Chapter 23: Chapter 23
Sophie's POV ~
I felt my heartbreak for Thiago as he watched half his family walk out of our front door without even looking back at him. The room was left silent, none of us said a word, we were still reeling from the events that just occurred infront of us.
A few minutes passed before Thiago cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, something that I've noticed he always does when he's uncomfortable or in a situation he'd rather not be in. I met his eyes which looked so cold and emotionless hiding his real emotions. He looked away as Matteo made his way back towards the dining table taking a seat. "I'll just clear the plates up. Are any of you still hungry? I can reheat the food if you want.." No one answered and I nodded before picking up some of the plates.
"I'll help you." I glanced up at Carlotta with slightly wide eyes, she rubbed her tearful eyes before standing up and making her way over to me. We silently carried the dishes into the kitchen, it took a few trips before we brought them all in, I started putting them into the dishwasher whilst Carlotta cleaned the dining table. A few minutes later she came into the kitchen, closing the door behind her just as I was drying my hands.
She stood infront of me leaning against the island in the middle of our kitchen. "Carlotta.." She looked up at me, her eyes were red from all the crying she did, I didn't know what to say to her so we just stood there in silence for a few moments, the peace and quiet was much needed. "I'm sorry Sophie."
Her words broke through the silence, shocking me. "I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. Congratulations on your pregnancy, I'm sure you and Thiago will make amazing parents." I forced a small smile onto my lips in an attempt to thank her. She went quiet again, soon the only sound in the kitchen was her small sobs, I slowly stepped towards her and wrapped my arms around her to comfort her. I knew seeing her family fall apart like that must have been hard; the fact it was mainly because of me made me feel like shit.
She went still in my arms for a moment before she eventually hugged me back. We stood in the kitchen whilst she cried on my shoulder and eventually she pulled away from me wiping her eyes. "I'm so sorry, for everything Carlotta." She shook her head at me as I passed her a tissue.
"It's not your fault, I wanted to blame you. I tried so hard but I can't. It's Thiago's fault for dragging you into it, and it's my father's fault for blowing up like that. You haven't done anything wrong, in any of this." I gave her a small smile before deciding to break the tension.
"You know, I'm going to need you when I have this baby. I won't be able to do it all on my own." This time she sent me a watery smile and carefully wiped her eyes with the tissue so that she didn't smudge her make up. "I'll be here for you whenever you need me, I promise." I gave her one last hug before we went to find Thiago and Matteo who were no longer in the dining room. We eventually found them in the living room sitting in silence.
"Thiago.." He glanced up at me from the couch raising an eyebrow as Carlotta and I walked in together. "What?" I knelt down infront of him taking his hand in mine. "Are you okay?" He looked into my eyes for a moment with cold eyes disguising the hurt he was feeling, he pulled his hand out of mine and leaned back on the couch. "I'm fine Sophie." I sighed in frustration and got to my feet just Matteo stood up too.
"We'll give you some space. Don't push him too much Sophie." I nodded and gave Matteo a grateful smile for everything he did tonight. Once the two of them had left Thiago let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. I sat next to him on the couch waiting for him to speak, deciding to take Matteo's advice.
"You and Carlotta took a long time in the kitchen." He kept his eyes closed whilst he spoke. "Y-yeah I guess you could say we're okay...for now." He nodded and glanced over at me before wrapping his arm around my shoulders to pull me closer to him, I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arm over his waist. "I'm sorry all this happened, I didn't think the news would go down like that. Maybe a few bitchy comments from Carlotta but not this." "It's not your fault Thiago. I just want you to be okay." He let out a chuckle and nodded. "I'm fine. My father's a dick, he always has been. I hardly see him anyway so it's not going to change my life drastically."
"He's still your dad though." Every time I spoke I thought carefully about my sentences, the last thing I wanted was for Thiago to go off on me like he did last time. "I know baby. But no dad should be able to stand there and easily tell his own son to kill his unborn baby. His grandchild. I'll never forgive him for it. Ever." With that he stood up and made his way upstairs.
