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Luca had expected himself to see red, to be blinded by rage, but instead, he just stood there.
He was so shocked, he didn't know what to do with himself.
His shoulders slumped, and they stayed in the room in silence, until a doctor came bursting in to drag Luca back to his room.
"You're a patient in my hospital, where I work. I get this is a tough situation, but you can not just tear out your IV. We have a duty, and please do not make this any harder."
They were right, but he was Luca Madden, the leader of the Canadian Mafia, the husband to the Italian princess, and there was no way he was going to be the one to receive orders.
He's the one who gives orders.
"Get your hands off me," he glared. "This is a warning, I don't care who you are. However, I know this isn't your hospital. You work here, that's it. Don't all high and mighty."
The doctor scoffs, "Allow us to examine you, and then, you can come back here."
"No. I'm not leaving, and If I was in actual danger, I wouldn't be standing right now. And if you desperately need to examine me, we can do it here."
There was no way he was going to take his eyes off her, not a chance.
Luca had to make sure she was safe, that she was finally going to be cared for.
He was also scared that if he would look away for a moment that she would just disappear.
+++++++++++
Stella wasn't exactly sure what time it was. All she really knew was that her body ached and her face was in pain.
Opening her eyes, she didn't recognize the room she was in. However, she did know it was a private room. All private rooms had a similar look and vibe to them.
She pushed herself until she could sit upright, and it took longer than she thought she would. Whatever that had happened to her, definitely fucked some things up.
It was dark outside from what she could see, and Tyler was in a fetal position, sleeping on the couch.
Stella slightly smiled at the thought that Tyler stayed. It was obvious he would stay, but every time, she always felt warm in her heart. She wasn't really sure why though, but she supposes it's the thought of someone caring enough to stay for her.
She knew that everyone close to her wouldn't have slept much knowing the condition she was in, so she decided it was best to not wake up anyone. She did her best, trying to pour herself a glass of water, but her arm was so weak, the pitcher ended up slipping out of her hands.
"Shit..."
And the water had splashed all over a guy's head. She couldn't tell, the window didn't do much for where she was sitting.
"Oh my god," Luca groaned, feeling the cold water drench his head, and his clothes becoming soaked.
This had woken up Tyler for sure.
"Thank fuck," Tyler said out loud while rushing towards Stella, after turning on the lights.
Tyler had engulfed Stella in a hug, making sure not to squeeze too tight in the areas she was injured. While she kept her eyes closed, trying to adjust to the brightness.
She rubbed her eyes a bit more after Tyler had let go of her and when she did, Luca stared at her, with tears in his eyes.
Happy, but also sad tears.
Luca did the same, an arm around her waist, another on her head, pulling it close to his body. And he kept his head near her hair, and everything of her still smelled like her. Stella had this scent that she carried. It wasn't a scent that you could buy at a store, though it definitely smelled like a luxury brand perfume.
He pulled away, putting his two hands, cupping her cheeks, expecting to see love in her eyes.
Nothing.
Luca saw nothing, but confusion as her eyebrows pulled together.
And then, a simple question shattered his heart.
"Do I know you?"
++++++++++
Stella walked slowly towards the window, while the others were outside her room arguing.
She cursed at herself for walking like a turtle. And upon looking outside, she wondered just exactly what the fuck went on because there was a Canadian flag hanging right outside.
They were not in New York but in Canada.
Luca had stormed out hearing her ask that. He scoffed and laughed to himself. "Do I know you?" That question was funny to him, in fact, he laughed historically the moment he left the room.
Tears were still in his eyes, as he turned around to see Stella's doctor. "You didn't fucking tell me she was going to lose her memories! How the hell does that even happen?!"
Tyler had to calm Luca down, as the doctors rushed by him, into Stella's room.
"Luca, you're going to calm down. Right now. Let the doctors do their jobs, and we'll get answers after because there was no way they could've known. She didn't have any damage to her brain."
The doctor and nurses did a full exam on her, asking the last date that she had remembered, what her full name was, checked her eyes, and her previous injuries.
And since Luca had calmed down, Tyler and him, both entered back into the room.
"This is not caused physically, it's more mentally. Her body had shut down during the incident as a defence mechanism. What had happened, took a toll on her, and her body thought the best way to recover was just to shut down and forget. This is temporary, and her memories will come back with time. At this moment, the only thing I can advise regarding this situation is to tell her what she has forgotten. But the good news is that she healing well, and in a couple of weeks, it will be like nothing had happened."
Tyler gave a nod as acknowledgment before the doctor had left the room.
Earlier when Luca had hugged Stella, she didn't want to push him away, though it was uncomfortable letting a stranger hug her. She knew how he felt without needing to look at him because she felt it while being in his embrace.
However, if he touched her again, she wouldn't think twice about breaking his arm.
"So," she sat down, "Update me...wait nope, I have one thing you have to answer first. Who the hell is he?"
"Your husband," Tyler calmly said.
