My Beloved

Chapter 35

Cara Mia inhaled deeply and smiled. She was surrounded with the smell of the man that owned her heart and never wanted to leave. She opened her eyes to the dark room and the contents of the day's events came rushing back to her. She sat up quickly and tried to figure out where she was.

"You're in my room," a voice called out startling her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Gianni said standing up from a chair in the corner. He sat at the foot of the bed after turning a lamp on and looked at her. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. "What time is it?" Cara Mia croaked. "It's a little after 3 pm on Sunday. You were out for a while. Rachelle brought this suitcase for you. She's with Pietro at his place." Cara Mia nodded as she looked around.

"Can we talk?" Gianni asked not sure what he would do with her answer. "Yes." Cara Mia said surprising both of them. "I'm sorry for lying to you, Bella. I didn't know how best to love you and keep you safe away from this life." Cara Mia raised her hand to stop him. "I understand why you did what you did. My father, my entire family, lied to me about the life that we were a part of. You're the son of a mobster just like I'm the daughter of a mobster. We're a part of the same world, Gianni. I may have not known it, but it doesn't change that fact." He looked at her as her eyes held a sadness and fear in them.

He reached for her hands and surprisingly she didn't move them away. "No one expects you to do anything, Cara Mia. Things are different for girls in this life." She looked at him sadly. "Vagabond is a front isn't it?" The question shocked him, but he nodded. She sighed loudly. "I'm already working in this world."

"It is going to take me time to get used to everything. I want to know the rules and expectations. I need to know that you'll be safe, but more importantly I need to know the people that were after my Dad." Gianni shook his head. "My dad took care of that years ago. You're safe, baby. We're safe."

Cara Mia pulled her hands away. "Clearly, we're not, Gianni! We were kidnapped yesterday and almost killed by that psychopath. Ava is in a hospital bed after being shot while pregnant. We were all sexually abused by him. Nothing about what happened spells we're safe." Gianni wiped the tears from her cheeks and sighed.

"I'm so sorry that these things happened to you guys. We should have been better about watching you three. I should've been better. This is all our fault and trust me we know it and take complete responsibility." Cara Mia shook her head. "I'm not blaming you, my love. I'm just saying If we're going to do this...if you and I are going to work, then we have to be partners. No more secrets. No more lies. No more letting fear dictate our moves."

The amount of information was overloading Gianni. Did she just say what I think she did? He looked at her with new lenses. "You still want to be with me?" His voice broke and her heart broke at the same time. "You didn't trust our love enough to tell me the truth. But thankfully I do. I love you so much and I want to be with you." Cara Mia smiled shyly.

"I am going to need some serious therapy...we all are...after going through what we did at the hands of Nikolai, seeing what we did at that warehouse and hearing the stories about the men we love. But yes, I still want to be with you. Only you. But is that something your father will allow?"

Gianni nodded his head. "I had a talk with him about how things would be different moving forward. He knows about all of our love lives and the women we'd die for. He knows about Luca and Ava's baby. But most importantly, he knows that we'd all walk away if it meant being with you." Cara Mia looked at him wide eyed.

"He's accepted our choice of love and the life. You mean everything to me, Bella. My life is not worth living without you. I remember I time where I didn't want to be me, but you've changed all that. You've changed me." Cara Mia smiled at him and caressed his cheek.