Unbreakable Love

Chapter Thirty Eight

Two months later

I waited with bated breath for the verdict, vibrating with tension as Sergio bounced his knee beside me, our hands clasped together under the table. Nearly two months after we had been taken hostage and had burned the old mansion down, we had gone back to the penthouse as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. There had been a letter mailed to me that said that the next date for the trial had been set after careful consideration of the reappeal that I had filed. The court had obviously been monitoring Sergio until today, still thinking that he was a flight risk. But here we were, fucking finally, waiting - very impatiently, might I add - as the new jury looked on at us. It turned out that the judge had been anonymously tipped - thanks to yours truly - about Ralph's involvement in bribery regarding the jury members. The incriminating evidence had turned out to be true which resulted in Ralph's license to practice being revoked and consequently being banned for an indefinite period of time by the Bar Council. Rupert had also very conveniently lost all of his worth - mainly his huge house where he conducted less than legal activities, thanks to which he was now serving almost five years in prison.

All of this meant that Eleonora was no longer left with a lawyer, her reputation tarnished as a gold digger who had falsely accused her son of a crime he hadn't committed. All we needed was verbal confirmation from the judge now.

"Order in the courtroom." The sound of the gavel banging had everyone's attention on the judge as she cleared her throat. "Case CO224886 Agosta v Agosta. Defendant v Prosecution. After some discrepancies on the part of the jury as well as the prosecution, it has been proved that certain events had been altered very conveniently. Therefore, judgement notwithstanding verdict is applicable in the case, proving that the defendant is in fact, not guilty."

Whoops broke out in the courtroom as reporters panned their cameras around to us, pure joy on our faces.

"Case CO224886 Agosta v Agosta, has therefore, been closed." With that the judge stood up and left the room as silence reigned all around.

Right as the door closed, I latched onto Sergio, holding him tightly against me as I felt everything drain out of my body. All those months of hard work following disappointment had finally led to this. Success really did taste sweet.

"They're watching, mia gioia." He muttered in my ear, goosebumps dotting my arms.

"So let them." I pecked his lips lightly, his eyes twinkling in the bright room, those dimples threatening to melt my ovaries.

"We fucking did it!" Esme joined our embrace with a laugh as a chuckle slipped past my mouth.

"We fucking did it." I repeated with a smile as I turned to hug my boss, my confidant and my best friend all in one.

Esme hadn't initially been too enthusiastic when I'd officially told her about Sergio and I's relationship following the kidnapping. But she'd come around eventually after seeing us both together and suddenly claiming that she had always known that there was a spark between us. We'd told her all about Luca and his betrayal, leaving out the part about Abramo. She'd been shocked and a little guilty to have easily believed him to get Sergio out instead of her. But I'd assured her that it was fine and nobody had seen his betrayal coming. The past was in the past now. What mattered was what happened moving forward.

Sergio had had a lot on his plate since then though, what with having to deal with the aftermath of the deaths of the three men as well as appointing new, more trustworthy men by his side. It hadn't been easy, in the least. But we were getting there.

Sergio and I walked out hand in hand, the rest of my team regrouping and deciding how to celebrate today's victory. We ignored the questions that the reporters shot at us, letting them speculate instead. I wouldn't be surprised if news of us getting together and kissing in public would be splashed across tomorrow's front page.

Sunlight beamed on our faces as we finally made our way outside, waving to the rest of the journalists and their teams that had been waiting outside. We said our quick goodbyes to Esme and everyone else, promising to meet them later for drinks. Right now, we just wanted to celebrate by ourselves though. My head swam with happiness, the taste of victory still on my tongue as we got in the car that was waiting for us, one of the newer men that Sergio had recruited in the driver's seat.

Sergio took my hand and kissed my knuckles as butterflies erupted in my stomach.

"You did it."

"We did it." I corrected as I leaned in to kiss him, our tongues tangling in a passion of heat and fire.

"I uh actually wanted to ask you something." Sergio muttered nervously as he rubbed the side of his jaw, nervousness clear on his face.

"What is it?" I asked patiently with a smile on my face.

"I was wondering if you'd like to move in with me. Back home in Italy. It's totally okay if you don't want to, though. No pressure. We can -" I stopped his rambling as I cupped his face, those whiskey colored eyes roaming over my face.

"I would love that. It's where our story actually started, no?"

"But you're okay with leaving your job here? Vittoria and your friends?"

Mum and I had made up right after the kidnapping incident when I'd reached out to her, letting her know what had happened. She'd spent the next hour crying and apologising to which I'd just hugged her and let her know that it was alright. We could move past it. Our relationship as mother and daughter had only gotten stronger since then. She's even left her job at the shitty bar she'd worked in and had called me just two days ago to tell me that she had started seeing a guy a while back. And it made me happy. So happy to see my mum find love, just as I had. She deserved it after so many years of struggling and raising me as a single parent. In fact, I was going to meet him next week since we'd decided to do brunch at a little cafe near Mum's new apartment, courtesy of Sergio. And that was another thing. A development of sorts. Mum had warmed up real quick to Sergio, apologising to him as well for holding her past regrets and mistakes against him. She even told us stories of her and Sebas from time to time.

"Like I've said before, I will follow you anywhere you go, Gio. Besides, I've been thinking that I need a little change myself. Going back to Palermo will be good for the both of us."

"You're serious?"

"As serious as I could be." He searched my face for something before finally nodding after seeing it there.

"We'll leave next month then. The house there is all ready for us. We just need to pack up everything here."

"Ti amo, Gio." I said, suddenly feeling emotional as Sergio squeezed my hand.

"You're it for me, mia gioia. Only you. For the rest of my life. Per sempre."

And somewhere in my heart, I knew that the girl who had once been lost had finally found her way, her home with her very own whiskey eyed devil.

The saying was true, wasn't it? Love hurts. Love heals. Only this time around, it had healed me.

☆☆☆

IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER AJSJJSKSKSKKSKSKSKS😭😭😭😭 Epilogue will be up on Tuesday🥺❤️

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