CHAPTER 53
My Happy Ever After
Gabriela
My outlook on life had significantly changed in the span of a day.
Today’s tragedy made me vow to myself that I would never take anything for granted, that I would live every moment to my fullest, and I would always see the glass as half-full. If that meant I had to lean into my delusions and wear rose-tinted glasses, then so be it.
Once I was discharged from the hospital in the late evening, Hunter drove us to a pharmacy to pick up my medications and then straight to my family home.
I nearly got whiplash from the two extremities I experienced within twenty-four hours.
Being in the back of my kidnapper’s trunk to now sitting shotgun in my boyfriend’s sports car, one of his playlists running in the background.
The old routine, so achingly familiar to us, soothed me like a warm cup of milk and honey.
The courtyard lights were lit when Hunter steered into the driveway. Some of Papà’s guards loitered around the property. But for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t stressed. There were no more threats.
I was as free as a bird breaking out of its gilded cage.
Hunter opened my door and extended his hand like a gentleman. I had two working legs, yet I didn’t get to put them to use since he hauled me into his arms, princess style.
I yelped at the unexpected gesture. Then sank into his unyielding warmth. His fresh leather and black ice cologne, faint but ubiquitous, was a balm to my soul.
“I can walk the short distance to the front door, you know?” I teased.
“I’d rather carry you, Gabby. I’m about to be your personal butler, bodyguard, chauffeur, chef, and everything in between until you fully heal,” Hunter informed.
“Will there be a bell at my nightstand to ring for you?”
We crossed the threshold of the Bellafiore residence. My family was somewhere on the ground floor, making arrangements for the upcoming days and probably whipping up a late dinner for us. But I wasn’t hungry for food. I only cared to see my Luna.
Hunter already knew that. He ascended the staircase to the second floor, where my room was, wordlessly taking me to her. “No need for a bell. I’m going to be sleeping right here in your bed.”
“My parents are okay with that?” I’d never had a boy stay for a sleepover.
But Hunter wasn’t just a boy.
He was my future—my everything forever.
“Yes,” Hunter said. Given how he handled today by coming to my rescue and beating the ever-living hell out of Tom, it was a no-brainer that my parents were bending the ‘no boys overnight’ rule of theirs.
“Even if they hadn’t, though I respect them, I’d still find a way to climb to your window and sneak into your bedroom, Gabby. ”
It’ll take an army to pry me off of you.
Hunter was a man of his words, after all.
“Good.” I nestled my face into the crook of his neck. “I need you here, Hunt.”
“Anything my girl wants.” His arms tightened when he reached the second floor. “Just so you know, I’ll be handcuffing you to me moving forward so you’re never out of my sight again.”
“Kinky. Guess we’ll finally be able to break into those cuffs we bought from the lingerie store.”
“Sounds like a date.”
“Make me a grilled cheese sandwich and it’ll be a perfect date.”
Hunter smiled. “Your wish is my command.”
He padded down the hallway towards my bedroom.
It wasn’t hard to know which door was mine, considering I still had a heart-shaped plastic doorbell stuck on it from my early tween years.
I went through a phase where I was big on personal space and demanded both my parents ring me up before I determined whether or not I was in the mood to answer them.
Hunter shouldered open my already unlocked door. Bags with my stuff were piled onto my bed, courtesy of the guards who shuffled them over from Hunter’s home to here.
But that was not what snagged my attention.
It was Luna.
Awake and perked up on her bed.
I got choked up seeing her.
Hunter put me down on my feet. She was just about to leap in my direction, cast on her hind leg and all, before I grabbed her.
Luna’s paws went on either side of my neck and she snuggled up to me, meowing continuously to express herself.
I felt it all. Her pain and her relief at finally seeing me.
I shed more tears and she licked at my chin.
I kissed her wherever I could reach. “Luna, I’ve missed you so much.
” Meow. “I’m so happy you’re okay.” Meow.
“Thank you for helping to save me.” Meow. “Yes, yes, I love you too.”
My sweet girl, so affectionate in her nature, would not unlatch even as I attempted to pull back. She dug her claws into me, telling me in her own way that she wouldn’t be letting me out of her sight either.
I sighed blissfully. “Luna won’t let me go.”
Hunter wrapped his arms around us from behind. “That makes two of us.”
