Chapter 170: History Repeats….Unless We Stop It.
Alessandro’s POV
I shut my dad’s hospital room door softly, but the click rang out down the hall. He was sleeping now at last.
I was about to walk back when I saw Rafael. He was in his spot, cool on the wall, a big grin on his face, talking up some girl. Her laugh filled the hallway.
Just like him.
"Raf," I tried, but he didn't catch it—or didn't want to. He was too into showing off his smile and half-listening to her story.
I just shook my head.
"Will he ever change?" I said low to myself.
"Rafael!" I called out harder this time, needing to be heard.
He looked over, not happy to stop his smooth talk, but my stare told him to come here.
He let out a big sigh, like I wrecked his whole day, but he came over still.
So him.
“What is it, Alessandro?” he grumbled.
“You just ruined my chance of getting—”
“—into her pants?”
I cut in flatly, already rolling my eyes.
“So typical of you, Rafael.”
He just smiled a bit and didn’t seem to care.
“Hey…. I’m good-looking, and I like the ladies. Don’t hate me for being me.”
I shook my head, unimpressed. “Where’s Leonardo?”
His face changed a bit; the fun look in his eyes went away somewhat.
“The bar,” he answered, his voice now low.
“He always ends up there when he’s got a lot on his mind. He’s likely trying to forget it all with drinks.”
That’s about right.
That was how Leonardo dealt with it all: drink and quiet. The guy was falling apart, and really, part of me felt like letting him. He picked his path. He faced the results.
Yet, I let out a deep breath, running my hand through my hair.
"He won't move on from her like that," I said softly.
Rafael laughed a bit. "He isn't looking to move on. He wants to wipe her from his mind. It's not the same."
I shot him a sharp look. “And that’s not going to work either.”
Rafael leaned casually against the wall, arms crossed.
“So what? You’re going to go after him?
Give him a lecture? Remind him of all the ways he screwed up.”
“No,” I said simply. “He already knows.”
“Then what?”
“I’ve got more important things to do.”
I didn’t say it, but I was done watching Leonardo fall apart over a woman he hurt, especially when that woman was finally starting to heal.
Especially when she was mine now.
Without waiting for Rafael’s next sarcastic comment, I turned and walked down the hallway, heading straight to the bar to meet him and talk.
I didn’t want our story to end like Father and Uncle Raymond’s, two brothers torn apart by love and power.
Fighting over one woman. One title. And letting it rot everything between them until there was nothing left but bitterness and betrayal.
Leonardo and I… We were closer than either of us ever were with Rafael or Gabriel.
He was my brother in every way that counted, not only by blood but by bond.
And I didn’t want to lose that.
No matter how much he’d hurt her… no matter how much I loved her now.
When I got to the bar and stepped inside, the dim lights and scent of liquor hit me instantly. But it didn’t take long to find him.
There he was.
Sitting alone at the far end of the bar, a half-empty bottle beside him, a glass in his hand.
Shoulders slumped. Eyes staring at nothing.
Drinking.
Again.
Like always, when the weight of everything got too heavy.
And somehow… even though I was angry with him, disappointed, maybe even resentful, I still hated seeing him like that.
Broken.
Lost.
Because despite it all… he was still my brother.
And this wasn’t how our story was supposed to go.
I moved to him with no words. I took each step slow, soft, and sure. At first, Leonardo did not look up.
He just kept his eyes on his glass, as if it held all the answers he did not want to see.
I took the spot next to him and gave a nod to the bartender.
"A whiskey, neat,” I spoke in a calm way.
At last, Leonardo turned to me, a rough smile on his face.
"Well, this is new," he said low. “You join me for a drink, not a fight.”
I gave no smile.
"I’m not here to fight, Leo.”
He lifted his brow, then had a long drink.
"So, what do you want?" He asked, his voice rough, maybe from the drink or from more, I could not say.
I let out a long breath as my drink came.
"I want to talk," was my simple reply.
"Like it or not... we’re still brothers. And I won’t let the past happen again.”
Leonardo didn’t look at me right away. He just stared ahead, eyes dark and tired, then brought his glass to his lips and took another long sip.
“You don’t have to worry about history repeating itself,” he said quietly, almost too calmly.
“You already have the woman. And the title. I’m not planning to fight for either.”
His words sank in, cold and final.
“I messed everything up,” he continued. “There’s no fixing what I did to her.
Especially not now…”
He paused, exhaled, and then muttered it like a confession he’d been holding too long.
“…Not with Lena pregnant.”
I froze.
My glass hit the table with a sharp clink as I set it down too quickly.
“Wait… Did you just say Lena is pregnant?”
Leonardo finally turned to face me. There was no denial, no sarcasm, just quiet defeat in his eyes.
He gave a small, bitter nod and sipped his drink again.
“Yeah,” he said.
“She told me a few days ago.”
And just like that, the silence between us felt heavier than any fight we could’ve had.
“Holy shit,” I muttered, leaning back in my seat.
“That’s messed up.”
Leonardo took another slow sip of his drink, not even flinching.
“Yeah… tell me about it.”
Silence fell between us again. I watched him, shoulders slumped, eyes hollow, already halfway drowning himself in alcohol like it might wash away his guilt.
I rubbed my jaw, trying to find the right words, anything that didn’t feel like rubbing salt into an open wound.
“And you’re sure it’s yours?” I asked carefully.
“I mean… you know Lena. She’ll do anything to get what she wants.”
He didn’t respond, just stared at his glass like it held all the answers.
“And are you even sure she’s really pregnant?” I added.
“You know she has a habit of tricking people into doing things for her.
You could be getting played again, Leo.”
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