More Than Once by Dominique Wolf

CHAPTER 27:

“A

re you sure you want me to come with?” I asked.

This morning Giovanni got a phone call from his brother Alvaro inviting him over for lunch. Giovanni had been avoiding his father's calls for days and after Alvaro spoke to their mother he picked up that something was going on. It wasn't exactly the kind of situation you should explain over the phone so Giovanni was going to visit his brother today and tell him what happened with their parents. He asked me to go with him but I was starting to wonder if it was my place to tag along for something like this.

“I need you to come with me, Isabella, I don't want to do this alone.”

He grabbed his wallet and car keys from his kitchen counter and turned to me. I sat on the staircase, tying the laces of my boots. He was wearing a pair of black pants and paired it with a pair of dark brown combat boots. The weather was more unforgiving today and we both had our coats on to keep the cold weather at bay. I stood up and closed my coat as Giovanni walked over to me. I was on a higher step that allowed us to be the same height for the first time ever. He slipped his hands around my waist and mine found their place around his neck.

“I need you to be there with me,” he murmured. “You're in my life now and I also want to introduce you to Alvaro and Penelope. I wish these were better circumstances but it is what it is.”

He's mentioned Alvaro's wife, Penelope to me before. She was quite far along in her pregnancy now and they had just purchased a house outside of the city which was where we were headed today.

“Okay,” I reached out and kissed him. “You know I'll always be here for you.”

He smiled, “Shall we?”

***

Half an hour later we pulled into the driveway leading up to a very modern-looking house. It was the most modern architecture I had seen in Barcelona so far. It was a square white double-story house with a balcony on the top overlooking the spacious garden in front. Giovanni turned the car off and turned to me.

“You ready?”

I nodded. He reached out and squeezed my hand before getting out of the car. I followed behind him as his brother came to greet us.

“Hola, hermano.”Alvaro greeted and pulled Giovanni in for a hug.

There were plenty of similarities between Alvaro and Giovanni but they were also so different. Alvaro had long curly brown hair but they both had the same dark brown eyes. Alvaro was cleanly shaved and his style was more reserved and laid-back than Giovanni's. They were the same height but Giovanni was a lot broader. There were enough similarities between them to never have you question whether they were related or not.

Giovanni stepped back from the hug and pulled me closer to him. “Alvaro, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Isabella.”

Girlfriend? Oh my God - he said it. I tried to keep my composure as I stepped forward to greet Alvaro in the typical Spanish fashion - a kiss on each cheek.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Lovely to meet you, Isabella,” Alvaro smiled. “Never thought I'd see the day when this guy over here got a girlfriend.”

I blushed. Hearing that word again made me smile. I didn't expect Giovanni to introduce me that way but I was so happy that he did. We were in a relationship and he was no longer shying away from that. A petite blond stepped through the front door and came to greet us, her very pregnant belly leading the way.

“Hola, Giovanni,” Penelope greeted Giovanni and then turned to me. “You must be Isabella. We've heard so much about you.”

“All good things I hope.”

“Of course.” Alvaro chuckled.

“Welcome to our home,” Penelope smiled. “Please come inside.”

Alvaro and Penelope walked in front of us through the front door. I reached for Giovanni before he went inside.

“Girlfriend?” I mused. “Where did that come from?”

“I don't want to be with anyone else, Isabella,” he slipped his hand in mine. “So it's what you are now - if that's what you want of course.”

I giggled. “Of course that's what I want.”

He smiled and kissed my forehead. I followed him through the large wooden front door and was welcomed by their home. The ceilings were high and there was a staircase to the right of the house as you entered. We strolled through the open plan kitchen and I placed my handbag down on the counter. The kitchen opened out onto their wooden patio, overlooking their back garden and the clear water of the pool. They had a lovely home. It was much colder today but the sun shining down on us was definitely helping.

“Isabella, can I get you anything to drink?” Alvaro asked.

He stood behind the bar they had at the end of the patio. Penelope had taken a seat at the table and gestured for us to do the same.

