The house had been pandemonium once all the relatives knew the story of who he was. My girls have no idea what happened to their mother. All they knew about her life in Sicily was that her mother had been dead for a long time, and she was looking for her father, who’d gone missing a long time ago. I never knew what they thought of the story, but it’s been years since they even brought it up.
My own parents have been nothing short of wonderful, accepting the old man into the fold like a long-lost friend and making sure he was comfortable. Gianna’s grandmother went above and beyond to welcome him as well, as the family fawned over him. He seemed a bit shellshocked, as is to be expected, I guess, and everyone is pretty much on a high.
Me, I’m celebrating something else inside. Not only because my wife has finally been reunited with her father, but because I’d been wrong about my boy. I almost did a little jig in the room by myself. So, this is what he’d been up to all along, and here I was thinking the worst. I enjoyed that little fantasy for all of ten minutes before Denver, and the others sought me out. “What is it?”
“Ah, there might be a bit of a problem.”
“What sorta problem? What’re you talking about?” They looked at each other, and I got a bad feeling in my gut.
“We don’t know what happened; he seemed fine after going to the convent.…” |
“Convent? What convent?”
“Oh, yeah, we went to a convent before we went to pick up your father-in-law.”
“Who did he see there?”
“We’re not sure; it might’ve been a nun. Anyway, after leaving there, we went straight to the place where the old man was staying.”
“Do you remember the place, the convent?”
“Yes, we wrote down all the information. That’s not the problem, though.”
“Spit it out, Marcus.”
“As Denver was saying, Gabe seemed fine on the way there and even heading back, but halfway to the plane, something changed.”
“Like what?” Again, with the looking at each other shit.
“He went…cold.”
“Ice!”
“Arctic!”
“Siberia!”
“Well, shit!”
GABRIEL
“Hey, are you okay? So, this is why you’ve been acting so strange, huh.” I knew she would come; knew she would search me out. I didn’t reply when she rested her head on my shoulder, just kept gazing up at the sky where my attention had been for the last half an hour since I’d made my escape. I’m happy for Ma, grandpa, and even the twins. But his arrival means something totally different to me than it does them.
My big dilemma now is that I’ll have to change up my plan of attack. I should be happy that that’ll mean I get to live longer, much longer, but I’m not, not really. I’ve had my mind made up long ago on what steps needed to be taken. I knew exactly what I was going to do. But now, not only are there more players than expected, but I also have to do more groundwork.
Taking Ricci out would’ve been easy; what my mind has started formatting since talking to the nun is not. Now I also have to think really hard about what I want to do about her and I. It’s not lost on me that my first thought when I accepted the change was that it would give me more time with her, but that’s selfish, and I’ve never been selfish with Gianna, not intentionally anyway.
There was a lot to think about; I just can’t get my head around it all right now, not with everything else that’s going on. I’m itching to get back home so I can get started on the new plan that’s been forming in my head. I wish I was the type to relax and sit on my laurels for a bit, basking in the pleasure of having found grandpa after all these years, but I’m not.
Instead, I’ve been standing out here on the stone terrace that overlooked one of the many gardens deep in thought. I was so lost in thought I turned my head just barely and placed my lips against her forehead.
Her sigh of relief made me feel like an ogre; I knew what that meant. No doubt she’d felt me slipping away from her these past few days. That simple gesture may have just undone all my attempts at putting space between us.
Neither of us spoke as we stood in silence. I hadn’t planned on making the final break here in Paris; no way would I taint her experience here with heartbreak. But I’d planned on doing so in a few days after we returned home after she’d had some time to deal with the fallout from her dad being arrested. My dilemma now is, should I still carry out those plans now that I have more time? Or should I wait for some distant time in the future?
The unselfish part of me that loves her to my core says to make a clean break now; it’s what’s best. The selfish part, the part that keeps me up at night, not wanting to let go, says hold on a little bit longer. But then there’s what I’m planning on doing and the danger involved, not to mention the time. I have so many other things to rearrange, and just because I’ve reunited Ma with her dad doesn’t mean anything else has changed. Just the timing.
“Are you all packed for tomorrow?” I finally spoke to her, and she lifted her head from my shoulder.
“Yes!”
“What did you do today?”
“We went sightseeing, of course, then did more shopping, and eating, then Lance took us back to see the Eiffel Tower when it got dark outside.”
That last sentence had a bit of an accusatory hint to it, which I ignored. I have no doubt I’ll be hearing from him too. He’d been quiet since my return, choosing to hang back while the others talked with grandpa, but I knew from the look he gave me that he was pissed.
There’s also Pop to handle, but I already know what needs to be done with him. Believe it or not, he’s simple. The fact that I’m about to use his love and trust in me can’t be helped. But in the end, he’ll realize why I had to do what I did.
“Let’s go back inside; it’s getting a bit chilly out here.” I took her hand in mine and walked her back inside, wishing I could relax enough to enjoy a simple thing like that. I’m more wound up now than I had been before.
When it was just Ricci on my hitlist, or more like before I knew the truth about that night, things were pretty much cut and dry. I knew what I needed to do and made my peace with it.
Now that I know the horror, the degradation my mother had faced at the hands of these people, no way am I going to let any of them live longer than it’s going to take for me to hunt them down and slaughter them.
But even that’s too easy, too straightforward. I want these people to suffer in the worst ways possible, and I want them to know why before they take their last breath.
I took her inside and up to her room. “I have to go see Pop; I’ll be back to tuck you in.” Another kiss to her forehead, and I left. I walked down the long hallway in search of the room he and Ma were sharing, putting my game face on as I reached the door. I know Ma was with grandpa down the hall, but I hadn’t expected the ninja turtles to come filing out of the suite where Pop was.
I gave them a slight smirk, having already guessed what they’d been up to. “Hi guys, thanks for today. You did me a solid.” I pounded fists with each of them, disarming them with a smile. Now, these guys may know martial arts and excel and various fighting techniques, but their minds don’t work like mine. I can run circles around them all day, every day, like now. They’re looking at me and each other in confusion because I went from cold to hot; amateurs.