Carlo

Chapter 56

Izzy smiles widely. "It's really pretty, can you do my hair for it?"

"I'd love to. Before the wedding I'll spend the night with you." I promise.

"I'd like that!" Izzy beams.

"We'll paint our nails and all of it."

"Watch movies too?" Izzy asks.

I nod my head and she squeals with ice cream in her mouth. I smile at her happiness and don't notice Carlo and Giovanni watching the two of us standing at the door frame.

Carlo walks up to me and kisses my nose then Izzy's head, "I like your tattoos." He whispers in my ear. He lifts up my baggy shirt delicately and looks at my back. "Are these my drawings?" I nod my head and he chuckles walking over to Giovanni once more.

After a while I look over and notice Giovanni speaking quietly to Carlo so that we can't hear and Carlo's eyes are locked on mine.

Carlo nods his head when Giovanni stops talking. "Let's go."

Izzy sticks her bottom lip out. "No!" She drags.

I kiss the top of her head. "We'll have our day don't worry." I get up from the seat and walk over to Carlo. We both wave goodbye and start walking towards the door, when Lexi comes stumbling off the stairs.

She looks at Carlo and smirks walking towards him, when she gets close I step in front of him and wrap my hand around her throat.

"Touch him or even look at him, and I'll break your neck." I tilt my head to the side. "Capisce?"

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CARLO POV:

Lexi's face turns red nearly purple and because Adelaide has full control on her neck she leans it back. Lexi immediately nods her head with a little restriction and Adelaide lets her go.

She grabs my hand and we walk out of the house, whilst walking to the car I bring her close to me and whisper in her ear. "That was hot Amore."

Adelaide rolls her eyes with a smile and I open her door for her. I get in my side and drive to the nearest fast food place.

Adelaide watches the stars in the sky without saying a word, with my hand on her thigh rubbing small circles.

I order some food and drive to a quiet spot on a mountain. We get out of the car and sit on the hood of the car, I bring the food out and put it on her lap. "Eat."

She ignores me and tilts her head up to the sky taking a deep breath of the cold breeze blowing against her face.

"Adelaide. Please eat something." I beg, looking at her side profile.

"I'll eat something later." She mumbles.

"No now!" I raise my voice slightly and she snaps her head to me.

"Can you stop? I'm not someone you can fix, don't make it your mission to help me just because you read a book I wrote in." She speaks with her voice calm but you can tell she's trying not to shout.

"I'm not trying to fix you. I'm trying to let you know I'm here for you."

She looks back up at the sky and I remove the food from her, she lets out a long breathe and becomes less stiff.

"Tell me." I look up at the stars too. "Tell me what they say to you. The voices."

There's a moment of silence until Adelaide starts whispering a long list. "Don't eat, they don't care, you're begging for attention, stop talking no one wants to listen to you, it's time to say goodbye, leave before you care."

Adelaide says more and I find myself listening carefully to what she has to say, the list carrying on and on and when she stops she looks over at me with water in her eyes.

"I'm trapped in my own mind. It's... it's too loud." She points to her head furiously tapping it. "They don't shut up. And when they do they come back harsher. You can't stop them. I can't stop them. I have to live with them. But I hate when they're silent because I don't know what they're up to."

"I never actually understood the true difference between being sad and being numb. I assumed they were both a painstaking, unfathomable, feeling of death. But after the world turned its back on me I finally understood every paralysing, excruciating thing it is to be numb. As a matter of fact it wasn't a feeling at all, it was a way of life." She lets a tear slip at her last words before wiping it away quickly and frustratedly.

I pull Adelaide onto my lap so she's straddling me and looking at me. "I can try make it better." I whisper with a voice crack.

Adelaide gives me a small, sad smile before looking up at the sky. "I'll be okay."

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