Page 76 of Angelo

Elyse blinked in surprise. "Yes… this service is for Robbie Romero."

"I am an old friend of your father," the woman said with a small, tight smile. "I came to pay my final respects. If that is alright with you?"

Elyse's eyes widened even more. "You knew my father?"

"Yes."

"If you don't mind me asking," Elyse mumbled, "what's your name?”

"My name is... Isabella," the woman answered after some hesitation.

“How did you and my father meet?” she asked with a flight frown. “I don't know if he has mentioned you to me before."

"I met your father when I came to study in New York. We dated for a while back then. That was a lifetime ago, though."

Green eyes flickered. “I’m gladPapáhad a friend like you while he was alive.”

Isabella's gaze drifted toward Robbie's casket. Her voice quivered slightly as she spoke, "From the bottom of my heart, I wish I could have reunited with Robert sooner. Under happier circumstances."

"All the same," Elyse supplied with a lump in her throat, "thank you for coming today."

The woman coughed and removed her sunglasses. Her eyes were green. The exact same shade as Elyse's eyes. Elyse inspected the woman carefully. There wassomething oddly familiar about the woman's face. Something in the shape of her eyes. The curve of her cheeks. Elyse felt as though she'd seen Isabella somewhere before, but—where?

"I have always wanted to meet you," Isabella mumbled out of the blue. If at all possible, the woman's voice had grown even thicker with emotion.

Concern shot through Elyse. "My father told you about me?"

Coughing again, Isabella replied, "Robert might have mentioned you to me. Once or twice."

Elyse frowned. Other than his poker buddies,Papárarely socialized with anyone else, and he'd certainly never mentioned anyone named Isabella to her. "I didn't realize that you two were so close."

"We were once very good friends."

Their eyes met. Green on green. Suddenly, Elyse realized why Isabella looked so familiar to her. Isabella looked like her grandfather. Isabella also looked like—her.

Her heart plummeted with a sickening realization. But, but, but—Gianna Graviano was supposed to be dead!What the fuck was going on here?

Elyse demanded, "Who are you, really?"

Isabella smiled faintly. “Who doyouthink I am?”

"Have you ever gone by another name, Isabella?"

The woman's answer was cryptic as fuck. "That girl died years ago. Everyone has forgotten her by now."

Astonishment seized Elyse. Was this as close to a confession as she was going to get out of the woman? Elyse wanted the full story, though. She deserved to know. The next slew of questions bubbled out of her, uncontrollably, before she could recall them, "Tell me the truth about the girl that died. Was she named… Gianna Graviano?"

"I know Gianna well.”

Elyse's heart began to pound wildly in her chest. "I-I don’t know what to think right now. But are you my—"

Mother?

Elyse couldn't bring herself to say the word. It felt too explosive for her to bear at the moment.

"I do not have the right to call myself your anything," Isabella interjected smoothly, "but I came here today to say goodbye to Robert and to let you know that I live in London now."

Isabella reached inside her purse and pulled out a small business card. She handed it to Elyse. A phone number and address were printed on the card.

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