Chapter 89

Chapter 89
Arianna POV: 

I went from pitch black to the jarring fluorescent lights of the hospital as my eyes fluttered open. I tried to mumble something, but my throat was dry. I looked around, and finally somebody came into view. 

“I’ll call for the nurse,” Luca told me. “ Giovanni is at the police station, giving his statement.” 

“What happened?” I asked, grabbing his hand, looking over my friend's face. He appeared unharmed. 

“Your father is dead,” he stated it like a promise. 

The scene played back in my head was Luca using the side door to shoot as Giovanni surrendered. A smart play my father wouldn’t have suspected. Not when he was too prideful to let someone else snag the victory. 

“You killed him,” I voiced, my memory allowed. Luca didn’t meet my eye. 

I chuckled slightly. “Do you honestly think after everything I’d hold it against you?” I laughed. 

He gave a sad smile. “I’m aware he was still your father,” he told me. 

“You’re awake,” a delighted and exhausted voice sounded from the doorway. 

Giovanni rushed forward, and I held out a hand for him, desperate to hold him close. He kissed me and held my face as I cried. 

It was a torturous journey, but we had found our way out of it. I may not ever be the same, but I didn’t want to be. 

“What did you tell them?” Luca asked. 

“The truth,” Giovanni settled into a seat beside me. “The detective said we acted in self-defense. Sort of. He’s willing to state that they drew first, since the monsters are gone.” 

Gio told me how Marco had followed Guilia to the farm. They had followed his directions and rescued me. Marco had taken Guilia out of the barn so she didn’t interfere, but she’s now on a real psychiatric hold. Apparently, she killed a doctor in her escape from the facility. She’s gone quite feral, according to Marco, throwing things at anybody who walks into her room. 

“She’s going to plead insanity if her lawyer is worth a damn,” Luca told us as we discussed our outcome. 

In the end, I had 78 stitches in various places, a collapsed lung, a concussion, and some internal bleeding. They had done surgery to stop the bleeding, and I was to be monitored to see if there was any bleeding in my head. 

The detective came by and took my statement, much of which corroborated Giovanni and Luca. Eventually, we were told that we’d be fine and not to worry. The only person who would even press charges against us was on psychiatric medication and restrained to her bed. 

It took a long time and a lot of physical therapy, but eventually I was able to leave the hospital. It wasn’t long after that that I was on a plane. 

“Home?” He asked me as I boarded. 

“Home,” the word felt foreign in my mouth, but still tasted so sweet. 

The cold manor that we had fallen in love with wasn’t home to us in the end. Too much had tainted the walls, but a house that impossibly burst at the seams with family, and soccer balls flew down the hall while singing sprang from the kitchen, and the sweet aroma of tomatoes guided you along. That was home. 

I never wanted to step back on U.S soil again. 

Agnese held out her arms for her son, and Gio caved into her, less like the powerful man I had met, and more like a small child. 

He broke away and turned to his father, who had tears in the corner of his eyes, and he patted Gio on his shoulder. “I’m sorry it came to that,” he told him. 

It wasn’t an apology, but I doubted he’d ever say that. Gio smiled and nodded to his father. 

“So,” Angese clapped. “What now?” 

What now? What now that we have won? I had bled, and burned, all for this. Now what? 

Two weeks later, I was in a snug satin dress, my hair curled in the old Hollywood fashion. I wanted it small and simple. His mother pinned my veil, her in a yellow floral gown, her black and gray hair pulled back. A smile on her face as if this was what she always dreamed of. 

“He’s lucky,” she winked at me. 

The gown wasn’t anything special, sweetheart neckline, with lace on the hips and over the back where my skin showed. It was beautiful, though, my mother's pearl earrings dangled from my ears. It felt like she was holding my hand as I grabbed my small bouquet of white peonies. 

I knew nothing could ruin today, nothing could make today go wrong, and still my heart fluttered. I walked down the stone steps of the abbey that my mother once lived in. I kept my eyes on the red stone, holding until the last moment, until I looked up. 

There, in a crisp black suit, was the man who loved me. Today, we promise to love each other. It was such a little promise after everything we had already survived together. 

I grabbed his hand, mine trembling until he held me. The priest was old and spoke quickly, and I didn’t understand a word of it, but I knew what I was committing to. To have and to hold, through bullets, and devestation, grief, and anguish. Through secret moments and shared smiles, late nights in a kitchen as we danced around one another, making food. 

We ran from the church, man and wife smiling as I tossed the bouquet back as we drove off to the small, intimate dinner back at his family’s house. 

“So,” he turned his head slightly, putting his arm around me. “Was it everything you dreamed?” 

I smiled, leaning into his arm. “And more,” I felt the meditation sun warming me up as I closed my eyes. 

“Was it worth the trouble, my love?” He whispered. 

“Every bit,” I promised. 

And after that, he was no longer the mad dog that had been unleashed on my family, and I was no longer a broken and betrayed daughter. We were simply husband and wife. 

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Hi everybody, I am so sorry! I never read comments, and for whatever reason, I had thought I had uploaded every chapter. If there is any excuse, I had just given birth as I was finishing this story, so I plead sleep deprivation. I hope you all enjoyed the happy ending, so sorry again for leaving you on that cliffhanger for so long.