LOST INTO THE VINE (BWWM)

CHAPTER 15

Nala had her breathe knocked out of her chest at the last card, "wh-what is that?"

DEATH.

Marce now looked al serious, worry etched on her face.

"What does it say?" Lena asked, holding Nala's hand tight.

"Something bad is going to happen," she said.

"Isn't that obvious? It states death, lady. Death!" Lena glared at her. Marce held Nala's other hand, "my dear, you have to be strong. Something bad is going to happen. And it will all be up to you to make it better."

Nala snatched her hand away and got up, "this is all a sham, and how much is it for this?"

Marce smiled sadly, "it's free for you dear. Make it better. Don't let the darkness overcome everything good that will happen to you. Let's confirm these," she took a different stack of cards out and started shuffling them.

Lena glared at her, "hell no, lady. We are leaving! Adios!" and dragged Nala out of there.

"I'm so sorry, Nala. It's just another adventure, right?" Lena signed, unsure. Nala was quiet, everything the woman said running through her head as she got in the truck.

"You know what, we're going to get so drunk we'll forget what that old hag said," she grinned slightly.

"First three rounds on you," Nala smiled slightly. 

............................................................................................................................................................

"That's what she said, freaked the shit out of me to be honest," Nala told Olivia.

The elderly woman had her eyes glossing over for a moment, but snapped out of it and smiled at Nala, "well, do you believe?"

Nala all but shrugged, her last and only relationship was with Matthew, which was three years now. The rest of the time, she used to compare every single man to Matthew and none of them could be as good as he was, how tall he was, how his smile lit up the room, everything. None of them looked at her like how Matthew ever did. None of them made them how Matthew made her feel, no one, none, until....

"Do I believe in what?" she asked.

"Do you believe in second chance love?" Olivia asked.

Nala shrugged.

Olivia pressed her palm on Nala's, "sweetheart, if you love someone, they will never leave. Not in your heart, they won't. You'll still love them no matter what. My late husband, Matteo's father, he died ages ago, in war like your Matthew. But I still love him. In my heart. Matthew seems like a good guy from everything you've told me, he would want you to be happy and find love again like I did."

Nala blinked back the tears stinging in her eyes, "Can I- can I hug you?"

Olivia all but rose to her feet and pulled her up, wrapping her in the warm motherly embrace she never felt. And she finally let the tears fall silently. Her mother had never hugged her. Not even to say goodbye when she left for a different country. From time to time she wondered how the woman was, but she never had it in her to make the first move and call. She would hear about it from Adiah anyway.

"Group hug!" Irina's small feet padded towards them on the patio and tried to wrap them both in a small hands. Nala giggled and wrapped one hand over Irina's head, the other wiping away her tears.

"Abuela, papa is back home," Irina grinned, pulling away from the hug. "I want to go see him."

Just then one of the ranch hand came to them on a horse, "Signora, signore Matteo is not in good shape. I've called Signore Marco but the restaurant is overloading today and some of the waiters called in sick."

Nala's heart almost stopped beating when she heard his name. Almost. She hadn't seen the man in three days, he had gone to Barcelona for business. He hadn't called her nor texted her. At all. Not after he made her cum so hard on the palm of his hand, in the middle of the parking lot, on the side of his jeep. And she was a little tipsy, she had been drinking with Lena that night after the tarot reading and they got carried away with the high of the alcohol. She had senselessly dialed his number and asked him if he would kiss her like he did the other night. Matteo was furious at the sense of recklessness, asked where she was and drove to get her. Marco with him, took Lena back to her place. She had asked him to take her home and fuck her senseless. Which he declined. And they rode all the way from Malaga in silence, uncomfortable silence to say the least. And after that, he made no effort to talk to her, so much for a fall Spanish fling.

But now, she had the man get off the horse, her and Irina got on and Irina lead the horse towards their home. They went through a small gate that connected the two ranches. She fell in love with the vineyard across from their path, the scent of ripening grapes filling the air.

Soon enough, the horse came to a stop in front of a big Victorian house. Nala got off and help Irina down, she pulled the horse to a fence and had it tied to it. They rushed inside where Matteo was laying on a couch, his face pale, his brows furrowed.

A man walked from further in the house, "hola signora, Irina. Your papa isn't feeling too good. He has the flu."

Irina pouted and moved closer to her father as did Nala.

"How long has he been like this, signore?" she asked the man. He smiled at her, "the name's Simone. And he has been like this since yesterday. I'm glad I didn't catch what he has, I wouldn't have been able to get him back here."

As if he sensed Nala getting close, his eyes opened and met hers then looked at his daughter, "mariposa... not feeling so good."

Nala looked at the man she just met, "think you can help me get him to his room." The man nodded and asked Irina to step aside, he put his left arm on Matteo's middle, and Nala copied his actions, leaning Matteo's arms on their shoulders and pulling him up. He asked Irina to go ahead of them and untuck her father's sheets.

The little girl ran like her life depended on it as the two guided the tall brick of muscle up the stairs to his room. They settled him on the edge of the bed and Nala worked on getting his shoes off.

"Simone, I'll need you to run to town and get a couple of supplies. Can you do that? Or should I?" She asked, helping Matteo out of his shoes and socks.

"Tell me what you need," he said, taking his phone out to write down whatever the lady had to say.

"I don't..." Matteo started but the glare from Nala was enough to get him to not argue and lay on the bed.

"Tylenol, ginger ale, powdered citric acid, a couple of lemons too, salmon and chicken for soup," she said, working on the zipper of the jacket he had on.

"Will you be fine? Or do you need help?" Simone asked.

She shook her head no, said she just needed the supplies. He headed out and she took a breather, "Teo you're going to have to help me out a little here."

He pushed himself up with the help of his daughter and he struggled to open the zipper of his jacket. "I've got that," Nala said and had the zipper running down and helped him out of the jacket, his shirt, and vest, leaving him bare on top.

She then asked Irina to go fetch a bottle of water from the fridge for her father. When she left the room, she turned back to the guy assessing her, "we're going to have to take the belt off Teo."