She's Back

twenty-nine: all about trust huh?

"Che cazzo?"

"Damian! Don't use that language with us!" Mamma yells.

"You're joking, right papa?" I turn to look at Gabriel. "He's joking right?" I begin to laugh.

No one answers me.

"Che cazzo!" I yell.

"Brother, calm down."

"I can't be calm Gabriel! That's Elle's dad! How the hell did he go from COO at the LEGO company to Mafia co-leader?" I ask.

"Figliolo, take a seat," my father says walking over to his chair.

"Papa, you've never mentioned him before. He's not close to us. He isn't fam-"

"Damian, you're telling me that, you're dating his daughter and you don't see yourself marrying her in the future? Your soon to be father-in-law," papa says.

"I do, but I mean, blood famiglia," I sigh.

"How long have you even known him, papa?" Gabriel asks.

"We've known both Liam and Mia, a very long time now," Mamma answers.

"Our fathers we're best friends before Liam's father passed away," papa starts explaining. Gabriel and I continue to listen.

"I met Liam at a house party back in Australia. Your grandfather sent me to take care of some business but of course, I wanted to enjoy my first time in Australia," papa says. "Liam and I hung out the entire time I was there. Every time your grandfather sent me to Australia, Liam and I would go to clubs and parties and stuff."

"How old were you?" I ask.

"I had just turned 20," Papa answers. "Liam and I used to travel back and forth from Italy and Australia to hang out. One day, your grandfather met Liam and that's when Liam and I found out that our fathers were best friend growing up," papa takes a sip of his wine before continuing.

"Liam's father left Italy in his teens and moved to Australia where he met his wife and settled down. Anyways, Liam and I did everything together. He helped me propose to your mamma, and I was his best man at his wedding," papa smiles remembering all the good times. "After your mamma and I got married, that's when your grandfather decided to move his business to Canada. Liam and Mia used to come visit us all the time. They were in Canada when Gabriel was born, but once you were born and they had Elle, we started to focus more on our families and stopped keeping in touch," he sighs.

So that's who they were talking about during the Christmas dinner at Elle's house.

"We didn't even know about their son, until he was about five years old," mamma sighs.

"We rarely heard from each other. Liam knew about this business like he was a part of it. When your grandfather passed, he couldn't come to the funeral because Elle was really sick when she was younger," papa says.

She never told me that.

"But when he got his promotion and they were moving to Canada, that's when we started to become close again. He just didn't know how close he would be living to us. What a coincidence huh honey?" Papa turns to look at mamma with a smile.

"What's with the smile?" I ask.

"Did you get him the promotion so he could move here?" Gabriel asks.

"You're very smart Figliolo," papa laughs.

"Does he know that?" I ask.

"Of course. He wanted to move to Canada since your mamma and I moved here. In this way, I offered him the position of being my partner in crime," he laughs.