"Signore Lastra is awaiting you, Miss, Sir." One of the tuxed men announces leading us through the doors into a large foyer area, two sets of staircases curling around either side. Instinctively I look down at my strappy heels on the chequered floor that's so clean I can scrutinise my reflection on it. A chandelier drapes from the tall ceiling illuminating the crystal sideboards that contain several sets of car keys and vases of Lilys. I don't want to breathe out of fear I might contaminate the pristine space until,

"Breath Spill," Colton leans down and whispers into my ear, his hot breath on my neck pleasing my skin. He places his arm around my waist and gives me a reassuring smile.

Deep breaths, it's going to be fine. He gives me a small nod, I would be a genuine mess if he wasn't here with me. He installs a reassurance in me that just comes so naturally when he's around.

"Thanks," I whisper in the deserted foyer. The tuxed man had disappeared and left us with our reflections in the paddling pool-sized mirror above the sideboard. When Anto said he was successful I didn't realise he meant millionaire successful. I scan the room frantically, such a large space but I can't help but feel like I'm suffocating.

"Giovanna!" A gruff Italian voice sounds as footsteps collide with the stone-carved stairs. We look up at my dad who's running down the stairs in a pair of black suit trousers and a black shirt hung scruffily out of them. His dark black hair has been gelled back but his five o'clock shadow sits unsuitably on his cheeks and chin.

"Il Mio bambino!" He exclaims raising his palms to the heavens. I stare at him unsure what to do, obviously we are just going to ignore the very obvious elephant in the room. I tense under his gaze as he nears us, my body ridged at the thought of him getting any closer. He may be my dad but he's still a stranger right now.

"I'm so glad you agreed to come!" He smiles, not quite meeting his eyes, which drift over to Colton. He sticks his hand out which my dad hastily shakes,

"And you are...?" Wow, that must have hurt his ego, I struggle back my smirk.

"Colton, Sir." He replies politely.

"Ah, the singer si? You two are a...thing?"

"Just friends!" We both exclaim to quickly. . He furrows his brows at us, opening his mouth then closing it quickly.

"Well it's nice to meet you, please both follow me this way. Dinner is nearly ready but I would love for you to meet everyone first."

Everyone? Who the fuck is everyone, Anto never mentioned an Everyone! My feet stay firmly planted, too stone-like to move.

"I'm right here with you okay? Uncomfortable, upset, say the word and we'll be out of here." CJ says placing his hand onto my back guiding me behind my dad though a few hundred living rooms and into a marble-clad kitchen. A middle-aged woman in a peach fishtail dress is stood over the stove stirring something in a silver pot.

"Tesoro," He says entering the kitchen, she turns from the stove, her pearls swing from her neck in the motion, smiling sweetly and nervously flattening out her dress, she checks for food stains before stepping into his arms.

"This is my wife, Stella." He announces, placing a kiss on her forehead. A twang of hurt rumbles forth in my belly. I can't help but think of what life would have been like with my mum being the one in front of the stove instead of Stella.

"Gigi," I say rolling my hand out towards her, instead she pulls me in for a hug, catching me off guard. It doesn't feel forced or spiteful, it's warm and considerate. It may be a massive house but this woman has definitely made it a home. Eventually, she pulls away still holding my shoulders,

"Look at you! You're gorgeous!"She says in a thick Texan accent, I'm sort of surprised she's not Italian.

"Oh uh thank you, you are too..." I say awkwardly not sure how to accept the compliment, she giggles opening her mouth to continue but is interrupted when a chef walks around the corner,

"Dinner is served, Sir." He says professionally then walks away.

Sir? I look at Colton who smiles brightly at me, god I feel so bad for bringing him now, he probably has better things to be doing right now.

We're led to the dining room where a table long enough to fit an army is covered in candles and gold objects that run along with the red table runner.

