Epilogue 1
ENZO
One Week Later
I’ve got to say, this past week has definitely been a learning curve. I took care of my daughter most of the time in the last week, because I wanted my wife to rest and heal from all of her wounds, especially the C-section.
My parents have been a huge help, especially my mom, and I’m so thankful to have amazing parents. Giana has also been helping, even though I have to browbeat her to take it easy since she was also injured, too.
Though I’m glad for all the help, I feel like everyone is just trying to hog my bambina all the damn time. Everyone has ganged up on me and won’t stop teasing me about the fact that whenever I’m home, I never want to put my little girl down.
I can’t help it. She’s the most precious thing in our lives, and what if she gets lonely in her crib, you know? Every time she’s in my arms, I can’t help but look at her cute little face because I’m always mesmerized.
I love the way she scrunches her face up when she’s crying or when she’s hungry, and Daddy is taking too long to feed her. I spent the week bonding with her, and she definitely likes the sound of my voice.
Feeding her and changing her diaper has felt like going through war.
When it comes to the diapers, well, at first I had no idea what I was doing, but I’m happy to say I’ve got it all figured out now.
My skills have definitely improved over the last week.
When it comes to her feeding, my wife breastfeeds her during the day, then pumps her milk, and I feed my girl at night, so I don’t have to wake my wife up.
Thank God, she drinks her milk from the bottle, too.
Right now, we’re sitting in the living room, enjoying some of the quiet. Aurora is sleeping in her baby rocker, and I’m waiting for my parents to get her so I can leave the house for a while.
The door opens and I hear their voices as they walk down the hallway. “Where is my grandbaby?” My mom asks when she comes into view. Her hands are filled with bags, no doubt containing more shit for my wife and daughter.
“Shh,” I tell her quietly. “The little monster is asleep.”
“Oh,” she says, disappointedly, before turning to glare at my father. “See! I told you we should have gotten here sooner.”
“Did you want us to come over at the ass crack of dawn?” my father grumbles.
“And that’s my cue,” I say, getting up from the chair. I turn to my wife and lean down, kissing her on the forehead. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you later,” she murmurs.
When I get to the garage, Aldo and Bruno are already there waiting for me. I get into the SUV, and in no time, we’re pulling up to the Bellucci mansion. The guards open the gate, and Aldo drives through. One of Luca’s guards opens the door when we get to it, and I head straight for his office.
“Hey, man,” he says when I’m sitting in front of him. “This is a surprise. What are you doing here? And how are my sister and niece doing?”
“They’re both doing amazing,” I say, a wide grin stretching across my face just thinking about my wife and daughter. “I figured we needed to get some of this shit taken care of. Plus, I’m here because I want a few minutes with Salvatore and Bernardo. By the way, come over for dinner later.”
“Yeah, I know we need to take care of business. I was giving you guys some time to settle in as parents before we do anything, since a lot of shit happened last week,” he says.
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it. So, are you taking your rightful place as the head of the family?”
“Yes,” he says, confidently.
“Good. I already took your father and Salvatore’s territory before I knew you were still alive. So, I’m giving yours back to you, and we can split Salvatore’s with Benedetto,” I tell him.
“That’s fair. I agree to that,” he says, nodding his head.
“Good. Now, let’s get down to why I’m really here. Where are they?” I question.
“Basement,” he says, grinning.
“Let’s go then,” I murmur, getting up from my chair.
“Follow me,” he says.
When we get down to the basement, I see Salvatore and Bernardo are chained to the wall. And both of them are covered in bruises. Guess Luca was already having some fun with them.
“I can’t believe you had all this fun without me,” I grumble.
“Well, they did commit more sins against me compared to you. Besides, you had my sister and niece to take care of, and I was bored.” He laughs.
“True,” I say, slowly unbuttoning the sleeves of my shirt and rolling them up to my elbows. “Stand them up,” I order the guards who came down with us.
They do as they’re told, and once Salvatore and Bernardo are on their feet, still chained, I waste no time delivering two blows to each of them.
I don’t want to go overboard yet because they look pathetic as fuck right now. Their whimpers are music to my ears. I hate these two assholes with a passion.
“You’re both lucky that we’re keeping you alive for now.
Though it’s not because of mercy. No, it’s because I want you both to feel nothing but unimaginable pain.
I want you to know what fear tastes like, what agony feels like every single day, until we decide to end your lives.
I can’t wait to see you two assholes take your final breaths,” I sneer at the two of them.
“Fuck you!” Salvatore wheezes out.
“Piece of shit!” Bernardo rasps.
“Call me whatever the fuck you want. None of this would be happening if you didn’t try to get rid of my wife and child!” I spit, anger coating my words.
“The child isn’t even yours, asshole,” Salvatore gets out through gritted teeth.
“Isn’t she? I guess it’s time I clue you in on a little secret, isn’t it? The baby is mine and has always been mine,” I tell him with a satisfied smirk on my face.
Both of them look at me through their swollen eyes with surprise before it turns to rage.
“I knew I should have killed that bitch when I had the chance!” Bernardo sneers. Before I can move, Luca is already delivering a punch to his rib.
“Watch how the fuck you’re talking about my sister, asshole!” he snaps.
Luca and I spend a few more minutes taking out our pent-up aggression on them before we decide to call it quits and give them a break for the day. We don’t want to kill them too soon. They deserve this punishment and so much more.
“Don’t forget to come by later,” I tell him after I’m done cleaning up and ready to leave.
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” he promises.
When I get back home, Mom and Dad are on the couch watching a movie, but there is no sign of my two girls.
“Where are they?” I ask.
“Upstairs, taking a nap,” my mother replies.
“You left her alone with the baby?”
“Relax, son. She’s fine. Giana has the baby monitor on and with her, in case Aria wakes up and needs anything,” my dad says.
“Sorry. I’m just worried because she’s not one hundred percent well yet,” I say, voicing my concerns.
“I know, son. It’s understandable,” he agrees.
“Are you guys staying over to have dinner with us?” I ask them.
“We might as well. I still need more baby cuddles,” Ma says.
“I’ll go check on them,” I tell him, leaving the living room to head upstairs.
“We’ll be here,” I hear my mom say after me.
When I step into our room, I see my two girls sleeping in bed. Aria is lying on her back, with the baby next to her, cuddled up. They look so cute together, I pull my phone out and take a picture.
Not wanting to leave them alone, I get into bed beside my wife and pull her into my arms, satisfied with just lying next to them for a while.
“You’re back,” she whispers, sleepily.
“Yeah. Go back to sleep, baby,” I tell her, just basking in the feeling of how content I am at spending time with my little family, even if they’re asleep. I have no doubt my little girl will wake up screaming for food in no time.