Chapter 141

“It’s not too late to run away” Emilio laughed at his own joke, but it didn’t get through to me. It was Siena’s weekly visit at the Lamberti estate, and because Matteo did not want to let me go alone.

Emilio joined me this time.

I was trying to keep it together, but I couldn’t. I was still rerrified and confused about why a man who was supposed to be dead was supposedly alive and did not know to process it I had not closed a single eye and was terrified for my life.

My bedroom light remained on last night, and I literally ran to the bathroom with my eyes closed.

That was how terrified 1 was, and the worst thing was that I had no one to talk to, other than Christian and Marc, who also did not have a solid explanation.

“Hello, is anyone in there?” Emilio joked and grabbed Milo’s hand to hold it against my head. “Huh, yes?” I spoke. “I’m so sorry. I was just thinking”

“About what?” Emilio asked and pushed Milo into my arms so he could grab Siena out of the car. “I was thinking about how cute my little nephew is.” I cooed and pinched him in his cheek.

“Cute,” Milo repeated with a cute smile on his face. I felt guilty for bringing him here, but I did not feel like spending my day with grumpy Lamberti’s, and they loved Milo as much as they loved Siena-so asking Emilio to bring him along was for the best.

“Look who’s there.” Emilio sighed as he glared at the door. My eyes followed his until they met Christian’s “I thought he stopped smoking,” Emilio spoke.

“I thought so too,” I whispered as I observed the troubled look on Christian’s face. If I was terrified. I could not begin to think about how he must’ve felt after hearing his uncle might still be alive. The worst thing was that he had to process all of this on his own.

“Chrissie!” Milo yelled and pointed his tiny finger in his direction. Christian’s eyes widened, and he threw away the cigarette. “Milo, Christian’s a bad guy.” Emilio scoffed, but Milo thought otherwise, and so did I “No.” Milo laughed at his dad. Milo was right, Emilio was hilarious, Christian was a lot but he was not a bad guy. “Come on, let’s go-and be nice,” I warned Emilio. The best thing would’ve been to pull Siena from his arms so I could give her to Christian myself. Christian was already going through enough, and the last thing he needed was a scolding from my brother.

“Chrissie!” Milo cheered and kicked with his feet. “Down!”

I gave Milo what he wanted and put him down on his feet so he could run into Christian’s arms.

“Why do children love him so much? He isn’t even that nice.” Emilio spoke, annoyed, as I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”

A smile grew on my face at the sight of Christian and Milo. It was obvious that Christian was not in a good mood, but he was good at playing pretend and put on a happy face for Milo. “I’m begging you to be nice,” I whispered in Emilio’s cars.

I should’ve taken Marcello with me. Marcello was good at being two-faced, just like his girlfriend Maddie, and wouldn’t show his anger towards Christian, at least not in his face. “Emilio,” Christian spoke with a forced smile on his face.

The two used to be close until I came into the picture. The first time I met my brother we were right here. at the Lamberti estate. He even told me that Christian was like family to him, and I ruined it with my presence. “Christian.” Emilio glared at him.

“I can take my daughter from here, thank you,” Christian spoke and grabbed Siena from his hands.

Emilio’s fists were clenched, but he managed to take a deep breath and calmed himself down as Christian led us inside.

We walked into the house and made our way upstairs. Christian was always happy to see Siena, but he seemed off today. He seemed exhausted and confused, but I couldn’t blame him. I felt the same way.

“How about you take her to Lucio so I can talk with Christian?”

“Why would you want to talk to Christian?” Emilio frowned, but the frown had quickly changed after to a nod. “Milo, let’s go.” He sighed. “Your aunt is scary when she’s angry.”

“Bad Serena.” Milo smiled. Emilio grabbed Siena and opened the door. “Yes, bad Serena.” He repeated.

I waited until the door was closed before I took a step closer and reached my hand to hold Christian’s. His gaze was glued down to the floor, and he almost seemed like a living corpse. “Are you okay? Did you even sleep?” I asked and squeezed his hand.

“I’m fine…does this mean you care about me?” Christian chuckled, but I was not in the mood for his flirty remarks. “Do you know more about your unc-” I started, but before I could finish my sentence Christian looked me in the eyes and covered my mouth with his hands.

“Not here. We’ll discuss it tomorrow.” He whispered. “Tomorrow?” I confirmed. “That’s fine. I’ll stop by tomorrow.”

“I know you don’t want to discuss it here, but do you think that lady might be telling the truth?” I wondered.

The look on Christian’s face was heartbreaking. If everything that lady told us would turn out to be the truth, it would not only mean that his dad and his grandpa were liars but also that Christian’s uncle, who he had spoken so highly of, was his enemy in disguise. “I don’t know, but I just want to focus on Siena for now,” Christian mumbled.

Christian looked exhausted, and it broke my heart because there was nothing I could do to take away his pain. “I don’t like seeing you like this,” I spoke and pulled him into a hug. He seemed surprised and flustered by my gesture, but it didn’t take long before he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Maybe I should be sad more often.” Christian smiled. We could never have a serious moment, but this time I didn’t care. I needed to see him smile. His smile mattered to me the most.

Whether Dario was a bad person or not, he still had a hand in all of this and it bothered me. Things would’ve never turned out like this, if Dario wasn’t in town.

Even though I was somewhat grateful, I also felt terrible. Dario didn’t care about me, all he cared about was ruining Christian and that was the only reason why he told met about Gina. It was all to get to Christian.

“Let me look at you. You look worse than me.” Christian chuckled as he cupped my cheeks with his hands. “Look at these eye bags. And you’re worrying about me?”

“How could I even close an eye after hearing a dead person might still be alive?” I asked and noticed how the look on Christian’s face had slowly changed. “Wait, are you okay?” He asked, worried.

