Becoming His Wife by Hayley Faiman
Chapter Twenty-Three
TIZIANO
It’s been a few weeks since the shooting and everything has gone back to as much normal as possible. We’re all still on edge, but we’re doing our work, trading guns, collecting money, and at the end of our week, we visit the strip club.
My stomach twists as I watch the blonde on stage. I’m not really watching her, just staring forward and wondering what the fuck is wrong with me.
“You good?” Elio asks from next to me.
Turning my head, I shrug. “I need to get back to my wife,” I rasp.
He dips his chin. “I got news today, wasn’t sure you even wanted to know,” he murmurs.
Shifting my body, I face him fully. “News?”
He nods his head, his eyes finding mine. “The annulment has been approved.”
That must be why my stomach is all fucked up, I must have had the feeling that today something big was happening. Looking down at the table, I clear my throat before I lift my gaze to meet his again.
“What happens now?” I ask.
He shrugs a shoulder. “Now, we wait until you can make another move. Though, I have to admit, I’m not sure Di Stefano is going to be so keen to let you leave Italy. He has grown fond of you and your work.”
“I’m not doing much, just following orders,” I mumble.
Elio smirks. “Right.” He chuckles. “Just following orders,” he repeats. “You sure you don’t want a girl from here. Maybe find you a virgin? Someone sweet? Start all over? You only knew your Maci a short time. Who is to say you can’t find happiness with someone else?”
He’s not wrong.
I did only know Maci a short time. I also know that she was different. As corny as it sounds, she truly was special. Maybe it was because we were the same in a way. Both starving and craving stability, attention, and love.
Shaking my head, I clear my throat. “I can’t start over. I won’t do that to her. I made a vow. My father is the one who broke it, not me.”
Elio’s lips curve up into a grin. “I knew I liked you, Tiz.” It was a test, a small one, but this was a test, nonetheless. “You need to blow off steam though. Any of the girls here would be more than happy to do that for you at any time.”
I could tell him to fuck himself, but as the weeks pass, so does my need for true release. You can only be so satisfied with your hand until you just need more. I’m almost to that point, especially since there is no timeline on how long I’ll be here.
“Thanks,” I say, jerking my chin.
He smiles but doesn’t push it any farther. I’m trying to be the man that Maci wants me to be. I don’t think she’d want me to be with other women, even though she honestly has no say, but the way she is, what I’ve seen and what I know of her, I think it would ultimately hurt her.
She’s been hurt enough, not only by me, by the famiglia but also by her childhood, and her past. She doesn’t need any more, I promised her a life of free and easy and that ship sailed one week after we left the church.
I watch the women dance, but I do nothing else. Then, I go home and think of my wife as I use my hand to find a small sense of relief. Closing my eyes, I wonder if Gavino is taking care of her, if she’s happy, if she’s safe. I wonder a million things that I have no control over.
A few days later we’re all back at work when Elio’s phone rings. Instead of just answering it, he looks to me, grins, then walks away, holding the phone to his ear.
“What’s that about?” I ask.
Duran chuckles. “He likes you, he’s trying to help.”
“Help?” I ask.
Calvino shakes his head, his eyes finding mine. “He’s trying to get you back to your woman.”
I press my lips together and open my mouth when I hear a pop. Spinning around, I take my gun out of my holster and watch as the Mazzas appear. They’re in a car, men hanging out of the windows, their guns focused on me.
Only me.
Fuck.
The hit.
I pull the trigger of my weapon, hoping to hit at least one of them when I’m tackled from the side and taken down to the ground. I hear gunshots all around me, then it stops. Again, it feels like an hour, when it’s really only seconds.
“Those were pointed right at you,” Aldo shouts as he rolls off of me.
I push up to a seated position, wondering what the fuck has just happened, at the same time, knowing deep down inside what it was or rather who it was. Elio rushes over and starts asking questions, but I don’t answer, the others do.
“My father has decided a hit in just New York isn’t enough.”
Elio hisses. “Because the hit was never really put out there. Gavino Santoro squashed it before anyone took the contract. You got a good friend in him, that’s who I was talking to.”
Whipping my head over to look at him, my eyes widen. “You were talking to Vino?” I demand.
Elio’s lips curve up into a grin. “I was. He’s got a few more months with the feds, then you’re home free.”
“Home free,” I murmur. “How?”
Elio shrugs. “No clue, I didn’t get any more out of him before shots were fired.”
