Chapter 41



Luca stood in the dark gazing down at Daisy. Even in her sleep, the pain on her face was evident through the way her brows furrowed and a deep frown formed on her lips. He was tempted to reach out and touch her. A part of him, a huge part of him, wanted to take back everything he had said and hold her tightly to his chest.

But he couldn't forget how she lied to him.

Every time he remembered, his skin caught on fire. His breathing stopped and it felt as if someone had pushed his head underwater. If she could tell those lies, then what would stop her from hiding a whole side of herself from him. A side he would never see coming. A side that would sit him down in his car and tell him she was in love with someone else and wanted to keep their baby.

Luca walked to the door and paused to look over his shoulder. Daisy remained unmoved in her sleep. He counted the amount of breaths she took before he could pull himself away and close the door behind himself. Silently, in the dark, Luca made his way over to Gia's room and knocked.

As soon as Gia opened the door, Luca's eyes fell on the clock she was holding in her hands.

"What's going on?" She asked as she balanced the clock with one hand and pushed the door open.

"What are you doing with that?" Luca asked, looking down at the clock.

"Stupid thing was too loud," Gia said.

"Put it down," Luca said. "Go grab your passport and a change of clothes. You have a small bag?"

"Wh-what's going on?" Gia asked again.

"You're leaving," Luca said, rushing into the room and switching on the light.

"Leaving?" Gia followed him inside. "To where?"

"A shipment is scheduled to leave our docks in forty minutes," Luca said, picking up a sweater Gia had left on the chair. "It's going towards Greece. There will be a man waiting for you at the docks in Greece. When you get there, show him o-"

"You're sending me away?" Gia trembled.

"Yes," Luca said. "I'm not going to let you marry him."

"The other families...." Gia gripped the clock closer to herself.

"You leave them up to me," Luca said. "I'll handle it."

"How?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Not, it's too dangerous," Gia shook her head. "They won't just come after you. They'll go after Daisy and Theo. Carla and Nonna."

"They won't," Luca insisted. His heart contracted at the mention of Daisy's name. He knew it wouldn't be too hard to convince her to leave after the fight they just had. He could send her away some place far and keep her safe until he knew what to do about the other families. "Gia, we have to hurry. Grab your passport. From Greece, you will go to the Philippines. Don has arranged everything, you will be safe. I'll come find you."

"I can't leave you all here," Gia cried.

"You have to," Luca's eyes were determined. "Let's go. Now."

Shaken and terrified, Gia harried around the room as she grabbed her passport and packed a small bag. She barely thought about what she put in there as Luca threw in some cash and a piece of paper with phone numbers and addresses. Grabbing her hand, Luca rushed Gia out of her room and towards the back door of the house.

"Can I see Daisy?" Gia asked.

Luca cursed under his breath. If he saw Daisy in that moment, he knew he would crumble. He wouldn't be able to take such a huge gamble if he saw those sad hazel eyes.

"No," Luca said. "It's better they don't know anything about this."

"You'll come and find me, right?" Gia's eyes watered.

"Yes," Luca said.

Gia jumped into the car waiting outside and strapped on her seatbelt. She stared at Luca's balcony with her heart beating with worry and adrenaline. She didn't utter a word as Luca began to drive with the headlights off. His eyes were focused and his knuckles were white from how tightly he held the steering wheel. Unknown to his sister, Luca's eyes too moved to the balcony in his rear view mirror. He wished he could see the sleeping girls behind those curtains that blew in the wind.

The city of Del Mare was in deep slumber as the siblings slipped out from its belly in the dead of night. They both held their breath as the buildings began to disappear one by one in the rearview mirror.

"I don't know how long I'll be," Luca said after a while. He had switched on the headlights but his shoulders were still tense. "But you will be fine. There will be a bank account set up for you. Don't try to contact us. We will contact you. Understood?"

Gia nodded.

"Any questions?"

Gia shook her head.

"I love you," Luca said, catching himself off guard.

His blood chilled as every part of his mind panicked.

Why did you just say that? Luca asked himself as he stared at his sister. Fuck, fuck.

If anything happens to her now.....fuck!

Luca knew he needed to pull himself together for Gia's sake. He wasn't going to lose his sister. He wasn't going to let those words take her from him.

