Hi, guys! My book, She's Mine, Exclusively Mine, is finally out. For those who are in the Philippines, you can now buy my book in all National Bookstores nationwide. It's also available online, on Shopee and Lazada. For my readers in other countries, I'm still waiting for my publisher's response if they could put it in other online platforms. I hope u will support me. Thank u:)

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MARCO's POV

I looked at Maggie with a small smile on my lips when I felt her warm hand hold mine. We were in the car, on our way to the restaurant that my father mentioned. I couldn't explain what I was feeling now.

For some reason, I wanted to back out and just go back home but somewhere inside of me knew that I wanted to see him too.

"Are you okay? You look tense." My wife asked with a hint or worry. I nodded my head and then guided her head to rest on my shoulder.

"I'm fine. I just don't know what to feel right now." I admitted honestly and then put my arm over her shoulders.

"I understand. Don't overthink about it. I know that you agreed to go see him because you wanted to hear him out too. Don't worry. I'll be by your side." She assured me and then kissed my cheek. For some reason, hearing her say that made me feel calm.

Just knowing that she would be with me, supporting me was more than enough for me.

"Thank you, my queen. If you weren't here, I don't think I would go." I pulled her closer to my body even more and I smiled inwardly when she embraced me.

"You don't have to thank me. I'm your wife, after all." I kissed the top of her head. No one spoke between us after that. We just stayed on that position until we finally arrived at the restaurant. I told the driver to just wait for us at the parking lot.

When we went out of the car, I saw the two cars of my men not far from my car. I knew that they were already on their positions around the area.

"Let's go?" I asked Maggie and then intertwined our fingers together. She smiled at me and then nodded her head. When we entered the restaurant, the maître d guided us to our table. For some reason, my heart thumped faster when I saw my father, quietly sitting at one of the tables.

He has four men standing near him, obviously his bodyguards. I unknowingly tightened my hands.

"You okay? Don't be too tense." Maggie whispered to me and then smiled at me sweetly. I took a deep breath. When the maître d left, we approached the table. Then, it was like a slow motion when he raised his head and our eyes met.

I didn't know if my eyes were playing tricks on me but his amber eyes shone with happiness upon recognizing me. I didn't expect him to recognize me.

"Unu..." He called and then stood up. He looked reluctant of what to do next. I could see the longing in his eyes while gazing at me but I mentally shook my head, not believing what I was seeing. It's impossible!

He rushed towards me and was about to give me a hug when I automatically took a step backwards, avoiding him. Pain passed through his eyes. I gritted my teeth.

"What do you want us to talk about? We don't have enough time to waste here so tell me what you want now." I said sternly.

"Marco..." Maggie rebuked in a gentle tone. I heaved a sigh. I couldn't control my anger but I tried not to let my negative emotions rule me over.

"L-Let's have a seat first." My father said with a sad face and then sat back on his seat. I pulled a chair for my wife, letting her sit first before sitting next to her.

No one spoke for about a minute and the silence was deafening. There wasn't a single person inside the restraint aside from the employees there, my father's bodyguards and us.

"I'm glad you came, Unu. You too, Maggie." My eyebrows creased when I heard him utter my wife's name.

"Yes, Mr. Alessi. I hope you don't mind my presence here." She answered with a smile.

"How did you know my wife's name?" I asked before my father could answer her. A tight smile broke across his face.

"Of course, I know her, Unu. How couldn't I?"

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Alessi? This is the first time we met, right?" Maggie asked with furrowed eyebrows as she looked at me and my father alternately.

"It's nothing important, Maggie. Anyway, don't call me Mr. Alessi. Just call me papà. You're my son's wife after all." He answered. Maggie's lips parted in surprise before she gazed at me.

"You told your father that we're married now?" She asked me curiously. I gulped inaudibly. I wanted to deny it but I promised not to lie to her again.

"No, I didn't." She was about to open her mouth to answer when my father interrupted.

