Hey, guys! I hope you guys are doing awesome.
I know it's been some time and you guys have been waiting, but things have been hectic. I got into an accident the past week. I'm physically fine. No one was injured at all. But that entire day was the shittiest ever.
I also started nursing school and I had to settle into things. I'm scared af because there are many rules. One minor mistake and I will either fail the course or will be dismissed from the program itself. I can't risk that or the 20k I'm paying. I work in the morning and go to classes in the evening. I have no break in between the two. The only time I can write is when I'm in bed at night as I've said numerous times before. All I'm asking here is for you to understand my situation and be respectful cuz the disrespect and negativity are stressing me out even more with college and work. I come to the comments to relax and have a laugh with people in the comments and I wanna keep it that way rather than having it feel like a burden.
Also, I wanna apologize to those whose comments I haven't replied to. I'm really sorry but there were over a thousand comments on the previous chapter and I couldn't find the time to reply to the recent ones or some of the old. If I miss your comment and you have a question I haven't answered, you may message me privately and I promise I'll get to you.
Lastly vote, comment, and share this story with your friends. ENJOY! ❤️
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Fear had my entire body prickling with goosebumps as a defense mechanism. Eyes bore into me fiercely and I couldn't escape the deadly gaze.
Mike shook his head, his brows pinched together. "I don't understand."
After taking a deep breath, I cleared my throat and willed myself to meet his puzzled eyes. "Aunt Wendy didn't die that day. She had a faint pulse."
"That can't be!" he rebuked loudly. "We all checked her fucking pulse. It wasn't there!"
The blare of his rage-induced voice deafened every other noise, even forcing the doctors at the end of the hall to look for the source of it. Lucian tightened his grip on my leg in fear while Ana broke into a cry at the sound of her father's roar.
Harry tried to pacify the little girl sobbing in her arms. "I'm gonna go calm her down."
"Take Lucian with you." I sent the kids away and faced Mike once again who was fuming. Thankfully, nobody attempted to stop Harry from escorting them into the play area.
"Where is she?" Mike seethed.
The fury contorting his features was something I had only witnessed once before when he was about to rip Astor's head off after that bastard boasted about killing pregnant women, and his threatening tone sent a vicious chill up my spine.
"Follow me," I utter meekly, walking around him. Leo was the least of my worries because it was Mike who I feared at the very second.
The two men followed me through the staircase that accessed the floor above us. An elevator would've been too suffocating for all of us with our nerves wreaking havoc and patience running low. We strode down the hall of the neurology department and headed for the room that contained the answers Mike was looking for.
Opening the door, I let them enter behind me. Aunt Wendy's body laid peacefully on the hospital bed. A feeding tube was inserted through her nostril to make sure she didn't starve or dehydrate.
Mike's green eyes grew glossy the moment they fell on Aunt Wendy, his face losing its color. In a few slow steps, he reached her side timidly, almost unable to believe his eyes. "Wen," he whispered, his voice dripping with emotions that were cracking his usually strong voice. "Mi amor (My love)." His trembling hands reached up and cradled her face softly as if his touch would shatter her. A tear toppled over his lid and splashed on her cheek. "Te he extrañado mucho (I've missed you so much)." Laying his forehead against hers, he basked in her presence and let out a sigh of extreme relief as if he could finally breathe again.
I pursed my lips tightly to hold back my own tears while watching him press a gentle kiss beside her mouth.
"The fluid Astor injected into her wasn't poison like he said. It was a drug that lowered her heart rate to the point we couldn't find her pulse ourselves. After you guys left, I had called 9-1-1 and the paramedics found a heartbeat. She was taken to the hospital, but the trauma slipped her into a coma she still hasn't woken up from. I was scared after what happened and I didn't want to put her or Ashton through it, so I kept her a secret."
Mike retracted his hands from Aunt Wendy's face and straightened his posture to look at me. "I got married, Arie." The words were forced out harshly through his teeth as he frustratedly wiped his tears. "It hasn't even been two months. And Val is on her way here as we speak."
