Beautiful Mistake

Chapter 40 - Return

Elena's POV

"It's Martina. She's gone, Elena."

I felt like my whole world was spinning, a wild paced spiraling that was beginning to make my vision blurry.

"What?" I murmured in a whisper.

"She died 5 days ago. It was her time, Elena, but Angelo isn't accepting of it. He was already in such a dark space before this occurred. He closed himself in the penthouse the first week back. Refused to see or speak to anyone and slowly began drinking more than actually eating. He then decided to pack his bags and go live with Martina for her last 4 weeks. He was there when she passed, but I think it made it worse."

Katena paused where her tremulous breathing could be heard on the other end. I sat completely silent, with no words coming to mind.

"He then began drinking a lot. He drinks himself to the point of passing out only to wake in the morning and proceed to drink some more. He hasn't had a sober moment in the past 5 days. Martina's funeral is tomorrow morning and Angelo is refusing to go. We're out of options, Elena. I didn't want to drag you into this but I truly don't know what else to do."

She then went silent. By this point, I had tears running down my cheeks as I covered my mouth dismally. My memories took me back to the night I met Martina. The kind and tenderly beautiful woman took over my thoughts followed by my chat with Angelo on the front porch. This recollect pushed my body into gear.

"What time is the funeral?" I jumped to my feet.

"It's at 10 in the morning."

"If I leave now, I'll only make it there an hour before." I did a quick and approximate calculation.

"Give me a second, Elena."

Kat excused herself. I could hear the mumbling between two people on the other end. Soon after, she returned and announced their option.

"Giovanni and I should be able to push back the funeral for midday."

"Ok. I'll see you in approximately 10 hours." With that, I ended the phone call before bolting back inside the house. I scanned the kitchen for Niccolo; immediately my eyes found him.

"Niccolo!" I called out to him, rushing over to his side. He stood up straight, worry filling his face as my tone instantly alluded to something being wrong.

"Niccolo, I need the jet, please!" I begged him.

"What? Why?" Niccolo's brows furrowed in surprise.

"I need to go back to Sicily," I stated.

"Angelo's mother has just died and he is suffering. He refuses to go to the funeral and I know this decision will ruin him when he comes to regret it. I met his mother when I was there and she was so kind to me. So welcoming. She reminded me a lot of Mamma. She was already sick when we meet too, Nico. I also made a promise to her, to Angelo, and to myself that I would be there for him when this happened. I need to get to him, Fratello (brother)." My voice began cracking, breaking in despair.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Niccolo grabbed me and brought me onto his arms, gripping me tightly against him.

"Relax, Sorella (sister). I will sort it out. Just go pack your things and leave the rest up to me." He whispered into my hair.

I nodded rapidly while pulling back. As I turned to leave the kitchen, I came face to face with my father. The very first encounter in the past 6 weeks. My mind began racing, trying to decipher how long he had been standing there and how much he had heard. My eyes studied his face, noticing how unwell he looked. His hair was a tousled mess and he had bags beneath his eyes. I hastily broke eye contact, forcing myself to move my way passed him without a single word or indication of thought.