“Mama, what’s going on? Who is that woman?”
“Her name is Abriana Ferrari. She was engaged to your father for a short time before he and I’d met. A vicious woman.”
“What is she doing here?” I asked, as my mother glowered at Abriana.
“I have no idea. But whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
She got up from the table and walked across to them. Clearly there was no love lost between the two women. It was my wedding day, and it was time to find out why this woman had attended uninvited.
ELEANORA
The reception was perfect—the food a treat of Sicilian cuisine fit for royalty, my mother had made sure of that. Joe and his parents were talking to a woman dressed in white, a bit rude I thought. Only the bride wore white on her big day, but I wasn’t going to make a fuss on my wedding day.
Something about the conversation was off. The fact that no one in the group looked particularly pleased worried me. Perhaps it was time to go over there and see what the commotion was about.
“Where are you going, Ella? Everything okay?” Bria watched the object of my curiosity, and when I rose, she touched my arm.
“I’m not sure. I’m going to go over and see what the fuss is all about.”
I should have just stayed where I was and enjoyed the last few minutes of wedding bliss.
Chapter Five
JOE
Abriana Ferrari was a tall woman with blonde hair. Her eyes were dark brown, and so was her soul. She was a menacing presence, one who seemed hell-bent on hurting my father. By the time I’d joined the conversation, my father was white with anger.
“Darling, what’s going on?” My mother looked at her husband with quiet panic in her eyes.
“Well, if it isn’t the whore who stole my fiance. You look well, Bella. Then, why wouldn’t you, after stealing what was meant to be mine.”
“Abriana. Still as vile as ever, I see. What can we do for you?”
“I’ve brought you a wedding gift,” she said, clearly enjoying every word.
“We don’t want anything from you, thank you, Abriana.” I’d never seen my mother like that before. She was a gentle woman, kind and pleasant. Abriana had to have done something awful for Bella Coli to not like her.
“I think you’re going to like this gift. It’s to all of you from me.”
The young man who’d been standing next to her moved closer. Abriana had a wicked smile on her face when she looked at him.
“Antonio, meet Gino. Gino meet your father.”
The sudden silence was deafening. My mother walked away and sat at the closest table to us. My father stared at Gino then back at Abriana.
“What?” He looked confused.
“Antonio, this is your son. Joe, meet your brother, Gino.” She beamed and Gino smirked.
The air was sucked out of my lungs. If this was a cruel joke, it wasn’t funny. Everything around me went black, tunnel vision grabbing me by the short and curlies. What the fuck was this woman talking about? I was an only child. I’d believed that all my life. Surely, if my parents knew, they would have told me. This was the cruelest thing that could happen on my beautiful day.
“What the hell are you talking about? What son? He can’t be mine.” My father backed up and looked at Gino.
I couldn’t speak. Horror was an understatement of epic proportions.
“Abriana, what the fuck are you talking about? We broke up long before Bella and I started dating. Don’t you think that if you were pregnant with my son, I’d know about it?”
“Oh, but you didn’t, Antonio. You didn’t know because I didn’t want you to know. You were off and I was alone. Now, it’s time for you to know your son.”
“You mean, you waited until you could punish me. I knew you were a cruel woman, Abriana, but this is a new low, even for you.”
“Be that as it may. He’s your son and he wants to know you. I can prove it. I have his blood work if you think I’m lying.”
“You bloody better prove it.” Abriana threw a piece of paper at my father. He looked at it in silence, and when he looked up, his face was gray. He gave her an acid stare and walked over to where my mother was sitting, staring into space.
I didn’t have the faintest idea what to say to the man standing next to me. Gino was impeccably dressed but seemed a little rough around the edges. He extended his hand to me in greeting.
“Hello, brother,” he said. “Congratulations on your wedding.”
As I took his hand, Ella appeared next to me. She heard Gino introducing himself as my brother and looked at me with shock and surprise, but she said nothing. The man was my brother, allegedly, and I didn’t want to be an asshole. I shook his hand, excused myself, and took Ella with me to talk to my father. What had started off as the best day of my life, had suddenly turned into a nightmare.
Gino stood next to his mother. The two were smiling like a couple of cats that had cornered a mouse. You could almost see their tails slapping as they grinned at the delivery of their wicked surprise.
ELEANORA
I heard the words coming from Gino’s mouth, but it took me a few seconds to compute. Joe’s brother? Why had I not heard about him before, and why wasn't he invited to our wedding? I had so many questions, but I knew that Joe wasn’t ready to answer any. He
