Merciful Vows: A Bittersweet Second Chance Romantic Suspense (The Giannotti World Book 1)

by Vanessa Luisa

He chuckles, dramatically stumbling back with raised hands. “Damn, girl. Look at that shove. Ya like it rough, huh? Giulio better watch out.”

  The laughs only get louder.

  When we calm, he points towards the box. “So, where’s it heading?”

  “The Tate’s. It is one of the final pieces needed before the design team takes over.”

  “Ah, yes. Look, I’ve been an absolute dick to you. I know that now. It was never my intention and I’m glad we’re in a good space now.”

  Everything has simmered down dramatically between us since our last heart to heart chat. Ever since the apology, Bryce has been incredible. I appreciate his company, especially in a time where there is carnage everywhere I look.

  “We just started off on the wrong path, we’re working on it now.”

  “We are.” A prominent smile curls his lips, just like mine. “Aye, let me know if you do end up needing help moving any items.”

  “Will do!”

  “How’s your sister? I heard through Marcus that…well…you know.”

  “She was a bit shaken up but she’s okay now.” Although the memory will last a while, Helena is back to her bubbly old self. “Thanks for asking. I’m sorry about how you two had to meet. Helena was just worried about me that night and her motherly instincts kicked in.”

  “It’s alright. You sure both had them young.”

  A heavy weight stabs the back of my throat. “We both found love young.”

  “Yeah…ya see, I don’t do love. It’s not in my veins.” Bryce flushes with a distant gaze. It surprises me that only moments ago we were so joyous and now his whole demeanor has changed. He seems…I cannot grasp the right word for his emotion.

  “Bryce? You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m alright. I gotta go now. Have a good one.”

  He disappears before I can say anything else.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever take this off.” Giulio shakes his wrist, subsequently moving the beaded bracelet Slonne gifted him. “Pink seems to suit me, don’t you think?”

  “Everything suits you, baby.”

  “Oh, really now?” He smirks, sliding into bed beside me. Desire pools in his mesmerizing eyes and he silences my laugher with a hot, steamy kiss. “You suit me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  It’s Thursday now and all of the days’ stress of his attacker still being at large eases with the sensual kisses to my neck. They pull me under to a place where only our passion exists. A place I have been craving for months, and now that we’re here, I never want to escape it.

  Giulio’s comforting. His smells like home. His voice is serenity. I trust him with my entire life. Even after all the uncertainty, Giulio still makes me feel like myself again.

  Safe.

  “Neither would I. I love you”

  “I fucking love you too, Lencia.”

  “Do you save all your profanities for the bedroom, sir?”

  Giulio pulls back with a large grin and the throbbing between my thighs only intensifies at the way he pins his body to mine. “No. I save them for the shower too.”

  “Hmm, and why would that be?”

  “For this exact reason.” One minute we’re on the bed, the next he has me pinned against the charcoal shower tiles with my legs around his hips. Our kiss is a rapid cure to everything we’ve been fighting for. Steam fuels the air and I can’t help but tease him when we pull away.

  My hands spread across his wet torso. The bruises have almost completely healed from the incident almost two weeks ago. “Is that all you’ve got, Mr. Giannotti?”

  His voice grips my heart like a vice. “Not in the slightest.”

  Shower sex has always been my favorite. Perhaps because we’re locked away in pure bliss with nothing but warm water cascading down our naked bodies and moans filling the air.

  Giulio lowers me and I spin around to press my hands against the glass.

  “Baby…” Giulio rubs my heat from behind, nibbling on my shoulder as I wriggle in pleasure. “This still isn’t all I’ve got.” He replaces the sweet sensation with his cock. “I could make love to you for an entire lifetime. Nothing but making love. I adore all the other aspects of our marriage, but right now…right now, I’m going to fuck you so deep, baby.” The first thrust is ruthless and shoves me closer to the wall. Our moans don’t subside. My breasts press against the shower glass and his hands cover mine against the glass. I smile as he fucks me hard while making love to my neck with his soft kisses. “Just like this, Lencia. Just like this.”