"Unu didn't tell me that you two already got married but I've always known that you would end up together eventually. You are his destined—"

"—Stop it." I cut whatever he wanted to say with a firm voice. He heaved a sigh and then stopped.

"Don't beat around the bush and start talking." I then added without any emotion.

"Why don't we order first?" He asked, trying to sound casual, but I shook my head.

"No need. We just came here to hear you out so don't waste anymore of our time and start talking. Every second that we spend here with you is—"

"—Marco!" Maggie rebuked and gave me a sharp stare. I sighed in defeat and just kept my mouth shut. I heard him chuckle. He was looking at me and Maggie amusedly but when he noticed me glaring at him, his face turned serious. He cleared his throat.

"Where is Dui?" He asked after that.

"He didn't want to come. He's busy." I answered truthfully. I told my twin brother about our father's invitation but he flatly turned down the invitation without a second thought. According to him, he has a job that he must do and he didn't have time to come.

I didn't try to coax him to come with us. Knowing him; whenever he made up a decision, he would never change his mind.

"I see." A painful smile appeared his lips. "And I was even so excited to see the both of you." He looked like he was hurt. I flexed my jaw in rising anger. Seeing him with that expression didn't sit well in me.

"Stop pretending that you're affected or hurt because you never cared for us. Don't try to fool me." I uttered through gritted teeth.

"I am not trying to fool you, Unu. God knows how we've been longing for the two of you, especially your mamma."

"Stop with the lies. I don't believe you." I answered, not believing him one bit. Maggie gasped in shock of my harshness, but she remained quiet, just listening to us.

My father shook his head vigorously. "I'm not lying, figghiu. I'm telling the truth. I'm here to let you know how much we've been wanting to see the two of you for so long. You don't know what we've been through these past years—" Before he could finish talking, I stood up ad spoke coldly.

"—Enough! I don't want to hear anymore of your lies. If telling me rubbish things is your purpose of meeting me here, then it's better for us to leave. I don't want to hear anymore of your sh*t!" I faced my wife and took her hand. "Let's go." I was about to storm out of there with her but she pulled back her hand from my grip.

"No!" My eyebrows knitted together and looked back at her.

"My queen, let's go." I repeated but she shook her head stubbornly.

"I said, no! Sit down, Marco." She ordered.

"No! I can't stand this—"

"—Marco!" She rebuked firmly as her eyes turned into slits. I swallowed hard. She looked pissed off. Her sharp stare was telling me to just follow her before she gets mad at me. I sighed in defeat and then sat back on my chair. I didn't want to anger my wife. Knowing her, she would surely do something that I wouldn't like if I wouldn't listen to her.

"Okay. I'll give you a chance to explain your side and I want to hear it now before I run out of patience. What do you want to tell me? Why did you ask me to come here?" I questioned sternly as I met his gaze. I saw different emotions that passed through his eyes while staring back at me.

"I...I asked you to come here because I wanted to tell you everything. I know that you and Dui are mad at us because you think that me and your mamma abandoned the two of you when you were still babies. I wanted to correct that belief of yours. We never intentionally abandoned the two of you because you two are your mamma and I's life." A gasp escaped from my lips upon hearing what he said.

I didn't expect to hear that from him and I didn't know if I would believe him or not. After all the things that Dui and I had been through, I couldn't just believe him just like that.

I shook my head. "Stop lying."

He sook his head vigorously. "No, figghiu. After everything that happened in our lives, lying is the last thing I would do right now. I'm telling the truth." He insisted. His eyes were begging for me to believe him. I suddenly felt confuse. I could see the sincerity and honesty in his eyes but I still refuse to believe him.

I chuckled humorlessly while shaking my head. "Really? We were your life? Then, why did you abandon us? Why did you let us go through all the things that we've experienced? If we were really your life, then why didn't you search for us?"

