Hiding With Her Twin Babies
Chapter 40

“No! I will not help you kidnap that lioness again,” Stefano says.

“You are afraid of a woman that is not even half your size?” Bernardo asks Stefano.

“I still have scars from the last time we did it,” Stefano says. Bernardo laughs at Stefano, who is glaring at him in return. He is also not looking forward to taking Mabel again as she scratched his back with that long nails, and it hurt. However, he will never admit it to anyone, and his men look at him funny when they stop in front of the building where the wild cat is staying. They are not going after her again, and none of them wants to volunteer to go upstairs with Bernardo. Bernardo sighs as he walks up the stairs and knocks on the door of Mabel’s apartment. It is late, and his men have secured the building and scrambled the security cameras.

Mabel does not answer the door as she is afraid to open the door this late at night. So instead, she looks at the door as someone knocks again. Mabel takes a heavy lamp and holds it in her hand. She is standing next to the door if the person tries to kick it in or something. Bernardo takes out the spare key Logan gave him. They all agreed it would be best if Mabel stayed with him for a while until they figured out what Don Benito wanted to do. Mabel hears the key turn and sees the door handle being pressed down. She is ready for whoever is trying to come into her house. She is shaking a bit. Bernardo only wants to ask her nicely to go with him without a fight, but he knows by now how hard-headed Mabel can be, and he is expecting a fight. As he steps into the apartment, he sees something from the corner of his eye and automatically jumps out of the way. The lamp misses him by a few inches, and He grabs Mabel and puts his hand over her mouth so she can not scream. For his size Bernardo is fast. Mabel bites down on his hand, and Bernardo swears softly. Mabel freezes as she hears it is Bernardo’s voice. She stops biting.

“Don’t scream. I am going to let go of your bloody mouth. We need to talk,” Bernardo says. Mabel nods, and when Bernardo lets go of her mouth and switches on the light, she glares at him. She is standing in a t-shirt and shorts. She looks so tiny and helpless, but Bernardo knows that looks are deceiving.

“What do you want?” Mabel asks.

“I am here to take you to safety. But, since a Don wants to take out your family, your father and brother asked me,” Bernardo says.

“Like I believe you! You kidnapped me once, and now you want to do it again. Get out of my apartment!” Mabel says. She is angry that he does not show any emotions. She misses him so much. Now he shows up in her apartment in the middle of the night to take her to his house again. For what? If he came in and kissed her and told her he missed her, she would go with him peacefully. He does not love her, and he does not even miss her.

“Listen, babyface. I am here on your father’s orders. You can call him if you want to,” Bernardo says. Unfortunately, he does not have time for this as he still has to drive home. The longer he spends in this town, the more in danger he and his men are and Mabel. He does not want Mabel to be trapped in the middle of a war, and he wants to protect her. As he looks at her, he realises how much he missed her.

“Who the hell is your babyface?” Mabel asks. That is it. He will have to do this the hard way. He walks over to Mabel’s room, and she follows him.

“What are you doing?” Mabel asks. Berardo grabs her course and dumps all her stuff in it, including her phone. He does not even look at the things he randomly throws into her purse. She has enough clothing at his house, so there is no need for clothes. Before Mabel realises what is going on, he grabs a sheet from her bed, and Bernardo makes sure her hands are tied up, and her mouth is muffled before he throws her over his shoulder and starts walking with her to the front door. He locks it and walks with her downstairs. Mabel tried to wiggle and kick, which only got her a slap on the bum again. Finally, he puts her into his car and straps her in with the sheet over her head. She tries to shout and scream, but no one can hear her as a piece of the sheet is in her mouth, and she can not spit it out.

Bernardo drives away from her building. Mabel gets the piece of sheet out of her mouth at last and her hands free from the seatbelt. She pulls the sheet off her and glares at Bernardo. She sees he keeps looking in the mirror. She turns her head and looks back at the building she is staying in, and then she sees the black SUVs pulling into her underground parking. She knows that the SUVs mean trouble. She feels ashamed that she gave Bernardo a hard time. A few minutes later and they would have been in a shootout. The people in the SUVs did not notice them driving away as Bernardo and his men were using standard cars that blended into the traffic. Although it is late, LA streets are always busy.

“Sorry, I gave you a hard time. I should have believed you,” Mabel says as she shivers. She knows what could have happened to her if they were a few minutes too late.

“Excuse me?” Bernardo asks.

“I said I am sorry,” Mabel answers.

“Wow, that must be a first for you,” Bernardo says. He is teasing her, and to his surprise, Mabel starts crying.

