Chapter 26
GAbrIELLA
Roman yanks me away from Marco's bleeding body, dragging me toward the warehouse exit.
My legs move mechanically while my mind screams to stay with Marco.
"Let me go!" I struggle against Roman's iron grip.
"My men will handle it." His voice is clipped.
“He needs help.”
“The sooner you follow his orders for you to leave, the sooner that can happen. If I have to, I’ll toss you over my shoulder… come what may.”
Roman’s voice is terse, but I know the strain is worry.
He’s trying to do what Marco asked even though he doesn’t want to. He wants to help Marco too. I shouldn’t make it harder.
As he tugs me outside, everything blurs together.
The gunshot, Marco collapsing,
Frank's shocked expression before Marco shot him.
Marco took that bullet for me.
Minutes before, he’d acted like I was working with Frank.
Made vulgar inferences.
And then he stepped in front of a bullet.
He protected me.
Protected the baby he doesn’t even want.
"Is he going to be okay?" My voice sounds distant, like it belongs to someone else.
"Marco's survived worse." But his eyes tell a different story.
He's worried too.
"This is my fault. If I hadn't—"
"Stop." Roman cuts me off. "Frank was the traitor. None of us saw it coming."
I remember Frank's wild accusations, his paranoia. "He kept saying Marco was behind the attacks on my father's business. But that doesn't make sense…"
"Because it wasn't Marco," Roman says grimly.
But I don’t think it was Frank, either. That means there's someone else, someone still out there.
A car's headlights cut through the darkness, approaching fast. Roman tucks me behind him and pulls his gun.
But as the car draws near, I recognize it. “That’s my father.”
Roman stays alert until the car stops and my father emerges from the backseat.
"Gabriella!" He reaches for me, and Roman releases my arm, transferring me to my father's care like a package being handed off.
"She's unharmed," Roman reports. "Marco took a bullet. Frank’s dead. I need to deal—”
“Yes, yes, go. Anything you need, let me know.” My father guides me to his car, helping me in. He pauses before getting in with me. “I mean it, Roman… Anything Marco needs.”
Roman is already rushing back to Marco but waves his hand to indicate he heard my father.
My father joins me, and as we pull away, the questions start.
"What happened? Why were you with Frank? Is he behind all our troubles?"
The words tumble over each other, and I struggle to keep up. My mind is still with Marco, bleeding on that warehouse floor.
“He said you needed me… then he brought me here instead. Blackwood must have told him about the fake meeting.”
My father’s brow furrows in thought, and I know he’s struggling to put the pieces together.
To be honest, it’s a difficult puzzle even without his condition. “Someone was supposed to be watching the place.”
“Frank killed a man when we got here. Maybe he was watching the place.”
"And Marco?" My father's voice tightens. "Roman said he took a bullet."
I swallow hard. "Frank was going to shoot me. Marco… he stepped in front. I don't understand why he would." I shake my head, my thoughts all a jumble. "He accused me of working with Frank. But then he saved me anyway."
My father's hand covers mine. "He was probably trying to protect you from Frank.”
I stare at him, pieces slowly clicking into place.
Marco made Frank believe I meant nothing to him, even as he positioned himself between me and danger.
Why didn’t I recognize that sooner?
“You’re probably right.”
“I’m sure I am. Marco acts like he doesn’t give a shit about anyone or anything, but he cares deeper than most, poor bastard.”
I don’t know why, but that makes me smile a little.
“I don’t understand Frank, though.”
“I don’t either. He blamed the attacks on Marco but admitted to meeting with Blackwood and arranging the attack on Marco and Roman. So why is he denying the attacks on your business?”
My father's expression darkens. "It suggests that we still have a problem."
He brings my hand to his lips. “I’ll forever be in Marco’s debt for saving you. If he lives, maybe he’ll finally admit that he loves you.”
I want to believe my father’s words so badly it hurts. "If that were true, he wouldn't have let me leave."
"Fear makes fools of us all, Gabriella. Marco fears becoming his father more than he fears death."
The idea of that breaks my heart for him.
"People show love in different ways," my father continues. "Some with words, some with grand gestures." He squeezes my hand. "And some by taking bullets."
"I need to go back.” I worry Marco will die not knowing how I feel.
