COLD TRAP

Chapter 62 

MIRABELLA 

“No.” 

I state my answer with a tone of finality. My husband scoffs, his head bobbing a few times. His tongues darts out and swipes across his teeth. 

“Till death do us part.” 

Those are the words that flow through the air before another side to my husband is activated. He runs through the rain of bullets, doing his very best to protect himself until he’s gotten to our daughter. 

With one swift motion, he sweeps her off her feet and with the same speed, he runs like his life depends on how fast his legs move. 

It does, technically. 

A smile coats my lips when they reach me, a choked sob escaping the back of my throat when my princess hugs into me. 

I bask in the joy of having my daughter back in my arms that I don’t realize my husband has walked back into the battlefield, this time without his vest nor his guns. 

He throws his hands into the air in a surrender, as if inviting death. 

I push my daughter aside and stumble, repeated 

sescaping my throat. 

“No! No! No! No! No!!!” 

It’s futile because the first bullet pierces through him, causing him to stumble. 

“Ares! Do something!” I scream, my legs still moving twice as fast 

Another bullet pierces him. 

Another. 

Another. 

Another. 

And by the time I get to him, he’s been knocked onto the ground, his eyes at the verge of closing shut. 

A puddle of blood gathers beneath him, slowly expanding across the field. My body tremble. I fall on my knees, an excruciating wail escaping my throat 

What have they done to my husband? 

He’s soaked with blood–his blood. 

My breathing is labored. 

I whimper as though at the verge of death, 

Gasps continuously escape my mouth. 

12:27 Sat, 22 Jun 

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I cradle his cheeks, sniffing and punching my fist into the ground. “Matteo…please.” I plead. “Please, don’t do this to me, to us…Matteol 

He chokes out a strained, “baby.” 

I screech, my eyes almost popping out of its sockets. 

“Why did you do this, Matteo? Why?” 

For a moment, I think he sees me. He sees me beyond my facade, beyond the mask of hatred I have on. Regret flashes his strained orbs. 

It’s more like a plea when he murmurs, “of what good is my life without you in it?” 

“Mi amore,” I weep, my body vibrating. 

“Mi vida.” He drawls, his breath unstable, his blinks slowing. “This is what I do. I’m always causing you pain. Things tend to get ruined when I’m around.” 

“That’s not true, Matteo. I’m happy when you’re around. Please, don’t leave. I’ll lose my mind without you. And the kids, the kids need to grow up with their father.” 

Matteo groans painfully, the veins around his neck pronounced. Strained. “You shouldn’t be crying for a man like me. I’m not worthy.” Shaky hands cradle my face, thumbs swiping off each rope of tear that slides down my checks. 

He’s not unworthy. 

He’s my husband, my love, the father of my children…I love him. 

I love him. 

I love him. 

I love him. 

I love him. 

I love him. 

He’s worth every laugh and every cry, every joy and every sorrow. 

Cradling his face, I lean down, kissing his forehead gently. “Matteo…Te amore.” 

A whimper. 

A screech. 

Tears. 

Pain. 

Regret. 

“Te amore, Mirabella. Te amore, mi vida.” 

I won’t accept this. It doesn’t get to end ke this. This cannot be happening 

My shoulders slump, my throat tight with pain when a hand significantly smaller than mine comes into view. I don’t have to look up to know that it’s my daughter witnessing her father in what could be the last seconds of his life. 

I look up into her eyes and she holds my stare. She’s hesitant, hesitant to speak, hesitant to show affection towards her father in fear that my pride might be hurt. 

“Mariana…“I whisper, guilt weighing heavy in my heart. “Go on, say something nice to your father, baby.” 

Her tiny hands swipe across his sweaty and bloody face. She gulps, her small hands cradling her father’s face. 

“Papá…” She drawls out her whisper and tears stream down her face. She understands the gravity of the situation, and I cannot help but blame myself for having a hand in it. “Te amore, papá.” 

She whispers and burrows her head into his neck. Her words are like a wake up call to Matteo because his eyes are instantly wide open, his struggle with death evident. Even more regret flashes his orbs. 

“Mi dispiace.” He chokes out a sob whilst stroking our daughter’s hair gently. “Mi dispiace, piccolo.” 

I stare between my husband and daughter, the memory of my unconscious son taunting me and all that is left of me is my sanity all snapped, disfigured, disdained. I lose myself to the point where the only thing I desire is to rain hell on everyone who has caused my family pain. 

And that’s what I do. 

All I know is that I’m continuously shooting until I’m pulled into a car. I’m unable to understand or even come to terms with the reality of things until I arrive at my safe house. 

Realization dawns on me and I take to my heels, drowning every sound around as I run through the hallway into the one room where I know my husband might be kept in. If he is still alive. 

That dreadful feeling courses through my bones when my eyes settle on my unconscious husband and son. I stagger into the room, tears 

wetting my face. 