  It’s just after eleven when we make it out of the shower. An hour passes with nothing but countless wild orgasms followed by a legit shower that only leads to more pleasure.

  Giulio and I check on the twins before deciding to end our night with some coffee. He’s a true Italian after all, and he has somehow recruited me into his ‘caffeine before bed does nothing to me’ club. I like that club.

  “So, I’ve been thinking about what you said the other night…about finding a new house to live together and beginning a new story there.”

  That slow, sexy smile takes over. The one I love and adore. He sets his coffee mug aside and takes his hands in mine. “Yes, baby?”

  I mirror his joy. This is something I’ve been thinking about and I truly do want it with Giulio.

  He’s all I want.

  “I would love to find a new home and become a family again.”

  “Oh my god! Are you serious?”

  “Yes! I want to make this work with us and our family.”

  Giulio picks me up and I squeal as he twirls us around the kitchen. “You don’t know how happy that makes me.” He sets me down with a kiss. “Stay right there. Let me get my laptop and I’ll show you the house I was thinking of.”

  Grinning, I cross my legs in my silk pajamas. “I’ve got nowhere to run off to, baby.”

  “Good.” Giulio winks before heading down the hall.

  I’m giddy as I take a sip of my coffee.

  This is it.

  This is exactly where I want to be.

  This is a miracle.

  Late night cravings have me opening the pantry to raid it with my coffee mug in hand. There’s nothing I want and so I settle for an apple in the fruit bowl. Peeling it, I hear Giulio’s footsteps approach from behind and can’t help but smile.

  I have my back to him, but just from the presence alone I can imagine his heart exploding with the same thought as me—we’re in this together. I love him dearly and finding a new house with him is the best beautiful fresh start.

  “Remember when we went to that apple picking farm with Oscar and Slonne last year?” I shake my head, laughing at the memory as I continue. “Remember what Oscar said? God, it’s been in my head ever since! We were laughing for days about it! I swear he gets his wildness from you…it’s a good thing though, because I’m crazy about you, baby.”

  My brows furrow at the silence as I set down the peel in the sink. “Giulio?”

  His firm body presses up behind me and bewilderment fades into a smile. That’s better. Shutting my eyes in pure bliss, I let the back of my head fall to his warm chest. “I love you, Giulio.”

  But his cologne…I don’t smell it like I did earlier tonight.

  This…This isn’t Giulio.

  Oh my God.

  A static tension crosses my frozen body as I flutter my eyes open to my gravest fear.

  No. No. No.

  My mug smashes to the ground in tiny little pieces, accompanying the spilled coffee. Then…I feel it. A cool metal viciously presses against my spinal cord.

  A gun.

  It’s a gun!

  Panic festers inside me; it never wavers, not even when I grip the edge of the sink to stabilize myself.

  “Quiet,” a voice grits, the pressure of the firearm deepening, “or it all ends right here.”

  No.

  My. Good. Lord.

  What the hell is happening?

  Valencia

  I want
to scream out or rush to the end of the house, but I’m numb and my throat is closed.

  “Turn around, real slow. Hands up where I can see them.”

  I have to be my own savior. It becomes a chant in my mind as I spin around with my trembling hands raised in surrender. The man wears all black. The solid color covers every inch of his skin and the balaclava only makes this a whole lot worse.

  Delusion sinks my heart; I can’t believe I thought it was Giulio. Can’t believe it. How and when did the intruder enter? While Giulio and I were in the shower…? It must have been.

  Why can’t I scream?

  It doesn’t come out no matter how hard I try.

  Move, Valencia! Move!

  The intruder stares down at me, and even though I can’t see his eyes through the mesh piece covering them, I can just imagine how lethal they are. It’s too late. The barrel of a gun raises to my head as he steps back to create distance. All the while I’m shaking, unresponsive to the terror he is inflicting.

  “ON YOUR KNEES! NOW!”