“Yes, please.”

Giovanni went to join Alvaro behind the bar, “What do you feel like, baby? They've got wine, gin, water...”

Baby? I couldn't believe the sudden change in Giovanni. Don't get me wrong, this was everything I had wanted but I still didn't expect it. We were here to have an uncomfortable conversation with Giovanni's brother but I was smiling from ear to ear.

“I'll have a glass of wine, thank you.”

Alvaro and Giovanni carried on with the drinks as I took a seat across the table from Penelope. She was very pretty. She has straight blonde hair that sat just above her shoulders. She had light brown eyes and light freckles across her cheeks and nose. Her face was plump but pregnancy would do that to you.

“We're glad to meet you, Isabella,” Penelope chimed. “For a while, I thought Giovanni would end up as a terminal bachelor.”

I chuckled. “From what I've heard, that's what everyone thought.”

Giovanni strolled to the table and sat down next to me, placing my wine glass in front of me. Both he and Alvaro settled for a glass of whiskey. Giovanni kept one hand on my thigh and the other on his glass.

“Now as happy as we are to have you guys here, I know you have something to tell me, Giovanni,” Alvaro continued. “I called Ma yesterday and something was off.”

“Yeah it's not the kind of conversation either of us wanted to have over the phone,” Giovanni sipped on his drink. “I caught dad with another woman last weekend in Valencia.”

Both Alvaro and Penelope couldn't hide the shock at the information Giovanni was sharing. They didn't expect that and I could see Alvaro trying to process this.

“Was it the same woman?” Alvaro asked.

Unlike Giovanni, he remained calm about the situation. I could see the anger and frustration on his face but the delivery of his words remained unchanged.

“I have no idea,” Giovanni said. “But I punched him and yesterday I went to tell Ma what happened. I couldn't lie to her.”

“No, of course not. You did the right thing.”

Penelope remained silent and reached for Alvaro's hand. He was processing the information and I felt bad for him. I felt bad for all of them.

“And how did Ma take it?”

“How do you think?” Giovanni scoffed and took another sip of his drink. “She was a fucking mess again. How could she not be? You were there when he said he wouldn't do this again and now look.”

“Well, she needs to leave him,” Alvaro stated. “How many times is she going to get hurt by him?”

A flicker of emotion flared in his voice. I agreed with him - it wasn't my place to say it but their mother deserved better than this.

“She told me she needed time to think about all of this. I didn't want to leave her yesterday but you know how she can be. I don't think she knows what to do right now.”

“Well, of course not,” Penelope joined the conversation. “She's been with your father for how many years?”

“You can't just stay with someone because of your history.” Giovanni scowled.

“I'm not saying that, Giovanni,” Penelope replied gently. “We should ask her if she'd like to come here for a few days. It will give her time to process everything away from your father.”

I glanced up at Giovanni. The lingering anger from this situation shone in his eyes and I squeezed his hand, reassuring him I was here for him.

“Have you seen dad since?” Alvaro asked.

Giovanni shook his head, “He's tried to call a few times but I ignored him. He wasn't there when I went yesterday and I'm glad. I'll fuck him up.”

“You can't do that,” he scoffed.

“I can and I will,” Giovanni retorted. “He deserves it.”

“We have to see what Ma is going to do first before we retaliate.”

“Well, I don't want anything to do with him anymore,” Giovanni downed the rest of his drink. “And you can't expect me to.”

Alvaro shrugged, “I wasn't going to. I understand how strained your relationship has always been.”

Alvaro didn't seem to have the same distaste for his father that Giovanni had. They seemed to be the ones to constantly bump heads.

Alvaro turned to me and smiled. “I'm sure this isn't the most pleasant conversation to have for the first time meeting us.”

We all chuckled at his attempt to lighten the mood.

“Not exactly, but I wanted to be here for Giovanni.”

Giovanni turned to me and smiled. The anger slowly started to leave his eyes as the affection he held for me made its way through. The way he looked at me sometimes took my breath away - he made me feel loved.

