51. Antonio
Chapter fifty-one
Antonio
I stumble down the stairs, my annoyance growing as I reach further into the main house, still not finding Theá anywhere. My immediate worry is that something has happened or that she’s returning the favour for what I did in Paris.
Guilt floods through every fibre of my body at the thought. How could I ever have left her there—
My spiral is cut short when I hear giggling from the living room. I follow the sound to find Theá and Kaia sitting, watching a Formula 1 show.
An animalistic jealousy flows through me as I watch Whylde Kings pop up on the screen, and they both giggle at something he says.
I walk over until I’m looming over the back of the couch. “I thought you didn’t care much for Formula 1,” I say, and they both jump.
“Fuck’s sake, Nino. Are you trying to give us both a heart attack?” Kaia asks, pressing pause on the show.
Theá remains silent with a teasing glint in her eyes. “They’re actually pretty funny. The drama makes the sport interesting,” she defends.
My eyes track back up to the screen where a shirtless Zachkary Lancaster is getting into an ice bath. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s what’s making the sport interesting.”
They both snicker. “You want some coffee?” Theá offers me her glass of iced coffee, and I eye it in disgust.
“That’s pure sugar, I’ll go make myself an espresso now. Grazie, tesoro .” I lean down and kiss the top of her head.
This is what I want. I want domestic Theá around me every day without ever having to worry that someone’s going to take her away from me.
As I step into the kitchen, I find Pierre leaning against the counter. I feel the tension skyrocket as he meets my eyes. We’ve never been on great terms from the start. Better terms than Kylian, but still not the best by any means. A part of me was surprised to find out he went along with this plan, knowing it would mean his sister might spend the rest of her life with me.
“Morning,” he says plainly as I head to the coffee machine.
I return the greeting, but remain silent for the most part until I turn to face him when my coffee is finished brewing.
“Pierre,” I start, and his eyes meet mine. “Thank you. I don’t think you’ll ever understand how much this means to me.”
He nods slowly. “I’ll admit, when Mattia came to me with the plan at the start, I was very apprehensive. Especially because I didn’t know you too well, and because I didn’t know how Theá felt about you.”
“What changed your mind?”
“The CFP dinner. Hearing about the lengths you went to defend her in front of Kylian and my father. I knew you cared about her, not to mention the look on her face whenever she spoke about you. I knew she loved you, even if she never told me herself. I knew it would hurt her more to be apart from you,” he says with tears in his eyes.
I stay silent because I’m a few fucking seconds away from crying myself. Those months without Theá felt like a part of my soul was missing, and I hate the thought that she was probably feeling the same way and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Just don’t fuck this up. I won’t hesitate to take her away from you again and make her disappear for real this time.”
“I wouldn’t even think about hurting her.”
“Good.”
“Have you heard anything new about your papá or Kylian?”
“I saw something on the news about him getting arrested, but Mattia says Kylian is still in the wind.” He looks down at his cup of coffee.
“Thank you again, Pierre, I know this wasn’t easy on you,” I say, and he just nods.
“What are the two of you whispering about in here? Do I have to worry about you killing my husband?” Theá walks up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. And my God, it’s the first time in my life that I actually have to reach up and cover my face for the fear that I’m blushing right now.
“Where’s your concern for your older brother?” Pierre says, clutching his chest.
Theá rolls her eyes. “It left after you tried to drown me in the pool every summer since I turned six.”
Pierre shrugs. “Fair enough. What time is your flight out?”
“1:00 p.m.,” I say, rubbing circles into her back.
“Well, I hope you’ve gotten Noelle packed, or that flight is going to be delayed,” Pierre says.
Theá gazes up at me, eyes flooded with emotion at the mention of her sister coming with us.
I want to ask her what she’s thinking about, but the selfish asshole in me wants to reserve that conversation for when we’re alone.
“What about you?” Theá turns to her brother.
“I’m going to hang back here for a while, and then I’m heading to Spain.”
“Spain?” She furrows her brows.
“Yes, Spain. I’m going to spend the rest of my life on a golf course far away from any family drama. But don’t worry, I’ll pop around for a visit.”
“You better,” I say, and for the first time, I actually get a smile out of Pierre.
The flight was delayed by a few hours as Pierre predicted, all because Noelle couldn’t find her pair of Dr. Martens, but even I couldn’t be mad at that because it reminded me of Theá.
Ironically, that’s exactly what I find as Theá sits on my lap in that dress she wore on the day I met her with the yellow headband in her hair and Dr. Martens.
It feels surreal as she snuggles deeper into my chest while she reads on her phone.
“You doing okay?” I ask as I play with the end of one of her braids.
“Uh-huh,” she answers, clearly more focused on the story.
I look around the cabin, and everyone seems equally distracted. Mattia is snoring from his seat, and Noelle is mimicking Theá, knees deep in some book called The Serpent Lord .
“Psst,” I say and poke Theá’s side, drawing her attention away from the book and up to me. It works because almost immediately, her soft, brown eyes are gazing up at me. “Why did you look at me like that in the kitchen this morning when we spoke about your sister?”
See? Selfish.
