Page 53 of Bane's Beginning

Inside, the beautiful interior matched exactly like I thought it was. It was decorated like a home you’d see out of a magazine with beautiful artwork and paintings everywhere and unneeded couch pillows that made you feel at home.

“The baby’s room is down here,” she said and began walking down the hall. I followed her until we walked into a room off of the left side. It was beautiful in a minimalist kind of way. Most of the room was neutral colors except a beautiful mural of a rainforest that was painted on the wall by the crib.

“Serena, it’s beautiful here,” I gushed as I continued to look around.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling brightly. “I’ve almost got everything ready now that I’m a month away, but I have some paintings that I wanted to hang up and need to finish organizing the closet.”

I followed her over to the closet and began helping her open several packages of clothes and various baby items as we put them away on the rack and the tiny dressers around the room. We stayed like that for a while as we talked about her dreams for being a parent and how she and my brother met. I was reallystarting to feel like I actually did have a sister and nothing could stop the warm feeling flooding my heart.

An hour had passed since we arrived and Serena and I were standing in the kitchen. We decided to take a break for food and she had put a pizza in the oven. Our casual conversation was interrupted by a loud sound at the front door. Before we could react, the door busted open and we both ran to go see what it was. I froze as I rounded the corner and saw Matteo Santoro standing there with a gun pressed to an unconscious Blake’s head.

“Dea,” his thick Italian accent flooded the room and I almost wanted to faint. “I finally found you, la mia gemma preziosa,” he said, calling me his precious gem.

“Matteo,” I said, faintly. “Please don’t hurt him.”

“I finally found you after two years and the first words you say to me are to beg for me to spare the life of another man?” I didn’t miss how his voice rose in anger. I couldn’t let him get angry, not with Blake and Serena in the room. I needed to make him leave.

“I’m sorry,” I said, tilting my head down to my feet. He smiled at the gesture of submission and tossed Blake on the ground with a thud. I grimaced, hoping he was okay, but quickly covered my worry as Matteo made his way over to us.

“Who is this?” A scared Serena asked from beside me. Fuck, she was so pregnant and she needed to get away from Matteo before he hurt her.

“Matteo Santoro,” he said, reaching out his hand. “And you are?”

“No one,” I said, interrupting his fake gesture of politeness. “She’s no one.”

“Was I asking you?” Matteo asked and I instinctively flinched, shaking my head.

“Serena,” she answered, and I shook my head at her to let her know not to engage with him. His temper was always unpredictable. It didn’t matter if I had been undeserving, he would still take it out on me with no warning.

“Pleasure to meet you, Serena,” he said and shook her hand. He looked down at her pregnant belly and an unrecognizable emotion flashed into his eyes.

“Where is my child?” He asked in a faint whisper, still not taking his eyes off of her stomach. I paused, trying to think of a response and screamed, “Where the fuck are they!” He jumped in front of me and aggressively grabbed my neck. I started shaking as I felt his gun press into my rib cage.

“I-I lost it,” I said, stumbling over my words. “I had a miscarriage.”

Tears welled in my eyes as he held my face tighter. He let out a breath and I almost thought I saw a look of grief on his face.

“That’s why I left,” I continued to explain. “I wasn’t strong enough for you.”

“My dea, you are strong enough for me,” he said. “I forgive you.” To my surprise, he aggressively pressed his lips to mine. He moved his hand from my neck to my hair and pulled my hair back to expose my neck.

He grimaced and used his gun to hit me across the cheek making my body crash against the wall. I heard Serena shriek.

“You’ve been fucking someone else?” He screamed into my face and I shook my head maniacally back and forth as the pain surged throughout my body.

“Puttana, how dare you lie to me?” (Whore.) He slapped me again with his gun and tears began to cascade down my face as all I could feel was pain. He proceeded to pin me against the wall by my neck, choking my neck, and fought hard to breathe.

“Stop,” Serena screamed. “Please stop! You’re going to kill her!”

Matteo let out a menacing laugh as he looked back at Serena. He let go of my neck and I fell to the floor, gasping for air.

“You don’t want to see me hurt her, sweetheart?” He asked, softly, as if she was a child. Serena shook her head as she fought back her tears. Matteo laughed before quickly turning around and kicking me directly in the stomach.

“Puttana,” he kicked again.(Whore.)

“Sgualdrina.” Kick.(Slut.)

“Come osi dare via ciò che è mio?”(How dare you give away what belongs to me?)