Arosio De Luca
Do I regret what I said to her this morning?
Not a chance.
Like a fool, I spent months trying to locate her across the country. I missed the sound of her voice, the smile in her eyes, the soft touch of her skin. I went crazy just thinking about what might happen to her out there, all alone while pregnant with my babies.
I was ready to forgive her for everything.
I knew she was only afraid, and it was partially my fault for never making sure she was completely fine. I chose to believe everything was okay, chose to fall for her fake smiles even though I knew deep down she was petrified after what happened in our family mansion's basement.
I wanted to bring her home, back to our family that misses her like crazy. Not a day went by without little Elijah, my parents and brothers talking about Katerina and missing her like crazy. None of them are mad at her, they are hurt at her actions but they also understand her perspective.
But now, every time I think of her and that bastard James, their promise of forever remaining together that I witnessed in his garden yesterday, I get one step closer to losing my grip on my own sanity. Just the mere thought of having to let that man live puts me into a foul mood. Her promise to forever stay with him means that she never once thought of me nor my family in these past few months.
I want to punish her. I want her to feel the same pain I felt all these months.
That's the only thought I had this morning when I threw those fake divorce papers at her.
Yes, fake.
I would never divorce my wife, no matter what.
When I said for eternity, I meant it. From the moment I laid my eyes on her, she became my one and only. The only woman I will ever love, the only woman I will ever protect and make love to.
FANCULO. (Fuck)
How could I fucking lie to her like that? Used her body... for pleasure?
Ha.
I must have lost my damn mind. The only reason I touched her last night is because I wanted to make love to her, I missed her too much these past few months and I would have gone insane if I didn't hold her and feel her in my arms all night.
She must be crying a lot right now...
No, smettila di pensare a lei. È lei che voleva andarsene con un altro uomo. (No, stop thinking about her. She's the one who wanted to leave with another man.)
"Capo, siamo arrivati", my driver informed me as I nodded my head and signalled my guards to stay in the car. (Boss, we've arrived).
Walking towards the poor house belonging to that bastard James, I seriously question why my wife would ever prefer this small hut over our family mansion. Why would she prefer living with these strangers instead of her own family?
I was originally planning on staying at another one of my villas until I cooled down and then going back to pick up Katerina. However, Giovanni was guarding James and his family in the hospital and apparently James' wife told him that I needed to see the art studio in their home.
Entering the small art studio, my footsteps faltered as I recognized the sweet scent in the room belonging to my wife. She must have spent a lot of time in this room for her scent to be lingering in here like this.
"Che spreco di tempo" I muttered in annoyance as I looked over the empty white canvas laying on the wooden easel. (What a waste of time)
Right when I was about to leave the art studio, my hand knocked against a painting covered with a white tarp. My eyes widened in shock as it fell to the floor and the painting was unravelled, showing a very familiar silhouette of my own body.
My gaze instantly became heated as I could feel my heart begin to thump wildly in my chest for the first time in months. Within the blink of an eye, my hands had thrown off every tarp from over 50 paintings and they all were paintings of either me, little Elijah, or my family.
"Cosa ... cosa significa, tesoro?" (What...what does this mean, treasure?) I whispered in shock as I stared at one of the paintings that was of my sweet pregnant wife standing beside me and Elijah with my arms wrapped around her protruding bump and the words "Famiglia per sempre, vi amo tutti" were etched onto the corner of the painting (Family forever, I love you all).
My sweet wife... you thought of us during this time too, didn't you? You missed us too, didn't you? You don't really want to be separated from us, right?
"Cazzo, cosa ho fatto? Come potrebbe la mia innocente moglie amare un altro uomo? Ha sempre pensato a noi, questi quadri sono la prova del suo amore per noi," running out of the art studio, I ordered my men to head back to the villa right away. (Fuck, what have I done? How could I think that my innocent wife would love another man? She always thought of us, these paintings are proof of her love for us)
This is enough for me, tesoro. So long as you love us, I will never give up on you. Even if your fears attack you, I will remain by your side to conquer them with you.