“So apart from all this other bullshit,” Alvaro continued. “What did Pedro say about Valencia?”

They delved straight into business so I focused on getting to know Penelope a little better.

“So, how long have you two been together?”

“About three years now. I knew him back in school but we never dated or anything and then one day we bumped into each other and now here we are.” She smiled and rubbed her belly.

“It's so nice to see things work out.” I smiled at her. “Congratulations on your baby. How far along are you?”

“Got about five weeks to go,” she said as she glanced down at her belly with so much love in her eyes. “He's already such a big boy though, I look huge.”

I giggled. “You look amazing - you've got that pregnancy glow everyone talks about.”

“It's called sweat,” she mused. “It definitely takes a toll on you but it's such a blessing.”

I smiled. It was so lovely to see a couple like Alvaro and Penelope. They seemed to be genuinely happy with each other and they had built up a great life together.

“Well, I hope you're getting plenty of foot rubs from your husband,” I joked.

“Of course she does,” Alvaro jumped in. “I wasn't very good in the beginning but I got there eventually.”

Penelope rubbed her thumb against his cheek and smiled. They were completely smitten with each other, you could see it through the way they looked at each other. Giovanni placed his hand on my thigh and squeezed gently trying to get my attention. I turned to him.

“Thank you for being here with me,” he said softly enough to just keep the conversation between the two of us.

I slipped my hand into his. “Well, you are my boyfriend now.”

He chuckled. “I like the sound of that.”

He leaned over and kissed my cheek. I was so happy with where we were right now. We were officially together and I couldn't believe that I could call this beautiful man mine.

“So, what shall we do for lunch?” Alvaro asked. “I was thinking we could order something.” As they continued talking, I heard my phone start to ring from inside. I excused myself as they went through the options. I reached my handbag and dug out my phone, not recognizing the number on the screen.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Isabella,” my sister's voice came through the other side. “Bella, you need to come home.”

My stomach dropped at the unexpected emotion in my sister's voice. Her voice was breaking and she sounded as if she was crying.

“Camila, what's going on?” I couldn't hide the panic in my voice.

“Dad had a heart attack.”

Oh no

“They're struggling to get his heart to stabilize. Bella, you need to come home now, they don't know if he's going to make it.”

I was overcome by a wave of emotions at her words and the tears started streaming down my face as I struggled to process what she was saying to me.

Dad had a heart attack.

The words played over and over in my head.

“I'll get on the next flight.”

We disconnected and I couldn't hold myself together any longer. Everything I had held in over the last few months came flooding in as I tried to grapple with the news she just told me. Giovanni rushed inside to me as I started to cry.

“Baby, what happened?” Giovanni was frantic. “Isabella, speak to me.”

He held me close to him as I cried against his chest.

“My dad had a heart attack.”

“Oh, baby no.” He pulled me closer to him.

“They don't know if he's going to make it,” my voice cracked.

I couldn't get a handle on my bearings right now. I was in a state. Penelope and Alvaro hovered around us speaking to Giovanni but I couldn't focus on what they were saying. My father had a heart attack and I wasn't there. I hadn't spoken to him in so long and now I had to go back home because they didn't know if he was going to make it.

Oh my God...

The more I thought about it, the harder I cried. Giovanni tightened his arms around me.

“Isabella,” his voice sounded so distant. “Izzy, we need to go to London now.”

He held onto me as we walked towards the entrance. I was so disconnected from reality - I felt as if I was watching myself from above. All I was thinking about was getting home. What if he died and I didn't get to say goodbye? I felt sick to my stomach. We said our goodbyes - both Alvaro and Penelope giving me big hugs and wishing me luck and before I knew it we were back in Giovanni's car, speeding down the road as he comforted me as best as he could.

“Isabella, I need you to listen to me baby,” he said softly. “We are going to your apartment and I need you to pack what you need okay? I'll organize our tickets on the next flight out.”

I remained silent but I held onto his hand tightly.

“I'm here for you. Everything's going to be fine,” he murmured.

He didn't know that. No one did.