I shook my head and took a deep breath. “No, I’m not. I might start smoking too. This is all a little bit too much for me!”

“I know.” Christian sighed. “And I’m sorry that you can’t share it with anyone, but it’s for the best to handle this situation quietly. I don’t want it to get to my father.”

“Neither do I.” I agreed. All I wanted was for Lucio to live his last moments in peace, and that would only happen if we kept our mouths shut. That was the only way. “I know you have so many questions, but I’ll answer them tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” I smiled and followed Christian to the room. I felt relieved to see that it was just Lucio this time. The vibe was so different without Cesca and Franco.

Lucio sat in his wheelchair and held Siena and Milo while Emilio gave them a warm smile. “Serena, come here and give me a hug.” Lucio smiled. He never asked me for a hug before. I remember how I used to be scared of him back in the days and that fear turned out to unnecessary.

“Go on, before he cries-he does that a lot nowadays.” Christian encouraged and grabbed my hand to lead me to Lucio. “I’m dying, and you only visit me one time a week. Don’t you think that’s a bit cruel?”

I pulled away from the hug and gave him an apologetic look. I could not understand how someone could be so casual about death.

“I-I’m so sorry!” I stuttered while Lucio laughed at me. “I’m just kidding. You’re just like Christian.” He smiled.

“Yes, the only difference is that she’s not a cheater.” Emilio spoke. It was awkward and silent until Lucio. joined him and laughed along. “That’s true. Serena is loyal.”

“Speaking of loyalty.” Christian sighed and moved his gaze to Emilio. Please don’t do it, don’t do it, I thought to myself, but it was already too late..

“Beau said he wants to work for me. Are you guys not treating him well?” Christian asked. He knew that Emilio wouldn’t do anything in front of Lucio, so he took this as an opportunity to bully my brother.

“W-what?” Emilio asked, confused. “Yes, I know. That was also my reaction.” Christian provoked him. “But I feel so bad for him that I might just accept his offer.”

Christian and Emilio glared at each other while Lucio was completely unbothered. “I like Beau. It would be a good thing to have him around you-don’t you agree, Serena?” Lucio asked.

How did I get involved?

Christian and Emilio turned their heads towards me and waited to hear my answer. “Yes, sure-1 think so,” I muttered. “Anyway, who wants to see Siena crawl?”

“Did you discuss this with my dad?” Emilio asked and ignored my presence. “I’m sure Matteo would be fine with this. We get along well, don’t we?” Lucio laughed.

If he only knew.

“Yes, we get along perfectly fine.” Christian smiled. “Beau and I? We’re more like brothers than the two of you could ever be. We’re good.”

“So no one wants to see Siena crawl?” I asked once again. Christian and Emilio had the same annoying personality, and it was showing. They were so much alike, but they didn’t seem to notice.

“Siena can’t crawl, you know that.” Christian chuckled.

“Milo, do you want some ice cream?” He asked and grabbed him from Lucio’s hands. “Ice cream!”

Milo repeated. Nowadays, he was repeating every little thing he heard, and it was the cutest thing. “Can he?” Christian asked Emilio.

“Sure.” Emilio glared. Christian was bullying my brother, and Emilio was doing the same. It was a mess, and we weren’t even at the upcoming photoshoot.

“You’re getting so big and heavy. Please don’t become like your daddy, okay?” Christian spoke as he carried Milo away.

“Excuse me?” Emilio yelled. “Isn’t Christian hilarious?” Lucio laughed. The poor man was just happy to see everyone together and had no idea what was going on. “Look, she’s also laughing.” Lucio spoke and held. Siena in the air.

Poor Siena was just like Lucio. She just liked people and had no idea about what was truly going on.

“Are you guys excited for the photoshoot? I can’t wait for next week.” Lucio spoke. The excitement in his voice made me feel guilty. He lived in this perfect little fantasy that everyone got along and got over the past, while that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t even aware about his brother possibly being alive.

“We’re really excited. I liked the outfits you picked out. You have great taste, dad.” Emilio sm grabbed Lucio’s hand. Emilio even called him dad.

Maybe Franco was right. Perhaps I was indeed the family’s downfall. There were no issues myself into the picture.

“Serena, I know you and Christian are not engaged anymore, but I’m so happy the two of you are together and that you’ve agreed to wear your ring,” Lucio spoke. Emilio gave me a confused look while quickly shook my head at him.

His reaction was heartbreaking, and I was not prepared for what it would be like when Christian and I would really get back together. Luckily Milo burst through the door to save us from this awkward situation and ran towards Emilio.

“Candy!” Milo called out and showed Emilio his ice cream. “Is it good? Did you say thank you?”

Emilio asked.

“Fuck.” Milo called out with a happy smile on his face. “I see you learned a new word.” Emilio chuckled and looked at Christian. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to!” Christian apologized.

“I wasn’t thinking-”

“It’s not a big deal. I’ll just wait until Siena gets older.” Emilio shrugged with a smile on his face. “If that’s what you want.” Christian smiled back. I blinked with my eyes to make sure this was not some dream. Did they smile at each other?

“It reminds me of us when we were younger,” Emilio spoke. “Yes, I remember.” Christian chuckled.

“Do you remember, dad?” He asked as I looked at the three with a confused look on my face.

“Yes, I used to swear around you kids all the time, and Matteo used to get so angry because I taught Emilio a new word every single day.” Lucio laughed. “You guys were so close back then. I think it’s amazing how Christian and Serena ended up together. It’s almost as if fate wanted them to be together.”

The smiles had disappeared from Christian and Emilio’s faces, and I slowly began to realize that this could not go on like this anymore. What were we even doing?

We weren’t only lying to Lucio, but we were also lying to ourselves. Breaking the family bond over one