19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Luciana
It’s been days and I haven’t heard anything about Matteo. Is he doing all right? Has he fallen ill again? Nothing.
All because my father is keeping me locked away in my old bedroom and not telling me a thing.
“Daddy, please,” I beg when he brings me breakfast on a tray. Oatmeal and cereal. Things I would eat as a child but now I don’t care for. “Just tell me how Matteo is doing. Surely you know something.”
He sets the tray on the bed. “Eat. How is your foot doing?”
“It’s fine,” I snap. “It’s doing fine. How is Matteo? Gabriel must know. He told you something. I know it. How is my husband?”
“I told you, Luciana, you are never going to see your husband again. I am not going to allow it.”
“Does Gabriel know?” I ask, crossing my arms.
When my father doesn’t give me an answer, that tells me everything I need to know. “He doesn’t know, does he? He probably thinks I’m just staying with you here until Matteo gets better. Am I right?”
He points at the food. “Eat.”
“I am right. Your silence proves that. Gabriel doesn’t know that you’ve kidnapped me.”
“I can’t kidnap my own daughter. You belong here.”
“Dad. Daddy.” I can see his back tense but still he doesn’t look at me. “You did kidnap me. When you locked me in this room. You’re keeping me prisoner. You have to know this is wrong. I know you just want me to be your little girl again but you have to let me go. You have to.”
“I don’t have to do anything. You are my daughter. You are staying here.”
“What happens when Matteo is better and he comes for me? Because he will come for me. You know it. What will you do then?”
“If he shows up at my house and causes problems, I will kill him.”
I huff. “You think Gabriel will be ok with that?”
“I think I’m past caring what Gabriel thinks. And if I claim its self-defense, then he’ll have no moral high ground to stand on. Let it go, Luciana. You are staying here where you’re safe.” He leaves the bedroom and locks the door before I can get another word in.
I take one bite of my cereal and let out a scream and toss the bowl across the room. It breaks, raining milk and corn flakes onto the ground.
I can’t believe my father is doing this to me. I always trusted him. I still love him because I know he’s only doing this out of fear. He wants me safe and I went through something traumatic. He’s scared something bad will happen to me again.
But I cannot remain a prisoner here.
My foot is doing better and I can actually walk on it for short amounts of time but I still have to use my crutches.
I grit my teeth as I place the crutches under my arms and stand up.
Limping, I walk to the door and try the door knob.
For the past few days, I’ve been trying to pick the lock to no avail. But I’m not going to give up.
Grabbing one of my bobby pins from my dresser, I kneel down and get to work. I’ve tried turning the pin in so many different ways. I’ve tried hitting at the knob at the same time as I turn the pin. I’ve tried it all.
I’m still not going to stop though. Not until I get out of this room. Not until I make my dad see that I’m safe with Matteo.
I know my husband is alive and I regret not telling him that I love him when I had the chance. He needs to hear it. He needs to know it.
As I work on the lock, I hear the front door bell ring. My body tenses. No one has come by in the days since I got home from the hospital. Is it Matteo?
I press my ear to the door and listen, straining to hear anything.
“What are you doing here?” my father asks.
“I’m here to see Luciana.” Matteo. So he is here. I can just barely hear him and my father but it’s enough. Matteo came for me.
“Matteo!” I shout, pounding on the door. “I’m in here! I’m in here!”
“What’s going on?” Matteo asks, sounding closer to my door now.
“You need to leave,” my father responds.
I don’t stop hitting the door, not even when my hands begin to hurt. “I’m in here. In here!”
The door is wrenched open and I see Matteo standing before me. He looks tired. Bags under his eyes. He’s hunched over slightly like he’s still in pain.
Behind him stands my father… with a gun in his hand.
“Don’t!” I shout.
Matteo whirls around and goes still when he sees my father pointing a gun at him. “What are you doing, Rocco?”
“I am saving my daughter. She’s not safe with you. You put her in danger. I’m the only one who can do anything.”
“And you think killing me is the answer? Is this why Luciana didn’t come to see me? You’ve been keeping her locked up?”
“For her own safety. She is my little girl. Not yours. Not anybody’s.”
“Daddy, please,” I beg, getting to my feet. I ignore the pain in my foot and rush to my dad’s side. “Don’t kill him. I am not a little girl anymore. How many times do I have to tell you?”
“He needs to die,” Dad grits out.
“No.” I run in front of my father’s gun, putting myself between him and Matteo. “If you shoot Matteo, you’ll have to shoot me too.”
