by Soraya Naomi
“Adriano,” Henry begins, handing me the marriage license. “You need to sign on the dotted lines here and here. Then Fallon signs as Cam’s witness and Luca as yours. Can you forge Cam’s signature?”
I get the piece of paper from Cam’s bed and show him. “I tried. I can.”
“Yeah, it looks good.” He gives me a pen, and I take the cap off.
I lean forward as Fallon places a paperback book on the bed to give us a surface to write on, and I sign my name and Cam’s name. Next, Fallon and Luca scribble down their signatures.
And Henry takes the paper. “You’re married.”
I regard Cam and stroke her stomach before I turn to Fallon.
Her hand disappears inside her purse, and she hands me two silver-gold wedding rings. “Just like you wanted.”
I hold up Cam’s ring and read the engraving. “Thanks.” Taking Cam’s hand, I slide the band on her ring finger. “Come home to me, because that’s where I’ll be all the days of my life, waiting for you. I watch you. I exist for you. I belong to you. The time has come for you to open your eyes, Camilla Montesi, and meet your husband and baby.” I nuzzle her ear so that no one can hear the last words of my wedding vow. “Se tu muori, muoio anche io.” If you die, I die.
I blink back the moisture in my eyes before I stand back up. When I crane my neck, all four of them are smiling morbidly at me, causing me to chuckle. “You may congratulate us...”
“Sorry,” Fallon breaks the tension first. “It’s just...I don’t know. Never mind. Congratulations!” She winds her arms around my neck and gives me a big kiss on my cheek, and then all her attention goes to Cam as she speaks to her.
“Congrats, Adriano.” Henry shakes my hand. “I’m going to take care of this.” He holds up the paper.
Luca grabs my arm and hugs me. “Who would’ve ever thought? Adriano’s a married man. Congratulations, amico.”
“Thank you.” I pause, attempting to give this peculiar sentiment a place, but it’s useless, and Luca notices my battle. “Don’t give up hope. She’s your wife now.” He squeezes my shoulder. “She’ll come back.”
“She must...” My words trail off when the tattoo artist arrives just in time with a blue bag.
“Adriano, long time no see,” Nixon greets and congratulates me.
I make the introductions, and Nixon handles the situation lightly, which I appreciate.
“Are you getting another tattoo?” Fallon asks while Nixon is setting his equipment up on the table.
“Yes.”
“What kind of tattoo?” she wants to know.
“My wedding ring,” I reply as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
I remove my suit jacket and roll up my sleeves to my elbows. I only wore it because Cam likes me in my three-piece suit. But I rarely wear my jackets.
“I’m going to swoon!” Fallon mumbles, and I frown at her.
I take my seat next to the bed and entwine Cam’s fingers with mine while resting my other hand on the table on the other side, and Nixon goes to work, drawing two circles around my ring finger.
“Am I tattooing her too?” Nixon requests as he starts to write the letters on my skin.
I smirk at Luca, who shakes his head violently, conveying that I can’t do that.
I lift Cam’s hand to my mouth and press my lips to her knuckles. “I’m tempted to, but no. She can decide if she wants the tat when she wakes up.”
I seal our union, our bond no man on earth can come between, and get my wedding band tattooed on my finger in a black ink with a metallic shimmer border and calligraphic letters reading: Cam. My angel. Because I know with certainty that whatever happens in this life, I’ll never marry another. She’s my wife, my angel, the mother of my child, the only woman I’ve ever loved.
Everything takes about twenty minutes. Within twenty simple minutes, I’m married to the love of my life. Unfortunately, it only takes five minutes after that before James learns what I’ve done and barges into the room.
First, his glare is aimed on me and then on Marc. “Marc, you know those papers are fake.”
“No, James. I’m protecting both her and you. Adriano and I believe that she’ll come back. You’re already grieving her death, but don’t undervalue the power of the human bond.”
James holds up his hands as if he can’t believe that I actually went through with it. Eventually, he expels a loud sigh. “I just wish you would’ve discussed it with me first.”
