Ariana’s pov~
My heart shattered before me, my husband looked at me and I could see he was lost.
He didnt look at me the way he did on the cliff, he didnt know who I was.
“Mateo..:” I called softly, I touched his arm and he quickly retracted from my touch.
“Look lady, I don’t know who you are,” he said, tears welling up in my eyes, how could he not know who I am? We lived together as kids, damn it what the hell is going on here!
“Mateo” Julius called coming into the van, “Julius, never have I been happier to see you, who is this strange woman, she’s irritating me with all these questionable moves she keeps making, I can’t have Becky thinking im running out on her, even though I do” he laughed.
His eyes still looked weak and he had time to make a joke, but no time to remember the mother of his heir.
“Mateo” Julius started, “you don’t remember her? She’s your wife” he finally said and I waited for his reaction.
“What! If you weren’t my old friend I’d have you blown up right now, im not married and Becky is my fiancee” he exclaimed before looking behind us.
“Where the hell is she?” he asked, i leaned on the wall of the van as my heart shattered a little more.
I can’t believe this, I wanted to walk out and leave, never come back and let him be with the woman he loves.
I’ve just been imposing all this while.
Julius touched his arm lightly and pointed at me, “shit happened Mateo and there is no time to explain, but that’s Ariana, Vincenzo’s daughter and she’s your legal wife, you let the whole world know that before you fell off the cliff” he summarized.
Mateo stood dazed he didnt believe it, i could see the surprise in his eyes before he glared at me again, “and that” he pointed at my rounding belly.
“Yes, he ‘s yours,” I said softly, before touching my belly.
“What the hell man, how did you let me do this, what the fuck was I thinking?” he exclaimed loudly.
“It’s on you mateo, no one can ever tell you what to do, you saw her and you wanted her, that’s all I can say and now here she is” Julius stated.
He was quiet for a while before turning to me, “We should get divorced as soon as possible, I don’t know how this happened but I assure you I can resolve this matter in a few days, you are my adopted sister and I can’t even remember shit else” he said.
I stood there watching the man who professed his love to me on the cliff ask me for a divorce.
My poor heart couldn’t take it anymore, “no, that’s not going to happen” Julius countered.
“Im not asking Julius, that’s my decision” he mentioned.
“And I don’t care, look let me fill you in on what’s happening Mateo, the Argentos have declared war against us, because you couldn’t keep your shit together, you have openly declared Ariana as your wife, the whole of Italy knows now it’s no longer a secret, divorcing her now will make you look not just weak but also pathetic, you are not strong yet” Julius mentioned.
I stood there quietly thinking about my future with Mateo, from where I stood at this point it looked very bleak and washed up.
“From what I can see it seems you’ve got some sort of memory problem we fetched a doctor from the hospital, and he will check you out,” Julius said before shooting me a glance.
“Stole! You mean, kidnapped! I was kidnapped from my place of work sir!” the doctor retorted before climbing aboard the van.
“Im doctor Alonzo, hello Don Mateo,” he said before moving closer to him, after many tests and questions he looked back at us, “im going to need a CT scan and MRI to be able to examine and be certain, the extent of his head trauma now that he is awake, but I can categorically tell you that he has what we call retrograde amnesia” he paused.
“What the hell is that?” Julius was already starting to get pissed by the doctor’s diagnosis.
” he can’t remember anything from his past, it’s a miracle he recognises some things and people, I believe he recognised a certain woman when he first opened his eyes?” the doctor inquired.
“Yes, his fiancee” I replied and they both shot me a quick look before turning back to the doctor.
“I think having her around more can help him recover his memories” he finished.
“Thank you doc, I’ve been trying to tell him that” Mateo replied weakly before drifting back into sleep.
“Why does he keep doing that” Julius inquired, “he was drugged, and until I get him to a proper medical facility I can’t do anything right now, im sorry” the doctor finished.
“We need to get him home Ariana, everything we need to get better is there, I’ll deal with Giovanni once we get back to the villa” Julius mentioned and I nodded.
I watched Mateo doze off and I walked slowly toward him careful not to wake him, I covered him with the cover cloth hanging on the gurney.
Julius got a phone call, and his face changed into fury almost immediately.
“That was your father,” he started, “what? What did he want?” I asked moving away from Mateo.
“Don Argento, he put a bounty on your brother, they kidnapped tomas an hour ago, they were waiting for him and they killed his guards and kidnapped him from school” he finished.
“This is retaliation isn’t it, for Mateo? How did they get to tomas so fast, we just got here!” I exclaimed before bursting into tears.
“He is a sick little boy! How can they take him” I cried again, my mind instantly travelled to my little brother, frail and sick all his life.
I wondered how long my father had been using his blood, he had been sick since he was four.
I hated my father and I wanted to see him die.
“That’s not all Ariana,” he said, the next words out of his mouth awoke my sleeping husband.
“Until tomas is returned, he will keep Becky in his custody, she was taken from our private airport a few minutes ago, just as she landed with my wife”
Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably as the words left his lips, how do we get Tomas back from the Argentos?
“I want him to pay, that bastard, he ruined my life and now he has my woman! I want him dead!” Mateo exclaimed, he grasped the bed frame tightly, a sticky part with a sharp point pressed into his palm drawing blood.
“Don’t do that, you will hurt yourself!” exclaimed.
“Your father has my woman and you think I give a fuck about what you say? Because for some deluded reason, everyone seems to think you are my wife” he started each word stinging painfully.
I stood there unable to talk with tears running down my cheeks.
“I want him dead Julius” Mateo repeated.
“Im sorry mateo but you are not in charge any more, your wife is and she will be until you get back on your feet” Julius mentioned.
At that moment I could feel Mateo’s gaze, his hateful murderous gaze.