Chapter 19 Giulia #2
“Don’t make this about what you mean to me,” he scoffs, loosening his striped tie. “But I can’t forget what he’s done. You had no business getting involved with him.”
Someone clears their throat in the hall. Any other time, it would be funny, the way we all look in that direction at the same time. If it weren’t for the way Sophia gasps, I’d think I’m hallucinating.
“Emilia.” Luca goes to her, arms outstretched. Right away, he’s in protective mode. “What are you doing here?”
“You called to tell me there was an assassination attempt. I was supposed to stay home?” She sounds exasperated with him, which is better than having her look at me like I’m a terrible person. But there’s plenty of time for that.
After hugging him, she looks around the room. It’s pretty obvious she heard what we were talking about, at least to me. I see how troubled she is, uncomfortable. “How is he?”
“We don’t know yet,” Sophia murmurs. “He’s in surgery.”
“I’m sorry.” She crosses the room slowly, with Luca practically glued to her side, then bends down to hug Sophia. “You’ve already had such a rough day. I’m really sorry. But he’s strong.”
I don’t know what I want more—for her to finally look at me so I can get this over with or avoid this forever.
Too late.
“And how are you?” she gently asks me as if nothing has changed. “Are you all right? Do you need anything?”
The thing is, she doesn’t sound like she’s pretending for the sake of appearances. That might have killed me if she were all stiff and formal. Once again, I’m too overwhelmed to do anything more than sputter, “I… I don’t… I mean, I don’t think so.”
“Why don’t we go down to the cafeteria, grab some coffee?” Luca suggests, already draping an arm around her waist.
“Luca. Sweetie.” She stands firm, patting his arm. “I love you, but don’t do that. I’m a big girl. And if I had any problem with being here, I wouldn’t have driven over.”
She looks at me from the corner of her eye before sighing. “I was listening out there for a little while. You were all too busy arguing to notice.”
This is it.
This is where I lose her as my friend.
I’m going to spend the rest of my life with her holding me at arm’s length because she’ll never trust me again.
This is where I pay for making such a stupid decision, even if it doesn’t really feel like there was any decision to be made anyway.
I wouldn’t walk away from Alessandro now if I had the choice.
“Do you know what I think?” She looks up at him and pats his chest gently. “I think neither of us has any room to judge anybody else for who they get involved with.”
Is this only happening in my head? It has to be. There’s no way she’s this understanding.
Luca’s eyes dart over her face like he doesn’t know whether to believe her. “Do you hear yourself? After what he—”
“I am tired of thinking about what he did to me. I’m not living in the past anymore.
I’m not saying we’re going to be best friends or anything,” she mutters, snickering.
“But I’m not going to use it against him, and I’m not going to use it against your sister.
I fell in love with you when I was supposed to be building a case against you and your family.
You fell in love with me when I was the enemy you were supposed to eliminate. ”
She looks around the room again, wearing a sad, knowing grin. “And here we are. Married, a family. I mean, I was sure Dante was going to kill me for a little while there.”
Dante snorts softly, stroking his jaw. “I might’ve thought about it.”
She looks at Luca again. Her voice softens. “All I’m saying is, we are in no position to judge, especially when we love Giulia so much.”
This has to be a dream because nobody is this kind and forgiving in real life. Right? There’s no way.
“But I love you too,” Luca whispers, cradling her face between his hands. I see the love there. I see his determination to protect her no matter what.
“I know,” she murmurs. “It’s a complicated life you Santoros lead.”
Mama stands, silently weeping, and she throws her arms around the two of them. “You’re one of us, mia cara. Don’t forget that.”
I hear them, but only in the background of the happy confusion swirling in my head. She doesn’t hate me. It’s like she handed me the biggest, best gift ever. One I didn’t dare hope for. “Thank you,” I choke out before covering my face with my hands.
Just in time, too, because a massive sob bursts from me. It’s like the rest of my shock finally wore off, and now it’s time for the aftermath.
* * *
“Giulia,” Emilia whispers, nudging me gently out of my light, uneven sleep. I tried like hell to stay awake for him, but I was totally wiped out once I finally stopped crying and thought I would close my eyes for a few minutes, which, according to the clock on the wall, turned into an hour.
One of the doctors is coming in. My heart lodges itself in my throat. I want to stand, but I’m afraid my legs won’t hold me up.
