•Nolani•
I tug a sports bra over my head and by the time it's covering my breasts I'm out of breath. I lean against the wall panting, rubbing a hand down my bare stomach. The bump so round now that I can't see my feet anymore. Six months pregnant and I feel huge, big enough my maternity clothes fit very well and I laugh at the thought of ever fitting in my prebaby clothes again. Getting dressed is a sport now, it takes way more endurance and energy than I have to give. And no one told me I'd constantly be so short of breath, it feels like I'm always trying to catch my breath it's crazy.
My pregnancy has went well so far except recently I've been spotting off and on. I thought Giovanni was going to have a heart attack when he met Angelo and I at Dr Gellar's office a few days ago, It's the first time I've ever seen him scared. Dr. Gellar checked me out and said I have placenta previa but only marginally so he's hopeful it will correct itself. I had no idea it was even a thing but he said it's more common with twin pregnancies. It's where the placenta covers the cervix but because mine is marginal it doesn't fully cover my cervix and usually fixes itself. If it doesn't resolve on its own I'll end up having a c-section. He told me to take it easy, try not to over exert myself and rest when I can. Ever since then Giovanni has been watching over me like a hawk, he hardly lets me out of his sight and has even resorted to bringing whatever business he's doing to his office here at the house. When he isn't watching over me it's Angelo.
I grab my leggings off the bed and take a seat on the mattress. I huff and puff until both feet are in the pant legs and then I stand, tugging the tight fabric up my legs.
"Ow... shit." I curse as I stub my toe on the bed in the process.
"What's wrong?" Angelo asks in alarm as he barges in the room.
Speak of the devil, or should I say the devils minion.
"I stubbed my toe, I'm fine." I huff as I finally tug my leggings up over my stomach.
He immediately turns around and gives me his back as if I'm naked. "I apologize. Mr. DeLuca was clear with his instructions, If I'm worried about you I have to check on you immediately."
"It's fine."
Angelo gives a nod with his back still facing me as he quickly exits my room and shuts the door behind him. I grab my phone, take a quick selfie and instead of editing it to death I post it straight to social media and tag the designer that sent it. This set is the most comfortable legging and sports bra combo I've ever worn, they deserve the recognition. The comments start immediately, it's crazy how fast my followers see my posts. Every time I post anything most of the comments are people begging for more pictures of Giovanni and I. I can only imagine the look he would give me if I asked so I haven't.
I walk through the house replying to comments as I make my way to the kitchen where Giovanni is seated at the table.
"Hello." I mutter to Giovanni, sitting my phone on the table and grabbing a glass from the cabinet.
"I think the twins have grown since I saw you this morning." He replies and I shoot him a glare over my shoulder as I fill my glass with water. His lips quirk playfully, not quite a smile but a sign that he's in a good mood.
"I'm not in the mood for comments about the size of my stomach." I snap grumpily.
My hormones have made my patience extremely thin and as proud as I am of my body for growing my babies I'm still slightly insecure of the size of my stomach. Jade got so mad when I admitted that to her, she told me I looked beautiful but I just... I feel weird, like my body isn't mine anymore.
Giovanni's lips purse. "I wasn't commenting on it negatively."
"Mhmm." I huff as I place my glass on the table.
Giovanni opens his mouth to reply but Nico walks in through the mud room and into the kitchen with a smirk on his lips. I grab an everything seasoned bagel from the plate in the center of the table and the cream cheese as his eyes run down my body in a quick sweep.
"Good morning, bellissima." Nico greets me.
(Bellissima: beautiful)
I shoot him a glare as I cut the bagel in half. Nico's fallen on my bad list. After Alessia admitted to being in love I started paying attention when we were all together. The guy she's in love with has to be Nico, he can't keep his eyes off her for more than a few seconds when she's around and I've seen her glancing at him too, although she does a much better job at hiding it than he does. I'm a little angry with him because he should be the one pushing Giovanni toward changing, he should be the one trying to convince his best friend that Alessia shouldn't marry a stranger and that he should be the one to marry her, if she wants to of course.
Nico let's out a short chuckle as he takes the seat by Giovanni. "What did you do now?" He asks his best friend.
One of the twins sends a painful jab into my ribs and I inhale a sharp breath, my free hand going to my side. "Ouch."
"What's wrong?" Giovanni asks alarmed but I can't even answer as I can barely breath through the pain. "Nolani, what is it?"
