Page 11 of The Guardian

Gabriela opened her arms to them and said, “Please come and hug me?”

They slowly stepped over and into her embrace. Wrapping her arms around them she closed her eyes.

I felt tears again. I knew this whole thing might be emotional and maybe even difficult, but I never thought I would also be so affected by it. I glanced over at Henry.

He bit his lip as if he was also attempting to stay poised.

I must be mistaken in thinking that though, as men didn’t act like this… did they? Yes, my father would get tears in his eyes during some sad or emotional time. But he was already older by the time he acted that way. Otherwise, I’d never known a guy who would be affected by emotional sentiment. By a reunion that was so fraught with bad memories as well. The supposed aunts were ghastly women. They had so many rules for the twins that they were posted on the wall and on the fridge. If they broke even one, they would get whipped. I had deflected as much abuse as possible.

Henry cleared his throat and glanced away.

Wow, I think he did feel touched by all of this. I then heard an odd sound.

Henry and I both looked around.

Mrs. Santorini was crying now as she stood by the counter. Turning away, she took a tissue and blew her nose. “Oh, dio mio…”

Henry and I looked at each other and smiled. The moment was alleviated as even the cook had been touched by the reunion.

Suddenly, the twins moved to clear the table. Gathering dishes and glasses.

Gabriela looked over at me.

I gave her a nod as if to say…Please allow it. The teens had been raised to clean up after themselves. Truthfully, they had been raised to clean up entirely. The old women used them as house maids and cooks since they were about four years old as far as I found out. Those two brujas never did a dish, cooked a meal or did any laundry for the last ten years. I remember feeling shocked when the twins told me about this.

Mrs. Santorini looked from the kids to me, then Gabriela. She said nothing but I could see surprise in her eyes.

“Mrs. Santorini will take you both to wash up and we will then take you to see your rooms,” Gabriela informed them.

Finally, the cook left with the twins.

Looking over at us, Gabriela sat down and said, “I wish for you to understand why I did not have the twins with me all this time.”

I slowly shook her head. “It is not needed. I am not a judge of this.”

Gabriela reached over and took my hand. “Maybe not but you were their mother and father for several years and you mean so much to them. You need to know the truth. I got a call after Alberto and the Castillos went to war and it was my last chance to find my kids. But this involved Santiago Castillo and that meant no mercy…ever.”

Five Months ago…

My phone rang. I checked the screen to see it was Ignacio. He had been my one true support for all these years. I immediately answered, “Yes?”

“Gabby, there’s something I need to tell you,” Ignacio said.

I paused. “What is it?” I asked, already recognizing his grave tone.

“Santiago is in critical condition,” Ignacio told me.

I reached out and grabbed the wall near the door, my heartbeat thudding in my head. “He’s in critical condition?” I asked. “How?”

Alberto now looked concerned as he’d heard what I said.

“After the attack and finding out that you were with Mancini, he had a stroke. The remaining Castillos are keeping him in one of their hideaway places,” Ignacio explained.

“Tell me where he is,” I told him. I had one chance to confront him and I wasn’t going to lose it.

“He’s in the upper unit above that cigar shop on Crane,” Ignacio said. “If you’re planning on going there, you need to hurry. He doesn’t have much time left.”

I hung up and turned to Alberto. “I have to go. My father is on the brink of death and I refuse to let him die without finding out where my twins are.” I placed my hand on his chest. “I need to do this alone.”