Chapter 23

Gia, high on pain medication, stared at Daisy and Luca as they stood before her, waiting to hear what she had to say. Carla sat beside her niece, holding her hand and patting it gently.

"I don't get it," Gia said, licking her dried lips. "You two don't even like each other."

Daisy turned to look at Luca just as his eyes lifted towards her. Their eyes held and for a brief second, Daisy felt her heart skid. If only that was true, she thought.

"Is there no other way?" Gia asked. "This is weird."

"If there was another way, we wouldn't be here," Luca sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Trust me," Daisy snorted. "I'm not so thrilled to be marrying Mr. Moody Gelato over here either."

Luca looked at her, annoyed, but didn't reply to her remark.

"Dad will never buy it," Gia shook her head. "He'll see right through this."

"You leave that up to me," Luca said. "I'll handle it."

Gia stared blankly for several long seconds before her eyes filled with concern and discomfort. She frowned and her brows knit together, "Marriage? Really?"

Luca and Daisy looked at one another again.

"Dee, you don't even believe in marriage!" Gia said. "And Luca, you do! You're always preaching about family values. How is this going to work?"

"It doesn't have to work," Daisy rolled her eyes. "That's the beauty of it."

"But you'll have to convince dad this is a real relationship," Gia reminded them once more. "How are you going to pull that off?"

"Like I said," Luca crossed his arms over his chest, making the button down shirt he wore stretch over his arms. "You leave that up to me. Daisy and I will take care of it."

Gia slowly turned towards her best friend with a deep set frown on her face. Her eyes dimmed as she reached out.

"I'm so sorry," she said, weakly. Her voice shook with emotion as Daisy walked over to the side of the bed and sat down.

"What are you sorry for?" Daisy asked, taking Gia's hand.

"You're getting dragged into all this because of me and my family," Gia's eyes watered. "This should not be your problem."

"Do you remember that we promised each other we'd always stay together?" Daisy said, locking her pinky around Gia's. "We'll grow old and drink wine at brunch at the Plaza Hotel and spend all of our rich husbands' money?"

Gia nodded, laughing through her tears, "Yeah."

"Well, I just secured my rich husband," Daisy flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"But...he's my brother," Gia complained. "That's weird."

"We're going to be sisters!" Daisy tugged on Gia's arm before realizing she shouldn't be pulling her injured friend like that. "Did you ever think that would be possible?"

"Not like this!" Gia's frowned. "Never in my wildest dream did I think it would be you and Luca!"

"I know, it's traumatizing," Daisy teased. "But I've dated darker red flags."

"Wha-" Luca stepped forward but was cut off as Carla spoke up.

"Have you two worked out the logistics?" Carla asked. "When is the wedding?"

"Next weekend," Luca said, narrowing his eyes as Daisy brushed off her comment and ignored his irritation.

"Next weekend?" Gia's eyes widened.

"Relax," Luca rolled his eyes, knowing why his sister was panicking. "We're just going to city hall. That's all."

"What do you mean?" Gia looked at Daisy. "No white dress? Cake? Churches? Flowers?"

"White dress?" Daisy made a sound somewhere between a snort and a laugh. "That ship has sailed."

"You're getting married," Gia reminded her.

"I'm pregnant," Daisy pointed to her belly. "It's kind of useless to wear a white dress in my state."

"My brother's getting married and I'm in the hospital," Gia's shoulders fell as her eyes dimmed farther.

"G, relax. Relax," Luca said. "This isn't what you have in your head. It's just paperwork and formalities."

"Don't say that," Gia shook her head. "That makes it sound awful."

"Well, it's true," Daisy said.

"At least wear a white dress," Gia insisted. "For me."

"No," Daisy shook her head.

"Please," Gia begged. "Come on!"

"No."

"Yes," Gia said stubbornly.

"I'm not wearing it," Daisy laughed. "It's ridiculous."

"If you want to be my sister, you have to wear a white dress to the wedding," Gia said. "It's tradition!"

