"I'm Kayson Brown and you are?"

His voice was soft but the accent was unmistakable American, not Italian and his American accent was unmatched to Gabriele's strong Italian accent yet I couldn't stop staring at his familiar features.

"I, um.." My voice trailed off as I struggled to figure out what I am supposed to say. Seeing him, being so close to him has rocked me to my soul. I continued staring at the familiar features I realized that I had no idea what I was feeling.  Confusion, a draw to the past, a strong desire to walk away.

I finally realize he was still holding out his hands. I hesitated and offered my mines. 

"Zuria Giovanni." So some strange reason I shivered when our hands touched. 

When our hands pulled separated he gave me a smile before turning to Emily. 

"Emily Crawford." she voiced with a blush. 

 He turned to Jakobia, "Jakobia." he smiled, "Valdo pointed you out to me earlier. It's lovely to finally meet you."

"Likewise," she responded to not affected by his charms. Why would she be? She was happily married. 

He turned his attention back to me, "I decided to come and say Hi since  you've been staring at me all night."

I suddenly became upset by his presence. I couldn't be around this man. His haunting smile remained me too much of Gabriele's.

 "And you have." I look at the ladies, "Please excuse me, I'll be heading home now."

I turned and head to towards the exit. The farther away I was from this man the better for my mental state. 

...

 I entered my condo with regrets. I hated how I treated Kayson. He didn't deserve my rudeness. It wasn't his fault he looked like Gabriele. 

It's a good thing I won't be seeing him again.

Anna-Marie, Alessandro's babysitter placed her phone down when she saw me enter. It was something she always did when I came home. 

"You're back early."

I shrugged, "I wasn't enjoying myself." As soon as I saw Kayson my whole vibes changed. 

"At least you get to go out," she stated with a frown. Anna-Marie's father, Luke didn't allow the sixteen-year-old to anywhere, except my condo and He only agreed to her babysitting Sandro because she lived two doors down. 

"I'll bring you with me to the next gathering."

"My dad won't let me go." To her, her father was the villain but in truth, Luke only wanted to protect her.

"I'll talk to him." her face lit up.

"Thank you, thank you. Thank you," she said running up to me. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. 

I returned her hug and sighed. 

When I was her age, I was in control of my life. I had no one to tell me what to do and where to go but that's only because I was homeless, moving from one city to the next, running for my life.

She released me from the hug and smiled, "I wish my dad could marry someone like you."

I chuckled and shook my head. Luke was very attractive but he wasn't my type and neither was I his type. I wasn't looking for a relationship either. 

"Your dad and I are friends and neighbours, nothing more."

"He's kind of a jerk too." I remained silent. It wasn't my place to accept or deny her claim. As far as I'm concerned Luke was a  hero for raising his daughter single-handedly. It was rare to see men step up and be fathers much less, doing it alone. 

"I'm gonna go now." she took her phone off the table then started walking towards the door. "Goodnight, Zuria."

I gave her a small smile, "Goodnight, Anna."

When she was gone, I started walking towards Sandro's room. A feeling of peace came off me as I entered the blue room. My little Italian was sleeping peacefully with his teddy bear in his arms. I walked over to him and bent to place a kiss on his forehead. 

His thick dark hair reminded me so much of Gabriele's. Well, everything about him reminded me of his father, even his tiny tantrums. 

My mind was back to the charity ball. 

Kayson might look and feel like Gabriele but he wasn't.

If Gabriele was alive then he would have been here to see his son grow. Gabriele is all about family He wouldn't have abandoned us. 

....

"Good morning, Hannah," I smiled at the older lady as I placed my handbag on a table. 

"Good morning, Zuria. Are you okay? You left so early. You didn't even wait for the final counting. It's not like you." 

I sighed and apologized. "I'm sorry, Hannah. I wasn't feeling well."

She looked at me concerned, "Are you okay now?"

I nod and offered her a smile for assurance. 

"I'm okay. " I'll be okay as long as I never have to see Kayson Brown again. "What was the final count?"

"10.5 Million," she said happily. 