"And I will always keep you safe," Luca pushed himself to continue. "I'm sorry you got caught up in my mess."

"Why do you sound like you're saying goodbye to me?" Gia turned to look at her brother as she began to shiver with fat tears in her eyes.

"I'm not," Luca assured her.

God, I'm not. Please god, this isn't goodbye.

"I'll come get you," Luca said.

Gia looked unconvinced.

"Okay, let's go," Luca killed the engine and hopped out of the car.

He walked around to the passenger's side and helped Gia. His hand was cold as ice as he rushed her to the ship getting ready to set sail. They were just a few yards away, eyes locked with the man onboard who held out his hand to help Gia on, when a shot fired from somewhere in the darkness.

Luca felt the sickly taste of metal in his mouth as his lungs suddenly began to burn as if he was drowning. He fell to his knees with agonizing pain as all the strength in his body began to leave. Something sharp poked his heart as he slumped onto the concrete and felt warm blood slip out from his mouth. His eyelids grew heavy as the sound of rushing blood filled his ears. There was a second gunshot and then Gia's scream.

"Luca!"

"No! Luca!"

Daisy....

Luca suddenly could think of nothing else beside his wife.

You're my faith.

________________________

Daisy heard the chatter before she even opened her eyes. The sound of car doors slamming, Maria's muffled cry, and then heavy footsteps. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up in bed. The spot beside her was empty. Theo was in his crib and the bathroom light was turned off.

"Luca?" Daisy called out.

She sat with a beating heart for a few seconds and waited for him to come into the room like he always did when she called. But when the door remained closed, Daisy pushed the sheets off of herself and climbed out of bed. She grabbed her robe and hurried out of the room towards the sounds coming from downstairs.

Maria, who stood paralyzed at the bottom of the stairwell, looked up with her eyes red and full of tears. Daisy's feet stopped as she slowed down and looked at Aaron and Mateo standing before Maria.

"What's going on?" Daisy asked. "Where's Luca?"

Mateo looked uncomfortable as Aaron looked from Maria to Daisy and then back to Daisy. He cleared his throat as Daisy climbed the last few steps down.

"What is it?" She asked, her heart growing restless. "Is it Gia?"

"Mrs. Silvano, we need you to come to the hospital with us," Aaron said.

"Oh god," Daisy took a step back. She raised her hand and placed it over her forehead. "Oh god, what did she do?"

Aaron looked at Mateo. They stood with their heads bowed and faces grim.

"Is she hurt?" Daisy demanded to know. "Is Luca with her? What did she do?"

"It's actually Luca, ma'am," Mateo said.

Daisy felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"Luca what?" She asked.

"Luca is at the hospital," Aaron explained.

"Why..." Daisy's chest tightened. Had he come to bed? She couldn't remember. When did he get up?

"Gia and Luca were at the docks," Aaron continued. "From what I gathered, Luca was sending Gia away. But Dante had intel and he was there when they arrived..."

Daisy looked at Maria who was as pale as a ghost. When she turned back to look at Aaron, her brows furrowed.

"Is he okay?" She asked, her voice coming out lower than she had intended to.

"They're operating on him right now."

"Oh," Daisy whimpered in physical pain as Aaron's words caused her heart to contract.

"He was shot twice from the back," Aaron continued.

"But he's okay, right?" Daisy asked, pushing air down her lungs. "He's okay."

"He's in operation!" Maria yelled. "No, he's not okay!"

"Luca's fine," Daisy said stubbornly. "He's fine...he...."

Aaron watched as Daisy shrugged, a million different emotions ran past her eyes as she began to wipe her hands on her robe and mutter to herself.

"He's fine," she said once more before looking up to Mateo. "Will you take me to him? We need to bring him home. He's going to be pissed if he misses his morning zoom calls with the investors. Do you have any idea how long we have been working on his deal? Can you call Don? See if the investors sent over their new contract. I was supposed to look over that last night but I forgot. Luca didn't remind me. It's all his fault."

"What are you going on about?" Maria stepped forward and grabbed Daisy's arm. She turned her around and shook her shoulders. "He's dying! He was shot!"

"Oh my god!" Daisy stepped away. "Why are you so dramatic? Why are you crying? This is Luca we're talking about! He's fine. He probably had this whole thing planned. Luca would never let this happen. Honestly, have some faith in your grandson."

