Chapter 88

4 HOURS

“Is this okay?” Vince looked down at the rope wrapped around my wrists with a worried look on his face. “I’m fine, I can take it,” I reassured him.

To make Fabio believe he had the upper hand, we had to play our cards right and couldn’t risk anything.

“I promise you, you’ll be okay—and I’ll make sure of it until my last breath. You and the baby will be okay.” Vince promised while he ripped off some tape.

“Show me how brave you are, Serena.” He spoke as he put the tape over my mouth. My heart was beating and I was scared and nervous. I was really going to meet Fabio and the thought of it was killing me.

“Breath, I won’t let anyone hurt you and so won’t Christian,” Vince told me and wrapped his hand around my wrists. He led me to the gate which was heavily protected with security. “Open up.” He ordered them while one the men smirked and looked at me.

“Seems like you’ve done something right for once.” The men spoke to Vince. “Open the gates, now.” Vince said.

“I’m sorry,” Vince whispered before he dragged me through the driveway and made his way to the figure standing at the front door. Even from afar, I could see the man’s cold eyes, and just by his confident stance, I could tell that it was him, it was Fabio.

He looked just as people described him. Cold, scary and ruthless. “Breathe,” Vince whispered as Fabio stepped forward until he was in front of me. I held in my breath and tried to look anywhere but his face, but Fabio had other plans.

“Let me look at you,” Fabio demanded and roughly grabbed me by my chin as all I could do was whimper through the tape. “Yes, you should be scared.” He spoke and moved his hand to my belly.

Serena relax, I told myself after feeling his ice-cold hands on top of my belly. “My wife was also pregnant when she was burned alive, that’s funny.” He chuckled and finally removed his hand.

“Vince, you haven’t failed me...for once.” Fabio guided us inside. Vince who had been quiet this entire time dragged me to the basement while Fabio followed closely behind.

“All of you, out.” He told his men which made me realize that he really was a sloppy worker, he felt too comfortable.

“Tie her to the chair.”

“Come on, keep it moving,” Vincenzo spoke in a rough tone and pulled me by my arm. “Sit.”

He pushed me down onto the chair. “There’s no need to tie her up, she can’t escape.” He told his father, but Fabio shook his head. “An Alfonzo is an Alfonzo, tie her up.”

Vince gulped and ended up doing as he was told, but this time he released my hands and tied my legs. There was no negotiation possible with that man, Fabio had made that clear.

“So.” Fabio sighed and pulled out a chair so he could sit in front of me. I looked at Vince who stood behind him, but he ignored my gaze.

“Do you know why you’re here, Serena?” Fabio asked me. This man didn’t need anything to scare me, his words and his tone were already enough. “I asked you a question!” He growled out and cupped my chin with his hand.

I felt scared and threatened so all I did was nod my head until he finally decided to let go of me. “Good.”

“You’re here because your parents lied to me, you’re here because I won’t let you have this disgusting hybrid baby, while the Lamberti’s and the Alfonzo’s took the most important thing from me!” Fabio raised his voice.

He got up from the chair and paced back and forth while I tried my hardest to calm myself down.

“Many years ago there was a fire, a house fire. The fire was because of my instructions, but your father’s men and the Lamberti men—were too careless and burned down the house while my pregnant wife and my son were still in the house.” Fabio began to explain his side of the story, and even though I felt bad—I really did not want to hear it. “Every man responsible paid for their lives and I tried to move on, but I couldn’t. It was unfair.”

“I told the Lamberti’s and the Alfonzo’s that they had to give me one of their children, so they could experience what real lost felt like—and they gave me your brother, Beau.” He clenched his fists as he walked a circle around me.

“It’s the name my deceased brother gave him, I was going to leave that brat nameless, but my brother actually liked him and took care of him. He took it too far, so I killed him...my brother, I killed him.” He spoke as if it was nothing.

Vince’s eyes widened and I figured this was also something new to him. “I thought I could replace my pain by raising Beau, but I couldn’t—I’ve tried but all I can see whenever I look at him is an Alfonzo, he’s absolutely not a Garcia, but I had to keep him alive, so he could at least suffer,” Fabio explained.

It made me think about Beau’s bad childhood and how he did not deserve any of it. “My ex-wife found out about Beau, she was going to hand her over to the Alfonzo’s but before she could do that, I also got rid of her,” Fabio confessed as Vince looked at him with furious eyes. Was he talking about Luis’ mother?

“I had Beau and making his life miserable was enough for me, and then I found out you were alive,” Fabio growled out and pointed his finger at my nose.

“Yes, I would’ve taken you if I knew there were two babies—I would’ve taken both of you.” He admitted. “But I was willing to let it rest until I heard you were pregnant and having a little mixed brat of the two families I despise the most!”

