Page 29

TWENTY-NINE

giovanni

T he broken wall around the garden has been rebuilt.

It took eight days and a full team to get it done, but now it’s finished, and the estate looks the same as it did before the attack. It’s a relief, one small step towards going back to normal.

Bullet holes in walls and windows were repaired, glass was cleaned away, and the blood was washed from the grass. There are still dark stains in the stone, but over time, those will fade too.

The things that will take longer to heal are the pain we feel from the people we lost, and the wounds in our flesh. Fabio is struggling the most, his team means a lot to him and he feels responsible for the lives taken.

But time will help that too.

I walk into the dining room and find Guido and Dante dishing up their dinner.

Zina is laughing as she hands a glass of water across the table to Dante.

He takes it with a smile. “Thanks.” He says.

Santino and Romeo are less interactive. They’re still angry with me for my choices.

My decision to trust Zina has given me such immense relief.

For the first time in a very long time - I’m happy. I’ve let go of the weight I was carrying on my shoulders.

I don’t question everything or feel like I have to stalk every move she makes. At night we lie together in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms and savor each moment. I enjoy her body, her lips against mine, her love.

I no longer look at her with doubt or fear or anger.

She loves me - and I love her and that is all that matters.

The estate is still on high alert, because we still don’t know who attacked. But I’ve come to the decision that until we have solid information pointing to an inside job - I have to assume that the enemy is only planting seeds of doubt to try to destroy me from within - and I am the one who controls whether or not I let that happen.

I can’t let it happen.

I can’t let some unknown force push between me and the woman I love.

She deserves a king who supports her and defends her.

She deserves me.

I take my seat at the head of the table and reach my hand over to take Zina’s. She smiles at me, her face lighting with radiance.

“You look gorgeous.” I say.

She leans over and kisses me.

Santino turns away, shaking his head.

“How’s your arm, Romeo?” I ask, picking up my fork.

“It didn’t fall off.” He snaps sarcastically.

“So, Zina did a good job with the stitches?” I push, trying to force some kind of grateful attitude into me.

“It doesn’t make up for the rest of the shit she did.” He mutters under his breath.

I clench my jaw and Zina reaches under the table to touch my leg.

She shakes her head, ever so slightly, asking me to ignore his snide remarks.

She is incredible.

The patience she has shown through everything - from the moment she arrived here - with me treating her like some dark secret I never wanted to reveal - to the patience she showed towards my sons, despite their open hatred of her - I am in awe of her.

And now again, her patience shines through.

She is stronger than I am.

Late at night she’s snuggled against me and I brush my fingers through her dark hair. “My love, tomorrow night I have some special planned.”

She rolls over and props herself up on her elbows to look at me. The curious smile on her lips is beautiful. “What it is?” She grins.

“It’s a surprise. But if you look on the back of the bedroom door, you’ll find something—” before I can finish talking she’s already wiggling out of bed and running to the door.

She squeals in delight when she unzips the protective bag around the dress and the gorgeous dark blue fabric floats to the floor.

“It’s beautiful.” She gasps, unhooking it and holding it against her naked body.

She spins slowly and I watch her, completely obsessed with everything about her.

She hooks the dress on the door again and climbs back into bed, snuggling against my side. “Are you taking me somewhere?” She whispers.

“I am. Just you and me. We need some time alone together - away from all of this. I just want the chance to show you how much I love you.”

She presses her lips against my chest, right over my heart. “You show me how much you love me all the time, Giovanni.”

With a smile I trace my fingers down her spine. “I want to show you again. Over and over again. I never want you to forget or doubt it.”

She nods, her eyes glittering with happiness.

Zina climbs onto me, laying her body over mine, she takes my face in her hands and kisses me.

* * *

Zina is getting ready upstairs in her old bedroom. She likes to get ready there when she is surprising me with how she looks. I can’t wait to see her in that dress.

Glancing at my watch I see it’s almost time to get going. I set my empty whisky glass on the side table next to the sofa and stand up. I’ll grab my phone from the bedroom and then see if I can hurry her up.

Smiling, I climb the stairs up to my room.

Tonight is going to be incredibly special. And I can’t wait to spoil her with the champagne, the jewelry, the dinner, the views and the hotel I’ve booked for us to enjoy after.

She deserves so much, and I intend to give her everything. Everything I can offer her. My heart, my soul, my love.

