CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Adelina?”
Isla.
I turned just as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Adelina, Santiago…”
My hand hovered over the metal that was biting into my skin. I wanted to pull it out, but I could not bring myself to touch it. Her eyes dropped, and a scream tore from her throat.
Footsteps on stones amplified in my ears, but I stood there trembling in place, my mind unsure that I’d make the wound worse if I moved.
But then Zane appeared in front of me, his eyes wide and mouth open.
He quickly checked my pulse, his fingers pressing firmly on my wrist. “Get towels, Isla! Tell Magda we need towels!”
A whimper escaped me, and I stepped forward.
“Stay still, Adelina. Get Rocco. Get towels, Isla. Move!” He yelled. Then, he gently let go of my arm and grabbed his walkie-talkie and shouted into it in fast Italian.
Isla blinked, wiped her eyes, pulled out her phone, and ran out of sight.
My heart hammered in my chest. “Rocco…Rocco’s here?”
I felt him before I saw him; his warm energy radiated, and my senses instantly recognized the change in the air. He reached me, clasped my head, and roared. “No. God, no. Please, no.” He kissed my face, and I felt the wetness of his tears running down my skin.
“Colby,” I rasped.
“Don’t speak, Bella,” Rocco said and cooed.
“Adelina. Adelina. Dio ci aiuti. God, help us,” Magda said, sobbing, her hands full of towels.
Rocco grabbed one and wrapped it around my wound. Pain shot through me, and I screamed, “No. It hurts. Please, no.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry. We need to keep pressure on it.
The ambulance is coming. It’s coming.” His voice broke.
“I should’ve killed him. He’ll die for this.
I promise you. No, Bella. I’ll hold the towel.
Stay still.” He pressed it to the wound and held it tight.
I cried out as the pain returned, sharp and unbearable.
I screamed louder, and Rocco held the towel firm.
My eyes drifted shut, and I felt a sharp tap on my cheek.
“No, Bella. Stay awake. You must stay awake. Where’s the fucking ambulance?”
“Ambulance is coming. We have him.” It was Zane yelling from the hills.
“Wait for me,” Rocco called back.
I let out a sob.
“You’re going to be fine. Hang on. The ambulance is coming, Bella. Do you hear them?”
At first, the sirens were only a distant wail, but soon they swelled. I closed my eyes and floated, but felt a sharp pat on my cheek. “Bella, keep your eyes open.” More footsteps…a gurney.
Rocco said, “I’ll lift her.”
“We have her, Mr. Marini, please.” Rocco stepped aside, and gentle hands eased me onto my back. A mask pressed over my face. As I turned, Rocco’s blood-streaked fingers brushed my cheek, leaving a delicate trail like a paintbrush on canvas.
I caught a glimpse of him; his eyes filled with desperate hope as he ran alongside me before I let the darkness take me.
Am I dying?
“Read to me, Mommy.”
There he is; our boy! My heart soars as I catch the glint of his steel-blue eyes and the tumble of his dark, wavy hair. For a brief moment, his eyes seem glassy, reflecting the light like a gentle mirror. His grin, mischievous and bright, is Rocco’s twin. Uncanny.
“I’d love to. Should we go to your bedroom?” I glance around, but the world swims out of focus, as if I am peering through a foggy lens, like an unfocused microscope.
“Mommy?”
My brow twitches ever so slightly, betraying the panic beneath. I hear a name whispered in my head. Emanuele. His name is Emanuele. “Emanuele.”
He nods eagerly, lifting the book high so I can see its cover.
Alice Through the Looking Glass.
“Where’s the other book?” I say, frowning in confusion. We are still reading Alice in Wonderland, and are many chapters away from the sequel. An icy dread creeps over me.
“We don’t have time,” Emanuele says, his form smudging at the edges like a watercolor left in the rain. Though I can still make out his lower lip trembling. “You have to go.”
A sharp ache twists through my chest as I sink to my knees, clutching him; he’s my last lifeline. Am I his or is he mine?
Suddenly, he feels solid in my arms again, and I cradle him, pouring in all my love like a flowing stream. “Please. I don’t want to leave you. Tell me how I can stay.”
His arms wrap around me, and he lets out a deep sigh that radiates contentment.
“You can’t stay here,” he says.
“Emanuele. Emanuele, please…”
Beep. Beep. The heart monitor echoed from somewhere deep inside me, a distant drumbeat reminding me I was still here.
I willed my eyes to open, but they refused.
My body lay heavy, breathing in the cool air from a mask.
But something else was there… Yes. I can hear now.
It was the familiar rumble of Rocco’s voice.
“I never truly grasped the meaning of love until you, Bella. Your strength amazes me. No matter what, you always rise again. That’s just one of the countless reasons I love you.
You’re a survivor, a fighter. Right now, I feel so weak, baby.
I don’t know how to go on without you. Damn it.
You shouldn’t be lying here. I failed you.
I swore I’d protect you, and I broke that promise. You deserve so much better than me.”
There’s no one better for me. I love you.
“When you wake up and feel better, we’ll move to Mustique Island. You loved it there. We can swim and tan all year. Fish. We’ll pick wildflowers, weave garlands, and wear them all day. I just want to see you smile. That’s what I live for, Bella.”
You’re hilarious with the garlands, Rocco, and Mustique was a perfect honeymoon, but let’s stay in Florence. I love it here.
“I’m done with Marini Corporate. If I have to step down, so be it.
I’ll carve my own path as a Marini, with or without the trust. After what happened with Luca, the board knows Mr. Sears running the trust is a threat.
If Uncle Walter wants to take the chair, let him have it.
I’m ready to let go. Saying it now, I realize I don’t care anymore.
Luca was right. The money belongs to Marini, and the CEO should want the job.
That’s not me. I know if I hadn’t worked so much, I’d have done more to get that bastard. ”
That’s not true, Rocco. None of us thought he’d do this to me.
“I will produce films. I have my own properties, stocks, and shares. We’ll build a beautiful life, I promise.
If I get a studio, great. But you with me, Adelina, and I have all I need.
Your career matters, and I’m here for you, always.
I swear I’ll make you happy and keep you safe every single day.
You come first, Bella. No one else.” His sobs filled my ears, and I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but still couldn’t move.
Oh, Rocco. I love you.
“I love you so…so much.” His hand was damp on my skin as he lifted my hand and pressed it to his chest. “You keep my heart beating, Bella. It’s yours.” The thud of his heart pulsed against my palm.
“Mr. Marini?”
“Yes?”
“Adelina is coming out of sedation, and it may take time.”
“Okay. Thank you, Doctor. How is she overall?”
“Surgery went well, as you know. The wound was deep but narrowly missed her spleen, thanks to the corset. It kept the knife from going deeper.”
“I’m very grateful. We all are; thank you for saving Adelina’s life.”
“I did what was needed, Mr. Marini. Adelina still lost blood, about seven hundred milliliters from the wound’s hemorrhage, but we were able to stop it with surgery and a blood transfusion.”
“Do you need more blood?” Rocco asked.
My mind splintered and tangled, and I struggled as if I were underwater, gasping for air. Stay focused. Stay awake. I finally came back, but the doctor was already speaking.
“…Both should be fine, but we can’t be sure. There’s a chance of internal infection, and the next forty-eight hours are critical. We need to monitor closely and address any complications immediately.”
“Wait, what?” Rocco said, his voice rising. “What are you talking about?”
My hand throbbed beneath Rocco’s desperate grip, his need for me radiating through every squeeze.
Wake up. Wake…up.
But I drifted away.