# 2 — Chapter 27
I wake up confused lying in bed. I blink a few times to restore my blurry vision and see three familiar faces surrounding me.
“What happened?” I ask.
“You fainted,” Gaetano brushes my hair out of my face. “It’s okay. The doctor said it’s probably just from shock.”This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.
“And from the fact that you haven’t eaten all day,” Carmelo growls more at Gaetano than me.
Gaetano’s attention immediately shifts from me to him. The soft expression he had on his face for me has now turned into a murderous one. Please don’t kill Carmelo.
“I’m grateful for your concern, Carmelo,” he says through gritted teeth, “but this is my fiancée and as soon as she is married to me, you can expect a flight back to Chicago.” Carmelo’s eyes widen. “Your services are no longer needed. I already have a group of men to act as her new bodyguards and she will be well protected at my house.”
Carmelo opens his mouth to argue but Lazzaro chimes in. “The wedding will be a quick ceremony tomorrow night and we decided to have Nonno’s funeral tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning?”
“Your grandfather wants to be cremated and scattered in the garden here at the villa. They’re taking him to get cremated now and then we can scatter his ashes tomorrow. He didn’t want much,” Gaetano replies.
“So, I’m expected to attend Nonno’s funeral and change from sad bereaved girl to happy bride?!” I shout no longer able to take it.
“Having this wedding done as soon as possible will benefit your brother best,” Gaetano explains. “I didn’t expect for Milo to leave us so quickly, but this is the best option.” Lazzaro nods his head in agreement.
I watch as Carmelo shakes his head in disappointment and walks out of the room. Lazzaro nor Gaetano paid any attention to his exit, but I did. I want to run after him and apologize. I wish he could see that there is no other option for me, that this is what I must do.
“I will bring you up some food then I want you to rest. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow,” Gaetano leans in and kisses my forehead. “I’ll have the designer send your wedding dress over after the funeral. There will be people waiting to do your hair and makeup too. I’ll see you tomorrow, it’s bad luck for the groom to spend the night with his wife before the wedding,” he chuckles, winks, and then leaves.
When he said he was going to bring some food up to me I thought it would be him, instead Carmelo is acting as a butler with a tray of food in his hands. I watch as he discreetly locks the door behind him.
I feel ashamed to even to look at him. My heart is screaming for him and I want to reach out and take comfort in him more than anything. He sets the tray on my lap and sits at my bedside and I begin to eat. He leans his elbows on his thighs and stares at the ground shaking his head.
Only when I finish my last bite of food he says, “This is it?” His voice cracks. “Tomorrow will be the last time I’ll see you?”
“I’m afraid so,” I whisper.
“You aren’t going to fight for this?” He stands in anger with clenched fists. His eyebrows are pressed together and his lips pursed. “Fight for us?”
“I can’t! Didn’t you hear them all downstairs? They don’t want my brother as their Don. They only accepted after Gaetano’s speech. The same speech where he announced he was marrying me and becoming the Don’s brother-in-law.”
“Why are you putting your brother’s happiness and life above yours? You are doing this so your brother can have a successful life where he is Don, but you are subjecting yourself to a life with a man you do not a love!”
“Carmelo, please calm down,” I say on the verge of tears.
“No! I will not calm down because I love you! I swore to protect you-how many times do I need to say that? Gaetano will hurt you just like my father hurt my mother,” his voice breaks.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that your mad at me and mad that you can no longer uphold your promise. It is not a promise you need to keep anymore, I am not yours to protect. You will go back to Chicago and maybe Antonio will let you be Liliana’s bodyguard. Then you can play with little Viola all day and watch her grow up,” I burst into more tears.
“No,” he shakes his head, “I don’t accept that. You will come back to Chicago with me and we can both watch Viola grow. We can play pretend like we used to, remember?” He smiles, “Horny parents who just put their daughter down for a nap?”
I chuckle through my sobs. “It would be fun, but it’s not the life God has planned for me.”
“Fuck God!” He spits blasphemously. “God or whoever would like for you to be happy! He would want you to choose for yourself!”
“Come here,” I pat the spot next to me in bed.
He climbs in with tears in his eyes and lays on his side facing me. “Please, fight for me.”
I wrap my arms around him and press my forehead against his. “Let’s stop yelling at each other and enjoy our last night together,” I pull back to see his amber eyes.
The kiss we share is one of a lifetime and speaks a thousand words. I can taste the saltiness of both our tears making our faces slick with sadness. We both pull back to take a breath inhaling each other’s air. The need to be close is overwhelming.
I run my finger along his jawline and kiss his nose. “I wish I could listen to you play the violin one last time.”
He smiles, peering at me through his dark eyelashes. “I bought us tickets to go see The Phantom of the Opera.”
“You did?”
He nods his head and bites the bottom of his lip. “I don’t think we’ll be going. They’re for tomorrow. I guess when I bought them I was hoping I could whisk you away and have you all to myself.”
I plant my face into his neck and let out a body wracking sob. “Oh Carmelo, I’m so sorry.”
“Shhh,” he strokes my hair. “Let me make love to you.”
Carmelo climbs over my body, blanketing me. He cages me in from the outside world and in this moment nothing matters and nothing can hurt us. We carefully peel off every article of clothing until we are naked. He kneels between my legs and we both pause staring at each other’s bodies. Memorizing every inch of skin, every scar, every birthmark-everything.
He places his big hands on either side of me and leans down while pushing into me at the same time. I feel so overly sensitive and I let out a long dragged out moan as he pushes in deep. I feel so full and pleasantly stretched, as if his body is made for mine. He presses his forehead to mine and begins to move in and out.
My mouth opens, gasping as he slides against my slick walls. I grab him greedy for more, that’s all I want is more. More of this, more of everything with him, and just more time. My mind is fuzzy and my body is humming as my release is slowly brought up to its threshold. I can no longer hold it off as my walls contract milking him for everything he’s got.
He kisses me through my orgasm as he swallows my moans. He’s right behind me as his grunting gets more frequent and his thrusts pick up speed. His face scrunches into intense ecstasy and, with a deep exhaling breath, he fills me with his release. I gaze up lovingly at this man, loving the way he lets himself go. Loving the way he is when he’s with me.
Carmelo lays on top of me for a long time. Our bodies are sweaty and sticky together, but neither of us wants to separate.
“Please don’t leave me tonight,” I skim my thumb across his bottom lip.
He places a kiss against my heart and whispers against my skin, “I promise.”