by Hargrove, A.
Antonio came closer to the bed. “Piper, I am so thankful you're safe.”
He lightly touched my forehead in a kiss.
“Thank you and thank you for coming. You've been a huge help.”
Antonio brought some clothes for me to wear home. He handed a bag to Alessandro and afterward, he and Gabriele left the room so I could get dressed.
Alessandro helped me untie the gown I wore since the ties were in the back, and when I took it off, he hissed. A slew of Italian words spilled out of his mouth. His hands balled into fists and I shrunk away from him. Anger frightened me in any form. He still held the bag with my clothing so I sat there naked and exposed. I used the sheet to cover myself and waited.
When he turned and saw me, it must've have been apparent how he'd frightened me. He dropped the bag and was at my side. Another string of Italian words gushed from his mouth. Then he switched to English.
“I'm so sorry. When I saw what that bastard did to you, I...I didn't mean to scare you. Can I hold you?”
I nodded, only because I was unable to speak. My heart pounded with fear and as soon as his arm went around me, he felt it. He backed away and pressed his hand to my chest. “I did that to you?”
I only stared at him, breathing hard.
Then he really cursed. “I want to kill him, Piper, for what he did to you.”
“Don't say that. Please.” My good hand was clasped around my cast and tears dripped on it like a broken faucet.
“You don't understand how it makes me feel to see you like this.”
Then I lost it. “You don't understand, Alessandro. You don't understand what it was like to think I was going to die. You don't understand how it felt to be kept in the dark. You don't understand how terror ruled my life. Don't talk to me about that. I'll never be the same person I was because of him, but your violence won't change a thing. It only frightens me more.”
He was kneeling by me in an instant. “I'm sorry. So very sorry. I wasn't thinking in those terms. And how can something like this not change you?”
“The question I've been asking myself is will you still want to be around me when I emerge from this?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I'll be different. I’m already different. I may not ever be that fun-loving person you became friends with again.”
He placed a hand on top of mine. “Why don't we let time heal you and find out? You are only a few days out. And didn't you say your sister was a psychologist? She may be able to help you through this while we're in Italy.”
“And after?” That was what scared me the most. I was sure to have nightmares about what he did to me. It already occupied my mind most of the time. When I closed my eyes, he was there, with that knife, doing all sorts of terrible things to me.
“We'll worry about that when the time comes.”
He opened the bag and pulled out the clothes. There were yoga pants and a soft long-sleeved shirt for me. On top of that, there was a thick cardigan. Then he'd brought a warm coat.
“Where did this coat come from?”
“I told Papa to buy you one. Emma said yours was ruined and you'd need another.”
“I'll have to repay him. This is very nice.” It was...much nicer than the one I had bought. “I'm so glad he didn't bring me jeans. I don't think I could stand them.”
“I told him as much.”
“Thank you.”
The papers were signed off on by everyone, and soon we were on the way back to Cambridge. Gabriele and I sat in the back seat together and he held my hand all the way home. I took a nap and when I woke up, his favorite stuffed animal was in my lap. I smiled.
“What's Aldo doing here?” I asked.
“He wants to protect you.”
“He does?” Aldo was a brown fuzzy bear.
“Yeah. He doesn't like mean people. He said he will eat anyone who hurts you.”
“That’s nice of him. I'm just glad he wasn't hungry and didn't eat me.”
Gabriele giggled. “He won't eat people he likes. Only bad people.”
“In that case, Aldo can stay.”
I was never so happy to get home. Gabriele held my hand and helped me to my room. “Do you want some candy? I have some left from the last time Papa took me to the candy store. I have something else for you.” He ran out and back in with a big picture. It was of me and the bad man and Gabriele coming to my rescue with Aldo and a sword.
“This is wonderful and very noble of you. I'll hang it on the wall. Thank you.”
Alessandro walked into the room and shooed Gabriele out, as he pouted.
“You didn't have to do that. He's precious and I adore him.”
“As he does you, but if he stayed, you'd never get any rest, which is what your doctors have ordered.” Alessandro pulled back the bed covers and I noticed how the sheets were fresh. That was very thoughtful of him. “Get in. We'll take care of you and baby you, but right now, you need to sleep.”
“I know, but I'm afraid.”
“Why?”
“I dream of those days and it's terrifying. I don't want to see his face.”
“Do you want to sleep in my room? Would that help?”
But then I remembered something. “With me being here, where will Antonio sleep?”
“I was going to give him my room and I'd take the couch.”
“No. It's settled. I'll sleep with you and he can sleep here.”
Alessandro liked that idea best. He pulled the covers back up on the bed and walked me to his room. “I was hoping you'd say that.”
He tucked me in and went over to the huge windows to pull the heavy drapes closed.
“Please leave them open. I don't like the dark right now.”
“I understand. I'll be right back with water and some other things for you.”