I had no idea a tiny body part being shoved into my ribs could hurt so much. I pinch my lips together as I round the table and grab his hand, pressing it into my side where Rafe or Rome is going crazy and then finally the baby moves away from my ribs.
"Oh my god, that hurt." I groan. "He was deep in my ribs. I swear one of them always has a body part in my ribs, they stay sore because of it." I complain.
Giovanni pulls his hand away, his wary eyes meeting mine. "Is that normal?"
"Yes." I grumble in annoyance, tears pricking my eyes as my hormones take control of my emotions anytime I'm anything other than happy.
"What's wrong now?"
"Nothing, stop asking that every five seconds!" I snap, covering my eyes as tears streak down my face. "Ugh!"
These hormones are going to kill me before this is over with. Death by pregnancy hormones, that's what my tombstone will read.
Strong arms wrap around me and I'm pulled into Giovanni's chest. I sob into his three thousand dollar suit, most likely ruining it with my makeup but I can't stop. Once the tears start I have to get them all out. He whispers to me in Italian and although I have no idea what he's saying it actually calms me down.
When I finally get myself under control I pull away. "You do know I have no idea what you said other than bambino's, right?" I ask, wiping the wet trails off my cheeks.
He gives a light laugh. "I'm aware."
I'm a little stunned over the laugh as he sits back down but before I can move away he lays his hand against my stomach and leans forward, his mouth hovering over my round bump. "Be nice in there." He murmurs in English and then talks to them in Italian.
His words are light and sweet and I wish, god I wish I knew what he was saying to them. The sound of his voice and the warm touch against my stomach has my heart racing. Guilt eats at me as I fight the urge to swoon. I cannot be swooning over the twins uncle!
He sits back in his seat and removes his hand so I go back to my side of the table, trying to get myself together. I take a seat and my attention goes to Nico who's staring intently at Giovanni. Nico raises his eyebrows and then his gaze meets mine.
"What?" I frown at him.
Giovanni shifts in his seat and Nico clears his throat. "Nothing."
Before I can question him further Riot enters the room dragging an unconscious man with him, blood smeared across his face. Giovanni and Nico jump up from the table.
"What are you doing, Riot?" Giovanni shouts and all I can do is stare at the unconscious man, the marks on his face, the blood soaked shirt he's wearing.
Riot shifts him and the movement reveals his bloody, busted knuckles.
"Caught him trying to scale the fence." Riot replies with a sinister smile, like he enjoys the situation.
Knowing him, he does.
His eyes meet mine like he can sense my fear and I steel my spine the best I can as the coppery stench of blood fills the room. It's thick in the air and has my stomach roiling painfully.
"Why would you bring him here?" Giovanni practically growls the question at his brother.
The unconscious man starts thrashing in Riots grasp before he can reply and as Riot reaches for it I notice there's a knife imbedded in the mans side. He jerks the blade from his body, blood spurts out of the wound and I can't help it I scream.
"Fuck, Angelo get her out of here!" Giovanni demands as Angelo comes running into the room.
I'm frozen to the spot as Angelo picks me up and carries me to my room.
Blood, all that blood just pouring from the open wound.
Black spots dance in my vision as he places me on the bed and the room spins. My heart pounds a loud rhythm in my ears and my chest aches as I gasp for breath. The last thing I hear is Angelo screaming Giovanni's name and then everything goes dark.
I come to with the sound of people speaking but I can't understand anything they're saying.
"I really need to learn Italian." I groan as I slowly open my eyes and meet Giovanni's gaze above me, absolute terror shining in the depths his amber eyes.
He's clutching my face in his warm hands, his attention focused solely on me. I feel something cold on my stomach and I wince at the sensation.
"Sorry." Leo mutters.
I rise up on my elbows, Giovanni's hands falling as I do, and my eyes widen at the sight of Giovanni's family filling the room. The only person missing is Riot. I freeze. Riot, the knife,— my stomach churns with nausea— the blood.
Leo placing something on my stomach pulls my attention away from Riot and back to him. He has a fetal doppler in his hands, he runs the wand across my stomach and then two fast whooshing noises breaks the silence. Rafe and Rome's heartbeats. Nearly everyone's shoulders sag in relief at the sound, including Giovanni. A weird noise comes over the speaker as the twins start wriggling, they're uncooperative at all their appointments lately. They do not like being spied on.
