Chapter 169

“What are all these cars doing here?” I asked Christian while we erred the Lamberti estate: “Is there some party we don’t know about?”

I turned my head to look at Siena and held her hand “Siena, your grandpa didn’t invite us to the party” 1 pouted while all she could do was giggle.

“Stop being so overdramatic” Christian chuckled. “My dad has a lot of visitors these days”

I thought about poor Lucio, who was probably extremely weak, but somehow still pushed through with not only all these visits but also the upcoming photoshoot, and I didn’t know whether telling him about Dario today would’ve been the best thing.

“Don’t worry about it.” Christian read my mind. “My dad will love to hear about Dario.” He convinced himself as he parked the car. “I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right.” Christian nodded. “He’ll accept Dario, and he’ll want to meet him right away. I want him to meet him before he doesn’t have the opportunity.”

“Right.” I agreed. I think we were all prepared for what kind of hell would break loose after Lucio died, even though Berto’s plans were on hold at the moment. He didn’t have Dario to rely on, and he did not know where Luca was, but we were all on the same boat, assuming we didn’t even know the correct location of the money he was after.

“Is there a reason why we came so early?” I asked Christian. He always avoided going in the morning, but for some reason, he had changed his mind today. “No particular reason,” Christian spoke. “I just thought we could hang out here for the day if that’s alright with you?”

“I’m fine with it.” I rolled my eyes. “I only don’t know if your mom will be.”

“Don’t act crazy.” Christian chuckled. “My mom still likes you. Trust me. If she didn’t, you would’ve noticed it by now.”

He had a point. Cesca was a devil, and if she really wanted me gone, she would’ve made sure of it.

“You’re not going anywhere, Serena, and neither is Siena.” Christian smiled. “I’ll never let go of you again.”

I looked down, embarrassed, and tried to avoid his eyes. “Stop being so corny.”

“Stop pushing me to be so corny,” Christian complained while he stepped out of the car and went to the back to grab Siena. “I can’t wait until I can ask her what’s so funny.” Christian laughed while he took a look. at her happy face.

“Neither can I.”

I locked my arm with Christian’s and walked towards the front door. “You two also here?” One of the guards spoke. “It’s really crowded today. Your dad has a lot of visitors.”

“I can see,” Christian commented before we walked in. The house filled with many voices as we slowly we made our way to the living room. “Hey?” I spoke, surprised. “What are you guys doing here?”

I looked at my mom, my dad, and my brothers, who all sat around Lucio. My dad immediately got up made his way over to hug me. “Visiting, of course!” He spoke while my mom looked right past me as if she was looking for something.

and Christian made his way over to Lucio and the others while my mom pulled me to the side. “Where is Carmen?” She asked with a sad look on her face. “Isn’t she here wish you?”

“She said she had a lot of schoolwork,” I explained while my mom folded her arms. “Is she ever going to come home?”

“Come on, stop it. My dad rolled his eyes. “She’s enjoying her freedom, and she calls you every single day.”

“But what about Luke?” My mom continued. I bet she was just as worried and not a big fan of the idea of Luke and Carmen being apart. “Don’t worry. Carmen will come home.” I reassured my mom, who let out a relieved sigh.

“I told her I don’t want her separated from Luke, and there’s no way he’ll want to live in a house with us, so don’t worry about it.”

“Thank god.” Lita laughed before she finally pulled me into a hug. “Wow, mom, good to see you haven’t forgotten about me,” I spoke. “You didn’t even look at Siena.”

My mom let out an embarrassed gasp and turned around to look at the baby. Siena sat on Lucio’s lap and was as hyperactive as always.

“Serena!” Christian called out my name while Lucio leaned forward to look at me with a big smile. I followed Christian’s instructions and walked over to Lucio.

“My dad has a question for you.” Christian smiled and looked at his dad. “Yes,” Lucio nodded. “I want to know if the two of you are doing alright.”

I smiled at Christian, who waited for my answer. He seemed pretty confident. “We’re doing perfectly fine.” I told Lucio.

He looked down at Siena and held her hand. I felt my heart shatter at the sight of his hand and noticed he had gotten even skinnier, but he still carried the same kind smile on his face. “I heard Enzo is sleeping over at your place.” He told Christian. “He visited me yesterday. It was so good to see him.”

The peaceful look on Lucio’s face was exactly what he needed right now, and I could only hope that he would react the same after hearing about Dario. “He came with your little sister, Carmen.” Lucio continued.

“She’s so polite and kind. Isn’t it amazing how we all get along so well?”

Christian and I gave each other a look and tried to hold back our laughter. If he only knew about everything that had happened. “The two of you have to stay together,” Lucio spoke. “Not only for Siena but also for each other.”

Christian placed his hand on Lucio’s knee and gave him a nod. “I know, dad.” He chuckled. “We should be the least of your worries. You have much more important stuff to worry about!”