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2 weeks later
I let out a tired sigh when my eyes landed on the empty spot on the bed next to me. Every morning and every night I've been alone in this bed, if it wasn't for Thiago's strong scent of cologne and the fact I sometimes wake up when he comes home during the night I wouldn't even know if he slept next to me at all.
Over the last two weeks he's been stressing about his club opening today, he's out of the house at the crack of dawn and doesn't get home until late at night. I think he's been throwing himself into his work to avoid thinking about what was going on with his family but I would never say that to his face.
The club was almost ready when it got blown up two weeks ago who did it is still unknown, but Thiago has been working hard to get the place fixed up again and ready for tonight.
Then he had the task of finding alcohol, a DJ, strippers which I was completely against when Matteo told me, waitresses and bar tenders and bouncers. He still hasn't told me why it's so important to him, all I know is he's relying on this club opening for something important and he won't let anything get in the way of it - he's probably been stressing the most about this. Opening the club from scratch in two weeks is a mission but he would have got it done with ease, the stress is probably because of the thing he hasn't told me about. To be completely honest though, he didn't tell me about having to rebuild the club from scratch either, I got that from the phone call he took in front of me and from Matteo and Angelo when they came round to check on me which they've been doing regularly. I had an idea that whatever he wasn't telling me was something to do with the mafia, the club was probably a cover up for something - I know, I've seen too many movies.
I dragged myself out of bed into the bathroom to take a shower in hopes it would wake me up for the long day ahead of me. Friday mornings were always the hardest for me because the lack of sleep over the week finally catches up to me and being pregnant just means I'm even more tired and cranky especially with the morning sickness which has hit me like a train.
I changed into my clothes for work and had a quick breakfast knowing Thiago would some how find out if I skipped a meal. He knows everything about everything, it's creepy yet oddly comforting at the same time.
Throughout the whole day I was yawning and rubbing my eyes, thankful that I chose not to wear any make up today; otherwise I would look even worse than I feel right now.
"Ho questo, prenditi una pausa, Sophie." (I've got this, take a break Sophie.) I shook my head at Caterina but she grabbed my hand when I tried to pass her. "Partire" (Go) I finally nodded and let her take over my class. I went into the teachers lounge, taking a seat on one of the couches I leaned back and closed my eyes. I was only meant to rest my eyes for a few minutes in an attempt to rid myself of the nausea I was feeling but I ended up falling asleep.
Three hours later I woke up in a dark room, I let out a groan realising I slept way past the end of the school day. I slowly stood up wincing at the stiffness in my back. I picked up my things from the teachers cloak room before making my way out of the quiet school towards my car. I checked the time on my phone to see it was 5:13 pm, thankfully I didn't sleep too much otherwise I could have risked getting locked in the school, or worse, missing Thiago's club opening.
I wrapped my coat around me as I walked out to my car, the sun had already set leaving cold winds behind, the area was dead silent because everyone else had already gone home. I stopped by my car to find my car keys in my purse which was a harder task than it sounded since my fingers were ice cold. As soon as I felt the cool metal of my key ring between my fingers I felt an arm wrap around my waist. I let out a surprised yelp when I was pushed up against my car, dropping my purse in the process.
A hand stayed on my hip keeping me pressed against my car when a cold metal was pressed into my neck. In the darkness I could make out a hooded male figure infront of me, his eyes were the only thing glistening from the light of the street lamps.
"You really are beautiful." I stayed still in grip as he applied more pressure with the knife to my neck. "Thiago's one lucky bastard. For now at least." He dragged the tip of the knife down my neck and collar bone applying pressure which caused me to let out a hiss of pain. He trailed the knife down my body until he stopped at my stomach.
"Sophie, I want you to give your husband a message for me." He stepped closer to me, I felt his breath on my face causing me to turn my face away from him. "Tell him, he's the last person we want. He shouldn't be worried for himself, he's perfectly safe. I'm sure you understand? Don't you?" I nodded as his grip on my hip tightened immensely causing my eyes to shut. "Good girl."
He brought his face even closer to mine as the knife was brought back up to my face. He traced the tip of the blade over my lips before he let out a deep chuckle. "Bellissimo"
(Beautiful) Seconds later I felt his lips on mine, he kissed them softly before pulling away and putting the knife back into his pocket. If I wasn't pregnant I would have kneed him where it hurts, but there was no way in hell I was risking my baby's life over a kiss.
