More Than This | THE WATTPAD DRAFT

Chapter 29

*As always, this story is on-going and changes will be made along the way

Thank you to each and every one of you for reading my book. Your support is everything to me! :)

Feel free to comment & vote below!

** 

Giovanni

Isabella said her goodbyes to Alvaro and Penelope and she left my apartment. I had lost count of how many times I had watched her walk away from me but I knew that this time was different. As much as I loved having her here last night and being able to hold her in my arms, it wasn't right. It wasn't right for me to keep putting her through this. I could have stopped her from leaving. I could have told her that I asked Casey for a paternity test and that there's a chance that this could all be over. But just knowing there's a chance this baby was mine was enough for me to keep that to myself. I watched her cry. I watched how broken she was over this. I had broken the heart of the woman I loved and I could never live with myself if I did that again. It was selfish of me. It was selfish of me to involve her in my own drama again and I needed to let her go. All I wanted was for her to be happy and she had made her decision to leave. It was because I loved her so much that I had to let her go and move on with her life.

No matter how much it killed me to watch her leave, it was the right thing to do for her.

"I didn't expect to see Isabella here," Penelope commented and placed the cup of coffee in front of me as I pulled myself onto one of the barstools by the counter

I reached for it and wrapped my hands around it, soaking in the heat, "Yeah, it's a bit complicated,"

Alvaro had Mateo in his arms as he took a seat on the barstool across from me. He was already a natural with the baby. I remembered how stressed he had been the day Penelope went into labour. I couldn't get that look out of my head but it made me happy to see how relaxed he was now. In the end, everything worked out the way it was supposed to.

"Are you guys back together?" Alvaro asked

I shook my head, "No and I'm pretty sure that's the last time I'll be seeing her,"

"I thought you asked Casey for a paternity test?"

"I did but I couldn't tell Isabella that," I brought my cup up to my lips and took a small sip, the hot liquid burning my tongue, "How do we know the baby isn't mine? And if I tell her about the test and it comes back saying I'm the father then I've gone and dragged her through this all over again. She's made it clear that she doesn't want to be involved,"

The deep sadness around my heart had returned again. There was a hollowness that now lingered in my chest and I knew it was going to be a permanent resident. I had to accept that Isabella was gone and I had to let her go.

Penelope reached out and squeezed my hand, "I'm sorry. I know how much you love her,"

I said nothing and brought the coffee to my lips again. They both got the message that I didn't want to keep talking about Isabella and me.

"Did you go and see Mama yesterday?" Alvaro asked

I placed my cup back on the counter and leaned my chin against my hand, looking over at him, "I did and I saw her. I also saw her making out with someone that wasn't our father,"

Penelope's jaw dropped, "No!"

Alvaro's expression remained unchanged except for the swimming confusion in his eyes

"What do you mean?" Penelope couldn't hide her shock, "Marcina would never do that,"

"Clearly she would," I muttered

I had become numb to the mess that was my parent's relationship. I went through all the emotions last night with Isabella - denial, anger, sadness, shock and now, I felt nothing towards it. I had always wanted to protect my mother from the pain that my father caused. I watched how it broke her the first time and my instinct was to do what I could to defend her. It never occurred to me that she would do the same to him.

Alvaro finally spoke, "What did you say to her?"

"She didn't see me. I saw her at the top of the back stairs. I didn't recognise the man she was with but when I saw them, I left,"

He remained silent as he tried to process this. The fact that I had to break it to my brother again that another one of our parents was unfaithful to the other was a fucking joke.

"I don't know why I always have to be the one to catch them," I attempted to joke, "But seriously, our parents need to get a fucking divorce,"

"What are they doing to each other?" Alvaro asked, the anger making its way into his voice

Penelope walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder as he continued

"It was bad enough when we found out about dad the first time and then again a few weeks ago but for Mama to do the same? She's so much better than this,"

"Can you blame her though?" Penelope chimed in, "Your father was the one who did it first,"

"Two wrongs don't make a right Penelope," I snapped

"She should have left him after the first time," Alvaro interjected, "Why did she stay with him if this was what was going to happen?"

"We don't know how long this has been going on for," I added

Alvaro stood up and passed Mateo to Penelope who took him in her arms. He paced up and down the kitchen. My brother was usually very good at containing his emotions so it surprised me that he was more affected by this than I expected. I couldn't blame him though - it was a fuck up.

"They need to get divorced," Alvaro repeated my suggestion, "They clearly aren't happy together and to continue to betray each other like this isn't going to work,"

He stopped and leaned against the counter, "I don't remember their relationship ever being this bad,"

"It wasn't. Or maybe it was and we just never realised,"

"The Velazquez Constructa Christmas party is coming up now. You know we're going to be expected to attend right?" Alvaro reminded me

Every year my father's business hosts a lavish Christmas party with all of its employees, the top people in society and any press that was itching for a story. The point of the party is to raise funds for various different charities that my father was involved in. The man may have some questionable tactics when it came to his family but I couldn't deny that he did what he could to give back to those less fortunate. This party has been happening for years now and was always a compulsive family affair.

"I forgot all about that," I admitted

"Well, we're going to need to bite our tongues until after that party. There's always press there and quite frankly, I'd like to keep them out of our family's business this time around," Alvaro continued, "We need to make it through this last public appearance as a family and then they need to get a divorce because what they're doing isn't right,"

I was about to object to his idea to hold off on saying anything but instead, I agreed. The press had no problem ripping into my family the last time a scandal like this rolled around and even though it was a fucked up situation, I would still protect my family and we had the right to go through this privately.

"Fine but as soon as that party is over, we're going to have a family meeting and sort this shit out,"