"What's going on?" I ask as Leo wipes my stomach clean before taking a step back.
Alessia tugs the band of my leggings back over my stomach and then Giovanni helps me sit up on the bed.
"You passed out." Giovanni answers finally.
My mind goes back to how I felt before everything went black. "I had a panic attack and passed out." I murmur the words in surprise.
It's been a long time since I had a panic attack, I used to have them all the time. I'd even busted my head on the concrete when I passed out after one when I was a teenager. I had to have ten stitches.
"Riot." I whisper his name, fear lacing the single word.
Giovanni clenches his jaw. "Will be dealt with, he should have never brought him here and he knows it."
"I... the knife and the blood." I stumble over my words, trying to make sense of my thoughts but they're a jumbled mess.
"Everyone out." Giovanni demands and the room clears quickly.
Leo is the last one to go, he gives me a smile just before he shuts the door behind him.
"Why did he do that?"
Giovanni sighs. "It's what he does, what he's good at. Riot was trying to get information out of him to see why he was trying to climb the fence."
"Did he find out why?" I ask cautiously.
"No but his Russian accent gives us more than enough information to go off of." He replies truthfully. "We have issues with the Russians."
"Could he have gotten over the fence?"
He runs a finger across his sharp jawline. "Of course but he wouldn't have made it further than that."
A shiver snakes it's way up my spine at the gleam in his eyes and my mouth snaps shut.
He must catch a flash of fear in my eyes, his brow dips and his lips purse. "You don't have to be scared of Riot, he would never lay a finger on you."
I'm not so sure about that. He looked directly at me when he dragged that man in this house, like he wanted me to see for myself what he could do. Since Giovanni had been taking his regular meetings in the house I imagine that would be Riots excuse for bringing him here.
Giovanni sighs. "I'm going to tell Mamma to cancel the baby shower."
"No!" I exclaim. "Don't do that, Giovanni!"
He shakes his head. "Tomorrow is too soon for you to be on your feet for hours entertaining guests after having a panic attack today. You need to rest."
"Do not cancel the shower." I plead.
"Nolani—"
"No! This is the one normal part of being pregnant that I actually get to enjoy, you will not take this from me!" I demand.
He can't. I should get this one thing. I won't let him take it from me.
He studies me for a moment before sighing again. "Fine but you'll stay off your feet tomorrow, the guests can come to you."
Since I'll most likely be wearing heels that's a deal I can easily agree to.
"Deal." I smile happily.
Giovanni gives me a weird look. "Your mood swings give me whip lash."
"Hey you should try being the one pumped with hormones, it's no walk in the park for me either." I huff.
He laughs at that and the sound rolls across my body in a wave of warmth.
The smile, so breathtaking, quickly fades as his facial expression grows serious. "Riot won't bring anyone else back here, okay?"
I nod silently although I'm not sure I truly believe that. I'll bet Riot enjoyed the reaction he got out of me and it wouldn't surprise me if he tried it again just to see if my reaction were the same a second time.
"You trust me, right?" He asks as he rises from the bed and offers me his hand.
I stare at the outstretched limb, my heart thumping heavily against my ribs, the twins not moving an inch as if they know that me taking his hand feels like more than him simply helping me off the bed. Is this what Stockholm syndrome feels like? Do people with Stockholm syndrome know they have it? One moment I'm fighting for a baby shower, the next he's asking if I trust him. Before I can second guess myself my hand meets his and he helps me up.
With my feet on the floor we're so close, only a breath away. It would be easy, so easy to rise up, lean forward and kiss him. See what his mouth tastes like, what it feels like when our lips brush one another's. A sharp kick below my belly button has me stepping to the side and clearing my throat. I feel Giovanni's eyes on me but I can't meet them as I slip around him and open the door.
——————————————
Hey babe's, I had this chapter written but scrapped it and re-wrote it. We're only 1-2 chapters away from the fuckery 😈
What do you think about Nolani's theory of Alessia and Nico?
What do you think about Riot bringing the Russian man to Giovanni's house?
Tell me all your theories!
Next update is Tuesday!
Follow me on IG @katgeeauthor for more content (links in my bio)! I post aesthetics, writing tips, book rec's, chapter sneak peeks, meme's, random pics/things about me, and more!
Comment. Vote. Follow.
Love youu🖤🖤
— Katy