Chapter 148

“W-what?” I stuttered and looked at Dario in surprise. I had a feeling it would be easy, but not this easy. and it almost made me feel bad. He really thought I had the right intentions.

“I told you to ask me anything. You brought me here and it obviously means a lot-so I owe it to you.”

Dario explained. It was almost as if I was preparing myself for an interview because I had a list long of questions to ask him.

I knew this would be the only opportunity, so I could not screw this up. “Let’s see.” I smiled. “I’m the most curious about your mom.”

“My mom?” Dario repeated. “I told you this a long time ago, but she passed away.”

I stared down at Dario’s clenched fist and wondered what could have made him this angry. “She was ill and passed away.”

“I’m so sorry.” I apologized. Even though I was trying to get more information out of him, it was not my intention to torture him. “What was she like?” I asked. Cesca compared me to that woman, so I was extremely curious.

“Different.” Dario chuckled. “She was confident, outspoken, didn’t bow down to anyone—she was amazing.

“I see.” I smiled. She was everything the Lamberti’s didn’t like, which was funny because somehow those words also described Cesca, minus the amazing. “Mauro must’ve loved her a lot, right? He must’ve had such a difficult time.”

Dario shrugged his shoulders and was looking for ways to end the conversation. That was right. He couldn’t use Mauro this time. I did not know who that man was, but it was definitely not his dad.

“You and your dad seem to be getting along well. That’s all that matters, right?”

“Right.” Dario spoke. “There was a time where he abandoned my mom and me, so we weren’t that close in the past. He explained. “But now he’s trying, and he promised to make up for his mistakes by giving me what I deserve.”

The Lamberti business.

“What you deserve?” I played along. Dario had a lot to say, and he probably had no one to talk too which made it easier to get more information out of him. “I used to hate him. He had a big family, and he was so rich, but for some reason, he didn’t want my mom or me. He divorced her before I was born.”

“My mom told me that his family was extremely controlling and that they were the ones at fault, but I used to think otherwise.” Dario sighed. “He contacted me years after, and my mom brought me to his birthday party, but I was not part of the family. I never was.”

Dario just kept going and going, and the best would be not to stop him.

“He told me to keep my identity a secret. I saw all of my cousins-I even saw the little brothers I didn’t even know I had, but they didn’t even know about me.” He spoke full of anger. “All the kids knew each other, so they all played among themselves and shut me out.”

His words pained me because I went through the exact same thing. It probably wasn’t intentional, but it was very easy to hurt a child’s feelings. “There was this one kid.” Dario continued.

“All the children followed him, he was like a leader, and I used to look up to him. I approached him and told him I wanted to be his best friend, but he turned me away.” Dario ranted. “He told me he already had best friends, and his brothers and his friends humiliated me.”

“I could see that he didn’t agree to it, but he just stood there and watched while they bullied me, threw me around, and made fun of me. He didn’t do anything, but he was a bystander.” Dario explained. “He wanted 10 stand up for me. I could see it in his eyes-but he thought power was more important, so he didn’t.”

It wasn’t that difficult to put two and two together, and I figured it might’ve been about Christian. It definitely sounded like him. I could also confirm that Gio, Enzo and perhaps Isobel had all been bullies at one point.

“What happened then?” I asked. “This other kids who was his best friend and my…brother stopped them. He was more than a leader than the other kid could ever be, and I never forgot about his kindness.”

My mind traveled to Christian’s past and the stories he told me about Vince. It suddenly made sense why Dario had no issue visiting or praying for him. It was because he was grateful, and the reason why I used to compare him to Vince was because Dario wanted to be a good person like him. “What happened after that?”

“The stuck-up kid’s dad showed up and pulled me away. He gave me words of encouragement and told me not to let anyone walk over me, not even his son.”

“I later learned that the man was my uncle and that kid was my cousin. He and his brothers were so stuck up. but he didn’t have the right to be-my grandpa turned on my dad and gave everything he had to that very uncle.” Dario fumed. The story was getting more interesting by the second, and I gained a lot of information.

“I came home crying that night, and my mom cried with me. She told me that it was all her fault, and she could never forgive herself. She could’ve fought against her illness, but she could not fight against her sadness. My dad and my mom loved each other, but he chose his family instead.” Dario explained. “After I lost my mom, I wanted to live with my dad-but he told me I couldn’t.”

“He told me I had to wait until I was older so I could rightfully claim what was mine, and then…he disappeared.” Dario shared. I figured that was around the time he supposedly died.

