Dr. Rossi doesn’t have time to respond before I race out of the room, and downstairs into the makeshift medical space. I’ve spent as much time as I can down here with Gia, talking to Alessandro and waiting for him to wake up. Of course, it’s when I go back upstairs to have some calm between Geno and Dr. Rossi’s arguing when he decides to wake up.
I run into the room, holding Gia in my arms, part of me shocked that Alessandro is awake. “You’re alive.”
He grunts as he tries to sit up before smiling at me, but his eyes are directly on our daughter. “Of course I’m alive. I couldn’t leave you and our daughter.”
“Good. I want you to meet your daughter. Gia Isabella Leone.” I walk over to Alessandro with Gia, placing her gently in his arms and she stretches her arms in his direction. Logically, I understand she’s a week old, but it’s like she knows exactly who he is. I know exactly what he’s doing as he scans over her, noting every feature while stoically nodding his head.
“She’s perfect.” His answer is simple as that, perfect. Gia is the best part of both of us.
“She is. She’s been such a good baby, Alessandro. You’d be so proud of her for how she sleeps, eats, and she barely even cries. I’ve woken up already to her awake in her bassinet, calmly waiting for me to wake up with her. There’s even been a few times I had hoped she would wake me up because I’ve ruined a few shirts already.”
With Gia still in his arms, his eyes lock directly on my chest before leaning in and speaking lowly. “I’d like to see that.”
Alessandro laughs at me before grimacing at the pain from his stitches as I turn bright red, thinking of him enjoying that.
“Alessandro, you maiale di un uomo! Stop with your crazy kinks and leave Luci alone. You had surgery and have been in a coma for the last week and she gave birth to your child a week ago. You and every man ever need to stop thinking with your dicks.” Dr. Rossi is back checking on Alessandro’s vitals.
I can’t tell if Geno or Alessandro is more annoyed with Dr. Rossi’s presence when I take Gia back, allowing Dr. Rossi to examine Alessandro again.
“Your vitals are good now that you’ve woken up. You’re staying hooked up down here for one more night, then you can go back upstairs to sleep in your room as long as everything stays the same. You need to rest and stay as relaxed as possible until your wound heals. Also, leave Luci and her body alone. Remember I’m the one who clears her for sex and will withhold clearance if you continue to be a pig. Luci, I can teach you how to castrate the man in three seconds flat if you need to.” I think regardless of her medical training she would know how to do that. At least I assume from the stories I’ve heard about the fates of her ex-husbands.
“Hey, Dr. Rossi?” Alessandro’s voice is thick with annoyance in his response to her statement.
“What? What could you possibly want? I fly to bumfuck nowhere to take care of Luci when you shoot her. I come hereand deal with your gunshot wound because everyone who works for the Leone family is trigger-happy. Then I have to deal with Geno’s attitude because no one’s body is healing as fast as he wants. So I ask again. What could you possibly want?”
“You’re fired.”
“No, I’m not.” She knows they’ll never fire her regardless of what she may say or do because of how good she is at her job. If she’s right about one thing, it’s that she has come to our rescue often in the last ten months since I’ve been here.
Alessandro, Gia, and I are finally alone as a family. No Dr. Rossi, no Geno, only the three of us bonding so Alessandro can fall in love with Gia like I have.
Alessandro is holding Gia, examining every piece of her and I’m positive he would bring her the moon if she asked. It’s similar to how he was directly before he closed his eyes when he was shot. I’ve been thinking of this for the last week and need to know what happened. “Can I ask you something?”
His eyes don’t leave Gia as he responds with a grunt, acknowledging he heard me.
“What did you see over my shoulder before you lost consciousness?” That’s what causes him to switch his focus to me, this sense of calm filling the room.
“My mamma.” He laughs at the look I give him and continues to explain. “Mamma appeared over your shoulder, letting me know it’s okay to let go. Then when I woke up initially, she was there. We talked a lot, and I got to know her. She was an amazing woman. She made sure you were okay and reassured me that Quinn and Enzo helped you have Gia since I couldn’t be there.”
“What do you mean?” Was he dreaming? His mamma has been gone for almost thirty years.
“I hallucinated, or I saw a ghost. I don’t know. The amount of peace she gave me though while unconscious was everything I ever needed from her.”
I don’t doubt that he saw something, but I’m not sure what exactly to call it. People always talk about seeing God in the last moments of their lives if they’ve experienced near-death experiences. On the other hand, I haven’t heard of someone seeing their loved ones who have passed. If there’s one thing I know about Alessandro, it’s that he would never lie, especially about something this important. I nod my head as I place my hand on his arm, truly realizing that we’re a real family now.
Chapter 82
Alessandro
2 Weeks Postpartum
Watching Luci feed Gia is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. The way she glows when she looks down at our daughter with so much love reminds me of the picture from the journal. The only picture of my mamma holding me. Now I fully understand that it’s peace and love that can only be given from a mamma to her baby. On the other side of things, Luci wasn’t lying. Gia is such a quiet baby that I’ve woken up before her in the morning and seen how her body reacts to going too long without expressing. My mouth waters being near her thinking about giving her relief. Most mornings a cold shower is the only thing that calms the need to find out what her milk tastes like.
When Luci pulls Gia away, I notice the differences in her breasts. Her nipples are larger and darker, something I never liked on a woman previously. Seeing it on Luci makes me feral to the point where I almost want to say fuck it and have her the way I want to.
“What's wrong?” My hypnosis is broken by Luci talking to me once she’s done setting a sleeping Gia in her bassinet.
“I’m thinking about how exquisite you are now that you’ve given birth.” Luci hunches in on herself and I can tell she’s uncomfortable with my statement. She’s always been self-conscious about her body and being pregnant didn’t help. I wish she could understand how perfect she is, especially now that she’s had my baby. When I reach over to grab her, I remember that I’ve been shot and shouldn’t overexert myself but need her body close to me.