My eyes move from my husband, to my son, and then to my daughter who’s torn between two worlds. 

She’s silently questioning herself, considering whose hands she should hold onto in this moment. Her father, or her brother? 

I shatter all over again, my ass crashing on the couch, I attempt making a sound but all that escapes my parted lips is a breathy exhale. 

I don’t realize how lost I am until I feel a pair of hands cupping my face. Slowly, I look down to find Ares crouching down in front of me, a forced smile plastered across his face. 

“They’ll live.” Is all he says. But even his 

is words are laced with disbelief. 

I manage a nod. 

Ares’s thumbs are continuously swiping the tears streaming down my face. 

“You’re injured, Mirabella. You should get treated.” He urges. I nod at him once, my eyes darting from my son, to my husband, and then back to my son. 

I stand abruptly, “not in here. Let’s go someplace else.” 

I’m lost, so lost that I don’t even feel the sting on my skin whilst my injury is being tended to 

My eyes are void, teeth clamped together painfully, hands balled into fists, and feet tapping away against the floor. 

12:27 Sat, 22 Jun H 

“Why did you refuse him?” Comes Ares’s whispered question. I don’t provide him an answer, but I’m certain he’s unnerved by the devilish glare in my orbs. 

With a clear of his throat, he asks the same question one more time. “Why did you say no to him when you know how impulsive he can be?” 

I snap. “I didn’t ask him to run into the rain of bullets and get hit” 

“But telling him that he can no longer be a part of your life is just about the same thing!” Ares growls. “You love him, the kids adore him, and he very obviously feels the same way. He loves you so much. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it, but why? Why do you keep running away? Why are you denying yourself a chance at happiness? Why are you denying your children a chance at having a complete family?” 

“How’s this my fault?” My voice shake, each word slipping out like a hushed murmur. “He pushed me away! He hurt me too many times to count! He destroyed my soul!” I stand abruptly, wincing painfully. “How can you blame me? How dare you put this on me when that selfish asshole was the one who kicked me out of his life and never cared to look for me for five years?!” 

“He looked for you!” Ares vibrates with anger. 

“He did not look in the right places!TM 

Ares shakes his head, a dry chuckle escaping his gaped lips. “He looked for you, Mirabella. In the right places.” 

“What?” 

I understand completely the words coming out of Ares’s mouth, but I’m unable to comprehend the implication of those words. 

He looked for me. In the right places 

A gasp is all I manage 

“Ares…why do you mean?” Again, I question. My voice a hushed murmur, my mouth gaped open, 

Silence–the discomforting kind stretches in the room. 

Ares lowers his head, as if avoiding my gaze. “He came to Milan, to the lab.” He breathes out and a tear rolls down my cheek. “He was outside everyday for months, but you were too sick to have realized, I saw him everyday and when I got fed up, I had asked him to stop coming. I told him to stop showing up if he wanted you to get better. After the third month, he stopped showing up.” Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Ares,” I whisper in disbeliel 

He doesn’t stop talking. “One day after he stopped showing up at the lab, we got a delivery of flowers. He had written you a letter, promising that he’d return to you and that he was sorry…I tore the letter apart and discarded everything he had sent. And then, I began pressing for a change of scenery. I convinced us to move and here we are.” 

Tears vigorously stream down my face, my veins strained, my soul shattering at the new found knowledge. 

“Why?” 

Silence. 

Silence. 

Fucking silence. 

“You watched me suffer everyday, you watched me through my pain, you watched as I begged the universe to bring him back to me for over a year, but it was you who kept him away from met Why?” 

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“I had to do what was needed. I’m sorry.”“ 

A choked sob erupts my throat painfully. “I suffered.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I hated Matteo for abandoning us.” 

Ares blows out a staggered breath. “I’m so sorry” 

“My children kept asking.” 

“Mirabella, please.” 

“You were a lie, Ares.” My hands ball into fists at my sides, my teeth diving my bottom lip. My whimper is strained, pained, distant, “Why?” 

“Mirabella, please.” 

Ilaugh–absentmindedly, void of any emotion, I laugh. That word “please–people just hurt you over and over and over, then they say that word and expect all the hurt they’ve caused to just go away. 

Rage courses through my bloodstreams, my voice booming with anger. I scream, yell, and vomit careless words at Ares. “My husband is fighting for his life because all you did for years was liel I refused him because I thought he didn’t love me enough to look for me after I left but he did! He looked and you knew, everyone knew, everyone except me! Was I really that stupid?” 

“I was protecting you!” Ares roars. 

I don’t relent. 

“Did you have a good laugh behind my back after making a fool of me?! Did you talk amongst yourselves and call me a fool after comforting me with all your lies?! Fuck you! Fuck you all!” 

“Mirabella, just…please.” 

“Fuck your fucking apology and tell me why!” 

“Because I loved you dannazione!” 

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Chapter 63 

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MIRABELLA