CHRISTIANO

Three

Christiano 

"Till death do us part. Did you hear that? Till death... " she rolls her yes 

"Yeah, yeah. I heard it alright, I'm not deaf you know" 

"No you're not. Just pregnant, with my baby. I still can't believe I'm going to be a father" 

"I can't believe I'm going to look like a watermelon in a few months. You know it's not going to be pretty, right? I won't be pretty at all" 

"Honestly, I can't imagine you not being pretty at all. Even if you do end up looking like a watermelon" 

"We'll just see about that, won't we?" 

"Forget that" I swipe the card against the door, walking her backwards into our hotel room. Her house is full of people and so is the one she lent me to stay in. We just got married so I need time alone with her. Even if it's holding her in my arms all night long. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day. I don't know what they'll decide at the meeting but should it come down to it, I will take over Lombardi's operations. I married her so I could protect her. She also made me promise that we'll have a big splashy wedding after she's given birth because underneath all that madness, she's still a girl who has always dreamt of walking down the aisle. 

Actually she made a lot of demands, all of which I agreed to because I love her and want to make her happy. Our lives have changed drastically since the day I met her. Can't say I regret any of it though. She's made me so happy that I don't even know if I can ever repay her. 

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks and I realize we're still standing at the door. 

"I'm just thinking if my wedding night is  allowed to be the exception? I promise I'll go really slow. Should we call the doctor and ask?" 

"Chris, it's not happening" she laughs when she sees my face fall "But you can ask me nicely to maybe, suck you off? I don't know, do you think semen is good for the baby?" 

At that my body hardens "Don't provoke me Carina. I don't think I can control myself if you push me" 

"But I like you unbridled Chris" she purrs licking the shell of my ear. I've never known a woman who likes to play with fire like Carina does. It's one of the reasons I love her.

"Let's get you in a bath and coming all over my hand. Maybe that'll make you keep your little filthy mouth shut" 

A little over an hour later, we're sitting in the jacuzzi enjoying the warm water. Carina is seated between my legs and I'm trying really hard to stop her from squirming. She knows what she's doing. I turned her offer down because I can actually wait for her to get better before consummating our marriage. I have forever with this woman. We'll have so many days and nights together. No one can keep me away from her. Absolutely no one.  

Except myself. f**k, I was so wrong that day. How long ago was it, two maybe three weeks ago? I can't remember clearly. That's not really a wonder because these days I can't even remember my name. Is it De Luca or Lombardi? Do I even care? The answer is no. I don't give a crap about anything. I want to forget everything. The day I met her, the first time I kissed her, f****d her, married her. I want to forget all of it. I want to erase her from my memory so she simply ceases to exist. 

If she hadn't come to my life, I would have died a honorable man. I would have died as the son of Edmundo De Luca instead of that piece of scum Lombardi. She started all of this. Why the f**k couldn't she leave it alone? Mamma confessed that she had no plans of telling me anything. She forced her hand so she could keep the Lombardi empire. Wasn't it enough that I had agreed to protect her? f**k, how could she sleep beside me all those months knowing something like that? How could she look me in the face and smile like she wasn't keeping a secret that could destroy my life? 

"Hey baby, back for more?" Yelena whispers kneeling between my legs. I don't want to hear her voice. As a matter of fact I don't want to hear anything but the sound of her choking on my c**k. I narrow my eyes at her and she gets the message. Unbuttoning my trousers, she pulls me out, immediately getting to work. Of course she gets nowhere because she's not the one I want. My body has been programmed to come alive with only one woman's touch. 

Every time I come here, I have to think of her in order to get it up. It's so pathetic and I hate it but I have no choice. It's either that or I go home to listen to Nev's nagging about the business. I put him in charge of everything and that fucker can't handle it. He has to call, asking about what he should do every step of the way. Sometimes I wonder how he ended up as my right hand. Oh wait, mamma adopted him so he could help me, be loyal to me out of gratitude for taking him in. She didn't say that, but after everything I found out, I can see how her mind works now. I've been her puppet all my life. Funny thing is I can't do anything about it because she's my mother. She gave birth to me. I can't put a bullet in her head. 

Believe me, I've thought about it. And if it would lessen the misery I feel right now, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I know it would just add to my pain. It would make me a piece of s**t like Lombardi. Like father like son. f**k, where is my drink? I open my eyes and reach for it, pushing Yelena aside. 

"You're not helping. Leave!" I growl downing the brown liquid in my glass. It burns down my throat  and I welcome the feeling. I need to get drunk and forget about her, about my mother, about my heritage and f**k about the baby I lost. Never thought I'd ever envy anyone in a comma. I wish I was in her place right now. I wish she was the one out here hurting over everything, over our baby. She wanted a boy and I wanted a girl. I try to picture everyday how she would have looked like, all I can muster up is her face. I have no doubt our daughter would have been a dead ringer for her mother. 

The phone on the table vibrates and I turn to look at it. Nevio. He's made a habit of calling me until I pick up "Hello" 

"Where the f**k are you Chris? We have a problem" his voice booms from the other end. 

"Handle it" 

"I can't do it on my own. It's serious Chris. Where are you? Come back home, we need to discuss strategies" 

"I...." he hangs up just as Fabian shows up in the doorway at the room I'm staying in. My inebriated mind quickly puts two and two together. Nev said we needed to discuss strategies meaning there's a war looming on the horizon. I wonder who that ballsy person is. To try and get on my wrong side now? God, I'm itching for a fight. I need something or someone I can take my anger out on. 

