The Don Saved Me From the Ice, Then Buried Me in the Sea

The night before my wedding, my fiancé takes me out to see the Christ of the Abyss. Then pirates show up. They hang me upside down and dump me in the sea. Again and again. They even make me jump into a shark tank. I'm about to lose it. Then the pirate closest to me pulls off his mask. He's laughing so hard he can't stand up. It's my little sister. "Oh my God, Giada." She's still giggling. "You look so pathetic on your knees." "Good thing I got it on video. I'll play it at the wedding." They tortured me for an hour. It didn't matter how bad it hurt. I never begged. The only time I begged was when Luca ran over to save me and got beaten bloody. That's when I lost it. I dropped to my knees and begged them to stop. Then Luca. My Luca. Bleeding out one second ago. He sits up. Wipes his face. Smiling at me. "Relax, baby. It's ketchup. Your sister and I made a bet. We wanted to see if you'd kneel to save me." "You should thank Serafina, you know. I didn't know you loved me this much until tonight." He sees my face. He knows I'm pissed. So he softens me up. Sweet-talks me. Says he'll take me down to see the Christ of the Abyss like he promised. Then he locks me in a cage. "Giada, I lost the bet. A Moretti man keeps his word. So the wedding tomorrow. It has to be Serafina's." "You know how you are. You'd make a scene. So just stay here, okay? Look at the stars in the water. I'll come get you when it's over." I watch him swim away. Something inside me dies. The air gauge says one-third left. He's not coming back in time. Not for me. Not for the baby. ... I grab the bars of the cage. The cold cuts right through my wetsuit. Right into my chest. He sees I've gone quiet. His face softens. He signs to me: Don't be mad at me. You said you'd die before you'd kneel to anyone. I didn't think you'd break your word. My hands tighten on the bars. My chest hurts. He forgot. He was the one who said no one would ever make me kneel again. Back then, Luca was just the family's screw-up. The heir nobody respected. A joke. At a dinner party, his stepmother said I stole her necklace. She stepped on my back and told me to get on my knees and apologize. I said no. So she had her men throw me in the ice pool. Luca pulled me out. He was shaking. He held me so tight it hurt. "Giada. I swear to you. Nobody is ever going to make you kneel again. Ever." Five years later, that screw-up became the Don. The man everyone was scared of. Nobody looked at me sideways. Nobody made me kneel. And now the one making me kneel is him. But I can't fall apart right now. I point at the gauge on my tank. One-third left. Let me out! I'm out of air. I'm going to die down here! Luca doesn't even look. Cut it out. I checked the tank myself. It's fine. Chill. Serafina gets the wedding. You'll still be Mrs. Moretti. I press my lips together. I point at my stomach. I shake my head hard. I'm pregnant. I can't stay down here. Luca stops. His face gets darker. Giada. That's a really shitty lie. Did you forget? You can't have kids. Every word cuts. Back when his stepmother threw me in that ice pool, I was already pregnant. The water was too cold. I lost the baby. My body was never the same. The doctors said I'd probably never have another one. That night, Luca sat in his office holding the little cross pendant he'd made for our baby. He smoked till the sun came up. He never talked about the baby again. But he kept that pendant. In his desk drawer. For five years. I know he was waiting for a miracle. So the second the test came back positive, I put the ultrasound in a waterproof pouch. I was going to tell him tonight. Under the statue. Just in case, I even set up an email to send to him. A backup. My hands are shaking. I fumble for the pouch. I look up. He's already swimming away. I slam the bars. I hold the photo up as high as I can. He glances back. He doesn't even see what I'm holding. Cut it out. I'll come back for you. He disappears into the dark. Everything goes quiet. There are no stars down here. There never were. He was lying to me from the very beginning. The cold spreads through my chest. My stomach cramps. Maybe an hour of air left. I won't live long enough for him to come back. My hand drifts to my other wrist. To the silver ring on my thumb. Papa's ring. Ferraro crest. The last thing he put on me before Moretti bullets tore through him at his own dinner table. "Anywhere in the world, Giada. Anywhere. You press the inside, and my men will come. They'll never stop looking for you. Blood knows blood." I never wore it in front of Luca. He didn't like being reminded I came from another family. That before I was Mrs. Moretti, I was Don Ferraro's only daughter. But I put it on tonight. I don't know why. Maybe some part of me already knew. I run my thumb over the crest. Once. Not yet. If I press it, Papa's men come. Fifty guns, easy. Two families. War. Blood everywhere. Luca's still going to come for me. He has to. He said he loves me.

