Gabriel's POV:

I wasn't completely unconscious when they dragged me out. I heard the piercing scream of Bella. She was crying in agony. I desperately wanted to open my eyes and rescue her but my body refused to perform.

They took me further away from the place and her cries turned destined. Finally, the tremendous pain in my body took its toll on me and my brain decided to quit functioning.

                                       *****

"Gabriel, honey, please open your eyes. Look at your mother, just once."

I heard a feminine voice calling my name with affection but I couldn't pinpoint who it belonged to.

"Mom, you need to relax. Dad, please take her with you," I listened to my brother's voice.

I struggled to get up but my body refused to move on my instructions. It felt like I was trapped in my body after taking away my freedom to move. I made an effort to open my eyes but they remained close. I was falling in and out of consciousness again. Occasionally, I would hear the sound of sobbing and other times only silence.

Finally, I was able to open my eyes but the bright light urged me to shut them immediately. I detected the strong scent of cleaners and managed to open my eyes. I was in the hospital, my body was covered with a white sheet and thousands of wires were attached to my head, chest, and hands connected with the monitor in the room which was beeping loudly.

I tried to sit up but fell on the bed due to immense pain in my chest. The door of the room opened and someone entered.

My vision started to get blurred. I blinked my eyes to get rid of the haze. I was having a difficult time breathing properly.

The man in a lab coat walked over me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Gabriel, what are you doing? Your condition is unstable and you need a lot of rest to heal properly," Nick said persuading me to lie down on the bed.

"I'm okay," I replied flinching in discomfort at the pain in my arm. "How did you guys find me?"

"We found you on the porch of our house. You were unconscious and looked battered," Nick said with pity.

Dread washed over me immediately after listening to him.

"Was there any girl with me?" My voice came out shaky.

"No. We only found you, there was no girl," he replied looking concerned. "A few days ago, we got a call that you have disappeared from the summer camp and police is trying to find you."

"They did a pretty good job, didn't they?" I said sarcastically. "How long I have been out?"

"For two days," Nick replied.

I couldn't believe I was unconscious for two days and getting treated in a hospital when she was still under that bastard's roof getting tortured for my family's crime.

I began to get up to remove the sheet when my brother grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Where do you think you are going?" he asked with the scowl on his face.

"I need to find her. I can't stay in bed any longer and waste the time, " I muttered.

"Who are you talking about?" Nick inquired, looking perplexed.

"Bella. I need to find her. That bastard still has her."

"You're not going anywhere!" Nick exclaimed.

"You don't understand how important it is for me to find her. She is alone there with those men," I said ripping the wires off my body.

Nick forced me to stay seated on the bed.

"First, you need to calm down. I'll let you leave if you take these pills."

I looked at the tablets and shook my head. "No, I am not taking these stupid pills."

Nick grabbed my shoulder once again.

"There is police outside waiting for you to wake up to take your statement. You wouldn't be able to leave this place no matter what. I promise to help you if you take these pills."

I looked at my brother and closed my eyes believing him. He handed me water and I took the pills. I got up from the bed and staggered to the closet to look around for my clothes.

"Where are my clothes?" I asked him.

"In that cabinet," Nick said.

Suddenly I began to feel worn out and drowsy.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked.

"I don't understand why my head is spinning?," I told him.

"I warned you that you haven't healed completely yet," he said, looking at ease.

"You gave me sedatives or something," I mumbled as he dragged me back to the bed and made me lie down.

I didn't have the energy to put up a fight with him. My body was already shutting down.

"You need to take some rest, police will find that girl," he said.

"You don't understand, Nick. I'm the only one who can help her," I said in distress.

"Trust me, it's best for you to stay in this bed and heal. You wouldn't be able to help her or the police in this state," he said.

I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and closed them.

I didn't know what time it was. I heard people talking around me and started to gain consciousness.

"He wanted to leave last night. He looked so disoriented and anxious. He kept saying he wants to find Bella. I bait him into taking sedatives to stop him from leaving. Even in his sleep, he was mumbling her name again and again. Have you heard anything about her from the police?" Nick asked.

"No, they are still searching the forest for her," My mother told him.

I felt extremely angry hearing how my brother manipulated me into taking sedatives and stopped me from leaving.

I sat up on the bed, flinching in pain. My mother and Nick were instantly at my sight.

"You shouldn't have done that," I said in a bitter voice.

"Every part of your body is bruised. Your nails are missing and infected. Three bones of your jaw have a hairline fracture. You've ten stitches on both of your arms to close those long gashes that you have gotten from God knows where. I care about you and did what any brother would've done," Nick said, sounding furious.

"I didn't think you would care," I said.

"You're my brother, what did you expect from me?" He asked.

I wanted to tell him that I expected him to leave me alone because he stayed absent for the last twenty years of my life.

"In fact, all of us were worried sick for you, especially mom and dad," he said placing a hand on our mother's shoulder.

I regretted blaming him and decided to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Nick. I'm grateful for everything that you have done for me," I said.

I glanced at my mother and the vicious feeling of being lied to came back.