Her eyes mimic the same look before she turns to look at Noelle. “I just can believe you would do this. That you would want her to be a part of our life like this without me even having to ask.”
“Why would you have to ask? I can tell how important she is to you. And if she’s important to you, she’s important to me, too. Even if she acts like Satan’s spawn.” I side eye Noelle.
“It’s a big responsibility,” she adds for the second time, as if that would scare me off and I’d kick Noelle off the plane.
“Theresa, you said it yourself, I’m loyal to a fault. I’m loyal to you, and that means I would do everything in my power to make you smile. Everything.” I push a braid that’s fallen into her face behind her ear.
She snuggles into my chest, wrapping her arms around me. “I love you,” she breathes out, and it sounds like a sigh of relief.
“I love you more, tesoro .” I kiss the top of her head.
“Have you ever been to Italy?” I find myself asking as I watch my beautiful home come into view.
“I think we went to Rome once when I was younger, but I’ve never been to Tevici.”
“Good, now I get to play tour guide.” I smile brightly. “I can’t wait to show you our home.”
She furrows her brows.
“You didn’t think we were all going to stay in my childhood home, did you?” I chuckle. “I bought a villa not too far away for us. I knew Noelle would need her own space, too.”
The words leaving my lips feel more and more foreign as I say them. Never in a million years did I think I would be married to someone other than Valerie, and never in a million years did I think I would be treating Theá’s sister as my own.
“What did I do to deserve you?” She stares up at me adoringly.
“I ask myself that question about you every second of every day.”
The plane lands not too long after that, and I can see the apprehension clear on both the girls’ faces as we step off the plane and head towards the G-Wagon on the tarmac.
“I figured the best way to show you my home is a family dinner.” I smile and look over at Mattia.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” I say to him. “We’re just going to head home to freshen up, then we’ll come down.” He nods and heads into a separate car. Noelle hops in first, and I hold open the door for Theá before getting in myself.
“Why do you look like you’re going to shit yourself?” Noelle asks.
“I don’t,” Theá defends, but I can feel her nerves exude off her in waves. I place my hand on her thigh and start rubbing circles into the skin.
“It’s going to be okay. Just breathe; they all love you already.”
The girls track the environment around them as we drive towards the coast.
“That’s the promenade, Ambrose and I like to run along there,” I say as we head past, and next The Vice comes into view. as well.
“What’s that?” Noelle asks in awe.
“That’s the Vitale Vice,” I say, and it feels almost cringe the way all their eyes snap to me. “It’s a club/casino we own.”
“What don’t you and your brothers own on this island?” Noelle asks.
“Uhm…” I furrow my brows, genuinely trying to think. “Giovanni’s,” I say confidently. “It’s an amazing small deli in Di Mezzo , one of the few places with absolutely no ties to us. Oh, and I guess some of the more industrial areas. We’re probably investors, but we don’t fully own it.”
She nods slowly as if the sentence I just uttered was the most normal thing ever.
“It really is the Vitale City.” Theá chuckles, and I nod.
“Yes, it is.”
It’s not often I get to think about the extent of our wealth or just how far our ties run, but it’s moments like this when I realise just how hard my brothers work every day to make this possible.
The car takes a sharp turn into a driveway, and large wrought-iron gates open slowly, allowing the car to drive down towards the house.
It’s smaller than my childhood villa, but it’s still large enough for all of us to have our own space, and even have a few people over, as well.
“Oh my God, this is insane,” Noelle says, running towards the centre courtyard where a large fountain stands.
“Nino, this is huge,” Theá says as I help her out of the car.
“This, tesoro, is considered small by Vitale standards. Wait until you see where Valerie and Ambrose are staying.” I chuckle and follow her sister up to the front door that she sent flying open as she rushed inside.
Theá is quick to follow after her, but I grab her hand, pulling her back. She stares at me, brows furrowed, ready to question my actions, but I don’t give her enough time to.
In one swift motion, I pick her up bridal style and head for the door. “I’ll be damned if I don’t carry you into our new house,” I say, and she just giggles as I carry her across the threshold.
The foyer mimics the villa, but on a cozier level. Much less extravagant and more to both mine and Theá’s taste. With hints of purple and yellow all around.
I place her down gently once we’re inside and kiss the top of her head. “Have fun exploring.”
She jumps up onto her tippy toes and lets her lips meet mine. “Thank you for everything,” she says before dashing off after her sister.
“We need to head over to the villa in thirty minutes, so make it quick. You can do the rest of the exploring later!” I yell loud enough for both the women in my house to hear.
I head towards what I know will become my favourite room in the house very soon. It’s tucked away under the set of stairs. As I open the door, floor-to-ceiling bookcases flank the walls, all decorated with the books Theá filled them with in Monaco. In the centre is a desk for me to work at, and just off to the side is the same loveseat and beverage cart from Monaco, as well—because I’m certain my little wife would throw a fit if I stood between her and her iced syrup drinks.
I look out the large windows. We might’ve traded the Monaco harbour for the Tevici shore, but I’ve never loved a view more in my entire life. And I can’t wait to spend every single day of the rest of my life here with her.