Christopher held Elizabeth’s hand when the needle pierced her skin because she held on to her protest that she was ‘squeamish’. It would be suspicious if she kept on refusing, especially when the doctor began spewing the benefits of prenatal care and knowing one's state, so she did what she could: accepted and continued to gaslight him.
“So now what? do you want my medical history?”
“If you are offering, I will take it.”
Christopher finished as he watched the doctor seal the sample he had drawn.
“You D’Amico bastards. I bet you think that because your brother scored with my sister, you’ll trap me in the same way. I use double protection; I am nobody’s baby mama.”
“Mhn…”
Still, Elizabeth found that it was hard to gaslight an unresponsive person.
“How long until the results?”
Christopher asked.
“Just a few minutes.”
The doctor reassured her, and suddenly, her limbs began to shake.
“If I'm not pregnant, I want you to disappear from my life.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
He said.
“If you are, I want the baby- no, I’ll take the child, you are too… irresponsible.”
The word was a blow to her gut; it was as if all the air was knocked out of her lungs.
“I don’t need to hear that from a gangster. How dare you preach morals when you still have blood on your-.”
“Stop!”
Olivia’s cry echoed through the boat, forcing Elizabeth to rush to the window.
“What the- oh my god, your crazy wife jumped with Mari!”
Christopher stood from his position on the couch and walked out without a word. While Elizabeth wanted to rush out with him, her gaze lingered on her blood sample as the doctor slowly packed away his things.
It was an impulse, really…everything was. But still, she gave in to it and ran towards the older man, snatching his bag filled with medicine equipment, running to the railing and tossing it over the boat.
“I'm sorry…I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I will pay you back.”
She said the words, but to her surprise, the older man began to cry as he said things in Italian. She was the one who was pleading, but why was he the one on his knees?
‘He will kill me’ were the only words that she understood from his cries.
“No, he won't. He isn’t that unreasonable; I’ll say I tripped you.”
She urged, but the elder fell to his knees.
It was icky to have someone older kneel on his feet, so she fell with him, too.
No matter how much she told him she would take the blame, the man remained inconsolable.
What made it funny to Elizabeth was that he did not care about his medical equipment but his task.
Seriously, who would kill a person over such a thing as an accident?
When the commotion reached its climax, she urged the man to run with the emergency helicopters that were called if he was that afraid, and he did.
No doctor means no pregnancy test. Still, the solution was too temporary.
“Auntie!”
Luca fussed as he ran into her arms the second she arrived where the commotion was.
Scooping up the little boy, she kissed his cheek and lifted him so he could see his mother was being safely escorted.
The best solution was to leave tonight.
She realized as she placed Luca on the ground at his father’s beckoning. Luca escaped her at the same time. Olivia’s hollow gaze was staring at something beyond her, so she did the same. But the second she saw Christopher drag a body as if it were a mannequin before disappearing past the walls, a chill rose in her back.
“Are you coming?”
Matteo asked over the noise, and she shook her head.
“I’ll pack the things; you go ahead.”
While Daniel gave her a look, Matteo nodded and signalled for the pilot to head out.
Curiosity killed the cat; it was a saying she repeated to herself over and over with each step she took following Christopher.
In the scuffle between her and the doctor, her heels had come off, so she didn’t have to worry about sound, yet that didn’t stop her from being overly cautious as she leaned on the wall that hid her from Christopher.
She had hoped she was wrong, that he was actually dragging a mannequin, but it was Victoria, pale, wet and blue.
Is she even alive?
Unlike the other survivors who entered the water, she didn’t have a warm blanket or a medic to soothe her; it was like she wasn’t human.
While Christopher lit a cigar, two men wrapped chains on her feet. As if they never intended on mercy, one of the men slapped Victoria awake.
Each time the slapping sound echoed, Elizabeth flinched.
And her husband watched as if it had nothing to do with him.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the fourth slap that Victoria woke up.
To keep sound from leaving her lips, Elizabeth pressed her hands to her mouth.
She had seen enough; she wanted to run, but her legs wouldn’t move.
With a subtle cough, Victoria, whose hands were tied with a rope and legs bound by chains, examined her situation and chuckled coldly.
How can she laugh?
“So, this is how it ends. What a shitty marriage.”
“I was going to let you go. Divorce you and free you, but you…”
Christopher paused to suck in his cigar until his cheeks hollowed, then he let out the smoke, pointing it at Victoria.
