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“Thank you,” she whispers. “Maybe we can catch up later. I know you’ll have a lot of questions, and I understand that you’re angry. You have every right to be, but you have to understand that Anthony doesn’t know who you are.”
Wrong fucking thing to say. “And who’s fault is that?”
She flinches at the anger in my voice.
“Give me your address,” I demand. “I’ll swing by in an hour. You’re not there, Gabriella, and we’re going to have bigger problems than we already do.”
She trembles but nods. She rattles off her address, and I grit my teeth.
“We’ll be there,” she promises me. But her promises mean nothing to me right now. She’s kept my child from me for the past four years. That’s something I’ll never forget.
I watch as she climbs into her vehicle and drives out of the driveaway. I make a mental note of her license plate, something I’ll send to Thomas. I’ll have him do a deep dive. We have her address, and we have her tags. That should be more than enough for him to dig deep into her life.
A hand clamps down on my shoulder.
“Talk to me, Ales,” Rome says. There’s a tightness in his voice. He’s just as pissed as I am.
“She’s got my son, Rome. She disappeared, and she never said a fucking word.”
His fingers tighten. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get my family,” I tell him. Even after this shit, I still want her. I need to find out why she thought keeping him from me was a good idea. Something she should have never done. But from what I know of Gabriella, she’s sweet, caring, and loving. Why the fuck would she do this?
“Yeah?” he asks in disbelief. “The woman kept your kid from you.”
I pin my brother with a glare. “I know,” I hiss. “I fucking know what she’s done, Rome, but we’ve not spoken properly, and when we do, I’ll make a judgement then.”
“Alessio?” The gentle voice pulls my attention from my brother. I turn and see Raylee standing with Malcolm at her side. She’s wringing her hands together.
“I know what she’s done isn’t right. Hell, she knows that too. But Gabby’s had a pretty hard couple of years. She’s not always had the best relationship with her father. She wanted better for her child. She wanted to give Anthony the best life she could,and she made a choice, one that I’m sure she debated a lot over making. But ultimately, she made a choice to protect her son. Something no one can fault her for.”
“She kept my son from me, Raylee. There’s no justifying that.”
She nods, but her lips purse. “She waited for you,” she tells me, and I bite back the flinch. “Six weeks, she waited for you. The day she found out she was pregnant, she was done waiting. So how about you take a moment to think about how you two began and what you promised her before you judge?” she snaps, and glares at me. “Do not hurt my best friend again, Alessio.”
I smirk. “Is that a threat?”
She shakes her head. “It’s a goddamn promise.” She turns on her heel and storms back into the house.
Her husband, on the other hand, stays back. “I’ve known Gabriella for a while now. She’s a great ma to your boy, Alessio. What she’s done…” he pauses. “It’s done. There’s nothing that can change it. Just as there’s no way to change the way you disappeared and never returned,” he says pointedly, and I’m pretty sure he’s acting like a big brother right now. “But you have a son. A little boy who’ll be fucking delighted he’s got his dad.”
He’s right. Anthony is the most important thing right now.
“If you think you can walk into Gabby’s home and dictate what’s going to happen, you’ve got another thing happening. Gabby can and will disappear again, especially if she thinks you’re going to take her son away from her.”
“Why are you telling him this?” Rome asks, and I’m fucking glad one of us is able to speak right now.
“Because Alessio needs to realize that she owes you nothing. To her, you were a guy she fucked a couple of times, and you left without a trace. No number, nothing. But you’ve also got to contend with Gabby’s father. That man isn’t going to take too kindly to you knocking up his daughter.”
“Her father?” I echo, wondering what the hell Thomas has missed. The man never uncovered her father’s identity. He’s a fucking ghost.
“Yes, her father. Just prepare yourself, Alessio. She’s not going to be welcoming to you.” He grins at me. “Good luck though. You’re going to need it.”
“I’ll call you once I’ve spoken to her,” I tell Rome, needing to get my shit together and go see her.
He hands me the key to his rental. “I can’t wait to meet my nephew,” he tells me and slaps me on the back.
I take a deep breath and climb into the car. Fuck, I’m going to see my son.