"I know," I mumbled, my lips quivering to see his cheeks burn a shade of red. "Aunt Wendy would've wanted you to move on. You said it yourself. Centering your life around someone who may never wake up isn't living life."
"Arie." Mike's voice turned hard and firm as he glared at me fiercely, rage burning in his green irises. "I really don't want to lose my temper on you, so I will say this as politely as I can to the best of my ability." With a malicious step in my direction, he gritted his teeth and spat, "I don't want to fucking see you. Leave!"
I stood there for a second too long before exiting the room and closing the door behind me. Extreme sadness overcame my entire body and broke my resolve. His anger was justified, but I had to do it.
A minute or so of standing still like a statue, I realized Leo was nowhere to be seen. He had probably slipped out when I was explaining how Aunt Wendy survived. Gathering my thoughts and composing myself, I walked back downstairs and toward Alon's room. I couldn't help but groan to see the male members of Leo's family standing outside the room.
"You're coming with me." Gus was busy ordering Sophie around who was the least bit amused by his presence. "You can bring the husky along if you want."
"It's not a husky. He's a German Shepard and a Norwegian Elkhound mix," Soph quipped and rolled her eyes. "And a dog like you is in no position to bark orders at me."
I diverted my attention from their banter and looked at Federigo who stopped his hushed conversation with Leo and looked at me condescendingly. "And to say I was on your side," the older man clicked his tongue whilst shaking his head disappointingly. "Your courage is admirable, but it was a bad choice you made."
"Out of all the shit you guys do, you're judging me?" I clenched my jaw in vexation. "I made a decision as a mother and I stand by it."
Leo turned away from his father and faced me with anger still prominent in his eyes. "Walk with me," he ordered and strode past me, leaving no room for me to defy him. One way or another, he'd get his way, so I complied and followed him into a vacant room. Verona was already present and sitting on a single sofa. A fierce shade of red had encapsulated her cheeks and nose as tears relentlessly crawled out of her terrified eyes.
After closing the door, I stood against it and watched Leo's back tense as he gripped the metallic foot of the hospital bed. "You both lied to me," he spoke lowly in a venomous tone. "What do you suggest I do about it?"
I shrugged pettily, crossing my arms over my chest. "Forget you have children and go back to Italy?"
He snorted whilst turning around. "You really think it's a good idea to smart-mouth your ass out of this one?"
"I'll do whatever works to keep the children with me."
"I'm tempted to take all three far from you and make sure you never see them," he growled under his breath. "Push me and I will do it."
Fire raged throughout my body with a heat that had my fists shaking. "I have taken care of them by myself for the past three or so years. I have kept them completely safe and have given them the fucking world."
"Good!" He matched my tone of hostility. "I'm more than delighted you kept them safe. Good-bloody-job! But you lied right to my fucking face. That is what angers me more than anything, Arie." With a step in my direction, his features softened for a quick minute. "If you would've just told me the truth in the elevator, I wouldn't be as pissed as I am right now. Sure, I'd be upset that you didn't tell me sooner. That's it. But you thought it was a good idea to just feed me lies."
"Open your eyes and look around!" I yelled. "The day you found out, people came for the heir. I thought it was Alon, but it clearly wasn't. They wanted Lucian." My stomach churned at the sound of it all. "I didn't know he was your son. The records before his adoption didn't show anything about his birth parents at all, so there's no way that the people who attacked us in my own house were Orel's men. They didn't even sound like his men. The only way they could've known is if they did a DNA test which you probably did, so someone in your family got a whiff of this and caused this to happen."
Silently, Leo stood, staring at me stoically. "I will find the person behind this."
"You mean the rat in your family?" I quipped. "All of you are some shady fuckers. Who in your family are you gonna hold accountable for this? Your dad? Cousins? Or that bitch of a grandmother you got?" I walked closer to him and poked his chest. "Would you even take her down if she's responsible?"
