Hiding With Her Twin Babies
Chapter 39

“Well, that took care of Alexa for good,” Dante says as they walk out of the basement with a screaming Alexa. He knew that she messed with the wrong person when she upset the children. Dante smiles. Jennie handled the situation like any other Donna in the Italian Mafia would have as no one messed with the family of a Donna. He hoped she would, and he gave her the chance to prove herself to him and the children. He is glad she allowed Jack to get his revenge on the woman that put him throw hell and back. zHe would have done the same, and he is happy she showed no mercy for her cousin. A strong Donna will not let something happen to her children. Jennie proved it to him.

“Wow, how did it feel to put that knife in her hand,” Jayden asks Jack.

“It felt good. She hurt me with that hand, but most of all, she tried to take my new family away from me, and I wanted to kill her for that,” The young boy says. He is close to tears, and Dante picks him up.

“You sis the right thing. Alexa is not your mother anymore, my son. You belong to us now, and I will never let you guys down. I hope you all realise it now,” Dante says.

“Yes, daddy, sorry we were angry with you,” Jack says, and the other two also hugs Dante to say sorry.

“We are a family, and I love all three of you as much as I love your mother. I will never do anything to hurt any of you,” Dante says. The children are happy again, and they know they will never have to see that awful woman again. After the children go to bed, Jennie and Dante sit in their room.

“Thank you for trusting me,” Dante says to Jennie.

“No, babe, you are the one that trusted me to handle the situation. I can not let that woman come close to my children and you again. It is for the best that she is out of our lives for good,” Jennie says.

“You are right from the start. She was toxic, and we should have gotten rid of her the same day we got rid of that ex-husband of hers,” Dante says.

“Yeah, I had hope for here, but upsetting my children and little Jack like that was the last straw. So anyway, I enjoyed my day with Mabel today,” Jennie says.

“Did you find out anything and why she is like she is?” Dante asks.

“I did, but I am not ready to tell you yet. Will you trust me?” Jennie asks.

“Of course, I trust you, and I know you will do the best that there is for my sister,” Dante says. Jennie and Dante feel like their whole relationship is about trust, as it should be with a couple in love. A few days later, it is the meeting of the Dons, and Jennie knows she will have to make a plan to talk to Bernardo alone, but it will be difficult as it all depends on how Bernardo handles the meeting. If he decides not to support the Casellas, her dream of him and Mabel will go down the drain, but Jennie has a feeling he is a man with integrity and will do what is right. So the day of the meeting of the Dons, she sent up a little prayer that everything would go as she planned. She will be hosting the after-party if Dante becomes Godfather, and she is planning on talking to Bernardo and finding out what the hell is going on in his head.

Logan and Dante are getting ready for the meeting of the Dons. They both are a bit worried as they still do not trust Bernardo. Today he will have to show them what he is made of and whether he is on their side or not. Logan wants to trust him as he has known this boy since he came to America. Bernardo worked his way to the top, and he never asked any favours from anyone, which is a big plus for Bernardo in Logan’s books.

On the other hand, Dante wants to trust Bernardo. They have been friends before, and he has great respect for the poor young boy who came to America and now runs an empire he built on his own. So they are waiting as one after the other dons arrive. Some look a bit hostile towards the Casellas, who has been running the Italian Mafia for a long time. But on the other hand, they all look up to Bernardo Garza, who they see as a loose gun to bring some relief to the stick rules the Casellas put into place. In their eyes, Bernardo is a young, exciting Don that does not live by the laws and has declared war on the street gangs in his territory. They do not realise that Dante and Logan have started their battles against the street gangs and are helping cities where the gangs are heavily present. Only the Dons with a massive problem with the gangs know about it. All the Dons are there, and Logan walks to the front. They all know what this is about, and they know they will vote on the next Godfather. They are used to fighting for that position in the old times, but they have become more civilised and does not want the cops to intervene in their business. That is why they are voting. If the voting results in nothing and there is a draw, maybe the Dons will fight it out.

“Good day. First of all, I want to thank you all for coming as you know, I am ready to give up my ring, and as always, we will vote for the next Godfather. It was my honour to be the Godfather of the Italian Mafia for the last few years. However, I feel I am too old to continue, and it is time to hand over the ring to a younger Don. As you all know, my choice is Dante. I know he is my son, but he has the maturity to run the operation as I always have. I want other nominations, and then we will vote,” Logan says.

“I nominate Bernardo Garza. I feel he is more involved in the street, and he will give us more freedom,” The Don from Las Vegas says. He likes Bernardo as Bernardo helped him take out a few street gangs in his area. Bernardo looks at the Dons as they go back and forward between him and Dante. Dante still has one more vote than him, and he is the last one to vote. Bernado gets up slowly and walks over to where Logan is standing. He shakes Logan’s hand, and Logan does not know what that means.

“First of all, you who voted for me should be ashamed of yourself. The Casella family has done a lot for us over the years. You thought voting for me would give you more freedom to do as you want, as I would not be as strict as the Casellas because I have a poor background. Well, let me tell you something. I am disappointed in you. The Casella family were always loyal to you, and as soon as you had the chance, you tried to stab them in the back. My loyalty will always be with the Casellas. I stand behind my Godfather Dante Casella, and I will fight for him and be by his side. If you want to challenge us, know you will come second. My vote goes to Dante Casella as the Godfather, and I will vote for the Casellas for as long as I live, ” Bernardo says. He shakes Dante and Logan’s hands and walks back to his seat. His supporters are stunned. They thought they had this in the bag but knew they were seen as traitors to the Casellas. They are all in a dangerous position of losing their positions as Dons. With Bernardo backing the Casellas, they better change their positions fast.

