The Emancipation of Tune | Volume 1 | [Completed]

96th piece: ILYSB

The song for this heart-melting, scream-triggering chapter is ILYSB by Lany. This is the stripped version so please listen to it with the link provided above. Definiteky recommended to listen to it. It connects to the chapter  deeply. Happy reading!

And you need to know
You're the only one, alright... alright
And you need to know
That you keep me up all night, all night
Oh, my heart hurts so good
I love you, babe, so bad, so bad
~ Lany

Caralei Romano

The day after Montessoro went home, Dad was also allowed to go home. His doctors would just come in our house to check him up. Also, one reason of him getting home earlier than expected was the fact that Montessoro’s father was finally caught. We had to take extra security measures since we were still cautious about his accomplice especially Tom. Everybody was tense until we got home and secured our house.
“Are you okay, dad?” I asked my dad whom I have been sticking with like glue for days. He smiled at me, with wrinkles forming at the corner of her eyes.
“I am perfectly fine now, my dear. Don’t you worry. Your dad is strong.” He said patting my hand which was linked on his arm.
“I want to rest though. I miss my bed.”
“Okay. Will you be alright being alone in there?” He chuckled as I asked him questions as if I was his mother. He had pointed out yesterday that I was acting like his mother when I took care of him, with so many questions and so many things I have been doing for him to get comfortable.
“Caralei? I. Am. Fine. I am a big man and one heart attack won’t make my knees weak. I’ll only sleep. Aida and the others will check up on me. Go rest, dear. You need it. or if you don’t want to rest, just try to relax, okay?” He patted my head before hugging me.
“It will be over soon.” He whispered at me, giving me comfort.
“Yes, dad.” I replied softly before he took a step back.
“I’ll be in my room.” I informed him before Aida and the others followed him to his room. He took one last look at me before he entered his room. I looked around the room, silence enveloping me. So much had happened in just a year and it has still not ended. With a deep breath, I carried my bag and went to my room. My room was tidy and everything was in its place. Not a speck of dust can be seen and I wondered how Aida could pull off such  a wonderful job in cleaning the house thoroughly then she can make it to the hospital in a short period of time. I love Aida so much. She’s been with us for a long time now. She had helped me through every problem I find difficult to solve alone and she’s been with us, helping and keeping the house in order when we’re not around. I dropped my bag and crashed on my bed with a groan. My mind drifted to Montessoro whom I have not seen in a day. I miss him. I fished my phone out of my pocket and texted him.

Me:
Hey. Just got home. How are you?

I sent the text and dropped my phone on my stomach, waiting for his reply. A second or two later, he replied.

Montessoro:
Hello, love. I’m good. I miss you. Can I see you?

My heart did a double- flip just reading his words. I have told myself over and over not to fall for his charming smiles and sweet words but every time he talked, I’m drawn in him.

Me:
Yes. Where do you want to meet?

Montessoro:
I was thinking maybe I can come and pick you up and come here in my house. Is that okay?

I thought about it for a moment. It won’t be bad to go there now that we were protected. I texted Ermanno.

Me:
I am going to Montessoro’s house now. You can come.


Mr. Ermanno:
Okay. Security B will be with you the whole time. They won’t cross the line and will let you two have some privacy.

I smiled at Ermanno’s text. It was as if he had read my mind.

Me:
Thank you, Ermanno.

Mr. Ermanno:
You’re welcome, miss.

I went back to texting Montessoro.

Me:
Okay. I’m good with that. My security team will be with me tho.

Montessoro:
That’s okay. They will love my new upgrades. I’ll be there in a few minutes. ;)

Me:
You’re driving?

Montessoro:
Yeah. Doc has cleared me to do things like driving.

Me:
Okay. Be careful.


Montessoro:
Yes, I will, love.


I jumped out of my bed and rushed to my closet to change my clothes. I grabbed denim shorts, pastel pink t shirt and white sneakers and changed. When I was done, I combed my hair and put it in a ponytail. I didn’t bother putting effort on make-up. I must love myself. That’s what Montessoro likes. I only put a little amount of bush and some lip gloss and I was good to go. I changed my bag into a small brown sling bag and put my wallet and phone in there plus my lip gloss.

