Princess by Blood

37

Anna's POV:

Why would she do that for me? I have barely talked to her for the past couple of months, to be fair I had a lot going on. But she just killed herself for me.

I can't believe I let her do that. I was ready to go. I was constantly causing trouble and I was going to get killed anyway. 

"Mi amore, talk to me please. Just say something." I look up through glassy eyes to see Giovanni looking into mine worriedly. I don't know how long he has been sitting here but I'm guessing a while as we are about to land.

"Anna. I'm begging you." His eyes plead with me and I look down at my shaky hands before looking back up into his eyes.

"I don't know." My voice is broken as I speak to him. I don't know how to feel. I don't feel anything.

"What do you mean you don't know?" He looks at me, begging for me to explain but the problem is I don't know how to explain. I just feel nothing.

"My best friend just took a bullet for me and I feel nothing." He gives me a sympathetic look before sitting next to me and pulling me into his chest. He kisses me on the forehead, running his fingers through my hair.

"It's okay cara mia." I don't think he knows how to make this situation better, but just him sitting with me makes me feel like all my problems have gone away.

"Giovanni?"

"Yes mi amore?"

"I'm scared." He sighs and kisses my forehead.

"Don't worry mi amore. I'll take care of it. I always will." His words make me feel safe and I smile at the thought of when he said that to me in the club.

Suddenly I remember something else. 

FLASHBACK

Giovanni and Nicholas are inside doing boys things while I would rather be out in the sun. I roll around in the grass, the breeze flowing through my hair. I see a butterfly and run to chase it but suddenly I trip on the gravel.

I scream and cry out, the pain in my knee being all I can think about. I hear someone run over to me but I'm too busy crying to pay any attention.

Suddenly I feel them gently grab my leg and I instantly stop crying. I look up to see Giovanni assessing my leg before he looks into my eyes. The sun reflects off his dark, curly hair and his eyes twinkle.

I sniffle and he gives me a sympathetic look.

"It hurts Giovanni." He smiles and kisses my forehead before brushing the hair behind my ear, kind of like what papa does to me.

"I'll take care of it mi amore. I always will."

PRESENT TIME

I decide not to ask Giovanni about it as I feel myself beginning to grow tired. Instead I simply smile and curl into Giovanni's chest more.

"Thank you Giovanni. For everything." He sighs and gently rubs my back.

"Always my princess."

Shortly after, Giovanni wakes me up to get off the plane and I soon realise he has taken us back to France. I smile as he drives us up to my beach house and as soon as I get inside, I look for something to eat.

Luca and Angelo take over the couch before Giovanni walks in after them and comes up to me. He kisses me on the cheek before leaning on the counter.

"How are you feeling mi amore?" I smile at him before opening the fridge to look for something to eat.

"I'm okay. Still processing what happened earlier." He nods.

"She did it for you Anna. To save you and the baby. She did it because she loves you and wants you to be happy." I nod and feel a little better, now feeling extremely grateful for what she did.

I look down at my stomach, thinking about the baby again. I still don't know if it's a boy or a girl.

"Giovanni?"

"Yes mi amore?" He looks up at me as I walk around the counter to go sit down on the stools.

"Can we go to the doctor sometime? I want to know if the baby is okay and find out the gender." He frowns at me.

"I thought you already knew." I shake my head at him before picking a grape out the fruit bowl.

"We did find out but Nicholas kept it from me. He didn't even let me see the ultrasound." I continue to eat the grapes and Giovanni's whole demeanour changes. His look darkens and he stares at me.

"So you're telling me that he raped you, forced you to carry his child, all while beating you every night, and didn't tell you the gender or let you see your baby?" My face falters at how upfront he is being.

My old habits start to kick back in and I immediately start to defend Nicholas. I go into fight or flight mode and suddenly I'm standing up and screaming at Giovanni.

"Don't you dare speak bad of him! I love that man and he loves me. Stop accusing my husband of things he didn't do. You have no idea what happened behind closed doors, so stop saying shit! He is the father of my child and I'll defend him till the day I die!" I scream the words at Giovanni and his face darkens. He slams his hand down on the counter.

"Stop fucking acting like he is some saint Anna! Because guess what? He's not. He treated you like shit. You're fucking delusional if you think he treated you right. That's not what love is. You're fucking insane!" His words strike me as he storms off to a room and slams the door. 

I feel tears start to prick at my eyes and I leave out the back door, walking all the way down to our private beach.

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