Granted Wishes (The Granted Series Book 1) (12 page)

The doctor then bids them farewell and leaves the room.

Gio bursts out in tears and Kat reaches out for him, hugging him. He cries for the pain Gracelynn has endured, but at the same time he also cries because he’s so relieved she’ll make a full recovery.

WHEN GRACELYNN
WAKES UP
, three sad faces peer at her. Giovanni, Anne and Kat sit next to her with gloomy expressions.

She slowly tries to move, looking around, trying to figure out where she is. Giovanni gets up from the chair, leans over her bed and kisses her on the forehead. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers.

“What’s going on, guys? Where am I?” Then the memories come back, overwhelming her. She starts shaking and pulls the covers up to her chin.

“Oh God. He didn’t rape me, did he?” Her voice breaks and she starts sobbing.

Gio grabs her hand and wipes her tears with his other hand. He turns her swollen, bruised but still remarkably beautiful face towards him. “No, he didn’t. I got there just in time.”

She sighs into his embrace as her tears subside, but then she remembers Holly. “Oh my God, is Holly okay? She tried so hard to protect me…”

“She’s stable. Just a few broken ribs. She’ll make a full recovery, just like you.”

“Thank God.” Gracelynn takes a deep breath. “When can I go home?”

“Soon. The doctor wanted to keep you here for observations and…” Gio stops and rubs the back of his neck, before he continues. “Also, the officers will need a full, detailed report of what happened before you leave.” He kisses her forehead again. “I…I’ll let the staff know you’re awake.”

Anne reaches for Gracelynn’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell us you were in trouble?” Her voice barely reaches above a whisper. “If I’d known you were staying at that motel, I would’ve made you stay with Kat and I. That place gives me the creeps. I can’t believe Giovanni let you stay there.”

“He didn’t. He told me I should stay at his place, or at least one of his hotels, but I didn’t listen.”

Anne gives her a bewildered look, but Gracelynn continues. “He told me to not go to that motel, but I was stubborn and wanted to be alone. I should’ve listened to him in the first place.”

Just then a knock on the door interrupts their conversation and in walks Gio and a big, strong, muscular and very attractive police officer. She reads his badge. It reads “Officer Hughes.” He’s at least six feet tall and broad-shouldered with jade-colored eyes.

Gio notices her trepidation and moves around the officer to sit next to her on the bed. He grabs her hand, which gives her instant comfort. He whispers lightly in her ear so only she can hear him. “He won’t hurt you. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” He gives her the warmest, gentlest embrace. The warmth gives her peace and she relaxes into his embrace.

“Ma’am I’m sorry for what happened to you, but I need to speak with you about what happened and if you’ll be pressing charges against Xavier Farley.” The officer’s tone is stern and sympathetic. “Can everyone please leave the room? You can all come back when I’m done interviewing Miss Calhoun.”

Gracelynn tries to hold it together, but inside, she’s freaking out. “Excuse me, Officer Hughes. I know you said everyone has to leave, but I don’t want Giovanni to leave.” She clutches for Gio’s hand. “I would feel better if he was in the room with me when I give you my statement.”

The officer looks skeptical for a few moments, but then he nods. “Okay, Miss. I will allow it. But Mr. Antonetti, please make sure you remain calm while listening to Miss Calhoun’s statement.”

“I’ll handle anything Gracelynn has to say.” Holding onto Gio’s hand, Gracelynn tells them the entire story from the beginning. About how Xavier scared her from the first day they met, how he wouldn’t leave her alone or respect her wishes and that his father, the owner of the motel, also gave her the creeps.

The officer writes all the info down. “We’ll place Xavier in custody for now. If you press charges, he will go to jail for what he did to you.”

Gracelynn nods. The officer hands her his card, informs her he’ll be in touch and that she can always call him if she has any more information. Then he nods at both of them, and leaves them alone in the room.

“Why didn’t I speak up sooner, Gio? I could’ve stopped it from getting this far.” She sobs into his jacket.

He wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. “Don’t ever say that again! You told him no. What happened is all his fault,” he whispers to her.

Kat and Anne come back into the room with a new doctor tagging behind them. She introduces herself as Dr. Connor. She’s an older woman; plump with gray hair and lines around her eyes, but with a smile that could brighten a room. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry about what happened to you. You should be proud of yourself though. Don’t look like you’re the victim here. You’re not. You’re a strong young lady.”

Gracelynn nods and smiles at the doctor.

“Told you,” Gio whispers, stroking her hair.

