Capello Brothers 3 Train My Heart (8 page)

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Luca scoured
the yard for firewood and created a neat pile close by the house,
before chopping back the overgrown trees and hedges for a separate
pile of kindling. It’d be winter soon enough and though Luca had no
plans to stick around, the man was still his father and he was
determined to help in any way he could. Besides, the exercise
offered Luca a great way to burn some energy and keep his mind off
how much he was missing Imogen.

Hours later and
with the property almost back to reasonable condition, his father
appeared on the porch, an intimidating and unhappy scowl set
tightly across his face.

“Non più!”
no more!
he shouted before walking over to Luca and standing
toe to toe with him. “non ho bisogno di te”
I don’t need
you.

“A simple
grazie would do, you ungrateful prick” Luca said, pushing past him
and walking toward the house.

“GET OUT!” his
father bellowed, grabbing Luca by the arm, an attempting to move
him but unable to budge Luca's solid frame. “I don’t want you
around, any of you. You come here and rub in my face how well you
are all doing… no more! You want to be part of my life Luca, but I
do not want that. The best thing that ever happened was coming home
and finding you all gone. I never wanted your mother. I never
wanted you boys. Go away, leave me to be—take your fancy businesses
and money and go back to Australia. I do not want you in my home!
You hear me Luca? You are not my son anymore, go away!”

Shaking free of
his father’s grip, Luca could feel his temper rising, could feel
the heat and anger coursing through his body. Composing himself
briefly, Luca turned to walk away. No good would come from losing
his temper and fighting his father.

“Aah… a big
man, but really a sook. You’d rather walk away than have a fight”
he father sneered at him, “mummie ragazzo”
mummies boy
he
taunted.

Luca spun
quickly and had his father by the shirt and pinned against the door
frame before either man could fully comprehend what was happening.
His breathing was now staggered as his temper threatened to
explode.

“Tale padre,
tale figlio” his father laughed at him.
Like father, like
son
.

“That’s where
you’re wrong. I am not your son” Luca spat out before dropping the
man to the ground and walking away.

There were no
more words spoken between Luca and his father as he packed his bag
and left the house. As he walked out, the stench of whisky hung
heavily in the air, a reminder to Luca that some people never
change.

Pulling in the
driveway of his nonni’s house, Luca saw his nonna sitting on her
rocking chair on the porch and his nonno tending the garden.
Nothing had changed, but this consistency actually brought a smile
to Luca’s face, the first in days. Bringing the car to a stop, his
nonni were on their feet and looking toward him, intrigued as to
who their visitor was.

“Luca, il mio
ragazzo Luca!” shouted his nonna before throwing her arms into the
air in celebration.
Luca, my boy Luca!

Luca couldn’t
hide his smile, after all these years his nonna recognized him
whereas his own father hadn’t. That in itself spoke volumes.

“Nonna, nonno!”
he shouted back, bounding over to where they were both standing and
drawing them in for a hug.

“What are you
doing here Luca” asked his nonno.

“Achille, the
boy looks hungry—let me feed you Luca then you answer the
questions, si?” his nonna interrupted.

Luca smiled
warmly, bending to kiss his nonna’s forehead before pulling her in
for another hug, “you think I look hungry, huh? I’m twice the size
of you nonna!”

“My boy, you
are always the bambino della famiglia”
baby of the family.
“Let me feed you”

As Luca mopped
up the last of his sauce with his nonna’s homemade bread, he looked
across to his nonno who had been watching him expectantly.

“I came to
visit Papa” Luca offered by way of explanation.

“No, no, no
Luca” sighed his nonna.

“Romana, hush”
his nonno scorned, “let Luca speak”

“I’ve already
been to see him” Luca started before explaining the lead of events
of the past couple of days, his nonni sitting silently and
listening to him intently. His nonna shook her head silently and
looked hurt from time to time, making Luca feel guilty for bringing
his problems into their home.

“So, how did
the meeting end?” his nonno asked after a few moments of
silence.

