The bright sunlight shining through the windows woke me up. I groaned internally thinking surely it has only been an hour or two since I went to bed. Whatever pain meds the doctor gave me were amazing. I had just managed to sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed when there was a knock on the door before it opened and Lileth’s head popped around the side of it.
“Good morning, dear. How are you feeling today?”“A bit sore, ouch!” I placed my hand to my cheek to find it a bit more tender than I had expected. The skin that was cut had some paper stitches on it and it felt so tight.“The bruising has come out a bit more on your face. Although there were no facial bones broken, the bruising and swelling can feel just as bad,” she sighed. “What happened to you? Karma’s a dish best served cold. He will get what he deserves.” I couldn’t help but giggle as I thought that she was going to say something else. I have heard that ‘karma’s a bitch,’ but that was a new one on me. “Let’s get you dressed, dear. Gio has something that he wishes to discuss with you.” Panic settled in the pit of my stomach, making me feel nauseous. The next moment, I was bent over the toilet heaving up the very little I had eaten the day before. “It’s Ok, nothing to worry about,” Lileth reassured me as she gently rubbed my back. “Master Gio and the family don’t like men hitting women. Especially not you,” she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide open.“What do you mean by that?” I whispered, as it was painful if I opened my mouth wide.“I’m sorry. I’ve said too much.”“You can’t say something like that to me without an explanation,” I gently pushed.“I’m sorry but that is for master Gio and Antonio to explain.” I shrugged slightly knowing that I wasn’t going to get anymore from her. I gently washed my face and patted it dry with the softest towel that I had ever felt, before attempting to clean my teeth. This proved to be really difficult as I couldn’t open my mouth wide enough to reach the very back so, I had to make do with using some mouthwash.Lileth was waiting for me in the bedroom with a choice of clothes to choose from. I went with a pair of stretchy jeans, a vest, and a loose-fitting shirt to cover my arms. I don’t know what I would do without her right now. I didn’t even need to ask her to help, she just did.Once dressed, she lead me to the dining room, where a group of god’s were sat chatting over breakfast.“Please, come join us piccolo,” a man that looked to be around my age, maybe a bit older, said as he pulled out a chair for me.“Uh, grazie,” his toothy smile made his face glow.“Io sano Antonio e tu sei?” he rushed out. From whatever he said, I only identified a name, Antonio.“I’m sorry, but that was as far as my Italian gets me. It’s a pleasure to meet you Antonio,” he chuckled deeply.“Antonio, dobbiamo dirgleelo,” the guy I remembered as Gio said, making the smile on Antonio’s face drop to a frown. The men stood and excused themselves but not before they faced me and gave me a small nod of respect. I could feel the blush creep up my neck to my face where I knew it would blend in with the bruises. Why would they acknowledge me? I was nobody.They were fit and I don’t just mean their physique’s. Their faces looked God like but deadly and intense. I could feel wetness pool down there. OMG! What is wrong with me? After what I had been through, I shouldn’t want to be with a man again, especially one that had bulging biceps that could crush someone’s skull, peekaboo tattoos on their necks and knuckles.“Ahem!” someone cleared their throat as I watched the men leave. I just couldn’t help myself, my eyes slowly lowered to check out their assets. Perfect, absolutely perfect. Their suits must be painted on. I closed my eyes to try and regain some composure. Lileth appeared next to me with my breakfast. She followed my line of sight and giggled.“I know dear. If I was only a few years younger,” my turn to giggle at her words.“Please take a seat Oriana.”“How do you know my name? I can’t remember giving it to you,” my body tensed as I got ready to turn and run. Not like he wouldn’t be able to catch me easily or anything due to the pain I was in.“I checked your purse for some sort of ID last night. We have been looking for you for a little while now.”“Why?” I was starting to feel scared and anxious now.“Because” Antonio started as he pulled out the chair to sit next to me, “you are my sister.” Everything started to spin, my heart rate picked up and I couldn’t catch my breath before everything went black. "Fanculo!” I couldn’t tell if that was Gio or Antonio, but I didn’t care. What I did care about was whether someone caught me or not before I fell off the chair.As I slowly regained consciousness, I could hear them talking.“I told you, Gio. I don’t know if I can tell her anymore.”“Look, you don’t have a choice. It’s for her safety.”“Don’t you think I know that. Can’t it just wait a few days? She’s been through a lot.”“Just tell her Toni.” Gio was slowly losing his temper.“Hmm, tell me what?” I groaned as I tried to sit up, only then realising that I was back in the bedroom.“You are my sister. We have the same parents,” Antonio sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed next to me with a box in his hands. “Here, take a look for yourself.” He handed me the box and my heart started to race again as I studied his face for any similarities.“Please tell me,” I asked in a whisper.