Chapter 76

“I know of the terrible situation Luis grew up in, but kidnapping? Don’t you think you’re going a bit too far—have you thought about the consequences?”

“Consequences?”. To be quite honest, I never did. This was just me being me, first do something and then react.

“Fabio does not care about me, he never did,” Luis spoke.

“But your brother does—and he must be looking for you.” Isobel walked over to him and placed her hand on his back. “You have to go back home, bud.” She told him before she turned her head towards me.

“I know Vince also screwed up, and that he’s definitely not in his right state of mind—but taking away the one thing he truly loves is extremely dangerous as if we don’t have enough fucking shit going on already!” She yelled out while she covered Luis’s ears.

“I don’t want to go back to Vince, he doesn’t like me anymore.” Luis sulked. The unfortunate truth was that it probably wasn’t true and that Isobel was right—and I did think about that, but it was Luis's decision and he did not want to go back.

Just the look on Vince’s face when he was searching for Luis, told me that his little brother was his number one priority—but Luis did not want to be there.

“You only had to bring him clothes and I’ll take it from here—but I need your help with something else.” I changed the subject from Luis to the other main case. “Vincenzo, you know him well right?”

“Well enough to know that he won’t even wait a week and kill all of us if he knows we have Luis? Yes.” Isobel nervously nodded her head.

“This is not about Luis, the Garcia’s are holding a hostage in the garage of the Garcia Factory.” I looked at Luis for confirmation as he nodded his head.

“I need you to break him out for me—and I need you to hide him. I know that you’re fearless and even if you get caught, you’re known as a snake so you can talk your way out of it.”

“W-what?” Isobel stuttered. “Please slow down and go back, who exactly are we talking about right now?”

“Just someone,” I rolled my eyes. Beau didn’t want anything to do with the Alfonzo’s and I respected that. I did not approach Matteo because I didn’t want him to hand over Luis and I did not want to anger Beau. I knew Beau would rather die than carrying the Alfonzo name, but I was not ready to see my twin brother die.

“Serena, if I will be crazy enough to help you—you need to tell me first, who are you talking about?” Isobel was determined to get an answer out of me. Yes, she was horrible—but I would’ve asked the same and I knew that I at least owed her that. “Beau.”

“Beau? Vince’s puppy?” She spoke as her laughter made my blood boil by the nickname she had given him. Puppy?

“Why would the Garcia’s lock him up?”

“Well, that’s easy.” I stammered as I tried my hardest to come up with an excuse.

“It’s because he helped us, he gave Christian a lot of valuable information.” I ended up telling the truth.

Judging by the fact that Fabio still hadn’t moved an inch, I assumed that Luis's theory was right and that he was waiting to use Beau as bait.

He could’ve told the Alfonzo’s about Beau, but he didn’t—and I knew it was all because he was planning to use Beau against me. My life and the baby’s life for my brother’s life.

I did not want to die but I did not want my brother to die either, and I did not want to send Luis back to that horrible place—so freeing him would be the only way.

Isobel frowned her eyebrows. “Why would Vince’s puppy betray him and help you?”

How was I even going to get myself out of this one? “Because...we’re close?” I failed to sound sincere and was close to screwing up his cover.

“Were you guys together?” She continued to interrogate me as I scrunched up my nose in disgust. “Ew, absolutely not—no.”

“Okay...Marcello is not a monster and he won’t snitch on Luis so why can’t we ask your brother—“

“No, absolutely not—we will absolutely not ask my brothers or any other Alfonzo for their help!” I immediately stopped her from finishing that sentence. “Listen, I just want you to set him free and to keep him safe for a while.”

“What about the cameras? Do you really expect me to walk right in and to grab...Beau?” Isobel asked with a disgusted look on her face. She was right, I hadn’t thought this through, but I couldn’t bail on my brother.

“Look, no one is busy with Beau at the moment—because I’m pretty sure they’re looking for Luis.”

“The basement has no cameras and you can get there through the back door. Micah is guarding the place from two to six and he is an idiot.” Luis backed me up.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen—it’s almost five.” Isobel chuckled as she turned her phone so I could look at the time.

“Which means you better get going.” I shrugged my shoulders. She was going to get Beau out, one way or another. “Serena.” She sighed.

“Isobel.” I sighed back.

“Serena, look—what I did was wrong and I am so so so sorry—but you’re asking me to put my life on the line.” She told me. The way her mind worked was just amazing to me. Her statements were definitely one for the books.

“Life on the line? Sounds familiar doesn’t it?” I reminded her. If it wasn’t for her and Enzo—Beau wouldn’t be tied up somewhere in a factory basement and he wouldn’t have to risk his life to save me.

I tried to read the look on Isobel’s face, and could see that she regretted her actions—but that did still not change anything and I would not praise her for doing the bare minimum. She got Beau into this mess, so she would get him out of it.

“Okay, fine—I’ll go and save Beau or whatever.” She finally gave in. I let out a relieved breath and grabbed both of her hands before I did the unexpected and pulled her into a hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Isobel

“I should’ve just minded my own business from the start.” Isobel sighed to herself as she stepped into the driver’s seat.

