by V Domino
He looks up at me and with a scraping voice, says, “I’m fine, boss,” but then his eyes roll back and he passes out.
I’m not letting this crazy fucker die.
Not when his sister just got him back.
There’s a fucking annoying sound coming from my left and I reach over to knock the damn thing off my dresser. Maybe it’ll shut the hell up and stop making this pounding headache worse, but something prevents me from moving my arm very far. The fuck? I try to open my eyes, but the blinding white light sears my damn eyeballs, so I keep them shut and think about what the fuck is happening. Where am I and how did I get here? My whole body hurts and my nose feels like it’s three times its normal size. Did I get into a fight? Did my foster parents or one of the kids beat the shit out of—Gavriel! Luca!
Everything comes rushing to the forefront of my mind. The bar, Carla and Marco, the explosion. I force my eyes open, trying to ignore the blinding pain in my head. I need to find Gavriel and Luca. Is everyone okay?
As soon as I open my eyes, I begin ripping all the tubes off and pull the needle out of my arm, but a light starts to flash on the machine next to me. I’ve been in enough hospital rooms to know exactly where I am, but I can’t just wait for a nurse to make their rounds to my room. I have to know everyone is safe. When I force my pain filled body off the bed my door bursts open and Gavriel comes rushing in with a nurse on his heels.
Oh, my fucking heart! I swear I thought I’d lost him.
“Amore! You shouldn’t be up,” Gavriel says as he wraps me in his arms. His scent comforts me just as much as his arms do. He guides me back to the bed and lays me down, but I won’t let him go. Hell no. I just lived through the worst fear of my life just now, thinking he was lying somewhere dying.
“Gavriel, baby, where’s everyone else? Where’s Luca and Carla? Where were you hurt? Are you okay? Is Marco okay?” I’m bombarding him with my questions, but I can’t help it, some of the most important people were in that room with me. I need to know they’re all safe.
“Shhh, yes, sweetheart, everyone is going to be okay.” He kisses me on my eyes, forehead, and mouth. I get lost for the moment with his mouth on mine. His lips are a balm to my heart and lavender for my soul, calming my panicked mind. It ends too soon, but he continues to hold me.
“Do you remember what happened yesterday?”
What? I’ve been unconscious for a whole day?
Instead of answering, I ask, “How long have I been here?” I watch as the nurse readies the drip for me and dumps a bag filled with slightly yellow liquid. Wait. Is that pee? My fucking pee? Did they—I reach down between my legs and sure enough there is a fucking catheter in my damn cooch!
I’m about to fucking blow my lid when Gavriel stops me and says, “No man touched you, love, my mother put the catheter in. No one else. Do you think I’d allow a man to touch what doesn’t belong to him and let him live to remember?” His voice goes cold with that last question and the nurse looks like she’s ready to quit her job, but for me it erases my anger. I know he’s telling the truth, so I let my anger slip away.
“The explosion happened last night around three in the morning. It’s now midnight, so almost twenty-four hours have gone by. Your head was hit in the back and gave you a concussion and somehow your nose was broken during the fall but no other injuries. The doctors wanted you to sleep so your body would have time to recover. I’ve been with you this entire time, but I’ve been going between rooms to check on everyone.”
I remember the fall now.
I think I may have broken my nose on Gavriel’s shoulder and blacked out, but I don’t tell him that.
Damn, he’s got some strong ass shoulders, though.
“Did you get hurt at all?” I don’t see any injuries, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t suffer any.
Confirming my suspicions, he says, “Not too bad, amore, don’t worry about me. I can take a few bruises.”
The nurse winces behind his back and runs her eyes over his form. Not in a sexual way, though, more like she’s remembering the bruising he has and he’s playing it down for me. I’ll come back to that. I need to know about my brother and Carla.