“Ok,” his shoulders sagged in defeat. “I know you will have a load of questions but, please wait until I finish. This is going to be hard enough to get through without the interruptions. It’s really hard to talk about all this now that you’re here. I have thought about so many ways how I would tell you. I planned to say so much to you but I thought it would be under better circumstances,” I nodded as I held on to the box he had given me. “Our Mamma was a beautiful, strong Italian woman. A model and a singer. She was an angel in our Papà’s eyes, perfection. They were deeply in love. They completed each other and were so in love.” Tears were in his eyes threatening to spill. I held his hand, making him relax and smile at me. “He loved her more than life itself. She was his reason for breathing,” my turn for the tears. “When I was 9, she disappeared. Papà searched for her every day. He used all his connections to try and find her. The day he found her was the day she died in a car accident,” the tears were running down my cheeks. I hadn’t even noticed that Gio had left the room. “The guy who was driving, I assume was the man you thought was your father?” I nodded. “He was actually the bastard who kidnapped her,” he started grinding his teach together in anger. I removed my hand from his arm, worried that my touch would anger him more. “I have nothing against you, piccolo. You are a part of her, her exact image in fact,” he placed his hand on my cheek, which I found so comforting. “My little sister. I have been looking for you for years after I lost sight of you when you turned 16,” my eyes widen in surprise.OrianaThe pregnancy flew by. Yes, I few times I threatened to kill Gio, especially during labour. It was a good thing that I wasn’t’ allowed my gun in the hospital.On 12th July as 11:52 PM, Antonia was born, weighing 9 pound 4 ounces. I didn’t pay much attention during my scans, especially after I was told that everything looked good, development was good etc. So, it was a bit of a shock when Farid was born less than a minute after Antonia, weighing 8 pound 12 ounces. Both had jet black hair. Antonia had ocean blue eyes and Farid had chocolate brown eyes. Antonia was instantly daddy’s little princess. He vowed that he would protect her until his last breath.“My little prince. I vow to protect you from all the false beauties and to guide you on this road they call life. In return, I ask that you watch over your sister, no matter how annoying she may be,” he gurgled. I smiled. “I take that as your acceptance to our little deal,” I said, placing a kiss on his head.“Thank you, m
Gio“I’m sorry, what?”“I’m pregnant,” Ana whispered again.“Thank you for your call, Teressa. Have a nice day,” I said before I ended the call.“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Tears trickled down her cheeks.“What are you sorry for? You are going to have our baby. Does Lileth and Julian know?” she shook her head. “Please don’t cry, bambalina. I have noticed that you haven’t been yourself since Toni died but, I didn’t want to say anything just in case it was just from recent events.” I pulled her into my lap and kissed her with so much passion that it pulled her out of her shocked state/“You’re not mad?”“Why would I be mad? There is never a perfect time to have a baby and no matter how much you plan and prepare, you will never be prepared either but, you have an excellent support team. OMG! Lileth is going to be over the moon,” I chuckled, and she giggled.‘Knock! Knock!’“Boss, doc is here to see miss Ana.”“Thank you, Francesco,” I answered. “Come on, let’s get you into some
GioI couldn't believe that Ana and I were married. I smiled as I looked at my wife asleep next to me in our bed. My phone beeped with a text message.'Mr Bellomo, your order is complete and ready for collection. Should you wish to arrange delivery, please give us a call.'With everything going on, I had forgotten it's her birthday tomorrow. A party is out of the question due to recent events but I will make sure she celebrates it in some way, shape or form. I got dressed and headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for my wife to eat on bed.After making a mess in the kitchen, I headed back to our room, breakfast in hand. Placing the tray on the side table, I climbed onto the bed and kissed my beautiful wife to wake her up."Ana, sweetheart. Time to wake up. I made you breakfast.""Mmmm," Ana stretched and smiled at me. "Good morning, husband." Those words sounded amazing coming out of her mouth."Good morning, wife," I replied, kissing her."Did you make much of a mess?" S
BiancaIt was the morning of the wedding. I was in charge of making sure the women were ready on time, including the brief but, I couldn’t find her.“Lileth!” I bellowed.“Yes, Bianca. What can I help you with?”“Have you seen Ana? I can’t find her. I know she didn’t stay with Gio, and I have checked the spare rooms. No one has seen her. Before you ask, no, I didn’t say anything to Gio about her being missing.”“Well, there are only 2 places that I can think of that she might be,” Lileth said. Damn it woman, now is not the time for games.“Which are?” I pushed.“Her house or Antonio’s room.” Of course. Why didn’t I think of the obvious. I made my way to Toni’s room and there she was, sat in the nook by the window, holding a letter.“Ana, I have been looking all over for you.” I walked towards her and could see that she had been crying again. “Nope. Not happening today. Today is going to be a happy day. Toni would kick my ass if it’s not,” Ana chuckled. “What do you have there?
