35. Gianni
Chapter 35
Gianni
My heart slams against my ribs as I sprint across the warehouse. The world blurs, narrowing to a single point - Genoveva. Her knees buckle, and she crumples to the ground, her hand reaching out desperately towards me. My breath comes in ragged gasps.
"Genoveva!" I roar, my voice echoing off the metal garages surrounding us.
Time slows to a crawl as I watch her fall backwards, her hair fanning out around her head like a halo. The distance between us feels endless, my legs refusing to move fast enough. She writhes her body, each movement agonizing to watch, and then her eyes meet mine. Wide with fear, her lips parted for air, and her hand outstretched in my direction.
It’s an image that etches into my mind to see my brilliant, graceful wife be reduced to this state of helplessness. My throat clamps up, trying to hold back the tears. I need to stay strong for her.
Finally, I slide to my knees beside her, gathering her fragile body in my arms. The warehouse fades away, the sounds of the men around us muffled as if underwater.
"Stay with me," I plead, searching desperately for any sign of life. My fingers brush her cheek, willing her eyes to open. "Don't you dare leave me, Genoveva. Not now. Not like this."
Her weight in my arms is both familiar and terrifying. I've held her countless times before, but just once before this limp and cold. My throat tightens as I pull her closer, pressing my forehead to hers.
"Fight, damn it. Fight for us. Don’t do this to me again, please. Don’t do this again." I whisper fiercely.
My words hang in the air, met only by the shallow rise and fall of her chest. I let out a whimpering breath and bring my lips to hers.
Suddenly, her eyelashes flutter, and my heart leaps. "Genoveva?" I breathe, hope surging through me like wildfire.
Her lips part, but the sound is so faint I can barely hear it. I lean in closer, my ear almost touching her mouth, straining to catch her words. Her breath is warm against my skin, a reassurance she's still with me.
"Gianni," she whispers, her voice cracking. "I... I'm sorry."
"Shh, don't talk," I murmur, running my fingers through her hair. "Save your strength. I'm here; I've got you."
As I pull back to look at her face, a chill runs down my spine. The air around us grows heavy and oppressive. A voice, cold as the grave, echoes in my mind.
"Foolish mortals," Hades intones, his words dripping with disdain.
I grip Genoveva tighter as if I could shield her from the god's wrath with my body alone. "Leave her out of this," I growl, my eyes darting around the empty warehouse.
Hades' laughter reverberates through my skull. "She made her choice. She killed a mortal when it wasn’t her place. She must return to the life you bargained her out of. A price must be paid for her taking power that wasn’t hers."
My jaw clenches, fury and fear warring inside me. Furious at the conditions Hades sets forth. Fear that he can’t be bargained with twice. I look down at Genoveva, her hazel eyes now open but clouded with pain.
I can’t just do nothing.
My resolve hardens, desperation clawing at my chest. I look up, addressing the unseen deity. "Hades, I offer you a deal," my voice steady despite the tears threatening to spill. "Take me instead. My life for hers."
I wait with bated breath, praying he heeds my call. I cradle Genoveva closer, her breathing shallow against my chest. "Please," I plead, my pride crumbling. "I'll do anything. Just spare her."
A cruel laugh echoes through my mind, sending shivers down my spine. "You think your life is worth the same as hers?" Hades' voice drips with contempt. "How quaint."
The dismissal cuts deep, but I refuse to back down. "I'm the Don of the Montagna family. Surely that counts for something, even to a god."
"Your mortal titles mean nothing to me," Hades sneers. "Her debt is her own."
I grit my teeth, anger flaring. "Then take my soul. I'll serve you for eternity. Just let her live."
Another laugh, this one colder than before. "Your desperation is pathetic, Gianni Montagna. Do you think I need your servitude?"
The refusal is a dagger to my heart, but I cling to Genoveva, my mind racing for another solution. "There must be something you want," I insist, my voice breaking. "Name your price."
“There’s nothing you can give me,” he laughs in my head.
I tear my gaze away from the void, focusing on what little time I have with Genoveva so that I do not waste these precious moments. My heart clenches as I see her eyelids flutter, struggling to stay open.
"Genoveva," I whisper, my voice strangled. "Stay with me, amore mio. You have to fight." I brush a strand of hair from her forehead, my touch gentle despite the trembling in my hands.