Stella almost screamed, but she knew how to put on a calm composure. "My husband?"
He nodded.
"How? What the fuck? I'm 19. And there was no way I married someone."
Tyler put a hand up, telling her to zip it. "It's February 21st. You've been married to Luca for almost six months now. You got into this position because grandpa Rafael wrote a contract where you would marry Luca and there were no ways of getting you out. We didn't fight, and you didn't fight against it either. You staked your claim and your position."
Luca watched on the sidelines as Tyler explained everything that had happened through these past six months, refreshing her memory, but leaving out the more gruesome parts. Tyler knew it wasn't time to tell her.
But the only thing taking up his mind was the look on Stella's face when she realized she was married.
Was marriage such a bad thing?
And really, all he wanted to do was to feel her, to be able to just kiss her perfect lips.
He never took her kisses for granted, but he didn't realize he would lose it so soon.
"Luca, can you just leave the room for a moment. I'll let you know when you can come back in."
Stella kept her eyes on Luca's back as he left.
"After you're discharged, you have a choice. To move back to New York and divorce Luca, or you can stay with him. And I will follow whatever path you want to take," Tyler sighed, "I never thought I would be the one to say this, but that boy loves you, and I saw that you loved him. Maybe you don't love him right now, and that's is reasonable, but what I'm saying is, give it another go."
Tyler kissed her forehead, and before he left the room, he smiled and said, "I don't think you can find a better match than him. Weird right?"
And Stella knew Tyler wasn't referring to the fact that she was set up with her 'perfect match,' but the fact that it was weird he was saying this.
Tyler never would preach about a male, especially one that was married to Stella.
The problem now lay in her hands.
She didn't want to get married, and she knew that no one forced her into this. Well, besides the contract, she supposed. But she has a family in New York, and New York is her home no matter how hard it was there.
However, she knew that man, Luca, loves her. Not past, but present tense.
Stella was torn.
What was she supposed to do? She signed a contract, she's married by law. And even though Tyler said she had a choice, there was really no choice at all.
She had a duty and whether she could remember it or not, her role still stood. Her place was still hers.
These were the times when she would call Lilac for help, for someone to tell her an unbiased opinion because Lilac was mature, wise, and she knew exactly what to say.
Stella walked out of the room, "I need a phone."
And someone handed her one.
She dialled Lilac's phone number, but it was strange to see that it was no longer available. The only thought she had was that Lilac changed her phone number and she had only remembered the only one.
There was no point in bothering Lilac's parents for something so small, and it was easy to find out someone's phone number.
She is the Raven after all, though she might have to retire that title since it's been a while she did anything related to assassinations.
"I need a laptop," she stated.
And yet again, someone gave her one.
When she searched for Lilac's name, she didn't expect what she was going to find out, and the pain she went through before, came back like it never left.
Tears filled her eyes as she screamed, "Someone, get Tyler right now!"
++++++++++
Tyler had come rushing back after having a small conversation with Luca and his parents in the cafeteria.
"What's wrong?" Tyler asked frantically before seeing the tears that fell from Stella's eyes.
She furiously wiped the tears off her face, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Sweetie..."
"How could you keep it away from me? SHE DIED!" Stella screamed at the top of her lungs.
Tyler wanted to reach for her shoulder to calm her down, but she roughly brushed it off. "So what else are you hiding from me? I don't want to find out over a computer screen, please."
"Stella, please watch your tone. We have reasons for not telling you things because you had just woken up. Your own body shut down because of these certain reasons, so yes, I hid things from you for a god damn good reason."
Stella sighed, "Okay. Well, I don't need you to 'baby' me. My body may have shut down, but I'm fine. So please, just tell me because I don't want to not know about something that involves me and people around me."
Tyler had always known that she was tough because that was the type of person she was. And he had thought this was the best choice, and a part of this choice was for his own reasons because he couldn't bear seeing Stella upset. That girl was basically his sister and seeing a single tear fall from her eyes, was a stab to the heart.
So, he told her.
Everything this time, even stuff that happened with Carlo, and he made sure to look into her eyes while doing it.
Tyler would pause for a bit, checking to see if Stella was okay for him to move on, and another part was because he couldn't find himself to say some of the stuff that had happened.
Hearing what happened to her didn't hurt as much as it would've if she had remembered, and had memories of it. It was like a story about her being told, and she had to imagine everything that had happened.
It disgusted her, and bile rose to her throat.
"So, I was drugged, slapped around, tortured, and r-raped?" She stuttered, struggling to get the word out.
"Yes."
She inhaled deeply before exhaling, "Okay, wow."
"How are you feeling now, after finding out?" Tyler asked. And it may have been a stupid question, but it was better to ask and be clear than assume.
"A lot to take in, but I'll be fine after justice is given."
She thought she had a tough choice, choosing between staying or leaving, but after hearing what had happened, there was no second thought.
"I'm going after him."
She needs to stay to finish fighting her battle, and until then, there is no choice.
"I'm a Bianchi, and we don't forgive."
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