Colton pulls out my chair for me to sit down, I glare at him and he smirks. Smug prick. I sit down dramatically dragging him into the chair next to me. My father takes the head of the table and his wife sits opposite me on the other side.

"Have you called them down?" He whispers to Stella, she nods opening a bottle of wine. She goes to pour it into my glass,

"Uh no thank you, I don't drink."

"I'm driving," Colton says also stopping the flow of wine into his glass. She retreats back to her chair with a smile just as a gaggle of footsteps enter the echoey room. Three small individuals come barreling into the room.

Three children, two boys and a girl.

"Gabriel, Tito, Arorua please come sit at the table." The two boys sit next to Stella and the girl sits next to me, besides my dad.

"Papa, who are they?" The small girl asks from next to me.

Papa. Fucking Papa. I can feel the anger climbing up my throat. Three kids. He has three kids. Oh so I was just the test run, was I?

I can sense Colton looking at me in the corner of my eye, my fists scrunch together.

"I saw you on TV." The girl addresses me, "I love your songs." She says quieter playing with the end of her hair. My anger dissolves quickly, she reminds me of Luca. Sweet and innocent, caught up in a mess that isn't her fault.

"Oh uh, Thank you, I love your dress," I say back to her, her eyes light up as I point at the pink, flower encrusted, thrilly ballerina style dress.

"Aurora, this is your sister Gigi." I choke on the air in the room, If I was drinking, the liquid would be halfway up the walls by now, that was quick, anyone care to ask me how I feel about this? It's not as if I just found out you have a completely new family. The little girl squeals.

"I've always wanted an older sister, having brothers suck!" She giggles. Bless she can't be older than five, her innocence is refreshing.

"SISTER?" The two boys exclaim from the other side of the table, not looking as impressed.

"Hi... Uh, I'm Gigi." I wave awkwardly feeling scared under the intenseness of the kid's glares.

"You don't sound Italian." The elder one remarks with spite.

"I'm from London."

"Londra? Non è italiana o americana? Come sta nostra sorella?" The other one remarks with confusion.

London? She's not Italian or American? How is she our sister?

"È scortese parlare italiano davanti a lei!" Stella glares at her son trying to be polite, I try and keep a straight face, they think I can't understand.

It's rude to speak Italian in front of her!

My dad lets out a sigh placing his knife and fork neatly on his plate, "Before I met your mother, I lived in London with someone else and Gigi was a result of that relationship." A result? Wow. Hurt pools in my eyes, a fucking result. Not a child just a result.

An awkward silence fills the room no one really knows what to say after that, I push the pieces of pasta around my plate, at lose of appetite. Colton places his hand on my knee again under the table, sensing my discomfort he whispers in my ear,

"Do you want to go?" Do I want to? I don't know. As awful as this is, I still haven't got any answers. I shake my head slowly. I've got to do this.

"How old are you?" The younger boy asks placing bread into his mouth.

"Twenty-one, Twenty-Two tomorrow actually." He nods thoughtfully then science is yet again bought upon us.

Most of the food on the plates has been eaten when my dad lets out an awkward cough.

"So Giovanna how have you been these past years, it's crazy you're so grown up now! It was only yesterday you were starting school and now you're this fancy, famous singer on tour with a platinum-selling recording artist! I always knew you'd amount to something great" He beams from the end of the table, his smile again not meeting his eyes.

"Okay, I guess... right place right time." I twiddle my fork in the sauce, he's acting like we're old friends, how do I put the last seventeen years of my life into a small dinner, especially in front of my 'new siblings'?

"You have a funny accent," One of the boys ponders,

"I'm a Londoner babe, we all sound funny"

"Yeah but you don't sound posh like the Queen, you sound..." He drifts off and I know what he's trying to say.

"Rough?" He blushes, "It's okay, I didn't grow up in the nicest of areas, Imma Hackney girl." I smile slightly keeping my eyes on the intricate china plate, I feel Coltons hand on the top of my shoulder, releasing some of the tension I didn't realise had gathered there.