Luca,
paraphrasing his father, repeating his most hurtful words, “You are
not my son anymore, go away!”

“No! Uomo
malvagio”
evil man
his nonna offered.

“Hmm…” his
nonno replied thoughtfully, “what you must understand Luca is that
your father is a weak man. He likes to be the victim, in fact he
needs to be the victim lest he have to make a life for himself and
his family. In this case, your nonna is right—your father, he is
not a good man, I am sorry to say this Luca. Your mother, Roman—do
they know you’re here?”

“Yes” Luca
replied, “though no-one was particularly happy that I was coming to
see him”.

“Then why Luca,
surely you remember…” his nonno replied, lowering his voice.

“I remember,
nonno” Luca answered. “I needed to know that I wasn’t like him. I
want to settle down now, I’ve found my soulmate, but I… I’m scared
that maybe I’m like him”.

“Luca, why do
you say that?” his nonno asked gently, “You don’t… you’re not…
violent are you?”

“No, no, not
like that” Luca replied before briefly filling in his grandfather
on the events leading to Bill McNaught and his tempered response to
the situation.

“Aah, Luca, no
this is not the same as your father. You are in love with Imogen,
yes? So, you want to protect her, keep her safe. What you did is
not ideal and you must learn to control your temper but it is very
normal to protect someone you love when they are put in such
danger” his nonno replied.

“Il mio bambino
è inamorato!” his nonna exclaimed, clearly oblivious to the entire
conversation and hearing only the parts she wanted to.
My baby
boy is in love!

“Where is
Imogen, Luca?” his nonno asked, trying desperately to ignore his
wife’s excited proclamations but smiling discretely to Luca all the
same.

“I need to
phone her, to ask her to come over” he replied, barely finishing
his sentence before his nonna was scurrying him over to the
phone.

“You have to
speak loudly Luca, the phone it is not so good” she explained.
“Tell my lovely Imogen, I cannot wait to meet her” she smiled.

“Romana, come”
his nonno commanded gently, “let’s leave Luca to talk to his girl.
They have much to catch up on”.

“Im, it’s me”
Luca managed before his voice began to shake and tears threatened
to expose him.

“Luca! Oh wow,
how are you? How’s Italy?” she exclaimed, the sweet sound of her
voice threatening to tip Luca completely over the edge.

“It wasn’t
good…” he replied

“What? Are you
ok? Luca, tell me you’re ok?” she replied, concern replacing her
initial excitement.

“Im, I’m ok,
but can you come?”

“Straightaway?”
she queried, her measured reply belying her concern.

“I’ve called
Roman, he’s organizing your ticket. He’ll pick you up for the
airport in a few hours”

“Luca. Promise
me you’re ok—this isn’t like you…” she trailed off.

“Please Im,
come, I need you” he replied before the phone cut out.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

Imogen had no
sooner hang up from Luca’s phone call when the doorbell rang. In a
daze she headed to open the door and found Roman looking stressed
out on the other side.

“Did he ring
you Im?” Roman asked, as she moved aside to let him in.

“Yes, he wants
me to go over there, now"

“I know, I have
your ticket” Roman replied, passing her an envelope, “and a roller
suitcase in the car as well. Did he say anything to you about our
father?”

“No, he didn’t
and the phone cut out and I have no way of phoning him back. I
don’t even know where he is” she replied, the weight of the
situation hanging heavily between them both.

“Did he sound
stressed to you?”

“Stressed, yes.
A bit sad too maybe—I thought a couple of times he sounded choked
up, but it was a dreadful line, maybe I’m wrong” she replied,
trying to soften the blow to Roman who was clearly overwhelmed and
concerned.

“No, you’re
right, that’s what I thought too. I’ll go get this bag Im and help
you pack”

“I have a bag,
Roman”

“Luca said you
have a backpack and he doesn’t want you lugging it around and
stirring up your ankle injury. He told me to give you this roller
bag—I’ll go get it” Roman answered before opening the door and
finding Dominic standing outside.