I was checking myself whether I looked good when a knock on my door interrupted me. I opened it and Ermanno appeared on my sight.
“Hello miss. Are you ready to go?” He greeted with a smile.
“Yes. Is Montessoro here?” I have not heard him blow his horn.
“He’s still not there but I just want to introduce you to the people who would be there with you.”
“Oh! Okay.” I got out of room and closed my room. The team was waiting for me in the living room. They were five of them.
“Uhm… Isn’t this a bit too much?” I whispered to Ermanno and he shook his head.
“No. We even had to tone it down. Originally, we wanted you to have ten people guarding you but people might suspect so we reduced it to five. Let me introduce you to them.” He said and he started to present the team to me. Two women and three men composed the team, each of them have the kind of physique that screams that they can protect and kick ass. The two women have fit body; one was serious while the other one was smiling at me. I waved at them. The serious one’s name was Daisy. Huh. Ironic. A beautiful flower giving sunshine to those who sees it but she’s not giving the vibe that she would be throwing flower petals and dance under the sun soon. I guess she really takes her job seriously. The other one, the one with a sweet smile, was Malia. These two looked identical with their copper- colored hair, black eyes and straight noses. They were even in the same height. The only difference I can make out of them right now was that Malia was naturally tan while Daisy had fair skin. The three men were big with thickset build. The one with white hair dusted on his hair and his beard was called Buddy. The other one younger with jet- black hair that was in a military cut. His name was Brandy. The third man was named Ban and he was the scariest looking within the group. It was like a frown was permanently etched on his face and his posture was rigid.
“Nice to meet you all.” I said shaking their hands one by one. They all replied politely and when I was at Ban, he held my hand with his big hands and promised me to protect me at all cost. Gosh! This man really has his mind set on this. I was nervous at first just looking at them with their uniformed black suits and intercoms attached to them, hidden on their pockets. Damn. Ermanno put our security up the notch.
“Thank you very much for giving your service.”
“We’re honored, Miss Caralei.” Daisy replied.
“Okay. Now that you know each other, I want you to know something important Miss.” Ermanno turned to me.
“If you ever have an emergency and you lost them or something happened that you cannot shout or get their attention, just press your phone for two seconds and an automatic notification will be sent to them.” He said pointing at my phone on my bag.
“The code will be DM the @bees.” Ermanno finished instructing me. I gave him a confused look at the last sentence he had spoken to me.
“DM the what?”
“DM the @bees, miss. If they ever hack your phone which could be 99% percent impossible since we hired the best tech people to protect you from being tapped, they would just assume that this message will be for your social media. DM means Daisy and Malia and the bees would be these three men right here with their three names all starting at the letter B.”
“Cool. That is a great plan. What if I lost my phone?” He nodded at Buddy who pulled out a thin watch in his pocket. It was one of the most expensive watches in the world! Oh my God!
“Are you really sure you intend to protect me or are you trying to put a spotlight on me for thieves to come attack me?” I said as the diamond- encrusted watch was given to me. I carefully examined the rose gold masterpiece. It’s beautiful.
“Well, that is not one of those watches you buy for a limited time.”
“A fake?” I assumed but they quickly shook their heads.
“No, ma’am. That is an original watch but what Mr. Ermanno meant was that the watch you have in your hands has been modified to fit with your security needs. If you are in a case of emergency and you cannot reach us. Press the small button in the right side of the watch. It will automatically send a notif to us immediately.” Brandy explained. Smart guy. I like him.
“Explain why you are not in my team in my company?” I said and they all broke into laughter. Even Daisy smiled!
“Because I am better with protecting people, miss.” Brandy simply answered. I nodded at him in respect.
“Okay.” Then, a blow of a horn was heard and I beamed up.
“That would be Montessoro.” They all nodded and they quietly went out of the house.
“Be careful, miss. Although you have the best people to guard you, you mustn’t let your guard down.”
“I won’t.” I reassured Ermanno that I would be fine. The door opened and Montessoro entered in denim jeans and white v- neck shirt. My heart dropped at the handsome man before me. he was smiling at me as he approached and when he did, I hugged him instantly.
“Hey Caralei. Hello Mr. Ermanno.” He greeted the man beside me.
“You two know each other?”
“We have come to know each other after what had happened.” Ermanno explained before he shook hands with him.
“Okay. I have to go now. Be careful, you two.”
“We will. Thanks!” Montessoro bade goodbye to him.
“Where’s your father?” He asked as he scanned the room.
“He’s in his room sleeping. He wanted to rest.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll come and visit him next time then. Are you ready?” He asked intertwining our hands together, his hands fitting perfectly with mine. I love the feeling of him holding my hand. I felt secured… protected… safe.
“Yes.” He grinned.
“Let’s go!”

