“You remind me a lot of her.”

Serafina

“You remind me a lot of her.”

I freeze.

Is he…? Did he…?

My brows furrow, nonetheless uncertain whether or not I simply imagined it. The longer that point stretches between us, the extra unsure I turn into till the one factor I can do is affirm my suspicions.

“What?’

Slowly, I flip to search out Giovanni staring on the {photograph} in his arms. His lips are tightly sealed, however his eyes are glazed over, just like the picture in entrance of him brings again too many reminiscences to deal with.

“You’re cussed, decided,” he says, and I don’t miss the graceful approach he rolls his r’s. His voice is raspy, little question from the dearth of speaking and the very fact he has been out of it for the previous couple of days, and it does one thing to me that I by no means thought it could. “You’re additionally fiercely loyal.”

My breath hitches, drying my throat immediately. I can’t rely the variety of occasions I’ve wished I might hear his ideas, hearken to his phrases. He holds a depth that I’ve by no means been capable of fathom, and even now, as he begins itemizing all of the similarities between myself and another person, I’m hit with a newfound admiration.

Giovanni traces a finger over the picture, a single tear beading within the nook of his eye.

“Who?” I ask softly, cautiously stepping in direction of the mattress. Proper now, Giovanni is sort of a wild deer. I must tread rigorously if I’m going to get a dialog out of him. He’s so unpredictable, so untamed that one fallacious transfer might end in me being shut out once more.

I don’t need that. Not with the best way his accent flows like easy silk, his Italian heritage shining via the lilt in his phrases.

“My daughter,” he finally says. The fondness in his eyes solely will increase, a small smile urgent his lips that takes my breath away. It pulls me nearer to him, virtually mindlessly, till I’m perched beside him on the mattress.

“You could have a daughter?” I handle to choke out.

“Gabriella,” he solutions proudly.

My coronary heart swells on the approach his eyes mild up on the point out of her identify. It’s unmistakable how a lot love he holds for his daughter, the best way fathers ought to. I nonetheless really feel the offended pinch of guilt clutching at my chest, as a result of the entire cause we’re on this scenario is due to what my very own father stated to me.

Three days have handed since that second on the dance ground and my father has spent these days calling each hour to try to talk to me. I’m grateful that I’ve Levi to display screen my calls, however that solely appears to piss my father off much more.

“The place is she now?” My coronary heart sinks a little bit as I ask the query, realizing he has spent the final couple of months by my facet. I do know he hasn’t seen his daughter, and I’ve by no means heard him converse to her. Except the telephone calls I do know he has been taking are from her? I by no means get to listen to how the conversations go, I might by no means invade Giovanni’s privateness like that, however I’m nonetheless intrigued to find out about them.

Giovanni’s eyes soften. A degree of disappointment frames these inexperienced orbs, and I’m immediately regretting my query. “She was taken from me.”

“Is that why you’ve all the time been… silent?” I rasp, reaching for his hand.

He shifts to prop himself upright, however the damage to his abdomen continues to be contemporary. He should have forgotten as a result of he winces and groans, combating via it till he’s propped up in opposition to his pillows.

“The place is her mom?” I understand how usually this example can occur, particularly in damaged households. I’m grateful that my dad and mom have been by no means topic to that sort of disappointment, but it surely doesn’t imply I don’t perceive it. If something, I’m extra conscious of it. Girls who resent their husbands for making an attempt to do their greatest by them, all the time find yourself making them undergo. Cash, youngsters, lives, all of them change.

Giovanni shakes his head, permitting an eerie silence to fall between us. It sits heavy like a blanket, threatening to suffocate us. I swallow again the worry that laces my subsequent phrases. I must know what occurred. I would like to know why Giovanni stays silent on a regular basis. I’ve to learn how I may help him as a result of his disappointment is one thing I hate seeing. I’m used to the stoic bodyguard, the man who can provide you a glance and instantly all of your doubts and worries fade away.

I wish to be that for him.

“The place is Gabriella?” I would like readability, I must understand how I may help him. He appears to be like so rattling damaged, like irrespective of how a lot you attempt to glue these items collectively, he’s one slip up from falling aside. How has he gone so lengthy with this lingering over him? Dropping a toddler, in any circumstance can’t be simple. I must know extra. I must heal the man who’s spent months defending me, solely to finish up this fragmented soul.

“Gone,” Giovanni says underneath his breath.

I squeeze his hand, and he reciprocates. Even within the buttery glow of sunshine, his turmoil nonetheless makes him astoundingly lovely.

“I’m sorry,” is all I can muster. The rest would really feel empty and meaningless.

He nods with certainty, however I sense from the best way he’s me that he’s carried out with answering my questions. I’ve already overstepped and edged previous the invisible boundary that units us aside as boss and worker. However I’m nonetheless magnetized to the person that stepped in entrance of a bullet for me, the man who stared me proper into the eyes when he fired a shot at my captor.

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