He knows what I’m about to ask, so before I can even get the words out, he says, “Carla is doing well. She got a serious wound on her thigh and needed blood, but other than that and being fatigued she’s well. As for Luca, I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him. He jumped on my back when the bomb went off. When the dust settled, he was spitting blood and tried to check on you, but he passed out.”
At my panicked breathing he quickly cups my face and continues, “He’s in the next room over and healing fine. The pole didn’t go in very far before hitting and breaking his lowest rib. The break didn’t splinter, so he didn’t pierce his lung, but the reason he was spitting blood is because a shard of glass stabbed through his cheek. He’ll recover just fine and be up and moving in a few weeks. Until then the doctors want him in bed and only standing to use the restroom or shower.” I wrap my arms around his waist and put my forehead to his abs. I have so much more I need to know, but this fucking headache is killing me slowly. It’s like a drill is making a hole from inside my brain. I guess I must be groaning because Gavriel lays me back and asks the nurse to put the needle back in so I can have some pain medicine.
The last thing I hear before the medicines knock me out is Gavriel’s deep voice whispering, “I love you, Anastasia Renzetti.”
Sometime later I wake up in the same hospital bed, but I’m not alone. My sweet man is sitting next to my bed with his hand wrapped around mine. His head is lying by my thigh, but he’s turned away from me. I wonder how long he’s been in here with me. I slowly pull my fingers free and run them through his hair. I love this man.
Now that I’m awake I see that the sun is just starting to rise, so I’m guessing I just slept through the night. Thinking on last night, I remember all that took place, the way Carla and Marco seem to really be into each other. The way he holds her reminds me of how Gavriel is with me.
Tender and possessive.
A quote by James Russell Lowell comes to mind: “The heart forgets its sorrow and ache.”
It truly has in my case. We may be facing threats and enemies, but my heart has never been fuller and because of that I will spill the blood of the people who’ve tried to take my loved ones away from me.
Gavriel starts to wake up. He turns his head over toward me and smiles, putting a kiss to the palm of my hand.
“How are you, bella? Are you feeling any pain still?” He sits back and stretches and I take a moment to lust after him. He’s the embodiment of perfection. A man who should be on the covers of magazines and not sitting in an uncomfortable hospital chair listening to me breathe.
He’s wearing my favorite colored shirt. Maroon.
It’s a color that brings out all his sharp edges. He runs his fingers through his hair, which is mused and out of its normal style. It looks like he's been doing this gesture a lot while I slept. The thought makes my throat burn. He’s been sitting here waiting for me to come back to him. Did I mention that I fucking love this man?
“No more headache, thank God. My nose aches a bit, but I don’t want sleeping medicine anymore, Gavriel. I want to be awake with you and check on Luca and Carla.”
He leans over and kisses my forehead and his scent has me leaning further so that I can wrap my arms around him and pull him down to me. He laughs and holds himself up with his forearms to either side of my head.
“Careful, Sia, I don’t want to hit your nose or make your pains come back.”
Instead of lying on my chest like I wanted, he moves to sit up on the edge of the bed. I throw him a pout that causes him to laugh and kiss it away, and as much as I want to kiss the life out of him, I stop and say,
“No! I have ranky breath!”
He keeps trying to get a kiss, though, jerk. I squeal and start laughing, but suddenly I feel like throwing up. I slap my hands
to my mouth and try to get out of bed, but Gavriel seems to know exactly what I need. He grabs the waste basket from the side of the bed and holds it under my face, but nothing comes out, just a bunch of embarrassingly loud dry heaves. I’m surprised a fucking furball didn’t come up.
Damn medicine.
I hate manufactured drugs and I never take pills even for a headache, if I can help it.
Once I’m done heaving like a cat, I take a drink of the water Gavi gives me and say, “Please, baby, can you get a fucking nurse in here to unplug me so we can go home?” I’m completely over the bleach and ammonia smell. I want to be home preferably getting fucked by my man.
I think the medicines are still making me loopy because Gavriel laughs and says, “That will be happening and soon.”
