Book 1
Gia Salvatore does not like to feel tied down. Tired of answering to her controlling father, she ran away the night of her high school graduation and moved in with a secret older boyfriend, glad to cut ties with her toxic family.
But four...
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Gia avoided the closet for the rest of the day, a fresh wave of anger and resentment flooding through her. Her father was sending a clear and direct message. She was back home and she will do as she was told, including getting married. She realized it no longer seemed to be Carmine her father was pushing her toward, though she could never be sure, which meant there was another suitor or maybe multiples to fend off. Gia was aware marrying her was some type of sick prize in her father's business and she had to push the matter from her mind completely to keep from exploding.
Once back in her bedroom, Gia pulled her old cell phone from her backpack finding its charger coiled up just beneath it. She stared down at the phone wondering if it was worth the trouble to even bother powering it up. Robert would be the only person trying to contact her and while she felt trapped at her father's she had no desire to go backwards either.
But a small part of her was dying to know if Robert had tried to reach out in the time she had been gone. Had he called to apologize or even beg her to come back? Her curiosity got the best of her and she plugged the device into an available outlet and waited for it to power on.
Realizing she would have to clear off her bed in order to sleep on it that night, Gia began picking up the framed photos, taking time to examine each one if only for a moment. Her senior portrait was on top in a custom frame that also held her high school diploma. Underneath, Gia unearthed a photo of her in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York as a teenager and another at her 6th grade piano recital. She separated them as she went, trying to remember which part of the house each frame had been.
At the very bottom was a picture Gia wasn't quite sure was meant to be there. It was of her and her mother standing on the beach in matching sundresses. Behind them, was the boardwalk's pier with arcade games, rides and prizes. The large Ferris wheel was lit up and completed the postcard-esque image.
This one, she remembered, had been a favorite of her mother's and it would travel through the years to different places within the home, depending on Gloria's preference. Gia last remembered it on her bedside table, when her health had all but deteriorated and she spent a lot of her time in bed.
Her father had been the one to snap the picture, Gia recalled, and it also was the day they both told her about baby Giovanni in mommy's tummy. Gia had been very excited at the prospect of becoming a big sister and even more excited to no longer be an only child.
Gia used her thumb to rub the spot on the photograph that was her mother's stomach, using her other hand to grab her own abdomen, thinking of how fleeting yet complex life could be. One simple night of passion could turn into a missed cycle that could soon transform into a tiny heartbeat inside you.
Gia wasn't ready to become a mother, she realized, admiring her mother's features in the grainy picture. She could only hope to one day be able to replicate her Gloria's intelligence, her poise, or her take no bullshit disposition. But until then, Gia had a lot more learning to do and a lot more mistakes to make.