I looked at Vince in fear as Fabio was getting more aggressive by the second. “Did you know that I had personally requested for Christian, I told Lucio that I would raise him as my own—but Lucio didn’t want it, he paid me quite some money to make sure his son would remain unharmed, he handed over Beau like a piece of meat.” Fabio chuckled.

“No one knew because I’d signed a contract to keep it a secret, but he paid me off for ten whole years, just so I wouldn’t touch his precious son. He watched as your poor mother, Lita—fell into a depression while he could’ve prevented it by letting me raise Christian.” Fabio explained.

In that second it felt as if my world had stopped. Lucio taking care of me? It was not because he liked me, it was all because of guilt. Did it still matter? No, it didn’t. Lucio and my parents gave me away so I would have a better life, and the way it had turned out was out of their hands.

All Lucio had done was to look out for his family, and given the chance—I’m sure the Alfonzo’s would’ve done the same. No matter what Fabio would say, he wouldn’t get to me. “Long story short, this pain I feel in my heart? It will end today.”

“I have your brother and I will pick him up later—I hope both Lucio and Matteo will be here by that time, to watch the show.” He knelt and looked at me. “They don’t know about Beau yet, but I’ll tell them when they’re here—right before I kill you.”

This man had some serious issues and the only reason why I had managed to keep it together was because of Beau, Beau was safe. Whatever Fabio was planning, it was not going to happen.

“Oh, wait for a second—the tape.” Fabio sighed and pulled it from my lips in one go. “See, there you go.” He smirked as I yelled out in pain and touched my lips.

“You’re disgusting.” I blurted out. I wasn’t supposed to say it out loud, but somehow it happened to be that way. “And you have a big mouth.” Fabio chuckled.

“Killing me and the baby isn’t going to make anything better. Your wife and your son are dead, and I’m really sorry but it won’t bring them back—they’re already gone.” I told him as Vincenzo who stood behind him shook his head, begging me to stop. “What?” Fabio growled and grabbed me by my neck.

“What did you say?” He spat in my face. “I said they’re dead,” I whispered. Fabio pushed me away and burst out laughing as he stepped back to smack Vince’s shoulder. “Do you hear that Vince? Do you hear that?”

“It seems to me like Christian has found his equal,” Fabio spoke as he put on some latex gloves. “What was he going to do?”

“I was going to wait until your brother got here, but I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with—this is not some kind of joke.” He spoke and walked to the corner of the room to grab a bucket of water.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Vince worried. He stepped forward to stop him but as soon as he took a step forward he froze in his steps. That’s right, he couldn’t interfere.

“So what do you want, do you want me to cut out the baby right now, or do you want me to wash your mouth out with soap?” Fabio grabbed the back of my head and tried to push it into the bucket, while I used all my strength to pull away.

“I’m sorry.” I whimpered as tears left my eyes. If I had just kept my big mouth shut. “Answer me!” He yelled out.

“T-the water, please not the baby.” I stuttered and watched as he laughed in my face. “Pathetic.” He muttered before he pushed my head in the bucket. I tried to hold in my breath, which worked out pretty well until Fabio pushed my head in even deeper.

“Maybe you should just die right now.” I heard him speak as his hand moved to my belly. I panicked at the lack of oxygen and yelled as the water began to enter my lungs. All I could think about was the baby.

“Dad, stop it!” I heard Vince yell out before someone pulled my head out the bucket. I desperately grabbed my throat and coughed out water while Vince brushed his hand through my soaked hair.

“I wasn’t going to kill her, just teach her some manners!” Fabio growled and grabbed Vince by his neck.

“Tell me why you care? I told you what will happen if you’re playing games!” Fabio yelled in his face. “I know that you don’t give a shit about your own life, but I do believe you care for your brother.” He threatened him.

He didn’t even know about Beau yet, but he was already threatening poor Luis. My hands moved to my belly and I let out a relieved sigh when I felt the baby move. She must’ve sensed something was wrong. We just had to hold on for a bit longer.

At least I did not have to worry about the others and knew they were safe. That was the sacrifice Christian had expected me to make, and I did. Even if I wouldn’t make it, at least everyone else would.

“I just want her and Beau to suffer together, what would be the fun in doing it now?” Vince tried to convince Fabio. “That’s right, you share the same brains as your father.” Fabio spoke with a proud smile on his face.

He was extremely convinced that Vince would do anything to keep Luis safe, without knowing that his son was not his puppet anymore. “I don’t think it’ll be long before someone tries to come and rescue you.”

Fabio pushed Vince aside and made his way towards me. “So.” He knelt and brushed my hair to the side. “Where is that big mouth?”

“In exactly four hours, I will pick up your brother and I expect everyone to be here too so we can all watch the show.” Fabio grinned. “The show which involves you, your brother, and the baby’s head on a stick.”

“The fire from twenty-two years ago? I will recreate that exact same fire and I’ll let everyone watch.”