Raise Your Heart

Chapter 24

Time was a funny thing. They say time heals all wounds. There was some degree of truth to it. Dante's wounds healed nicely. It was fortunate for him only his small intestines were nicked in his altercation with Gio. Surgery and a few weeks off was all he needed to heal.

Wounds of the soul, however, took much longer. With only a few months passing, Gio's death was all too fresh for Dante and his sister. For the entire family really. Anna forgave Dante for not letting her in on his plan to try and save her son. Even with that forgiveness, Dante kept going over different scenarios that could have taken place.

Petra, had a tougher time forgiving herself for even bringing a gun in the first place. If she hadn't have brought it, Gio wouldn't have killed himself.

Anna forgave her too. Even went so far as to reassure her there was nothing anyone could have done. He was too far gone. Had she picked up on his illness, she could have helped him sooner.

It seemed everyone was guilt ridden. Except, Geno, of course. He, on the other hand, was angry at Dante for letting his emotions run his decisions. He was angry at Trinity as well. For coming between Dante and Gio. Even though she didn't know Gio had been in love with her.

How stupid she was for not even seeing it. She could have set him straight right away. But she was too wrapped up in her own life to see anyone else's. Like Petra, she was having a difficult time forgiving herself.

During the last several months, Dante managed to have Trinity's boutique packed up and closed. He assured her all of her merchandise would be shipped and stored until she was ready to open a new place.

The rest of her belongings were shipped and she was fully moved in with Dante, along with Petra. Lord knew there was enough room for all of them to live together. In a weird way, it eased Trinity to live back in her home state. She felt close to Gio this way and could visit his grave whenever she wanted to.

Every week, she placed a fresh bouquet of flowers at his headstone. But it never answered the question of when the bad feelings would ever go away. She rubbed at her distended belly. Her baby was due to arrive in a few weeks.

She was supposed to be happy, but couldn't shake her morose mood. How could she be happy? It wasn't fair for her to be when Gio's life was no more. She knew Petra felt the same way.

Despite Dante's struggles, he was at times harder to read than Petra. During the day, he went about things as if nothing happened. It was business as usual. It wasn't that she blamed him. Everyone grieved in their own way. It was just...she didn't know. 

Trinity looked at herself in the mirror and ran her fingers through her hair. It was a little past her shoulders now. Her hair always grew so slow. She shouldn't have cut it. Shaking off her disgust, she grabbed a pair of pink maternity shorts and matching, stretchy t-shirt. It wasn't a maternity top, but sort of looked like one. It was a cute outfit, she thought.

Today she would visit Gio and bring some flowers. She thought about asking Petra to go with her, but she had already left for the hotel. Dante was working as well. It was just herself and the staff left at home.

Perhaps this was a good thing. She needed some alone time. Thinking more and more about her day and checking the time, she decided on packing a thin blanket and ordered a lunch be prepared to take with her.

That was one thing she was having trouble getting used to. She didn't need to cook anymore. Chef Rick took care of preparing all of their meals. Unless she absolutely insisted, he would always chase her out of his kitchen. It was weird, but she was doing her best to get used to it. She did have fun with Rick once when showing him her famous chocolate cookie and lasagna recipe. He was extremely impressed, inflating her ego a bit much.