"No, tha-"

"Please don't say no," Gia begged harder. The corners of her eyes glossed over as tears filled them. "I wish I wasn't here. I wish I could force you to go try on wedding dresses and we were back home in New York."

The stubbornness in Daisy's face fell as Gia's voice lowered, losing its sound by the end of her sentence. The hard cast around Gia's leg beside Daisy felt like a heavy reminder of the tragedy they had all survived.

"We could have the wedding at Central Park," Gia said, wiping her face and catching her breath. Her eyes were sad and hollow, but her smile was heartfelt. "Right by the big fountain and the lake."

"Dried lavender instead of rice," Daisy said, remembering all of Gia's wedding plans.

"Yeah," Gia laughed.

Daisy squeezed Gia's hand as Carla pushed back some of the girl's dark hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Are you even going to ask me to be your maid of honor?" Gia teased.

"Oh god," Daisy rolled her eyes. "See, these are all of your plans. I never made any and I'm okay with that."

"Wear the dress, Dee," Gia nudged. "For memories. For the baby. They'll wanna see wedding photos of mom and dad someday right?"

Daisy suddenly thought of all the wedding albums Patty had in her closets. Various white dresses and flower arrangements. Matching bride maid outfits and awful hairstyles. In most of those weddings, Daisy was always stuck being the flower girl. She hated every single one of those dresses her mother had put her in.

"Consider it?" Gia asked, timidly.

"I'll think about it," Daisy said in hopes that Gia would drop the idea.

__________________________

Between Carla, Luca and Daisy, everyone took turns rotating at the hospital. Carla insisted Daisy take the shortest shifts due to her condition and Luca agreed right away. He found himself driving everyone around most of the time from the hospital to the apartment.

Luca didn't find his duties. He couldn't stand to see Gia in the hospital. Every time he would enter her room, his chest tightened and his head began to spin. The smell of the hospital reminded him of the day Carla and Maria had taken him to see his new baby sister at the nursery after his mother had passed. His eyes were red and his chest empty. All Luca wanted to do was see his mother. But they wouldn't let him. Not until she was placed in her casket at Church.

Her skin looked so unnatural. She looked like a wax figure, Luca remembered. So still and lifeless. And cold. Every time Luca thought of his last memories of his mother, a bone chilling wave of terror flooded through his system.

"Is that Gianna's?" Carla asked from the doorway of the study as she spied the ring in Luca's hand.

Luca looked up and nodded, placing the marquise diamond ring back into its black velvet box.

"You know, I was very surprised when you bought a new ring for Stella," Carla said, walking into the room and looking down at the ring. "I had really thought you were going to propose with Gianna's ring."

"It wasn't Stella's style," Luca said.

"No," Carla said quietly as she took the ring out of the box. "Are you planning on giving it to Daisy?"

Luca nodded, staring at the ring, "Yeah. I figured dad will think differently if he sees her wearing mom's ring. Looks better."

"I guess," Carla smiled. "But the ring is very fitting for Daisy."

"How so?"

"Look at the petals," Carla said, holding up the box. "Diamond petals for Daisy."

"I didn't notice," Luca said, admiring the three smaller marquise cut diamonds on either side of the larger one to give the appearance of a blooming flower.

"Does it need to be resized?" Carla asked.

"Already done," Luca said. "I'm giving it to her today."

"Today?" Carla frowned. "I thought you two were going to go see her stepfather this weekend."

"Yes," Luca said, not understanding why his aunt was frowning.

"Don't you think you should ask his permission first before you give her the ring?"

"Richard is not her real father."

"He raised her," Carla said. "And she sees him as a father. I think it would be very improper if you give her a ring now."

"Improper?" Luca wanted to laugh. "Why is everyone acting like this is a real marriage? White dress, church service, asking the father for permission?"

"That's now it should be done, Luca," Carla said. "And it's in your best interest to follow tradition and do this the right way because as soon as Angelo gets any hint of this marriage not being real, he'll never give you your money back."

Luca didn't argue. He knew Carla was right. As much as he hated to admit it, Angelo was smart. If there was any kind of doubt, not only would Luca be in danger, but Daisy would be caught in the net too.