I smiled, I wasn't surprised so much was donated. The invitees were all pretty wealthy. I even donated one million anonymously. "That's amazing. There are so many women we can help that."

She nodded, "Yes. I agree. I think we should start searching for more women. There are so many single mothers that still don't know about us." Hannah Dakoda-Garner was a special woman. She's been helping single mothers for six years. She's provided homes for hundreds of women. She has also helped women who needed protection from a crazy ex. 

"I think we should expand too. Instead of teaching only baking, we can start teaching other stuff." I've been thinking about this for a while now. I was just waiting for the perfect time to bring it up. 

"What other stuff can we teach? The only skills I know how to do is bake and cook."

"That's where Emily and I come in." I hesitated before going forward. "I'll teach IT. Emily can teach Fashion Designing. She's great at it. Did you know she made the dress I wore last night?"

Hannah eyebrows raised, "Really. You looked stunning. I taught that dress was one of those top designers you're always wearing." 

As Gabriele Giovanni's wife, I had to look stunning, he made sure of it. He bought me a whole closet of expensive dresses. I never complained about it either. I loved looking beautiful for him and I loved looking beautiful for myself too. Being homeless was hard. I had to wear the worst of the worst thrift store clothes because it was the only thing I could afford. When I met Gabriele, he made sure I never have to wear people's third-hand clothes ever again. He pampered me with expensive things and I loved it. 

I shook my head at Hannah, "No. Emily made it. She's amazing and I think this opportunity will give her a chance to do what she loves." Emily never complained about baking or cooking, she loved it but fashion designing was her true calling. 

Hannah smiled, "I think you're right. You won't have a problem teaching too?"

I shook my head, "Of course not. I spend most of my day here anyway."

Hannah looked around, "We'll probably have to get somewhere bigger."

I nod agreeing. "Yes. I love it here but I hate that we have to walk through that pathway before we can exit the building."

Hannah chuckled, "It's annoying isn't it?"

I nod, "Yes, very. We can look for somewhere bigger. We'll need computers, I'll buy those since it's my suggestion."

"Are you sure?" Hannah asked. "You're a single mother. Computers are quite expensive these days."

I chuckled, "Hannah, I've told you. My husband left me a hefty sum of money and I have money coming in from my app."

"What app?" She inquired with a frown. 

"I created an app when Alessandro was eight months. It's basically an app that helps parents keep a track of their baby's schedule."

She looked at me amazed. "You're so smart, then again, I shouldn't be surprised. Eric speaks highly of you."

I frowned, what exactly did my foster brother tell Hannah?

Realizing my expression Hannah smiled, "He just told us how smart you were growing up. He speaks very highly of you. He loves you very much."

Eric had only been my foster boy for two years but he was a great big brother during the period. His parents were somewhat nice too, but why wouldn't they be? They were getting a paycheque every month to take care of me. When Eric went away for college everything changed. Their marriage began to fail and I became a problem. I was placed back in the system and lost contact with Eric. We found each other again when I was in my first year of marriage. 

"I love him too. He's Alessandro's god-father, you know."

"Yes, he did say that."

"He's told you a lot."

Hannah shrugged, "He was explaining to Gizelle. You know they have a thing for each other. I think she was a bit jealous." Gizelle was Jakobia's mother. 

I smiled at Hannah, "I think it's more than just a thing between them."

She chuckled, "We've strayed away. So you'll buy the computers to teach IT. We'll have to get Emily some things as well."

"Did someone call my name?" the blond said as she entered the room. "Good morning."

Behind her was Jakobia, "Good morning."

The pair walked over to us. Emily frowned at me. "You were staring at him all night and yet when he came over to us you were so rude."

I didn't need to think twice, I knew what she was referring to. "I wasn't feeling well."

Emily rolled her eyes, "He likes you. He's super sweet Zuria. You should apologize." 

I shrugged, "Too bad I'll never see him ever again, ain't it."

Jakobia spoke up, "Actually, you will.  I invited him to have dinner with Valdo and I tonight and you're coming."

..................

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