Chapter 129

Christian stood in front of the same mansion he had been trying to avoid, but if he wanted to get back with Serena, he had to make peace with everyone involved.

He felt embarrassed, weak, and terrible-but yet here he was, in front of the mansion where Gina used to live. He was going to be a good person, and he was going to do it the right way.

He knocked on the door, which got opened rather quickly. “Austin,” Christian spoke. “I want to say that it’s nice to meet you, but you probably want to kill me.”

“Yes.” Austin chuckled. “I actually don’t really know what you’re doing here.”

Austin still stepped aside to let him in, and Christian felt guilty because he could see that Austin was a person who respected him. “I had to come over to give you a proper apology.” Christian began.

“What I did was wrong, unforgivable, and if I had known she was married, things wouldn’t even have gone that far “So you didn’t know?” Austin asked, surprised. Christian felt terrible for having to break his heart all over again, but also he deserved to know the truth. “No, I didn’t know-and I’m sorry” Christian apologized.

“What’s even worse is that I came to your house and lied to your face while you’ve been nothing but nice “It’s fine.” Austin smiled. “I don’t blame you, and what’s done has been done, so.”

“Right, anyway, I still want to apologize.”

“I should’ve believed that guy.” Austin sighed as Christian’s eyes went big. “What guy?” Christian immediately asked. He had a good idea of what guy he meant. Could it be?

“I don’t remember, someone came here a while ago and told me about what happened-he said he was your family and that it was for your own good-”

“What?” Christian chuckled. “Dario?”

“Yes!” Austin spoke. “That’s his name. He was even looking for a good lawyer and offered me a job.

I don’t even know why I’m telling you all of this.”

“No, please keep talking,” Christian spoke. He couldn’t understand what Dario was trying to achieve. “No. I don’t want to speak ill of your friend. I don’t mess with your kind. Austin chuckled.

“Did he give you back a ring?”

“What ring?” Christian asked, confused. “The ring your ex-fiancée left on the road? I gave it to him so he could give it back to you?”

Christian looked at the guilty look on Austin’s face and decided to play around with his game. “Yes, he gave it back-very thoughtful of you.” He spoke as he was trying to process this new information.

Dario went as far as talking to Austin and threw the ring away, but everything had backfired. Until now, every single plan had backfired.

“He’s not that good of a villain,” Christian muttered under his breath. “I should go, but thanks for accepting my apology.” He greeted Austin and took off.

He went to the person who he trusted the most, Marc. After hearing Dario had been asking questions about his late uncle, he was unsure of whether he could trust Johnny and Luca and was still trying to put the pieces together.

“Wow, he really hates you.” Marc chuckled after hearing the whole story. “I don’t see him as a threat, but I want to deal with him before he gets too crazy.”

“Do you want me to get rid of him for you?” Marc suggested. “What? No?” Christian stopped him.

“Serena likes him, and she’ll never look at me the same.”

“Why do you even let her hang out with him? Just tell her the truth.” Marc shrugged, but to Christian, it wasn’t that easy. “Because I don’t want to stress her out, and he’s actually helping her out-because that idiot really likes her and Serena, you know how she is-she won’t listen.”

“Besides that.” Christian sighed. “I don’t have to worry about her telling anything she shouldn’t because I never told her anything.”

“Obviously.” Marc chuckled. “Whenever you said you had to go to work,’ the poor girl had no clue.”

“But it’s cute.” Christian smiled. “That’s why I fell for her.”

“Oh no, here we go again.” Marc laughed. “It’s true, though.” Christian spoke. “My family thinks sh too much, but I disagree, and I actually appreciate her not running her mouth or asking me too m questions.”

“I guess. I like that about her too.” Marc agreed. “Judging by the smile on your face, I assume everything. went well yesterday?”

Did it? Christian thought to himself. They did have an excellent time, but not everything went as expected. Serena was playing hard to get and was trying to deny her feelings. “She called me her friend.”

“No, not a friend!” Marc burst out laughing. “You still have a long way to go.”

“I do” Christian agreed. “But she’s allowing me to see Siena whenever I want and when she finds out about Isobel, I’ll be one step closer to getting her back.”

“You’re funny.” Marc laughed. “I’ve known you for such a long time, but I never imagined you would run behind a woman like that.”

Christian smiled at Marc’s words. He had never expected to do something like that, but he also never expected to dedicate his life to a daughter. A lot had changed. “Serena is not just any woman.

You know that.”

“I know. She’s one of a kind.” Marc spoke. “Anyway, she’s adorable, and you all look very adorable-

but let’s get back to Dario for a second.”

“Do you already know where we have to start looking?”

“No,” Christian admitted. “He obviously has people everywhere, so I don’t want to make the wrong move, and I don’t want to ask my dad because I want him to rest. I can’t ask Johnny and Luca-I’m stuck.”