"Ask Richard first," Carla said, handing the ring back.

"What if he says no?" Luca wondered.

"To you?" Carla laughed. "Please, you're every parent's dream son in law."

Luca had heard those words many times before. He rolled his eyes and put the ring back in his pocket.

"Can I say something?" Carla asked.

"Of course," Luca turned back to look at his aunt.

"I know why you and Daisy are doing this," she began. "But just be cautious."

"Of what?" Luca asked.

"Of how you treat Daisy's emotions," Carla said. "She's a strong girl but that doesn't mean she won't get hurt."

"You think I'm going to hurt her?" Luca's brows knit together.

"No," Carla hesitated. "But I don't want you giving her any ideas for a life together as a real married couple if you are not going to be serious about it."

"She doesn't even believe in marriage," Luca said.

"People change," Carla said. "Who knows, maybe Daisy will want a family one day once the baby is here....I just.....I don't want to see either of you get hurt. If you truly believe that you can never love again, please make that clear to Daisy. Don't ever give her any false hope."

Luca felt the throbbing head in the back of his eyes return. He bit down on his molars and slowly nodded his head.

"Do you think you can try with Daisy?" Carla asked quietly but her words had a strong impact on Luca's mind. He felt as if the walls were caving in on him while he was trying to hold up the sky. "You're both young. And you're both going to raise a child together. That's big."

"I'm just providing the financial support that she needs," Luca said. "At the end of the day, it's still her baby. I don't know how involved I can be."

"But what if you tried?" Carla insisted. "Daisy is an amazing girl. She's headstrong, independent, funny."

"Loud, disobedient, confrontational, reckless," Luca pushed his hands into his pocket and wrapped his hand around the ring box. "You know how I feel about Stella and you know how I feel about trying....with anyone."

"Don't be so stubborn, Luca," Carla said. "Life gets lonely as you age."

"I'll be fine," Luca sighed.

"Wouldn't Stella want you to move on?"

Luca's chest tightened. He looked up at his aunt as memories of Stella came running back into his mind.

"If I die and you remarry, I will never forgive you," Stella admired her diamond ring as Luca drove with her feet on his lap. "I will come back as a ghost and haunt you and your wife forever."

"Never," Luca laughed. "I'll always be yours."

"Forever, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Even if I break your heart?"

"You break my heart everyday," Luca squeezed her cold feet.

"No," Luca spoke up as he realized Carla was still waiting for an answer.

"That's not true," Carla said. "She loved you and she would want you to be hap-"

"I don't want to speak about this anymore," Luca said. "Daisy and I have the terms of this marriage sorted. It's just on paper. That's all."

"You too stubborn, Luc," Carla shook her head with disapproval. "Just like Angelo."

__________________________________

"So," Luca cleared his throat as the GPS screen in the car showed they were only ten minutes away from Richard's house. "Does your stepfather know about the baby?"

"No," Daisy said, staring at the acres and acres of dense forest and flat farm lands.

"Does he know about the wedding?"

"I think so," Daisy said. "Or he might have some idea. It sounded like he knew something was up on the phone."

"Got it," Luca nodded.

"How can people live here?" Daisy wondered aloud, going back to the window to stare at the fields. "There's nothing."

"It's peaceful," Luca said.

"This is where you get murdered and left on the cornfield," Daisy said.

"You've never been here before?"

"No," Daisy shook her head and pulled the sleeves of her sweater into her palm. "It must be beautiful once the leaves change color."

"Yeah," Luca said, turning into Richard's long driveway.

"Here we go," Daisy muttered under her breath as the gravel crunched under the tire. "Be nice. Richard is very soft spoken. He's a thinker and he loves military books. Do you know anything about militaries?"

"A thing or two," Luca said, bringing the car to a stop in front of a large house with a white porch that wrapped all the way around. He could see the top of a barn out back and the distinctive scent of animals and horses hit his nose as soon as he opened his car door.

