Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Gabriela
Meeting Gianluca and his son was something I wasn’t expecting when I got here.
And when Fiorella said I might be able to meet the hockey team, it sounded like Gianluca didn’t like that.
It made me smile because I can just imagine how many women want to meet him.
And right now? I don’t want any of them to get near him.
Which is crazy because I literally just met him.
“Gianluca seems like a really nice guy.” I say to Simone.
“He is and he’s a really great papà to Giancarlo.”
“Where’s Giancarlo’s mom?”
“She…um—”
“It’s okay if you can’t tell me.”
“Faith passed away seven months ago.” Fiorella says as she joins us.
“That’s really sad. They must miss her a lot.”
“Giancarlo misses her, but she and my brother weren’t together. It’s a really long story and one I’m sure he’ll tell you if you ask him.” She smiles at me.
I nod. I get it, it’s his story to tell and I respect that. Maybe one day he’ll tell me about Faith.
“Soooo, is your brother single?” I grin at her.
“I knew it!”
“You knew what?” a woman asks as she comes into the bakery.
“Gabriela, this is my cugina, Giovanna and her adorable babies, Rowan and Lorcán. Oh and that’s Declan. Gia, this is Gabriela. And she likes Luca.”
Declan laughs as he shakes his head at Fiorella. He heads to the display case so that Rowan can pick out a treat.
“It’s really nice to meet you, we’ve been waiting for you to get here.” Giovanna says as she hugs me.
“It’s nice to meet you too, your sons are so cute. And I never said I liked Luca.”
“Please. I know that look you were giving each other.”
“What look?”
“That dreamy eyed look that people around here get when they meet the person they’re supposed to be with.”
“You’re crazy.” I laugh.
“You’re right about that. Rella is the crazy Mancini. You have to learn to just accept her the way she is.”
“Hmph. I take offense to that. I’m the best Mancini in the family. Just ask Cillian.”
Declan snorts from where he’s standing.
“You stay out of this.” She points at him as she rolls her eyes.
“I’m pretty sure I’m married to the best Mancini in the family.” He says as he kisses Giovanna.
“You two are icky.”
“Like you and Cillian aren’t like this.” Giovanna sticks her tongue out.
“We’re discrete.”
Grady and Marco, Giovanna and Fiorella’s bodyguards both burst out laughing.
“Discrete my ass.” Marco laughs.
“Omg. You’re supposed to defend me.”
“No, I’m here to protect you. There’s a difference and right now? No one’s attacking you so I’m doing my job.”
I laugh as I listen to them and look at Diego. He’s laughing and it seems like he’s enjoying his time here too. And even though I’m not saying it out loud, I’m sure the Mancini I like? He’s the best one. The next few hours gets busy again and I love it. All of a sudden it’s time to see my boys.
“Giancarlo is really cute. Is he always so friendly?” I ask as we start to close up the bakery.
“No, he’s usually pretty shy and he never really talks to new people. But he really likes you.” Rosaura smiles at me.
“I really like him too. I just want to hug and squeeze him.”
“We feel the same way about him.” She laughs.
It takes all of us almost an hour to get the pastries put away. I make sure to grab a few apple strudels for Gianluca. As I’m putting them in a box, I see all three of the mamà’s watching me and smiling. It’s a little weird.
We head back to the property. The first thing I hear when we get into the house is Giancarlo screaming.
I don’t know why, but I run towards his voice and see Gianluca holding him and rocking him.
The look on Gianluca’s face is heartbreaking.
He looks like he wants to fix whatever’s making Giancarlo sad, but he can’t.
Just as I turn to leave, I hear a little voice say my name and I feel a tug on my hand.
I turn back around and see Giancarlo looking up at me.
“Can I have a hug?” he sniffles.
I look at his papà and he nods. So I pick him up and hug him.
“Did you have a bad dream?” I ask him softly.
He nods as he lays his head on my shoulder.
“I miss my mama.” He sniffles more.
I look at Gianluca as I hold his son tight.
His sobs are breaking my heart, I wish I could take away the hurt he’s feeling.
As I’m swaying with him in my arms, Gianluca gets up and wraps his arms around both of us.
I’ve never felt so much love from someone before.
The pain in his eyes is obvious and I hope Faith knows how much she means to them.
Gianluca
Watching my son take to Gabriela so fast is incredible.
I haven’t been able to fully sooth him when he wakes up crying.
No one has. But somehow she has, in one day, she’s somehow made him feel secure when no one else could.
When I wrap my arms around them, I feel like my family is complete.
