Page 103 of Beautiful Devil

A few hours later, I feel my eyes start to get heavy again. I stand and stretch before deciding to lie on top of the bed beside Gia. Although it's far from comfortable, I fall asleep with a feeling of satisfaction and comfort just having Gia back in my arms. This moment cements the fact that Ican’tandwon’tgo another day without this woman willingly being by my side.

CHAPTER36

GIA

I hear a low,intermittent beeping sound as I start to wake up. My eyes feel heavy, like they’d been glued shut. I try to lift my hand to rub my eyes, and my arm feels like a dead weight. I slowly open my eyes before quickly squeezing them shut from being blinded by the bright lights in the room. I wait a couple of seconds before trying again. This time, I squint a little when I open them.

I look around to see I’m in a hospital room.

How the hell did I get here?

I see a machine to my left, assuming that's the one that's been making the beeping noises. I turn slowly to my right and see a sleeping Fabi on the chair beside the bed. I try to remember what happened and how I got here. Realization sinks in when it all comes rushing back to me.

Panic starts to slowly build in my stomach and tears start to pool in my eyes. Not realizing the tears falling from my eyes, I let out a strangled sob, lifting my heavy hand to cover my mouth. I try to hold myself together, but it's too late. Fabi jumps up in his chair and when he sees that I’m awake, his eyes almost pop out of his head. He stands and takes my face in his hands.

“You're awake,dolcezza. You’re awake. Oh,grazie Dio. How are you? Are you sore? Let me get the doctor,” he says, sounding frantic and…dare I say, happy?

Fabi reaches over and presses the red buzzer behind the bed. I try to speak, but my throat is dry and hoarse. I must have been out for a while.

I finally manage to croak out, “Drink.”

Fabi pours me a glass of water and helps me take a sip. The water feels so cool and refreshing. He looks deep into my eyes, a smile on his face as his free hand rests on my cheek.

“How are you,dolcezza?” he asks again while placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

I wince at the gesture, but can’t help the rush of warmth and the flurry of butterflies that erupts in my stomach.

I nod slowly and quietly say, “Sore. Tired.”

An angry flash runs across his face before it softens as he starts to stroke my cheek. He sits on the bed beside me and sets the glass of water on the bedside table.

“I can’t believe you're finally awake. You came back to me,gattina.”

I turn away from him as I remember all the pain I felt before I left the compound. The way he treated me, the way he made me feel, and how I felt so indispensable to him. I had to leave. I had to at least try and get my old life back. I should have known he would never let that happen. I’ve never had a say in anything since the second he took me away from everything.

“What’s wrong,dolcezza? I promise, those bastards will never hurt you ever again. For as long as I live, you’ll be safe,amore mio.”

Anger courses through me at his broken promises. He may think he can still fool me, but I know the truth about how he feels for me, and I won’t stand for it anymore, especially after what just happened. I’m done with men trying to dictate my life, especially men who don’t even love me.

Tears start falling down my face, and I can’t help the sob that breaks free. It’s been bottled up for I don’t know how long now, and I don’t even have the time or decency to process this in private. I have to have this little breakdown in front of myhusband.

Fabi reaches for my hand, and I quickly pull it away, causing every inch of my body to break out in pain. But I won’t let him see how much pain I’m in. At least physically.

“Don’t,” I choke out.

“You’re mad at me,dolcezza,” he says in an exasperated voice.

If I could laugh right now, I would, but I’m afraid of the pain it would cause. So, instead, I do the only thing I know best, mockery.

“You think? Boy, you’re a smart one. Look, let's just get this over with already. I’m sure you have much more important things to do and places to be. I need to get out of here and back to my life.”

I go to sit up, but I’m met with shooting pain in my head, shoulder, chest, ribs and abdomen. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck, multiple times.

Fabi is up out of his seat faster than someone who was just told they won a million dollars. “DOLCEZZA!”

I’m not sure if this is from the drugs that they have me on, but I swear I can hear a bit of fear and panic in his voice. His big, strong, warm hands wrap lightly around my biceps as he gently lays me back down in the hospital bed. After he gets me situated and does a quick once-over on me, his warm hands cup my face and his eyes ping-pong back and forth, looking into my eyes.

The door behind him opens, and a nurse walks in. Her eyes bulge when she notices I’m awake. Fabi turns to look at her, and she gives a tight smile before dropping her head and retreating from the room.

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