“How is he?” Sophia asks, grabbing blindly for my hand and squeezing hard.
The longest three seconds of my entire life pass before the man nods his head.
“We’re optimistic. The bullet came within centimeters of causing massive damage, but somehow missed any major organs.
We managed to extract it and to stop the bleeding.
He lost a great deal of blood,” he adds.
Like I didn’t watch it pool on the sidewalk.
“He should be settled in a room within the hour, here in the ICU.”
“But you think he’ll be okay?” I ask, breathless.
“The next several hours will be critical,” he explains gently. “But he is in good health and is in the best hands here. We’re going to keep a close watch over him.”
Sophia thanks him, followed by Papa, while Mama turns to me. “We should go home so you can get some rest. We can come back in the morning to see him.”
“I can’t. I just can’t,” I whisper. The idea of walking out of here without him before he’s even regained consciousness is unthinkable. My brain rejects it.
“We’ll both stay,” Sophia announces. “We can take turns sitting in there with him, or maybe they’ll let us stay at the same time.”
As much as I would rather stay alone, I see how having her here with me will make it easier for Mama and Papa to go home without me.
“That would be great,” I agree.
Dante doesn’t look thrilled, but shrugs. “I’m not going to waste time trying to change your mind. I’ll come back first thing and bring clothes with me. For you too,” he adds, looking at me.
“I can’t imagine anywhere we would be safer,” I tell Papa when he looks skeptical. “We’ll be fine, really.”
There’s a sadness to him when he cups my cheeks, studying my face while taking a slow breath.
“There will be time to talk about this once everything blows over,” he murmurs.
Love rings out heavily in his voice, and maybe a little sadness.
“But you’re a grown woman now, and he risked his life for you. That earns him my gratitude.”
I wish the other men in my family were so quick to see it that way. They’ll have to come around, that’s all there is to it. Alessandro is going to wake up, he’s going to get well, and they’re going to have to deal with it. Because I’m not giving him up, and he is never getting rid of me.
We’re led to Alessandro’s private room within the hour.
No matter how I tried to prepare myself, it’s a shock seeing him like this, hooked up to machines, pale-faced, and helpless in the big bed.
“It’s better than the alternative,” I whisper to myself, slowly crossing the room before coming to a stop next to him.
Sophia nods, standing on the other side of the bed. “That’s true. And as the doctor said, he’s strong. Aren’t you, you stubborn prick?” she asks him. “You’re too stubborn to let some asshole with a gun take you away from the people who love you.”
Pulling up a chair, I take a seat and hold his hand while Sophia turns on the television at the foot of his bed. I’m glad she’s satisfied with watching mindless junk without saying a word. It’s enough to sit here together while he sleeps between us.
Please, wake up. There’s so much we haven’t done. I’ve never even been able to spend a night with him until now. We’ve had to hide to steal a little time here and there. We deserve a chance.
And he deserves the chance to show the people who doubt him how wrong they are. He has tried so hard to be a better person. He only needs more time.
We are on the third episode of a brainless but entertaining reality show when his fingers move. I sit bolt upright, gasping. “He’s waking up,” I whisper before jumping to my feet.
Sophia does, too, folding her hands under her chin, closing her eyes.
“Please, please,” she whispers. It hits me again that he’s all she’s got when it comes to blood relatives.
Their mom never did call her back, and she sure as hell hasn’t shown up here.
We can bring her into the fold, treat her like one of our own, but that isn’t the same. Not really.
“Can you open your eyes?” Leaning in close to him so he can hear, I ask, “Can you just open your eyes for a second? Let me know you hear me.”
I’m not imagining his hand tightening around mine. His throat works, and his tongue moistens his lips, and I’m pretty sure I forget to breathe before he croaks, “I hear you. Keep talking, beautiful.”
Thank you, God. I have to swallow hard to dislodge the lump in my throat. “You’re going to be fine. The doctor said so. I just need you to keep fighting, all right? We both do,” I add, looking at Sophia. “We’re both here with you, me and Sophia. We both love you.”
Leaning down, I touch my lips to his, lingering for a few seconds. “I love you,” I tell him again.
His eyes open a little and find mine, and I’m sure my heart is going to burst. “I love you,” he whispers, faint but clear. “You think I’d take a bullet for just anyone?”
He loves me. For the first time in my life, it feels like I have everything I need. Nothing is missing—all thanks to the last person I would ever expect.