The impressive high class technology installed in Montessoro’s house made my jaw drop the moment we entered. His door was now different. It was made with glass but that wasn’t it. It was a thick set of glass and to enter his house, he had to open two doors, each has a scanner for any weapon or harmful object.
“Wow.” My mouth was still hanging open as we walked inside his home. I looked back at the new double set of doors, hearing the whirring sound of it locking. My team was even looking at each other in astonishment at what they have seen.
“Bulletproof doors with security features installed inside them to defend any attack.” Montessoro spoke with pride. He placed his hand on my back and guided me to the living room.
“H-how did you even pull this off in a short amount of time?” I asked. There was something different in his house but I cannot pinpoint what it was.
“I have my computer, AI plus my team to work while I was in the hospital. Can't forget mom for helping me also.”
“You are workaholic.” He just chuckled at my comment.
“You can hang out here or go out to look around. My team is around somewhere.” He spoke to my team and they all excused themselves and began to look around his home.
“The doors that you can’t open are strictly off limits tho!” He added quickly and they all yelled a ‘we got it!’.
“Now I can have you all by myself.” He whispered in my ear before kissing my neck. A shiver traveled down my spine and I had to hold him by the arm to keep myself steady.
“What are we going to do? Where are we going?” I asked curiously and a suggestive look lit his gray eyes.
“Are you seriously asking me that? If I tell you what I want us to do, would you agree?” His eyes swirled with playful tease but there was darkness in them I wanted to plunge in because I know pleasure was in it.
“Not that! No!” I slapped him as he wiggled his brows at me.
“But I miss you.” He pouted before wrapping his arms around my waist and pulled me closer than ever. I did the same and looked at him.
“What about we watch a movie and just chill? Is that okay? We need to relax.” He smiled, nodding before kissing my cheek.
“Okay. I’m down with that as long as I have you.” He said before pulling me to his room excitedly.
We were half way through the movie and we were in our third bowl of chips. The air was comfortable and warm. I was leaning back on his shoulder much to his protest because he wanted me to lie on his chest with his legs trapping me but I told him I didn’t want to hurt him so he compromised and we were lying side by side with my head on his shoulder and my arm hooked on his arm. I was searching for the bowl while watching American Made when I found my hand holding Montessoro’s hand instead. I looked up to him and his eyes were soft and amorous. My breath was caught finding it hard to breathe with his hot gaze.
“What is it?” I asked in a whisper, my attention to the movie dissipating, replaced by him. him only. He squeezed my hand before lacing our fingers together. I looked at our intertwined hands then looked back at him.
“What?” I asked curiously, my heart beating fast and pounding hard. My throat got dry as he leaned in and kissed my forehead long enough to question whether this was a dream or not. His hooded eyes came in sight as he leaned back.
“I’m so lucky to have you.” He breathed out before pulling me into a hug. I froze for a second, surprised by his actions and words before cuddling with him. He reached for the bowl and put it aside before blanketing me with his body, hugging me tightly with his nose pressed against my neck.
“Is there something wrong, Montessoro?” My voice was soft and weak as he traced my skin with his calloused fingers. His touch ignited fire within me as he continued to whisper sweet words to me. I shivered at the wonderful feeling of our skin against each other, rough hands against my soft body.
“I met him him today.” His voice got hard with the information he gave.
“Montessoro.” I breathed out and clutched his shirt.
“I don’t want to lose you, Cara. What happened to me was an eye- opener. I don’t want to die. I didn’t want to die because I thought of you.” He kissed my neck again making me gasp.
“I had monsters under my bed and I let them knowing I will always walk out with just a few scars. I let them before because I knew I had nothing to lose but… God! When you came into my life, everything changed. You made me fight those monsters away. You made me fight whom I fear most…” He continued, his voice hoarse and slightly muffled due to the fact that he still had his face buried on my neck.
“I am very proud of you, Montessoro. You defended yourself from your own father. If I had known that you were getting hurt by your own dad, I could have been there and helped you.” As I spoke, his embrace went tighter.
“We fight our own monsters, Caralei. I fought mine and finally, he’s in prison paying for his crimes. How could I ever have won over him without you? You’re my strength. You make me fight when I could have cared less with his bullshit.”
“You can fight your monsters even when I am not with you.” He shook his head, desperately disagreeing me followed by a string of “no” from him. Before I can speak, I felt something wet trail down my shoulder to my back. He took a deep breath before he sobbed. He’s… he’s crying. My heart broke at the feeling of his tears falling and his heart breaking. It was hard for him to do what he had to do to his father. He cared for him but at the same time, he had to do what was right. I knew he cared for him. He still cared for no matter what happens, he’s still his father. I rubbed his back comforting him, whispering to him that it was okay. It will be okay.