Grabbing my wrist, he slowly backed it away from his chest and promised, "Whoever is responsible for this will suffer brutally, no matter who they are. No one will ever touch my sons again, or Mike's daughter for that matter. They'll be under complete security effective immediately so no one will have access to them. Not even my sisters unless I allow so."
"No!" I yanked away his hold on me and stepped back. "I know I should've told you sooner, but you can't just come here and make decisions about them or take them. They won't survive with you or your family alone." Wiping away a rogue tear, I bit down on my quivering lips to settle my heart. "When I imagined telling you and Mike about your kids, I relied on Lucian as my little stone who was only my son, but even that turned out to be some sick joke and one hell of a fucking coincidence when she said she lost the baby."
Leo turned his heated gaze to Verona as his jaw twitched. "Verona, tell me what happened exactly." With a few steps, he stood before her and looked down at the tears running down her crimson cheeks. "Do not lie to me." Verona was too engrossed in her own bubble of agony to even listen to Leo, her eyes falling deeper into an abyss. When Verona didn't answer, Leo raised his voice to grab her attention. "Verona!"
Her petrified eyes finally met Leo's agitated gaze with a subtle tremble.
"Tell me how the child is alive," Leo demanded.
From shock and fear, Verona's features turned to sadness as a cry broke through her. "He told me he killed him."
"Astor?"
She nodded, more tears dripping like a leaky tap.
"And you believed that lying stronzo?"
Displeasure suddenly clung to her brows with a hint of anger as she rose from her seat and faced her husband with the same intensity he held. Always so calm and composed, it was foreign to see that vexed look on her face. "He wasn't lying when he killed mia madre (my mother)."
Leo's eyebrows pulled together in confusion and so did mine. "What are you talking about?"
"Mamma doubted that bastardo (bastard) and confronted him about what happened. She was going to tell you, but he killed her by forcing her to overdose on pills and die. She didn't kill herself, he did. She was too strong for that." Her tears rapidly slid down her cheeks and hit the tiled floor itself. "So yes, I believed him when he said he gave our son a little 'gift' on his head and killed him. I believed him when he said no one was going to look for me because I was dead for everyone. And I believed him when he said you had fallen in love with someone else who gave you the happiness that I couldn't give you. It was good to know you found your joy."
My heart squeezed tightly to the point it was about to burst. Guilt caved in for something we had no control over. While Leo and I were falling madly in love and making memories, she was dying under Astor's captivity.
"You asked me if I lost the child and I said yes. Simple answer to a simple question. I was trying to save you from the guilt you were already feeling, but I did not know he lived."
"Why didn't you tell me all this earlier? Your mother and the birth." Leo frustratedly slammed his hand down on the high table beside them.
"You stopped me from telling you anything else than I already did because you couldn't bear to listen to it anymore. And what would you have done? Bring them back to life?" Verona lowered her head and let out a strangled sob. "He can't be here," she mumbled. "They will kill him."
Leo's features were conflicted and downright distraught. "Who will?"
Verona elevated her reddened eyes and huffed, "Your enemies." She turned away from her husband and walked toward me. Gripping my upper arms tightly, she jerked me a little. "I need you to take care of the boy with your life. I believe you can do it." Gut-wrenching tears cascaded down her cheeks without any effort, tiny dews of sweat prominently forming on her forehead. The pain and fear behind her eyes were quite notable and almost tangible. "I'm not his mamma, you are and you will always be that for him. Run away with him if you need to because people won't even spare a child. Do you understand?" She jerked me again and demanded, "Tell me you will protect him as a mother. Please!"
I nodded vigorously despite still not being too comfortable with the fact that Lucian was their offspring. The way she was talking seemed off. She was out of breath, her chest heaving and hands trembling. Clear signs of a panic attack. Leo and I exchanged a quick look, and he understood what was going on at once.