"You stupid girl," Maria shook her head. Despite the venom in her voice, her eyes were soft and full of sympathy. "He's not invincible."

Daisy flinched once more as her heart contracted, leaving her breathless. Her thoughts were in a daze. She didn't understand why they were so worried about Luca. He is invincible, she wanted to shout.

"Mrs. Silvano," Aaron said. "We think maybe you should be at the hospital."

"Let me get dressed," Daisy turned on her heels. "Get the car seat ready. I'm taking Theo with me."

Maria began to protest but Daisy was already rushing up the stairs. She hurried into the bedroom and closed the door behind her as all the oxygen in her lungs ran out. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor, crying and clutching her hands to her chest.

This wasn't happening, she thought to herself. This was not happening. It was all just a bad dream and she would wake up and Luca would be beside her. She would tell him how sorry she was for lying to him and how much he meant to her. She couldn't lose him. It was out of the question. How would she live without him? She was never going to let him leave, no matter how stubborn he was or how much he yelled at her or how much he made her angry.

She loved him so much. It filled every empty part of her heart that she had been trying to stuff for years. How could she let that go? How could she not fight for him?

With hot tears rolling down her face, Daisy walked into the nursery and woke Theo up. It broke her heart as the little boy began to cry and call for Luca. She sobbed along with him as she dressed him and then herself.

Luca will be fine, she kept telling herself. He said not to let Theo out of my sight.

"Dada!" Theo cried.

"Yeah, let's go see dada," Daisy held him close to her chest and hurried downstairs.

"Leave him with me," Maria said as she looked up and spotted Daisy coming down the stairs.

"No," Daisy said sharply. "Luca said to keep him with me at all times."

"What are you going to do with him in the hospital?"

"I don't know!" Daisy snapped.

"Daisy, listen to me-"

"I have to go see Luca," Daisy shook her head, her feet already running towards the car.

"Leave him with me!" Maria said as Daisy sat Theo in the car seat and began to buckle him up.

"Daisy?" Mateo, who never called her by her first name, looked at her with his eyes concerned. "Are you sure you want to take Theo with you?"

"Yes," Daisy said.

"Okay," Mateo nodded. "Get in."

Daisy climbed in beside Theo as Aaron and Mateo got in the car. They drove as fast as they could to the hospital as Theo dozed off once again in his carseat. Daisy held his little hand and ran her hand through his hair to comfort him. When they arrived at the hospital, she hesitated to take him out of the car seat but knew there was no way she could leave him with anyone. But luckily, Theo didn't wake up as she cradled him to her chest and stepped into the elevator.

"Daisy," Carla sighed as soon as they arrived to the floor where Luca was.

"He's fine," Daisy said. "Right..."

Carla stared for a few seconds before slightly raising her shoulder, "We don't know."

"Wh-" Daisy felt her breath get stuck in her chest. "What do you mean?"

"The bullets left a lot of damage," Carla said. "He lost a lot of blood."

"Who...." Daisy could barely speak. "Who did this?"

"Dante," Carla said. "Giovani called me. They have him. Daniel and Mario got there on time b-"

"Where's Gia?"

"She's here," Carla said. "She's injured too. Concussion and lots of bruising."

"Why were they at the docks?" Daisy felt her pain bubble into anger. "What the hell were they doing?"

"I don't know," Carla said just as the elevator door slid open and two men walked out. Daisy turned towards them and held Theo closer as Carla let out a slow sigh.

"How long until he's out of surgery?" One of the men asked.

"I can't tell," Carla said. "This is Daisy. Luca's wife."

The two men turned towards Daisy and Theo.

"Daisy, this is Giovanni Capello and Mario Dimaggio," Carla introduced.

Daisy's eyes narrowed instantly. She glared at the slightly chubby old man and stepped forward.

"If anything happens to him...." She said, pinning Mario with her dagger eyes. "I will burn this whole town to the ground."

Giovanni showed no emotion but there was a small shift in Mario's eyes. Daisy thought she saw a flicker of sadness before it vanished too quickly.

"Daisy- " Giovanni began.

"I don't care for your rules," Daisy said, shifting her eyes towards Giovanni. "If anything happens to Luca, you all better pray I die with him or you will regret what's about to happen next."