“Dom, thanks
for coming. Can you go get the suitcase out of my car” Roman
offered by way of greeting before throwing him the keys and heading
further into the house with Imogen.

“Ok, Im, the
ticket is from here to Linate airport in Milan. Luca will be there
in time to pick you up once you land. He said he’ll be waiting,
just don’t worry, he’ll be there” Roman offered as he pulled the
luggage out of his vehicle and walked Imogen across the crowded
carpark to the airport terminal.

“Im, do you
need cash?” Dom asked sincerely.

“No, thank
you—I’m fine” she replied.

Turned to Roman
and Dominic, Imogen asked, “are you sure you don’t mind keeping an
eye on the gym?” she asked.

“Don’t give it
a second thought Im, it’s taken care of” replied Dom before pulling
her in for a brief hug.

“We’ll take
care of everything at this end, you just concentrate on Luca. Just
support him Im, it will have been bad” Roman whispered before
pulling her in for a stabilizing hug, “now you best get going, ring
me if you need me”.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Imogen saw Luca
first; he looked drained, tired, and not at all himself. She'd
never seen him look so defeated; it must have been bad she thought
to herself as she watched Luca straighten up and start searching
the crowd for her. Waving out, she got his attention and watched as
his face lit up.

"Im!" he
shouted, striding toward her and swooping her into his arms. "God,
I've missed you so much Im" he whispered, burying his face in her
hair.

"How are you
Luca?" she asked pointedly as she stepped back to take him in.

"Better now" he
smiled genuinely but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I don't
believe you" she whispered.

"I know" he
nodded, "let's get out of here—oh, and Im, this is for you" he said
thrusting a map into her hands. "Where do you want to go?"

"Are you
kidding? Have you not made plans?" she asked excitedly.

"Nope, it
doesn't matter to me where we are just as long as we're together"
he replied honestly.

"Ok, well I
don't need the map; I know where I want to go—Verona"

Pulling out of
Milan Central Station again gave Luca a feeling of déjà-vu, except
he reminded himself, Imogen is here.

"Rest, Im" he
said, tucking her head into the crook of his shoulder.

"No, let's
talk" she replied sleepily.

"Plenty of time
for that. Get some sleep; it's about an hour and a half to Verona,
if you sleep now we can do some sightseeing, and talking, once we
get there".

"I'll settle
for talking" she murmured as the gentle rocking of the train
overpowered her desire to stay awake.

As she nestled
into Luca, he pulled her in as tight as he could before resting his
head against the back of the chair and taking his first deep breath
in days. Everything felt right again with Imogen by his side, even
the events of the past few days seemed less overwhelming. He could
tell that she was concerned and he'd deal with that once they had
somewhere private to talk, but contrary to what he imagined she was
thinking he'd actually found some peace with the situation over the
last couple of days. Though he still had some issues to address, on
the whole he was feeling better.

The memories
that had plagued him since returning to his old home had been so
powerful he was still finding it difficult to shake some of them.
The feelings of worthlessness he'd had as a boy had returned yet
his father's dismissive attitude toward him had actually countered
out some of these feelings. The trip had proved one thing: his
father had never cared about them and it was likely he never would.
It was that realization that actually freed Luca from feeling any
connection to his father. Talking to his nonno had confirmed that
Luca would need to work on his temper from time to time but overall
he could honestly say he was in no way like his father.

"What about
here?" Luca asked as they turned down the umpteenth sidestreet and
stumbled onto the beautiful bright red door of the Opera Relais
hotel. The taxi driver had suggested they check out Verona's famed
Piazza Bra area; a hub for shopping, sightseeing, and local
cuisine. So far, it was living up to it's reputation; the piazza
was immaculate with the imposing Verona Arena offering the perfect
reminder of why the city was known for its romance and culture.

"It looks
expensive Luca" Imogen replied.

"Then it's
decided" he smiled, buzzing reception before sliding Imogen through
the door and upstairs to the front desk.

"Benvenuto
signore and signora"

"Ciao; a room
for two please" Luca asked.