Her Sicilian Arrangement (20 page)

Meagan squeezed back the tears as she prepared for the moment
she knew was inevitable but she wished terribly that it would not
happen. She was no killer—it was her first time ever holding a gun!
How would she feel if she was to ever kill someone…even someone as
vile like Miles Hart?

“
Meagan!” she heard a familiar voice come from behind her. She
turned around to see Ryan standing at a distance looking worried
out of his mind. “Behind you!”

She
did not know what was happening…her mind felt as if she was stuck
in a dark room with no exit door. Her head felt as if it was
spinning. She had followed Ryan alarming shout to turn back around
to bump into Miles’ solid body. All she could remember doing was
pulling that trigger out of absolute terror and seeing him collapse
at her feet. “Oh my—,” she gasped and flung the gun down from her
hand as if it was some kind of a poisonous chemical substance. She
then saw Ryan run up to her as she felt as if her feet were glued
to the ground.

“
Are
you okay?” he muttered, looking her straight in the eyes. Her
pupils were dilated and her face looked as if she was going to
barf. “I called the police…they’re on their way!”

“
I’m—I’m…what are you doing here?” she swallowed hard and saw
him steeping up to Miles’ corpse. She then gasped and turned
rapidly on her heel to look at Marco. “Marco?” Tears flooded her
eyes as she knelt at his side. He was unconscious—she felt for the
pulse in his wrist and sighed with relief. “Oh—thank
God!”

Ryan
kicked away the gun from Miles’ hand and then turned to face her.
“This one is dead…you okay, man?” he asked Fabio.

“Uh…
Sí
,” he
replied, groaning with distress.

“
Let
me help you with that…” Ryan moved over to him and began untying
the rope around his wrists.

“
Please don’t go,” Meagan muttered with uncontrollable sniffles
as she bent over Marco, her head resting against his chest, and his
blood staining her clothes, listening to his heartbeat. “I love
you—we argue…but I really do.”

In a
moment, she heard the sirens heading towards them loudly until she
laid eyes on a fleet of police vehicles and an ambulance. All she
could think of at that moment was not losing him…not this time—she
was not going to lose another person who she loved. For a second,
she looked to the heavens and she could swear that she saw her
mother smiling down at her.

****

Marco awoke to the disturbing sanitized scent of hospitals
that he had hated ever since he was a child. Perhaps, it had all
started off with his weekly dental visits…but he had tried his best
ever since to avoid hospitals. The last time he could remember ever
being present in a hospital was when Maria had given birth to his
niece, Celine. He frowned slightly as he looked up to see an
elderly nurse smiling up at him.

“
Good morning, Signor Mussolini,” she muttered in a deep
British accent. “You are awake…”

“
What is going on? What time is it?”

“
Firstly,” she began. “It is ten o’clock. You were shot once in
the side and…you lost a lot of blood. You’ve been here since
yesterday afternoon.”

Marco winced as he accidentally brushed his bandage wound with
the side of his elbow. “I remember…I need to see my fiancée,” he
said as the thought shot to his mind that Meagan could have
returned to the States. “Is she here?”

The
nurse raised his bed so that he was in a semi-sitting position.
“Yes, she is. I will tell her that you’re awake.”

“
Please…Thank you.”

Marco felt as if he was run over by a truck. He felt extremely
tired and his head hurt slightly. But he desperately wanted to see
her…to tell her how he really felt about her. How he really wanted
her to be his wife…He had to see her beautiful face as it was that
alone which could give him the strength to walk out of that
hospital bed. And when he saw her enter the room dressed in a
yellow sundress he had picked out for her, his heart almost
stopped. She looked as radiant as ever but her face was pale and
her nose pink from what seemed like to be from hysterical
crying.

“
Your family was here yesterday…they’ll be back soon.”“Hi…,” he
muttered from tired lips and he swallowed hard as she held her head
low. “Sit beside me.” She did exactly that and he looked at her
warmly. “How are you?”

“
I’m—I’m fine,” she responded and looked away trying to hide
the tears that were now wetting her eyes.

“That is very hard to believe,
mia tesora
,” he said, turning her head to face him. “You are
crying.”

Meagan sniffled and forced herself to look at him but the
tears only came down as if released from a cloud that could no
longer contain precipitation. “I’m returning to New York tomorrow
morning.”

That
felt more like a knife was being plunged deep into his already
injured side. “You cannot… At least not yet.”

“
I
have to…I can’t do this anymore, Marco”

“
I
let you walk away once before yesterday…and I won’t let it happen
again, Meagan. I feel like a mess and I swear, if I lose you I will
not live another day.”

She
looked at him and wiped her face with the back of her hand.
“Marco…,” she began and allowed the tears to flow down her face
again. “I thought—I though y-you weren’t going to make
it.”

“Here I am.” He caressed her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere. I
love you,
mia
tesora
. With all my
heart. And I want to you be my wife.”

“
What?’ she gasped, her eyes widening in shock.

“
You
heard me…marry me.”

“
I
can’t—.”

“
You
can…and you will,” he said firmly and pulled her closer to him so
that her breasts crushed against his shoulder. “Do you know why?
Because I know that you love me in return. I see it in your eyes.
And your concern for me, as I know, comes from deep
within.”

She
sighed heavily. “I do love you. So much that it frightens me
but…”

“There are no buts,
mia tesora
. Will you?” He had to ask her. He did not want a hesitant
wife…neither an unsure lover.

Suddenly an unfamiliar woman dressed in a white medical coat
entered the room. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I have some news for
you both.”

“
Okay,” Marco responded and squeezed Meagan’s hand tightly yet
gently in his.

