CH 10

"You can still stop this. Before she gets here. You can turn around and leave and save her the grief." Juan said in an angry whisper low enough that the other patrons in the Metro Court restaurant couldn't hear.

"Like you give a damn about Sabrina's grief. You're into this up to your neck as well, Sobrino. You just don't want to have to answer for it. Well I do! I've felt guilty about this for over 20 years. This is what I need to do to resolve my own wrong doings. How you handle yours is your business." Sabrina's father replied matching Juan's angry whisper with one of his own.

"So you're going to dismantle her entire world just to make yourself feel better? Wow. Still the same selfish son of a bitch you've always been."

"I would watch your mouth if I were you. I'm the one who took her in when…" Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Sabrina stepping off the elevator and begin to slowly walk towards them by the bar.

"Mija…" He whispered. "Hi. Wow… I… I almost didn't recognize you."

"Why would you. You haven't seen me since I was 7." Sabrina replied with little emotion in her voice.

Her father looked down at the floor and replied "Well, you look beautiful."

"Why are you here?" She asked

"Well…" He began "I'm sorry, who are you?" he asked looking at Patrick confused.

"I'm Patrick. The extremely overprotective boyfriend." He said coldly

"Oh" He replied noting the disgust in Patrick's face "Well it's nice to meet you. I'm Pablo."

"Again" Sabrina said interrupting the introductions "Why are you here?"

"I was hoping we could talk." He replied

"Prima, there is nothing he can say to make up for anything. I think maybe we should just go." Juan interjected, again setting off alarms with Patrick. What the hell was this guy so afraid of?

"Juan, I know you're worried about me. But I'm fine. Talk" Sabrina said sternly to her father.

"Well first of all, I wanted to apologize to you for everything that I did. For the man that I turned into after Maria died. I know apologizing now probably doesn't mean anything to you…."

"Your right, it doesn't" Sabrina interrupted.

Pablo sighed and continued "I know I hurt you in the worst way, and I'm sorry. If I could go back and change it, I would. You deserved so much better than that. You deserved a father who would be able to love you through the hurt and pain of losing your mother. I am sorry I couldn't be that man."

Sabrina looked at him and didn't feel anything. Not understanding and definitely not sympathy. "It was more than that ya know? It wasn't just after Mama died. You were a horrible father for as long as I can remember. You were never there for me physically or emotionally. God, you treated me as if I was a burden on you somehow."

"Have you ever wondered why?" Pablo asked

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I've wondered. I just figured it was because you were a horrible individual." Pablo and Juan exchanged looks and Sabrina finally noticed how fidgety Juan was being. "Ok, what the hell is going on?" She asked.

Pablo took a deep breath "I was never a good father to you, Bree because I am not your father."

With those last 5 words, Sabrina felt the entire room stop. The chatter of the patrons went silent. The oxygen had been sucked out of the room and she was struggling to remain upright. "What did you just say?" she asked knowing full well she had heard him correctly.

Juan, realizing there was no going back retreated to a nearby bar stool and buried his head in his hands.

"It's a long story…" Pablo said

"I have time!" Sabrina yelled not caring who else could hear them "Tell me what the hell you're talking about. Are you telling me my mother cheated on you or something? Because that doesn't make any sense. She loved you." Patrick placed his hand on Sabrina's shoulder in support as her voice began to crack.

"And I loved her. Very much" Pablo replied not able to look Sabrina in the eyes.

"So you were able to forgive her but not love a child that wasn't yours?" She asked. As upset as she was, in the back of her mind, this was all starting to make sense. This would explain why he never so much as pulled her up on his lap when she was a child.

"Yes... I mean no. I… " Pablo was becoming flustered "Your mother didn't cheat on me, Bree."

"You've lost me. If she didn't cheat on you, how am I not your daughter?"

"Because you're adopted" Juan interjected from the bar. Neither Sabrina nor Patrick had even noticed Juan was working on his second Scotch. Trying to drown away the house of cards that were beginning to fall around him.

Sabrina looked at Juan as if he had grown horns on his head. Surely she had misheard him. This could not be happening. But it was. The look on Juan and Pablo's face told her everything she needed to know. Sabrina sighed "Start from the beginning" was all that she could manage to say.

