Chapter 20
Isabella
I met Gino and Leo the next day, and this time they had a plan.
After papa left for business in the morning, Leo turned up at the edge of the garden, where I’d been waiting for him.
“Get your things, get Sofia, we’re going now,” Leo told me, in a firm commanding voice.
“Now?” I asked, my heart beginning to race.
“Yes, pack as little as possible. Just the essentials. Gino is waiting in the car for us, we have to get you out as soon as possible,” Leo said and he kissed me lightly on my lips. I tried to stifle my smile at the thought that we were finally leaving.
I ran back in the house, and packed just a few clothes and necessary items in a bag. Sofia was in her room, playing, and I lifted her up in my arms, telling her that we were going on a trip again. She was excited to hear it and together, we ran out of the back of the house and to Leo again.
He took Sofia from me, and we held hands as we ran to the car which he’d parked some blocks away. It was Gino at the driver’s wheel this time and he greeted us with a smile.
I got in the back with Sofia and we drove off immediately, before any of us had a chance to even settle in.
“Where are we going?” I asked and the two men turned to look at us. Leo smiled at Sofia who giggled and he touched her knee lovingly.
“We’re taking you to a safe house,” Leo said, looking at me.
“A safe house? Where?” I asked, pulling Sofia into my arms. I didn’t want her to worry about any of the things she was hearing.
“Somewhere far, where Marco won’t go looking for you. They’ve been holding the kids and the women in an abandoned mall near New Jersey,” Leo continued and I could feel my heart sinking.
“So, you’re raiding the place today?” I asked and I caught Gino’s eye in the rearview mirror.
“Tonight. We’ve already got some guys keeping a watch on the mall. Marco is supposed to be there tonight, for some sort of deal. We’ll attack then,” Gino explained. I looked out of the window as we drove down the busy streets of Queens. It was finally happening; Leo and Gino were finally going to take papa down.
I looked back to the front, and that was when my eyes fell on the silver dove pendant that was hanging as a charm from a leather bracelet that Gino was wearing.
“Where did you get that?” I jumped towards him. He looked over at me with his brows crossed.
“From my father,” he replied and our eyes met. I fumbled for the matching pendant that was hanging from my neck. I hadn’t taken it off since that day I found it in the house in Naples, amongst mama’s things. I pulled it outwards, so he could see it. Gino saw, but made no comment and looked away from me.
“Why do you have the same one? What does this mean?” I asked and I could feel a confused rush of emotions gushing to my brain. I couldn’t make sense of why mama and Gino would have matching pendants. Gino was keeping silent and I glared at him in the rearview mirror. Leo was silent too, he didn’t want to interfere, this was between Gino and me and I could sense it in my bones that there was some connection.
Gino breathed in deeply and finally spoke.
“My father gave it to your mama and one to me,” he replied and I gasped, falling back in the car seat. I could sense Sofia looking up at me with her eyes widened, she knew I was distressed.
“Why would he do that? Why would mama keep it?” my voice was low, almost a hiss and I caught Gino staring at me in the rearview mirror.
“They were in love, Isabella,” he said finally and I snapped my face away from him, my eyes welling up with tears.
“They fell in love, soon after your papa and she got married…but what could she do? She was married to the ruthless Marco Aducci. She couldn’t tell him that she had fallen in love with another man,” Gino continued and I gritted my teeth. He didn’t have to tell me anymore, I had already figured out the rest of the story. I knew my father too well by now.
“But papa did find out, didn’t he?” I asked and Gino nodded his head lightly. I felt the blood drain from my face.
“And he had mama murdered, along with your father. To pay for their love behind his back,” I snapped, clenching my fists.
“Mama, what is wrong?” Sofia cried out, looking up at me with worry. I leaned forward and kissed her sweet small forehead and stroked her hair.
“Nothing, baby, nothing is wrong. Everything is alright,” I said.
Leo turned in his seat and looked at me, he was worried too…and I realized that Sofia looked so much like him when she had that worried expression on her face.
“Are you alright, beautiful?” he asked and reached for my hand. I nodded my head. It was a shocking revelation…but I shouldn’t have been shocked. I knew exactly how unhappy mama had been in her marriage. I should have known that she’d found love with someone else, in fact, I was happy to know that.
And papa, I should have figured it out. He killed mama out of anger, killed Andrei Cavallini too and then blamed mama’s death on him. And now Gino wanted revenge, and rightly so. Papa didn’t deserve anything less than what was coming for him.
“Yes, I’m alright now, Leo, with you,” I told him and we smiled weakly at each other. With him looking after me, I knew there was nothing I needed to worry about.