Chapter 38

Daisy laid awake in bed beside Luca as he held her tightly in his arms. Her heart ached with anxiety as she constantly checked her phone, wondering if she had missed Gia's text. The anxiety was beginning to morph into irritation.

What's taking so long? Daisy wondered as she turned in bed and faced Luca.

Laying her head against his chest, Daisy shifted closer. Luca's skin was warm. It felt good to be held by him after a week of avoiding each other. Every time Daisy looked up and stared at his sleeping face, she felt a tug in her chest that resulted in her tummy clenching and her heart doing somersaults. She began to think about their conversation and everything that it meant for their future.

Daisy didn't know how she would handle Stella's presence in their life. She had never been the jealous or possessive type. But then again she had never been in love before. Any time she thought of Luca with Stella, her throat tightened as if she would start crying.

She knew it was silly to worry about someone who wasn't a part of their life, but just the thought of there being someone else in Luca's heart made her own heart bleed. It made her feel incredibly small and alone. Like if the universe ever brought her back to life, Daisy would be left behind. Like she always was when her mother fell in love...

Daisy's heart shook as if she was walking on a tightrope. She couldn't let go of Luca. He grounded her and made her head spin with all the possibilities of what their life could be together. But she also couldn't forget about Stella. Luca's refusal to tell her he loved her also didn't help.

With another heavy sigh, Daisy rolled back to the other side. She began chewing on her bottom lip when her phone suddenly buzzed in her hand. Jumping up, Daisy picked up the call and hurried out into the halls.

"Where are you?" Daisy whispered.

"Outside," Gia said. "Let me in."

"I'm on my way down," Daisy turned towards the stairs and used the light from her cell phone to hurry down to the gate. Closing the main door as quietly as she could, Daisy tiptoed through the driveway and opened the large gates. Her eyes squinted in the darkness as she recognized Daniel in the driver's seat and Gia in the passenger. Immediately, her mouth set into a thin line of disapproval as Gia jumped out of the car and silently closed the door without making too much sound.

"What the hell is-" Daisy hissed.

"I can explain," Gia rushed to Daisy. "It's not what you think. There's a lot going on."

"Is that blood on you?" Daisy's eyes widened. Her heart began to hammer against her chest.

Gia looked down in shock. Her hands began to tremble as Daisy stepped forward.

"Are you hurt?" She grabbed Gia's shoes and then her hand. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," Gia shook her head.

"What's wrong with him?" Daisy asked, looking over Gia's shoulder to Daniel.

Gia followed her gaze to the inside of the car where Daniel leaned back with his head against the seat and eyes closed. His skin was pale and there was a light coat of sweat on his forehead.

"I shot him." Gia said.

"What?" Daisy choked.

"We got into an argument," Gia shivered. "I told him I wished he was dead and he gave me his gun...."

What the fuck! Daisy wanted to scream.

"He should be at the hospital," Daisy gasped instead. "Luca's not going to be happy if Daniel Dimaggio dies outside his house."

We're all dead, Daisy thought to herself. There's no way we can cover this up.

"He's not going to die," Gia rolled his eyes. "I just shot his arm."

"Are you sure about that?" Daisy's eyes moved back to Daniel.

Gia followed, "I don't know..."

"Should we call someone?" Daisy asked. "Like an anonymous call to the police or hospital."

"No!" Gia whirled around. "That's going to be a huge problem."

"Well, we can't leave him in there to bleed to death."

"Why not?" Gia shrugged.

"G!" Daisy hissed. "I know you're mad and you have every right to be mad but you're better than this. You're not going to kill a man."

"It's in my blood," Gia said.

"So you're going to be fine knowing you let him die in that car tonight?"

"He's not going to die," Gia insisted once again with an eye roll. "What am I supposed to do anyways? He doesn't want to go to the doctor."

"Bring him inside," Daisy pushed the door open. "I'll go wake up Carla. Take him to the pool house."

"I'm not taking him anywhere," Gia said stubbornly.