“Well, it’s over and done with now. Can I please be alone with my wife? I really need to have some private time with her – right now,” I state in my boss’s tone because all these discussions are wearing me out.
For a second, it’s quiet. But then Fallon and Luca practically shove everyone out. After they’ve all left, I crawl into bed with Cam.
I roll her slightly to her side and slide my arm underneath her neck so that I can embrace her firmly while she lies against me. I hold up my phone with my other hand and put on our song, hoping she’ll hear it. Or at least that she’ll feel me on this day that’s actually our first day as husband and wife.
But what’s supposed to be one of the happiest times of my life is, in actuality, the bluest day of my existence. A tear drips from my eye.
“Please come back to me.” Those words are losing their power.
It’s true that I married Cam because I’ll never let anyone other than me make the decision about whether she lives or dies. But, I mainly married her because I wanted to. Though now I feel even more miserable than usual because, deep down, I’d hoped that she would miraculously wake up.
Hope is a treacherous feeling for a mafia man. I never believed in hope before. No, I took matters into my own hands without leaving anything to chance. I killed and maimed to get my way and protect my family. Yet this needy emotion is depressing me when I want to enjoy this moment, even for a little while.
So I close my eyes and pretend we’re having a normal wedding night where I worship her body with mine.
CHAPTER 43
Adriano
While I thought that marriage would lift this cloud of darkness that’s hanging over me, it doesn’t. On top of that, in the following days, there’s still no change in Cam’s condition.
My first weekend as a married man, I’m working at the club on Friday afternoon because I have a pile of papers to sign. But while I’m here, I realize that I’m not used to having so many people around me anymore, and I’m confronted with the isolated life I’ve been leading with Cam for the last four months. This is what Marc warned me about; how difficult it is for the direct family members to continue on with their lives.
Nonetheless, time does continue, and the business is running well without me; delegating all that work to Luca, Logan, and Tez was a clever decision.
However, on this day, I reach a new low because this is the first time I delay returning to the hospital. These first few days as a married man have been the hardest ones of my life. Rubbing my temples, I try to convince myself that she’ll wake up once she understands that we’re married and having a baby. But reality is proving otherwise, and the thought of it plagues me. Nothing is bringing Cam back, yet her shadow haunts me continuously, and being in a marriage without her presence is horrendously lonely. Therefore, to my utmost displeasure, after four months, that last piece of optimism leaves my body.
Upset with myself, I storm out of my office and bump into an employee when I round the corner. I steady her with my hands on her shoulders. “Sorry.”
Lo’s big brown eyes look back at me, and it’s as if Cam is standing before me, alive and well.
She’s fazed for a second and then grumbles an apology. As I stare at her, I’m dazed by her resemblance to Cam.
All of a sudden, she leans forward and almost kisses me, but I hold her back by her shoulders and shake my head in warning. “No! Were you about to kiss me?”
“I-I’m sorry,” she stammers.
I release her as if she’s bur
ned me. “My wife is in the hospital. She’s fighting to keep my child and herself alive and you dare to try to kiss me? I’m fucking insulted that you even think you stand a chance. I’m a sinner, and I’m a killer. But I will never betray my wife!”
“But you were—”
“What? Staring at you? You know damn well that you look like my wife. The girls must have talked about that. You’re fired. Get out!”
As she scurries away, I plow my hand through my hair and sigh tiredly.
How can I continue like this?
Need slams into me, and I curse my weakness for Cam.
But then, deliverance comes when my phone buzzes in my pocket and I fish it out to see Marc calling me. “Marc?”
“Cam’s awake, Adriano. She’s awake! Come to the hospital.” His voice is full of enthusiasm.
“What?” I break out in a run, grabbing my car keys as I go.
***
I race like a maniac to the hospital, skimming red lights and finding myself sprinting down the hall. As I rush into Cam’s room, disappointment drowns me when I see that she’s still lying on her back but without the breathing tube down her throat.
