Chapter 80: Chapter Eighty

*Ivy*

Walking through the house she noticed it was awfully quiet for this time of day. Normally her stepfather had company over discussing one thing or another. When she came home the two of them were civil and acted as if nothing had transpired. She demanded something quite worth taking and she really believed that he was going to fight her on it, but he didn’t.

In fact, he agreed to it willingly. Which had been quite a shock for her to be honest. The estate had belonged to his first wife, Gabriela’s mother. Rightfully it wasn’t his to give since the estate belonged to her family before they had married, but since they never divorced before she passed away it had gone to Gabriela, who was still under guardianship of her father. Which meant everything she owed from her mother’s side belonged to him until she married.

The estate was worth millions. She didn’t plan to live there but to sell it off instead and live off its income for a while until she can devise a new plan to stay in the high life. She was young and knew she could find a wealthy man to marry her where she’ll be comfortable for the rest of her days. She quickly gave him the location of Gabby’s whereabouts after he had signed the deed and handed it over to her. A notary was present to make it official.

She was now upstairs packing all her belongings to leave this place forever and head for the estate in Italy where Gabriela’s mother’s family was originally from. She never understood why her mother just didn’t take her to the place when they left but after learning the place belonged to Alejandro she must have known he would find them there and force them to come back. It made since why she didn’t sell the place herself so that she and her daughter had money even after she developed cancer. Because she couldn’t. Not as long as he held the deeds and titles of the place.

She hears a door being closed and then footsteps coming in her direction. Quickly shoving the suitcase full of clothes under her bed and running to her vanity snatching an eyeliner from the drawer she pretends to be putting it on when her mother walks through the door. She looks around with a frown until she spots her.

“There you are. I heard you came back home. What happened? I thought you would be married to Enzo Giordano by now.” She sweetly taunts as she walks over to her and lightly fluffs her hair.

“Yes well. Plans change. I realize that he wasn’t such a catch after all.” She leans in to lightly tip the pencil to her outer eyelid.

“Oh really? And what caused you to realize that?”

She watches her mother walk around her room until she sits on her bed looking quite pleased with herself. Frowning she puts the makeup down, turning in her chair to face her. “You did something.” She accuses.

A small joyful smile spreads on her mother’s face. “I did something.” She confirms.

Ivy’s eyes widen as she quickly gets up and walks to her door, peers out, then shuts it within moments before coming back to sit next to her mother. “What is it? What did you do?” She asks eagerly.

“Its not so much what I did, but what you did my dear.” She pats her on the leg.

Ivy frowns deeper. “What are you talking about?”

“I tapped Alejandro’s phone. I saw the location you called from. I told our sweet young Dario where to find Gabriela.” She was so pleased with herself as Ivy stared at her in surprise.

“You…tapped into his phone service?” Anxiety swims in her veins wondering exactly what she may have found out.

She loved her mother. She did. But to an extent. Everything she knew and was had been taught by the woman who gave birth to her. And with that came knowing that her mother was a conniving, backstabbing bitch that will ruin anyone who got in her way. Including her. When she found out that she had tried to seduce Dario Moretti, and couldn’t she laughed in her face and then laughed even harder when she was founded to be screwing his fat old man instead to get what she wanted.

It wasn’t two weeks later that Ivy discovered that her mother accomplished what she couldn’t. Coming out of the hotel room after giving her body to the old man she spotted her mother coming out of a different room down the hall. She had hid and watched in fascination wondering what she was doing there at all. Curious to know if she had been alone or not she waited a little longer just to watch Dario come out of the same room fixing his clothes as he did.

She had been filled with rage, but she never said a word that she saw the two of them together. She didn’t trust her mother as far as she could throw her. Now she was telling her she tapped into her husband’s phone line.

“Dario is already on his way to get her.” She kept going seeming pleased with herself.

“Dario?” Why would she tell Dario and not her own husband?

“You really are slow in the head aren’t you?” She snaps at her standing up to face her.

Ivy stiffens at that insult.

“Wake up Ivy. Alejandro is bankrupt and poor. He no longer has any money unless he sells all his assets and lands. His own wine company isn’t keeping us afloat. His underground businesses are striking an all time low now that Moretti is taking over for his father. Dario is the one on top now. Enzo plans to stay out of the game so he’s useless to us.”

Things she already knew but didn’t know her mother knew about. Which is why she was doing everything she could to get the hell away from here and find a rich husband to take care of her instead. But what was her mother truly planning?

“What did Dario give you in return of Gabby’s location?” she asks, figuring there was something that her mother was after.