Help me god, Daisy's eyes narrowed. I will murder this family.

She stared at Gia with her nails digging into her palm. The Gia that stood before her broke her heart. It wasn't her best friend. Her best friend was kind and sweet. Daisy's best friend could never hurt anyone.

"Gia..." Daisy whispered her name.

Gia looked up and caught Daisy's eyes. They stood staring at one another as if wondering where their younger selves have gone. It just seemed like yesterday they were both laughing and drinking in Gia's room while stalking boys on the internet. How did they come to this? Sneaking out, shooting people, coming home covered in blood.

"Fine," Gia muttered as she handed Daisy her purse and phone.

The girls worked quickly as Gia walked around to the driver's side and draped Daniel's good arm over her shoulder. He was still somewhat conscious and bore most of his weight as Daisy and Gia took him around the side of the house to the pool house in the large backyard.

"I'll go get Carla," Daisy said as they sat Daniel down on the loveseat. She swiftly pulled away and ran out.

Daisy could feel Daniel's blood drying on her arms as she rushed into the house and towards Carla's room. She had no idea what she would say or how she would explain anything as she knocked on the door repeatedly until Carla pulled it open.

"What's wrong?" Carla asked, her eyes widening and taking in Daisy's state. "Who's blood is that? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Daisy walked into the room and shut the door. "We have a situation. Don't freak out please. Just listen to me first. Gia went to Isabella's dinner party and ran into Daniel."

"Oh my go-"

"She's fine!" Daisy rushed. "But he's not."

"What do you mean?"

"Gia...shot him."

"What?" Carla's eyes looked as if they would pop out of her skull. "Excuse me?"

"In the arm," Daisy explained. "He's in the pool house. He's not doing too well. Gia says he doesn't want to go to the hospital."

"He's in the pool house?" Carla grabbed her robe and began to pull on her slipper. "Where's Luca? Does he know about this?"

"No," Daisy didn't even want to start thinking about what Luca would do. "He's upstairs. Sleeping."

"You need to go wake him up," Carla said.

"I will, but just stop the bleeding first," Daisy said. "It's going to look really bad if he dies here tonight."

"Oh it's already bad," Carla jeered. "Help me gather the first aid boxes. There's one in the kitchen. I'll get mine from the bathroom."

"Okay, okay," Daisy ran out of the room. She hurried like a mouse through the halls with her heart in her throat and grabbed the first aid box from under the kitchen sink. When she ran into the yard, her eyes flickered up towards Luca's balcony, making sure there was no way he could see her.

"Hurry," Carla waved from where she was by the pool.

Daisy held the first aid box tightly to her chest as she ran after the woman. They entered the pool house together just as Gia's voice greeted them from inside.

"You already did!" Gia yelled. "You left me all alone in that house! I woke up all alone! I spent hours waiting for you. I baked you a cake. I sat by the door waiting and waiting. I was so stupid because not once did I think you had actually abandoned me."

Daisy felt her heart break from Gia's words. Before, she would have never been able to understand the girl's pain. But now everything was connected to Luca. Daisy imagined what it would feel like if he had done to her what Daniel did to Gia. The pain that rippled through Daisy's system made her eyes water.

"Gia," Carla's harsh whisper from the door startled the girls.

Gia turned around to find Daisy and Carla running into the pool house with their arms full of medical supplies.

"Keep it down," Daisy hushed. "You'll wake up your brother."

"Maybe Luca should come and see this," Carla said, rapidly putting on her gloves and moving towards Daniel. "I can't imagine tomorrow morning will be all calm and uneventful."

Oh god, Daisy swallowed. He's going to kill me. He's going to actually murder me.

"Nothing will happen to her," Daniel said. "I promise."

"Your promise means nothing," Carla muttered before Daisy could.

She stood back with Gia and watched the shirt be removed from Daniel's arm. Light was directed towards the gunshot. Daisy gripped her night gown tightly as Carla cleaned the blood off and began to search for the needle.