I put my right hand on my stomach. My eyes fill up. "Baby. It's okay. Don't be scared. Mommy's getting you out of here." Then I see the watch on my wrist. My chest twists. When I first started diving, I panicked in the training pool and almost drowned. Luca pulled me out. After that, he had this watch made for me. It gets signal even fifty meters down. He said if it ever rings, he'd come running. I call him without thinking. The video connects. The wedding is already going. People cheering, glasses clinking. Nobody noticed the bride got switched. Luca doesn't see the call come through. He's moving through the crowd. The camera pans across the room. The bride's photo. It's Serafina's face now. The white roses I picked. Gone. Replaced with the red ones she likes. The Valentino gown I waited a year for. It's on her. Fits her like it was made for her. That's when it hits me. This wedding was never mine. Not from the start. My best friend Chiara. She's in her bridesmaid dress, arm hooked through Serafina's. "Sera, you're crazy. Luca flew you to Vegas to sign the papers, threw a whole party, and you still wanted a wedding? I figured you'd skip it." "I mean. Giada's such a control freak. She'd have made your life hell either way." I saved Chiara in middle school. Some girls were beating her up. I stepped in front of her and took it. She told me I was the only person in the world who loved her for nothing. Serafina tugs the veil, smirking. "Honestly? I didn't even want the papers. But Luca was worried I'd feel insecure. He heard Vegas quickies are basically un-annullable, so he insisted." "Same with the wedding. He wanted to keep a room for me at the house. Giada threw a fit." "So he came up with this. Just to knock her down a peg." Matteo, Luca's consigliere. He's in the groomsman suit. He snorts. "If Giada knew the bet was rigged from the start. Whether she kneeled or not, she was losing. God, she'd lose her mind." A month ago, Matteo's own family cut him off. He had nowhere to go. I hid him. Covered for him. Protected his pride when he had nothing left. Mama walks over. She's smiling. "Giada's a softie. Just sweet-talk her after. She'll come around." She pauses. Sighs a little. "Poor Sera though. Moving overseas just to give her sister space. I'll barely get to see you." Luca's hand slides around Serafina's waist. Easy. Natural. "Ma. Don't worry about it. You miss her, I'll fly you out. Anytime." Something in my chest crushes. Mama knew. Mama knew. Every single one of them was in on it. I'm shaking. I force my breathing down. Slow. Even. I can't waste a single breath. Tears are pouring down my face. I bang the watch. SOS. SOS. SOS. Luca finally notices the call. He freezes for a second. Something flickers on his face. "Giada. How much did you hear?" Doesn't matter. None of it matters. I just want to live. I just need him to see the ultrasound. Maybe then he lets me go. I duck my head. Reach for the pouch. Luca sighs. "Maybe it's better you know. I've made Sera wait too long." "She's pregnant, Giada. I have to think about her right now." My hand stops. Something inside me shatters. After the ice pool, I couldn't touch water. Not for years. Two months ago, he coaxed me back into it. Said he had to take me to see the Christ of the Abyss. Just once. I clawed my way through the panic. Through the nightmares of losing my first baby. For him. And the whole time, he was doing it to get back at me. For her. That's what I am to him. Serafina's mood. Worth more than my life. Then Serafina steps into frame. She holds up a velvet box. I know that box. I've seen it a hundred times. Inside is the little cross pendant. The one Luca designed for our baby. The one he's kept locked in his desk for five years. His miracle. She's already given it to him. I almost break. I can't. I can't break. I'm shaking. I tap the watch. Soft. Pleading. Two taps, 1.5 seconds apart. Five times in a row. Luca told me once. Two taps 1.5 seconds apart is his heartbeat. Five times in a row is my code. Nobody else's. The last time I ever used it was the day his stepmother threw me in the ice pool. He got to me in three minutes. Jumped into the freezing water without hesitating. Didn't care if he died with me. But this time. He