"Hackey? Did you move down the city?" Dad asks from the end of the table, sipping on his wine,

"Yeah, not long after..." The tension around the table grows thick, well done Gigi... complete wrong thing to say. Wait no it's not! Why am I even here? I came to get answers not hold my tongue.

"I feel like I've missed so much." He sighs, no shit sherlock?!

"Well, that's what happens when you leave a four-year-old child and don't return for seventeen years..." I freeze wanting to shovel the words back in, fucking verbal diarrhoea. You idiot Gigi. Everyone freezes and looks at me, shit.

"Gigi I'm-" He starts some lame apology

"Actually, what am I doing here?" I drop my fork on the plane with a loud clang.

"Well, I uh want to get to know my daughter." I can feel more anger creeping up my spine now,

"At twenty-two? Why now?" Stella gets down from the table and starts to usher the children out of the room, my dad looks at me helplessly.

"I am sorry I've left it so long Gigi, I just-"

"Forgot about me?" He looks down at the table not even trying to deny it. Wow, stab me in the heart already.

"Why'd you leave?" I whisper. I want to leave, this is the only way I'll be able to. With the hole, he left in me at least partially closed up. He takes a deep breath, Stella re-enters the room sitting beside him, reaching for his hand.

" Your mother had issues, Gigi. She was an alcoholic. We were happy, a happy little couple in a happy little house until... you were born. She managed to stop drinking whilst she was pregnant but after you arrived your mother started to get depressed, she had post-Partum depression. Everything got a way to much for her and she turned back to the bottle. We were young, I had no idea how to deal with her addiction issues. We started arguing, a lot and she just kept getting worse and worse. It was distracting me and holding me back with my work. One day my old boss offered me a proposition, he told me he wanted me as a partner on a project, the project that made me who I am today. It meant we would have to spend months in Italy and America, your mother didn't like it and it just caused more and more arguments. I couldn't live like that Gigi you have to understand! It was toxic. So I decided to leave." He picks up his wine glass and swallows the remainder of it. My eyes pool with tears. My heart-shattering in two.

"What about me? You could have come back for me. Even sent me a bloody birthday card every now and then?"

" I'm sorry Giovanna... I really don't have a good enough excuse for that. I just wanted a clean slate."

A clean slate. Without his child. Like I never fucking existed.

"But hey! You turned out okay so it can't have been that bad and I do really want to get to know my daughter!" Him and Stella smile from the end of the table. It's like he's just trying to sweep all the hurt and anguish under the carpet, clear his conscious so people don't find out what he's done... wait that's it... that's why I'm here... it all clicks and an immense frustration runs through me.

" You don't want to 'get to know me', you want to cover your tracks. You don't want the tabloids snooping around our relationship and finding out we don't actually have one." He stays quiet, I knew it. He never wanted a relationship with me. My cheeks become damp. I feel like someone is crushing my lungs, keeping oxygen in my blood is near impossible at this point.

"Do you know what happened after you left? Forgot about us?" He stares blankly at me, my temper is through the roof, there's no holding back now, the truth fucking hurts I'm afraid.

"Do you know what happened after you left us?" I push up from my chair towering over the table, it scrapes along the floor starling everyone. Colton stands up behind me, he just puts his hand on the small of my back. That one touch gives the final burst of courage. " It was hell. Still is hell! Your lucky you only had to deal with an alcoholic, have you tried living with a junkie who pretty much forgot she had a daughter? Who would do anything for a couple of extra grams, including having our shitty council flat filled with strange older men? I had to look after myself at five. I had to check my mother was still breathing when I left for school at five! What child should have to do that? Constantly living in fear their mother won't be alive when they get home, I still live with that fear now! I understand you couldn't be in a toxic relationship, trust me I understand more than most what that's like but you didn't have to leave us! You didn't have to leave me!"