"You should really go to the hospital," she said, looking at Daniel. "I can only remove the bullet and stitch the wound if the bleeding stops."

"No hospital," Daniel muttered, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"Daisy, hold the light and pass me what I need," Carla ordered. "Gia, hold his head and keep him steady."

Daisy rushed over and scanned the first aid box. She held the light tightly in her trembling hand as Carla continued her work.

"Gia!" Carla called when they noticed Gia wasn't moving. "Now! If he dies here, we'll have a huge problem."

Daisy looked up at her best friend. It was hard to make out her face as her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness after staring at the bright light for so long. She watched Gia take a seat beside Daniel and place his head on her shoulder to keep him steady. Daisy knew Gia was a big fan of blood. So when the girl screwed her eyes shut and held her breath, Daisy wished she could speed up the process for everyone's sake.

"Gia," Daniel called to her in his half conscious state.

Carla looked up at her niece as Gia ignored the boy calling to her.

"Are you done yet?" She asked instead.

"Almost," Carla said. "Daisy, hand me the extra towel."

Daisy reached over to the small side table and picked up the white towel. She passed it to Carla before going back to making sure there was enough light on the wound.

Everyone stayed quiet as the bullet was removed. Carla gave Daniel some medication for the pain while Daisy used a wet sponge to clean up the blood on his arm and chest. Gia sat beside him with his head on her shoulder as she stared at nothing. Her eyes were puffy and her face was blank. After several hours, as the sky began to lighten outside and chase away the darkness, Gia seemed to stir up.

"Can I leave now?" Gia asked. "He's alive right?"

"Stay right here," Carla said. "And tell me what happened."

"We got into an argument," Gia sighed. "I wanted to go swimming with Dino's cousin but he didn't like that. He pulled me away to the parking lot and I got angry."

"Where did you get a gun?" Carla asked.

"He gave me his gun," Gia said.

"Did anyone see or hear?"

"Bruno saw us arguing and then in the parking lot, some of his friends saw the gun in my hand after I shot him."

"Jesus Christ," Carla muttered, rubbing her forehead. "This is bad. This is really bad."

"No, it's not," Gia shook her head and Daisy immediately recognized the stubborn look on her face. It was the same one as her brother. "He gave me his gun."

"That's not how everyone will see it," Carla said.

"What's going to happen?" Daisy asked.

"The Dimaggio's will retaliate," Carla explained. "Everyone in this town just needs an excuse to kill for their own vendetta. But I'm pretty sure word will reach the other families soon and they will call you two in to talk."

Everyone in town just needs an excuse...

Daisy shivered as she thought of what people did after Stella's death. Her eyes flickered up towards Daniel.

If this Dimaggio died...

"We can leave," Gia said.

"And go where?" Carla asked. "They'll drag you back from any corner of the world. Do you understand what your actions could potentially do? The feud between all these families has been at a stand still but you just shout the first arrow, sweetheart."

Daisy's heart started to hammer inside of her chest. The anxiety was catching up and it was catching up quickly. Her skin warmed as her empty stomach heaved. Her breathing grew shallow as she shuddered.

"Nothing's going to happen," Daniel suddenly spoke up.

Gia looked down at him as he picked up his head from her shoulder with great effort and sat up.

"No one's going to know about this," he said. "Everyone at the beach already knows not to talk about it. I won't let anything happen to Gia."

"Somehow I am not very confident in your assumptions," Carla said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was shot," Daniel said. "Thank you."

"Can you walk?" Daisy asked quickly. "You need to leave before Luca sees you."

"I know," Daniel nodded. "Luckily, I don't live far."

Suddenly, Gia jumped to her feet. Everyone stared at her as she pulled away from Daniel and walked out of the pool house without so much as a word.

"Your car's still outside," Daisy said, handing him his keys. She was eager to get him out of the house. With every passing minute, her heart stopped, worried about Luca storming downstairs and seeing the mess they had created.

"I suggest you get your wound looked at as soon as you can," Carla added.