"I'm okay" I mutter as Fabian tries to help me up. I'm not that drunk today which is weird. Some other days I don't even remember leaving the club. I've passed out more than once and I'm pretty sure I did it several times while some w***e was on top of me. The only thing I haven't tried in the past few weeks is drugs. If I start using the s**t I sell to people -good quality s**t - there would be no coming back from that. More than once I've thought about it, about using it so I'd be lost forever and not have to face this reality. 

Nevio is waiting for me by the door. Our house which is now fully renovated makes me a little proud. At least I have this, I still have my house. With all the f*****g memories of her but who cares. She's lying half dead in a hospital. Half of me wishes she could sleep forever so I don't ever have to look into her eyes again. I've imagined what will happen when she wakes up and finds out the baby is gone. That I hate her. A part of me still loves her but the bigger part hates her. For keeping that secret. For forcing my mother to reveal that secret. Her being in a comma is actually good for her. The small part that still loves her wants her to sleep like that and not ever have to face my wrath. 

"f**k, Chris, are you drunk again?" 

"What was so urgent?" I ask instead. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it sighing 

"It's Balotelli. Word has it that he's been building an army to take you out. I think they're moving in on us now as we speak" 

Chuckling, I run a hand through my hair "He's finally grown some balls. Good for him" 

"What about us? We may have men but they aren't well trained yet. Our guys are still rookies Chris and for a fight like this, well, let's just say we're doomed" 

"So why did you call me back if we're doomed?" 

Nevio flexes his fingers and I can tell he's holding back. If I wasn't Christiano De Luca, he would have punched me already "I don't f*****g care about your feelings. I get that you're hurting but you can do that after we've handled Balotelli. I didn't hire more guys just so you could let them die" 

"Then f*****g let them go. I honestly don't give a f**k about all this Nev. I'm so done with everything" 

"Good for you you asshole. But have you thought about what will happen to Tommaso if we both die?" he growls in my face sobering me up a little. 

"Then take him and leave. Take all the money I have and leave. Give him a good life, one that is far away from this place" there. We have a solution. Pushing him aside, I pull the door open. My foot is on the threshold when his whisper freezes me on the spot. 

"She woke up today. Tommaso called me earlier saying that she woke up" 

I let out a shaky breath "Good for her too" 

"The best part is that she doesn't remember a thing" an invisible hand squeezes my heart "Not you or me or Tommaso. Not the baby she lost or how she lost it. As a matter of fact she forgot everything. No not everything" I stay really still, waiting for Nevio to finish "Her memory loss starts from the day she met you at Lombardi's party. Remember the one you didn't want to attend? That's where you met. Isn't it?" 

I walk inside and slam the door behind me, heading straight to the stairs and up to my room. I don't breathe until I'm locked inside. How could she forget everything? Why did she have to wake up? I want to see her and hug her and tell her how much I'm happy that she's awake. But I also want to tell her how much I hate her for lying to me. I want to hurt her the way she hurt me. I can't do either of that because she doesn't f*****g remember me or our life. Or the fact that we're married. f**k, f**k, f**k. I don't know how to feel, what to feel. Love or hatred? 

I still remember that day. She was in a gold dress that showcased her curves and rendered me blind for a few seconds. I was picturing her on my bed without the dress so I hadn't seen her approach me. My drink ended up on her which was worse because then all I wanted to do was lick it off. Don't even get me started on her mouth. The second she opened it, I knew without a doubt that I would make her mine one way or another.... She forgot all that and I'm the one left with these f*****g memories. How is that fair? Why the f**k would she forget about me? My legs are itching to run to the hospital to see if it's really true but I can't. I don't want to ever see her again. A distraction is what I need. 

Balotelli. I should focus on him. When I first started out, he was my rival. We stole from each other, fought all the time over petty matters. In reality he just didn't like the fact that I was better than him. One day he went over the line, trying to go after my mother. I took him out. Crippled his business and left him on the streets. He recovered but wasn't strong enough to come after me. I wonder what's changed now. Why he suddenly has the guts to do this again. With or without my men I can still crush him. But I realize Nev is right. We just hired new guys. If we lose them, we'll be crippled. Whipping out my phone I call Damiano. 

Another person I don't want to think about. He's my brother. I've always treated Nev like my brother but this one is real. We share the same blood, the same f*****g father. I remember the first day he sneaked here to be with Cari... Aurora. Never in my wildest dream did I ever think we could be related. But now that I think about it, I know why he looked familiar even though we hadn't met before. It's because he has Lombardi's eyes. The same eyes I remember from the day he shot my father. 

"Hello" 

"I need to borrow your men" 

"No hello little brother or how is my wife doing?" he asks curtly. His snarky attitude is the last thing I need right now. 

"I need around fifteen or twenty. The best guys" 

"And if I said no?" 

"You do realize that technically those are my men. Everything you have there is actually mine. If we speak in legal terms, half of it is mine. So stop trying to make me angry and send those men over. If you don't I'll storm over there and claim what's mine" I snap hanging up. 

After this is over, I'm going to see her. Just to make sure she's not pretending so she won't have to give me answers. 

**********************************************

Eek, not sure how that's going to go. Did it cross your mind that Carina could be faking? 

So I was just rereading this so I could edit some typos and it made me realize just how much of an asshole Chris has become. Like he's angry but damn. How could he be so cold? What do you guys think? Do you want him cold or hot?