Chapter 82

Christian

“I’m coming with you!” Luis unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car.

“Luis...” Christian sighed. He felt bad for having to put him through this, and made him think about his own childhood. The only difference was that Luis was much braver than he had ever been.

He grabbed Luis’s hand as they walked through the back door. The two made their way to the living room, and the first thing they saw was how Vincenzo pointed his gun at Christian from a distance.

“Luis.” Vincenzo breathed and looked at his little brother who had hidden behind Christian. “Vince put down the gun,” Christian told him, but Vincenzo shook his head.

“Give me Luis!” He demanded as Luis’s grip around Christian’s back had tightened.

“Vince, I did not come here to argue—I came here because I want to spare your life,” Christian spoke and threw his gun on the floor before he held up both of his hands as he surrendered himself.

“I could’ve handed Luis over to my family, but I didn’t and they don’t know I have him—because trust me or not, I do not intend to hurt him.” Christian tried to get through to him.

Seeing Luis tremble in fear made him believe that there had to be another way to convince his friend, one which did not include violence. “You know, I was going to threaten you with Luis’s life so you would work along, but after seeing you...Vince, you need help.” Christian sighed.

He knew that this was not the same Vince who he had always admired and even secretly looked up to. The same Vince who he had been jealous of for having a kind and bright personality.

“Vince, you have to put down the gun—you can not win this battle. Luis saved Beau.” Christian told him and watched as Vincenzo’s eyes had widened. “Yes, that’s right—Beau is free, and when your dad finds out that Luis had a hand in thi—“

“He’ll kill him,” Vince whispered and cocked his gun. “He won’t have to know if I kill you right now,” Vincenzo spoke with trembling hands.

“You are not going to shoot me.” Christian chuckled and grabbed Luis’s hand to pull him in front of him. “Even if you kill me there’s still Beau and Isobel, she’s on my side now.”

“You’re lying!” Vince yelled out as Christian took a few steps closer. “I’m not, she’s the one who set him free.”

“Vince, you’re losing—and I’m offering to show you mercy. I have begged everyone to show you and Luis mercy.” He spoke while he stepped closer and closer.

Vince pointing a gun at his head did not faze him because he knew that the real Vince was still somewhere in there.

“Serena—who is innocent and has nothing to do with this, has begged me to show you mercy. She could’ve handed him over to my family, but she didn’t—because she cares about you.” Christian took one step closer before he was close enough to cover the gun with his free hand.

“If you wanted to hurt me, you would’ve done so a long time ago.” Christian looked him in the eyes. “I know I’ve made some mistakes, and that I’ve abandoned you as everyone else has—and maybe if I would’ve been there for you when you needed me...things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

Vince had tears in his eyes and knew that his words were true. Christian had despised him when he needed him the most, and at that time the only family who made him feel like he was worth something was his father.

“You’re on the losing end here, and I’m trying to save you. I’ll make sure that you and Luis get spared, but you have to work along with me.” Christian told him. Vincenzo shook his head and pushed away Christian’s hand so he could point it at his head again.

“I can’t do that—I can’t look at how you, Serena, and the baby live a happy life while I had to protect Luis from the monster the Lamberti’s and the Alfonzo’s created. When I have to live without a mother!”

“The men responsible for her death have already been punished many years ago—the Alfonzo’s who had nothing to do with this have already been punished many years ago and so have the Lamberti’s.” Christian slowly covered Vince’s gun again.

“Serena grew up without a family, Beau lived as your puppet and you shouldn’t punish them because of who they are—you know that, and that’s why we have been friends for a long time. It’s because you know right from wrong.” Christian told him.

“You know that the one who gave the order to lit that house on fire was your dad—and that’s why you have always hated him, so why are you doing this?” He wondered.

“We all have one common enemy, and that enemy is Fabio—you have always told me Fabio is our enemy,” He spoke.

“How far do you want to go, are you going to wait until he’s going to hurt Luis?” Christian waited for an answer, but there wasn’t one. All Vincenzo could do was lower his head.

“If I don’t have my dad or Luis, I have no one. I have no choice.” He barely whispered and closed his eyes as a tear rolled down his cheek. “That’s not true.

“We have discussed the situation about your dad a long time ago—and we both agreed that he’s not a good person—so tell me, why are you really doing this?” Christian was determined to get to the bottom of this.

“I-I told you, my mom—“

“Is dead, she’s dead,” Christian spoke. “She’s gone and there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

“Vince, you don’t really want to hurt Serena or Beau—because you love them.” He tried to remind him of the good time which according to Serena they had all spend together.