“What you did was the only thing you can do to protect yourself, Montessoro. It’s not your fault.”
“I didn’t give a shit before but I realized how I wanted to care for you and for myself when you came back. You gave me hope and I did everything I could to be better. I have done horrible things, Cara. But this is the worst. I did not only hurt him, I put him in jail now.” His voice was a voice of a broken angel and all I wanted to do was heal him.
“You do realize how important you are to me, right? You are important to me. I almost lost you. I didn’t want to die when I was bleeding out to death. For the first time in my life, I was afraid to die.” He admitted and I had to pull back to prevent him from drowning from his own tears.
“Hush, Montessoro. It’s alright. It’s going to be okay. I am here for you.” I spoke softly to him, wiping his tears that had painted across his reddish broken beautiful face. His eyebrows furrowed and closed his eyes.
“I fought death for you.” My fingers stopped wiping his tears as he spoke those words in a whisper before dropping his head low.
“M-monte-I-I…” I was speechless, my heart exploding as his words echoed across the room even though he only whispered.
“You make me want to live fully. You made me realize that I am not bounded by anyone’s standards. What you did years ago slapped the hell out of me with that so that’s what I did. When you came back to me, you made me learn to fight my battles because you are the strongest person I have ever known, Cara. You made me realize that you can fight your own monsters. I’m so lucky to have you. I don’t deserve that, I know-” I didn’t want to let him finish for all his words were shooting my heart with love and admiration for him. I swung my leg across his legs and straddled him. I held his face and kissed his lips softly. More tears fell out of his eyes and he looked at me with those wet stormy gray eyes of his. His eyes held so many emotions; pain, regret, love, and understanding. A mix of emotions collided within us, breaking our barriers but I knew we’re breaking our barriers for us to build the strongest foundation for us to stand together.
“Please let me finish, Cara.” His confessions for me was coming in like tidal waves, unrelenting and a force to be reckoned with. I nodded with a small ‘okay’ at him for him to continue and I again drowned into his feelings for me.
“I don’t deserve you for all that I have been and all that I am now but God forgive me for being selfish. I want you. I need you and I don’t know what to do without you now.” His voice cracked, in pain and I kept on wiping his tears. How could a man who has everything cry in front of a woman, confessing his love her? A tear slipped out from my eye, joning him as he cried. My heart squeezed so tight it was hard for me to breathe. Overwhelming feelings flooded us and none of us was going to stop it.
“You made me free, my love.” He said before hugging me tight, his head resting on my chest. I stroke his head and let him feel that he’s not alone and I will be here with him every step of the way.
“You also made me free, Montessoro. You came back into my life bringing happiness, laughter and hope. I won’t also forget your music. You made me free with your own ways.” I spoke and he looked up at me, his eyes now shining, happy to hear those words from me. He brushed a strand of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear and cupped my face. We looked at each other, diving into the depths of our souls and hearts matching together, being tied by the red string of love. I have fallen in love with him and it would be a matter of time before I admit that I love him. But for now, I wanted to know him more and make us heal from the wounds we have due to the battles we face. I am afraid now that I won’t face my battles alone. I have him and like me to him, he’s my strength and also my weakness. He tilted my face down to him and met his lips with mine. It was tender at first, almost a whisper of a kiss and I wanted more of him. I leaned more to him and my soft lips danced with his. The sound of the movie we were watching was now muffled by our own sound of love, kisses and whispers of comfort, security and unconfessed love for each other. Tonight, I learned that the free- spirited man I have in my arms are bound by chains of his own demons and had been caged by his indecisions regarding his father. As we kissed more, tongues dancing and hands roaming across our bodies, I have come to realized that Montessoro is a bird whose wing was broken but was now healed and been emancipated from the cage he was once confined in. I love him with all the good and the bad.

AAAAAHHHH! My heart, you guys! I think it is about to explode. I love writing this chapter so much because finally, they confessed what they wanted to tell each other for a long time. Plus not only words did they express their feelings but also in a physical manner. Thoughts on this chapter? Comment them down below and I will gladly read and reply to them. I hope you liked this chapter. Please VOTE! Love you! 💖