I run up to her bed and cradle her face. “Cam? Sweetheart?” My voice is barely a whisper.
I hear feet shuffling inside and glance back at Marc.
“You said she was awake!” I accuse.
“Adriano, calmati. She has been awake. This is good. She won’t wake in an instant and remember everything. It’s a gradual process, but this is good. She’ll be awake again soon. Her body is adjusting.”
“I fucking missed it!” A dagger pierces my heart.
“Don’t worry. She won’t remember it. Stay here. Within a couple of hours, she’ll wake again, and you need to be here because she might be scared and confused and searching for you.”
“Trust me; nothing can drive me away from here now.”
CHAPTER 44
Camilla
Beep...beep...beep.
My eyes open languidly, and I shut them, shielding them from the blinding light, and groan. Then for a second time, I peek through my eyelids and let my vision adapt slowly. Confused, I blink and blink.
Where am I?
I’m in a white room. There’s a tube down my airway, pumping oxygen into my lungs. Abruptly, the door creaks and I squeal – or try to – and lift my arm, which is noticeably heavy. I lethargically attempt to turn my head.
“Camilla, you’re awake.” A nurse closes the distance, and I press myself into the mattress. “Don’t be scared. You’re in the hospital. I’m getting your doctor, okay?”
She pushes a button beside my bed, and I panic from sheer bewilderment.
Where’s Adriano? Where’s my family?
My gaze flies around the room wearily to find the one person I want to see not here.
Beep, beep, beep.
“Everything’s all right.” The nurse tries to calm me.
My body feels sluggish and my eyelids droop...
****
Something’s pressing on my middle, and someone’s gripping my hand. I blink profusely and concentrate on my sight, but when I take a breath, I grimace through my sore throat; the nurse removed the tube.
When a familiar cologne reaches my nostrils, I view the one person I ache to see with his head on my cleavage, facing away from me.
I lift my hand, sifting my fingers through his hair, and croak dryly, “A-Adriano...”
His head whips to me with an expression of shock. “Cam?!”
From the look of it, he’s been in an ill humor, because half his hair is standing straight up as if he ran his fingers through it like he always does when he’s distraught. His beard is scruffy, and his tired, yet hopeful, face inspects my features as if I might vanish into thin air at any moment. Our eyes lock, and Adriano’s eyes are teeming with moisture.
“Hey.” I smile but flinch when the dry skin on my lips pulls tight.
“Cam!” Adriano cups my face with both hands, his thumbs stroking my cheeks.
I frown when I see tears dripping down his cheeks for the first time ever, so I graze my palm over his beard, and he kisses it.
“You came back to me, sweetheart.”
A blur of memories attack my mind, and I’m suddenly lightheaded. And thirsty. Drowsiness pulls at me.
“I’m thirsty,” I manage to mumble.
Adriano takes a cup with a straw from the nightstand, bringing it to my lips, and I gulp down the water, letting it soothe my throat. After I’m finished, he sets the cup back down. And he cradles my head, pressing his lips to mine, kissing and holding me as if he’s kissing me for the first time. It starts out softly, but then Adriano threads his fingers into my hair, tracing his tongue over my lips and parting them gently, almost worshipfully. He kisses me with the same hunger I feel in my soul. His touch breathes life back into my body, and I take it. All of it, with so much pleasure.
His lips press against the corner of my mouth and my jaw, and then he rests his forehead on mine. “I missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too. What happened?”
Adriano’s palms keep stroking my face and my arms in reaction to my obviously distressed manner.
“Shhh...you’re okay. You’re at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Cam. Do you remember that you were being held at Yakiv Medlov’s estate?”
An array of memories flit across my thoughts. “Oh my god, the tape?!”
I cough and Adriano rears back, giving me more water to drink. Then he cocoons us again in our own little world as he frames my face. I weave my fingers over his scalp, and he groans in satisfaction. A simple gesture that we’ve both yearned for.