"Verona." He came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Startled, she jumped and backed away from him. Leo lifted his hands in surrender and spoke softly. "Tesoro, there's nothing to worry about. The boy will be fine."
"No!" She shook her head vigorously while a hand rested on her chest. "They will kill him. We need to hide him. Fake his death."
"He will be safe. I promise you that." Leo walked closer and held onto her hands. "Trust me. Not even a fly will be able to get close to him."
"No. No. No," she chanted in complete hysterics. "They are everywhere and they are watching. They will kill him."
"Look at me," Leo commanded but Verona was too worked up to hear him out. He went ahead and cupped her face, forcing her wild eyes to meet his hard gaze. His voice was gentle but firm as he spoke in Italian. She responded in the same language, still unhinged from the revelation and fear.
Zee, Verona's personal maid, barged into the room after Leo called for her. The girl walked forward as Verona immediately distanced herself from Leo and let Zee wrap her arms around her body for comfort. Leo rubbed Verona's trembling back worriedly while I stood helplessly and watched Verona slowly calm down after Zee gave her a few pills to swallow with water.
Physically exhausted with her energy drained, Verona sat on the hospital bed and attempted to wipe her still running tears. "I wish to be alone," she mumbled, looking at Leo. "Per favore (Please)."
***
(Leo's POV)
Several minutes passed as I waited outside the hospital room before Zee finally walked out and closed the door behind her.
"The medications put her to sleep, sir. She will be out for a couple of hours," Zee informed me with lowered eyes.
"Just guard the door now."
"Yes, sir."
I walked away and sat in the empty stairwell, away from everyone to find some peace. The entire day had been draining and it still hadn't ended. Verona's mother had overdosed on an excessive amount of painkillers and I never specified that when I told Verona about her mother's death after she returned. Her reaction was stoic then and now I finally understood why. She already knew what had happened exactly. How was I so fucking blind?
Verona hadn't had a panic attack in years. She had gotten past it with the help of therapy and medication, but seeing her hysterical today threw her years back once again to when she was rescued.
Astor clouded all our visions with his brilliant act and I despised myself for ever calling that bastard a friend.
My head was buried in my hands as I contemplated how to handle all this. Two sons from two different women. One was my wife and the other was the woman I had fallen in love with. Fuck...
I heard someone walk up a couple of steps past the door that accessed the staircase and sit beside me, but I didn't bother looking up because I knew who it was.
Arie's saddened sigh filtered my ears nonchalantly. "How is she?"
"Extremely paranoid," I muttered. "The meds calmed her down."
Arie hummed and fell silent for a few minutes. "Leo..." she sighed my name with immense strain. "I'm ready to fight the entire world for my kids," she started the conversation. "But I can only fight for so long. Everyone knows I will lose the battle against you and your minions."
I rubbed my face wearily and turned my head to the side to look at her. Her brown eyes were hidden behind a thick layer of tears ready to fall. "What do you want from me?"
"I know you and Mike hate my guts for keeping it all a secret. I get it," she nodded and lowered her head. "You want to hurt me for the pain I caused you by walking away from you and then not telling you about our child. I get that too. But I will die if you rip them away from me completely. They're my babies." A tear swiftly shot down her cheek and soaked into the fabric of her pants. "Wish I had the balls to do it, but I-I..." She choked on her words, unable to keep her emotions at bay. "I can never kill you. And if you want the kids all to yourself, you will have to kill me first and end this battle here 'cause I'm losing my fucking mind."
Pulling out a handgun, she placed it on the step beside my foot. I picked up the weapon and discharged the magazine to see it filled with bullets which alluded to how serious she was regarding this.
After shoving the mag back in and positioning my body to face her better, I lifted the gun and aimed the muzzle for her head. I expected to see fear as I usually did when someone was at my mercy, but that wasn't the case for Arie. All I was met with pertained to heartbreak, sadness, and sheer exhaustion mixed with the tears that ran down her cheeks.
