Chapter 68 Needing Warmth
ARYA’S POV
I was running through a field of wildflowers with Christabel, her laughter was bright as she chased butterflies.
The sun was warm on my face, and everything felt perfect. It was just me and my little sister, the way things used to be.
"Bella, I don't want to go back," I said, even though I wasn't sure what I meant.
Christabel stopped running and turned to face me, her brows furrowing together. "Wake up."
"What?" I blinked.
"Wake up!" Her voice was changing, and becoming masculine. "Arya, wake up!"
I sputtered, water rushing from my mouth and nose, my body convulsing as my lungs expelled liquid and desperately sucked in air.
My eyes flew open to find Giovanni's face inches from mine, his hair dripping wet, his eyes wild with something I had never seen before.
"That's it," he said, his voice rough. "Breathe. Just breathe."
I gasped, coughed, and gasped again. My lungs burned like they were on fire, each breath stabbing through my chest.
But I was breathing. As my vision cleared, and I looked around, I saw bodies, scattered around the pool area like discarded dolls.
They were the men who had chased me and thrown me in to drown. They lay motionless in pools of blood that looked black in the moonlight.
"Did you…" I couldn't finish the question, another coughing fit seizing me.
"Yes." Giovanni's jaw was tight, his hands gentle as he helped me sit up. "Every single one of them."
I had never heard his voice like this before, stripped of its usual control. His hands were shaking as they moved over me, checking for injuries, and when I looked at his face I saw something that shocked me.
Tears.
Giovanni De Santis looked like he was on the verge of crying.
"I thought…” His voice broke. "When I pulled you out and you weren't breathing, I thought you were dead."
"I'm okay," I whispered, though I wasn't sure that was true. "I'm alive."
He pulled me against his chest so suddenly it startled me, his arms wrapping around me with desperate strength. "Don't ever do that again. Cazzo, Arya, your heart stopped. Do you understand what that meant?"
Before I could respond, the lights went out and everything was plunged into darkness, broken only by the moon reflecting off the water.
Shouts erupted from inside the mansion with the sounds of people trying to figure out what was happening.
"We need to go," Giovanni said, his voice instantly shifting back to controlled urgency. "Now."
He scooped me up in his arms and started moving through the gardens. I was too exhausted to do anything but wrap my arms around his neck and hold on.
Behind us, I heard more shouting. Gunshots? I couldn't tell. Everything was becoming fuzzy at the edges.
"Stay with me," Giovanni commanded. "Arya, stay awake."
"I’m trying," I mumbled against his shoulder.
The car ride home was a blur. Giovanni kept one hand on me the entire time, checking my pulse, and making sure I was still conscious.
When we finally pulled up to the villa, he carried me straight inside.
"Where is everyone?" I asked, my voice hoarse from the water I had swallowed.
"Elsewhere," Giovanni said vaguely. "I told them to leave for tonight. It’s just me and you here.”
He carried me upstairs to my room and set me down on the edge of the bed. My dress or rather, what was left of it, was still soaking wet, dripping onto the floor.
"You need to get cleaned up," he said, moving toward my bathroom. I heard water running. "Can you stand?"
"I think so."
But when I tried, my legs gave out. Giovanni caught me before I hit the floor, cursing under his breath.
"I'll help you," he said, already moving us toward the bathroom.
"No, I can stand.”
"Arya." He looked at me, and something in his expression made my protests die. "Please. Just... let me help you. Please."
So I did.
He was surprisingly gentle, helping me into the shower still partially clothed, and letting the warm water wash away the chlorine and blood.
When I started shivering, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me.
"I can wash my own hair," I said, finding some fragment of dignity.
He paused, his hands already reaching for the shampoo, then nodded. "I'll be right outside. If you need anything."
I nodded once. "I know."
He left, closing the door softly behind him.
I stood under the spray, and started taking off the rest of my clothes, while watching the water run pink with blood from my split lip.
I almost died tonight. My heart had stopped beating, and if Giovanni hadn't come when he did…
A sob escaped before I could stop it.
I pressed my hand over my mouth, trying to hold in the sound, but more came. I slid down the shower wall until I was sitting in the tub, hot water pouring over me while I cried.
For how scared I had been, and the violence and bodies around the pool.
Eventually, I ran out of tears. I finished washing, then dried off and changed into soft cotton pants and a tank top that felt like heaven after the restrictive dress.
I was about to climb into bed when a sneeze overtook me then another.
A knock on the door broke my thoughts.. "Arya?"
"Come in." I called out.
Giovanni entered carrying a bowl that steamed gently. He had changed too, into sweatpants and a t-shirt.
"Soup," he said, setting it on the nightstand. "You need to eat something warm."
I shook my head, sniffling. "I'm not hungry."
He rolled his eyes and stepped closer. "I don't care. You almost died tonight," his voice was hard. "You drowned and your body went through trauma.”
When he grabbed my cheek, and leaned close, the scent of his cologne caused a fuzziness to wrap around my head.
“You need nutrients and warmth, Arya.” He growled and my body was reacting for a different reason entirely. “And you're going to get both even if I have to force feed you myself."
For some reason, a dark part of me wanted to request for another kind of way to warm myself up.