In The Darkest Hour

Part One - Chapter Fourteen: Family Gathering

“You must be Isla… I’ve heard so much about you,” Shakira gushed stepping forward to hug the woman that was in-charge of her nephew’s care; she wasn’t pleased with the arrangement but there was little that she could do about it.

Isla blushed a little as she nodded her head, she was surprised that the singer had come to speak with her so soon after she had arrived; she would have thought that Shakira would have wanted to relax after her flight over from America.

Milan tilted his head confused at the blonde woman, he didn’t know who she was or why she was smiling at him; he clung onto Isla not wanting to be parted from her.

“This must be Milan… he’s gotten so big,” Shakira said smiling, she couldn’t believe how much the little boy looked like her late sister; she wished that Isabel could have been there to see him.

Isla slowly handed Milan over to Shakira, she had no right to deny the woman a chance to hold her nephew; she was nothing more than someone who looked after him.

“He looks so much like Isabel, doesn’t he mama?” Shakira murmured cuddling the uncomfortable looking little boy, she peeked over at her mother and father who were sat talking to Gerard; she wasn’t overly fond of the man that her sister had been going to marry.

Nidia Ripoll looked towards her daughter and nodded her head, Milan reminded her so much of Isabel and she hoped to see more of her grandson now that his father was getting his life back on track.

Gerard peeked at Shakira, she hadn’t spoken a word to him since she had arrived and he was a little concerned about what she might have planned during her visit.

Gerard knew that she had wanted custody of Milan after Isabel had passed away and he wasn’t going to let that happened; he wasn’t going to lose his son now that he was getting better.

***

“What did you do before you were a nanny?” Tonino asked smiling at Isla as he sipped on his beer, his dark brown eyes staring at her curiously while she tried to settle Milan down.

Isla paused at the question as her heart pounded in her chest, no one had asked her that before and she had no idea how to respond; even Gerard hadn’t asked her instead he thought she’d always been a nanny.

“I was a nurse,” Isla replied softly trying not to give too much away, she turned her attention back to Milan knowing that there was no way anyone here could know what had happened.

Tonino raised an eyebrow at Isla as he peeked back over at Gerard who was busy chatting with Lionel; he was surprised at the man’s decision to hire someone like Isla and it made him curious.

“And why did you stop?” Tonino pushed watching Isla with Milan, he was sure that being a nurse was far more rewarding than looking after his nephew day in and day out.

Isla chewed on her lip, she honestly wasn’t sure what to say and she wished that Tonino would dropped it; she didn’t like anyone prying too much into her past right now.

“I wanted to work with children,” Isla lied simply, it was better this way and she knew that when Montserrat cleared her name that everything was going to be okay even if the investigation had only just started.

Milan babbled completely unaware of the tension that was building between his uncle and Isla; he cuddled into the brunette that had done everything for him since she had begun to work for his father.

“Come on Tonino… stop bothering Isla,” Antonella Roccuzzo teased walking over to them with Thiago balanced on her hip, she had seen how nervous Isla was and she wondered what Tonino had said to make that happened.

Isla took a deep breath as she turned to smile at Antonella, she honestly didn’t know what she would have done with Lionel’s wonderful fiancée; she had only met her a couple of hours ago but she could see them being good friends.

“I was wondering if there was somewhere that I could put Thiago down for a nap,” Antonella asked softly, she smiled at Isla knowing that Gerard was so lucky to have the brunette in his life and she had heard all sorts of wonderful things from Lionel about her.

Isla nodded her head and signalled for Antonella to follow her upstairs, there was a guest room that could be used and she was sort of glad that everyone had checked into a hotel.

“Just ignore Tonino, he’s a big softie really,” Antonella said smiling at Isla, she liked the brunette and she hoped that Gerard knew how lucky he was; the woman had done wonders and had coped with him when no one else could.

Isla nodded her head, she knew that Tonino hadn’t meant to pry but there was something about him that set her on edge; she didn’t know what it was and it scared her.

Antonella looked at Isla, she had no idea what Gerard would ever do if something were too take the brunette from him but she knew that they had to be prepared for when Isla went on with her own life.

“We should go to dinner sometime,” Antonella mused with a smile, she liked Isla and she was sure that the brunette would like someone to spend time with her own age.

Isla blinked looking at Antonella surprised as she showed the woman into the guest bedroom; she hadn’t been expecting anything like this to happen.

“I’d like that,” Isla murmured smiling at Antonella, she had no idea why the brunette would want to spend time with her but she was sure that dinner some time wasn’t going to hurt.

***

Isla took a deep breath as she listened to Gerard speaking and laughing, she was glad that he had enjoyed himself and she was hopeful that this was a good step for him; he was doing so much better than before.

Isla headed into her bedroom and slipped off her shoes, her feet were aching and she was glad that almost everyone had gone; they would be back tomorrow to spend more time with Gerard and Milan.

Moving towards her bedroom, Isla stretched knowing that she wouldn’t be needed unless Milan woke up and he had only just gone to bed.

Isla gingerly reached for her laptop, she already knew that she’d have a message waiting for her from R; she hadn’t been able to block the messages and she had no idea who had been messaging her.

Taking a deep breath, Isla moved to open the message and prepared herself for whatever R had sent to her; she doubted it was going to be anything pleasant.

“It was wonderful to meet you… R,”

Isla stared at the message and felt her stomach churn as she realised that she had been in the same room as the person that was messaging her and hadn’t realised.

It made her feel sick and Isla’s mind raced as she realised just what this meant, she couldn’t believe it and she didn’t want to; she didn’t want to think that someone that had been inside Gerard’s home today knew her secret.

Isla stared at the message and took deep breathes, her mind tried to work out just who R could be; there was any one of the Ripoll family or it could have even been Antonella Roccuzzo.

Isla closed her eyes, she had no idea who it could be but she had a feeling that her life was never going to be the same now that she had an idea who R could be.