“
Since you haven’t met me before,” she said to Marco. “I’m
Doctor Marquez. Mr. Mussolini, your blood tests are fine so I will
have you cleared to go home in a bit. I do have more fantastic
news, however. Miss Summers, your blood test has shown positive for
pregnancy.” As the doctor said those last few words, test has shown
positive for pregnancy, Meagan glanced anxiously at Marco who was
smiling fondly at her. “I will leave you too alone now.” She felt
as if she was standing on a cliff and the ground had just given way
beneath her feet. She knew perfectly that he did not want a
child…he said he loved her and she believed him…the feeling of him
loving her just as much as she did was heart melting…but he did not
want children.

As
soon as she left the room, Meagan flew off the bed and her hand
shut to her mouth. “What am I going to do? How could you sit there
and not act surprised?”

“
That is because I am not,” he chuckled. “I saw the birth
control pills that you left in the restroom at the drugs store. To
be completely honest, I was happy that you hadn’t gotten the chance
to take it.”

“
I
wasn’t even thinking of having a baby any time soon.”

“
Meagan, marry me and…bear my child.”

She
looked at him narrowly and her hand fell slowly from her mouth. Had
she heard correctly? His child? “You-you want this
baby?”

His
eyes were accusing yet very neutral. A cool gaze travelled across
her face and she had to admit, it felt like a breath of fresh air
but when she felt a scorching blush coming on, she looked away like
a shy teenager. “How could I not?”

“
I
thought—but you said—.”

“I
never said I did not want children,
mia tesora
.” He beckoned her forward but she did not move an
inch and he sighed. “You said that neither of wants a baby and I
remember saying very clearly that you should speak for
yourself.”

“
But…”

“
It
is as simple as that, Meagan. And I will not allow my child or the
mother of my child to live like peasants.”

“
A
lot of people live like peasants.” She said it so solidly as if he
had hit a very sensitive nerve.

“
I
agree…and I do not mean it as an offense…but you shall not live
that way if I can afford you the alternative.”

“
So
what are you really asking?”

He
frowned deeply. “I feel like you are not listening to me,
mia
tesora
. Promise me
that you will keep on wearing that ring and make that promise in
the presence of God and my family—and our friends of course.” He
watched her as she turned her back to him and then looked out the
window near where the television sat on a high shelf. “Are you
afraid of me?”

She
turned around almost instantly. “No… ”

“
Then why are you so hesitant? Were you not completely honest
when you said that you loved me?”

“No—no,” she murmured with frustration. “That’s not it…” And
she wiped the already spilling tears from her eyes. “I’m
afrai
—I don’t want to feel what my mother
felt when my father abandoned her.”

“Dio
mio! Innamorata
, I
am not your father…I am a real man and real men take responsibility
for their actions. That is what I am doing this instance.” She
looked at him with pure sadness in her eyes and then blinked away
tears as she saw him easing out of the hospital bed, his bare legs
strong, and stood leaning against the bed reaching out to her.
Meagan felt as if she did not have much choice…and she could feel
her legs moving—carrying her into his embrace. “I would never hurt
you,” he reassured and kissed her lightly on the lips.
“Ever.”

“
Do
I have to live here in Sicily?” she asked as he wiped beneath her
eyes with his thumb.

“
Is
that a yes to my proposal?” he smiled down at her and pulled her
much closer to him, pressing her abdomen against his pelvis. She
returned the smile and wrapped her arms around his neck. Reaching
upwards on tip toes, she kissed him fervently. “That is a very nice
answer,” he said and she giggled.

“So…
do
I?”

“Of
course. I want you by my side at all time,
mia tesora
. But we can travel to America anytime as you
wish.”

“
Well…I quit my job anyways. I’m thinking of starting my own
little pastry shop.”

“Sí
? Then I
shall support you always. We are both going to love each other and
this baby for as long as we live,” he smiled and caressed her flat
stomach. “But for now…I cannot wait to return home.”

“
Really?” she giggled flirtatiously at him. “And why is
that?”

He
groaned deeply and looked her piercingly in the eyes. “I want
you…right now. Naked; in my bed.”

“
I
have to say I love the sound of that.”

“
Mmm,” he chuckled and pressed his lips to hers as he ran his
hand up along the inside of her right thigh and pausing at her
delicate sensitive sex.

“
Not
here…someone might see…” She could not help but laugh in awe at his
desire for her as his gentle touch tickled her spine.

“
Then I suggest you take me home immediately!”

EPILOGUE

“
Where is she?”

The
words shot smoothly out of his mouth as soon as he entered his
living room to see his sister, Maria, seated on his sofa, her eyes
very attentive in a novel he had seen her quite too often reading:
Pride and Prejudice. She had always been a lover of Literature.
Marco had only returned to his business a few months ago, only
because Meagan had insisted saying that he needn’t watch her so
much. But how could he not? She was his beautiful wife and she was
carrying his son—or daughter—it did not quite matter to him what
sex the baby was. But he had sped home just now to see if she was
alright…if her feet needed rubbing or if she needed
anything—anything at all that was not in her reach. Maria had
agreed to keep an eye on her while he was away during the days but
Meagan had refused that too. I’m not a cripple. What is wrong with
you? I’m only carrying a baby for god’s sake! Those were her exact
words but he had paid her no mind. He was going to assist her with
whatever she wanted to do…whether she liked it or not.

“
I
think she is in the backyard.”

“Dio
mio
! You let her go
off by herself?” His eyes were worried out of this world and he
looked exasperated. His hair looked as if his hand had been run
through it too many times and his mouth looked contrary to its
usual moistness due to his sudden exasperation.