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86

Elsa

My eyes welled as I could feel the pain, and my heart ached for them both. The fact that my mother was going to tell them, maybe even holding onto the hope that they could finally be together.

But no.

For her own protection, mine even, she had to accept that was how her life was going to be. And I couldn’t even imagine what Alexei must be feeling now. To know he was close to being told he was going to have a child with the woman he loved. But his own mother stood in his way and took the truth with her to the grave.

Nestor looked completely taken aback as he looked at my mother and followed Alexei once he came to his senses. I was sure Alexei needed some time to think it all through.

I didn’t say anything, giving my mother some time to gather herself. I looked at Nicholas ,he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, already looking at me. I couldn’t tell if he was truly interested in the story or not as he wore a straight face.

Then I knew he wasn’t interested when he tapped the watch on his wrist, letting me know how was getting impatient and wanted me to get to the clinic now. I knew I had to go soon but i couldn’t leave after this.

She literally dropped a bomb on us all.

I smile as she returned to sit next to me.

“I know how it all sounds, but know you’re still the best thing that ever happened to me.” She whispered as she caressed my cheek. I smiled. I never doubted that for a second.

“The decisions I made are not something I am proud of… But, I had to keep you alive and safe for as long as I could. Fortunately, you look like me which made it easier. And I never wanted you to have the Volante name because you weren’t his, but I also couldn’t give you your real name. Instead, I came up with some excuse about protection and twisted the Cirillo name into Celano to make it sound Italian.” My mother continued to explain. Everything made so much more sense now. If Geotano knew I wasn’t his daughter, he would have killed us both on the spot.

“I liked the name Celano better than Volante.” I admitted, making her chuckle.

“I just had to continue the lie for a bit longer until I could find a way out. Bit by bit, I saved enough for us to get away. But of course, nothing was easy. Life never is. You loved him as your father and it broke me because was going to ruin it. But your well–being meant more to me, and if it meant you would hate me for taking you away, then that was fine with me. You just had to be safe.”

Guilt flooded me. I was so heartbroken when we left, and I did remember feeling a bit resentful toward my mother. But when I believed I was calling my father to talk to him, he never once picked up and even changed his number. I just accepted that was how it was going to be and lived life with my mother.

“How did you do it?” I asked.

“Well, for once I felt like I had luck on my side. I found out Geotano was cheating on me with Maria, and it gave me the perfect reason to go. I even made a scene to make it more believable that I was upset about it, and that was when we left.”

“You slapped him.” I said and my mother looked at me in surprise.

“How do you know?”

“Tessa  and I heard you fighting. We sneaked out of the room and we saw you slap the fuck – I mean, we saw you slap him.” I quickly corrected myself. Who knew if she had a wooden  spoon here? But it actually made her smile. She looked proud of herself and she should be.

“My biggest regret will always be not fighting harder for Tessa…” My mother looked frustrated with herself, and I gave her hand a small squeeze in comfort.