I positioned the pillows just right but wanted to read for a bit. Only I no longer had a phone, dammit, and that's how I did all my reading. I let out a curse just as the door opened and Alessandro entered, carrying a tray.
“What's wrong?” he asked, setting the tray down on the bed.
Letting out a frustrated breath, I answered, “He really screwed me over. I can't even finish reading my book because I don't have a phone anymore.” I would've stuck my lower lip out, but they were both already poked out from being swollen. He'd even spoiled my own pity party.
“If you'd take a peek at the tray I just set down next to you, you'll find all kinds of things there.”
My gaze went from him to said tray, and there sat a brand new phone, still in the box. “Oh!” I reached for him to hug because I was overwhelmed with emotion. “Thank you so much. I...that is...” Then I sobbed into his chest.
He ran a hand over my hair, surely it was a rat's nest, but at that moment, all I cared about was how kind he'd been. My throat was clogged with so much tenderness that words couldn't get through. I fisted his shirt in my good hand and let the tears flow.
Eventually, I told him, “I didn't think I'd ever see you again. Thank you, for this, for everything, but mostly for caring enough to come for me.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Alessandro
I had known her life was at risk, but when those words actually came out of her mouth, and the abject grief that accompanied them, I understood what true love was. And I was in deep...much deeper than I wanted.
There was no backing away from her now. If I did, it would ruin us both. But was she ready for this? Or was I? She had been through so much, the last thing she needed was to go through a heartbreak. Not that I wanted it either, but I had a better chance of coming out of it intact than she did.
“What? What are you thinking with that frown?”
She'd caught me again. I wasn't even aware she'd stopped crying.
“Nothing other than I don't ever want you away from me again.”
“That's a little ridiculous. How will I go to class?”
“With me.”
“They'll f
ind out about us.”
“I don't care.”
“Alessandro, what about your job?”
I slashed my hand through the air. “I don't need this.”
“But you said—”
“I know what I said, but that was before us.”
“Before us?”
I cupped her cheek and told her what was in my heart. “Don't say anything until I'm done. Before you, I was hollow inside. But ever since, you're a constant. I can't get you out of here.” I stabbed a finger at my temple. “It's not got anything to do with sex. It's about this.” I thumped my fist against my chest. “The flight over here from Denver. That was exciting. It was something I'd never done. When I saw you sitting in class it changed the dynamics of that night. The job was important for me then and I'll show you why when we get to my home. But when we got to know each other, when I saw that Gabriele loved you, and you returned that love, it was genuine. There wasn't an air of falseness about you. It brewed inside me for a while. I tamped it down, ignored it. Or I told myself that anyway. It was useless because you were a seed that had been planted in my heart. And each time I saw you, you added sunshine and water to the seed and it grew. I am helpless around you. Helplessly in love. I won't say hopeless because I have great hopes for us. But I know now is the worst time to spring this on you, given what you've been through. I can't hide from it or it from you anymore, Piper. When you were missing, so was a part of me. I don't want to go through life without that part.”
Her face was so distorted from the swelling, it was difficult to tell if she was smiling or about to cry.
“Piper, you don't have to say anything right now. I only wanted you to understand what’s in my heart. Another relationship wasn't in the picture. The only thing I wanted was Gabriele's happiness. My father was on me about it all the time. The past sunk its talons into me and all I saw were the worst memories. But then you blew into my life like a storm, but a good spring storm—the kind that makes the flowers come to life and the grass turn green again. I found I wanted to stop looking at the past and start looking toward the future, a future that included you. I can't promise it will always be easy, but I can promise I'll be there every step of the way, doing everything I can to support and encourage you, and whatever it takes to make you happy.”
“I want to hug and kiss you,” she said against my shirt. “But I can't.”
“I know. We'll have plenty of time for that later. I don't want you to cry anymore. Your tears break me, Piper.”
She sniffed a few times and calmed down. I offered her some tissues and water, then asked if she was interested in opening her phone. “Emma helped with this. She used her authority with the phone store and explained what happened, which allowed me to use your former number to access your contacts. But Emma suggested they give you a new number for security purposes. I hope you don't mind.”
“No, this is perfect.” Her watery smile was heartbreaking.
“Piper, I'm so sorry you had to go through this and I can't say it enough.”
“I know and thank you for being so thoughtful.”
“This is the newer model but you shouldn't have any problems with it. Oh, and they disabled your old phone.”
“That's good. I'm not even sure what happened to it.”
Our hands touched when I passed the device to her. She glanced up and said, “I want to do so much with you right now.”
“So do I.” Then we both sort of chuckled.
“God, I must look a mess. My hair...”
“Is beautiful. You're always beautiful to me. Even now.” That was the wrong thing to say because it brought her to tears again, which was not my intent. “Here.” I took the phone out of her hand, and then pulled her onto my lap. She winced, but dammit, I figured this was more important. Her arm immediately went around my neck and she snuggled into the curve of my body. “How's this?”
“Exactly what I need.”