  My throat opens to a weak whisper. “Please, don’t do this.”

  “Do you need me to do this first to Addilyn? Huh? Or wait…did I already do it?” A cold mocking laugh escapes him.

  Addilyn.

  He has Addilyn!

  Gun still aimed at my head, I make a small effort to stumble away around the counter, but it’s no use and only agitates him further as he catches up. I’m sure my heavy breaths are obvious to him. He’s playing mind games. Testing me.

  Where is Giulio? He should be back by now.

  “Oh my god!”

  “LAST WARNING!” the man shouts, cocking his gun. He slams me against him when I don’t comply. The gun slides to the side of my head, digging deep into my skull. “I SAID ON YOUR KNEES!”

  Something erupts within me.

  My desperation for Addilyn.

  My yearning for Giulio.

  My continuous hope.

  My anti-depressants…Maybe it is the fact that this time, I have no idea what my fate is. Adrenalin pumps through my veins and I decide I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I need to make a sacrifice. The moment has come. I’m so sick of being targeted. I’m sick of the constant fear and heartache. I’m sick of being dragged under.

  No. Not anymore.

  “Shoot me,” I snarl. My body shakes yet I keep my head high. Fierce. “You are a soulless human, this I already know. So, if this is what you intend to do, do it. Kill me. Then you will stop this game, huh? Will you? WILL YOU STOP THEN? I SAID SHOOT M—”

  “SHUT UP!” the man roars and pins me to the floor where my kicks and clenched fists are met with an iron body.

  If I scream now, the kids will hear.

  I don’t want them to see this.

  I need to call the police.

  The man presses my face to the floorboards with one hand. The barrel of the gun slams to the back of my head with the other. Freeing myself proves no help and the tears begin to fall.

  I realize my biggest mistake…

  My heartbeat is rapid and then it happens.

  Two loud bangs.

  No.

  Warm liquid sprays all over me.

  No.

  The loud thud beside me has me moving my head and a displeasing smell in the air takes over. The man is no longer on top of me. He’s fallen to the side and his head has hit the floorboard. His gun is scattered at his feet and that’s when I realize the blood sprayed on me isn’t mine. It’s his. He’s been shot.

  It’s not me…

  I lift my gaze, desperately wiping away the blood on my hands, his blood, and then I see it.

  No!

  Giulio stands a couple feet away, a silver gun still pointed at the intruder.

  No.

  Waves of disbelief ripple through me as I stagger to my feet. What is going on? I’m in utter shock…I can’t even blink. My eyes widen at Giulio’s merciless, screwed up face. His darkened eyes say it all.

  Giulio has killed him.

  No!

  I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to say.

  Giulio killed…

  He lowers the gun and slips it into the waistband of his pajama bottoms. He doesn’t say a word; he only looks at me with his lips parted.

  “You…you killed him! Oh my god. Oh my god!” My trembling finger points to the man between us. “What di-did you just do? Why did you do that?”

  “Valencia…”

  “Oh my god, Giulio! We need to call the police!”

  “Lencia…” His attempt to calm me triggers me further. Air laced with the smell of metallic blood churns my stomach. When my gaze averts to Giulio’s gun, a terrifying conclusion consumes me. He has his own gun. My chest pinches. No. No, it can’t be.

  “Why do you have a gun?” I stop him when he attempts to step forward. “No. Please stay there.”

  Giulio raises his hands in surrender and sighs sharply. I don’t know who this man is anymore. It’s ludicrous to think that not too long ago we were devouring each other and now…this.

  “Valencia.” His tone is softer than I imagine but it does not change a thing. Not a darn thing. He killed a man. Killed him! “You know I would never put my children in danger.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question. Why do you have a gun in the house with the twins?”

  His lack of response leads me to clutch my throat. “Oh my god. You are scaring me, Giulio.”

  Just then, the intruder groans, and I jolt back.

  He’s alive.

  We can call 911. We can extract information from him and enforce real justice. He knows about Addilyn. He’s our only hope. The police can make him lead us to Addilyn. My sweet Addilyn.