“Hmm.” Marc hummed. “What about Serena?”

“No, forget it-we keep her out of this!” Christian spoke. “We’re finally getting along. I’m not going to send her out on some special mission, and she won’t do it because she actually likes the guy.”-

Christian couldn’t even think to let Serena do something like that when they already had their own stuff to deal with. “I also don’t want to wipe him out because Serena clearly likes his company. I just want to know what his problem is so I can fix it.”

“You might not know it, but Serena is willing to do a lot for you.” Mare chuckled. “And how about you just ask Dario what his problem is-

“So I can provoke him even more and let him see that his plan to get to me is working?”

“Good point.” Marc spoke. “How about you ask your grandpa? I’m sure you must have your own theory as to why Dario was so interested in your uncle.”

“Yes, I do have a theory,” Christian spoke. “But that theory will only make matters worse, so I’m keeping it to myself.”

If what Christian thought turned out to be accurate, it would potentially ruin the family. Christian was not the one to believe in conspiracy theories, but something told him that Dario Orlando might just be Dario Lamberti. “I’ve been thinking.” Christian sighed.

T “What if my uncle had another son?” He whispered, embarrassed of his own statement. “What?”

Marc chuckled. “Don’t act crazy.”

“I’m not. I’m serious,” Christian spoke. “He had tons of different relationships before he met my What if Dario is somehow his eldest son and is out to take over my life?”

“See, I want to say that you’re going crazy. Marc started. “But if that’s true, everything would’ve technically gone to him and not you-so that makes a lot of sense.”

“Wasn’t your uncle married before he met Johnny and Luca’s mom?”

aunt.

“Yes, he had one wife before-but she passed away, and the only way to find out more about that is if we go around and ask questions-

“Then we’ll do that,” Marc suggested. “You shouldn’t sit around and do nothing until the situation gets worse. It would be best if you did something about it now. You’ve already learned from your mistake with Serena, so don’t make the same mistake again.”

“You’re right.” Christian agreed. Not taking any action was the very reason why things did not end well in the first place. Why would he repeat the same mistake?

“So, do you want to go tomorrow?” Marc asked. Christian shook his head. “Serena and Siena are coming over tomorrow. I don’t want to cancel.”

“You mean, you don’t want to miss the look on her face when she hears about Juno Sala turning around his orders and her brother and Isobel living happily ever after?”

“Yes.” Christian smiled. “Everything will be back to normal by tonight, and I want to see her reaction tomorrow.”

“Also, quick question,” Marc asked. “Why did I receive an invitation to a family shoot?”

“That’s easy, because you’re family.” Christian spoke. Inviting Mare to be part of the shoot was not a difficult decision, and Lucio wanted him there. “You’re not a Lamberti in name, but you’re one at heart.”

“I don’t really know if I want to be,” Marc commented while Christian gave him an offended look.

“What? Don’t blame me.” Marc spoke. “Even the Lamberti’s don’t want to be Lamberti’s.”

“Are we talking about the possibility of Dario being a Lamberti, or are we talking about me?”

Christian laughed. “Both.” Marc shrugged.

The two get interrupted by the sound of Christian’s phone. “Who’s blowing up your phone like that?”

Marc commented as Christian reached for his phone and opened the text messages, “It’s Serena.” He smiled as he went through the pictures of Siena. He couldn’t wait to hold her in his arms again. “We can’t wait to see you tomorrow!’ Christian read and turned around his phone to show it to Marc.

“We?” Marc questioned. “Look at you. It seems like things are really working out for you!”

“I told you, they are.” Christian smiled. “The only thing getting in the way of us are our families and Dario.

“I’m actually looking forward to this shoot,” Marc confessed. “Lucio brought the two families together, and the poor man doesn’t even know about everything that’s been going on. Don’t you think it’s risky?”

“Is it?” Christian asked. “We all agreed not to do anything around Lucio, so we’ll be fine…I think.”

“How are you even going to make it work with Serena when your families can’t even walk through the same door?” Marc asked. “You know her family hates you for a reason, right?”

“Yes, I know. Thanks for reminding me. Marc.” Christian rolled his eyes. “As you know, I’m working on it.”

Although Christian couldn’t take back his words, he still felt awful and wished it had never happened. Did he hate the Alfonzo’s? No, hate was a big word-and he grew up with them. Why would he even hate them, when they were the ones who had every right to hate him?

Christian couldn’t forget about the look on Serena’s face and knew that her feelings were still there.

She never told him to give up on her, so he wouldn’t.

The only thing he didn’t know was how he was going to earn the Alfonzo’s forgiveness.

There was one thing he did know, and that was that he was going to fight for Serena and would continue to do so tomorrow.

All he wanted was to reunite with Serena and Siena.