“Years later, he showed up again and told me that he had to clear his mind for what his family did to him,” Dario spoke, and I did not know why, but I was starting to feel sorry for him. This was not supposed to go this way. “I guess he felt ashamed.” I sighed, hoping to get more information out of Dario.

“No, he told me there was this incident and that he saved his brother, but right after that, my grandpa gave out an order to retreat while my dad, his own son-was still in danger.”

That sounded like Franco.

“He told me that it was time for him to fulfill his promise, and that’s how we became the Orlando’s.”

Dario ended his story. “It was the surname of my maternal grandmother.”

“That’s a nice story.” I played along. “It seems like you and Mauro went through a lot.”

“We did.” Dario nodded. I was hoping for him to come with a stupid explanation so I could hate him, but I couldn’t. I felt incredibly guilty towards Christian, but I could understand Dario’s feelings. I used to have those exact feelings towards Carmen. Carmen was stuck up and rude while all I could think about was how she did not have the right to be, because she didn’t even belong there.

Dario must’ve felt so alone and hopeless after his dad supposedly died and became attached to him after returning. I couldn’t blame Dario because I stuck with the Alfonzo’s, no matter how twisted they were, and It kept me thinking about just how twisted the Lamberti’s must’ve been for Christian’s uncle to fake his own death.

Dario and I had one thing in common, we didn’t like Franco. No matter how I looked at it, Franco was in the wrong. I had nothing to say about him. disowning Christian’s uncle because I never knew him, but anyone could see that the man was not exactly a ray of sunshine.

Sometimes I even wondered why he retired if he wasn’t going to let go of the business in the first place. Was it because of me or Siena?

He seemed like a misogynist and felt threatened by women who could stand up for themselves, but he would not get rid of me as he got rid of Dario’s mother. There was not a chance.

There was one thing Dario’s mom didn’t have, and that was Christian. He was different and was even prepared to drop his entire family for me. Christian loved me a lot and not even Franco could manipulate him.

It was easier said than done, but I could not resent Dario. Not anymore.

“I think I understand you a bit better.” I spoke as Dario gave me a confused look. He probably didn’t know what I meant by that, but that was okay. That was for me to understand.

Destroying the Lamberti business and taking down Christian was not the way, but I could understand his frustrations. What I could not understand was his dad. It seemed like Berto Lamberti held a grudge against the entire family. It was obvious because if he wouldn’t, he would’ve shown himself after hearing about Lucio, but that was not the case. He gave Dario instructions to ruin the family’s name-and was probably waiting for the best moment to reveal himself.

I would protect Dario, and he would be off-limits, but I had to find Berto as soon as possible. The Lamberti’s going down meant Siena would be going down with them-and that could absolutely not happen. I had to find out who or whatever was behind that vault.

“I don’t want this to sound weird, but you remind me of my mom.” Dario chuckled. “She was just like you, and that’s why I want to look out for you.”

She was just like me…there it was again.

“I’ve dealt with these kinds of people before, and that’s why I don’t think Christian is good for you.

The Lamberti’s will destroy you. Did you forget about how fast they turned on you? Because that’s how fast they turned on my mom-”

“They?” I questioned, after noticing his slip up-but Dario shook his head. “You know what I mean, Mauro’s family.”

“Right,” I spoke. “But Christian’s not like that. He went against his family way too many times. I know I said we only got back for Siena and that I didn’t love him anymore-but that does not remove the fact that he’s a good person.” I told him. Even though I understood his feelings, it was time for him to go.

Christian and his brothers were not little children anymore and knew right from wrong. They must’ve felt terrible about it, but what more could they do?

“I’m not telling you how to live your life,” Dario reassured me. “All I’m telling you is that I’ll be here for you once you can’t take it anymore. I’ll be here for you once you’ve finally opened your eyes.”

“My eyes about?” I snapped. There was no point in opening my eyes, I could clearly see what was happening, but I was built differently. I wouldn’t take Siena and run away, I would be with Christian, and no one would be able to touch me. “Nothing.” Dario spoke, startled, and was probably shocked by my rude.

tone..

“You guys!” Kim spoke and walked through the door. Nice timing. “Dinner’s almost ready. You guys are coming, right?”

Dario and I looked at each other and nodded our heads. We made our way downstairs and played with the children, which made me wonder how things could’ve been like if Dario had the opportunity to be a big brother to Johnny and Luca.

I was also curious as to why he hadn’t approached them. Did he resent them, or did he not knew how to approach them? Was he even allowed? All of that remained a mystery.

I was only able to confirm one thing, and that was the thing that mattered the most.

Berto Lamberti was alive and was planning something big.