Di Stefano is called and I can hear him cursing from the phone’s speaker. I only catch every other word, but I do not miss the emphasis on war. I may not be home free if we’re in the middle of a war. I make a mental note to ask Elio if I can talk to Gavino next time he calls. I want to know what is going on back home and if Maci is okay. Selfishly, I also want to know what the plans are to get me back, and if those plans include me being the boss of the Bianchi famiglia or not. I’m not sure I could go back to the city and not be a boss.
MACI
The doctor smiles,though I’m not sure why the hell he’s so happy. He congratulates me on my pregnancy and my stomach dips. He says the words happy occasion, like this is just that. It’s not. Doesn’t he realize I’m completely alone, well almost.
Gavino and Arlo have made a decision for me, I’m used to having more of my decisions made for me than not. My entire life has been me sitting around waiting for the next thing to happen to me. Nothing happens because I make it or I make a decision, it all just happens to me. It really gets tiring and I’m on the verge of giving up completely.
What does it matter anyway? What does anything matter?
I’m destined to be alone. I can’t find someone else, Gavino and Arlo wouldn’t allow it, and I wouldn’t want to anyway. Maybe I’m just being naïve, but I had a feeling deep inside of me that Tiziano was it, he was the one.
I’m sure that it’s just hopeful daydreaming, that if he were here, I would probably feel differently, but I want him. I want the chance to feel whatever way I want to feel. The way I was taken from him, dragged away without even being able to say goodbye, it left a feeling of unfinished business. We hadn’t even begun yet, and now that sensation only grows as does his child.
The doctor guides me to the small ultrasound room and places the wand inside of me as I watch the screen. Almost immediately, I see something, it looks foreign, but I already know exactly what it is.
Tears well in my eyes as I watch my baby on the screen of the monitor. That little life is growing inside of me. Me. Shaking my head, I wipe the tears away.
Once the doctor is finished, he helps me sit up and gives me several pamphlets and instructions on what to do next and also reminds me to see the front desk and schedule my next appointments.
“Thank you,” I breathe.
He reaches out, wrapping his fingers around my shoulder and gives me a gentle shake. “It’s all going to be okay, Maci.”
He gives me a kind smile and I can tell that he really means what he’s saying. He doesn’t realize my predicament at all. That’s okay, I doubt most of the country could even comprehend the life I’m living at this moment.
“Thank you,” I say and I mean it, sincerely.
He’s being nice and he’s trying to be compassionate, I haven’t had a lot of that, so I truly do appreciate it. Leaving him, I clutch the little black-and-white pictures he handed me of the little blob that is growing inside of me, and I head to the receptionist. I schedule my next three appointments, then head out to the waiting room.
“Ready?”
I meet his gaze and dip my chin. He smiles, turning around, and I follow him out of the room. I’m surprised that he was still waiting for me. Following behind him, I continue to clutch the pictures to my chest as I make my way toward the waiting car parked along the no-parking zone at the curb.
He opens the door for me, and I sink down, all the way to the far end of the car. Buckling myself in, I don’t even watch as he folds into the seat next to me.
“Sir?” the driver asks.
“Home, please.”
Looking over to him, I lick my lips and wonder how this can even work. “Salvatore?” I ask softly.
He turns to me, arching a brow as he waits for me to ask whatever it is that’s on my mind. “You can’t seriously want to live with me and a newborn,” I murmur.
His lips twitch into a small smile. “How do you know what I want, bella?”
Chewing on the corner of my lip, my eyes don’t look away from his. I watch him, wondering if he’s telling me the truth or if he’s just doing this because Gavino is making him. I have a feeling it’s more Gavino demanding it and less him wanting me there.
“You’re a single man, Salvatore. You cannot want a pregnant woman, then a new mom and newborn living beneath your roof.”
He hums, his gaze moving over my face before his eyes land on mine again. “The famiglia is just that, Maci. We are a family. We take care of our own, and you are ours.”
“I’m not though, the annulment is final,” I whisper.
He snorts. “That annulment is bullshit, you’ve got the evidence of that bullshit inside of you, too. Just have patience, it will work out in the end.”
“Will it?”
Salvatore hums. “It will. The way it was always meant to.”
I don’t ask him what that means. Instead, I turn my head and look out the window. I’m still taken aback every time that I look at the tall buildings that litter the skyline in front of me. Maybe one day I’ll get used to it, but I highly doubt it and as I watch them pass by I can’t help but wonder what the future is going to bring me and if it includes Tiziano or not. I know that I’m being told to be patient, but I can’t help but lose a little hope with each passing day that Tiziano will make it back here.