“You’re hereby discharged,” Dr. Connor tells her. “Which means you can go home. Make sure to get some rest though. Take it easy, and take the pain medicine as needed.” After giving her the most heart-warming smile, Dr. Connor leaves.

Anne, Kat and Gio help pack her stuff, help her in one of those hospital wheelchairs, and then they head out. “Gracelynn…” Gio starts while pushing her down the ramp. “I think you should come back home with me to the cabin. I don’t want you to stay at any motels.”

This time, she doesn’t fight him. She’s in too much pain, and the thought of the cabin makes her feel safe, whereas the thought of a motel room turns her stomach upside down. She feels safe when Gio’s around…almost the same feeling she had when she was around Angelo.

She grabs her necklace for comfort and smiles. “Let’s go.”

Giovanni wheels her to his car, helps her in the car, and his phone rings.

“Hello, Dr. Miller. Yes, that would be perfect. We’re just leaving the hospital now. I will be there shortly. Thank you.” He’s so happy both of his girls are able to come home.

Gio arrives at the vet clinic, leaving the car running and Gracelynn inside. He doesn’t want to wake her and knows getting her up and about right now, wouldn’t be smart.

He enters the vet clinic and is amazed to see Holly up and about. She’s limping, but walking. “Holly, girl, get back here.” The vet tech tells his dog, but Holly only sees him and wants him. The vet tech apologizes as Gio grabs his dog and holds her. “I’m sorry, Mr. Antonetti. This one here was ready to go home, as you can see. She’s making remarkable progress. She can go home, but just let her rest as much as she can.”

He thanks the gracious staff and places Holly in the backseat, wraps her in a blanket and drives away, happy to know his girls will be okay.

* * *

Giovanni carries Gracelynn into the cabin and places her on the sofa. He starts the fire in the fireplace before heading out to the car and getting Holly. He brings Holly into the house and then places her on her dog bed at Gracelynn’s feet. “Would you like anything?”

“I’d like a drink,” Gracelynn says. “And I’m a little hungry too.”

“I’ll go fetch something.” Gio goes to the kitchen and comes back with sandwiches, soup and a drink for them both.

Gracelynn looks up to him, tears pooling in her eyes. “You’re the sweetest man. Thank you for saving me. Thanks for lunch. For letting me stay here. I can’t thank you enough,” she mumbles as she eats her lunch.

Gio looks at her and notices she’s in a lot of pain and inner turmoil. He doesn’t know how to say that ‘thank you’ isn’t what he longs to hear. He wants her to ask him to come sit with her, to hold her, kiss her and take her to bed, but he knows that’s not right. Especially since she was just assaulted.

“I’ve told you before,” he states in between bites, “you need to stop thanking me. I’m here for you whenever you need me. You know that.”

“Do you know where my meds are, Gio? My ribs hurt so much. I’d like to take my meds and then take a nap if that’s okay.” She swallows down the last bite of her sandwich, grimacing at the pain in her ribs.

“I’ll go get them.” Gio stands up. “I’ll be right back.”

When he returns, he hands her the pills and then carefully carries her to his bedroom. Gracelynn looks confused, scared even.

“I’d like to lie next to you while you sleep,” Gio confesses. “I thought you’d prefer it to being alone. I will lay on top of the covers, promise. There won’t be any
gal
business,” he chuckles.

She starts laughing, but then grimaces and grabs her ribs. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts my ribs. And you can stay with me. I feel safer when you’re around, but can you bring Holly too? I’d feel better if she was with us as well.”

Giovanni is touched she cares so much about Holly. “Of course, dear.” He leaves the room to get Holly and carefully places her on the bed. By then, Gracelynn is already fast asleep, which puts a smile on Gio’s face. He slowly climbs into the bed, lying next to her and falls fast asleep, thinking how wonderful it is to have this lady by his side.

GRACELYNN WAKES
UP FEELING WARM
. When she opens her eyes, she notices Gio’s arms wrapped around her, a smile on his attractive face. She reaches out to touch him, careful not to wake him and he moans. That makes her smile – she feels great that she can bring this man the comfort he brings her.

“Good Morning, angel,” he whispers and places a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve slept this well. I enjoy sleeping next to you.” He blushes. “I hope that doesn’t freak you out.”

Gracelynn smiles, still enamored by how peaceful he looked while asleep. “Would you like me to make you some breakfast? It’s Saturday and I have nothing to do. I was hoping to give you a surprise yesterday, but that didn’t happen. So I guess I can improvise and bring you a breakfast and then a treat. Sound good?” he asks sincerely.