“The last thing you want to do is hurt the people you love, and after you come back to your senses—you will have to deal with that for the rest of your life.” Christian sighed as his thoughts went to Serena who he had betrayed.

“It’s so easy for you, isn’t it Christian?” Vince’s hands trembled as more tears began to roll down his cheeks.

“You have your family, dozen people following you, you have Serena, a baby on the way—you don’t know how I feel, you like to say that you’ve had a hard life, but look at you?” Vincenzo spoke. “I needed something good in my life, I found Serena—she made me smile and she made me happy...but just like everything else she’s yours, you even took Luis from me.”

“Do you know what I felt like when I heard that she was an Alfonzo? I felt like I was getting punished like I can’t have anything good in life!” Vince yelled out through tears. “But still, I was willing to stay by her side but you made her believe that it was all a lie. I was ready to give my life for her—and once you told her not to trust me...she threw me away like everyone else,”

“That’s not true!” Christian jumped to Serena’s defense. “Serena has never stopped caring about you, not once. I know you still love her.”

Christian slowly began to blame himself. It was true, he had doubted Vince and even Beau did—but despite knowing him for all those years, the thought of Vince being truthful had not crossed his mind. He failed Vince.

“What does it matter? She hates me!” Vince screamed in Christian’s face. “She will never love me, my mom loved me and she isn’t here anymore—Luis can’t even look me in the eye anymore. Why would I risk my life and go against my dad when no one loves me?”

“That’s not true, I love you,” Christian spoke as he looked down at Luis who had his head buried in his waist. Luis was shaking in fear and did not have the guts to face his brother. Luis had expected to talk to him so he could get through to him, but every time he closed his eyes—the only thing he could see was how his brother pushed him. How his brother had turned into a monster.

“I love you as a brother, and that’s why I’m willing to talk to you—friends can love you, Vince, now please put down the gun, and let’s talk about this!” Christian pleaded.

“It’s too late, it’s all too late—I can’t turn back anymore.” Vince had finally lowered his gun and looked at Christian with a painful expression on his face. That’s all he wanted to hear, that he was loved.

“Even if I tell my dad to stop, he won’t. I don’t have that kind of power, you know how he is.”

“It’s not too late, I know you still love Serena and that deep down you don’t want to do this to her,” Christian spoke. “Help me take down Fabio, just join the winning team so I can spare your life and Luis’s life. So you can gain back Serena’s trust!”

“I can’t, it’s too late.” Vince cried and turned his head to Luis. “I never intended for things to go this far, all I’ve ever wanted was to work along with my dad so I could keep Luis safe, I’m so sorry.” He breathed before he turned the gun and held it against his own temple. “I’m so sorry, Christian—please keep Luis safe.”

“Vince put down the gun!” Christian spoke in shock. He had already prepared himself for a dozen of different scenarios, but this was definitely not one of them. One bad move could ruin his entire plan.

Luis who was beginning to realize what was happening removed his head from Christian’s waist and ran towards Vince.

“Vince, please stop—I’m begging you to stop, please!” Luis cried out and pulled his legs. “Don’t do this, please don’t leave me alone!” He begged him as Vince closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Tell Beau I’m sorry.”

Christian blocked out the sounds of Luis begging him to do something and crossed his arms as he looked at Vincenzo.

“Tell Serena I love h—“

Before Vince got the chance to finish his sentence, Christian grabbed him by his neck and pushed him against the wall as the gun fell to the floor. “Love? Are you crazy? Think about Luis, think about Serena!”

Vince looked at Luis who was down on his knees, crying—and got an immediate wake-up call. Ending it for himself wouldn’t do anything.

He had been searching for his brother, he had not closed a single eye—and it all would’ve been for nothing.

“If you really love her, you will do everything you can to save her, if you want to hurt yourself afterward, then do what you have to do—“ He yelled in his face.

“But before that—you are going to work with me, do I make myself clear?” Christian tightened the grip around his neck as Vince tried to catch his breath. “You can kill yourself, but know that it won’t do anything because I will never forgive you!”

“If you really regret your actions and if you truly love her, you won’t run away like a coward until you help me fix this mess. You claim to love Serena and Luis, but if you do not help me, their lives will be in danger!” Christian released him as Vince nodded his head. “Good, because I have a plan—and you’re not going to ruin it for me.”

“What do you want me to do?”