Carla knew the smart thing to do would be to stop Daisy. But she needed the men to know their time of telling everyone how things were going to run around Del Mare would truly come to an end if anything happened to Luca. They had never seen a woman openly threaten them. But the rage in Daisy's eyes didn't let them forget that every word she spoke was the utter truth.

_________________________

"Mrs. Silvano?"

Daisy looked up as one of the nurses poked their head into the private office she was sitting inside.

"Do you need anything, ma'am?" The kind woman asked.

"No, thank you," Daisy shook her head.

"What about the baby?" The nurse's eyes moved towards Theo sitting on a blanket on the floor. "I can make him a bottle from the new born unit. Or maybe some fruits from the cafeteria?"

"Already taken care of."

Daisy frowned as Mario cleared his throat from behind the nurse. She watched the woman step back and make way for the old man as he entered the office with a coffee and a brown box from the cafeteria. Ignoring him, Daisy turned her attention back to the nurse.

"Any news on the surgery?" She asked.

"Not yet," The nurse shook her head. "I'll keep you posted."

Daisy nodded. She moved her eyes back to Theo as Mario hovered by the door and stared at her.

"Does he like scrambled eggs?" He asked.

Daisy's eyes narrowed as she looked at the man.

"I got him some pancakes and eggs," Mario said, holding out the small box. "You could rip it up for him."

"No, thank you," Daisy shook her head.

"Coffee?" Mario stepped farther into the room and held the cup towards her. "For you."

"I really don't w-"

"I can understand your hesitation," Mario said. "But if it makes you feel any better, I would never hurt any of you. Not Luca, not Gia....nobody from your family."

Daisy didn't buy any of his words. She sat firmly in her seat with her eyes on Theo.

"Look, see?" Mario opened the cup of coffee and took a sip. "It's safe."

Daisy frowned. There was something strangely familiar about the man. Maybe it was his height. Or maybe it was his ability to appear non threatening despite his size. It reminded her of Richard.

"And the eggs," Mario sat down the coffee on the table and opened the box. He used the spare fork to stab a piece of egg and put it in his mouth. "Completely safe."

"What about the pancakes?" Daisy asked.

"Hm," Mario nodded as he chewed. He took one of the mini pancakes and took a bite. "Safe."

Daisy felt some of the tension on her shoulders ease as she slowly nodded. Mario placed the box in her hand and moved the coffee near her.

"Do you mind if I sit in here with you for a bit?" He asked.

"Knock yourself out," Daisy walked over to the table and pumped some hand sanitizer onto her hands. She watched Mario take a seat on the chair by the door as she sat down on the blanket with Theo and handed him a piece of scrambled egg.

"How old is he now?" Mario asked.

"One," Daisy said.

Mario chuckled, "Oh I remember Luca when he was that age."

"Yeah?" Daisy said, disinterested in the man's attempt to make conversation.

"He wouldn't leave Gianna's arms," Mario shook his head. "Everywhere she went, he would be on her hips. She loved him just as much, if not more."

Daisy surprised herself as she felt a small smile appear on her lips.

"He looks a lot like you," Mario continued.

"Does he?" Daisy pushed back some of Theo's hair.

"I don't see much of Luca," Mario laughed. "But boys tend to always look like their mother."

"Hm," Daisy nodded.

"Dada?" Theo held up his hand towards Daisy.

"Dada's coming," Daisy said, feeling her heart clench.

"He loves him," Mario said.

"Sometimes I think Luca is his favorite."

"I was talking about Luca," Mario said. "I've seen him at church with Theo and then again at the market. It made me very happy."

Daisy's eyes fluttered up towards the man, "Really? You weren't angry to see us?"

"No," Mario shook his head. "Hurt? Yes. But not angry."

"I'm sorry about what happened to Stella," Daisy said sincerely. "I know it's probably not easy for you or your family to see me with Luca and Theo."

"Their child would have been eight," Mario said, his eyes sad and full of old age as he stared at Theo.

"I'm sorry," Daisy said once more, feeling her hollow chest ache. "Luca loves her a lot. Even to this day. I hope you know he would have never hurt her. I don't know what happened between them but Luca carries her with him always."

