Now he’s in the mix; it’s no longer a guessing game. He sent her away, knowing she would go on with her life. It’s one thing to theorize and quite another to have that shit in your face. Another man raising your kids, right down the street, yeah. I bet the little disciple ain’t never dealt with anything like this before. Time to send my cousin a text; she’s no match for him; she needs at least six more months with Kat and her crew to become as big a PITA as they are.
GIANNA
I’m tired. The party was not expected, and I feel so out of place. I know everyone’s distracted by the kids right now, but once the novelty wears off, there’ll be questions, and I’m not sure I’m ready to answer them at this point in time. The kids had just run over to me to check in; I guess when this girl came in and ran right over to Gabriel, throwing her arms around him.
I don’t think the room spun, but something moved. I felt like something had knocked all the air out of my chest, and my eyes grew cloudy with tears. The last thing I saw through the haze before I snatched up two of the kids and attached the other to my pocket the way I do when I don’t have my carrier was Gabriel looking at me over her head as she looked up at him jabbering in Sicilian.
“Gianna!” It sounded like everything stopped in the room behind me as I kept going. Gabriel caught up to me and held my arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going back to my house. You and….” I don’t think I’ve ever sneered before, but I did now and turned to keep walking.
“She’s my sister.”
“What?” Does he think I’m stupid? Not even the twins hang off him like that.
“It’s a long story; I’ll tell you about it later. Come back inside, say hi to my grandparents, then we can go.” He took Gabriella and Gianni, leaving me with baby Gabriel to follow. I only went because it would be rude not to at least say hi, but as soon as that’s over, I’m out.
Is this what jealousy feels like? This is nothing like I felt all those years when Vicky got the things I wanted or when dad paid more attention to her. This was gut-wrenching, heart churning with agony bad. She’s beautiful, and that only makes it hurt worst.
I smiled through the greetings and accepted their playful admonishments as they fawned over the kids. No one was asking any pertinent questions, which meant they were probably saving them for later. I appreciate it, but I needed to go.
The girl came over to Gabriel’s side, but he watched me instead of looking at her. I wanted to snatch her bald, but I doubt that would go over well. My phone dinged, alerting me to an incoming text, which I read. “Hey kid, how’s it going? We start tomorrow. Do you remember the plan?”
I looked back across the room where Gabriel and the girl were talking in what looked like whispers to me. He looked up and saw me texting, and his face became a thunder cloud. Oh, this is going to be good. If he feels an ounce of what I do right now, it will be a good start to my petty revenge. Sister, my eye!
GABRIEL
Why the hell is she upset? Isn’t she the one with a fiancé? I know she doesn’t believe me that Natalia is my sister since she keeps shooting daggers at the girl with her eyes, and I’m not fairing any better. I almost wish I was the type to try to make her jealous, but I’m not. I have no time for games like that.
But maybe it’s good that she feels that burn; see how it feels to be the one on the receiving end. Of course, she’s not marrying anyone, not as long as I’m alive, so I’m not even a little bit worried about that. But just the thought that she even considered it makes me mental.
I don’t know what world she’s living in where she thought it would be acceptable to marry another man and have him raise Gabriel Russo’s kids. Somehow, I don’t see her being that delusional no matter what the hell has gone on in these last two years of separation. And to bring him here of all places, did she really think she was going to shack up with some guy just around the corner after everything I told her before she left?
As someone who has always controlled his emotions and had done extensive training in order to achieve that level of Zen, I was finding it very hard now when I needed it most. There were too many things hitting me at once, but for some odd reason, her accepting another man’s proposal is the one thing that stands out.