“Keep leaving your filthy fingerprints everywhere.”
He finished.
“I don’t want to die…please. I’ll live quietly.”
“No, just die quietly.”
There was no hesitation in his response. Christopher flicked his barely smoked cigar and tossed it into the ocean.
“Throw her in.”
He issued the command, and her scream filled the salty and humid air.
“No! No! Please-”
Without batting an eye, his men lifted her body as if she weighed nothing and swung her off the yacht as she screamed.
Elizabeth’s legs gave in, dropping her to the cold floor.
The chains ensured that she would stay underwater; even a miracle couldn’t save her. Her only mercy was a shark.
The fear in Elizabeth’s stomach at the sight made her vision tremble.
It didn’t take her long to understand that she was witnessing someone's death.
It wasn’t until she realised she couldn't breathe that she grew aware that the hand that was on her mouth to prevent her from screaming was now blocking her nostrils.
‘I’ll take the child; you are too… irresponsible.’
Christopher’s words danced around her head, followed by the doctors
‘He’ll kill me, he will really kill me’.
Nausea washed over her.
Oh god…oh god….oh god…
She chanted inwardly over and over until a complete thought formed in her mind.
This was a D’Amico.
The man she had no manners and respect with …this was him.
The only reason she even got away with treating him like she did was because he was looking for Blair in her, but what happens when she stops resembling Blair?
If he can kill his wife…who the hell was she?
I need to run
The thought was so profound that even though her knees betrayed her, Elizabeth began to crawl away slowly.
A lifeboat…all she needed was a lifeboat; she would deal with the rest later.
As if the Gods heard her, the paramedic lifeboat lay abandoned and attached to the yacht’s hull.
~End of Bonus Story
Wait, wait, wait! Don’t stone me over the bonus ending. Hear me out!For my long-term readers or those who have read my previous works, you know my bonus stories never have a happy ending guaranteed. Sigh, why do you do this to yourself?Olivia and Matteo’s story is almost coming to an end, and these other nuts have problems that would need 50 more chapters to resolve; it is already hard enough to trust a man who has an affair on his wife, but add on to that he is still grieving for his mistress and as a cherry on top, the woman he is interested in witnessed him murder his own wife?That’s a tough cookie. ¯\(°_o)/¯Isn't that just dark romance, though?Hehe… (✿◡‿◡)Well, you know me; I love angst and red-flag male leads, so challenge accepted!I can’t write 50 bonus chapters, but I can add their story as a book two after Matteo x Olivia’s romance is completed. So if you would like to read their dark romance, which will contain non-consent warnings and lots of dark themes, because both
Matteo’s body was cold. He was already dry, so he knew the feeling of his hands and legs was in his head, caused by the fear that rocked through him seeing Olivia jump in the water.She wasn’t sane. She really wasn’t.He muttered to himself as he blew warm air into his hands and thumped his foot anxiously.The twins were in the paediatric section, and it was story time, so he was all alone outside Olivia’s room.“You can see her at any time, Mr. D’Amico.”The doctor who just left her room said, and finally, his legs, which felt as if they had melted to the ground, began to move.A pillow flew from the bed, hitting him square on the face before he had the chance to enter the room fully. "You sedated me."Olivia accused; the anger boiling in her veins was obvious, but given the pillow hadn’t hit him that hard, it was evident that she still hadn’t regained her strength."You were erratic.""My child needed me, you bastard!""I need you!"He yelled.He didn’t want to yell, especially at
Matteo’s back fills my vision as Christopher’s frame fills the room."What do you mean ‘where is Elizabeth’? Does that question make sense? I left her on the boat."I say as I stand from my position on the bed; even then, being shorter than Matteo, I still can't see the expression on Christopher’s face."You expect me to believe that you don't know where she is?"Christopher’s cold voice asks.“Matteo, lower your weapon.”I urge, but it's almost as if I haven’t said anything.“Believe what? Where is my sister?”“Oh, for God's sake, how long are we going to play this game? Are you a broken record? I know you went to a hospital and that she is pregnant.”“I am the one who is pregnant; Elizabeth was escorting me because I wanted to terminate the pregnancy. Why are you interrogating me like this? Where is Elizabeth?”I ask again but only silence follows my question.“Then…why? Why did she…”Christopher sighs.“She tossed my doctor’s equipment into the ocean.”Relief finds me in his confus