“Luciana,” Matteo breathes out. I can hear the shock in his voice. Neither one of us could have thought we’d get to this point: me sacrificing myself to save Matteo.
“What are you doing?” Dad asks, his hand wavering on the gun. After a beat, he lowers it. “Get out of the way, Luciana.”
“I will not let you kill Matteo. I will not. He saved my life.”
“No, he didn’t!” Spittle flies from my father’s mouth. “If he had saved your life, you never would have been in danger in the first place.”
“And none of that was his fault. I’m the one who brought Dante into our lives. I didn’t mean to but it happened. And you have to understand that. Matteo is not in the wrong here. He has never treated me badly. I love him, Daddy. I told you before. I still mean it. I love him.”
Matteo sucks in a breath. “You love me?”
I don’t answer him. Instead, I keep my eyes glued to my father.
One wrong move and it could be the end of Matteo’s life.
“Dad, hear my words. I want to be with Matteo. We have peace between our families. Let’s keep it that way.
I am happy. I am safe. Isn’t that what you want from me?
If you keep trying to control me, then I will hate you.
But right now, if you let me go, I’ll forgive you.
I’ll still let you be in my life. But if you insist on treating me like a prisoner forever, then I will eventually grow to hate you.
And neither one of us wants that. I know you don’t want that.
I know you would hate it. So please, Daddy.
Just let me go. Don’t kill Matteo. Don’t mess everything up. ”
“But you never wanted this,” he whispers.
“I know. I didn’t at first. But now I do.
Now I want to be with him, Daddy. I want nothing more.
Don’t do this. Don’t ruin my life. Don’t ruin yours.
I know you want me to be your little girl forever but I can’t be.
You know it deep down. I’m right. You don’t need to worry for me.
Matteo fought so hard to save my life. You should be thanking him.
Not trying to kill him. Please. Please.”
A loud sob escapes my father’s mouth and the gun drops to the ground. I nod at Matteo and he carefully picks it up. Then I wrap my arms around my dad and hold him close.
“I love you, Daddy.” He’s shaking in my arms and I cling on tighter. “I love you so much. Just let me go. Let me be happy. Let me grow into the woman I want to be. It might not be exactly what you want. But it’s what I need. Please, Daddy. Please.”
“I’m scared of losing you forever,” he cries into my neck.
“You won’t lose me forever. Not if you let me go. So let me go. Let me return home with Matteo. Don’t kill him. We can get everything we’ve wanted. Peace. Happiness. It can happen. Just trust me. Can you trust me?”
He nods against my shoulder. “I do trust you.”
“Then let me go.”
After a long beat, he stands up, wiping at his eyes. “It’s so hard. You’ve been my baby all your life. I raised you all alone after your mother died.”
“I know. And I’m so grateful you’ve been a good dad. But holding me as a prisoner is not doing the right thing and you know it.”
“Can you ever forgive me?” he asks in such a pathetic voice. It makes me wince but I try not to show it.
“Of course I’ll forgive you. Just never do anything like it ever again. I am going home with Matteo. Accept it.”
He slumps against the wall and cries harder. The sight of my dad lost in his pity party makes me angry. Even though he’s cared for me all my life, he always did things for himself and not truly for me.
But I don’t want to hate my father. It’s much easier to forgive and move on. That’s the polite, proper thing to do and for once, it’s the right thing to do.
“I love you, Dad. But I’m leaving with Matteo now.” I turn to my husband. “Are you ok? The last time I saw you, you hadn’t woken up yet.”
“I’m fine. Not feeling my best. But fine.” His eyes flick to Rocco. “Is he going to be a problem?”
“I’ll make sure he isn’t. Let’s go home.”
Matteo nods and silently follows me out of my father’s house. I know it will be a long time before I set foot back in there.
“You drove here?” I ask when I see Matteo’s car in the driveway.
“I did.”
“But you’re hurt.”
“I am. But I needed to see you. I needed to know why you hadn’t visited me. I thought…” He ducks his chin, looking embarrassed. It’s a sight I don’t get to normally see from my husband.
“What?” I ask softly.
“I thought you didn’t want to see me. I wasn’t sure why, after everything we went through together. But I thought maybe you still saw me as the monster.”
I take his hand. “Matteo, I know you’re no longer the monster. I haven’t seen you as a monster in a long time. It was wrong of me to not give our marriage a chance. But I want that now. You fought so hard to save me and I love you for that. I love you.”