Chapter 10
Isabella
I had a throbbing headache when I woke up. It was dark but I could sense that I was in a room, on a large bed and there was a rhythmic humming noise all around me.
I sat up, trying to recall what had happened. The last thing I remembered was that I was in my bedroom at papa’s house, sleeping, and a sound like a gunshot woke me up. I racked my brain, trying to remember more but my senses felt dulled.
“Leo?” I said his name in a whisper.
Leo! I had jumped out of bed, planning on going to look for him. There was lots of shooting outside and I knew that the attack had begun, but before I could leave the bedroom, papa had appeared with his men. He said that we needed to leave, he wanted to take me away.
I remembered there were lots of tears. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to see Leo. I wanted to know if he was okay. One of the men had brought me a glass of water, papa commanded me to drink it so I could calm down. Then my eyelids had become heavy and…nothing…blank.
“Bella?” I heard papa’s voice now, somewhere in the dark. The door of the room opened and I saw a streak of light. Papa came in, walking over to my bedside and he flicked the light on under the lampshade.
“Where are we? What’s going on?” I asked him.
“We’re on a plane, Bella. My private jet. We had to take a boat out of Naples to make our escape first,” papa said and he sat down beside me on the bed.
“What happened? Did I pass out? Did you give me something in that water?” I asked him and he reached for my knee and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Yes, Bella, I had to. We didn’t have time to answer all your questions. You were panicking. We needed to get out of there quickly,” papa said, in a soft lulling voice. I hadn’t seen him like this in a long time. He was always so aggressive, so violent…and suddenly now, he seemed so calm.
“Why are we on a plane? Where are we going?” I asked and papa breathed deeply.
“I’m doing what you asked me to do, darling. We’re leaving everything behind and going to New York, to start a new life there. You don’t have to worry anymore, Bella,” he said and reached for my face and gently stroked my cheek.
I felt relieved. Finally! He had changed his mind. I smiled at him.
“Where is Leo? Can I talk to him?” I asked and I could feel the color rising in my cheeks. The smile drooped on papa’s face, his eyes looked dim and he drew his hand away from my cheek.
“He isn’t here. He is the one we had to get away from,” he declared.
I shook my head, my heart was racing in my chest. Leo was left behind! He wasn’t on the plane with us!
“No, papa, he was supposed to come with me. We have to go back, we have to go get him!” I tried to get out of bed but papa held me back, wrapping his arms around me.
“Shhh…Bella, calm down, darling. You don’t know him, you don’t know what he was doing. He was working with Gino Cavillini,” papa said. I struggled in his arms. I didn’t want to believe what he was saying. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
“No! He wouldn’t do that! He was trying to save me from all this! He had a plan!” I screamed, thrashing my arms about, but papa was stronger than me, he held me down.
“Listen to me, Bella. That was his plan. He was using you against me, he got in your bed so he could manipulate you, kidnap you, threaten me for ransom. He was working with Gino. He was the one who organized the attack on the house this morning,” papa was speaking firmly, keeping me tightly ensconced in his arms.
I looked up at him, shocked that he knew I had slept with Leo. Slowly, he released his grip when he was sure that I wouldn’t try to run.
“I know, darling…and it’s okay,” he said and he stroked my hair gently. “Everyone makes mistakes. I forgive you. You fell for a brute, but it’s okay now. We got away from him and the Cavallini’s. We’ll go somewhere where they can’t get to us again,” papa said, still stroking my hair.
Fat tears were rolling down my cheeks now, I was shaking my head.
“No! I know Leo!” I cried.
“Do you? You knew him for two days,” papa stated, peering into my eyes.
I was feeling exhausted again. My mind felt heavy, my limbs ached. This couldn’t be happening. I knew Leo…I had been in his arms. I felt safe with him…I was falling for him!
“Bella, I know how it feels to fall for the wrong person. A person who betrays you,” papa said, in a softer deeper voice. I didn’t know what he meant by that.
“Papa…” I tried to ask him, but he interrupted me.
“Get some rest, darling. You don’t have to worry your pretty little head anymore. In New York, we’ll start a new life, you’ll see. We’ll be a family again,” he said and lightly kissed my forehead.
I was still crying when he left the room, but where could I go? We were up in the air, on a plane! Leo was left behind…could he really be a traitor? Was he using me?