At that question she smiles big again. “A promise of our marriage.”

She blinks at her for a moment. “Mother, you’re already married unless you divorce and that will take years as Alejandro is strongly against divorces.”

“Oh don’t I know it. He threatens me everyday to lock me away instead of divorcing me. He’s afraid I’ll take everything he has but what he doesn’t know my dear is that I plan to take everything that’s left anyways.”

Again she was confused and when her mother saw that confusion she rolls her eyes and snaps, “We’re going to kill him, Ivy.”

She nearly gasps at that slapping her hand over her mouth before running back to the door swinging it open to make sure no one was lurking in the hallway. Shutting it once more she stares daggers at her mother. “Could you be anymore louder? If we get caught having this discussion we’ll both be dead before any plan is set out.” She seethes.

“Oh no one is going to overhear us. Dario pretended to be Domenico and instructed Alejandro the appointed time and place to retrieve his daughter.” She sits back down on the bed again waiting for her to join her.

“Dario sent a missive pretending to be Dom? How-”

“After finding out where she was he had someone kidnap your dear little boy toy and left a note for Enzo and his grandfather to find. We even made sure that Enzo’s father and uncle tagged along. It’s going to be one giant bloodbath and Dario plans to make sure no one survives the outcome. Which makes me a widow and marriageable again.”

She giggles like a schoolgirl getting her dream prom. It was unsettling for Ivy. “But Dario wanted Gabby to marry him. What happens to her?”

She waves at her question like it wasn’t important. “I told him he could fuck her all he wants. Keep her in a basement for all I care. As long as I have his last name I could care less what he does in his own time, fucking in his own time, torturing in his own time. I soon found out he has quite an appetite for painful luxuries. It’s a good thing you didn’t catch his eye my dear.”

Ivy didn’t say another word as she allows her mother to prattle on and on about the luxurious life and freedom she was finally going to have once she was married to Dario. But Ivy knew that wasn’t going to happen. Why would Dario marry an older woman who couldn’t bare him any children and was about to have nothing to her name when Alejandro’s assets and lands were going to be confiscated once the news of his death was confirmed? She didn’t know it, but Ivy found his bank records.

He was far more in debt then her mother realized if she believed she was going to gain anything. And Dario knew it too. Gabriela on the other had more to offer than any of them knew about. Her mother’s family was rich, filthy rich. She had thought it was the reason why Alejandro married her in the first place just to discover that wasn’t the case at all. He truly did love her. Loved her enough to give up her inheritance so she could marry him since her father didn’t approve of the match at all.

But Gabriela’s grandfather never forgot about her. Not in all the years since the day she was born. Alejandro never told the old man that him and his daughter had separated, and he still believed they lived together until her death nearly a year ago. Apparently her grandfather left her everything. His entire family fortune. Making her the richest out of the Russo’s, Moretti’s and Giordano’s combined. And the only ones who knew it were Alejandro and now herself.

And none of them could touch it. Not her father, not even Gabriela herself it seems. Not until she marries and has a child of her own. It seemed the old geezer wasn’t stupid after all. He made sure Alejandro couldn’t touch the money until Gabriela was rightfully married and had her own child. Because it was the child that the fortune was going too. And only when that child reached the age of twenty-five with a college degree. He made stipulations. Massive ones. But there was a catch, for some small part of that fortune will go to Gabriela. Not as big as what her child would get but enough where she would never have to work a day in her life and would still be richer than the three Gang lords.

And that was what her father was after. Why he was marrying her off to Dario Moretti. Not only because of what Moretti could bring with his own family assets but because he plans to steal Gabriela’s inheritance that no one knew about. Steal it right from under her nose.

But then she had Domenico go kidnap Gabriela instead of her because she wanted nothing to do with him. And that was when everything started going to shits for them all. Who knew that Gabby and Enzo had known each other since they were young? Or the fact the two of them would fall deeply in love. She lost her chance with Enzo, lost her chance with Domenico. She wasn’t going to get any help from Dario that was for sure.

It grated on her that Gabriela was going to get everything she ever wanted but with this new development with her mother and Dario she couldn’t help but feel a little happy about the soon to be outcome. But she wasn’t going to be here when it happened. Because she was leaving it all behind and be damned about everyone else. Including her mother.

She got the deed of the estate. She already purchased her plane ticket, and she was getting the hell out of here and living her life the way she wanted. Without all of them in it.

She gives her mother a false sweet smile. “Looks like you’ll get your revenge after all mama.”

“Oh honey, we’ll get our revenge. And we’ll reap the benefits.”