Chapter 28
MADALINA
I ’m feeling exhausted when we get back to the house, and although the lake house was beautiful, I’ve missed being in my own bed.
“I thought I could go visit Serena tomorrow and check out her new place.” I yawn as Dario helps me up the stairs. They are much harder for me to climb than they were when I left, which reminds me of how much I’ve progressed over the past few weeks, there's no way I’ll be fitting in the clothes I was squeezing into when I left, anymore.
“Do you want me to draw you a bath?” Dario offers.
“We literally just showered at the lake house.” I laugh, recalling the way he paid so much attention to lathering up my body.
“I know, I just wondered if it might make you more comfortable to soak for a while. This looks heavy.” His hand brushes across my middle.
“It is heavy, and all I want to do is get into bed and sleep.” I can barely keep my eyes open and when Dario takes the hem of my dress and lifts it over my body, we both laugh when the shirt he grabs me to sleep in refuses to button up around my middle .
“You caused this,” I remind him, deciding to leave the shirt unbuttoned as I climb into bed.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He tucks me in and grips my hair in that possessive way that reminds me of the man I first married. I never would have believed I could feel the way I do about him now, back then.
“Be a good girl and get some sleep. I’ve got some work to do.”
“You're not leaving are you?” I know I sound needy but the thought of us being apart again makes me panic. I’ve missed having him close these past few weeks and although his guards were on constant watch, nothing beats having him to protect me.
“No, I’ll be here, just got a few loose ends to tie up. Get some rest,” he tells me again, then kisses me before heading out the door. My head rests on the pillow and when I realize that it smells like him I smile to myself at the thought of him taking my side while I was gone, as I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.
A jolt against my ribs wakes me up, and I smooth my hand over them as I slowly sit myself up. The space beside me is still empty meaning Dario hasn’t come to bed yet, and when the next jerk from within attacks my bladder, I drag myself out of bed and head for the bathroom.
I check the time on the bedside clock when I come back out, and seeing that it's 3 am and Dario isn’t here, I decide to go in search of him.
I hear noise coming from just down the hall, noise that sounds a lot like whistling and when I follow it to the door that's slightly ajar, I push it all the way open and my eyes widen in shock at what I see.
“Dario.” I glance around the room and feel my heart melt.
“This was supposed to be a surprise.” He gives up on the flat pack he’s building and stands up.
“It’s incredible.” I step into the beautifully decorated room, sliding my fingertips over one of the solid wood cots and smiling at the pink drapes that hang from a crown above them. The walls have been painted a light, dusky pink and there’s a rocking chair beside the window that looks out over the lawn.
“We can change things around if you don’t like how it is. I was going to put this changing station I’m building, between the cribs but we ca–”
“It’s perfect, all of it is perfect.” I feel my eyes well up with tears as I take it all in. “Did you do all this yourself?”
“I wasn’t going to let anyone else do it.” He steps up to me and kisses the top of my head. “Come on, I can finish this off in the morning.” He lifts my face up to his and slides his thumb over the tear I spill.
“Thank you. It’s beyond beautiful.” To think he put his own time and effort into making it that way makes me fall even more in love with him.
“I want our little princesses to have the best,” he smiles.
“They will, and you're going to be an amazing daddy.” I sometimes think he doubts that, especially since the accident.
“I’ll do my best. And that starts with taking care of you. Let’s get you back to bed.” He starts leading me out of the room but I pull him back.
“Actually, I’m not tired. We’re hungry.” I look down at my stomach and bite my lip awkwardly. I swear eating and sleeping is all I’m good for these days, it’s no wonder I’m the size of a house.
“I guess we’d better go to the kitchen, then.” Dario laughs.
“Everything is how it should be, babies are progressing well and you seem healthy,” Dr Walsh tells me once he’s finished his examination. “We’ve got ourselves to that crucial time now, most twins are born between thirty-six weeks and thirty-eight, anything before that comes with a risk of complications, so you must take it easy and get plenty of rest in the coming weeks.”
“That's fine, I’m not exactly doing much as it is.” I side-eye Dario. Since he brought me back from the lake house he barely lets me go to the toilet without assistance.
“Does that include sexual intercourse?” he asks with a very serious look on his face.