"You were worried for me, why it's so hard to believe?" I asked her.

She looked shocked at my question.

"Why would you say that son?" My mother said.

"Why do you think I am saying this mother? Are you even my real mother or is there something else you are hiding from me?" I asked with hostility.

"Gabriel, what's wrong with you?" Nick asked, looking stunned.

"Nothing is wrong with me. I'm just tired of being lied," I told him.

"I don't understand anything, Gabriel. When did I lie to you?" she asked in an upset voice making her way to me.

She placed her hand on my arm and I shrugged it off. She looked hurt but I didn't care.

"Who is Gabe Emerson? How am I related to him?" I asked her.

She sucked in a sharp breath. Her horrified face was telling me she knew it was time to stop lying.

"Call your dad inside, Nick," she said.

Nick went outside to get our father.

"I'm so sorry. I hope you'll forgive us," she said blinking back her tears.

"I don't think I can forgive you for the pain that I have gone through all these years thinking why did you guys give me up for adoption? Even though Andre and Francisca provided me with everything, I still felt unworthy," I said, recalling the time when I found out I was adoptive.

She wiped her tears off, trying to reach to me but I took a step back.

Frank, my biological father entered the room with Nick and instantly went to his wife's side

"What happened? Why are you crying?" he asked in concern.

"He wants to know about papa. It's time to tell him the truth, Frank," my mother said.

My father sighed and kissed her head. He looked at me and walked over to me.

"We are going to tell you everything but you have to listen to us calmly," he said.

"I'm listening to you very patiently," I said gritting my teeth.

"Gabe Emerson was your grandfather, my dad," Frank said in a monotone.

"He is not between us anymore. He died in a car accident," My mother said with the shaking voice.

"That's all?" I asked them in confusion.

"Yes. What do you want to know more?" Frank asked.

"Can you stop keeping secrets and tell me the complete truth?" I asked them. "I want to know everything about him."

"He was a police officer and used to work as an undercover agent for the FBI. Your grandfather was on a secret mission against some Mafia leaders. He became one of them to collect the evidence and managed to make his way up to the Mafia leader. He collected all the information about the illegal work he was involved in and people who were working with him. After collecting all the information, he disappeared for a while. The Mafia leader was hunting him to get that information so your grandfather had no choice but to kill him," Frank said, looking at me with the sad smile.

"He killed his father! Now everything makes sense," I said connecting the dots between his remarks and the hatred he had for me.

"What makes sense? Who are you talking about?" My father asked.

"Nothing. Where was I when he got in that accident?" I asked them.

"You were with Andre and Francisca," My father replied. But his eyes were telling me that he was hiding something.

"I was with him, wasn't I? I got into the accident and lost my memory. Right?" I said.

My mother and father looked at each other with wide eyes. Immediately, I knew I had connected the dots correctly.

"Who told you this?" My father asked.

"Someone who is burning for revenge," I snapped. "What happened on the day of the accident?"

"On your sixth birthday, your grandfather came to meet you because you pleaded him. He loved you a lot. And you were his most favorite grandson because you enjoyed listening to the stories of his encounters with bad guys," My father said with the sad smile on his face.

"I don't remember anything, not even his face," I said.

My father took a deep breath like he was preparing himself to disclose a huge secret.

"One day, he took you out for breakfast. A few hours later, we got a call from the police that you and my dad were in an accident. We arrived at the hospital and received the news of my dad's death. He died on the spot because the windshield broke and slashed his throat. You..you were, on the other hand, fighting for your life. You had a severe head injury," My father said, closing his eyes. "The doctors were not expecting you to make it out alive, they told us to prepare ourselves for another death news. However, a miracle happened. You woke up after staying in a coma for four weeks. We were overjoyed and hugged you but you didn't recognize us. I would never forget the day when your scared eyes looked at us like we were strangers. We attempted to remind you something but you couldn't recall the last six years of your life."

"So you gave me up for adoption?" I asked them confused.

"No. We found out that the accident was planned," my father said. "Then other undercover agents informed officials that your life was in danger. Mafia leaders believed that you had the knowledge where dad buried the evidence. I have no idea what made them think that." my father said with a grimace on his face.

I rubbed my face, not understanding how a six-year-old me managed to get into Mafia's hunting list.

"They didn't know that you've lost your memory so we made a plan. We declared you dead and asked our dear friend Andre and Francisca to adopt you. They didn't have their own children so they were delighted to welcome you in their family. As you grew up, you accepted them as your parents. When you turned eight and accidentally found out you were adopted, Andre made a story. All these years, we didn't contact you because we wanted to keep you safe," my father said.

"When nothing happened for twenty years we couldn't help ourselves and asked Andre to tell you about us. We wanted to meet you, hug you, and see you, Gabriel," my mother said sniffing.

"I believe you both," I said. "You know I was only eight when I found out I was adopted. Since that day, I wanted to meet my real parents and hug them just for once."

I held my tears back.

"We couldn't take any risk, Gabriel," my father said.

I stayed silent processing everything in.