"End it," she whispered.
My heart, soul, and mind were a tattered mess to see her with a broken resolve and caving in under the intensity of everything. She didn't want to fight, but she also didn't want to watch the children be taken from her before her very eyes, so a bullet was her answer to the problem. She was much stronger than this. I knew it. She knew it. I'd rather have her rebel against me than give up so soon like this. This wasn't her. But to think she expected me to go through with this madness was preposterous.
"You really think I'll do it?"
"I don't know what to think anymore, Leo." Her quaking voice carried her pain. "Like I said, I'm losing my damn mind here."
With a huff, I grabbed her wrist and slammed the gun into her hand. "I'm angry, yes, but I still can't hurt you, Arie. You know that. All this just doesn't kill what we once had, the relationship we shared, or the promises I made to never hurt you." The anger in me was readily being replaced with frustration, sadness, and mostly a daunting feeling seeping in deep within my chest as I looked away. "I've always dealt with stress well and never let it cloud me, but things are happening too quickly. I just lost my brother and now I have two sons. Everyone keeps whispering in my ears about what to do, and I'm so fucking overwhelmed with all this shit."
"So am I," she sniffled. "Your wife, who I believed to be dead, is actually alive and so is the child that supposedly died with her whom I adopted not knowing he was your son. I should've been planning my wedding right now, but instead, I buried my fiancé yesterday. When I finally took a large step to move on from you, that chance was ripped from me. And now I may lose my children who are the only ones holding me together. So I'm way past sanity."
I met her reddened eyes and noticed the pain they held. It was odd how strongly I could feel it pouring out of her and seeping into me at the same time so we were both aching together. I quickly looked away to break the connection that was patching between us. It was too dangerous.
I cleared my throat and tried to change the subject. "You don't see Mike's anger, but it's bad when he does burst and he will do something irrational in the heat of the moment. I know how to handle him, but I need you to tell me everything starting with how you fooled us with Wendy's death. You owe us both the truth."
Arie sucked in a breath and leaned back against a step. "After Aunt Wendy was stabilized in the hospital, Ashton called Fred and he pulled some strings so that she could be declared dead on record. Bribed a nurse or two. The next day, we moved her to another hospital in New York as an unknown woman to be taken care of for a bit while Harry requested the hospital to shift her to the one she worked at in California. While the paperwork for that was being processed, we held the funeral. We invited everyone we knew and buried an empty casket to make everyone believe that she did die."
I shook my head, not with disappointment, but amusement. "I didn't think you had it in you."
"Well, I had a little help," she exhaled calmly. "With the drug, I assumed that Aunt Wendy must have lost the child and the doctors didn't find any fetal activity either, but we realized we were wrong a month or so later. Ana is my strong little girl and she pulled through. It was a difficult pregnancy with Aunt Wendy being in a coma and with her health starting to deteriorate, so we had to pull Ana out prematurely. Thankfully, they both survived."
"That's good." I smiled. "She's a cute little kid."
Arie snorted. "Cute but painful. She's sassy, stubborn, and a smart-ass at times."
"Sounds like you," I remarked.
"Runs in the family, I guess." She sighed with a lazy smile. "But she always lifts everyone's spirits. Whenever she's in the hospital, she hops into every room like a princess and talks to the patients as if they are her subjects and they all enjoy it. I'm not kidding when I say she gives them advice. It's shitty advice, but it's adorable. If I have a bad day, she makes me laugh."
"What about the boy?"
"Which one?" She glanced at me. "Lucian?"
"Why did you name him after me?"
"Because he reminded me of you," she said with a reminiscing smile stretching her lips. "I had taken Ana to her appointment at the children's hospital and I saw him in the daycare section with some other orphan kids. A few months later, I signed his adoption papers and brought him home. Little did I know, he was actually your son."
"And your... pregnancy?"