“I have the tape,” he answers. “You don’t need to worry about that. Medlov has been caught and sentenced, and I have the tape of you and Santino in my possession.”
My heartbeat settles to a normal pace, but I wonder what happened that put me in the hospital? “I remember escaping Medlov’s mansion and following him into another house because he told me about the tape and I wanted to get it. And...I called you. And then I remember nothing.”
Adriano’s tries to sit back up, but I clutch his dress shirt, so he stays close to me.
“Calmati.” Calm down. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I feel strange,” I confess as emotions and words clash inside. “And my body feels weak.”
“Marc is your doctor, and he says that’s normal, sweetheart. Give it a few days for your mind and body to catch up with everything. I’m going to tell you what happened afterward, and listen to me carefully, okay? Don’t panic, because everything is fine now.”
I frown but nod once in conciliation.
“You did call me, and we were disconnected when the cottage you were in blew up. There was more than one cottage on that estate. You had a head injury and were rushed into surgery. You’ve been unconscious ever since.”
In reaction, my hand flies to my head, but I don’t feel any soreness, just heaviness and a mild headache. “For how many days was I unconscious?”
Adriano swallows and mournfully stares down at me. “It’s been much longer than days, Cam. You’ve been unconscious for four months.”
“What?!” I sit up with my elbows on the mattress, but blood rushes from my head, leaving me dizzy, so I collapse back.
“Cam,” Adriano states in a commanding, yet concern-filled tone. “Please stay calm.”
“Four months?” I repeat disbelievingly. “So it’s...”
“March.” He studies me to analyze my reaction.
Skeptical, I glance around the room to look for a clock or a calendar. “How?”
“You slipped into a coma,” he explains, sadness glimmering behind his eyes.
Again, the confusion and panic pull at me, and I’m totally astounded.
“But...four months?” I repeat, yet again, in barely a whisper. “So what happened in four months? Where is everyone? I can’t believe I lost four months of my life?!” Suddenly, I start
to cry. Tears break free, and I merely sob.
Adriano climbs onto my bed and pulls me into his arms. “Shhh. But you’re awake and healthy now. Why are you crying, sweetheart?” His arms secure around my middle, and his chin rests on top of my head.
“I’m not sure. I’m overwhelmed. Please take me home.”
“You are home, because I’m here. Marc told me that you might be a bit frightened and mixed up, but all this confusion will settle, Cam. I’m so happy you came back to me.”
My ear is pressed to his chest. I listen to the calming beat of his heart while he rubs my hair and neck to soothe me, and I drift off to sleep as I grasp his shirt in my hand like a lifeline.
***
I scream and thrash on the bed as monsters in the night crawl over my skin. All I see is white light, and something tells me that Adriano isn’t with me, but someone’s holding me down.
“No! Adriano? Adriano!” I yell.
“I’m here. I’m here.” I can hear him speaking to me frantically through a murmur of voices. “What’s going on with her?”
“It’s perfectly normal. Keep talking to her.”
A warm hand touches my forehead and lips press against the shell of my ear. Finally, I can feel the heat of his presence as if it sears through me.
“Sweetheart, take a deep breath for me. Can you do that? Just take a deep breath.”
His comforting voice relaxes my nerves, and then I feel him tangling our fingers, so I grip his tightly.
“That’s it. Hold on to me, Cam. No one’s hurting you. You’re perfectly fine, and I’m watching over you always. Shhh...”
Tranquility returns to my body now that I feel Adriano, and then blackness swallows me.
****
I believe this is the fourth time I’ve tried to wake up, although time is a foreign concept to me while I’m breaking out of my fog entirely and returning to the world of the living. I recognize that my mind is clearer this time. And like each time before, I instantly search for the man I long for, and he’s right by my side.
“Good morning, sweetheart.”
“Hey.” I scrape my fingers through Adriano’s beard that’s been trimmed neatly but is still very thick. The dark shadows on his face have disappeared, and he looks exactly like my sinful man, his hair combed back in perfect disarray.