“Yes.” I agreed with Christian. “Like what we’re going to wear for the shoot. Have you already decided on a color?”

Lucio was just about to open his mouth, but before he even got the chance to-Cesca grabbed his wheelchair and pushed him aside. “We’re wearing white.”

Cesca glared at me while Christian glared at her, but I was not going to let her win today and especially not with Lucio in the room. “That’s pretty.” I smiled at Lucio, who looked back at Cesca.

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?” He asked, referring to Siena.

“She is Cesca sighed “She looks just like her mom, and she has de me look in her eyes to She’s just as nosy “Mom”” Christian called cam while Lucio let out a laugh “What? It’s true, right?” Cesca laughed. “Have you already told your dad about her little visit to the warehouse “Mom” Christian warned her while Cesca gave him a smirk. “The warehouse Lucio asked, surprised. “You took her to the warehouse?”

“Yes. Christian replied as if he was expecting some kind of scolding. “Yes, I did.”

Lucio went into deep thoughts before he gave us an unexpected reaction. “That’s great, that’s amazing” He spoke to Cesca’s surprise. “Did they treat you well. Serena?”

I glared at Cesca, who had a startled look on her face, and nodded my head. “Yes, they were all really nice.”

“Good.” Lucio smiled. “You’re really important in this family, so everyone needs to treat you with respect.”

“I agree, Christian spoke and glared at Cesca, who was visibly irritated. “It’s not like we’re getting rid of her, so we might as well accept her.” Franco suddenly revealed himself.

“Who’s getting rid of Serena?” Lucio spoke, confused, but Cesca shrugged him off. “No one’s getting rid of her.”

I looked at my parents and brothers, who were in their own world and were focused on Milo before I looked back at Christian. “We should do it now,” I whispered. This was the perfect opportunity to do so.

“Dad.” Christian started. “Can I steal you away for a minute?”

Cesca and Franco gave Christian a confused look, while Lucio seemed happy by just spending time with Christian. “Sure, let’s go!” He smiled. “You too, grandpa,” Christian spoke, but Cesca couldn’t stand it and had to invite herself.

We made our way to a separate room, where Lucio, Franco, and Cesca waited for Christian to open his mouth. “So, what do you want to about?” Lucio asked while he played with Siena.

“You’re not thinking about changing her middle name, are you?”

“No, of course not.” Christian sighed. “That’s not it. It’s something else.”

“You and Serena are going to plan the wedding?” Franco frowned, but Christian shook his head again. “Yes, we will eventually-but that’s not what it’s about,” Christian spoke.

“It’s about uncle Berto.”

The frown from Franco’s face had disappeared, and he seemed uncomfortable. “W-what about him?” Lucio asked, confused. Just the mention of his name felt highly uncomfortable.

“Grandpa, he had another son, didn’t he?” Christian asked. “The one who left with his mom.”

“Yes,” Franco replied while Lucio had a sad smile on his face. “We don’t even know what happened to the child. Why would you bring it up now?” Franco hissed. “Didn’t we all decide to leave the past behind us?”

The subject hit them all pretty hard, which only made me wonder how much worse it could’ve been if Berto were to reveal himself. “We did,” Christian spoke. “But things have changed, and I have something to tell you.”

“Well?” Cesca asked after a short silence. “What do you have to tell us?”

Christian took a deep breath and walked over to Lucio to hold his hand. “Grandpa, come here.”

Christian kindly requested for him to come over. Franco cleared his throat as he looked at Christian’s hand and eventually decided to accept it.

“I found him.” Christian smiled. “And he would like to meet both of you. He would like to be part of this family.”

“Y-you what?” Franco spoke, shocked, while Lucio needed some time to catch his breath. I grabbed Siena from his lap, so he could process the news. “You know where Berto’s son is?”

“I do,” Christian told him. “Do you really know where my nephew is?” Lucio gasped while Franco was still shocked by the news. Cesca was just as confused and went pale.

“Is this why you asked me all those questions, Serena?” Franco turned his head to me. I didn’t expect his question and nodded my head. “Y-yes!” I lied, but he seemed to believe me.

“How did you find him?” Lucio asked with tearful eyes. “We’ve been looking for him for years. How did you find him?”

Christian’s eyes grew big at this new information. We had no idea they had been looking for him, and neither did Dario. “Let’s say…you haven’t been looking hard enough.” Christian chuckled.

“He’s been here all along, but we were too blind to see it.”

“Can you tell me his name?” Franco asked. This was the first time I had seen him speechless and wondered what was going through his head. He seemed relieved and maybe even happy. “Please tell me his name.” He repeated while Christian seemed unsure of what to say.

He took a deep breath and released Lucio and Franco’s hands before he looked them in the c prepared himself to tell them the truth.

“It’s Dario… Dario Orlando.”

and