"Thank you," Daniel rose to his feet and swayed. "I know you didn't have to help me last night."

"We only helped because if you died, Gia would be blamed for it," Daisy said. "Personally, I could care less what happens to you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Silvano," Daniel smiled. "The new name suits you."

It was supposed to be your sister's new name, Daisy thought.

"Fuck off," she said instead and glared. Bunching up the shirt in her hand, she tossed it towards the boy and told him to hurry up.

Once Daniel was dressed, Carla began to guide him back to the gate. Daisy followed behind until they arrived at the front gates and she could go no farther. Her skin shivered from the morning air as she watched Daniel slip past the gates. Without waiting for Carla to come back in, Daisy turned on her heels and walked back inside.

Putting the first aid box back under the sink, Daisy dragged her feet upstairs. Her bones ached from the lack of sleep. She wanted to stand under a hot shower and wash off all the blood on her arms. Looking down at her long silk nightgown, Daisy knew she had to get rid of it before Luca saw. She slipped back into the room and made it to the bathroom without getting caught. Luca was still asleep just the way she had left him. Daisy watched him through the small crack on the door before shutting it and turning on the shower.

After scrubbing the blood off and tossing the dress into Theo's diaper bin, Daisy walked out of the bathroom and almost jumped out of her skin.

"Good morning," Luca chuckled. He arched his brow seeing how Daisy jumped at the sight of him as if she wasn't expecting to see him there.

"Morning," Daisy flashed him a quick smile before fussing with her hair and turning away.

"Where were you last night?"

"What?" Daisy's heart stopped.

"Where were you?" Luca asked, getting up from the bed and walking over towards her. Daisy's heart hammered inside of her chest as he grew closer and closer. His dark eyes watched her with a small smile on his lips. "I woke up and you weren't here."

"I...." Daisy took a small step back. "I was making a bottle for Theo."

"But he didn't wake up," Luca peaked into the nursery. "Still asleep."

"He did," Daisy insisted. "You didn't hear."

"I would have heard," Luca pushed.

"Maybe I was in the bathroom," Daisy clicked her tongue and stepped around him. She ran a hand through her wet strands before tossing it up on top of her head in a towel.

"All night?" Luca teased, coming back to wrap his arms around her and kiss her cheek from behind.

"Misconnection probably," Daisy muttered.

"I d-" Before Luca could finish, his phone began to ring.

Daisy sighed a quick breath of relief. She quickly pulled away and hurried into the nursery as Luca walked over to his phone. Daisy sat down on the armchair and pulled the towel off. She heard Luca's muffled voice on the balcony of their bedroom as she watched the hands on the clock slowly turn.

She began to wonder how Gia was doing when the doors to the nursery opened once again and Luca stepped in. He paused at the door and stared at Daisy sitting on the armchair wrapped in her white robe. His head tilted slightly to one side as he casually took a seat on the edge of the changing table and toyed with his phone in his hands. Daisy could still make out the marks of her nails on his bare chest as he watched her.

"What movie did you and G end up watching last night?" Luca asked.

"Huh?" Daisy's eyes lifted from his chest. "Oh...um....Mean Girls."

Luca slowly nodded, "What time did she end up going to bed?"

"Pretty late," Daisy said.

"Did you get to finish the movie?"

"I've watched it before so it didn't matter," Daisy shrugged.

"Okay," Luca pushed off the edge of the table slowly with a long sigh. "Let's hope for your sake her answers match yours."

If she could, Daisy would have held up a hundred shields to protect herself from the way Luca's eyes darkened and glared at her.

"Wh-what?" She spoke without meaning to.

"Drop the fuckin act," Luca spoke each word slowly. They were dripping with so much venom that Daisy feared it would burn through her robe.

"Luca-"

"I'm going to strangle you both," Luca said. "But I think I might start with you first."

"How did...." Breathing became too much of a challenge.

"They're coming for her," Luca held up his phone. "They're going to drag her out of this house and you can thank yourself for that."

