Page 140 of Married With Malice

That sounds nice. So very nice. But first there’s some confusion to sort through.

“Luca.” I swallow and grimace at the dryness in my throat. “How did you know where I was?” My words end with a series of wracking coughs.

He goes to the adjoining bathroom, fills a small glass with water and helps me take a few sips. The door to the room is open and distant voices echo. Most prominent among them is my mother’s and even though I can’t make out the words she’s saying, I’ve never heard her speak with such force.

Luca sets the glass down on a nightstand. This is my mother’s side of the bed where the only other items on the table are a small lamp and a framed photo of me and my sisters taken one long ago Easter Sunday. We are wearing identical white dresses and I couldn’t have been more than five. I stand between my sisters, glaring stubbornly at the camera rather than smile on demand. Beside me, Daisy smiles prettily while cradling a pink carnation. On my other side, Sabrina pouts and grips my hand.

I love that picture so much.

“Your mother called me,” Luca says. “She was able to give me the location of all the guards and explained how I could access the property without being seen. She let us into the house through the tunnel.”

“My mother? Did she really?” This news is so startling that I try to sit up.

Luca nods and gently eases me back to the cloud of pillows. “She begged me to come right away. She was terrified your father would hurt you.”

I snuggle close to him and ignore the pain. “I’m sorry you always have to play the rescuer. But thank you for coming for me.”

He kisses my forehead and strokes my hair. “Don’t you know that I’d go to the ends of the earth for you?” He kisses my lips, slowly and languidly. His breath mingles with mine. “My Annalisa. My love. My wife. My queen.”

Outside the room, my mother’s voice becomes louder. She’s giving orders to someone to keep the guards at their posts and not to allow anyone outside of immediate family to access the property until checking with her.

Giulia Messina Barone walks in with her head up and her eyes clear, unwilling to waste a single moment of anguish on the dead man who was her tormenter. The blood has been washed from her mouth and only a faintly swollen lower lip remains from my father’s cruel punch.

My mother was very young and very sheltered when she was forced into marriage and sent to another continent. She never had the chance to discover who she is or to pursue her own dreams. She was pushed into motherhood early and suffered for so long at the hands of a monster that she became a shadow in her own home.

It’s easy to find fault with people when you truly don’t know what it takes for them to wake up every morning. Maybe they are just managing the best way they can, no matter how inadequate their efforts might seem.

I’m beginning to regret what my mother and I have missed out on by failing to comprehend each other. Now I feel a surge of pure love for the woman I wish I’d known better all this time.

“Mama.” I reach for her.

Her face softens and she crawls over the bed to me. It’s a strange time to realize that I feel completely safe and loved as my father’s dead body lies in a room down the hall and I look like I just crawled out of a bar brawl. However, as I lie here flanked by my husband and my mother, this is exactly how I feel.

“The doctor will be here soon,” she says as she strokes my hair. “And your uncle’s plane is already crossing the ocean. Don’t worry about a thing except feeling better. Vittorio will deal with the mess.”

She gestures with general disgust. ‘The mess’, clearly, is her dead husband.

“Uncle Vittorio is coming?” I’m unsure if this is good news or bad news.

“Yes. Like I said, don’t you worry. My brother will take care of everything. I have spoken to the men outside. Sonny will speak to the rest of them. Your father had bad ideas. He’s gone now. And anyone who doesn’t want to end up on Vittorio’s bad side will listen.” Her eyes move to my husband. “Luca, what will your people say?”

Luca weighs the matter carefully before answering. “Even if Richie lives, I don’t see how anyone would be willing to cross Vittorio Messina, especially not after the bosses were decimated today. You can tell your brother that we have no interest in continuing this war.”

“You can tell him yourself.” She shrugs but then gives him a long, searching look that ends with a grudging nod of respect. “You did well today. And Annalisa loves you.”

“I love your daughter,” Luca says. “The day Anni married me was the luckiest day of my life. I adore her beyond words.”

My mother breaks into a smile. “My girls all deserve that kind of love.”

A sudden medley of voices breaks out downstairs. Daisy and Sabrina have arrived.

“Where the hell is Anni?” Sabrina shrieks. “ANNI!”

Daisy sounds more upset than I’ve ever heard her as she shouts, “Anni, where are you?”

“I’m up here! Mama’s room!”

“Monte, get the hell out of my way,” Sabrina commands grumpily, followed by the thunderous sound of my sisters running up the stairs to find me. I sure hope Sabrina doesn’t trip and fall in the melee. And I really wish they didn’t have to see me all banged up like this but I know I can’t keep them away.

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