to hear.
" Isabella." I warned her, I was beginning to feel as though this was a waste of time and that she had nothing of importance to say to me. Every moment of mine is precious, and I have far better things to do than sit here and be in the presence of this woman.
" I bet neither of you knew that Angel and this girl were arranged to be married?" She started, directing the conversation toward Bobby and Vito.
The both of them scoffed, Vito simply pocketed his hands and Bobby glared at her. Tell them something they don't know. I thought. If this was all she had I was going to wrap this up and be on my way.
" Angelino. Roberto, Vittori. For once, please listen to your mama. I am trying to tell you that your father was not the man you thought him to be. You all can look at me like the villain all you want! You can say that I did nothing for any of you! You can even accuse me of the death of your father! None of these things will ever conceal the truth!" How dare she. This woman, my supposed mother. If we were to believe that our father was the worst man alive how could that possibly make you better? The image you portrayed to us was far monstrous than anything you could say our father did!
" Don't ever. Call my name like that again. EVER!" I strained through my clenched jaw, I believed I was getting better at controlling my anger. It seems all of that hard work will be pointless now.
" Do you have ANY idea how badly you fucked us up? Not our father, but YOU! You dirty fucking whore!" I hollered at her. I was ready to leave, it was clear that there was nothing she had to say. I damn sure did not want to stand around and listen to her fake sob story.
I turned on the heel of my foot and was prepared to walk out of this place, my brothers closely following suit. When she suddenly started to weep, and loudly at that.
" Please listen to me. PLEASE." She begged. The distress in her voice made me uncomfortable. In all of my years, have I ever seen or heard this woman cry?
" My sons, your father was not the man he seemed." She cried out. At this point she had been on the floor again, a look of defeat on her face and her body in a heartbroken slump.
" For years. For years he and that man. That girls father, th-they did unspeakable things. Your father, he was smart enough to hide this from you all. If he had just expressed that h-he..." Her cries continued on, me and my brothers shared a look with each other. This sounded like a bunch of nonsense.
" Isabella, what are you trying to say?" Bobby asked her. At this point each one of us were getting annoyed. She wasn't making sense and she wouldn't stop her crying.
" Your father, he trafficked little girls. Him and that man. That man came from no where. He went from being some sort of prostitute to snatching up these little children. I didn't know. I didn't know at first. I didn't!" She weeped, as she rocked back and forth on the floor hugging herself. She's gotta be joking. This doesn't make any sense, it's like she pulled this from her ass and is giving all she has.
I looked to my right to see Vito had stiffened a bit. He looked down at Isabella, eyes full of hatred and a look so haunting I had chills myself.
" You must feel really proud showing your face to us and spouting this bullshit about the man whom you betrayed. You're such a liar, and 'til this day you can't let my father rest. OUR father rest!" Vito forced out. Being as though Vito was always more level headed than I, it was rare to see him so furious. I learned to let this angry elder brother of mine alone and take a step back when he became like this.
" Vittori-!"
"Shut Up!" He commanded. The women we called mother appeared to be afraid of Vito. It wasn't like he was of a small stature. At a towering 6'4, Vito always appeared to be busting out of every shirt he had. Not to mention his dark hair and sharp features that resembled that of our father. He had light green eyes and a face that always seemed to make him unapproachable.
" Angelo, I swear if we don't get out of here I will kill her myself!" I sucked my teeth to myself, Angel suffices just fine.
" Isabella, you are making serious accusations. Do you have the evidence to prove your claims?" I asked her as I sighed from the stress of this evening.
She nodded her head yes, tears still streaming down her face.
I decided I would take a seat for now. Seeing her this disheveled truly made me uncomfortable.
" Do you have it with you now?" I asked her. She looked at me slowly, finally calming herself down some. She looked as though she were unsure as she slowly nodded her head. I ran my hand through my hair, and dragged it down to my chin where I rested it for the moment.
" Present it." I said to her. I just looked at her, my eyebrow raised a bit. I was becoming bored with this whole interaction. Isabella can sit here and make these claims all she likes. At the end of the day, our father is dead and we only know him as our loving father. Isabella is not, and we know her as a cheating woman.
If these claims are real, I doubt our view of that man will change. The worst has already happened to him, since he died so miserably.
" That girl, Dante, is the daughter of this woman that basically operates out of a mens' harem. She sales male prostitutes. Her father happened to be one of them, one of which the lady favored." Isabella began, she walked over to the mantel above the fireplace. There had been a black folder laying on top of it, that she had taken off and opened as she turned to walk back to the chair.
I listened in, it all seemed so farfetched that I felt like it was a bunch of bullshit. A harem? Male prostitutes? Daughter of some queen pin? That woman that lacks any awareness? I had to laugh at the thought.
Nonetheless, I would sit here and listen to what, Isabella, had to say.
• • •
Angelino, is a diminutive of the names
Angelo, or Angel.
Angel prefers to be called Angel.
Though his birth name is Angelino. He hates the mother who gave it to him so he settles for Angelo or Angel. Angel being the most preferred.
For those that can't imagine Vito, here is a reference photo of Gabriel Garko.
*Not Edited*
-99hikori