"What do you mean?" Daisy could hear her heartbeat in her ear.

"Tell me what the fuck happened?" If Theo wasn't asleep a few feet away, Luca would have been screaming at the top of his lungs. "Why am I getting phone calls at the crack of dawn saying my sister is wanted for shooting Daniel?"

"Please just take a deep breath," Daisy tried. "Just calm down for a seco-"

Luca didn't let her finish. He stormed out of the nursery and past the bedroom. Daisy ran after him, trying to grab his arm and pull him back so she could explain to him what happened.

"Gia!" Luca yelled as they made their way down the stairs. "Gia!"

"Luca, please!" Daisy grabbed his arm but he shook her off. "Luca!"

"Gia!" Luca yelled again as they turned towards the living room.

Maria looked up in shock as Gia jumped behind Carla. Luca entered the room and his eyes narrowed like swords.

"Luca, listen-" Carla began.

"What the fuck did you do?" Luca demanded, his voice scaring Daisy as she came running into the room behind him.

"I swear I didn't mean to-" Gia spoke up from behind Carla.

"You didn't mean to?" Luca shouted. "You shot him and you didn't mean to?"

"Shot who?" Maria asked in shock.

"She shot Daniel!" Luca informed the woman. "And now the Patriarcas want her."

"Daniel?" Maria's eyes widened. "Where did she see Daniel?"

Daisy's heart froze as Luca turned to look at her.

"Yeah, Daisy," he said. "Where the fuck did my sister see Daniel last night? At the fuckin movies?"

"I didn't think she was going to shoot him!" Daisy yelled.

"You let her sneak out of the house in Del Mare!" Luca yelled back. "Are you that fuckin' insane? You lied to me and then you continued to lie to me this morning!"

"Luca, please," Carla said. "Let's just calm down for a second."

"No," Luca snapped. "I'm not going to calm down. This is the same shit that happened in New York. Gia does dumb shit and you cover for her by lying!"

Daisy flinched as Luca pointed towards her. With the amount of rage in his eyes, he might as well have pointed his gun towards her head. His green eyes looked nothing less than a storm.

"It wasn't Dee's fault," Gia stepped around Carla. "Don't yell at her."

"Then should I yell at you?" Luca asked. "Who's idea was it for you to sneak out last night?"

"Mine."

"Mine."

Luca looked ready to blow a fuse as both Daisy and Gia claimed ownership to the plans.

"It was my idea," Daisy stepped forward before Gia could say anything else. "She wanted to go to Isabella's dinner and I didn't see what the big deal would be."

"The big deal would be?" Luca's eyes narrowed to two tiny slits. "Do you hear yourself? What the fuck is wrong with you? With the both of you! You knew Daniel would be there and you still thought it was a good idea to let her sneak out? Wow. Fuckin' fantastic, my love. You never fail to amaze me."

As Luca began to slow clap, Daisy's heart flinched with each sound.

"How can you be so reckless?" Maria stepped forward. "And you, Gia. What the hell were you thinking, you brainless idiot!"

"Don't yell at her," Daisy said to the woman. "It was my idea."

"She pulled the trigger," Maria said. "Or was that you too?"

"I admit it, I made a mistake," Daisy said. "I'm sorry. I didn't think things would get this bad. It was supposed to be a small dinner. It was supposed to be harmless."

"Harmless," Maria huffed. She glared at Daisy before turning towards Luca. " Per questo avresti dovuto sposare una donna italiana." (This is why you should have married an Italian woman.)

"Mom," Carla's brows furrowed. "Not the time for that."

Luca turned his attention away from his grandmother to his sister, "Go get ready. They want to see you."

"Why?" Gia's eyes widened.

"Geez, I don't know," Luca said dramatically. "Maybe because you shot one of their kids!"

"Gia, go get ready," Carla said. "We'll have to get your story straight before you leave."

