Luca #2
Snow has started falling by the time I pull up to Gabriella's. I’m let into the house and led to a family room.
Marco is lying on the floor with Sabina.
Admittedly, it’s a vision I never in a million years thought I’d see him do.
But more than that, my heart cries out that I didn’t get to lie on the floor with my babies.
Gabriella is wrapping presents. She looks up and her smile falters. "Luca? What's wrong?"
"I need to talk to you. It's important."
She studies my face for a moment before nodding. "Is it Dad?”
I feel bad for worrying her. “No.”
She lets out a relieved breath. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll get you a drink.”
“Anything you need me for?” Marco asks.
“No. Just brother-sister stuff.”
In her kitchen, I pace while she pours me whisky. “You learned something from that guy?”
“You could say that.” I take the drink she offers and down it.
She pours me another, and I sit at the table wondering what the fuck I’m going to do. "I learned things I wasn't prepared for. About Elena's children."
Gabriella's eyebrows lift. "What about them?" She sits next to me, giving me her full attention.
“Did anyone ever mention who her kids’ father is?” Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe someone else went to Italy. Hell, maybe the guy was from Italy.
“No one knows who he is. Not even Dom, as far as I can tell."
"Has she ever hinted at anything?”
Gabriella shakes her head. "All I know is that Elena was devastated after her father's arrest. Then you left, and she withdrew from everyone for months. By the time she resurfaced, she was already showing." She pauses, studying me. "Why the sudden interest in Elena's past?"
I avoid her gaze, staring into my whisky. "Just connecting dots."
"Luca." Her voice softens. "What did you find out in New Jersey?"
I’m not sure what to say. “I think I’m the father.”
The shock on her face is immediate. Her mouth opens, closes, then opens again.
"Elena and I were together before I left for Italy. I was going to ask her to marry me. I had it all planned. I was going to speak to Umberto that day, the same day he was arrested. I had the ring in my pocket."
Gabriella’s expression remains stunned.
“You don’t have to look so surprised. We grew up together, were friends.”
“I’m sorry, I just… I never knew. Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"We kept it a secret. At first, we were just having fun, you know? But then I fell for her. I thought she felt the same, but then she hated me. She believed I'd betrayed her father."
Gabriella does the math. “I guess that would work, timing-wise.”
“If they're mine, she kept them from me—"
"You need to talk to her," Gabriella says firmly. “She might have had a good reason.”
Gabriella’s words sting. “A good reason not to tell me about my kids?”
She rubs my back. “Things were crazy back then. You know that. Of course, I’m not sure what her excuse could be for not telling you once Aldo kicked the bucket. You need to ask her to find out if it’s true and why she kept it from you if it is.”
I nod. “I’m so fucking mad…”
“I know.”
I turn to look at her. “And hurt.” I press my hand over my chest, where the pain feels like it’s settling in to be there forever.
“I’m sorry. If they're yours, they're Monti heirs. The first of the next generation. You have rights, Luca. I’m not a family lawyer, but I know one who can help. Hopefully, Elena will be reasonable."
I shake my head. "I don't know if I can forgive her for this.”
"You don't have to decide that now." Gabriella takes my hand. "First, learn the truth.”
I down my whisky and with renewed determination, I head to Elena’s home.
It’s dark now, and the reflection in my windows from Christmas lights seems to show images of missed milestones, missed holidays.
Six years of moments stolen from me, if they're truly mine.
The anger rises, hotter, until it feels like I might explode.
How could she?
Even if she hated me, even if she believed I betrayed her father, those children deserved to know their father.
I deserved to know my children.
I imagine she’ll say she was protecting them.
If Aldo was willing to destroy his own brother, what would he have done to Umberto's grandchildren fathered by the man he framed?
Still, the justification does nothing to soothe the open wound pulsing inside me.
They're walking, talking, thinking little people now, people I should have protected, guided, loved.
People who've lived their entire lives without knowing half of who they are.
I pound on Elena's door.
Each second she doesn't answer feeds the inferno raging inside me.
When the porch light finally flicks on and the door swings open, Elena's surprised expression, first confused, then alarmed, sets me off.
I push past her into the hallway. "Were you ever going to tell me? Or was your plan to let me die without ever knowing I’m a father?"
Elena's face drains of color. “Luca—”
“Tell me!”
"Keep your voice down," she hisses, closing the door. "The kids—"
"My kids, Elena? Are they mine?"
Her silence is answer enough, and my soul breaks.
This woman I would have laid my life down for has betrayed me in the worst way possible.
I love her still.
God help me, I do.
But I don’t want to.
Not anymore.