Coming Home For Christmas
Chapter 107

(Trigger Warning: This chapter includes talks about alcoholism, suicidal thoughts and child abuse/s****I assault) P.O.V.

Lacey's

"Lace?"

"Hello, brother...we need to talk"

I say with an angry smile on my face.

"Wh..what...what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I thought I'd identify as Superman today and save someone's life"

I say as I walk towards him and throw some clothes at him.

"Get dressed"

"Why?"

He asks as he looks down at the t-shirt, sweatpants and hoodie in confusion.

Is he being serious?.

"Well, A) because it's freezing cold and B) because I meant it when I said we need to talk Luca, now get dressed and follow me into the kitchen when you're ready"

I tell him before walking away and heading towards the kitchen.

Just like the rest of the house, the kitchen was also messed up with dirty dishes, trash, old food and some burned food and there were at least ten empty liquor bottles as well as several dozen beer bottles scattered everywhere as well. Jesus, what kind of Christmas did this family have?.

I quickly put the kettle on before cleaning up the kitchen throwing all of the trash and food in a bin bag and all of the bottles and other recyclable stuff in a big box that was conveniently in the kitchen.

I looked up when I heard shuffling coming towards the kitchen and I saw my brother walking into the room looking like death warmed over.

"S**t"

He groaned as he looked around and I couldn't help but agree with him.

s**t's right.

It looks like a bomb has gone off in here.

"What are you doing here, Lace?"

"Shouldn't the better question be, where are your children, Luca?"

I ask him as I make him a cup of coffee and myself a cup of tea.

If Logan thinks no s*x after pregnancy is gonna be tough then he's got no idea what it will be like for me to not have any coffee during the pregnancy.

"Do you know where my kids are? are they ok?"

"Don't you think it's kind of scary that you don't know where your own children are, Luca?"

I ask him and he gasps.

"I need to call the police, I need to call Dylan"

"Relax, the kids are fine, they're with Logan"

I say and Luca lets out a relieved sigh.

"Where is Dylan by the way?"

"I don't know"

Luca sighed.

"He left on Christmas Day and I haven't seen him since"

"Why did he leave?"

I ask curiously as I hand him his coffee.

"Thanks...we got into a huge fight"

"Over what?"

Luca takes a breath before telling me.

"Dad came around here on Christmas Eve and he chewed my a*s out like he never has before"

Yeah because you're his golden boy who's never done anything wrong in our parent's eyes.

I thought to myself while rolling my eyes.

"Dad was so angry with me...I don't think I've ever seen him that angry before in my life"

"What did he say?"

Luca lets out a sigh as he runs a hand through his hair.

He then looked up at me and I noticed his tired and sad eyes were red and filled with unshed tears.

"He called me an embarrassment and told me how ashamed he was of me, he said that he may not have been the best father in the world but at least he can say he's proud of three of his kids and I'm not one of them...he also told me you all know about Chloe and Alex" He says as he looks down at his coffee.

"Yeah, we do"

"How did you find out?"

Luca looked up at me with a guilty expression while I looked at him with an annoyed one.

"It doesn't matter how we found out, Luca, what matters is that we know now but what I would like to know is why you didn't tell us? why didn't you do anything to make their lives better? actually, scratch that, why didn't you fight for them?"

I ask in disbelief.

The Luca I know would never leave any living, breathing creature whether it's human or animal to suffer, so why would he leave his own kids to rot like this? I don't understand.

"I didn't know for sure if they were mine, Lace"

"How could you not, Luca? they look just like us"

I say in frustration.

"Because she never let me see them, that's why, Lace, she also told me Logan and our dad was the father, so..."

He drifted off as he took a sip of his coffee, grimacing as he did.

"Sorry, I made you a real coffee, not an Irish one"

I say and he glares at me.

"Anyway, back to the kids, why didn't you try and fight for them or fight to see them? why didn't you try and get a DNA tes done through the courts?"

"Because I didn't wanna embarrass the family and I didn't wanna get GiGi in trouble"

"Why? because she would've gone to jail for statutory rape if you had admitted to having a kid with her at fifteen"

I say and he scoffs.

"It wasn't r**e, I was a willing participant"

"That doesn't matter in the eyes of the law because you were still a minor, Luc, the law is there for a reason, i***t" I growled at him.

"It doesn't matter now anyway, Lace"

"Oh really? and why's that?"

I ask annoyed.

"Because dad told me that GiGi's out of our lives for good now and he also told me that you all did a DNA test which proves they're mine"

"And now you don't have to worry about them, right? because once again you've got someone else there to wipe your a*s and clean up your mess for you"

I say angrily and Luca glares at me.

