Mafia Marriage

XXVIII

"Laura, oh my God, Laura!" Giuliana exclaimed.

"I know," Laura nodded solemnly as if she were resigned to the way her life was with her husband. "He was in a particularly bad mood today."

"He's evil," Giuliana said. "He is completely evil."

"I know," Laura repeated softly as she found it increasingly difficult to stay standing.

"Come sit down," Giuliana directed, taking over the role of mother hen. She guided her cousin to the sofa in the living room and surveyed the damage and noticed a discarded baseball bat across the room. The glass coffee table was shattered and almost every framed picture in the room cracked. There was also blood on the carpet, most likely from Laura's wounds. "I thinks I need to take you to a hospital," Giuliana stated.

"No!" Laura tried to stand up but was overcome with dizziness and hurried to sit back down. "Please don't Giuliana, if Matteo finds out I went to the hospital it will only get worse. I'm fine, trust me, I've been through this before."

"Okay, okay," Giuliana backed off even though she disagreed. She wanted to push the idea of an ER visit, but she also didn't want Laura to pull away from her. As far as she knew, she was the only person whom had Laura reached out to.

"Let's get you cleaned up then," Giuliana helped the other woman stand up. When they were halfway up the stairs, Laura covered her mouth and barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up what little breakfast she had eaten prior to Matteo's outburst. Giuliana came up behind her and pulled her medium length hair into a ponytail and gently rubbed her back. After she was sure that she was done Laura slowly stood up and brushed her teeth, accepting the bottle of mouth wash from her cousin with a grateful nod. 

"I think you may have a concussion," Giuliana spoke up after a long silence. "I know a doctor that might be able to see you, he has his own clinic."

"I don't have any money to pay him," Laura confessed with tears blinding her vision. "Matteo took my debit cards and all of my cash before he left."

"He won't charge you, he works specially for the Graziano's," Giuliana explained. "He's a nice old man and he won't say anything. I've seen him a couple of times and he's a great doctor."

"Alright," Laura relented, "I just need to take a shower and get changed and then we can go." Giuliana picked out a pair of black leggings, an oversized white T-shirt, along with a long cardigan. It would be an easy outfit for Laura to change in and out of if Dr. Bianchi wanted to do a full physical examination, which was likely judging by the bruises on her face, arms and neck. Laura took a shower and got dressed while Giuliana cleaned up the broken glass in the living room.

A loud, aggressive knock sounded from the front door. Giuliana peeked between the living room curtains and saw a man in a suit standing there."Mrs. Ricci," the man knocked even harder and then repeatedly rang the doorbell. "Mrs. Ricci, open the door!"

Giuliana didn't hear Laura making any sound as if she were coming down to answer the door, so Giuliana opened it up just a fraction and peered out, "Can I help you?"

"Where is Mrs. Ricci?" The man was glaring down at her and braced his palm on the door as if he was preparing to barge his way into the house.

"She's upstairs, is there a reason why you're banging down the door?" Giuliana matched his scowl with one of her own.

"She isn't supposed to have any visitors outside of the Ricci family, she knows that, Matteo's orders. You need to leave, now!"

"What are you, Matteo's dog?" Giuliana sassed back, she knew it probably wasn't the smartest decision, but she also knew that if this man laid a hand on her Giovanni would be using him as target practice.