"Congratulations on the baby by the way. I know you've been suffering with morning sickness, I've heard ginger tea helps." With that he walked away leaving me frozen next to my car. I stood there for a while until I shakily picked up my purse and took out my car keys. It took me numerous times to press the button to unlock the car, I slowly got inside, closing the door I locked it straight away.
It took me about twenty minutes to calm my racing heart enough to be able to drive safely back home. I didn't know what to do with myself when I got back home, I sat in the car, I wanted to cry and scream, but I couldn't. I was just frozen. He knew my name, he knew about my pregnancy even though I've only ever spoken about it with Thiago's family. He even knew about my morning sickness.
I slowly made my way out of the car and into the house, I heard noises coming from the bedroom and I knew Thiago was home. I closed the front door and made my way into the kitchen. Seconds later I heard Thiago come downstairs, his keys jingling as he came into the kitchen where I made sure I kept my back to him.
"Why are you so late Sophie?" He let out an irritated sigh. "I'll get Matteo to come and pick you up later, you don't need to come this early anyway." He seemed to be talking to himself mostly, I could tell he was stressed, whatever was happening tonight, he wanted it to be perfect. "Okay." I forced the word to come out steady as I gripped the counter willing myself to hold it together infront of him.
He came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist. "Are you okay?" His tone was laced with concern as he held onto my rigid form. "I-I'm fine I just feel sick that's all." He nodded and kissed my cheek but stopped once again. "You're freezing Sophie, are you're sure you're okay tesoro." I nodded and turned towards him slightly putting on my most reassuring smile. "It's just cold outside."
He frowned but nodded nonetheless, his face came closer to me with the intention of kissing me but I quickly turned my face, the image of the hooded man coming back to me. His lips landed on my cheek and he let out a sigh before pulling away from me.
"You don't have to come if you're not well. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be there anyway." I nodded without saying a word. Initially Thiago didn't want me to go, but every time I saw Matteo, Carlotta or Angelo, or when I spoke to Thiago on the phone I insisted I was going. Eventually he got the message and said okay but right now the last thing I want to do is go to a club.
"I'll just see, I doubt it though. I'll text Matteo and let him know in a couple of hours." Thiago nodded and left without another word, no doubt pissed off at the fact that I stopped him from kissing me. Little things like that set him off all the time. It was worse today since he hadn't seen me awake properly for the last two weeks, the only time we spoke in person is when he woke me up during the night but all he did was tell me to go back to sleep.
As soon as the front door slammed shut the tears leaked out of my eyes. I stood in the kitchen my hands shaking like crazy knowing I was in this huge house all alone after what happened. I know I should have told Thiago what happened straight away but I didn't want to ruin his evening with it, he was under pressure with his club opening and the mafia shit that he does, he didn't need this playing on his mind all night.
Besides, I know as soon as I tell him the part that I fell asleep he'll instantly blame me for being reckless and putting our baby in danger. He can't even blame his guards because they probably left after the last teacher left assuming that they had missed me and I had already gone. That was an argument I didn't need to have with him tonight.
I made sure all the windows and doors were locked before heading upstairs to take a warm bath. Hopefully that would soothe the tension in my muscles and rid me of the pure fear that was still coursing through my veins. While I waited for the bath to fill up I caught my reflection in the mirror and my eyes landed on the red scratch from the top of my neck all the way down to just below my collar bone. The scratch was like a raised bump on my skin, not enough to scar but it would definitely be there for some time. My hair must have been covering it from Thiago's view when I saw him in the kitchen.
I took off my clothes before getting into the oversized tub, the hot water instantly eased the tension inside me acting like a shock to my system. All of a sudden the overwhelming emotions from the events of tonight hit me at once and I felt my eyes well up. I placed a hand on my stomach rubbing it gently as I sniffled, the sound of the water trickling in the dimly lit bathroom echoed loudly.
"I'll always protect you baby, no matter what happens or what situation I'm in. I promise."