“Good. Then you stay here for as long as you want.”
“Alessandro, can you help me take a bath today?”
“You know I can. I only have one thing to do. I postponed two oral exams and I need to get those done sometime this afternoon. I was waiting for you to fall asleep before I went.”
“What time do you need to go?”
“Not until three.”
“Then when you get back.”
We sat together for a time, and she drifted off. I settled her on the bed and left. Papa was going to check on her often in my absence, and Gabriele had instructions not to disturb her while she slept.
The exams took a bit longer than I'd planned, but it was fine since I'd pushed the date and time back twice. The nice thing about orals were the evaluations were immediate. Either they knew it or they didn't. And there were no written papers to read through. Both students passed and I rushed to get home.
Papa opened the door with a grim face.
“What?” I knew something had gone wrong.
“She woke up screaming. She was having a nightmare and it upset Gabriele so much, he won't leave her now.”
My feet chewed up the steps, taking them three at a time. When I burst through the door, I startled both Piper and my son. He was sitting on the bed with her and they were playing cards, laughing. I was going to kill my father.
“What's wrong, Papa?”
“Nothing. I missed the two of you. Come give me a hug,” I said, playing it off.
He hopped up and into my open arms. “Me and Piper are fishing.”
“Piper and I.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. It looks like you're playing cards to me.”
“We are!” He patted both of my cheeks with his tiny hands. “The game is called fishing.”
“It's Go Fish, squirt,” Piper said.
“Go Fish. You ask for cards and then you fish.”
His explanation had me laughing. “Why don't you show me instead?”
We all sat together and I watched them play the simple game. But Gabriele loved it. Piper did too, or she acted like it anyway.
“Do you have any sevens?” Gabriele asked.
“Dang.” She handed over her pair of sevens, then winked at me.
“Look! I win!” He stood and jumped up and down. Piper grimaced so I grabbed the little rascal, reminding him he needed to take care around her.
“Sorry,” he said.
“It's okay because you forgot,” she said.
“When will you not be so purple?” he asked. “I want the old Piper back. The not purple one.”
That got a laugh out of her. At least he brought some comic relief. “So do I, but I don't really know. I hope soon.”
“Okay, piccolino, it's time for you to go downstairs with Nonno.”
“But why?”
“Because Piper needs a bath and I have to help her.”
Two tiny lines appeared between his eyes. “But, Papa, she's old. Why does she need help?”
Piper did her best not to laugh, but it didn't work.
“Why is that funny?” he asked her.
“While it's true that I am old, since I have this cast on and it can't get wet, I can't wash my hair.”
“Oh. So Papa needs to do it.”
“Yes. I can't do it with one hand.”
He jumped off the bed, ran to the door, and said, “See you later, big fat gator,” and was gone.
“Where'd he learn that one?”
“Guilty as charged,” Piper said.
“Papa told me you had a nightmare.”
“That's why you nearly busted down the door.”
“I didn't know you'd recovered. I didn't give him a chance to explain.”
“Sleeping isn't my favorite thing right now.”
“I'll be with you from now on.”
She reached for my hand. “While I'd love nothing more, I have to get over this. You can't always be by my side. There'll come a time when you'll have to be away from me, as in when we start classes again after the hol
idays. And if they find out about us, you may not even have a job.”
“I've told you, that doesn't matter.”
“And what about after I finish? What then?”
“Can we not take this one step at a time? You're overthinking things.”
“Probably, but I'm afraid if I don't, things will turn out bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“Haven't you noticed? I'm completely broken, Alessandro. I don't want to be any worse than I am now.”
She was right. Were we a mistake? Was I doing the wrong thing by trying?
Chapter Thirty-Six
Piper
His eyes told me everything. One thing about Alessandro was he did not do well in hiding his feelings.
“Come. A bath will make you feel better.”
That was his way of telling me I was right. I painfully raised my body out of the bed and followed him into the bathroom. He ran the water and the man actually had bath salts. My brows arched and he said, “They're for sore muscles after a hard workout. It will help with your aches. They contain Epsom salts.”
“Ah, for a minute there, I thought you were a tad girly.”
He chuckled, then came and slipped my top off. “You know better than that.”
Of course I did and when he stared at me, I wanted to hide. “I look awful.”
“All of this will be gone in no time.”
“Did they tell you how many stitches I have?”
“No, but are you sure you can get them wet?”
Glancing down at my abdomen, I answered, “They're covered with a waterproof dressing. I can leave it on until I go back to get the stitches out.”
His fingers lightly touched me, and it took everything I had not to shrink away. I hated this reaction I had, but he was over the clear bandages and I wondered if he knew the slices were Michael's initials. Alessandro didn't ask, nor did I tell.
“Are you ready?”
I nodded and he squatted down to help me with my pants. I put my good hand on his shoulder as he slipped them off. I had no underwear on, so I was soon naked. But with all the bruises, I felt even more exposed than ever.