Her lips part, a weak smile forming. "Gianni," she breathes, her voice barely audible.
I lean closer, desperation clawing at my chest. "That's it, tesoro. Keep talking. Keep fighting." My eyes burn with unshed tears. "We have so much left to do, so many promises to keep."
Genoveva's hand moves, her fingers brushing against my cheek. The touch is feather-light, but it sends a jolt through my body. Her hazel eyes, once so full of life, now hold a quiet acceptance that terrifies me.
"My love," she whispers, her words punctuated by shallow breaths. "You must... find happiness." Her thumb traces the scar on my jaw, a familiar gesture that now feels like a goodbye. "Promise me."
I shake my head vehemently. "No, Genoveva. The only happiness I need is you." My voice cracks, raw with anguish. "Don't you dare give up. We're in this together, remember?"
“Find a woman. Have lots and lots of children,” she chokes out. “Live for yourself. I’ll be watching over you. Don’t you dare grow sad and weary on me now, you hear me?”
Tears blur my vision as I press my forehead against hers, our shared breaths mingling in the still air. "Genoveva," I manage through the lump in my throat, "I can't... I can't do this without you."
She offers a faint smile, her gaze fixed on mine with unwavering strength. "You must," she whispers, her voice barely a whisper. "For both of us."
But even as she speaks, I can feel her slipping away, her touch growing weaker.
The dam finally breaks. Tears spill from my eyes, hot and unrelenting, falling onto Genoveva's cheeks. They mingle with her own, creating a constellation of shared grief on her pale skin. I can't stop them and I don't want to.
"Look at me," I plead, my voice a hoarse whisper. "Just keep looking at me, tesoro."
Her gaze meets mine, those hazel eyes I've known since childhood now clouded with pain. But there's something else there, too – a flicker of the fierce, independent spirit that first drew me to her. Even now, she's fighting.
"I love you," she mouths, her lips barely moving.
"I love you too," I choke out, the words inadequate for the storm raging in my chest. "More than anything in this godforsaken world."
I watch, helpless, as her eyes flutter. "No, no, no," I mutter, cradling her face in my hands. "Stay with me, Genoveva. Please."
But I can feel it happening, can sense the life ebbing from her body. Her eyes close for the last time, and something inside me shatters.
"Genoveva?" My voice breaks on her name. "Open your eyes, amore mio. Look at me!"
She doesn't respond. She's gone, and I feel a part of myself die with her. The weight of my grief is suffocating, crushing me under its immensity. Yet I cling to her lifeless form, unwilling – unable – to let go.
"Come back," I whisper against her hair, rocking us both. "Come back to me."
But there's only silence, broken by my ragged breathing and the distant sounds of a world that no longer matters.
A world I can’t exist in. I tried it once without her. I couldn’t do it then, and I can’t do it now. Life doesn’t matter when I know there’s life after, and we could be together somewhere in Hades’s underworld.
My eyes fall to her delicate hand, still clutched around the knife that ended Paolo Greco. The blade gleams dully in the warehouse's harsh light, its edge stained crimson by the enemy who brought us here. A sudden clarity pierces through my anguish.
"We made a pact, remember?" I whisper, gently prying the weapon from her fingers. "Where you go, I follow."
The knife feels heavy in my hand, a grim portal to the beyond. I trace the curve of Genoveva's jaw, committing every line to memory.
"Wait for me, amore," I murmur, pressing a final kiss to her cooling lips. "I'm coming."
With a steadiness that belies the tremor in my soul, I raise the blade to my throat. The sharp edge kisses my skin, a lover's caress promising eternal reunion. In the background, I hear my men scream at me to stop.
"Hades, damn you," I growl.
With those last words, I draw the knife across in one swift, decisive motion. There's a moment of searing pain, but it's nothing compared to the agony tearing at my heart. Warm wetness cascades down my chest as my vision blurs.
"Genoveva," I gasp, collapsing onto her still form. Our blood mingles a final, macabre embrace.
Then, right before the darkness envelops me, a furious scream from Hades rips through the air, his rage palpable even in death. The god's fury shakes the very fabric of the void around us.
"Nooooo!" his voice booms as a velvet shroud wraps around my consciousness and I go limp.