Even though she regretted her actions, she was still not the biggest fan of Serena—and could not believe that she was betraying Christian to earn her forgiveness, but she also knew that Serena forgiving her would give her the peace she needed.

The first step she would take would be to call Vincenzo. Maybe I can get through to him, she thought as she dialed his number.

“Isobel?” She heard his trembling voice and pitied him. She knew that Luis was his everything and that he would lose it even more than he already had. “Yes?”

“Isobel, Luis is missing—they took Luis. I hurt him and he ran away with Beau’s phone and I tried to track it, and I found it in a warehouse, all smashed up! Isobel, someone took Lui—“

“Vince, breathe—you have to chill.” Isobel attempted to calm him down. “What was Luis doing with Beau’s phone?” She tried to play along. That part was the missing piece of the puzzle, but if she was going to save Beau—she felt like she had the right to know.

“Vince, you can tell me—I’ve been disowned remember.” She chuckled as she tried to gain his trust. “I’m on your side.”

“Beau and Serena are twins. All this time my dad did not kill the baby—but he gave him another identity and let that thing work beside me, he gets to live while my mom and my little brother couldn’t.” Vincenzo spoke without a single paise.

“All this time he has been working behind my back, gave Christian valuable information to take us down, a-a-nd I know that Beau is not worse than Serena and that he got what he deserved and got treated like shit his entire life to pay the price, and that he also deserves to die and his time will come, but Serena...she took it one step too far don’t you think? She does not have the right to have a baby...Christian’s baby when—“

“Shut up!” Isobel yelled out to stop him from talking. Just as she had expected, there was more behind Beau and Serena’s relationship.

“Vince, where is Beau?” Isobel asked. She was afraid her friend began to lose his mind, just as she had seen it happen to Enzo—and she did not know how to take it. Even though she was about to betray him, he was still her friend and she cared for him.

“B-beau? I-I let him go, he’s no use to me.” Vincenzo lied through the phone. Liar, Isobel thought in disbelief with only one thing going through her head. What the hell was wrong with him?

“Izzy, I’m sure they took Luis and my dad does not give a shit, he only cares about Serena—and Beau won’t tell me where he is—I swear to god if the Lamberti’s have him I will go there right now and—“

“And do what?” Isobel yelled at him. “Vince, you have lost it. They will kill you before you even get a chance to speak.”

“Then what should I do? I planned to call Lucio but my dad told me to drop it, he told me that we had to make sacrifices to get to Serena and the baby, but I can’t sacrifice Luis—”

“Vincenzo, do you hear yourself?” Isobel was shocked by his statement. “W-what?” Vincenzo asked, completely unaware of the impact his words had left.

“You’ve lost it,” Isobel told him in all honesty. “Talking about sacrifices? Do you hear yourself?”

The thought of her sacrificing not only Serena but also an innocent baby came back to her mind and slowly made her realize how unreal it all sounded and she couldn’t help but think, did I also used to sound like that?

“I just want my brother back, I’m losing my mind...what do I do?” Vincenzo panicked. Isobel was unsure of what to do and began to understand the consequences of her actions.

If there was someone who’d always had a stable mind, it’d have to be Vincenzo. She knew from the start that Enzo’s personality was all an act, so she used him as easy target—but with Vincenzo it was different. She had known Vincenzo to be a bright and kind person—but everything had changed.

“I know, it’ll all be okay—I’m sure Luis walked away because he couldn’t take it anymore and—“

“What, he couldn’t take me? You’re just like him.” Vincenzo spoke. The change in tone surprised Isobel and she knew that one wrong word could make it even worse. “What?”

“My dad, you’re just like him. You also think Luis hates us and that’s why he ran away—just like my brother did, don’t you?” Vincenzo believed. “What, that’s not what I said?”

“You know that you are the reason why we’re all in this mess in the first place. If you’d just kept your mouth shut—none of this would’ve reached us and we would’ve lived in peace, and Luis would’ve still been here!” Vincenzo yelled out while Isobel held her phone from a distance.

He was right, it was all her fault—and there was nothing she could do to change that. Being frowned upon by many, and taking the extra dosis of the blame which Enzo should’ve gotten was enough of a punishment. “Vince?”

“You are the Antichrist—no, you are no different from satan...you are the devil in disguise, that’s what you are,” Vincenzo spoke as if he was in some kind of trance. His opinion was no different from Christian’s—but to Isobel his opinion didn’t matter as much as Christian’s. What was the point of getting worked up if his words were the truth? Isobel had already decided for herself.

“Vincenzo?” Isobel called out after she had realized that he had hung up in her ear. Anyone could see that the thought of not having Luis close to him was driving him insane and she slowly began to wonder whether or not Serena had only made it worse. She understood where she was coming from, because Vince had lost his mind—but she did not know whether it was worth it or not to risk his mental health for a child.

“Yeah, I need to free Beau while I still can.” She whispered to herself as she started the car.

Isobel agreed with both Christian and Vincenzo, all of this was because of her—but she had believed that Serena reaching out to her was a chance to fix everything.

A chance to get her life back.