I’m not even a little bit ashamed.
“But first there’s something else I want to tell you.” Gavriel’s looking at me strangely like I lined the planets to give him fortunes. It’s not much different than how he normally looks at me, but he’s glowing with emotion.
I sit up a bit and get a whiff of myself. God, I need a shower.
“Okay, hit me with it. What’s got you in your feelings, bello mio?”
He pauses a moment, getting his words in order. Just when I’m about to start snapping my fingers impatiently he tilts my world off its axis.
“You’re pregnant, love. We’re going to have a baby.”
Telling Anastasia that we’re having a baby was one of the most emotional things I’ve ever done. On one hand I was the happiest man on the planet. I was going to be a father. I had a good role model in my own parents, but on the other hand, this life is fraught with dangers and envious people, just take a look at what’s happened to Sia all her life. Although, I will make the rivers run red to protect my child.
Sia was not expecting my news, but once she let the words register, her fears came out.
“I don’t know anything about being a mom! What if I mess up? What if something happens to me and my kid has to live the motherless life I lived?” That last bit had my blood pumping. Just thinking of something happening to her that would remove her from us?
Hell no.
“Listen. A life without you simply doesn’t exist and if it did? Well, I’d just burn it to ashes, amore. As for your other fears, I understand them. This is new for me too, love, but we’re not in it alone. There’s a lot of people out there who struggle to be parents on their own and yet, they accomplish it. You and I have a whole family to help us and guide us. You think we’ll be the only ones allowed to raise our children? No way. Not with this family. They’ll be cherished by more than you and me, so don’t let those fears make you believe you can’t become an amazing mother. You will be the mother you didn’t have and you’ll pass on your talents just like your mother did.”
I tell her all this while rubbing her flat stomach, but she throws her arms around my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. I meant every word I said. She may not realize how strong her protective instincts are or how loving she really is. A woman as fierce as my woman will be an extraordinary mother. I have no doubt.
“I love you,” she says after a moment then pulls back and looks down at her stomach. “I think we can do this.”
“We can and we will. Now let’s see about getting you home.”
The day we got home from the hospital Sia wanted to meet her aunt, but I got her to hold off for the day with the promise that I’d have Marcella here no matter what. So now we’re here, sitting in the kitchen with Luca, who is too proud to use the wheelchair the doctors ordered him to use, waiting for Tommy and Peter’s mother to join us. Sia says she isn’t angry with Marcella anymore. She saved their lives and she’s grateful but needs answers as well.
We hear voices coming toward the kitchen and turn to see Marcella come through the door and watch the emotions flash on her face. Nervous, happy, afraid, but also relieved. She’s always been a docile woman, but learning of how she saved Luca and Sia, I know she’s much more than the quiet and often unseen woman she displays.
“Ciao, Marcella. Come and join us. We’re just having some of Ma’s homemade cannoli.”
She doesn’t move right away, but Luca speaks to her.
“Zia? Per favore, come sit with us. We’re not mad at you.”
Marcella breaks down then but keeps her eyes on Sia and Luca as she walks over to us.
“I’m sorry, nipotes. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you both with me but it wasn’t safe here. That night, your mother called me like she did every night. We were chatting and making plans for your second birthday, Anastasia,” she says while reaching to hold Sia’s hands. It seems this is a story she’s had on repeat in her head all these years.
“While we were talking, I heard gunshots through the line and then I heard your father scream for her to run to you and Luca. I heard your mother scream, ‘You worthless schemer!’ but then the phone line disconnected and when I looked out the window, I could see that the power was off in your home, but there were flashes of gunfire.”
She stops and sobs into her hands, but Sia wraps her arms around her and says, “Don’t continue if you can’t, Zia. It’s okay.”
But Marcella shakes her head and takes the napkin Luca hands her.
“No, I must tell you.”
I give her water and we wait while she takes a sip.
