Vino paced to and fro his office, ignoring the heavy frown on Mr. Falcone's face as he sat crossed legs on the couch opposite Vino's table.
"Will you come to sit down for a minute, Vino? You are wearing me down with your pacing. I'm surprised how you seem to keep that up for an hour now" Mr. Falcone scolded him as he stood up to force Vino into the couch beside him since he saw he wasn't going to budge any moment soon.
"What's going on with you?" Mr. Falcone asked him as he pretended not to know anything. Even though Vino's father had told him everything this morning when he had asked him to talk to his son.
Vino shook his head as his hands went to the watch at the back of his hands, he saw that the time was just a few minutes past noon. His eyes went to the wall clock directly opposite him to see that it was correct. At first, he thought that maybe it was his wristwatch playing pranks with him but turned out, only a little time had past
since his last call with the Ernestos.
"Son, is this because of Miss Evans?"
Vino's eyes immediately shoot up to stare at Mr. Falcone in shock. He couldn't believe how he could have guessed that correctly unless someone___ No, his father told him. He keeps forgetting that they were close friends, his father was bound to tell him and if Vino could guess correctly, his father also sent him here to talk to him.
"Well, I wouldn't say we are not devastated by the news of Miss Evans kidnapping but you shouldn't kill yourself for it" Mr. Falcone continued slowly when he saw there wasn't any response from Vino yet.
"Are you not going to say anything?" Mr. Falcone asked him, getting pissed off on talking to an empty building.
Vino averted his eyes from him. What could he say, he was in the boardroom when Paula had called to know if Skylar was with him? He had told her no, only for her to explain that Skylar had indeed come to the airport to meet him which shows that Vino wasn't hallucinating hearing his name on her lips. Skylar had in fact called his name, then where could she be? His only guess was with Gian but Paula had dispelled his notion that Gian had left that night in their presence. How could he lose her like that? Not when he had just found out that he was in love with her.
This morning he had received a call from Paula that they will be flying down to New York today after the trail had led them here. On Paula's advice, Vino had decided not to let the media knows about it, he had told his employees that Miss Evans left for a business trip and wouldn't be back for a while, only a few like his families, her, the Ernestos and now Mr. Falcone
knew the real reason.
"Vino"
Vino came out of his thoughts to see Mr. Falcone staring at him with a frown on his face. He adjusted on his seat and turned to stare out of his window "I'm not in the mood for small talk" Vino told him, indirectly telling him that he would like to be left alone but Mr. Falcone was too stubborn to compile.
"Who do you think kidnapped her and why?" Mr. Falcone asked after something when he saw that since he couldn't take Vino's mind off Skylar, they might as well talk about the case.
Vino shrugged but refused to provide any answers. His only guess had been Elise, especially after he had read the files Owen had sent to him the other day. And the reason could be to take revenge on Skylar. Vino had not told anyone about his findings even his father but he told Inspector Scott, who had privately supervised the case.
"I can see that you don't want to talk. If you need someone, you know where to find me" Mr. Falcone told him with all sincerity in his heart as he walked to the door.
"Don't forget that you are also my son even though your father and I are only friends, '' Mr. Falcone told him as he paused at the door.
Vino nodded as he forced a smile on his face as he didn't want him to worry too much about him "I understand. Thank you" Vino told him as Mr. Falcone nodded before stepping out of the door and closing the door gently behind him.
Vino awoke to a faint noise in the distance.
He didn't know he had fallen asleep; he was shocked as these past few days it had been difficult to fall asleep. He was beginning to think if Skylar had given him a part of her insomnia.
"Come in" Vino called to the knocker on the door before letting his eyes run briefly through the clock, he was surprised to see that it was past three p.m. That means he had slept for two hours without disturbance.
Vino turned to see Madison entering'' What is it?" He asked immediately, about to cut her off if it was work-related as he wasn't feeling like working now.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ernesto are here to see you"
"Let them in" Vino rushed to reply as he waved Madison off his office while he stood up to smoothen out his suit.
He sat back down just as the door opened and Paula walked in closely followed by her husband.
"Vino" Paula greeted with tears in her eyes as she rushed into his embrace "I'm sorry I couldn't protect her" She apologized to him.
"It's okay, Paula. Has your seat" Vino told her, guiding her to the couch before turning to greet Ernesto who nodded at him with understanding?
"Who could have done this? Any news from the kidnapper?" Paula asked immediately everyone was seated "I'm so afraid to face Mrs. Evans. I felt like I'd failed her even though I promised to look after Skylar"
Vino stood up and walked to the end of his safe, he put in his code and the safe door clicked open as he extracted the files from the safe before locking it. He had told Owen to get him the soft copy of the document on his email which he had done.