"We didn't abandon you and your brother, figghiu. We fought our rights as your parents until the very end but fate was so cruel. It took you away from us, letting us believe that you two died and would never come back to life again." I felt like my breath got trapped in my lungs upon hearing his answer.

"W-What?" I asked in shock. I was just staring at him with crinkled forehead, wasn't sure if I heard what he said right.

He smiled bitterly. "Yes, figghiu. When you and Dui were born, your mamma and I were both so happy and delighted because your mother had the difficulty conceiving. She's gone three miscarriages before we had you two and we were so devastated about it. But we didn't hope. We prayed so hard until she finally got pregnant again. She had a very delicate pregnancy that's why she had to stay in bed most of the time.

"We did everything so that the miscarriages wouldn't happen again and thank God because she successfully gave birth without any complications. We knew about our family's rule beforehand, but we were determined to fight for our rights to be with you and your brother. After your mother gave birth, we never showed the two of you to any member of the parliament nor to the people because we were afraid.

"We tried to abolish our hidden family's rule but we didn't succeed. Most of the members of the parliament didn't agree. According to them, a law is a law and we should follow it. Your mother cried and pleaded but nothing could be done other than to comply." He took a deep breath.

"You and Dui were only 6 months old back then. A day before the two of you got separated from us, your mother and I tried to escape with you but apparently, someone saw us and reported it to your avu. He was so mad of what we did and ordered the guards to chase after us. We were so desperate to get away because we wanted to be with you, our dearest sons.

"We ran towards the forest, hoping to lose them. You were in my arms while Dui was in your mother's arms. We ran desperately. Just when we thought that they caught up to us, Dimitri suddenly came out of nowhere. We thought that papà sent him to get us but we were wrong. He helped us instead and offered his help."

"Dimitri?" I questioned.

"Yes, figghiu. He was my best friend." I didn't comment and continued listening to his story.

"Dimitri said that there were a lot of guards in the forest, looking for us and it would already be impossible for us to escape. He said that he could take the two of you out of Sicily without anyone knowing. We hesitated at first but he assured us that he would make sure to take you to a safe place until everything would calm down a bit and we could see your after that.

"When we heard the sounds of the guards approaching our direction, we didn't have a choice but to trust Dimitri. We gave you two to him. Thankfully, you were both asleep. He went on ahead with two babies in his arms while me and your mamma stayed there, waited for the guards to find us. They brought us back to the palace after that.

"Your avu was so furious and kept on asking where we hid the two of you but we didn't say anything. We had a high hope that you two were in a safe place already by that time but the next day after that, we received the most painful news that we've ever received.

"One of Dimitri's men came to us and informed us that you two together with Dimitri died in a plane crash." His voice cracked upon saying that. That shocked me. I didn't expect that revelation.

"Plane crash?" I parroted confusedly. My father nodded as I saw his eyes watered.

"Yes, figghiu. Apparently, he tried to take you to the USA to hide you there while the situation was still complicated but he couldn't do it because the plane crashed. Your mamma and I's world crumbled down when we heard that news. We couldn't accept what happened. We both blamed ourselves because that plane crash would've never happened if we tried harder to fight for the two of you. It didn't help that your avu was so furious at us and blamed us of what happened.

"After that, your mamma tried to kill herself because she couldn't accept what happened. She cried everyday and didn't want to eat anymore. She was always inside our room, crying. Then one day, I left her for just a couple of minutes and she used that opportunity to kill herself. She tried to stab herself with a knife.

"When I went back to our room, she was about to do it but I managed to stop her. From then on, I didn't leave her side, afraid that she might succeed on killing herself the next time. Two weeks after that, one of Dimitri's men came to us, holding a child around two years old. He said that he was Dimitri's son. No one knew who his mother was. Dimitri didn't have a family either so we decided to take the child.

