AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, yeah.” I smiled. “That’s kind of weird, huh?”
“A little, but there are weirder things in the world.”
“True,” I said. “How’s your mom?” I asked her softly.
“She’s doing okay. The therapist thinks that she’s making leaps and strides, and the nightmares have stopped.” She gave me a smile. “In fact, she is even thinking about trying to get a job soon.”
“A job. Didn’t I give them enough money? Do they need more? Do I—”
“No, it’s not about the money. You were very generous. Thank you, Antonio.”
“There’s not enough money in the world to give her for what she went through,” I said. “I’m deeply ashamed, and I swear to God, I had no idea, Callie. I swear to God, I had no idea.”
“I know,” she said.
“You do? You believe me?”
“I know who you are, Antonio.” She squeezed my hand. “I know you have a good heart. I know that you are a good man. I mean, I don’t think you’re the best man in the world.” She started laughing, and I shook my head. “But I know you have a heart, even though you tried to pretend that you didn’t when I first met you.”
“I have a heart, and it’s all yours.” I nodded. “You hold the key.”
“Then I’ll hold it very carefully,” she said. “And I’ll make sure I don’t lose it.”
My heart pounded as I stared into her eyes. “Can I give you a kiss?” I asked her softly. She looked back at me for a second, and I thought she was going to say no, but then she nodded and gave me a sweet smile.
“One kiss.” I leaned down, pressed my lips against hers, and it felt like an explosion of fireworks went off as soon as our lips met. I stepped back and gazed at her, awestruck. She smiled up at me.
“I do love you, Antonio. I’ve always loved you, and I don’t want you to think that the reason why I need this time and distance is because I don’t care. It’s not. We just have to make sure that, well, we can communicate and that it’s right.” My heart burst with happiness at her words.
“I love you, Callie. I can wait forever.”
“Really?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Forever?”
“I mean, I hope you don’t make me wait forever, but if you do, I can.”
“Okay, let’s see,” she said. She leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek. “Going to go head back to Elisabetta and Gia. I’m sure they must be wondering what’s taking me so long.” She squeezed my hand. “But maybe we can grab a coffee next week or something.”
“I’d like that,” I said. “Thanks so much for coming.”
“He saved my life. There’s no way I would’ve missed it.” I watched as she walked away, and I felt a sense of contentment as I stood there under the tree. The priest finished his sermon, and people started leaving, but still, I stayed there. I stayed there for what felt like hours. There was no one in the cemetery any longer. I was by myself. Even Alessandro had gone. I walked over to Jimmy’s plot and knelt on the ground.
“Hey, Jimmy,” I said, speaking into the air. “I don’t know if you can hear me. I feel like a fucking idiot talking to no one, but I’m sure you’d tell me I’m a fucking idiot anyway.” I laughed at myself. “Why’d you have to die, Jimmy? Why’d you have to leave me here? I know you were honorable. I know you did it for me. You saved her life. I could never repay you for that, Jimmy. You were always there for me. You always cared for me more than you cared for yourself, and I took that for granted. I’ve taken so many things in life for granted.
“And I want you to know that I’m not going to do that anymore. I want you to know that it wasn’t in vain. I want you to know that you were right. I love her. I love her more than the stars in the sky. I love her more than the planets and the galaxy. I love her more than the ants that roam this earth. And I feel like I don’t even know who I am because I didn’t even believe in love. I didn’t even think I could feel this way about anyone. And when she looks at me, oh, Jimmy, when she looks at me, I feel like I could fall to the ground and kiss her feet.
“And when she smiles, my heart, it bursts into a million pieces, and I see fucking butterflies everywhere, and I don’t know what I’m going to do if she doesn’t take me back. And guess what, Jimmy? She might be fucking pregnant. Me, who said I never wanted to have kids? Me, who had a bastard of a father. I don’t even know what I’d be like as a dad, but you know what? If she’s pregnant, I want that fucking kid so bad. I want her to marry me, and I want to knock her up every year so we can have loads and loads of kids. And the first boy, we’re going to call him Jimmy after you.”
I could feel the tears running down my face as I sobbed. “I fucking miss you, Jimmy. I love you, bro. I love you. Thank you, and I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” I fell forward and banged my fists on the ground, my eyes full of tears. I was angry, upset, and hurt, and I felt so many different emotions that I didn’t know how to process.
And then, like an angel from the sky above, I heard Jimmy’s voice. “Hey, boss, what are you doing crying?” I didn’t look up. I wanted to pretend he was right there next to me. “It’s okay, boss. You love her, and I love you, and you know I took an oath. I’ll protect you forever. But you got to fight for her boss. You got to win her. She loves you, and she’ll take you back. You just got to be patient, boss. Remember that. You’re the fucking wolf, and she’s a little lamb. Protect her, boss. The wolf scares the lamb. You got to back off. You can do it.” And with that, his voice was gone.
39
Callie
“How are you feeling, Callie?” Gia asked me as we made our way to Central Park.
I looked at her and smiled widely. “I’m feeling really happy today,” I said. “I woke up this morning and said, ‘Today’s going to be a good day.’ And so far, it has been.”