Continuing where she left off, she says, “I began screaming for Tommas, your uncle.
‘Get to the children, Cella,’ he yelled to me as he ran to your parents’ aid. I waited until he got into the house and then I ran to the back entrance. I saw no one there, so I broke the window and unlocked the door. Creeping through the house to your rooms, I heard a man’s voice say, ‘You should have chosen wiser, Lily.’ Followed by a gunshot. Your father’s voice came next, broken with tears and rage as he wailed. ‘I’ll see you in hell, schemer. One day your death will be a painful and sluggish thing. One day you’ll lose it all.’ He began laughing, your father. He laughed in the face of death. Your father was known for his manic laugh. Frankie The Manic Romano.” She says that last bit with a fond smile even though it’s a piece of information that would frighten most. Sia and Luca smile even with the tears.
“I didn’t stick around to hear his death. I did what I had to do. I entered the room you shared and saw you, Luca, standing with the knife your father gave you. You rushed at me right away, but as soon as you saw it was me you wrapped your tiny arms around my legs. ‘Zia, cosa sta succedendo?’ you asked, but I shushed you and told you to climb onto my back. I grabbed a blanket and tied it around us both so you wouldn’t fall off then I grabbed Sia, who was sleeping like a rock, and ran. We slipped out the window in your father’s office but not before I saw Adriano.”
“Why didn’t you say anything, Marcella?” I demand, my mind running rampant with the images her story conjured. “Why did you marry him?”
Sia reaches out and lays her hand on my arm to calm me, to keep me from thinking this woman is a traitor as well.
“I married him because he threatened my children. He made me believe all these years that Andino ordered the massacre. I stayed quiet because I’m the one who took Luca and Sia. I saved two who were meant to die. I didn’t know Andino well. I still don’t because Adriano, the bastard, beat me anytime I stepped out of line. How, Gavriel, was I to know who I could turn to? Even my sons love your father. I’ve been alone with this. I suffered Adriano to make sure my children were safe. He threatened to sell off my daughter’s purity if I didn’t tell him where my sister’s children were.” She says this to me with fire and I believe her. She thought my father ordered this and suffered years of abuse.
“Adriano is in a cell now. Being beaten to the brink of death and then being brought back from it. Frankie spoke the truth; Adriano’s death is steady and agonizing. I’m sorry you’ve been alone all this time.”
She dips her head and smiles then turns and cups both Luca’s and Sia’s faces and says, “I save
d two pieces of my sister and brother-in-law. The fight was worth it. I know the truth now. I know Andino loved Frankie. I’m so happy to see my nipotes.” She pulls them both in for a hug.
Luca winces as they pull back and Marcella begins smothering him like the mother hen she is while Sia pulls me to the side.
“I feel like I can finally move on. I can let go of ghosts and celebrate the life we have. Thank you, my love, for getting us the answers we needed.”
When we reach the hall, I pull her off her feet and kiss her.
“Stop thanking me for things like this, Sia. Seeing you happy is all the gratification I need, okay? I love you and I will give you the world. All you have to do is ask, yeah?”
I’ll give my woman anything she asks for.
“Suck in your baby bump, Sia, geez!” Carla says while trying to button up the back of my dress.
Laughing, I say, “Okay, yeah, Carla. I’ll get right on that.”
“Behave, ragazze. Besides, my little grandbabies aren’t in the way, it’s the food baby Anastasia has been trying to grow alongside Rocco and Roman.” My soon-to-be mother-in-law says jokingly while trying to help Carla do up the row of pearl buttons of my wedding dress.
That’s right, I’m making an honest man out of Gavriel. When we found out we were having twins we were ecstatic. We tossed around some names and settled on Gavriel’s grandfather’s name and a play on my maiden name when we found out the genders. Andino and Martina threw us a gender reveal party here in the mansion and as the blue and pink confetti fell around us, Gavriel got on one knee and said,
