Hiding With Her Twin Babies
Chapter 63

The following day Benardo and Mabel go to see Bernardo’s birth father first. He left Bernardo and his mother when Bernardo was still very young, and Bernardo hardly has any memories of him. As they stop in front of the big villa, Bernardo feels the anger rising in him. His heart is bitter. Bernardo’s father lived like a king. Yet, his son lived like a dog on the streets simultaneously. Bernardo and Mabel walk to the door. Mabel is holding Bernardo’s hand. When he took her on the tour of Sicily, he showed her where he lived and how he lived. Mabel feels the anger in her. Some parents do not deserve to have children. They knock on the door, and a butler opens. The butler lets the young couple in and shows them to the sitting room not long after Bernardo’s father walks in. Bernardo looks at the older man, and he and Mabel stand up. Andrea Garza looks at his tall, handsome boy. The boy did well for himself. He has a pretty little rock star as a wife and must be loaded.

“Bernardo, my son, it is a long time since we have seen each other,” Andrea says.

“Don’t call me you son, Andrea Garza. I am nothing of yours. I only carry your stupid surname. You left me when I was young, and you did not care what happened to me, did you?” Bernardo says.

“I can see you are bitter, but I am a man that can not be bound to one place. I had to move on. I am sorry if I was not there for you when you were young. Your mother married rich again, so you should have lived a comfortable life. Don’t hold grudges against me. I am an artist, and I had to explore the world to develop my art. You should have been better off with them than me,” Andrea says.

“Better off? What a joke! My stepfather kicked me out, and I lived on the streets. Where I am today is no thanks to the two people called my parents. You and her left me without food to eat every day or clothes to wear. Even in the winters, I was cold and hungry. All I have to thank you for is making me the man I am today. I am hard and rich, and I have the most beautiful wife. I do not have parents I have to care about in the future, and I am free to live my life in the state with my wife and her family,” Bernardo says.

“Don’t be like that! I am your father, and we Italians always look after our elders. I am sure you will look after me, your father. I know I was not always there when you needed me, but I was there at the beginning of your life, and I provided for you,” Andrea says. He is in enormous debt, and his bones will be broken, or worst he will die if he does not pay off his debt. Bernardo laughs.

“I know you are in debt. You thought I would bail you out! The debt you own, you own to me, and you can call me Don Garza from now on. I expect you to pay your debt. I know the interest is high, but you agreed to it. You felt the state and thought you could hide from me here? What a joke you are. You better get a rich woman to help you out as you always do,” Bernardo says.

“You are my son! How can you be so cruel!” Andrea shouts. Mabel was quiet all the time.

“And you were not cruel when you left your son to stay on the streets?” Mabel asks.

“I was not talking to you. When men talk, a woman should hold her mouth!” Andrea shouts.

“You dare shout at my wife? I think my men will visit you tonight. You better have the money,” Bernardo says. His father was in America, and when he picked up on it, he knew his father had a gambling problem. So Bernardo let Andrea gamble at one of his casinos when Andrea was in San Diego. He let him win a few times, lured him in, and made him take significant losses. Andrea owed the casino a lot of money, and he ran away, but Bernardo’s men followed him here, and he knew Andrea was pursuing a wealthy older lady to pay the money for him. His men warned her what he was up to, and she refused to give Andrea any money. Bernardo knows Andrea’s big trouble as the woman is about to kick him out because she does not want to get involved with the mafia.

“Bernardo, I can not afford to pay you back. Are you going to kill your father?” Andrea asks. He sits on the couch and looks at Bernardo. He starts crying as he sees the hard look on his son’s face.

“Yes, you insulted my Donna, and I do not take kindly to that. Besides, I do not have a father. I am an orphan as far as I am concerned,” Bernardo says. Mabel smiles. She is not going to talk for Andrea.

“Please, Donna, talk to Bernardo. I am sure your heart is soft, and one day you will have babies, and I want to see my grandchildren,” Andrea begs Mabel.

“Woman should not speak when men are talking. Isn’t that what you told me a few minutes ago. Besides, you should not even look after your son, leave alone your grandchildren!” Mabel says.

“Come, sweetheart, let’s leave. Andrea needs to get money from somewhere, or he may lose his life,” Bernardo says.

“Please, do not leave me,” Andrea begged. Bernardo turns around and faces his father one last time.

“I remember those words from when I was a child. Didn’t I beg you not to leave that night when you ran off to be free and left my mother and me with all your debt to pay?” Bernardo says.

“I was wrong. I should have left you,” Andrea says.

“Well, I am leaving you now, and this time you can pay off your own debt,” Bernardo says. He does not feel anything for the older man sitting in a heap on the couch, still crying. Bernardo nods to his men, and they get the sign. They go into the villa, drag a crying begging Andrea Garza out of the house, and put him in a van. They will take it to the warehouse Riccardo gave Bernardo to use.

