Carlo : Ti salveró amore mio

Chapter 33

CARLO'S POV:

Adelaide shuffles nervously in her spot where she is standing in front of the elevator, as we wait to go up to the room where the meeting is being held.

The elevator arrives and we both step in, I press the button to the designated floor and it's silent as we make our way up, the only sound being the elevator.

"Can I hold your hand?"

I look down at Adelaide and she's staring at the elevator door in front of her with an emotionless face. Her hands are holding each other but shaking quite badly.

"Hmm?" I hum, not knowing if I miss heard her or not.

"Can I hold your hand?" She repeats herself holding her hand out, still not looking at me.

I interlock my fingers with hers and squeeze her hand softly whilst rubbing my thumb on the back of her hand.

Her hand still shakes and I place a delicate kiss on it. I wait for her to try and pull her hand away when I realise what I've done but she leaves it there.

Baby steps.

The elevator dings and door opens, we step out into the penthouse which belongs to the man we're meeting today. Adelaide steps a tiny bit to my side still holding my hand and I lead her over to the office.

I switch her hand into my right one and use my left hand to wrap around her waist protectively, as I know she's going to be the only woman in the room.

She tenses slightly and grips my hand but I rub circles on her waist with my thumb to calm her down. I quickly pull her dress down as much as I can and see it spring back to where it was. I try a few more times and huff in defeat.
Adelaide takes a deep breath and knocks on the door before we both walk in.

The room is dimly lit and there is a long table filled with multiple Mafia leaders and their second in commands. The once chat full room turns into a silent one.

I spot one chair left and look down at Adelaide. She's not going to like it if she sits on my lap.

One of the men gasp slightly and stand up walking over to us. "If it isn't Mrs Rivera Knight." The room erupts into whispers as they all speak to each other. "The last I heard, you were kidnapped." He smiles teasingly.

I'm about to say something to him but Adelaide drags me over to the chair she pushes me to sit down but I twist slightly and make her sit instead. I rest my arms on the armrests beside her and stand at the back of her.

Everyone stares at the two of us, but mostly Adelaide, yet she is pulling her dress down as she crosses a leg over the other. "If you're all going to stare at me, there's no reason for us to be here." She speaks confidently. "And so help me, if you look at my thighs and breasts one more time I'm going to put a blade through your eye." She looks at the guy to her left who is now looking away flustered. "Don't go shy now." She teases.

I smile slightly, knowing this is the Adelaide she was before she left. Yet something tells me she's a little more than before. She does have a lot of anger and sadness built up.

Adelaide leans back in her chair and slouches slightly waiting for the meeting to start.

****

"Can you hurry up? I'm fucking freezing." I shiver behind Adelaide as she takes her sweet time in picking a drink.

"Carlo." She says sweetly and turns to face me smiling.

My heart melts. "Yeah?"

"Shut the fuck up." Her smile drops and she goes back to walking up and down the alcohol section of the store. Dropping the basket filled with candy in the process.

"Rude." I mumble to myself and breathe into my hands to warm them up. "Can I have my jacket back, if you're taking your time then?"

As she reaches up for a bottle my jacket, she has on, sleeve falls down slightly and I see her scars.

"No. I'm cold." She breathes out as she jumps slightly to reach. The bottle falls from the shelf and I gasp slightly about to step forward. Adelaide catches the bottle just before it smashes, she turns to me and gasps, mocking me. "What if that was a bomb?" She tilts her head.

I stare at her unbothered. "Then we'd be dead." I yawn.

She stares at me in silence before shrugging. "Fair enough." She spins on her bare feet since I'm carrying her shoes and picks up the basket. "Cmon puppy." She laughs.

I glare at the back of her head and follow after her to the checkout.

****

"This water is freezing!" I shiver as the two of us sit in the large bath tub facing each other, fully clothed.

Adelaide looks at me with a blue sour patch kid hanging out of her mouth by her teeth. "You get used to it." She smiles and takes a puff of the blunt in my hand.

As I hold it for her and she inhales she looks at me and I feel butterflies erupt in my stomach.

"Stop staring at me." I breathe out. She blows the smoke out and splashes the water at me.

I gasp loudly and get out of the bath and sit on the floor next to her with a towel wrapped around me. "You can stay in there. I'll stay here." I shiver as she laughs.

****

I lay on the bathroom floor holding Adelaide's hand and staring up at the ceiling. Something keeps making a sound but I don't look for it as I get distracted by the line on the ceiling.

When I finally look at Adelaide she has a blunt hanging out of her mouth, her eyes bloodshot red and slightly closed, her hand in mine and the other is walking two fingers on the edge of the bath.

I zone back into what she's saying and realise the noise I've been hearing is in fact her.

"And that is why I don't like-." She sighs and looks at me. "What was I talking about?"

I chuckle and shake her hand. "I don't even know."

She gasps loudly and stares at me. "I just realised every odd number has the letter 'E' in it."

Why is she thinking about odd numbers?

"When you're drinking alcohol, the alcohol is getting drunk too." I smile lazily at her and close my eyes feeling tired.

"Are you tired?" Adelaide whispers, bringing the hand that's not in mine down to my cheek. Her cold hand places onto the side of my face and she strokes her thumb just under my eye.

"If a short person, aka you, hits a blunt, are they high or medium?" I ask, opening one eye and smiling.

"You are asking for a slap." She rolls her eyes.

She stands up letting go of my hand and grabbing a towel as she steps out of the bath and walks into the bedroom.

I lay still on the floor for a few minutes before seeing how she is. When I walk in she's laying on my side of the bed on her stomach asleep wearing a new hoodie and shorts. I go into the closet and get changed into something dry.

Walking quietly over to her I lift her slightly and slip under her. She immediately crawls a little further up me and spreads her legs on either side of me bending them and laying down on me. Her arms grip the sides of my hoodie I'm wearing and her head nestles into my neck where she places her lips faintly on my pulse.

I wrap my arms around her and pull her closely to me. "I love you." I kiss her temple and close my eyes.

Just as I'm about to fall asleep she places a hand on my neck and pushes it closer to her lips. "Love you." She whispers.

I move my neck away from her to look at her and she's asleep. I put my neck back where it is and close my eyes again.

It's just my imagination and hope.

Right?