I turned my face to his, awaiting my kiss.
He delivered it. Soft and gentle as a feather, breathing life into me all over again.
The scars on our bodies and the wounds underneath our flesh would heal with time, but as long as we had each other, we would be fine.
Hunter helped me shower and changed my bandages. My once flawless skin bore enough marks for his expression to transform into a blend of helplessness and anger that said he wished Tom were alive so he could kill him this time.
“I’m okay, amore mio,” I reassured, grazing my fingers over his clenched jaw.
It did little to assuage him. He dressed me in a pair of loose shorts and his clean football jersey. I tried to hide my wince as my sore muscles moved. Hunter didn’t miss it.
He dressed quickly in a pair of grey sweats and a white shirt, escaping my help when I tried to put a fresh gauze on his bicep. He did it himself. The unblinking stare and the grim pinch of his mouth said he was here to take care of me and in his presence? I really wasn’t to lift a single finger.
“Go rest in your bed, sweetheart,” Hunter murmured. “I’m going to make you a grilled cheese sandwich, then you can take your medications. All right?”
I kissed his cheek. “All right.”
As instructed, I got into bed with Luna curled by my side.
The warmth of my skin and the coldness of my pillows and comforter were a divine contrast, igniting a new surge of lethargy.
I wanted to slip underneath and go to sleep.
But instead, I plucked my retrieved cell phone from my nightstand and unlocked it to a multitude of messages.
I answered the ones from Anna and Layla.
Apparently, Mamma already told them what happened to me.
I texted them an update: I was fine, would be thriving soon again, and loved them dearly. It helped ease their worry a smidge. I promised to tell them everything tomorrow when they dropped by for a visit.
Later on, after my family came to my room to bid me good night and ask me for the hundredth time if I was all right, I ended it tucked into Hunter’s side, my belly full of the grilled cheese sandwich he whipped up for me, drowsy from the meds, Luna settled into his lap, purring as he petted her, and an old rom-com movie playing on my TV.
“What are you thinking?” Hunter brushed his lips against my forehead.
I mumbled sleepily, “That there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Than in the comfort of my principe’s arms.
He kissed my skin. “Me too, doll.”
I fell asleep with gratefulness ringing in my bones.
The next day, I felt well-rested but still in a bit of pain. The doorbell rang in the afternoon, signalling Anna and Layla’s arrival. I waited for them downstairs in the living room and they entered with weary faces, a bouquet of flowers, balloons, and a get-well-soon basket.
My best friends’ red eyes told me they’d been crying. It undid me. I opened my arms for a hug. “Hi, girls.”
They rushed to me and we clung to each other like we were three pieces of a whole.
In a way, that was exactly what we were.
Each other’s platonic soulmates. We ended up crying together and all I could do was count my blessings that I made it through yesterday’s horrific events.
I couldn’t fathom the possibility of never seeing Anna and Layla again.
“How are you feeling?” Layla asked, sniffling.
I adjusted the throw blanket on my lap. “I’m feeling better today, but I’ll be on painkillers and using antibiotic ointment for the next week.”
“Your mom called us as soon as you were taken.” Anna dabbed under her eyes with a tissue. “We were terrified, Gabby.”
I could sense them wanting to probe more about the situation. They were holding back, afraid that it would trigger me. Sooner or later, they’d have to know. So I ripped the bandage and told them. They listened with undivided attention, their revulsion for what I went through growing by the second.
“This is all horrifying, to say the least.” Anna grabbed my hand when I finished. “You were so strong and brave.”
“We’re proud of you for fighting off that monster, Gabby.” Layla grabbed my other hand. “And so glad you’re going to be okay. Please let us know if you need anything from us.”
“We love you and we’re always here for you,” Anna added.
“I love you both.” I really did have the best sisters. “I’ll be staying at my parents’ home for a bit longer. Maybe we can have a sleepover for old times’ sake?”
They grinned. “Done.”
By day three of being discharged from the hospital, I started to feel more like myself.
There was a bounce in my step, my injuries hurt less, and I didn’t have a single nightmare about Tom.
The lack of PTSD was another blessing. I was glad the asshole wouldn’t have a hold over me even after his death.
But if there was one person I would think about, even after their death, it was Morgan. I wished she’d never gotten caught in Tom’s web. I wished she could have escaped him.
I wished she could have lived.