Adriano Di Lauro
It pisses me off that they take her away without telling me anything at all.
She's my wife, I'm the one who pays for this hospital, and these idiots won't tell me what the hell is going on.
What good is it to me to have so much power if the main thing is beyond my control?
The health staff excludes me, marginalize me and separate me from my wife as if they had every right, as if they felt more for her than I did or if what happened to her hurt them as it hurts me.
It's absurd, this started as a good deal, one more business, a mean to an end... Now everything has become complicated.
Days ago she asked me to let her go and... I should.
There was a time when I felt that the ice built around me was not going to melt. I was cruelly certain that no one could make me bend anymore.
But today I see her and my skin shakes with a simple sigh of hers. I feel like I'm suffocating at the feel of her tiny, fragile body so lax. The steel wall disappears to become red hot, burning with flames.
I keep watching her while they take her away from me, feeling her mine, feeling myself hers...
I don't want to let her go, but am I willing to break my promise and take the consequences? Am I willing to risk being destroyed once again?
I move from one side to another trying to stay calm, but how? My children were kidnapped and they are now unconscious in a hospital room, while my wife has just collapsed in my arms. The situation has gotten out of hand and I hate it. The worst thing is impotence which corrodes me and eats me up inside as if it were a kind of cancer.
"Adriano, son, calm down," my mother holds me back, but with a simple look she moves away from me.
Dr. Moccia appears in the hallway, and I walk over to him instantly.
"What's wrong with my wife?", I ask in my most imposing tone.
"She lowered her blood pressure, nothing serious," he informs, calming the sickness in me. "We've already stabilized her, we want to..."
I don't hear anything else, because I rush into the room to find her with her head resting on the pillow while she bites her lips.
Even in this fragile status I find her sensual.
I approach with heavy steps to notify her of my presence without scaring her and immediately she focuses her beautiful emerald spheres on me. For a few seconds, I thought I would never see them again.
"How are the kids doing?", she asks in a small voice.
"Same as when we left them."
"I don't care if she is their grandmother or the mother of your ex-wife, Adriano", she doesn't need to name her to know who she is referring to. "I want her in jail. Whether it's ten years or ten days, she can't go unpunished."
"I'll take care of it, don't worry."
The look she gives me reminds me of her words a half hour ago.
'Because they are my children, mine!'
At least one part of the equation went according to plan and even exceeded my expectations.
"Dr. Di Lauro", the doctor gets into the room with my parents, "how are you feeling?"
"Great," she replies, reactivated. "I want to go with my children."
"Okay, don't forget Dr. Lambert's instructions."
"Thank you very much for everything, doctor", she says goodbye with a delicate smile, to which her boss responds with another.
'Am I missing something?'
'She can't like that old geezer... Can she?'
I clench my fists as hard as I can until they shake.
Damn, I didn't dislike thus man.
"I can do it on my own," Cassandra protests when I walk over to help her up.
"I don't care", I blurt out before picking her up without letting her do any kind of force.
She sighs as she walks beside me to our children's room.
"Daddy!". Ella is the first to wake up, although her brother soon follows her. "Grandma is bad, bad!"
"A witch," Federico seconds. "I hate her!"
I cannot say I dislike hearing those words, however, I am not happy. It pisses me off that my children develop negative feelings at such a young age.
Apparently, my wife thinks the same, because on our way home she talks to them slowly about the subject, making them understand that hate leads to nothing and only harms themselves.
As I listen to the talk, I can't help but fidget on my spot. I feel like she's thrown a hint at me. I've held a grudge for a long time and built a reputation on it too.
However, I'm not going to let her go. My past is my brand, my starting point and I will never forget it because that way I avoid making the same mistakes.
At home, my housekeeper greets us with teary eyes and the tearful party among the rest of the women is immediate. I can't stand it, but I can still stand it stoically. I don't plan to separate from my family for a long time.
After we all have dinner together in the dining room, my parents leave and my wife goes upstairs with Vivi to give the little ones a bath. So, I decide to leave them with the task to gatherme with my head of Security and my lawyer.
"You know what I want, Andrea," I demand with a serene expression. Once everything is back under my control, the steel wall returns. "Give me the list."
"Here you are, sir," he hands me the sheet of paper with ten names on it. The names of the guards in charge of the security of the mansion and my children. "I don't want to justify them, but..."
"Then don't," I interrupt him. "You are not a beginner, Andrea and neither are they. In fact, you are supposed to be the best in your field."