  “Soon…” The intruder’s strained voice is weak. Dark blood seeps through his face covering when he coughs. “Soon it will happen and…without me…you…cannot stop it.”

  Stop what?

  Soon what happens? Until Addilyn comes back or until they…

  Giulio slaughters my every last faith when he pulls out his gun and without warning fires three rounds into the man’s head.

  No. No. No.

  Holy…

  Oh my god!

  I stumble to the floor at the side of the counter. Blood. Blood is all I see and smell. I hate it. Hate it.

  The man is sure to be dead now.

  “What di-did you just do?” I’m so distressed, my own voice deceives me. “Oh my…Giulio, please call the police! Please! We need to call them right now!”

  “No. No, this has to stay between us.”

  “Ar-are you crazy?”

  Giulio’s gaze remains distant. I don’t want to believe it. Giulio being capable of something like this is beyond imaginable. He just killed a man who may have been our only chance of finding our youngest daughter.

  He’s killed the hope I’m searching for, the same one he claims to be looking for too.

  “Please. If you don’t call them, I will.”

  “No, we cannot. This has to stay between us.”

  “No. The kids…what if they heard it all?”

  “It has a silencer and I locked their doors, but if they did, we can say it was a car backfiring.”

  “That was supposed to be quieter?” I shriek, shaking my head as the tears begin to fall. I wipe them away and summon the strength to stand back up, away from the lifeless man. “No. You’re acting all secretive. I am going to call the police and—”

  “We cannot go to the police with this. This has to stay between us, please. I’ll call somebody to clean up this mess and discard the body. It will be as if nothing ever happened.”

  “As if nothing happened? What the hell you are talking about?!”

  “Please, Valencia…” he pleads with a staggered breath. “We cannot go to the police.”

  “Are you hearing yourself right now?”

  “I…”

  “Why are you talking like this? Why? Why are—”

  “BECAUSE HE ISN’T THE
FIRST PERSON I HAVE KILLED!”

  No.

  I take a step back and hit the edge of the barstool. No. The air in my lungs is barely enough to push out a full breath. No. It can’t be true. What he just told me cannot be true.

  “He…he isn’t the…” Swallowing thickly, his face falls. “The first person I have…”

  Where is the man I fell in love with?

  “Valencia?”

  Where is the man I love?

  “Lencia…”

  Where’s my love?

  “I’ve killed somebody else,” Giulio repeats for the second time. “Please, say something.”

  This time it feels real. “When?”

  “Eleven years ago.”

  “Who?”

  Giulio stumbles on the question. His head is down, as if he’s ashamed and unable to find his voice. It’s ironic, that the simplest question is also the most complex. When he steps closer to me this time, I have no strength to look away or stop him. I only stare deep, sickened and afraid.

  “Who?”

  Silence.

  “Who did you kill?”

  A pause…and then…

  “My father’s death wasn’t a suicide. I killed him. I shot him dead.”

  Tears well in Giulio’s eyes and it hurts me, just as much as it hurts him. Because once we were so close. So united. I thought this could be forever. I thought we trusted one another. I thought we did not hide anything from each other.

  Oh my god.

  It feels as though he’s ripped my heart out and split it in two, because right here standing in front of him, I am heartbroken. I am lost. And I am being strangled by my own breath.

  He lied.

  He hid this.

  I voice the first logical thought that crosses my mind. “I need to take Oscar and Slonne.”

  Giulio is desperate to defuse the fire, rushing after me as I sprint away from him and plead for the keys to their rooms. “Valencia, I know how it looks. But I never…it wasn’t premeditated! If that’s what you’re thinking, it’s wrong. I did not plan to kill him. My father ruined everything for me. When my mother died and it was revealed that my father cheated on her during her last months, it was too fucking much for me. The night I went to my father’s for Thanksgiving—”

  “Please, stop,” I beg him in the middle of tears. “I need the keys. Where are the keys?”