He stares at me wide-eyed, mouth open, Stella's eyes pool with tears as she strokes his hand. Colton puts his arm around my waist pulling my back gently into his chest, I let him, revelling in the silent support.

"Your best friend raised me, supported me when no one else did even when mum tried to stop me seeing him because she said he reminded her too much of you," I whisper tears clouding my vision.

"Anto? How is he?" he winces.

"Great without you. He owns one of the most successful restaurants in London, an amazing father to four kids and married to the most amazing woman." I say my mouth full of spite.

"Anto is my dad. He held me when I cried, picked me up when I fell down, supported me no matter what. He did what you were supposed to. He never left me." Tears are now flooding down my cheeks but I can't stop myself.

"Giovanna," He stands up but I stop him.

"For years I would sit by the window each morning and each night waiting for you to come back, sometimes I didn't even want to go to school out of fear I'd miss you if you did come. I tormented myself, mum blamed me so I balmed me too. I never knew why you left, some part of me hoped it wasn't your choice and you didn't want to leave us but evidently I was wrong. Where were you when I needed you?!" I shout, watching Stella jump. My dad goes to open his mouth again but I'm on a roll.

"I'll tell you where you were! You were getting re-married and having three perfect children to fit your perfect luxurious lifestyle."

"I'm sorry... I didn't know." He whispers, clutching his wife's hand.

"You're not sorry. You'd only be sorry when the press found out what you did. You'd only say sorry because you got caught. You don't care about me, you never have. You didn't care when I was being bullied for having dirty school clothes, you didn't care when I got attacked walking home through the estate after school, you didn't care when the social workers tried to put me in care, you didn't care when I started to struggle with my mental health, you didn't care when I had to work two jobs to help pay mums bills. You only cared when you thought I could bring you harm." My heart's beating out of my chest, short breaths being forced into my lungs,

"This whole thing is a facade. I don't belong here, I don't fit in here." I look around the room then back to the well-dressed couple at the head of the table. There's silence for a few minutes, thick tension filling the air as I ram oxygen into my lungs.

"You're not going to tell them are you, Giovanna? The press? It's just my company's really important and for something like this to get out..." My heart shatters in my chest, the shards cutting my lungs in their break. So close but so far, I must have done something awful in a past life to get the parents I've been given. Coltons arm tightens around my waist, holding on carefully to my trembling body. I can't find the words but Colton sure enough can.

"I can't believe you have the fucking nerve to ask that!" Colton scoffs. We're all taken aback by his sudden outburst.

"You're an asshole." He chuckles, my dads face growing angry at his behaviour, " This girl is the most amazing person you will ever have the pleasure of meeting, she's kind, caring, selfless and crazy talented. She never puts herself first and is always looking out for others, she's strong and resilient, dependant and depended upon! Maybe the world deserves to know about how you left your four-year-old daughter because her mother had addiction issues, how you left her to cope alone at such a young age and then only reaching out when it benefits you. But you know what, it doesn't matter how perfect your life is now You don't deserve to have Gigi in it." His arm tightens around my waist and I can feel his chest moving in and out quickly against my back. I place my hand on his arm trying to get him to breathe, he shouldn't have to fight my battles. With tears streaming from my eyes I can't help but smile slightly at his words, no one has EVER said anything like that about me, he's spent his night with me in the most awkward situation and he can still find it to say things like that about me. I look up at him but he doesn't meet my eyes, he just glares at my dad, his jaw clenched.

"Get out." My dad deadpans his fists clenched at his sides, his rose-tinted specs are gone as he narrows his eyes at me, "And if you do tell the tabloids, I will sue you. I'll take you for everything you have Giovanna." His cold set features send chills through my bones. I can't help the whimper that escapes my lips.

"Maximo..." Stella whispers in shock. I can't be in here anymore, the walls are closing in on my chest, the air is minimal in my lungs. The bile rises up my throat as I take off through the house, not stopping until I'm bent over clutching my knees by the massive G-wagon. Tears falling into the gravel driveway.

