Untangle Me

Chapter 29

"I'm done!" Leo announces, bursting into my office unannounced once again. "Tell me now why Melanie is harassing me with complaints about how you broke her friend."

I drop my head in my hands and sigh. It's been a few days since I took Giada to the gala. I've been a mess ever since and it seems so has she.

The familiar claws of guilt dig themselves deeper into my gut at the thought of how she must be feeling. I wish I could help her somehow, reach out or something but I know I can't. Not while my own emotions are so confusing.

So while I can't be there for her I tried to make her feel better some other way. I moved her into a new room as a lame attempt to make this situation easier. A room that should meet her every wish with a fully stocked walk-in closet and a bigger bathroom equipped with everything she should need.

I made sure all the products she used to use were there so unless her routine has changed, she should be fine.

Other than that, I let Leo give her her phone and credit card back and her door's no longer locked. If she wants to leave, she can. The guard in front of her door won't stop her.

He's also been instructed to completely refrain from interacting with her so to avoid another Luciano situation. Of course, with the threats I've hung over his head like a butcher's knife, I don't think we'll have a problem.

But back to Giada. I'm surprised she hasn't yet fled, Lord knows she should have, but so far, she's been uncharacteristically quiet. It scares me.

Giada is all fire, she should have stormed my office and demanded those well-deserved answers the moment her door was unlocked. Her passive behavior makes me wonder whether I broke her. The circumstances broke her, I add to myself. This isn't all my fault. I wasn't the one that fucked up her memory or killed her father.

I cling to that.

"Earth to Enzo," my friend chimes up.

"I think I messed up," I mumble into my hands. Usually, I wouldn't say anything and deal with my problems alone but right now a different opinion might be good.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious, I gathered that. What happened?"

"A lot. Ugh, and it's so messy I don't even know where to start."

"Okay, damn, now I'm really hooked. I've never seen you so, sorry for this but, pathetic," Leo says, making my head snap up. The guy's smiling apologetically so I bite my tongue to refrain from going ballistic on him.

He's my only friend, I remind myself. You can't kill your only friend.

"Thanks. Do you want to know or not?"

"Of course, I do."

"Okay, so you remember when you asked me why I was treating her the way I did?" I ask slowly, thinking back to the conversation we had after I ran out on Giada after dinner. My friend nods. "That was because I thought she was the one that tried to kill me in the accident."

At this, my friend's jaw drops. "No way! I thought you said she was in the car with you? Hell, you told me she died there."

"Exactly, that's what I thought. Obviously, she didn't and when I found out, I thought it had all been some messed up scheme. Which is why I acted like a complete jerk."

"You really did act cruel," Leo mutters.

"You don't know half of it." I sigh and take a deep breath before going on. "But it made sense, right? I mean, she looked different and pretended to be someone she wasn't. I thought it was some stupid joke." I wait for Leo's reaction, hoping he'll agree with me. I need him to tell me my conclusion wasn't completely unjustified.

"Yeah, I wondered what was up with that. Not to mention she acted like she didn't know us, which was fucking weird. Recently, she asked me what my name was, Enzo. My name. Like, what the hell?"

"About that. Apparently, Giada lost part of her memory in the accident. That's what I found out on our way home from the gala. She honestly didn't remember me, us, I guess. Niente."

(Nothing)

"You're shitting me. I mean, are we sure she's not just lying?" my friend asks reluctantly.

"Believe me, she's not. You didn't see her in that car."

"Okay," he says slowly, nodding to himself. "That's really messed up. So now she's mad at you? I mean, she kind of already was before, wasn't she?"

"It's different now," I say, at a loss for a better explanation.

"What are you going to do about it? I mean, shouldn't you be over the moon or something? She didn't try to kill you, dude. That's good news."

"Have you lost your mind? That's not good! It means I've been punishing her for nothing," I snap, knowing it's not really him I'm mad at. Still, my patience is already running too thin and I need an outlet.

"Which means you should be on your knees, begging her to forgive you instead of sulking in your fucking office. Don't snap at me because you're an idiot."

"You're delusional if you think she'd ever forgive me. Too much has happened. Besides, I'm not even sure I want her back," I admit

"What the hell are you talking about? Losing her killed you! I don't need to remind you of that, do I? Now she's here, in your fucking building, and you're not willing to fight for her?" I wince at his harsh words, swallowing around the lump in my throat as I pull myself together.

"What if it isn't really her? What if she's become a different person over the last eight months? Or what if my feelings for her won't come back and I'll just lead her on? God, I got used to hating her, Leo. Hate! I thought she betrayed me, used me and tried to kill me. Even if I was wrong, those emotions don't just leave without a trace."

The longer my friend stares at me, the more agitated I get until I finally can't take it anymore. Getting off my chair, I leave my office without another word to my friend. I keep walking past curious glances, only stopping when I get in the convertible in my garage.

When I'm finally out on the street, the wind whipping all around me, I feel like I can breathe again. Lighting a cig, I take a few deep breaths as my mind settles.
God, I'm losing my mind.

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Here we go:)

Hope y'all have a great day and thanks for sticking w the story so far<3