Bella Mafia

Chapter 43

Vincent was disgusted with himself as he stepped from the shower and stood in front of the mirror, soaking wet, water dripping to the floor.

He'd punished her, not meaning to as none of this was her fault but he had and he felt like a solid gold douchebag for it.

Sighing and running his hand through his still wet hair, he needed to apologize to her and do it now.  They would not go to bed with this hanging over them.

Grabbing a towel he quickly dried himself off and took his sweats from the chair and threw them on.   He threw open the door and started with "Calli, baby, I'm..." But instead of seeing Calli, he was face-to-face with a very pissed off Bri. 

Her hands were on her hips, feet dug into the carpet and the look on her face was the same disgusted face he'd just seen in the mirror.

"Vincenzo, what did you do?"  She yelled loudly, bringing a half dressed Luca running into the room.

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked defensively.  His sister scoffed and answered "Well your fiancé came barreling out of here, in tears, and by the time I could get dressed to see to her, she was gone."

"Merda" Vincent cursed as he grabbed a tank shirt, threw it on and headed downstairs in search of Calli, Bri and Luca on his heels.

He stopped in the kitchen, noticing a cork and the corkscrew, a wine glass was missing as well.  "Christ" he muttered, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Where could she have gone?"  This question was from Luca.   But before Vincent could answer, they were joined by very surprised parents.

"What in the name of God is going on in here?"  This from Clarissa.   Bri pointed accusingly at her brother and said "Ask him."

Vincent rolled his eyes but stayed silent until his mother pressed further.  "Vincenzo, what happened?   Where is Calliope?"

Uh oh.   His mom had used both their formal names and when Bri tried to say something else snarky, she got it to.   "Abrianna, basta!"  That was enough to drive the room to silence.

"She couldn't have gone far" Luca said as they took off out the back door.  The three of them separated as they called out Calli's name.

Vincent was starting to panic until he heard Bri cry out.  Luca and Vincent ran until they could hear Bri's voice again, then Vincent knew where she was.

They found Bri kneeling beside a very drunk and very passed out Calli, empty bottle of red wine and tipped over glass.

"Damn it, we had just opened this bottle at dinner, mama drank half a glass" Bri explained and then both men grasped the reality of it all.

Calli had basically downed an entire bottle of wine.  She was past gone and it was his fault.

He went to pick her up bridal style when he noticed her grass stained knees.  He blew out a curse as he lifted her up, realizing she had been stumbling around.

What if she'd hit her head or fallen into the pond.  He almost vomited at the thought of what might have happened.

He had to get her back to their room and into a cold shower, then he'd get her into bed after giving her painkillers and water for her head.

His mother held open the backdoor, breathing out "Marone" as Vincent carried Calli inside the house.

"Everyone back to bed.  Vincent can handle this.  Breakfast at nine.  Now" she said clapping her hands as Bri and Luca followed him upstairs.

"We'll be across the hall brother" Luca said and dragging Bri back into their room.  Vincent nodded as they disappeared into Bri's room.

Carrying her into the bathroom, he sat her down gently on the shower floor and turned on some lukewarm water, which made her move around and moan.

Not caring if he got wet, Vincent got in and sat down next to her, drawing her into his arms.   Moving her long hair from her face, he whispered how sorry he was.

She moaned a little as her head flopped over onto his shoulder as she mumbled something incoherently and then started to cry.

He couldn't help but feel devastated and prayed like hell that she would forgive him, she had to, he couldn't live with himself if she didn't.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he had undeniably succeeded in doing just that and he loathed himself for it.

Grunting, he reached up, turning off the water and grabbing a towel, he stood them up and wrapped her in the towel, then got her into the chair by the corner, he peeled her wet clothes off and took a nearby tee shirt and pulled it over her head.

"Calli, baby, look at me" he implored.  She raised sad eyes to his mumbling "Why did he hurt me?"   Her words slurring.

"Because he's an idiot" Vincent muttered.  He put two painkillers in her mouth and held a water bottle to her lips, then he carried her to their bed before getting himself into dry clothes.

When he was dried and changed, he climbed into bed and curled his body around hers, pulling her possessively into his chest.

"Please forgive me, Calli.  I'm so sorry I hurt you."  Vincent closed tired eyes as his woman snuggled into his side.

Something caused Vincent to jerk awake and sit up quickly, rubbing tired eyes he sighed and looked to his right, where Calli lay, still asleep causing a sigh of relief to escape his dry lips.

Turning on his side, he tenderly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, this action made Calli shiver and move a little closer to him.

Leaning over Vincent placed a long, single kiss on her forehead and then her cheek, which made her stir and slowly open her eyes.

Vincent smiled a small smile at her only to have her wrinkle up her brow making his smile fade.  "We need to talk Vincent" her voice hoarse.  He nodded.  "Yes, we do."