“Why are you always so mean to me?” Mabel asks as tears roll down her cheeks. Bernardo does not know how to handle tears, and he looks uncomfortable. Mabel smiles by herself as she can act. She will teach this bastard to be mean to her all the bloody time.

“Okay, sorry, damn, please just stop crying,” Bernardo says. He looks very uncomfortable. Mabel wants to laugh when she looks at his face.

“Excuse me? I did not hear you,” Mabel says, and Bernardo knows she is taking him for a ride. He glares at her as she starts laughing at him. Then, all of a sudden, Mabel feels happy and alive again. She knows it is because she is close to Bernardo and realises she is really in love with this rude man.

“Not funny! I do not know how to handle a woman that cries because I never had a weak woman in my life,” Bernardo says.

“So you think I am weak?” Mabel asks.

“No, I did not. I said I never had a weak woman in my life,” Bernardo answers.

“Oh, I see, so I am not part of your life. I am only a girl you kidnapped! I want to go to my parents’ house! I am not going to your house! They can protect me better than you can,” Mabel says. She is furious.

“They already have enough people they need to protect, and you will not listen to them and go back to your apartment,” Bernardo says.

“Well, whoever the Don is that wants to kill off my family, is already gone and will not return to my apartment,” Mabel says.

“Or he has spies at your apartment waiting for you to return,” Bernardo says.

“You think? Why will he do that?” Mabel asks.

“He might think you are out of town for a few days,” Bernardo answers, and he is getting frustrated with all the questions. Bernardo is not used to someone who talks so much as he is used to being alone, and his men leave him alone most of the time. Most are too afraid to speak to him. He misses having someone he can talk to, and he remembers the days he and his mother were alone, and she used to speak to him and tell him stories. He doesn’t like Mabel fighting and asking questions. He wants her to talk to him like a normal human being.

“I can see I am irritating you again. So I will keep my trap shut,” Mabel says. Bernardo looks at her with a frown. He likes talking to her, not her fighting with him.

“I like you talking to me, but all you do is ask questions or question my abilities. You always fight with me, and I can not remember one normal conversation we had,” Bernardo says. Mabel looks at him and feels guilty. But, unfortunately, it is true what Bernardo said.

“Well, what do you want to talk about?” Mabel asks.

“Anything but business,” Bernardo says.

“So tell me about your childhood. Where are your parents, and where did you grow up?” Mabel asks.

“I do not know where my father is. He left when I was young. My mother only got divorce papers from him when he left, so she divorced him. After that, I was happy living alone with her until she got married again, and my stepfather threw me out of the house. I began living in the street and ended up in gangs. Eventually, I got enough money and came to the states. I slowly built a life here, and now I am a Don in the Italia Mafia,” Bernardo tells Mabel his life story in a nutshell. He expects to see pitty on her face, but he only sees admiration when looking at her.

“So you built up this whole empire by yourself without the help of anyone. I know the Dons will help you til a point, but they don’t want their underlings to become too powerful and rich,” Mabel says.

“I indeed had to fight for my positions in the Mafia, and I also studied while I was fighting my way to the top,” Bernardo says, and for the first time, he feels proud of himself for what he has achieved himself. He needed no one else, and it is true what Jennie was trying to tell him. He is not the boy from the streets anymore. He is a man, and he made it all happen by himself.

“Wow, that is impressive. Everyone thinks I am this rock star, and they own me. I also studied as my parents did. No one sees my other achievements and take me for being a stupid socialite. They think I am silly and can only entertain people, but there is more to me than meets the eyes. Parents shout at me on social media for not being a good example for their children. It is not my responsibility to be an example for their children. I try my best by doing charity work, but I do not let the world know about what I do to abused children. Nowadays, parents are so busy with their lives that they look for anyone else to blame when their children fail in life. They need to spend more time at home with their children and not blame the internet, entertainers, or even video games for their children turning out the way they do,” Mabel sighs.

“I agree with you, The family values in this world has disappeared, and everyone in a family goes their way. But, there are people like your parents who love their children dearly and are a great example for people worldwide,” Bernardo says.

“Yes, we are very close to each other, and we will never let each other down. Look at Dante and Jennie. Their children always come first, and they will put their lives on hold to be with their children. They even extended their marriage to have a family holiday instead of a honeymoon,” Mabel says.

“Yes, but they love each other and respect each other, and those three kids are everything a couple can ask for. They are cute and shows respect,” Bernardo says. He enjoys his conversation with Mabel. For once, she is not fighting with him. Instead, she is talking to him, and he has seen a side of her she hardly shows anyone. He knows he has also opened up to her, and he loves that they can talk and not yell all the time.