"I came to check on you. I heard that there was an accident with Daniel. I don’t know why I have to hear that from a family friend instead of my daughters, but I guess in my next life, I will have boys.”Mum says, clearing her throat and following it up with a fake cough as I walk to where she sits.My face is hot with embarrassment.The corners of my lips hurt, and so does the back of my throat; I can still feel him thrusting in my mouth.I have heavy lipstick on my mouth to cover any bruising from Matteo’s force, anything to get her to forget what she saw, including meeting at the hospital’s cafeteria instead of in the room.Seriously, who the hell would want to talk to their child in a room that reeked of sexAs per my request, Matteo stayed in my room, cleaning and airing the place because that’s where Marigold will sleep, as well as the men depart for the night.Shit, the entire thing was too spontaneous.Is it even okay to swallow cum when pregnant? I should ask the doctor."Yes
"No, my back is fine; I can handle cooking for the dinner potluck."Olivia says despite rubbing her lower back.The answer didn’t satisfy Matteo; there were a lot of things that didn’t satisfy Matteo these days, starting with her refusal to say the words ‘I love you’ and instead opting for ‘me too’ and the most pressing one, her kicking him out of their shared room and into the guest bedroom."Let me give you a back rub."" I said I'm fine; if you want to help, carry the baby and give birth when the time is right; otherwise, go buy them the cereals you promised because you threw them out."“They are just sugar in a box!”“And the kids like sugar, and happy kids equals happy mummy; now go!”Olivia said as she pointed to the door.He wanted to believe that it was all in his head, but Olivia had gotten grumpier by the day, and hence, he was scared to question her on the two topics that made him feel uncomfortable.The solution of getting a harness to lift the bump and ease her lower back
Brother...mother.I thought of the words over and over, wondering if the meaning had changed.Why couldn’t Matteo get a break from his family? It’s no doubt that they wanted money, but they abandoned him first. They have no right to his time or fortune.So why follow him?Desperation?With a sigh, I rest my back on the sofa as I watch the maids move food to the outside dining table.How do I soothe him?There was music and some shimmering light to lighten the ambience, but everything ‘family oriented’ feels lonely without Elizabeth. Was it the same for her when I was gone? "Your head seems far away. Are you okay?"Matteo asks as he slides his hand into mine.“What if your brother asks you for money?”It could be my imagination, but I feel as if Matteo’s lips twitched upward slightly at my question.“I thought you said we talk about this in the evening?”“I can’t help myself.”I answer and he presses a kiss to my lips."Olivia, why do you want me in the guest bedroom?"The question co
"I- hmm."Matteo begins speaking before he swallows his words.It's evident that he has never had to choose between family because his family has never been big enough.My hand squeezes his thigh from underneath the table, and he startles at the contact."He will support his family."I answer on his behalf."We are his family."Mum says, pressing me."Exactly, and Christopher is his family too. When the time comes, if the time comes, Matteo will make his decision, and there will not be consequences for following his heart.”I clarify, and Mum frowns.Matteo has a mother and half-brother, both want his money. Aside from me and the kids, his only other family is Christopher, while I have my family, friends and the occasional cousins once they are in the country.Unlike him, I have multiple people to run to, while he only has Christopher.A complicated expression forms on Matteo’s face before he speaks. "You mean that?”He asks."I do."“Even if I choose to help Christopher?”“Yes, even
“Your next marriage?”I ask, stunned by his blatant confidence.“You think Elizabeth will say yes?”“Yes.”He says softly, then reaches for something in his pocket: cigarettes and a lighter.After glancing at my belly, he shoves the pack back into his clothes, but the black lighter remains in his hand.“There aren’t enough guns in the world to threaten her to say yes-”“Do you honestly believe a gun is the scariest thing on earth?”Christopher says as he flicks the lighter on and off.“What is that supposed to mean?”“It means this and that are separate matters.”“Go to hell.”I whisper with ease before turning away from him.“Then at least tell me this; I dreamt that you and Blair sang ‘Wind Beneath My Wing’, and Blair’s mother also mentioned that she shared the same dream and that you said- ”“Stop talking!”I say, but the words sound like a cry tearing from my lips.If he had that dream then it means Blair forgives him. It means Blair wants him to be happy; it means Blair doesn’t w