Her smile faltered a bit before she turned her gaze to me. "It wasn't entirely a lie, Leo. I was pregnant with twins and I lost one during the time I tried to save Ashton."
"So twins run in the family."
"I suppose." She detached her eyes from me and stared away at the wall. "The movies sugarcoat pregnancy. I was in pain all the time. I wanted to murder everyone around me. I'm surprised the stress didn't cause the miscarriage. Med school, pregnancy, and handling the situation with Aunt Wendy was killing me, but I was determined to do it on my own. I couldn't tell you or Mike after everything. The incident with Ashton had scared me even more."
Frowning, I couldn't help my displeasure from rising a bit, but I kept my tone calm. "You waited a long time."
"A part of me wanted to tell you so bad. I would start to pack my bags at times and think of running to you to be a family. Just you, me, and our baby. But I'd stop myself. I couldn't dive into the world of mafia again and risk everyone's lives, but I was too naïve to think I could escape it."
She released a shaky breath then bit her bottom lip to control her emotions. "Alon suffers from Barth Syndrome if you didn't already find out. It's a rare condition with dilated cardiomyopathy which is basically a weak heart. He was small when he was born and still is tiny for his age. He has weak muscles, and due to the lack of white blood cells, he is prone to getting infections too."
My chest tightened with distress. "Can it be treated?"
"He has tons of medication and I take precautions to care for him, but his meds are slowly failing." Her finger reached up to wipe a loose tear. "Affected individuals don't survive infancy or early childhood. And if they're lucky, some can even live up to their forties. But Alon is in early childhood phase right now and his immune system is growing weaker. It getting much harder to fight off infections which is why I had to shift him to the hospital. I'm even scared to touch him now so that I don't pass on anything."
I pulled out my phone. "I'll have the best doctors here right away."
Her hand grappled mine and stopped me from making the call. "I already have the best doctors here, Leo. There's no point in calling someone else."
"We can get a second opinion," I argued.
"I have consulted over twenty doctors from America and different countries too, but I've been getting the same answers. I've done everything," she sighed woefully, allowing tears to sear down her face. "I was waiting for him to get better to the point I could will myself to tell you. And maybe if Aunt Wendy woke up, I could reunite her with Mike and give Ana her parents, but neither happened. Instead..." Her voice shattered under immense misery, her facial features twisting painfully. "He's dying and there's nothing we can do."
She buried her face in her palms to stifle her cry. Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I pulled her into my chest and held her tightly. "Everything will be fine, Arie." Although I was trying to comfort her, I wasn't sure if everything would be alright after all. I could do many things that the majority couldn't yet I was helpless against the pain that plagued the people I loved. I couldn't take it away nor could I perform some sort of miracle to save my sick son.
I squeezed Arie further against my chest and kissed her head. "He isn't going anywhere. He still has to meet me."
"Staring at the kids isn't a good way to meet them," she mumbled which forced a half smile on my face.
"Well, I wanted to get the truth out of the both of you before I made contact with them." Loosening my grip, I let her slip away and wiped her tears with my fingers. "Take me to see them now, and I promise I will talk this time."
"You better."
She rose up and tucked the gun between her trousers as I followed her lead past the stairwell door and stopped. "Oh, fuck."
"What?" Arie wondered and watched a few men bow before me.
"Nonna is here."
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I hope this chapter sort of cleared your confusion from the previous chapter. If not, ask the questions and hope I can give you the answers.
This chapter was meant to have so much more. The kids, nonna, and everything, but that will have to wait for the next chapter now.
How do you think Mike will handle all of this? Will he forgive Arie?
Who expected all that from Verona? Is her paranoia reasonable?
And who thought Leo's conversation with Arie to go lightly?
How will the meeting between the kids and their fathers go?
Do you think Alon will survive?
How will the custody of the kids be handled?
And Nonna is here! What is she gonna do?
Thoughts on Verona?
Leo?
Or Arie?
Further comments and questions are always welcome ❤️
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Much love ❤️
~Reet