Mario's brows furrowed and he began to frown, "He's going to regret doing that one day."

"What do you mean?"

"Holding onto Stella like that," Mario sighed. He ran his palms over the material of his pants before rising to his feet and turning towards the door. "You can rest assured no one will harm you or your child, Mrs. Silvano. Not as long as I live and breathe in this town."

Strangely, Daisy believed his words.

Maybe Mario was the reason why she was able to go back home when Carla told her Luca wouldn't be out of surgery for a few more hours. Theo was begging to fuss and staying at the hospital with her eyes watching the clock made Daisy feel as if she was being buried alive. Mateo and Aaron drove her back to the house where Maria and Dana greeted her at the door.

"I'm going to put him down for a nap," Daisy said as Maria followed her into the house.

"Do you need anything?" the woman asked. "Have you eaten?"

"I don't think I can right now," Daisy said.

"I'll make you some soup," Maria turned towards the kitchen.

Daisy took the stairs towards Luca's room with Theo's head on her shoulder. She lulled him to sleep in her arms before placing him in his crib and gently removing his shoes. With a small kiss on the forehead, Daisy closed the nursery door and headed back downstairs. Each step dragged on the floor as she made her way to the foyer and stopped when she caught sight of Dana at the door.

"What's that?" Daisy asked, looking at the bouquet of white flowers in the woman's hand.

"Flower delivery," Dana said.

"For who?"

"For Mr. Silvano," Dana shifted uncomfortably.

Daisy stared at the flowers with her heart lodged into her throat and her eyes burning with unshed tears.

"How often do these flowers get delivered?" She asked.

"One a week," Dana said quietly.

"Who takes them to the grave?"

"I do," Dana said. "Or sometimes Aaron."

"What about Luca?"

"He used to before," Dana said. "But he hasn't since you two have gotten married."

Daisy slowly nodded, her eyes still on the flowers, "Have Mateo bring the car back around, please."

"Ma'am?"

"I'll drop off the flowers."

"No," Maria said sternly. "You will do no such thing."

"Luca's not here right now," Daisy said. "So I'll do what he wants done."

"Daisy-"

"Dana, tell Mateo I'll wait for him by the car," Daisy said. "And put the flowers in the car too."

"Yes," Dana quickly hurried back outside.

Daisy waited for Maria to say something but the woman did not speak. They shared a somber look before Dais made her way into the car and picked up the flowers.

"I can take them," Mateo offered, looking at her in the rear view mirror.

"No," Daisy shook her head. "It's fine."

The car filled with the scent of lilies as they drove up the hill and stopped inside the church's iron gates. Daisy held the flowers firmly as she got out of the car and turned towards the large fig tree. Her chest quivered as she made her way over to the headstone.

For such an agonizing day, the sky had no clouds to show. It was an endless blue sea. The bright sunlight made all the birds sing and bees hum. Daisy slowly inched forward and lowered herself. She pulled out the old flowers from the small plant holder beside the grave and brushed away some of the dead petals. Her hands felt numb and her head felt dizzy as she placed the new flowers in the planter and stood back up.

"You shouldn't be here."

Daisy looked over her shoulder to find Mrs. Dimaggio staring at her with a deep scowl on her face.

"Aren't you embarrassed to be here?" She asked.

"I'm not responsible for whatever happened between them," Daisy frowned, her heart tired of all the fighting.

"No, but you took her spot," Teresa said.

Daisy wanted to laugh. She wanted to burst into laughter and let all the tears stuck behind her eyes run down her face freely.

Took her spot.

"No one can take her spot," Daisy said instead.

Teresa stared at Daisy. The branches of the fig tree swayed above them as the breeze from the sea played with their hair and knocked around their empty hearts. Before long, both women were gazing down at Stella's headstone.

"You and I are more alike than I would have thought," Teresa said after a long pause.

"What do you mean?" Daisy looked towards the woman standing beside her.

"We're the same," A small smile appeared on Teresa's lips as her eyes filled with heartbreak.

Daisy didn't know what the woman was talking about until Teresa's voice shook and she said, "Fighting to be number one. But forever coming in second."



So the next chapter or chapters are the first few parts of this story I had begun to put together when I decided I wanted to write this book. I can't wait to share them with you and see your reactions.