“If you are happy with the Casellas, so am I. We respect you, Don Garza, and we will never go against you and the Casella family,’ one of Bernardo’s supporters speaks on behalf of all Bernardo’s supporters.

“Then I am happy as long as you see my point of view and never try to vote me in as Godfather again,” Bernardo says. He plans to chat with Dante later to change some of the Dons he does not trust. He is more up to date with what is going on in the Italian Mafia than Dante, as Dante has a lot on his plate.

“Well, Bernardo, I would like to make you my second in command as I feel you can help me more with running the Italian Mafia in the states than anyone else,” Dante says.

“I accept the position and will work with you closely,” Bernardo says.

As they walk out of the meeting, Dante walks over to Bernardo. Dante shakes Bernardo’s hand and thanks him for standing behind him and talking the second-in-command position.

“I only did it because I knew you were about to put one of your biggest enemies in the position you offered me—Don Benito of Dallas. He is not your friend. Although he voted for you, he hates you and your family. He wants all of you dead, and he told me we should take you out as soon as I am Godfather. I only took the position until you can find someone more suitable. I am not worthy of the position, and we both know it. I am just a poor boy from Sicily, and I do not belong among the rich and famous like you and your family. Dante, I only want to protect you and your family, and there are a few Dons we have to look at and replace,” Bernardo says. Jennie, standing close by to serve dinner, hears Bernardo’s words, and she knows why he will never go after Mabel, although she knows he must be in love with her. Bernardo Garza thinks he is unworthy of Mabel, which is one thing even Jennie never thought possible. Jennie hopes Dante says the right words to let Bernardo know they all respect him for what he has achieved in life all by himself.

“Nonsense, you are more worthy of being the Godfather than I am. Listen, Bernardo. You worked your way up from being nothing to where you are today. It is better than someone that inherit what they have. Yes, I also worked hard and built up what my father mad mother left me, but you had nothing and look at you now. I respect you, brother, for what you have done in life,” Dante says. Jennie feels like she can k**s Dante on the spot. He said what she wanted to tell Bernardo.

“Thank you, I appreciate it, but background counts when it comes to certain things in life,’ Bernardo says. He is thinking of Mabel. He has tried hard to forget about her. But, he knows he is and will never be good enough for the daughter of Logan Casella. Bernardo wishes he could forget her and how she changed his life in the short time she was with him. He looks sad as he says the word, and Jennie, listening and looking at them, wishes she could kick him in his balls. She wonders if he knows how he is hurting Mabel and himself with his self-pity and stubbornness. But instead, Jennie walks over to Dante and k****s him.

“Congratulations, babe,” Jennie says]to Dante, then she turns to look at Bernardo.

“Thanks, love, this is Bernardo Garza, my new second-in-command,” Dante says.

“Oh, so you are the guy that kidnapped Mabel,” Jennie says with a smile and holds out her hand to Bernardo.

“Yeah, sorry about that. It is a long story, but I am sure Dante told you why I did it,” Bernardo says.

Jennie does not want to bring out Mabel’s secret, but she has to think of a way to get Bernardo and Mabel together again. Dante and Bernardo talk about the new threat, and they know that Don Benito wants to take out the Casellas.

“Well, we are all safe as I have men I can trust around my family,” Dante says.

“We will have to think about Mabel, honey. She can not stay alone in her apartment. As Bernardo showed us, she is an easy target,” Jennie says.

“That is true, but you know she will not come to stay with any one of us, as well as I do. She is hard-headed, and lately, she has been acting strangely,” Dante says.

“Then we have only one option left,” Jennie says and looks at Bernardo.

“Oh no! I am not going to kidnap her again,” Bernardo says. He misses her, but he can not lose his heart to her.

“Can I talk to you for one moment, alone?” Jennie asks Bernardo. Bernardo looks at Jennie, then at Dante. Dante smiles and nods. He trusts Jennie.

“Take a walk with me,” Jennie says. Bernardo has no choice.

“Listen, you need to stop seeing yourself as the poor barefoot boy from Sicily. We all respect you because you worked hard to get where you are. You can fight for the love of a woman like Mabel,” Jennie says. Finally, Bernardo gets what Jennie is trying to tell him. He is the only one around that still looks down on himself.

“Yeah, but I don’t think Mabel likes me much,” Bernardo says with a bitter smile.

“Well, let me put it this way, you are the only one that can keep her safe, and if you do not take her home with you, she may be the first victim of our enemy. Do you want to see Mabel dead?” Jennie asks.

“No, as much of a pain in the a*s she can be, I do not want to see her dead,” Bernardo says.

“The only reason she is a pain in your a*s, Don Garza, is because you love her, and you are afraid to admit it to yourself and her,” Jennie takes a chance.

“Who said I love her?” Bernardo asks.

“Well, I heard some of your men talk, and they say you have been unreasonable since Mabel left, which means you miss her,” Jennie says.

“What men? They have no right to talk out of my house,” Bernardo growls.

“So you admit missing her?” Jennie asks.

“Yeah, but who was talking?” Bernardo asks.

“No one, I made it up, and you fell into my trap. But unfortunately, you like her and will have to protect her,” Jennie says.

“Fine, I will kidnap her again,” Bernardo says. Jennie smiles as they walk back to where Dante and the rest stands.

“Jennie bullied you, didn’t she? You will kidnap Mabel again and keep her safe,” Dante says. Bernardo nods and glares at Jennie. Jennie smiles sweetly and walks into the arms of Dante.