Gael's Naughty Angel: A Mafia Prince Romance

'Call me a hopeless romantic, but I know it when I see it,' Angela thought as she stared at Malia peeking glances at Giovanni and his date, Katya, from across the room. And while Angela sipped on her champagne, she wished she had brought her small notebook with her to take notes for her book—for research purposes, of course. But her phone would have to do for now.

When Malia asked about Angela's engagement with Gael half an hour ago outside the ladies' room, Angela saw sparks in her head, and she saw the woman in a more interesting light. They only exchanged a few sentences with each other before Angela had to go inside the restroom to relieve herself, and Malia went back inside the hall.

Glancing to her left, Angela noticed the silence between Gabriella and Mariano. Mika had already left with Gael's father and stepmother because she couldn't stay out so late, leaving the Morelli couple behind. It seemed as if Mika was the one who kept their little group alive because now, there were crickets in the air amidst the enjoyable live music on stage.

Angela, the curious cat that she was, finally gave in and leaned towards Gabriella and kept her voice low when she asked, "Hey Gab… What happened between Giovanni and Malia?"

Gabriella's brows slightly raised, and then she glanced at Mariano who gave them both an unreadable look. A few beats passed before Mariano somewhat took the hint and left their table while muttering, "I'll just get some air."

Once they were left alone, Gabriella faced Angela. "You know that Lia is a Morelli, right? What else do you know?"

"Well, other than that fact, nothing much really. Even Gael doesn't tell me." All Angela knew at this point was that Lia and Mariano were half-siblings.

Gabriella sighed, stealing a glance at Lia and Giovanni from the opposite sides of the room. "Okay. I'm probably not the best person you should ask about this because that was like…eight years ago. And I was…what fifteen? Sixteen?. Anyway, Lia worked at The Manor. I don't know how she started working there, but when I met her, we instantly clicked. She was pretty cool. Gio even asks her to watch over me sometimes when my parents weren't around, and he had to be away—because ugh… You know how overprotective they are." She rolled her eyes.

"Wait, she worked at The Manor?" Angela looked confused. "How did that happen? She's a Morelli…"

Gabriella twisted her lips as she took a long sip of her wine. "Yeah… That's… That was pretty fucked up. Apparently, Lia was sent by her father to…spy on us. She was right under our noses for months, and no one knew she was Marino's daughter."

Angela gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, her eyes automatically finding Lia again who was now getting in a serious conversation with Perry by the speakers. "Oh, no… And she… Gio fell for her…"

"Yeah… I've never seen my uncle so happy. He was different then. They looked really great together. I even thought he was going to marry her." Gabriella blew out an exhausted exhale. "Everyone knows he deserved stability when his own mother left him for God knows what. Oh, shit—I'm sorry… I didn't…"

Gabriella's eyes went wide when she realized she unknowingly blabbered nasty comments about someone else's mother—especially to Angela. The latter told Gabby about her mother a couple of days ago when they talked about going to the Senator's daughter's birthday party and the possibility of seeing Cynthia and other people from the Bratva.

Angela wasn't offended and she just waved the other off. "Oh, don't worry about it." She was more surprised at another bit of information she had learned about Giovanni. That his mother left him too. No wonder she could somewhat feel a sense of kinship with him—because deep down, they both understood what it felt like to be abandoned. "So what happened?"

Gabriella shook her head to refocus. "Oh, yeah. No one would tell me the whole story, but Jino did say that Lia was the reason the big house was burnt down and that…it was her who…caused grandpa's death. I was quite shocked when I learned about it because back then, I got to know Lia, and she didn't look like she was capable of it."

With her heartbeat racing in her chest, Angela placed her hand over it as if to calm it down. She couldn't believe it. The same Lia whom she saw crying in the bathroom a few days ago, looking so vulnerable, caused all those tragedies? Angela started to feel a little bit of displeasure at the woman in subject. But then she remembered something from earlier, and she quizzically looked at Gabriella. "What about now? Do you still think it was her? You seemed to still be good friends with her even after all that happened."

A small tint of blush colored Gabriella's cheek, and she smiled. "Yeah. I don't know… I guess I just really feel it. I spoke to her a couple of times after Mariano and I got married. I just believe that she never really meant for anyone to be harmed… More like, she didn't have a choice. It might be a crappy excuse, and I still feel horrible about what happened then, but I also believe her." She chuckled, shaking her head, sounding sarcastic the next second. "Me… Someone who married the enemy said so!" She sighed. "Growing up in a family like mine, there's a lot more fucked up things other than sleeping with the enemy."

Angela didn't know what to say after hearing all that. It's a lot more complicated than she thought. There were still holes in Giovanni and Lia's history. And that confused her even more. Was Lia a friend or a foe? The verdict was still out there, so for now, Angela would have to keep a safe distance, not wanting to get caught up in their web.

As she glanced around the ballroom hall looking for Gael, Giovanni passed by their table and headed towards the stage. She followed him to see where he was going until Angela saw Gael who looked visibly pissed while talking to someone on the phone near an empty table. 

Before she knew it, Angela was already on her feet, excusing herself from Gabriella.. Whatever got Gael all riled up, she guessed it was bad.