Tonight I’m going to tell her exactly what she means to me. I want to apologize properly for all the pain I’ve put her through and make sure she understands that it will never happen again.

Walking into our bedroom I’m lost in thought about her, and what she means to me, when I spot a black gift box on our bed.

With a grin I walk towards it, tracing my fingers over the dark silk bow.

There is an envelope tucked beneath the ribbon.

Tugging if free, I tear it open and slide the card out.

My heart warms when I read the words, written in beautiful cursive, elegant handwriting.

A lot of care was put into making it beautiful.

For my love, the King go Kings, you have my whole heart.

My smile stretches across my cheeks.

I drop the card onto the duvet next to the box and pull at the edge of the black ribbon, it slides smoothly, untying and falling away from the lid.

Excitement ripples through me.

No one has ever done something like this for me before.

I’ve never received a beautifully wrapped, secret gift before, and I love that she did this for me.

With both hands I lift the lid, peering inside into the dark folds of black, glossy tissue paper.

I drop the lid onto the bed, next to the card dip my hand into the box to move the paper aside.

The snake strikes faster than the blink of an eye.

His fangs are buried in my flesh within seconds.

I heard myself scream, but even know I wonder if it really happened.

I stare in disbelief, not comprehending what has just happened.

My mind is spinning, trying to work out why - why would she do this?

How did she do this?

The snake, still biting my hand, writhes and squirms, its fangs pulling painfully at my skin.

I grab its throat and rip it away. With both hands wrapped around it I snap its neck, but even as I drop its lifeless body to the floor, my blood burns - like acid - a painful heat searing through me as the venom spreads through my veins.

I look at my hand the numbness getting worse, paralysis running swiftly up my arm, through my shoulder - my knees collapse beneath me and I drop to the ground, my lungs suddenly heavy and struggling to draw breath.

Zina bursts though our bedroom door, she screams my name as she runs towards me, that beautiful dress dancing around her legs as she moves.

Everything is happening in slow motion.

“What happened, Giovanni, what happened?” She shouts, grabbing my face, turning it towards her.

Santino and Romeo burst through the door as well.

I open my mouth to speak but my tongue feels numb and heavy.

“We heard him scream. What the fuck is going on?”

“Is that a snake?” Romeo gasps.

Santino drops to his knees at my side, he grabs the snakes body and his face distort in agony. “It’s a King Cobra. One of the deadliest snakes in the world.” His words are tight with disbelief. He throws the snake aside and grabs my hand. “It bit him.”

I turn towards Zina.

My heart is aching more than my body. Even with the venom coursing through me, it’s her betray that is destroying me.

“What - did - you - do - “ I say, taking painful effort to form each word. I need to know. I need to understand why.

Santino screams, a high pitched, soul tearing scream. He shoves her hard, pushing her away from me. She’s thrown backwards, landing on the carpet, tears streaming down her beautiful face.

“I didn’t do this - I love him.” She screams, trying to crawl back towards me. Her hand reaches out for me, trying to hold me, trying to grab me -

But Romeo grabs her around the throat, tugging her back, throwing her against the door.

He kneels at my side.

My eyes are still on her.

My heart is still hers.

My body has never felt such pain before. But slowly the numbness spreads through me - my organs shutting down one by one.

I can barely breathe, the weight of my own body crushing my lungs as my body bleeds internally and my muscles fail -

She used a King to kill a King.

Her last, manipulative play was to make me love her again. And I did.

Zina crawls to my feet, crying hard.

She rests her hands on my legs and shakes her head.

“I didn’t do this.” She whispers, pleading with me to believe her. “I didn’t do this - I love you.” Her sobs are heart wrenching. So real. So genuine. Another act? Another game?

I try to take another breath and I can’t. My lungs won’t let me. The air won’t fill them. My body is no longer able to obey me. It’s dying.

I gasp against nothing. Gagging.

My tongue is swollen, and my face is numb.

The world slips away, the edges growing dark.

My eyes drift lazily to her gorgeous face. Those dark browns eyes, filled with tears.

Did she kill me?

Did she do this?

Why do I still love her?

The very last essence of life drains from my body as my mind says her name one last time.

Zina.

She will destroy you. The warning echoes through my soul in those last seconds.

Then there is nothing.

No life.

No pain.

No hurt.

Just nothing.