Daisy didn't know what to do as Gia stared at her with tears in her big round eyes. Her heart shook in her chest as Luca turned and walked out of the living room. She wanted to see if Gia was okay but as Carla pulled her away, Daisy found herself rushing after Luca.

"Where do you think you're going?" Maria asked, following her out into the foyer.

Luca stopped and looked over his shoulders as Daisy turned to face the woman.

"I can not believe you let this happen," Maria spat, shaking her head. "How could you be so stupid?"

"I don't know," Daisy snapped. "Maybe because I'm not Italian."

"How dare you!" Maria's voice bounced off the walls. "You carelessly put Gia in danger last night and now you're talking back to me?"

"Again," Daisy almost stomped her feet. "It was supposed to be a small dinner. My mistake for forgetting that this family is cursed to make stupid decisions-"

Before Daisy could blink, Maria's hand raised in the air, heading straight for her face. She felt her heart stop and her body freeze in shock. But before the woman's hand could touch her, Luca grabbed Maria's wrist.

"Don't you dare," he warned, stepping in between Daisy and his grandmother.

"Do you hear what she's saying?" Maria demanded. "She's already ruined Gia. You're next and then your son! Control her!"

"Daisy is not my mother," Luca's voice was frosty. "Don't you dare make that mistake with my wife."

"And this is why," Maria shook her head with disgust. "This is why she has the audacity to think she can do whatever she pleases around her. It's because you let her."

"As long as I'm alive, she can do whatever she pleases, whenever she pleases," Luca said, respectfully lowering the woman's hand. "I did not give anyone the permission to touch my wife."

"Luca," Maria snatched her hand back. "You fool. She'll ruin you."

Luca's jaw clenched as he backed away and grabbed Daisy's hand.

"Let's go," he said as Maria continued to shout at them.

Daisy looked at the woman over her shoulder as Luca dragged her upstairs and into his old bedroom.

"Why are we here?" Daisy asked.

"Because I don't want to wake Theo," Luca said. "We need to talk."

"I'm so sor-"

"Last night, when you were upstairs with me," Luca cut her off. "The whole wanting to talk about us and then laying with me in bed, it was all to distract me, wasn't it?"

"No," Daisy shook her head.

"Stop with the lies," Luca warned, his eyes darkening. "Just when I was starting to think I was wrong about you, you go and do this. I really thought you had matured after becoming a mother. But you're still the same reckless girl you once were."

"Luca, listen to me," Daisy stepped forward and took his hands. "I'm so sorry. I wanted her to feel normal and just be a young girl attending one of her best friend's weddings. I didn't think it would escalate to this point."

"Do you ever think?" Luca asked, pulling his hands back. "When I keep telling you that Del Mare is not New York or California, do you hear me? Or do you just ignore that like everything else?"

"I listen."

"No, I don't think you do," Luca shook his head. "You've made it impossible for me to keep you guys safe. You covered for Gia when she was with Daniel in New York, you covered for her when he saw her here and you did it again last night. When are you going to learn?"

Daniel felt her heart sink. She didn't know what to say or think as Luca's words all rang true in her mind. In her blind love for Gia, she didn't recognize all the ways she was harming Gia by protecting all of her mistakes.

"How did she get home last night?" Luca asked as Daisy stood before him with her eyes lowered.

"Daniel," Daisy said quietly.

"Was this before or after she shot him?"

"After," Daisy said. "He drove her home and Carla and I took the bullet out in the pool house."

"Jesus," Luca shook his head in disbelief.

"I know you're mad," Daisy said. "I know I made a huge mistake. But please understand I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"I am beyond understanding anything right now," Luca shook his head. "I can't believe you dangled our relationship in front of me like that last night to distract me. Hats off to your brain."

"I didn't do that!" Daisy said.

"Game well played," Luca ignored whatever she had to say. "You knew exactly what you were doing. Admit it."

"Luca, please," Daisy felt her chest tighten. "I wasn't playing any games."

"Save it for somebody who cares," Luca said as he backed away and slammed the door shut. 

Ah he's mad :(