My heart hammers against my ribcage in pain, I try desperately to force air into my lungs, my heart palpitating. My body splinters with hurt, I don't know what I expected today but I was so stupid to have even the tiny midst of hope he'd accept me back into his new family with open arms, tell me he didn't want to leave in the first place. Stupid. So stupid Gigi.

The crunching of gravel behind me has me straightening up, only to fall back against the car when I realise its Colton.

"Doll..." he whispers not even hesitating to pull my sobbing body into his arms, I rest my head against his chest, crying into his shirt.

"I'm so sorry..." I whimper, he hugs me tighter in response.

"God Gi you have absolutely nothing to apologise for. Take deep breaths." I do as he says feeling his hand grapple mine, he moves it onto his chest right where I can feel his heartbeat. I feel closely at the thumps, lost in the smell of his cologne. He holds onto me tightly, still sobbing into his chest, before he lifts me into the passengers' side of the car.

I rest my head against the window gazing up at the clear sky through my bleary eyes, the stars twinkle in clusters as we move back down the drive and onto the main roads.

We drive in silence, Coltons hand on my knee the whole way, he doesn't push me just lets me know he's there.

"What's wrong with me?" I whisper, still gazing out of the window at the now empty motorway.

"What?" Colton turns his head towards me. I sigh in defeat,

"Am I so unlovable?" I murmur trying to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Gigi, your probably the most loveable person I know." He exclaims quickly.

"Then why don't they love me," I whisper, thinking about everyone who's left me. He pulls my hand away from my mouth to stop me chewing my now non-existent fingernails and links our fingers giving my hand a light squeeze.

"You know why? Because they're assholes who don't even deserve to love you, Gigi."

"I waited seventeen years, for him to come back! Seventeen years!" I cry, "Only for him to tell me he'd sue me if anyone found out I was his child!" My voice cracks with sobs, I bow my head, droplets stain my silk dress.

"I don't blame him. I'm a mess. Imagen being associated with my name in the media. Nobody wants to be associated with a fat slut right?" I force a chuckle through my cries. I am a mess, my life is a bloody mess and everyone knows it, especially after that TMZ interview. This 'anonymous' person basically spilt most things about my life back home and my mum with a few added lies.

Colton stays silent but soon enough I feel the car slowing down until it's stopped in the hard shoulder. Colton leans over the centre console until he's eye-level with me.

"I really wish you could see yourself through other peoples eyes, my eyes. Then you'd see how beautiful you are." I feel a blush creeping up my neck, "Everything I said at your dads is true, you truly are one of the best people I've ever met and your strength and resilience inspires me every day. You've changed me for the better Miss Lastra and I will always be grateful for that. You are loved by so many, Your brother, Sofia, Jacob, Will, Anto, Destiny, Ruby, Nessie, Jackson, hell even Jayden loves you more than he loves me. The list is endless. You don't need people like them in your life, Gigi, they are the real people holding you back. You are a light that doesn't deserve to be dimmed. So you need to hold your head up act more like me when it comes to the tabloids... a prick." I giggle at his goofy smile, "I will not let the Twitter trolls destroy my Spiller like they did me." He smiles, his sparkly eyes are soft with care. I wrap my arms around his neck, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Thank you." Is all I'm able to whisper. He has no idea how much I needed to hear that, other than Sofia and Jacob who are one hundred per cent biased, nobody has ever supported me and cared for me in the way he has. Maybe Colton isn't going to be a bad distraction...maybe he's a good one in disguise.

Hey guys! I really hope you enjoyed the double update! These chapters are some of My absolute favourites, not everyone has perfect parents or the best relationships with their families and I think it's important to remember that! I wanted accurate portrayal of social issues in my story's and I'm so glad I've been able to show that through Gigi and Coltons story!

As always thank you so much for reading and please please please remember to vote!
Iz x