Nick broke the ice in the room by speaking. "How did you go missing from the summer camp? Who tormented you and left you at the porch?"

"You remember the night when we went to the club," I asked him.

"Yeah, you left us in the club and went home alone," Nick said.

"I witnessed a murder that night in the club washroom," I said.

They gaped at my answer.

"I went to use the washroom and found two men leaning over the dead body. They saw the camera around my neck and assumed I took their pictures. They attacked me and I managed to escape from them."

"You should've come to us," Nick said.

"I didn't come to you guys because I didn't want them to go after you both," I replied. "I went back to the house and attempted to forget everything. Then I joined the summer camp. I had no idea they would follow me to the camp," I told them.

"They kidnapped me and Bella. It was her bad luck that she was sharing a tent with me," I told them.

"However, the real shit began when they started asking me about Gabe Emerson then some fućking chip," I informed them.

"They were from Mafia organization," My father said, looking stunned.

"Unfortunately, yes," I said.

Suddenly the door of the hospital room opened. Nick, my mother, and father turned in surprise to look at the intruder.

My dad, Andre Russell, sauntered inside along my mom.

"Oh, Gabriel," my mom said, hugging me and crying. "I shouldn't have let you leave Italy. I had a bad feeling about this trip but you and your father don't listen to me."

I patted her back, knowing how emotional she gets when anything happens to me.

"Mom, everything is okay," I told her, finding a comfort in her scent.

I gave my dad a pleading look and he detached my my mom from me.

"He doesn't even look that bad, Francisca," Dad said consoling my sniffling mom. He then glanced at my my father, Frank and glared. "They explained your condition like you were on your death bed taking your last breath," dad said placing his hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head and laughed.

Andre Russell was my dad but he was also my mentor and my friend. He taught me how to be stronger than an average person, how to channel my emotions, how to differentiate between friends and enemies. Sadly, my biological father would never be able to take his place as a dad in my life.

I looked at my mom and sighed.

"Mom, if you wouldn't stop crying I will get sick with worry," I said coughing and she wiped off her tears.

"The doctor informed us that you have fractured jaw and lots of wounds. They said you have been beaten badly," she said.

I chuckled.

"You have no idea how worse those bastard looks who did this to me. Some won't be able to walk for one or two years on their own," I said with the smirk.

"That's my son," My dad said patting my back with a proud smile.

My mom glared at me and my dad then mumbled, "Brutes."

The clearing of throat caught our attention and we looked my biological father and mother. I forgot easily that they were watching everything.

"Frank, Pamela, how are you both?" My dad said walking to them and shaking their hands. My mom followed him and said hello to them with friendly hugs.

"Who informed everything?" my father asked to my adoptive dad.

"Our son was kidnapped and you didn't think of informing us. Thanks to the chief of police who notified me," he said in anger.

"You didn't inform my dad, I was kidnapped?" I asked them in shock.

Pamela and Frank looked at each other nervously.

"We were worried and busy in searching for you that it slipped from our minds. The special police force was assigned to search for you, Gabriel," Frank told me.

"I'm his dad and I still deserved to know about my son," my dad said.

"Andre, calm down. They're his parents and they must be worried," my mom said, trying to calm down my dead.

Frank and my dad glared at each. I didn't want them to start a fight and forget about the main concern which was a chip.

"So, do you guys know where the chip is?" I asked.

"What chip?" My dad asked.

"He was kidnapped by the men of Stefan Robertson," Frank replied.

"What?" My dad said in rage.

"His son is now running the organization. He wants the chip that my grandfather stole," I said.

They all stared at me with pursed lips and I knew something about was wrong.

"You guys know where the chip is, right? That's the only way I can safe Bella," I told them desperately waiting for the answer.

"Who is Bella?" My mom asked.

"She is the girl that got kidnapped with him, Nick replied.

"He set me free and told me to find the chip then come and get Bella. If you guys know anything then tell me," I begged them.

"No one knows where that chip is. They are still running the organization because the evidence your grandfather handed the officials weren't enough to put those Mafia leaders behind the bars. When he was planning to hand the chip, he was murdered," Frank replied.

I couldn't believe it.

"It means he was the only who knew where the chip was," I said.

"Or maybe you know it but you don't remember it," my father said.

I punched the wall in anger and the skin of my hand split open, bleeding gradually.

"Gabriel!" Everyone yelled in the room.

Nick yelled something and the called the nurse. My dad walked to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Gabriel, open your eyes and look at me!" He ordered me.

I took a deep breath and looked at him.

"We are going to find her. It doesn't matter if we have the chip or not. I know some people and Frank knows they officials. You have to trust us," dad said.

I stared into his eyes and believed him. He was willing to help me and he knew it was crucial for me to find her.

"I trust you dad," I told him.

Nick walked over me and forced me to sit in the bed while he did the dressing of my wound.
____________________________________

Hello, lovelies!

I just got a New phone gift, it's from my mother...👌👌👌

Wait for the next update because many revelations are going to be made in next chapter...

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Published: 7-Jan-2016

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