After driving away from Andrea Garza’s house, Bernardo and Mabel go to Don Ricci’s house. He has to do this to put his past behind him. He knows what his stepdad and his birth mother did to their daughter, and Bernardo is unhappy with the two people. They could not even love their daughter. As they stop in front of the mansion, Bernardo remembers the day his stepfather told him to get out and never return. Bernardo thought his mother would stand up for him as he was just a young boy. Instead, his mother kept quiet and looked on as he packed his few belongings and left. He had nowhere to go as his grandmother passed away a few weeks before his stepfather threw him out into the streets. Bernardo as a young boy, never understood why. He did nothing wrong, and he could not believe his mother would not say a word to defend him. Today he will ask them, and they better have a good reason. He and Riccardo is now family. He and Gabby made peace, and Riccardo knows what her parents did to her when she was young. So Riccardo promised as the Godfather in Sicily, no one would intervene with the punishment Bernardo had in mind for his parents and his stepdad.

Bernardo is glad Gabriella came to the states, and she and her husband have made peace and are in love. He is glad he and Gabby are brother and sister now, and together, they can take revenge on the people that made both of their lives hell. He has called Gabby, and she and Riccardo are waiting for them in front of Don Ricci’s mansion. Gabby smiles when she sees Mabel and Bernardo arrive. Gabby, like Bernado, has waited for this day for a long time. The day of reckoning has come, and Don and Donna Ricci will feel the same pain they put their children throw. Don Ricci’s men have been warned not to interfere if they want to live. Not one of Don Ricci’s men is that loyal to him. No one goes up against the Godfather, and they are not planning to do that. Don Ricci and his wife are on their own. They know why Don Marino is so angry with Don Ricci. They have seen how he treated his stepson and his daughter.

Donna Ricci answers the door as they knock. She does not know what is happening but is happy to see Bernardo ignoring Gabby. Gabby knows her mother never loved her, and her father hated her for not being a boy. She walks past her mother and into the living room, where her father is waiting for them. She knows they only came to her second wedding because of Riccardo and to see Bernardo. She told them in advance that Bernardo would be there, and since the Ricci family has no male heir, they wanted Bernardo to take their surname and take over the Ricci family here in Sicily.

“Bernardo, my son, I have missed you so much,” Donna Ricci cries when she sees Bernardo, but he stays unmoved and would not let her touch him. Donna Ricci thought he would be happy to see his mother again. In her mind, she did nothing wrong. Look at him. He is happily married, and he is wealthy.

“Spare me the tears, Donna Ricci. I have no feelings for you, and I am not your son. The day you let my stepfather drive me out of this house and sent me to stay on the streets is the day you stopped being my mother,” Bernardo says.

“Bernardo?” She asks and looks for help from Mabel, but Mabel shows no feelings, and her face is stern.

Riccardo has followed his wife into the living room, and he watches as father and daughter stare at each other. Then, Bernardo and Mabel finally walk into the living room, followed by a crying Donna Ricci. Everyone looks on as Gabby walks over to her father and stands in front of him.

“Riccardo, Bernardo, how nice to see the two of you,” Don Ricci says, ignoring Gabby.

“Am I invisible? First, your wife ignores me, and now you,” Gabby says.

“Watch your tongue! How dare you speak to your mother and me in this way!” Don Ricci shouts at Gabby.

“I can speak to you as I like, and you will address me as Donna Marino! You and your wife and nothing but ants in front of me! You chased my brother out of this house. Now you want to welcome him back? Do you think you can use me to better your family in Sicily? Yes, I may be married to the Godfather, but he is also the one that is giving Bernardo and me the chance to destroy the Ricci family forever! You and your wife will die tonight, and the Ricci family with you. You have no heir,” Gabriella says and laughs as she sees the b***d draining from Don Ricci’s face.

“Gabby, you are my daughter! You can not do this to us!” Donna Ricci says.

“You could sell me to the Godfather for peace. You, as our mother, should have loved and cared for us. But instead, you kicked your own son out of the house to stay with a wealthy husband! You hated me for being a girl. You and this man! I never had parents, so do not call me your daughter!” Gabriella says.

“I will never take the Ricci name. In the state, I worked for what I have, I only have one person to thank for helping me get to the states, and that is the only person I see as my family. My sister Gabriella is all family I have,” Bernardo says.

The Ricci’s know their lives are not worth a dime as Bernardo shows his men to take them out to the warehouse where his father is also waiting. They look at Riccardo for help, but he has a lazy smile. He will be at the warehouse tonight, where the sibling will, at last, get their revenge and be set free from a sad past for good.