"We are."
"Well, it doesn't look like it," I cut him off again. With me there are no excuses and who does not serve me, leaves. "Explain to me how a decrepit old woman in her late seventies was able to outwit a surveillance team prepared to even face an alien invasion."
"The lady knew about each protocol, schedule..."
"I don't give a damn!", I hit the desk in excitement. "Your job is to protect my assets, that's what I pay you a fortune for! I pay you to get the best and lead them. We've worked together for over ten years, Andrea, and you've proven your worth to me," I add, "But for a while now you're throwing those years away. Or maybe it's time for you to retire."
"Sir..."
"These ten men", I point to the list without allowing him to speak, "are not only fired, but they are booked for life. People will not even receive them for missions in Afghanistan. And that... will be your turn to tell them."
"Yes sir", he accepts the mission like a good soldier. Despite these incidents, I am aware that Andreas is the best Private Security agent in Europe. If I fire him, a more incompetent and inexperienced one will come after him.
"I expect the names of the new staff on this desk first thing in the morning."
"Yes sir."
"You've failed me twice, Andrea," I allude with tense muscles, "there won't be a third one."
"I know, sir," he deliberates before leaving.
"I want the full weight of the law on Francesca," this time i direct to my right hand. "May she not see the sunlight for a long time."
"That's done," he rules. "I still find it hard to believe what she has done. In addition to being despicable, she is deluded to think that she could challenge you. If I feel like wringing her neck, I can't imagine how you are."
Just remembering the episode a few hours ago makes the fire flare up in my blood again, turning me into a metal statue.
"Although...", Pietro continues, "your wife has done a good job for us. What a claw she has."
"You said it, my friend", a smile is drawn on my face unconsciously. Cassandra proves every day to be a woman worthy of bearing the Di Lauro surname. "Do you have the annulment document ready?"
"You shouldn't even doubt that," he pulls the folder out of him briefcase and then hands it to me. "I know it annoys you and I don't care, so I'm going to ask you one more time, Adriano. Are you sure about this?"
I raise an eyebrow in clear response. I have never doubted my decisions, I will not start now. The situation has changed and as much as I would like to make my wife reconsider, it is impossible to turn back time. Fate has pulled the strings and we are with only one option left.
"Okay," he dismisses, patting my shoulders to annoy me. "You'll tell me how it goes."
I go up the stairs and stop at my little handler's room, but I find it empty and I continue to Federico's."
A few meters away, I discover the two brothers tucked up in bed next to the doctor reading them a story."
"Here is my secret. It is very simple: it is only with the heart that one sees well. What is essential is invisible to the eye..."
'The Little Prince'
She is reading them that book which a few months ago, they both hated. And now she has made them love it.
Magical, Cassandra Di Lauro is magical.
"If I don't love my grandmother, will my mom be angry?", my firstborn asks once the story is over, while I remain leaning against the wall that overlooks the hallway. They have created a very intimate moment between the three of them and I don't feel like breaking it. After all, from tonight on everything will change.
"I'm sure your mom will always love you, Fede," my wife replies. If she only knew the truth... "no matter what happens."
"I... I don't hate her," Federal confesses, "but I don't love her either. I don't like her, she was very mean."
"I know," they both share a tight hug, flooding me with mixed feelings. "My Fede is incapable of hating anyone, that's why I love him."
"Do you love me?", he asks excitedly.
"Much."
"I love you too, Mom," he declares before throwing himself into her arms once more.
'Unbelievable'
What I thought would never happen... My rebellious and closed son has finally opened up.
'And he's not the only one'
I massage my temples with my fingertips before running a hand through my hair.
'I need to get this over with now'
Then, as if I had called her with my thought, she walks out of the room to run into my figure.
I can't help but shorten the distance between us to wipe away their tears with my fingers.
"Have you heard him?", I affirm in silence. "Don't take them away from me, Adriano, please."
'Who does she take me for?'
I issue a slight sigh before urging her to follow me.
"You and I have a pending issue."
We lower the stairs in a tense and deep silence. Then we cross the living room until we reach my office.
I Rode my desk to take the contract we signed six months ago and return to her.
"Do you recognize this?"
She nods in response with a trembling body. Her skin clarifies me sustaining her, but I control my instincts.
I leave the papers suspended between my fingers and in front of her eyes, featured them halfway, again and again until they make them small unusable pieces and I throw them away.
What once united us, no longer exists.
"Do you want to know what I feel for you? Ask the question again, cara."