She’s the piece we’ve been missing. And I’m not letting her go.
I kiss the top of her head and hold them both tighter.
I’ve never wanted to be with just one person.
It’s hard to know if a woman is with me because they really want me or because I’m Gianluca Mancini, third baseman for the Chicago Panthers.
And now because the story’s gotten out about Faith and Giancarlo, there have been women claiming to have my kid too.
It’s been a nightmare. But with Gabriela?
I know she doesn’t want me for my fame. She doesn’t even seem to care that I play baseball.
I just wish I knew if she felt the same way I do.
We hear my sister yelling to everyone that we have one hour to get ready and I chuckle.
“I love your sister. She’s so funny.” Gabriela laughs.
She hasn’t tried to leave my arms. I love holding her.
“I squishy.” Giancarlo giggles.
I look down at him and kiss his face. Then I take the chance and kiss Gabriela. I hear Carlo giggling as I pull back. Gabriela’s smiling at me. Thank god.
“Kissy.” Carlo claps at us.
“I think he likes me kissing you.” I say as I kiss her again.
“I like you kissing me too.” She smiles more at me.
“I KNEW IT!” Fiorella yells as she pokes her head in Giancarlo’s room.
Shit.
She comes over and takes Giancarlo from Gabriela.
“I’m going to take him to the bathroom and we’ll meet you both downstairs.” She says as she grins at us.
After they leave, I pull Gabriela closer to me.
“Thank you for helping me with Carlo. No one’s been able to sooth him after he wakes up crying.”
“You’re welcome. He’s such a great little boy, it broke my heart to hear him crying.”
“He’s had a rough seven months.”
“Fiorella said you both lost his mamà?”
I nod and take her hand, leading her to my room to talk. If she’s going to be in our lives, she should know what Carlo’s dealing with. She sits on my bed as I sit next to her. I keep hold of her hand.
“Seven months ago, Faith was coming to Lake Renegade to tell me about Giancarlo. Wait. Let me back up a little more. I dated Faith three years ago. I never knew she was pregnant, I don’t take chances with anyone.
So when we broke up, I never would’ve thought she’d show up with my kid.
But she did. When she was on her way, she got into a car accident.
Giancarlo was with her, but he wasn’t hurt.
But Faith…there was nothing they could do for her.
So she spent the last hours she had with him and with me.
Before she passed, she told me about what happened.
And I forgave her for keeping him from me.
I get why she did it, but there was another man who thought Carlo was his.
But the shit part is he was abusive and he’s never tried to find him. ”
“I don’t want to sound insensitive—”
“You’re wondering if Giancarlo’s mine?”
She nods. “I mean I think he looks just like you, but…”
“It’s okay, I wondered too. In fact everyone did. But we did a DNA test and he’s mine. I didn’t know how he would deal with losing Faith. But he’s really good with me. Faith told me that Carlo never called the other guy papà. But he’s been calling me that from the first day.”
“It’s like he knew you were his papà.”
I smile. “That’s what I thought too. So I do worry that he’ll come and cause trouble.
But you know who my family is and what we do.
So at the same time, I’m not worried. But I wanted you to know about Faith.
She was a really nice person. And she didn’t leave me because she hated me, she just couldn’t deal with the women that try to come around.
But I don’t want you to worry about that.
There’s no one I’m with…except you. I want to be with you. ”
Gabriela frowns at me. “Why me? You don’t even know me.”
“My son chose you. The way he acts with you, he’s never acted around anyone else. And when I first met you, I just knew. I knew I wanted to get to know you, to be with you.”
“But I’m not staying here for good. I’m going back home eventually.”
I frown. “I’ll convince you that this is where you belong. Here with me and with Giancarlo.”
“And what if I can’t deal with the women?”
“You’re strong and I know you can. I promise you, I’d never cheat on you with anyone. And if any woman says I am? She’s lying. I can also say that if I cheated on anyone? My mamà would kick my ass. She’d never be okay with me cheating on a woman.”
Gabriela laughs. “I believe that. And yes. I want to see where this goes with you. I do feel that you’re someone I want to be with. And like you, I’ve never really felt that before.”
I lean in and kiss her again. This is becoming my favorite thing to do.
“Whoa. Okay. Time to go. Carlo told mamà you two are fish. When she asked him what he was talking about, he made a kissy face. So your secret is out. Now let’s go. We have a hockey game to get to.” Fiorella says as she pushes us out of my room.
When we get downstairs, my mamà has the biggest smile on her face. I laugh and shake my head.