Untangle Me

Chapter 64

Andrea

Giada is quiet for a long time. The silence weighs down on us like an extra blanket, heavy and suffocating until my girl finally breaks it.

"I saw my parents," she whispers, her voice and eyes still void of any emotions. I gently cup her face and make her look at me, trying not to let my worry show too much. Inside, I'm scared shitless because her parents are dead. What if this time, being kidnapped disturbed her more than before?

"How did you see your parents, Baby?" I ask carefully.

"I followed my mom into an abandoned alley. There, my dad was waiting." Something twists uncomfortably in my gut. Was taking her here a bad idea? Maybe being in Italy where she last saw her parents together is messing with her.

"Baby, you're tired. We haven't slept in almost 48 hours. I don't know what you saw, Giada, but your parents are dead. I'm sorry." Giada simply shakes her head and pulls away from me a bit. I let her get her space though I do sit up when she gets to her feet and starts pacing our room.

Occasionally, she glances at me but she doesn't speak for several long minutes.

Then, "They're not. I know what I saw. They faked their deaths," she insists. I rack my brain for what to say. She's clearly upset so I need to tread carefully but is there really a way she could be saying the truth?

"Why would they do that?" I ask slowly.

This is the part where Giada shakes her head again, more excessively this time. "They said-" she breaks off and blows out a breath to collect herself. I hate how far away she is but if she needs a few feet of space, I'll give her that.

"It doesn't make sense. They said your father, he was obsessed with her? He was mad that my mother had a family so my father and I fled to America. He wanted to catch your dad and later you. But they lied to me and said my mother had died." Another disbelieving huff and she stops pacing. I take that as my cue to go to her.

I pull her into my chest and her reaction is instant. Her arms stay locked between our bodies as I hug her close and for the second time tonight, my girl is crying.

I don't even know what to feel. Helpless, sure. Furious, of course. Sad for her too. And confused because it feels like our life has become a fucking telenovela. Honestly, dead people should stay dead.

"And then my dad did the same! He didn't want to tell me he was leaving because we were together so he faked his death, put my life at risk in the process and then just left me behind. He planned on abandoning me for the rest of his life and didn't even say goodbye!" She sobs.

"But the accident- I thought that was Dante," I mutter slowly. Honestly, my head is spinning and I'm surprised I'm even able to hold Giada and myself up right now. She's leaning on me heavily, almost limp in my arms and my vertigo really isn't helping.

"They worked together," she breaks off into another sob. This one's more aggressive, shaking her whole body. I can feel myself stiffen. Understanding and disbelief rush over me, making it pretty damn hard to breathe, not to mention utter the next words.

"That bastard," I say without thinking. Sure, I never liked her dad. It's fine, the feeling was mutual but this? Shit, what I'm feeling now is undeluded hatred. Even more than I have ever felt towards my own father. More than what I felt towards Dante after he hurt Giada. He was a disturbed man with reasons- even though they were twisted and wrong. But her father was the one that worked with him. Even if he wasn't the one putting those scars on Giada's skin, he was still the one that allowed it to happen.

When he was the one who should have protected her.

He left her behind at the mercy of that monster, fled to another country without another thought regarding his only child. Fuck, he was the one that orchestrated the accident that hurt her. It could have killed her! And all just so he could run off without an explanation.

Coward.

"He's not worth your pain, my love. We'll deal with it, okay? We'll talk again tomorrow but first, you need to process it and more than that, you need to sleep," I mutter against the top of her head. She nods against me and complies as I move us back to the bed. We lay down and she never leaves my embrace.

Surprisingly quickly considering everything that happened tonight, Giada passes out in my arms. Her breathing evens out and deepens, her body goes lax and no more tears wet my shirt. I, myself, can't seem to relax. My thoughts are racing and I'm already thinking about our upcoming conversation tomorrow.

I try to figure out how I could possibly help her. Meanwhile, my mess of emotions is keeping me busy and makes it hard for me to stay still. Fuck, but if my dad were alive, I'd kill him. There's so much new information to process but eventually, my tired mind gives out on me and I fall asleep as well.

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Here y'all go:))

Damn I'm tired but yayy to 28k!! Hope y'all are doing fantastic and thanks for all the support<3