As Luca walked around to open the door for Daisy and help her get out of the car, the front door to the house opened and a tall man with wide shoulders and a firm stance walked out. His eyes were dark and narrowed, set deep in his face. A golden tan made the wrinkles look like leather and the prominent frown only added to the man's dominating features.

"Dickie!" Daisy's face lit up as soon as she saw the man.

"Good to see you, Q-tip," The man, Richard, grinned.

"Q-tip?" Luca asked, quietly enough for just Daisy to hear.

"Dickie had to take me to the emergency room once because I had lodged a q-tip into my nose," Daisy explained.

"She bled all over the front seat of my car," Richard said, his heavy feet making their way down the steps and towards the pair. "We had to stop by the hot dog cart to get napkins."

"And hot dogs," Daisy said.

"And hot dogs," Richard laughed, holding out one arm.

Daisy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the big man. Luca couldn't match the image he had in his head of Richard to the man standing before him. He was expecting a small tiny man with round glasses and bony arms. Not an army general.

"Dickie, this is Luca," Daisy said, pulling away and stepping back to stand beside Luca. "Luca, this is Richard."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Luca extended his hand. "Daisy had told me a lot about you."

"Really?" Richard arched his brow, the smile disappearing from his lips as his attention settled on Luca. "Well, I can't say the same for you. I didn't even know you existed until last week when her mother called."

"I wanted to be sure he was the one," Daisy placed a hand on Luca's shoulder. "Look at him. Isn't he handsome?"

"Looks won't get you anywhere in life," Richard said before turning back to Luca and shaking his hand. "What do you do, Lucas?"

"Luca," Luca corrected the man.

"Isn't that what I said?" Richard looked at Daisy.

"Luca's family is in the shipping business," Daisy said.

"We're also entering real estate," Luca added.

"A jack of all trade is a master of none," Richard huffed.

"But oftentimes better than a master of one," Luca said. "Sir."

"Oftentimes," Richard's face was unreadable. "Not always."

"Luca is good at his trade," Daisy said. "You don't have to worry."

"Sure hope so," Richard turned towards the house. "Let's go. You two look exhausted. You flew economy?"

"Private," Luca said, picking up Daisy's small travel bag.

Richard chuckled and leaned towards Daisy.

"I'm surprised your mother didn't try to marry him," he whispered.

"I didn't let her meet him," Daisy whispered back.

Luca stayed quiet as he followed the pair up the stairs and into the large house.

"Alright," Richard groaned like old folks often did. "You two go on and rest up. Lunch is almost ready. You like barbecue, Lucas?"

"Luca," Luca corrected the man once more. "And yes. I do."

"Surprising," Richard said. "You look like the kind of man who would be irritated to get barbecue sauce under his nails."

"I'll be fine," Luca said.

"Hm," Richard's eyes slowly traveled down to Luca's shiny dress shoes. "Q-tip, did he bring any outdoor shoes?"

Daisy, who was busy looking around the house, looked over her shoulder to where the men stood by the door.

"Uh...I don't know," she said. "Luca?"

"Yes," Luca said. "I did."

"Good," Richard said. "We're going hunting tomorrow."

"That sounds like fu-" Daisy turned just as Richard shook his head.

"Not you."

"Why not?" Daisy arched her bow like she often did when someone told her no.

"You said you wanted me to get to know him, right?" Richard asked. "Well, I'm gonna get to know him."

"Hunting doesn't seem ideal," Daisy shook her head.

"He'll be fine," Richard placed his hand on Luca's shoulder and squeezed. "What do you say?"

"Sounds great," Luca nodded.

"See?" Richard laughed, looking back at Daisy.

"Whatever," Daisy rolled her eyes. "Where would we put our stuff?"

"The spare bedroom is upstairs to the right," Richard pointed.

"Got it," Daisy turned. Luca began to follow her when Richard spoke up once more.

"And the guest bedroom," he cleared his throat, looking straight at Luca. "Is on this floor. Down the hall."

"Dickie..." Daisy was at the stairs when she looked back.

"My house, my rules," Richard said. "You, upstairs. Lucas, downstairs." 

Go check out my IG for a picture of the ring! What do you think will happen next chapter?