“Intercourse is fine so long as there is no bleeding, cramping, or signs of contractions.”
“Okay.” Dario chews the arch of his hand the way he always does when he’s anxious. Despite him constantly telling me everything’s going to be okay, I can see that he’s getting increasingly worried about the birth, especially since I made it clear I want a natural delivery.
“Just make sure you’re getting plenty of rest,” he tells me, again before I heave myself out of the chair and make my way out the door.
Vito is waiting for us in the car around the back of the clinic and Dario holds open the door while I get inside.
“You're worried about something.” I wait until he’s beside me and the doors shut before I speak.
“Of course, I’m worried. I don’t want you going into premature labor. We have a whole month to go before we reach that safe zone and there's a lot happening, right now.”
“Dario, we’re going to be fine. You heard the doctor, he said the babies are progressing well and that I’m healthy. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. ”
“You need to stop stressing over your brother.” He turns to look at me.
“Well, that's not going to happen. No one has heard from him in weeks and his life’s falling apart. I know he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s my pain in the ass and it’s instinctual for me to worry.”
I watch as Dario scrubs his hand over his face in frustration.
“You know I couldn’t stop what happened. If I could, I would have, and that scares me because I know my dad has made the right decision in replacing him with Cassio.”
“Are you saying I cloud your judgment, Dario DeMarco?” I laugh, trying my best to make light of the situation. I worry about Nic every day, but having my husband stressing about me doesn’t help the situation.
“That's exactly what I’m saying.” He takes my hand. “It’s been that way since I first saw you.”
“Dario, were you really going to walk away from all of this just so you could have me, or were you bluffing?” Ever since he told me what really happened, I’ve wondered if he would really have gone that far. It’s a dangerous world we live in, but it’s his world and he knows no different from it.
“I never bluff.” The side-eye he gives me tells me I should know better.
“And would you walk away from it all, now that you’ve got me?” I ask, wondering if anything has changed.
“If you asked me to.” His eyes peer into mine and the sadness in them proves that he means it.
“I’d never ask that of you.” I smile, Dario is who he is. There's a monster who lives inside him and this world keeps it fed.
“Just promise me you’ll take it easy, especially with the wedding coming up.”
“Wedding?” I stare back at him .
“Did I forget to tell you? Cassio is getting married.”
“Say that again!” I can’t have heard him right.
“He’s marrying the Fabriano girl.” Dario lowers his voice.
“I guess that makes sense.” I can tell by the look on his face that he’s surprised by my reaction.
“What? You must have broken that poor girl's heart when you refused to marry her.”
“I don’t think Gabriella Fabriano has a heart.” He laughs to himself.
“Did you know her well?” I wonder how close they became while they were engaged.
“I knew her enough to know I wouldn’t have liked being married to her.” He takes my hand and twists the ring on my finger. “Then I saw you and the game changed.”
“I remember hearing that she broke it off with you, ” I tease him.
“I agreed to that to save her humiliation,” he explains.
“I never knew my husband was such a gentleman.” I giggle when he attacks my neck with his mouth.
“Careful, remember what the doctor said.” I hold my tummy when it starts to wobble.
“Oh, I heard him, and I will be taking extremely good care of you,” he assures me, turning those grazes of his teeth into soft kisses.
“I just hope Cassio can be as happy as us. I think your brother has a lot of love to give.”
“You do get what my father’s doing, don’t you?” Dario pulls away.
“He took the district from Fabriano because of my demands and this is his way of giving it back. Any sons that Cassio and Gabriella have will inherit that district and all will be as it should have been,” he explains. I smile sadly, thinking about how happy my father was, to have been given the opportunity to be something better is undoubtedly what cost him his life.
“And you're good with that?” He looks confused.
“No, but you killed the man who killed Lucian and my father. Let the Fabrianos think that they have the Queens district, Cassio will make a great leader. A questionable husband, but a good leader.” I manage a smile. “Honestly all that matters to me is that we’re safe.” I stroke my hand over our growing babies and feel too content to be bitter.
“You're a very special person, Madalina.” Dario’s hand slides onto my cheek.
“Just promise me you won’t give up on Nic,” I beg him.
“You have my word,” he tells me before he kisses my lips.