pauses. Something flickers on his face. Hesitation. Then Serafina starts crying. Big, perfect tears. "Luca, go get her. Before the ceremony starts. Let her be the bride. I don't even need to prove anything. I just want us to be a family." His hesitation dies. His face goes cold. "That code is for emergencies. Not tantrums." "Sera's leaving the country after the wedding. She won't bother you. It's one wedding, Giada. Get a grip." He's about to hang up. I shake my head. Frantic. "I don't care about the wedding. I don't have enough air. Luca, I'm going to die down here." He waves me off. Impatient. "If something's actually wrong, call the dive instructor!" He hangs up. The screen goes black. My only light. Gone. Tears come down slow. I can't stop them. He knows I'm scared of water. When I was learning to dive, he was a wreck. No matter how deep I went, he made sure a dive instructor was on standby. Every single time. He didn't forget today either. I got worked up. Burned through my air. I have maybe thirty minutes now. I steady myself. I call the instructor. The tap pattern we set up in advance. He picks up. Silent for a few seconds.

He picks up. Then silence. Way too long. When he finally talks, his voice is different. Careful. Slow. "Miss Ferraro. Yeah. We're right above you in the boat." He says my last name like it means something. Like he just remembered what it means. "But the Don gave strict orders. Nobody comes down until the wedding's over." I shake my head. I sign to him. My tank's empty. Empty. I'm going to die. He thinks about it for a second. "Look, technically the tank should last you till sunrise. But just in case, I'll send some spares down. The Don had us pack extras. He was worried something might go wrong." I let out a huge breath. My hand goes to my stomach. My eyes fill up. Baby, we're okay. We're okay. Just hold on till morning. Mommy's getting you out. A minute later, a tank comes down on a rope. The current pulls it off course. I swim hard toward it. Screw conserving air. Screw slow breathing. I need this tank now. I grab it. My heart drops. It's empty. I call the instructor. He's more freaked out than I am. "Wait, hold on!" I hear him checking the other tanks. He sounds confused. "That can't be right. The rest are full. Hang on, I'll send you another one." But the next one comes down. The gauge reads full. The tank is empty. I call again. His voice is different now. Tight. Low. "Miss Ferraro. Look. We're just guys doing a job. If we don't follow the Don's orders, we're out. My wife just had a baby. I need this job. Please don't put me in this position." Then, so quiet I almost miss it: "...I'm sorry, Miss Ferraro. I'm really sorry." He says my father's name in it. Not out loud. But I hear it in the way he says Ferraro. Like a man saying a prayer he can't afford to finish. He hangs up before I can say anything. One second later, Luca calls. He's furious. Barely keeping it together. "How much longer are you going to do this?! He's given you three, four tanks already and you're telling me every single one is empty?!" "You'd really burn the whole wedding down, wouldn't you." "Keep this up and I'm not coming for you when it's over. You can wait till morning." I shake my head. I sign as fast as I can. "I'm not lying. The tanks are really empty." "Luca. Please. I don't want anything. I swear. Just let me out. I'm going to die." He goes still. Then Mama's voice comes through in the background. "Luca, sweetheart, come on. It's time for the rings." He looks back at me. He sounds exhausted. "Giada. Enough. It's almost over. Just wait." He hangs up. I break. Why is it so hard just to stay alive? I call again. And again. Nothing. Both numbers. I let out a small, ugly laugh. They blocked me. Then the watch dies. The tank runs out. I hold my breath. My hand shakes. My thumb finds the Ferraro ring. I close my eyes. Papa. I press. Once. Twice. Three times. Wherever you are. Whoever's still loyal to you. Anyone. Please. The ring is cold on my thumb. I don't know if it did anything. I don't know if anyone's coming. I count down the last three minutes of my life. I look up. Nothing but black. There are no stars down here. He lied. Something moves in the dark. A shape. Coming toward me.