Chapter 26：Gael, Son of Capo

"You should go with him… to Italy. I heard it's a really nice country. I'm sure you will like it there," Grandmother Susan spoke again after a while of crying and she wiped her tears with her flowery handkerchief.

Meanwhile, Gael harshly wiped his tears with the back of his hand and with his rough voice, he responded, "I'm not going, Grandma. I'm staying here."

"He's your father… It would be best for you to stay with him. You don't have a male figure here. You need someone you can look up to…"

He found her reasoning ridiculous. He didn't want to leave. He didn't want anything to change. "You're siding with him…" was all he could mutter.

"Don't think of it that way…"

He felt her warm hand caress his back and it felt nice but he was still mad. "Don't you want me around anymore, Grandma? I will graduate soon… just a couple more years and I'll be off to college. You don't even have to take care of me that much. How could you just give me away to that… mobster?"

Contrary to his expectations, Grandma Susan laughed at his words, causing his brows to furrow at her reaction. "Of course I like having you around, silly, you're my grandson. And even when you'll grow up and have kids of your own, I would still want to take care of you…" She smiled. "If we had this conversation sixteen years ago, I probably would have scolded myself too for saying that. But it's been a long time… And your father has been nothing but good to us."

"He's the mafia! What—where's the good in that? The man has been gone my whole life and now suddenly, he wants to be a father?" Gael was exasperated. He couldn't believe that his grandmother was really trying to convince him to go with his criminal father.

Grandmother Susan clasped Gael's shoulder and met his tired eyes. "He may have not been here all the while you were growing up but he had always been around, Santi. You not knowing your father all your life had been both Isabella and Alessandro's decision. But even so, he put you through private schools… He kept us safe all these years. He made sure no one harmed us…" She continued to tell him what else Alessandro did all this time.

Gael came to the realization that the benefactor of his scholarship had been his father, Alessandro De Luca, all along. All this time, his father had been in the background and he didn't even know. "Why did no one tell me?"

"You were too young to understand. But I guess you're all grown up now…"

"I still don't understand. Why do you insist that I go with him? I don't know anyone from there. Everything will be different and I will be the stranger. And isn't it dangerous? Are you telling me to become one of them?" He was truly baffled. All his life, he was sheltered with the thought that his father was never there and was never going to be there. And yet now, his grandmother wanted him to leave.

Grandma Susan exhaled a sigh, pursed her lips and held his hand. "Gael Santi… You are a De Luca through and through. That much you cannot deny. I have talked to your father and he promised me you don't have to follow his footsteps. At least not unless you want to. You can be whoever you want to be. You don't have to be part of their business. But give Alessandro a chance to be your father… I'm already old… I don't cook much. Well, I don't even cook good food at all, unlike your mother. I just think it will be better for you to go with him. Experience life out of New York… See your options. Don't get stuck in one place. What if you find your happiness somewhere else?"

His anger dissipated and he softened his voice. "But they're…"

"It's not all black and white, sweetheart." Grandma Susan softly caressed Gael's face, a wrinkly yet beautiful smile broke her face as she added, "People aren't only all good or all bad. Your father doesn't have a holy business and he isn't a holy man. But he's good to me, to your mother… to you…"

…

That night, Gael had a hard time sleeping. He had a hard time convincing himself that it was the best thing to do. For him, it was just wrong. For him, it felt like it was defying his mother and leaving his grandmother. Could he really just pack his bags and leave this place? Could he really be together with the De Lucas?

It took him a couple of days to come up with a decision. And Gael ended up going to Italy with his father, Alessandro, while his grandmother lived with her sister in another state. Just like that, his life had turned into a whole new different world.

Just like that, the world that he once knew to be imperfect yet beautiful together with his mother and grandmother was now just going to be part of his memory.

…

Inside Alessandro's private plane, Gael quietly sat after the plane took off and was on its way to Italy. As far as he knew, he didn't even own a passport. But in his hands was an envelope of legal documents for his new name, along with I.D.s and other stuff he didn't really understand as it was all written in Italian—it made him think for a second that he should have taken Italian instead of French in school.

"Here…" Alessandro handed him a small black felt box. "Your mother gave it to me years ago. I used to wear it. I think you should wear it now."

Gael opened the box and saw a white gold ring with a solid square grey stone inlay. The stone darkens its color depending on the light. He picked it up and stared at it as his father added, "Isabella bought it with the money she earned from waiting tables. She said it reminded her of my eyes… but gave it to me as a gift. It's yours now."

…

Present – SDC Resort, Hillberry Isle

Gael sat in the armchair with his head on his hands as he was trying to calm himself down. With a dejected sigh paired with a weak hand running down his face, he cursed, "Shît."

His eyes caught sight of the white gold with a grey stone that's wrapped around his ring finger, making him feel even more upset at the reminder that his mother was probably looking down at him even more because of what he just told Angela.

Women. Why are they so difficult?!