Chapter 17 – One Week Later #2
Quickly gathering up all three notes, I fold them over one another before getting up to lift the mattress. I hide them among the growing collection of Matteo’s drawings and the single photo of his family. Once the notes are tucked away safely, I slip out of my room.
Anxiety swirls in my stomach, my heartbeats ramming within me, hoping I don’t see my father as I climb down the stairs. I take my time with every step, glancing in every direction. When I’m down there, I don’t find him in the den. He must be out. I breathe the biggest sigh of relief.
The sounds of Robby’s giggles coming from the kitchen fill me with blissfulness. I go there, needing to hug that boy with all my might.
“Aida!” he yelps, running to me as I crouch down, my arms outstretched for him, my heart so full it might explode. If I could adopt him and run away with Matteo and take Ms. Greco with us, I would. But that’s not possible. We’re stuck in a never-ending loop of horror.
With my arms around him, I raise him up, hugging him tightly as I spin us around. “I’m sorry I was gone for a bit. But I’m back now,” I say, but my eyes, they’re on Ms. Greco as she grins from ear to ear. She looks so proud. Of me.
“What are you guys doing in here?” I kiss his little nose.
“Baking cookies!” he tells me excitedly.
“Of course. Why didn’t I suspect that already with this yummy smell?”
“We saved some just for you.” Ms. Greco hands me a warm one. The taste of chocolate chips is like heaven.
“Maybe Matteo would like some,” I tell her.
“I suspect he does.” A knowing smile dances across her mouth as she places a few cookies into a bowl.
“All right, buddy,” I say to Robby. “I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t eat all the cookies.” I narrow a playful gaze as he giggles.
I retrieve the bowl and shuffle toward the stairs.
Suddenly, those nerves in my stomach are back, forcing me into the ground like pounds of brick.
But with a long, tattered breath, I gather the courage to make it to the door.
To open it. To climb down the first step, even as my throat dries, my arms breaking out with a shudder.
“Aida? Please tell me it’s you.” His voice stitches up with an ache as raw as mine. Our torment bound, one and the same.
I continue downward, each step its own journey.
“Come here. Let me see you.” His words are soft, like he always is with me, no matter how hard of a man he’s become. Underneath his broken body is a beautiful soul meant just for me. And like everything else he’s given me, I promise to keep that safe too.
I climb down the rest of the way, faster now, needing him more than he knows. When I see him, I gasp. “Your face…” It’s covered in black and blues, the top of one of his eyelids swollen.
“I’m fine. It’s okay. Just come here.” Those eyes glisten as his hand reaches for me. “I fucking need you.” I ignore everything else—the fear of rejection, the trauma—and I run, right into the safety of his arms, needing them still. Needing them always.
“God, I’ve missed you so damn much.” He palms the back of my head, his exhales rough and deep against the curve of my ear.
“Matteo…” I breathe, clinging to his back, and he winces. “Are you okay?” I pull my head back.
“I’m just fine.” He smiles and brings me back against him. My body roils with silent tears that I can’t quite get rid of, but there’s no shame in them, not with him.
He moves us to the mattress, holding me over his lap, letting me cry as long as I need to. And I do for a while, and in a way it’s cathartic.
I draw back, kissing his forehead. “I missed you too.”
A smile wraps around his mouth, and it’s a Matteo smile. Big. Beautiful. So full of life. His mouth moves to my ear. “Before you say anything else, you have to know he’s been recording us this whole time. He told me.”
I sharply jerk back. “Bastard!”
“We’ll be careful,” he whispers, his gaze fastened to mine. He tugs my hand into his, his thumb rubbing circles over my skin. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
“Do you mean that? Because if this is too weird for you now, to be with me after what they—” I gulp down the lump in my throat. “After what they did. You can tell me, Matteo. I won’t be mad.”
“What?” His face twists with confusion. “No. Never.” He tucks his knuckles under my jaw, his eyes filled with the truth seeping into me, giving me the courage to believe him.
“You’re mine. I’m not going anywhere because I don’t want to.
I’ll always love you, Aida. Every single time and in every single lifetime. ”
My body rattles with another bout of tears. Because this kind of love, this acceptance, devotion—I’ve never had it.
“I—I wanted my first time to—” But I can’t finish that sentence. A sudden aching hits the center of my chest and I look down to avoid him.
“Hey.” He tips up my face. “Don’t do that. That doesn’t count. Our first time will still be together. The other stuff doesn’t change how I feel about you. I love you.” His lips move toward me tentatively, like he’s worried they’ll scare me.
When I don’t back away, he kisses me with a tenderness I’ve come to enjoy, tasting my lips like it’s the very first time he has. But in a way it is. It’s the first time since everything changed.
Once his hand spills into my hair, his fingers pulling me deeper, I groan, not caring if my father hears it. Let him know he hasn’t taken Matteo from me.
And he never will.