***
"COSA VUOI CHE MANCA MIA MOGLIE? Non ho detto a tutti voi di guardarla, cazzo?" I yelled towards the 30 guards I had left on my private property in Texas who were apparently not enough to keep my wife here. (WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY WIFE IS MISSING? Didn't I tell you all to fucking protect her?)
"Ci scusiamo, capo. Don D'Amore è arrivato con i suoi uomini poco dopo la tua partenza. La signora De Luca piangeva già molto e implorava di andare a cercarti. Don D'Amore ha visto le carte del divorzio tra le sue mani e poi ha cercato di trascinarla fuori dalla villa nonostante le sue proteste," one of my guards informed me as my blood began to boil while picturing that stupid fuck drag my wife out of our villa (We apologize, boss. Don D'Amore arrived with his men shortly after you left. Mrs. De Luca was already crying a lot and begging to go find you. Don D'Amore saw the divorce papers in her hands and then dragged her out of the villa despite her protests)
No matter how much I think about it, I cannot fathom why that bastard is getting involved in my personal business. I should have known something was up all those months ago during that phone call when he mentioned that dove. Now this psychotic bastard took my wife away for God knows what fucking reason.
"Cosa state facendo, stronzi, solo lì in piedi? Vai a rintracciarli, non poteva essere andato lontano," I yelled towards my men before taking out my cellphone to call Giovanni and Alejandro. Before I could even dial their numbers, I received a call from the one bastard I wish I could bury six feet underground. (What are you assholes doing, just standing there? Go track them down, his car couldn't have gotten far)
"Saverio, hai dieci secondi per riportarmi mia moglie altrimenti prometto, fratelli di sangue o no, ti ammazzo," I sneered into my phone as I could hear Katerina crying in the background of their moving vehicle. Her voice sounded muffled, as though they taped her mouth shut. (Saverio, you have ten seconds to bring my wife back to me or else I promise, blood brothers or not, I will fucking kill you).
The only response I got was his psychotic laughter before he finally settled down and spoke without a trace of amusement. Unlike his typical behaviour, he seemed very serious at this moment.
"Bene, vedi, carissimo fratello, ti ho dato la possibilità di riconciliarti con la principessa della mia famiglia. Ma cosa hai fatto? L'hai fatta piangere e le hai persino lanciato i documenti per il divorzio. Tsk, tsk. Dal momento che chiaramente non la vuoi più, la riporterò al posto a cui appartiene," Saverio spoke as I could hear him trying to calm my wife down in the background. (Well, you see, dearest brother, I gave you a chance to make up with my family's princess. But what did you do? You made her cry and even tossed divorce papers at her. Tsk, tsk. Since you clearly don't want her anymore, I'll be taking her back to where she belongs).
"La principessa della tua famiglia? DI CHE CAZZO PARLATE?" I roared in absolute fury before running back outside towards my car. (Your family's princess? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?)
"Che piccolo mondo, non è vero? Si scopre che la mia piccola bambina è l'unica nipote di mia madre. È l'ultima dell'eredità di mia madre e che sia dannato se ti lascio maltrattare come hai fatto tu. Non preoccuparti, le farò firmare i documenti del divorzio e te li spedirò presto," Saverio revealed as I could practically feel an oncoming headache. (What a small world, isn't it? Turns out my little bambina is my mother's only niece. She's the last of my mother's legacy, and I'll be damned if I let you mistreat her the way you did. Don't worry, I'll have her sign the divorce papers and mail them to you soon,)
DAMMIT. Everyone knows how obsessed Saverio gets with anything related to his late mother. How the fuck did I not know Katerina is his mother's niece?