LilethDoc did an amazing job patching the bullet wound in Toni’s head. I brought his favourite blue suite, crisp white shirt, polished shoes and everything else over when doc called.“Lileth. He’s ready to be dressed,” doc said as he exited the autopsy room. I nod and follow him into the family room. A comforting aura in this room. Julian, Lans and I got him dressed and styled his hair. “Even in death, he wears a goofy smile on his face,” Julian chuckled.“I suppose you’re right,” I giggled. “That’s what made him, him. Serious when the situation called for it but a little scallywag at times.” I couldn’t help but smile at the memories of his prankster ways growing up. We all had good and bad memories of Antonio from the number of years that we have worked in the family and when Ana is ready, we will tell them all to her.We had just placed Antonio into the casket when Gio came into the room.“Where’s Ana?” I asked.“She’s outside the door freaking out right now. Is there any w
Oriana I was so exhausted. Why Toni? What have I done in my life that was so bad that bad things keep happening to me? I felt numb, empty. I wanted someone to come and say that he’s still alive and that it was all a prank. I was getting married tomorrow but my brother won’t be there to see me walk down the aisle. He would’ve been my first dance after Gio and instead of the traditional father daughter dance. I hadn’t told him that bit; it was going to be a surprise. I had already spoken to Alessia to fit it into the plans. I should be happy right now and getting ready for my hen party, as they called it here but, I just didn’t want to go. I would feel better is they carried on with the party without me. I locked myself in my room and cried until I fell asleep. I woke up and repeated the routine. With a deep sigh, I got up and headed for the shower. As the water cascaded over my body, the memories of Toni’s goofy behaviour flooded my mind. The way I scared him after mastering my ghost
OrianaI watched as they walked around the garden, placing the bouquet by the door ready for when Leo wanted to give it to Mia.“He’s made her cry. Do you think they are happy tears or sad, because if it’s the latter, I am going to whoop his ass,” I fumed.“Calm down feisty one. There’s a lot going on and it looks like she’s taken my advice and told him.”“Told him what?” Now I needed to know. He had better not fob me off or I will whoop his ass and withhold sex for a week.“Her husband died a year before Bella. She was there, training, that night,” Gio explained.“Oh, no. They have both experienced the same tragedy. I hope things work out for them.” Wow. I really feel bad for them.“Come on, lets give them some privacy. There’s no chance of Leo escaping, Lans has it covered,” he smiled.“So, what do you have in mind?”“How about a shower?”“With you? How could I refuse.” We headed towards the stairs.“Gio!” bellowed a screamed. WTF! We both ran towards the voice. Lileth wa
Gio Ana, actually true to her word, found someone who would be able to help Leo with this cancer. I was beyond proud of her. She may have also gone one step further and found someone who has reignited the spark he once had when Bella was alive but, only time will tell. Since the second opinion, Leo has been acting like a different person. I was still a little cautious around him as his new positive attitude was confusing. "Leo, good morning. How are you feeling today?" I asked as I entered his room. "All good, thanks, Gio. Oh! I want to get Ana a gift to say thank you for finding Mia. She has given my life purpose again," he smiled. I chuckled lightly. "There's no need for that. Maybe just tell her how thankful you are. She will be by later with Mia," he nodded. "Then I will do just that." A few hours later, Ana asked me to accompany her and Mia to the room. "I thought everything was going good. Why do you both look so glum?" This couldn't be good. "Please, just come with us?"
Sakalans “Lileth, is Lans around?” “You should know that he is never that far away,” my mother chuckled. I made my way to the room Oriana was staying in and knocked on the door. “Come in,” she called. She looked breath-taking as she stood there in Maria’s dress. “I was wondering if you would both do me the honour?” OMG! What should I say to that? My mother was shocked at her request too from the expression on her face. We remained silent. “Please, say something. You’re freaking me out right now,” she pleaded and was very close to tears. I looked at my mother and nodded my head and she the same. “It would be an honour,” I said. The dams burst as she flung her arms around me. I hugged her back of course. “Oh, um, it will only be part way as there’s someone else, I need to ask,” she looked so shy. “I would be honoured,” came a voice. We all laughed. “Thank you, Julian,” she responded, smiling. There was still so much work to do so that the wedding can take place. I have arranged s