Dad shakes his head firmly. "No, Gabriella. Roman will make sure Marco gets the best care. You know how this works.”
I do.
Our own doctors in hidden places that have all the modern medical equipment.
A place where criminals can get the care they need without any questions asked.
"But what if…" What if he dies thinking I believed the worst of him?
What if our last conversation is the one where I called him an old man afraid of life? "I need to tell him I'm sorry. I need to tell him…"
"You will," Dad promises. "He'll survive this. Marco Calabresi is too stubborn to die before he's ready."
I pray he's right.
Because I'm not ready to live in a world without Marco in it.
Not when I've only just realized how much I need him.
Of course, he may still decide he doesn’t want me and the baby.
I guess I’ll deal with that when the time comes… if the time comes.
Once home, my father guides me to my room, treating me like I'm a little girl.
"You need to rest, Tesoro," he says. "It's been a difficult night."
I sit on the edge of my bed, unable to calm the storm inside me.
Marco's blood is still on my clothes. Every time I close my eyes, I see him falling.
"Dad. There's something I need to tell you."
He sits beside me, taking my hand.
"I'm in love with Marco," I confess.
He pats my hand. “I know. I might be old and senile, but I know love when I see it.”
It’s odd how I feel like my father is missing so much but in fact, he sees more than any of us. “I’m pregnant with his child."
The silence that follows feels eternal.
I watch as confusion, realization, and then anger I wasn’t expecting cross my father's face in rapid succession. "He got you pregnant and then pushed you away? Didn’t do right by you?”
Technically, I walked away, but it was clear he wasn’t going to come around. "He doesn't want a family. He made that clear."
"That fucking fool." Dad stands abruptly, pacing the room. "After everything I've done for him. I treated him like a son when he took over the Calabresi family. I guided him, protected him when La Corona questioned his honor… his capability."
"Dad, please—"
"And this is how he repays me? By dishonoring my daughter and refusing to take responsibility?" His voice rises with each word. "If he survives this, I'll make sure he does right by you, Gabriella. I promise you."
"No." I stand to face him. "I don't want him forced into anything. That's why I didn't tell you. I was planning to go to Italy after Christmas."
Dad's expression darkens further. "You would hide my grandchild from me?"
"No. Eventually, these things come out. I was going to hide the child’s father from everyone… including him.”
My father isn’t buying it. "In our world, a man takes responsibility for his actions."
"Even if it makes everyone miserable? Even if he resents the child? Resents me?" I take my father’s hands. “I don’t want that for me or my child.”
His anger seems to deflate slightly. "Gabriella, I’ll make him see that he loves you. He stepped in front of a bullet for you tonight. A man doesn't do that for someone he doesn't care about."
“He can love me and still be too afraid to show it. I don't want Marco to fulfill some obligation. I don't want a man who's with me because La Corona or you demanded it."
My father's eyes narrow, but I continue before he can interrupt.
"What I want is a life away from all this chaos. If that means going to Italy until the baby comes, then that's what I'll do. No one needs to know Marco is the father. Not if he doesn't want that responsibility."
"Gabriella—"
"No, Dad. I've spent my whole life watching what duty and obligation do to people in our world. I've seen marriages built on business arrangements, children used as pawns." I place my hand protectively over my stomach. "I won't do that to my child."
This baby fills me with a fierce protectiveness.
"I love Marco, but I won't trap him in a life he's made clear he doesn't want. And I won't subject my child to a father who resents their existence."
Dad sinks back onto the edge of the bed. "I’ve always admired your strength and spirit. I’d hoped by allowing it, you’d have a happier life than many women in our world. Perhaps that was wrong.”
“No.” I sit next to him. “I’d be miserable if I didn’t have the choices and opportunities you let me have. And this is the next thing I need to do for my happiness. For my baby’s happiness.”
My father nods. “I won’t have all my marbles for much longer. I’d like to know my grandchild.” His words break my heart.
“You will. I promise.” I lean my head on his shoulder.
“I still want to make Marco pay.”
“I know.” I sit quietly with my father knowing that whether Marco lives or dies, he’ll no longer be a part of my life.
I hope he lives, of course.
But as I prepare to move on, to cut him from my and the baby’s lives, it will be like a death.