Dario
When I saw her in front of me so beautiful was impossible not to relive everything that happened, her smile was still the same and that serenity in her eyes that calmed me down so much were right there in front of me, Cecilia is alive and more beautiful than before, when she approached me with a girl by her side the only reaction I had was to look at her, I could not stand that distance even if small and went to her holding her face with both hands on either side.
I wanted to be sure that it wasn't a hallucination or an illusion but that Cecilia was really alive, as if there was no one else in that room but me and her!
- My toy!
Cecilia turned away from me elegantly as if referring to her in this way was bad or contemptible, I saw in her gaze the great hurt she felt from me as well as the way she showed her contempt when she distanced herself from me by standing next to her brother.
- I suppose I should make the formal introductions, Mr. Dario, this is my sister, Cecilia Bernardino and my niece Melina. My wife, Luana Bernardino Vitorino and my children, Miguel and Leandra!
I was totally lost but Caetano was worse, he knew my trusted man better than anyone else and I was sure he was going to make a mistake when I saw him putting his hand on his gun.
- Caetano, don't do anything, this isn't a request, it's an order.
His eyes were red with hate and anger, Caetano looked at Luana as he had in the beginning but his hateful gaze was directed at Bernardino, after all, he had everything Caetano had wanted for years.
- NO! SHE IS MINE, SHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MINE, DAMNED HALF-BREED WHO TOOK LUANA FROM ME.
At that moment I saw Bernardino totally change from a cordial man to a mafia man that I know he is, his face became serious as if Caetano talking about his wife was an offense to himself.
- Listen well, you piece of shit, Luana was never yours! Respect my house and my position, for your insinuation and lack of respect I could very well give you a beating, couldn't I, Don Albertini?
Bernardino knew the rules like any self-respecting capo and I know he wouldn't think twice before using them against us. Caetano, as much as he hated it, had to contain himself because he knew that he could be penalized for his disrespect.
- I don't think that will be necessary, Bernardino, he will behave himself, I can guarantee that.
Caetano, as furious as he was, could do nothing against Bernardino or Luana. She belonged to Romeo Bernardino and even had children with him, so even if Caetano doesn't accept the rules, Luana belongs to Bernardino until death.
- All right, Don! I'm doing this for the children who don't need to see their personal security guard getting beaten up to learn to respect a capo's wife but besides that we're even because you didn't bite my fingers off when I lied and I'm not going to show your trusted man how to respect a woman because of course he doesn't know.
Bernardino was clearly affronting me, leaving Caetano with more hatred than he already had, he was certainly using our own rules against us. My son looked on without even realizing what was happening.
- My friends, let's calm down here I imagine that everyone is nervous but I am sure that we will resolve this in a civilized manner, after all we are all family, aren't we?
Saul always had this mediating side and it was good that he acted at the right moment since anything could happen, he was more lost and confused than before and there was only one way to solve this.
- Cecilia, we need to talk!
- My sister has nothing to talk about with you, you already had what you wanted, you exposed my family to your whims and now you want to torment my sister? I won't allow it!
Cecilia stooped down to where her daughter was, saying something in her ear the girl smiled looking at her mother with devotion, Melina looked very much like her mother in gestures but could not deny that the physiognomy was entirely of my family. Cecilia may even try to say no but Melina is my daughter, of that I have no doubt.
- Romeo, I'm going to talk to him and meanwhile take Saul to the small bar, if you remember, the middle brother of the Albertini family loves to drink and make stupid jokes. I imagine it will be very distracting for you!
Valentine looked expectantly at Luana and Cecilia, after all that has happened I had forgotten that my son wanted to see the black roses.
- Valentine, daddy needs to take care of some things, stay with your uncle and then I will introduce you to the black roses, ok?
Cecilia's daughter went to my son greeting him with joy and cordiality, very much like her mother for sure, that little girl didn't know it but she had already won her father's heart since the moment she treated her younger brother so well.
- Hi, my name is Melina! Do you want to play with me and my cousins? You just have to be careful with Leandrinha, she is still small and since we are big we have to take care of her when it's time to play!
Valentine looked at me as if asking permission to play, I just nodded to let him know that I allowed him to play with his sister.
- Saul, tell Caetano to stay out of the mansion preferably to leave! I don't trust his reactions around the Brazilian capo.
Nervous Caetano is a time bomb that can explode at any moment, at this moment I need to avoid any kind of situation that causes more discomfort than there already has been.
- You got it, brother!
Cecilia took me to her brother's office and sat down on the sofa there, I sat down in front of her still not believing that I was alive and well.
- I don't even know how to start!