Where was he when the house was under attack? Why hadn’t he come to get me?
***
It had been three weeks since we were back in New York, and this time, I hadn’t arrived in America alone. Not only was papa with me, but his two trusted bodyguards—Matteo and Francis were with us too.
When we got to New York, I discovered that papa had already made all the arrangements for us. A beautiful red brick house was purchased in Queens and decorated and ready to be moved in, and we were set to begin our new life.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Leo. I couldn’t wrap my brain around the fact that he had betrayed me, that he’d used me. But I hadn’t heard from him. He hadn’t even tried getting in touch with me. The more time I spent in New York, in this house, with papa…the more I was beginning to convince myself that papa was right.
I didn’t know if I could ever forgive myself for trusting a man I didn’t know. I couldn’t believe how foolish I had been to let lust and desire for a handsome young man cloud my better judgement.
I was relieved that papa had forgiven me, that we could start moving on now, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how happy I would have been if Leo was real. If what I felt for him, if what I thought he felt for me; was real too.
Three weeks passed, and I was beginning to move on with my life. I was thinking about looking for work, putting my degree in interior design to use. Papa didn’t want me to work, he wasn’t the kind of man who believed that a woman didn’t need to work unless they were poor.
We weren’t poor. Papa had brought all the wealth he had amassed in Italy, with us to New York. We were living like kings and papa seemed to believe that we would never run out of this money.
One morning, while I was still adjusting to this new life, and spending my days trying to not think about the man who had betrayed my trust—I woke up feeling sick.
I didn’t tell anyone, hoping that it was just something I’d eaten but I was sick the next morning too. I snuck out of the house and bought pregnancy tests at the drugstore around the corner and my fear was proven true. I was pregnant.
Shaking with fear of the consequences, I told papa, while he was reading the newspaper in the back garden. He looked at me over the newspaper, narrowing his eyes.
“What did you say?” he growled. Papa had been calmer in America, he was less angry and he seemed to have turned over a new leaf. Now, with this news, it seemed like some of his short temper was returning. I gulped and tried to keep my head held high.
“It’s his. Leo’s,” I repeated, in a firm voice.
He slapped the newspaper down and it fell on the grass.
“You have to get rid of it. As soon as possible!” he shouted and I kept sitting on the chair in front of him. I stared into his eyes.
“No, I’m keeping it,” I replied and papa gritted his teeth with anger.
“Do you know what you’re saying? You want to keep that baby? You want to bring a child into this world which will half belong to that scum traitor?” papa continued to shout.
His words made me flinch. It still pained me to hear him speaking that way about Leo…I couldn’t just get rid of my feelings for him that easily. It wasn’t like there was some switch inside me that I could just turn off.
“And half belong to me…and to you too. You will be a grandfather, papa,” I pleaded, in a low voice.
He sat back down on his chair, mumbling angrily under his breath.
“I should have kept you under lock and key from that mongrel. You should have kept your legs closed! Just like your mother!” he growled. I crossed my brows.
“What are you saying?” I asked, but papa had already gotten up from the chair and stormed back into the house again.
I looked down at my belly. I was carrying a child inside me. A child that belonged to Leo…a man I thought I knew, but one who had betrayed me. I was determined to give birth, I was determined to raise this child and give it a loving home; just like mama had given me.
The next nine months passed with a difficult pregnancy. I was mostly bed ridden and anemic the whole time. Papa talked about it every day, about me getting rid of this child that was killing me. There were doctors in and out of our house every day, but I stuck it out. I wasn’t going to lose this child. I wasn’t going to lose the only thread that connected me with Leo. Even if he was a traitor, he was the only man who had made me feel safe, who had made me feel good…even if that was just make belief. I couldn’t forget him.
I gave birth to a little girl one Monday night, after thirty-six hours of labor. Even though papa and his men were there in the hospital waiting room, with papa still fuming that I had seen this pregnancy through—I felt all alone. I wished Leo was with me, I wished he was there to see his little baby girl.
I already knew what I was going to name her. I named her Sofia, after mama.
Papa didn’t hold her, he only looked at her from afar. He didn’t want to touch anything that belonged to Leo, especially since she looked so much like him. She had his hair and his dark glittering eyes. To me, she was the most beautiful creature in the world and I would have done anything to keep her safe.