Vino dropped the documents in front of both Ernesto and Paula, he watched as they stared at him with confusion on their faces.
"What is this?" Ernesto asked, he had been quiet only observing his wife's conversation with Vino.
"The answer to your questions," he told Paula who rushed to pick up the documents in front of her while Ernesto did the same.
Paula skimmed through the passage rapidly while Vino watched the different expressions on her face. And when she had the murderous look on her face, he knew she had finally understood.
"That daughter of a bitch!" Paula cursed angrily as she dropped the file on the table when she was done.
"I have my suspicions about her but I couldn't say anything because___" Ernesto paused as he let his eyes run through the passage again.
"I can't believe they are sisters. Who would have ever thought?"
"Half-sisters' ' Paula corrected her husband, she still can't associate Skylar with that wicked bitch. This was so cruel of fate to do this to Skylar, considering how much she had wanted a sister.
"Yes, half-sister. What are we going to do? It's been almost a week now and still no news of her yet" Ernesto asked Vino who sighed heavily before resting his back against the armrest.
"We'll wait for her call. If she's doing this for her mother, I'm sure she will be calling me soon to request for money" Vino told them after some time, he had spent the night thinking about Elise's motive and still can't believe why she hadn't called yet. He's beginning to get scared, maybe she wasn't after the money, maybe she hated Skylar naturally and wanted to eliminate her?
"And her mother? What will happen to her?" Paula asked as her hands went to her forehead as she massaged her head gently, not surprised to see that she was sporting a migraine. It wasn't a new thing, ever since finding out the truth about Elise, she had been prone to migraines.
"I have paid the money for her surgery. I think we'll need to wait for it to be successful," Vino replied, that was the first thing he did after finding out about Elise's mother. He had paid for her treatment and even transferred her to Thompson's hospital where she will be taken care of.
He just hopes she will be alright because she's the only one that can stop Elise now. What he couldn't understand was why couldn't Elise tell him about her mother, he would have gladly paid for her hospital bills just like he's doing now?
"And Adora? Any news about her father?" Paula brought herself to ask since she didn't see anything about her on the file or had she missed it?
"No, there's no father," Vino told them, he saw their lips open in shock which made him rush to elaborate.
"No, there's a father. I mean, she's also Skylar's half-sister and Elise's sister. She wasn't Elsie's daughter, to begin with. She lied to me because she needed money for her operation then and her husband wouldn't give it to her"
"Oh My God!!" Paula groaned as she let her head fall limply on the couch. She was so tired and weak after everything she had heard. She still couldn't believe how much length Elise had gone to keep up the ruse? Was she ever tired all these years? And she took a little child onto it.
"How's the girl holding up?" Paula brought herself to ask as she stood up and walked to the window, she saw that the night had darkened, which means they had been here in Vino's office for a while now. She missed Skylar so much, she just wishes there was something she could do.
"She's holding up well, quite too well for a child her age. I got her a therapist, I wouldn't want her ending up like her sister" Vino replied, he had spent these past few days rewriting his wrongs because he wouldn't want Elise to find him wanting once he pleaded for the release of Skylar.
"And the father? Any news about him" Ernesto asked the one question that had been hovering over the silence of the room but no one had tried asking that. Paula was afraid to learn more about the woman who had kidnapped her best friend, she felt the more she knew about her, the more she pitied her and Elise didn't need any pity now. She needs hatred. Pure, unadulterated one.
"He died a few years ago before Skylar was born"
"What a pity? I wish he was alive so we could take out our aggressions on him" Ernesto commented gently with a quick shake of his head as he stood up signalling his wife over to his side.
"I personally wanted him to be alive too. I would have loved to ask him why he chose to play with two women's hearts and made them both victims of circumstance" Vino told them as he saw that they were getting ready to leave. He stood up and gathered the files back into the safe and locked them before bending to gather his laptop into his bag.
"We'll be here first thing tomorrow," Ernesto told Vino as he stood beside the door with his wife beside him who was trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. Ernesto knew she would break down any moment from now and he wouldn't want her doing that in front of Vino. He can't have Vino crying over Skylar again.
"Sure, man. Thank you for coming over" Vino replied with sincerity on his face as he shook his hands and escorted them both into the elevator before returning to his office.
He picked up his bag and made his way into the elevator that will take him to his makeshift home as he dreaded going over to his real home, he doesn't want to revisit Skylar's memory in his home at least not yet...