"When your mamma first saw him, she got up the bed and took him in her arms while crying. Ever since then, Keith lived with us. His presence helped us a lot to live again. We treated him as our own son. But there were nights that your mamma and I still cries because we missed you and Dui so much." I couldn't form a word to say after hearing all that.

I was speechless. I felt Maggie's hand hold my hand, as if telling me that everything's gonna be alright.

I felt like there was a lump in my throat all of a sudden. My heart bled for my parents. I've never thought that they've suffered so much. I wanted to think that my father was just trying to fool me with such sh*tty story but I could feel that he was telling the truth.

"If you thought that we were already dead, how did you discover that we were still alive then?" I asked with an almost inaudible voice. My father smiled emotionally.

"When the plane crash happened, we sent many people to search for you two but no one found any evidence of your remains. People's bodies on that flight were successfully retrieved except Dimitri's and the two of you. We wanted to believe that you weren't on that flight but the record says that Dimitri indeed boarded the flight together with the two of you." He paused for a bit.

"But just three years ago, we received a tip that someone spotted Dimitri in Milan. We couldn't believe it at first but when we saw the pictures, we confirmed that he was indeed alive. We sent investigators again to reopen the case and they discovered that the record of him boarding the plane was tampered.

"We were so happy when we discovered about that. Our hope that the two of you were still alive, doubled. Then, a year after that, the investigators found out that Dimitri boarded to another plane that day together with Dui and you. That plane was bound to the USA. My men looked all over the USA for the two of you but they couldn't find any trace.

"Just when our hopes were about to crash again, I received a call from my long lost friend, Robert Lenard." Maggie gasped. We both looked at each other in surprised.

"My dad?" Maggie questioned and my father smiled.

"Yes, Maggie. It's him. I've never expected that that call would change our lives forever. He told me that he was with the two of you."

"So, you didn't give us to him just like I've initially thought?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Your avu selected Robert's family as stromento but it didn't happen because of the plane crash."

"Stromento? What's does that mean?" Maggie asked. For some reason, I suddenly felt scared. I didn't want her to discover about our family's secret law.

"It's—"

"—I'll explain to her later." I interrupted before my father could even say anything. Maggie looked at me quizzically but I met her eyes pleadingly, silently telling her to just wait for me to explain everything to her.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine." She muttered but I knew that she wasn't happy about it. I gently squeezed her hand.

"How come we ended up with him? When we were eighteen years old, Robert admitted that he took us in because it was his role. That was what he said and didn't elaborate any further. Now, I am confused of how we ended up to him." I voiced out what has been bugging me since a while ago.

"I was so mad at him when he admitted that he was with you two for years without informing us but he had a good reason. According to him, when he first saw you in a program at an orphanage, it didn't occur to him that you were our sons.

"But then, he saw your strong resemblance to me and you mamma. He got curious and followed you when you escaped that orphanage. According to him, you went to another orphanage but left right away when you didn't see what you were looking for there. When he saw you breaking in inside a house and fought the couple who was living there, he was shocked when he saw that there were two of you.

"His suspicion became stronger because of that. He took you in after that and then did his own investigation. He confirmed that you two were indeed our sons but he also discovered that your lives were in great danger because Dimitri's men were after you.

"He had to keep quiet for your safety and I'm grateful of him for doing that. He protected the two of you on our stead and even though he didn't inform us, at least, he kept the two of you safe. That's enough for us to thank him." He said full of emotions.

"Daddy took care of Marcus and you? How come?" Maggie asked confusedly. I smiled at her and then nodded my head.

"I'll tell you about it later, my queen." Her lips tightened. I kissed her cheek, intending to calm her down. "Please, don't be mad." I whispered to her tenderly with puppy dog eyes. She rolled her eyes and was about to answer when a group of men suddenly stormed inside the restaurant.

"Get down!" I heard my father shouted in horror before he pushed over the table to serve as a shield for us. Instinctively, I pulled Maggie down and hugged her, protecting her from any harm as it began raining with bullets at our direction.

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