Hurricane - Book 2

Chapter 15

TW in the description
Thank you to hobbicatto (Allen) for the art!

Giulia POV

Mattias started to avoid Giulia at every turn. Their usual friendly banter was all but gone. He did his best to avoid being alone with her, always claiming to have work to do.

And Giulia was at her breaking point.

She wasn't sad (well, maybe a little); she was angry. Furious. Giulia knew that Mattias had feelings for her. Otherwise, why would he try to separate himself so hard? He was hiding something. And that something was preventing him from accepting his feelings.

Giulia couldn't imagine what that something was, but she was going to find out. And... after everything was out in the open, if he still turned her away, she would drop it. She would accept that she was wrong, and he didn't have feelings for her.

One day when Mattias left the house to visit the local hospital, Giulia snuck into his room. This house was his childhood home. Surely there would be some kind of memorabilia—something to give her insight into Mattias's past.

She quietly snuck into his bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. She knew if her brothers caught her, they would only make things worse.

She began searching through his desk drawer. Everything was neat and in its rightful place.

"A neat freak, good to know." She mumbled to herself and kept going.

She opened his dresser, picking through the perfectly folded clothes. She looked under the bed, in the nightstand, and finally began tearing through the closet.

Giulia was very aware that she was snooping. That this was a severe invasion of Mattias's privacy. But she didn't care. There was a weight Mattias was carrying. And it was smothering his ability to be happy. She would do whatever she could to take that weight off him, even if it upset him.

"Ouch!" She pulled back as she poked herself on a set of cleats in the closet. They looked used.

"I wonder what sport he played." She thought but kept going.

After searching the pockets of five different jackets, she was ready to give up. Then her eyes wandered upward to a box on the highest shelf. She got on her tiptoes but was still half an arm's length from reaching it. Looking around, and grabbed the chair from his desk and rolled it into the closet, the wheels squeaking slightly. Carefully she climbed onto it, balancing. Her arms reached up, gripping the edges of the box. She barely lifted it from its perch when the wheels of the chair suddenly rolled.

"Aah!" Giulia screamed as the chair came out from under her. She hit the hardwood floor with a SMACK. The box hit the floor, its contents spilling everywhere.

"Accidenti!" Giulia cursed through clenched teeth. She would have a bruised hip.

She paused, hoping nobody had heard. After waiting a few moments, she began gathering the contents of the box and putting them back.

Inside she found documents, pictures, and trinkets.

She picked up the newest-looking document and read. It was Mattias's license to work on Sea Monster patients. She found a birth certificate, his undergrad and doctorate degrees, and.... A marriage certificate.

Giulia's hand shook as she lifted the yellowing paper. As she held it, several more forms fell—wedding invitations.

Please come Celebrate the Marriage of
Mattias Levici Romano + Elizabetta Sophia Lastra