Pablo joined Juan at the bar and sat in the stool next to him "You know how sick Maria was, Bree. That time she was in remission was a blessing. But before that… it was tough. Emotionally and physically. The doctors told her she couldn't have children of her own. That crushed her. Do you have any idea what it's like to want something so badly only to be told that's it's impossible? She became so depressed. So distant…" Pablo's voice trailed off thinking about all the nights he had found Maria crying in one of the spare bedrooms she wanted to turn into a nursery. "She went thru hell. But one day it all changed. You were brought to us and it changed everything. You changed her life."

"How" Sabrina said through tears "How did you find me?"

"We didn't. You were given to us by Maria's sister Lily."

Lily…? That name meant something to Sabrina. She looked at Juan who was avoiding eye contact with her. "Wait. Wasn't your mother's name Lily?" She asked. Juan took another sip of his scotch and simply nodded his head

"Yes" Pablo replied "His mother and your mother are one in the same"

Sabrina shook her head "No. That's impossible. Juan's mother died before I was even born."

"That's what we wanted you to believe. That's actually what Juan believed as well for awhile. Lily was born into… not the best circumstances. Her father was a very dangerous very powerful crime boss in Puerto Rico. Hernando was horrible person. She was estranged from him for awhile but sought out his help from time to time. That was her first mistake. He was a controlling SOB with a trigger temper. Maria was kept away from him by her mother the minute she realized she was pregnant. She and Lily never even knew of each other until they were adults."

"This doesn't make any sense to me." Sabrina said looking back and forth between Juan and Pablo. This did however make sense to Patrick. He couldn't place it yet, but something about the names in this story sounded awfully familiar.

"Lily ended up here in Port Charles at one point" Pablo continued "I don't know all the details of what happened in her time here. All I know is that she married a man her father ended up hating to the point that he tried to kill him. The next thing I know, she's on our doorstep with a baby in her arms begging Maria and I to take care of and protect. Juan is going to have to fill you in on the rest."

Juan looked up from his empty glass with tears in his eyes. "Sabrina… I don't know what to say to you right now."

"You've been lying to me my entire life Juan! Try telling me the truth now!" She demanded.

"My mother gave me up for adoption. I already told you that. I was adopted by the Santiago's as a baby. But she came looking for me one day. Her and…" Juan grew silent.

"I remember you telling me that, Juan, but I also remember you telling me she was killed"

"I thought she was. My grandfather wanted to desperately to get back at her husband for reasons that he didn't even have the facts to that he planted a bomb in his car. But it was my mother who was in the car when it went off. At least that's what I thought for a few months."

Patrick suddenly got very still. He knew this story. Robin had told him about something similar years ago. It couldn't be. Could it….?

"So she didn't die?" Sabrina asked

"No. One of my grandfather's men had practically helped raise Lily from birth. He had promised my grandmother to protect her at all cost. So when he found out what my grandfather was up to, he told her about it. My mother realized that she had not only a father who was dangerous but also a husband who was equal if not worse in his mob dealings. So they decided to stage the entire thing. She realized that she couldn't bring a child into that life. She had to get you as far away as possible. So they made it look as if she had died in that explosion. She fled back to Puerto Rico but realized she still wasn't safe. Neither was her baby. So she decided to give you to her sister. Hernando still had no clue about Maria. They only found out about each other through Maria's mother. After everything Maria had gone through with cancer, the last thing she wanted in her life was a volatile father. But she and Lily became very close over the years. She felt you would be safe with them." Juan gave Pablo a hateful look. "When she left you with them, she made them promise not to give you her last name. They couldn't risk anyone realizing who you were. Or who your father was. So they gave you the same last name as the family who raised me. The man who had helped our mother get away finally told me the truth after you were born. He didn't want me thinking my mother was dead but he also didn't want me to have anything to do with you in fear that someone would figure out. But I couldn't do that. I couldn't have a little sister out there and not have any contact with her. So we made up a story about you being my cousin."

"Oh my god…" Patrick whispered

Sabrina turned to see the look on Patrick's face "What? Do you know something about this?"

Patrick looked at Juan "Your mother was Lily Rivera?" He asked

"Yes." He replied curious as to how Patrick knew the name.

"Can someone please explain to ME what is going on?! If Lily Rivera is my mother, who the hell is my father?" As soon as Sabrina finished her question, she noticed Juan's face go pale. It was as if he had seen a ghost. Sabrina followed his stunned eyes to the ghost in an Armani suit who had just stepped off the elevator.

"Sonny" Juan whispered.