"Saverio, basta. È incinta, non puoi portarla via così. È mia moglie, anche tu sei sposata adesso, come ti sentiresti se qualcuno ti portasse via tua moglie?" I yelled back into the phone as I discreetly sent a text message to Alejandro to have him and Giovanni track down Saverio's location. (Saverio, that's enough. She's pregnant, you can't just take her away like this. She's my wife, you're married now too, how would you feel if someone took your wife away?)
"È lì che ti sbagli, carissimo fratello. Non darei mai a nessuno l'opportunità di portare via mia moglie. Chiaramente, non ti importava abbastanza della principessa della mia famiglia. Va bene, non avrà più bisogno di te," Saverio chuckled darkly as I listened into the background noise and heard the sound of an airplane. (That's where you're mistaken, dearest brother. I would never give anyone the opportunity to take my wife away. Clearly, you did not care enough about my family's princess. That's fine, she won't be needing you anymore)
"Saverio cazzo D'Amore, giuro che se rapisci mia moglie dichiaro guerra. Non dimenticare che sei in debito con la mia famiglia De Luca, la mafia non è mai stata data a D'Amore. Non sei così pazzo ad andare così lontano solo per l'eredità di tua madre. Qual è il vero motivo per cui stai cercando di portare via mia moglie?" I sneered into the phone as I could hear their plane about to take off and my face darkened at the thought of that bastard getting away. (Saverio fucking D'Amore, I swear if you abduct my wife, I will declare war. Don't forget you're indebted to my De Luca family, the mafia was never suppose to be given to a D'Amore. You're not this crazy to be going this far just for your mother's legacy. What's the real reason you're trying to take my wife away?)
"Haha, intelligente come sempre, carissimo fratello. Bene, vedi, sembra che la mia cara moglie abbia bisogno di un compagno di giochi in questi giorni," Saverio stated darkly before I heard him order his men to have his private jet take off. (Haha, intelligent as ever, dearest brother. Well you see, it seems my dear wife is in need of a playmate these days.)
Did this psychotic bastard just kidnap my pregnant wife so that he could give his own wife a playmate?
"Comunque, dovremmo andarcene adesso. Non dimenticare che ti sei preso questa cosa, Arosio. Lanciare documenti per il divorzio a tua moglie incinta, che crudeltà. E tu mi chiami il sadico bastardo..." Saverio mused aloud before cutting the call and I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. (Anyways, we should be leaving now. Don't forget you brought this upon yourself, Arosio. Throwing divorce papers at your own pregnant wife, how cruel. And you call me the sadistic bastard...)
Do I regret what I said to her this morning?
With all my heart.
*********
Hello lovely readers,
I'm back! Thank you so so sooo much for your patience all this time, and once again, I am SO SORRY for the delays like holy crap it's been a tough few months. I promised to update May 1st and even though it's nighttime now, I still did update today so it counts!
Honestly, this update... I almost didn't get to finish it because on April 29th, I had dental surgery where four of my wisdom teeth were pulled out and I had local anesthesia so I was literally awake the whole time and omg yesterday my face was swollen like a chipmunk!
Today is the second day post-op and I'm still swollen like a chipmunk. I think the worst part is that I have only been able to sip soup (can't even eat the noodles) these past few days and these pain meds aren't helping at all. If any of my lovely readers have gotten their wisdom teeth pulled out, please comment some of your advice!!!! Like when in the hell can I eat some rice and chicken!?! Google is giving me all types of different answers and I start summer school May 10th so recovering from this surgery, not eating, and trying not to let my readers down is honestly causing so much anxiety and stress!!!!
Please hang in there, I promise this book will be completed soon! We will probably go till about chapter 43 plus two epilogue chapters so 45 chapters in total!
Anywhoo, thank you all so much for continuing to read and support ETMB, it means the world! I promise to read all of your dm's and comments and reply to each of them VERY SOON (please do not expect any reply for now, my face honestly hurts too much to even think properly).
PLEASE COMMENT, VOTE & READ!!