"Do you think I want this? do you think I want this life for me and my kids, Lace? do you think I'm happy that I've missed out on two of my children's lives? because trust me, kid, I don't and I'm not"

"Then do something about it, Luca, do something to change your future... Some paragraphs are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on FindNovel.net. Visit FindNovel.net to read the complete chapters for free. your kids are still young enough to forget about all of this...I mean, Chloe will probably always remember that she once had two shitty parents but at least you've still got the chance to turn that around and be a good dad to her" "You make it sound so easy"

Luca scoffed which pissed me off.

"Isn't it?...you've recognised you've got a problem and you know your kids are suffering, not to mention, your husband is nowhere in sight for whatever reason, Luca"

"I already told you, he left me"

He said through gritted teeth.

"And why did he leave you, huh?"

"BECAUSE I'M A f**k UP, ALRIGHT!!"

He growled startling me.

"I'M A f**k UP, I'M AN ALCOHOLIC, I'M A BAD HUSBAND, I'M A BAD FATHER AND I'M AN EVEN WORSE SON AND BROTHER...I should just make everyone happy and kill myself"

He says and I gasp as I watch him reach for the sharp knife that's sitting out on the counter.

"Don't"

I whimper as I place my hand on top of his.

"Don't say that Luca, none of us wants you to die, we just want you to get help"

"But what's the point?... Dylan's already gone, he told me he wants a divorce if I don't take Klayton up on his offer"

"Then take the help, Luca...F**K!!"

I slam my hands down on the counter.

"f**k, Luca, when is it finally gonna sink in that you need to get help, huh? what's gonna be that one thing that makes the light bulb go off in your head and you says**t, I really need to get some help because I can't go on like this because clearly, your husband leaving you and your kids being missing aren't the final straw for you, Luca? so, what's it gonna be, hmm? what's gonna be your rock bottom, huh?"

"I don't know, I don't know"

Luca whispered as he gripped his hair.

I decided to go out on a limb and use myself to hopefully make Luca finally hit rock bottom.

Don't get me wrong, I don't see myself as the be-all and end-all to anyone's world but there was a time when we were kids and I was involved in a car accident, it wasn't serious but Luca acted like it was and he told our mom that he didn't want to live if I died, so hopefully, I can use my potential death or me being hurt to help him get there and reach his breaking point.

Believe it or not, he's always been super over-protective of me ever since I was a little girl, so I'm hoping with everything crossed that this works.

"Did you give GiGi four million dollars, Luc?"

I ask him and he nods his head.

"Yeah, I did"

"Why?"

"Because she was blackmailing me"

He said while letting out a breath and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What was she blackmailing you for?"

"It's not important, Lace"

"It is when she used that money to hire a hitman to have me and my kids killed, Luca"

Luca's head snapped up and he looked at me with wide eyes as his body started to shake.

"She what?"

"You heard me, Luca, GiGi used your money to hire a hitman to have me and my three five-year-olds killed"

I said slowly so that he could hear me clearly and understand what I was saying.

"Fortunately for us, the guy she hired also worked for Klayton, so he was able to prevent him from putting a bullet betwee our eyes"

"No, no, no, no"

"How would that have felt, hmm? how would it feel Luca to know that GiGi killed your sister, your nephews and your niec and you're the one who paid for it"

"Please stop, Lace"

Luca pleaded with me but I just ignored him.

"If it was me, I'd probably turn to drink as well, hell I'd probably wanna kill myself and end it all if I was the reason why innocent people were killed...does it feel good that you paid for mine and my kid's murders, Luc? I bet it does feel good, doesn't it? would that have made you sleep better at night, huh? knowing your husband's ex was six feet under"

"STOP IT, LACE!! PLEASE JUST STOP IT!!"

He shouted as he threw his coffee against the wall.

His entire body was shaking and he looked like he was about to lose it.

"You don't understand, Lace...you don't understand"

"Understand what?"

I ask confused.

"You don't understand what I've done for you or what I had to do to protect you...you don't know what I had to suffer through to make sure you were safe, Lacey...you don't know how much you mean to me, you don't know how much you dying or getting hurt would absolutely crucify me"

"What are you talking about, Luca?"

I asked barely above a whisper.

Luca came over to me and grabbed me by my arms as he looked down at me with teary eyes and his face wet from previously fallen tears.

"You'd think I'd be happy if you died, Lacey, you think I'd be dancing for joy if someone killed you? well, you're wrong because it would kill me...I'd do anything to keep you safe and that's what I've been doing for twenty f*****g years, Lacey Luca panted and he said each word like they were causing him unimaginable pain.

"I was just a kid, I was a little boy and he...he pu..punished m..me because I was protecting y..you"

"Who? I don't...what are you trying to say, Luca?"

He inhaled deeply before answering me and what he said shocked me to my core.

"U..uncle M..Mario's friend...he wanted you, Lace...you were only five and I was six but I s..stopped him...I protected you and he pu..punished me"

"H..how?"

I asked not wanting to know the answer but I needed to know it.

H..he r..r..raped me"

Oh my god.