The garden wasn’t icy as the children would have expected it but they loved it, or rather, Amara loves it. It’s been long her father played with her and it’s indeed a huge happiness to play hide and seek with her.
As usual, Gio sat on the floor watching them. He didn’t smile, nor frown, even as Amara kept jumping and pulling his legs, nothing left his mouth.
Again he would be alone.
The fear that he lost his parents who had died on the night that he was born hurt him. He refused to believe that Alita had eventually gave up on him or something bad had happened to her.
Not that Gio doesn’t know that Alita knows how to take care of herself, in cases of when the people were stronger than her means she might as well be dead. The little he knows about Rocco made him think the man was a nice man, but the things he heard about him is also making him think that the man had snapped her neck and stuff her tiny body in a black bag and throw her down the cliff.
He imagined Alita struggling with Rocco, the macho. His arms alone would weigh more than Alita’s either small body. He imagined how Rocco can easily tie her up like a sacrificial lamb and dumping her in a dark empty room.
“Gio!!” Amara yelled, laughing cheerfully “I have been calling you” she ran towards him.
Confused, Gio looked up at Amara’s and Lu’s red face. They had been having fun without him and obviously have forgotten about his sister. His cheeks dropped as he stood up from where he was sitting and began to walk away.
“Gio?” Amara asked confused.
She ran after him and wrapped her small arms around his troso. Even as he kept walking as if her weight didn’t matter, she refused to let him go crying out like she broke her big toe.
“Let me go, Amara” Gio said gravely “Just let me go!” He raised his voice.
Still yet, Amara didn’t listen, she kept pulling him and calling out for help from her Dad’s men that refused to look her way. They would look at Lu and look away like they didn’t see her.
“Dad!!!” Amara screamed “You can’t just fudging stay there!!!”
The look in Lu’s face was something no one expected. He was sad, tired, wanted to laugh and angry at the same time. Slowly, he signaled one of his men and they stopped Gio, holding his shoulders high while he kept wiggling his legs and shouting on top of his cracked voice.
“Let me go!!!” Gio yelled “I hate you all, I hate you so much!!!”
Amara gasped, placed her tiny palms on her chest and began to cry. She looked back at her dad that was walking down to them slowly.
“Gio?” Amara called out “Gio that hurts” she cried more.
A small smirk spread across Gio’s face as he looked at her blankly. He raised his eyes to Lu who was now standing in front of him and spat on his shirt. He was expecting a retaliation but nothing happened, he began to struggle more and kicked his foot against the other to meet Lu’s chest from where he was been carried.
“You are nothing but a fucking monster!!!” Gio yelled “You heartless Fucking MONSTER!!!!!” He yelled again.
Amara visible flinched, she looked up at her Dad’s sad face then up to Gio. She walked close to him not scared of his wiggling legs that he might hit her. Surprisingly, he didn’t, in fact, immediately she came closer he stopped wiggling.
“You don’t have to use bad words, Gio” Amara said “No one is a monster” She paused to look up to her Dad’s still sad face then back at Gio’s “That hurts” She sniffed.
Gio scoffed, he glared deep into Lu’s eyes ignoring Amara like she was never there.
“You want to know what hurts?” He asked Amara looking at Lu “what hurts is when you have your parents killed the day you were born” he paused for a while “On a Christmas Eve, I lost my parents to the man that killed the first person my sister had loved”
Gio paused as he studied Luciano’s now clueless and white face. His lips quivered but he bit them to stop himself from crying, crying over Lu would be the last thing he want to do.
“As if it wasn’t enough, the same person came to kidnap us” Gio smirked at Lu “He locked my sister up in a cold room with no light or heat. He let her freeze till when ever he wanted to let her out” Tears began to flow freely from his eyes “He hit her, did all sort of adult stuffs to her and got her kidnapped by his rival”
Gio went silent. It was as if he was giving Amara and her Dad to settle their silent dispute as they kept staring at themselves.
“You want to know why it hurts to do all this, Amara?” Gil continued “That person is Luciano Alonso, your Father” He paused “He is a monster and be can’t denial it”
“Daddy?” Amara called immediately.
She looked at her father who didn’t do anything. His face was still clueless as he lowered his head and started at his legs.
“Is that true Daddy? That you killed his parents the day he was born?” Amara began to cry. Slowly she began to moved away from him and ran away “You are a monster Daddy, You are a human Monster” She cried.
Gio’s still l face didn’t look away from Lu who refused to meet his gaze. He kept looking elsewhere not wanting to look at Gio’s face.
“It’s because of your wickedness that I knew about Ugo and his mischievous deeds and never told you” Gio smirked “He told me everything, everything about your wicked deeds”
Slowly, Lu looked up. His gaze meet with Gio’s stormy ones for a while before looking away.
“I am a monster, I accept” Lu said “It’s okay if you don’t want to forgive me but you are not leaving here”
“Will you kill me or try to stop me” Gio Intoned.
Lu swallowed, he looked at his man holding up Gio and the man dropped him. With the boy on the floor, lu went on a knee to meet the boy’s height.
“Your sister might never come for you” Lu said “For all the Bad that I have done, I officially adopted you”
“No way in hell” Gio spat on his face.
“One day, you will live to be my proud son, Gio Alonso” Lu said dryly “And before then since you know much than you should, You are getting my tattoo” he added.
Gio went rigid for a while “I rather die than be your son” he snapped.
“You are already my son, Gio Alonso” Lu said calmly “No longer Gio Roberto and I will make sure I become the father you -”
“DADDY!!!” Amara gave a piercing squeak.
From wherever she was, she kept screaming cheerfully and running out. It’s just so funny how children forget things so easy. A minute ago, she was crying and calling him a big Monster now she is running back to him.
Surprisingly, Gio and Lu turned to Amara staring at her like she had gone nut. Her hair was flying into mouth and eyes. Her cheeks were red and she was smiling from ear to ear.
“Daddy!!!” Amara rushed to him and began to point where she had come out from “I found a lady” She held his palm and began to jump “She said her name is Alita”