Arriving at Luca's, I step out of the car and see Abigail outside playing with her sidewalk chalk. Her beautiful sparkling blue eyes look up at me and a huge bright smile covers her sweet, freckled face. She pushes herself up on her feet and quickly runs to me, jumping up into my arms.

"Uncle Stefi, where have you been? I missed you so much."

"Uncle Stefi missed you too, Abbie. I promise, we will be spending a lot more time together now that I'm back from my trip. I won't be going out -of -town for a long time. Hey, I see Ronaldo over there standing by the door. Have him take to you over to my car. I brought you a bunch of presents."

"Really? Oh boy. Thank you, Uncle Stefi,' she cheers with excitement. 

"Where is your daddy, Abbie?"

"Daddy is in his office talking on his phone. He's been a little upset talking to the person on the phone," she informs me.

She skips to the car, and I make my way into the house. The sound of his voice becomes louder and louder with each step I make down the long dim lit hall. The closer to the door I get, the angrier he sounds. 

"It's something I have no plans sharing with anyone. It's been more than eight years, there is no need to bring this up again." he shouts. 

"No need to bring what up again, Luca?" I ask stepping into his office. He nervously spins around, his widen eyes looking over at me.

"Stefano, when did you get back home?" 

"Early this morning, Luca. Who is on the phone?" 

"Um, it's Gabe Renzelli, give me a minute," he says. I make my way towards the small bar near the painting of Abbie on the wall and pour myself a glass of Jack and coke.

"It's Stefano, my brother. We'll talk later next week, Gabe. Keep me updated on the deal we were talking about yesterday," Luca says. 

"How is Gabe and his family?" I ask before sipping the golden liquid from the glass.

"They're good. He's happy he's able to be home more especially after Sophia's cancer scare."

"I was happy to hear she doesn't have breast cancer," I reply.

"Yes, we all are happy and relieved."

"Luca, I know you don't have any idea why I'm here, so I'll just come out and tell you why I'm here. As of about an hour ago, Vito Benotti is dead," I inform him. His eyes grow wide, and his body slightly begins to tremble.

"Vito is dead, Stefano?" He asks nervously.

"He started becoming a liability, continuing to make mistake after mistake. The words he spoke before he died rendered me confused and curious," I say. The beads of sweat are now visible on his forehead.

"His words? What did Vito say?"

"He was trying to tell me something about Abbie. I know the both of you were close friends. Have any idea what he was wanting to tell me about her?" He shifts in the chair and can barely look me in the eye. 

"Stefano, yes, Vito and I were close friends, but even I know what a liar he was. He was constantly making up these outrageous stories, you know that. Vito tried to convince us a black shadow person was chasing him through Morris Park on Halloween. Turns out, he was in one of his drunken stupors."

"That's true, but he knew better than to lie to me. And so do you. With that said, I want you to think carefully before you decided to lie to me," I growl.

"Look, I have no idea what he was trying to tell you about my daughter. The man was a liar," he snaps. Our attention soon focuses on the running feet coming towards his office door.

"Daddy, can I please come in?"

"Yes, Abbie, you can come in," he shouts. The door swings open and I smirk seeing the frustrated look on his face.

"Uncle Stefi got me a puppy, daddy.  Ronaldo said she's a girl, I named her Stefanie, after Uncle Stefano."

"Really, Stefano, you brought her back a puppy?" His annoyed voice snaps.

"Of course I brought her a puppy. She was always telling me how much she wants a puppy for her tenth birthday. I wasn't able to be here for her party, so this is my way of making it up to her."

"I love my Stefanie so much, uncle Stefi. Thank you for bringing her to me," she cheers. I bend down and place a soft kiss on her cheek. 

"You're welcome, baby girl. I love you. Uncle Stefi needs to get back home. Why don't you take Stefanie and go show Marion the cook."

"Ok, I love you too, uncle Stefi."

"Stefano, a puppy?" Luca scolds.

"Oh, calm down. Abbie will take care of her."

"I hope so. Look, I hate to be rude, but I have a ton of paperwork to catch up on. Let's set up a dinner date."

"Yes, by all means, let's set up a dinner date. We're not finished talking about Vito and Abbie, Luca."

"Come on, Stefano. There isn't any more to talk about when it comes to Vito. He was a known liar, end of story."

"I disagree. I'll be in touch about that dinner date, Luca. We're not finished talking, and I mean it."

"Fine, Stefano, but honestly, I have no idea what Vito was trying to say to you about Abbie," he tries convincing me.

"Like I said, I'll be in touch, Luca," I snap back as I walk out the door into the hall.

"Uncle Stefi, everyone loves Stefani," Abbie cheers skipping down the hall towards me.

"I knew they would, baby girl. Did Ronaldo take the rest of your presents up to your room?"

"Yes. He is putting my doll house together. Thank you for all my wonderful gifts," she wraps her arms around my neck.

"You're welcome, Abbie. Uncle Stefi needs to get home. Don't worry, you will be seeing much more of me from now on. I don't have any more plans to go out -of- town for a long while, remember? Very soon, I will set up an entire weekend for just the two of us to spend together."

"Yay. Will there be ice cream involved in our weekend together?" I chuckle at her question.

"Girl, you and your obsession with ice cream. Yes, as much as your belly can hold. I'll call you, Abbie."

"Ok, bye uncle Stefi. I love you."

"I love you more."

Stay Tuned. You don't want to miss the twists coming up in the next several chapters. 

Neither Stefano nor Dorothy (Emma) Will see it coming. 

More than one shocker for both of them. 

Love will either win out in the end or destroy them both. I personally hope love wins out.

Decided to post this a day early. Hope you all enjoy.