Page 253 of Vita Mia

“Someone help me!” she screamed.

He could barely hold her. She was stronger than he remembered and he was weaker. His leg wasn’t much use to him now. But with his determined heart he brought her down to the deck floor as she screamed, thrashed and called for her men.

“Bella? My Bella. Please, open your eyes. Look at me.”

“You’re not real!” she screamed with her eyes shut. Her head turned left and right, back and forth. The tears kept coming. He looked up to see Dao and two of his trusted men come in as expected. They didn’t work for him. They wouldn’t obey him. They looked at her and him with alarm and had their guns ready. He shook his head no and pleaded with his eyes for them to leave.

Bella saw him staring and tried to lift her head to see them that stood behind her. “He’s not here! Help me! Get me some help! He’s not here!”

“She will be okay. I will take care of her, I have her.”

The men nodded and backed away.

“No! No! No! Don’t go! Help me! Please God don’t leave me.”

They turned and left. Mirabella was reduced to whimpers and hard shakes.

“I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy! This is not happening to me,” she kept repeating.

Giovanni held her head. He tried to calm her to talk to her but she wouldn’t be calmed. She went into shock. He picked her up. It was hard. His leg was a mangled mess from the near-death ambush. He couldn’t rely on it fully. But he summoned the strength to lift her into his arms and carried her inside. When the car went off the cliff with the two others, the explosion splintered the bodies of the hit men, and Carabinieri. They could never identify him from the other remains and ruled him dead.

“I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy,” she chanted under her breath and trembled in his arms. He was certain she was going into shock. To make matters worse she refused to open her eyes.

He laid her on the bed.

“Bella, shhhh,” he said and smoothed her hair from her face. “That’s right my Bella. You’re not crazy.”

Her eyes slowly opened. He smiled down at her. “You’re not crazycara,” he said and kissed her lips softly. “It’s me. I’m here.”

“You’re dead.”

“I’m not dead.”

“Yes you are. The doctors said this would happen. It’s my mind again. It’s the medication. They gave me the wrong medication. It’s not real...”

“Shhhh,” he pressed a kiss to her lips.

Mirabella shook her head in refusal.

“Relax for me.” Giovanni eased up beside her. She turned on her side away from him and shivered hard. He put his arm around her and held her close to him. The shock was to be expected, so he covered her and let her rest in his embrace.

Catalina screamed in disbelief when she saw him earlier that day. His men, those that remained under Dominic’s employment and could be trusted, were brought in and told the news with equal disbelief. But it was his Bella’s sanity that had taken years of horrific abuse. Dominic warned him that his resurrection could do more harm than good. He had to have faith. He relied on his faith.

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