- Let's travel back in time to when you decided that you were going to discard me like a useless object, I always knew I was your toy but you did so many things to me that hurt me in such a way that looking at you causes me great pain. To be yours even in that violent way was for me the best thing in the world because in those moments you were mine, I clung to you as if having you in my life was the reason for my existence but unfortunately I just loved alone in the twisted relationship we had. I remember well when I saw you with the ring on your finger, you didn't even have the courage to tell me you were getting married, you never had any consideration for me. While the other received respect and attention, on the other hand I had the beatings and a dog collar, but certainly the peak of your cruelty was to send me to a brothel, knowing that I would not survive a day of having several men because I was already in love with you and you were the only man who had touched me until then. He could have given me my freedom, it would have been the least I could do after the confession I made saying that I loved you, but the cruel and merciless Dario Albertini couldn't let his precious toy go free, after all, if you were unhappy, you would have to be too, wouldn't you?
I felt all the resentment and hurt that her words carried, Cecilia hated me for what I did and what she feared happened, her love for me turned to hate. I know I never admitted it but deep down I knew it would happen and I was afraid for this reason.
- I found out what he had done to Florencia just before he had ordered Tomas to throw me into a brothel, I thought: if Dario did this to the woman he loved so much, what won't he do to me who am just a worthless tramp? I understand all his motivations but I can't understand how it can be so monstrous, Florence might have deserved it but the other women and I, did we deserve to suffer at his hands for a frustration that belonged only to you? I know that I was lucky or God had mercy by sending angels to take care of me when I was abandoned to my own fate even against his orders, I approached Luana Vitorino who asked her brother for help so that she could be saved. I accepted because I had no option, Tomas gave me a last name and a family much more than I could imagine or want, as time went by we fell in love and I became pregnant with Melina, we lived happily but one day there was an invasion in the shed that Tomas was taking care of, my husband died because of this attempt provoked by Gian Tolentino. The rest of the story you already know and it's because of her that you are here, Luana and I killed the wretch who took Tomas away from us, avenging his death!
Although hurt and full of resentment for me, Cecilia remained beautiful and serene as she told what had happened in her life. I have no right but I felt a lot of hate for Tomas for having had the love that was once only mine but was also grateful that because of him Cecilia is alive.
- I found out a few years ago that Romeo is my brother through Luana who told him about my true story. Since then I have taken the place that once belonged to my mother as a lady of the mafia, of course being discreet, my intention was never to let him know about me and my daughter, once a monster, always a monster.
- You hate me, of that I have no doubt, but I think that life has punished me for what I did to you, I had an unhappy marriage, Nina was never the right woman for me but she was a necessary evil, I got her pregnant just to have an heir but I continued being the monster I was before, you are right when you say that once a monster always a monster, I continued beating and killing prostitutes because I could not lay a finger on Nina. I kept resisting the urge to see her again for a long time but one night I couldn't resist, I wanted to have her just one more time so I could move on. When I arrived at the brothel where I had told Tomas to leave her, I asked him to call her and I remember as if it were today, I looked like an idiot crazy about the woman who probably hated me, that was when the owner of the place informed me that the prostitute named Cecilia had died from a botched abortion. At that time, I felt so guilty because I had destroyed her life until she died because I had abandoned you to your fate, Nina had Valentine but she was never a good mother and neither did she have my love or any good feelings coming from me, she ended up committing suicide in front of me and near her own son. During all these years, I tried to forget you and everything I felt but every time I tried I couldn't, I became a big Don, bigger even than my own father but all I wanted was to have you back for me. So much so that I made Valentine believe that you were his dead mother years ago, my son didn't deserve to know that his biological mother had killed herself so during all these years I told him that his mother was you. I searched for your perfume in other bodies wanting to feel again that sensation that I only had when I had you in my arms but I found out very hard that it would be impossible to get you back to me because you were dead. I'm still the same monster as before so I won't accept you not being mine again.
Cecilia continued to look at me serene and calm as if she had been waiting for this reaction to come from me.
- Dario, before I had no option to reject you but now being who I am, I have every right to say that I don't want you in my life ever again. Things have changed, I'm a widow and yet I still love my husband and we have a daughter from this union so the best thing for you to do is to leave us alone!
She has no idea what I am capable of to have her in my life, no matter how monstrous and cruel it may be, I know that Cecilia can return to have love for me as before even by wrong means.
- Cecilia, let's be rational, even though she occupies the position of Mrs. Bernardino, she belongs to the family and has obligations to fulfill, she is young and a widow, which makes things much easier for me. Besides, your daughter, or rather our daughter, is my heir, so I want her to have the same benefits as Valentine, I will not give up having my daughter by my side.
Her gaze changed at the same instant, she knew very well that she was speaking the truth about Melina otherwise she would not be alert.
- Melina is not your daughter, she belongs to Thomas, what you say is absurd!
- Who are you kidding? Me or yourself? Melina is my daughter, yes, and you know it, but if you want to expose the girl to an embarrassing situation by having to go through a DNA test, that's your choice, but think about it, dear, you know very well how the rules are, the fruit that is born from the womb belongs to the one who planted the seed.
I would do anything to have Cecilia and Melina by my side even if I have to be forced to, she will have no choice but to accept.