She shakes her head since she doesn’t know what to say due to being distracted by his delectable bed ensemble. He’d taken off his remarkable suit and now wears a white undershirt which fits him like a fitted glove. It showcases his well-defined six pack abs. He also wears a pair of black boxers that accentuates all the right places. She feels her face start to flush.

“Like what you see, Angel?” Giovanni smirks and does a sexy dance for her.

“You know I do. Now get out of here and make me some breakfast.”

Giovanni comes back with their food, and they sit down to have a nice breakfast. The rest of the day is filled with laughter, board games and so much fun that time flies by until it’s six pm and they need to eat again. ”Do you mind if I get us some takeout from the place I wanted to go to on Friday?” Gio asks, his face suddenly pulled in a painful expression. She thinks that sounds wonderful and watches him leave the cabin in an unusual manner.

Once Gio is gone she decides to go back to the room he placed her in when he first found her after the car accident. It’s only been a few days, but it feels like a lifetime ago. She turns the bath water on, adds some bubbles and slowly gets into the bath tub to relax and let her body heal.
“You are safe now,”
a voice whispers while she’s in the tub
. “He’ll protect you. He won’t let anything happen to you. We know he’ll protect you always.”

She opens her eyes and sees nothing out of the ordinary, but it looks as though her angel necklace is glowing. She grabs it. “Angelo, I love you.” She looks outside the window while she soaks in the tub, still awed by the amazing scenery.

She steps out of the tub, grabs a plush, purple towel and goes in search of her clothing.

By the time she’s almost dressed, carefully trying to not hurt herself, she hears Gio yelling for her in the distance.

“I’m in the bedroom, Gio.”

He barges into the room, and his mouth almost drops to the floor when he notices her. She didn’t finish putting her shirt on, and he’s nicely raking in her body.

Having him look at her like that sends a shiver down her spine as he steps towards her. “Let me help you. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” He tries not to look at her
gals
as he helps her with her shirt.

“Thanks for not staring too long at the
gals
, Gio.” She laughs. “What took you so long? I was going to call you when I was done getting dressed.”

“Sorry to have kept you waiting and worried. I got tied up with a few things. I went over to the motel and got in an interesting conversation with the manager. I told him you weren’t paying for any of your stay due to his son’s infractions against you,” Gio says while still holding onto her shirt.

He lets go of her shirt and smiles at her. ”Let’s have dinner and then we can talk, okay? Our date was ruined last night and I’d love to make it up to you. So please follow me. I’ve prepped things in the kitchen.”

Gracelynn laughs—which still makes her grimace and hold on to her ribs—but she loves the way he makes her feel. Gio escorts her out of the bedroom, and she gasps when she enters the kitchen. It looks beautiful. Gio placed small candles all around the room and four big candles on the table, nice china and the loveliest bouquet of flowers she’s ever seen.

He takes her hand, kisses her knuckles and slides out a chair for her. “Your seat, my lady.”

“Why, thank you.”

When dinner is over Gracelynn offers to help clean up, but Gio tells her she needs to rest and that he’ll have everything taken care of. She decides to go back to the living room and sit by the fire. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Gio says.

Gracelynn is so distracted by the outdoors that she doesn’t notice Gio come up and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Gracelynn inhales. His touch sends chills throughout her body and she hopes he doesn’t notice her body’s reaction to him. She turns towards him. “Before you start, there’s something that I need to tell you.”

He looks at her, his face a mix of confusion and maybe sadness too.

“Relax. I told Anne that I would go to church with her tomorrow but I don’t have her number. Could you please call her and ask her if we could meet her at the church instead? I don’t want to walk more than I have to right now. I’m sure you understand.”

Gio nods, agreeing with her. “And by the way, why didn’t you tell me that Anne is your grandmother? You and Kat both forgot to tell me that bit of info.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll call my grandma first, and then I’ll explain.” He pulls out his phone and dials Anne. He asks her if they can meet at the church. After ending the call, he sets the phone down, pulls at his hair and gives Gracelynn a sad look.

“I’m sorry Kat and I didn’t tell you sooner. I don’t know why we didn’t. I guess maybe I didn’t want you to think that I put her up to being so kind and polite to you. I’m not sure. That was wrong of both of us though.”

“It’s okay. I sort of get it. Have you told her that you and Angelo are brothers yet? I figured we would need to have a bit of a conversation regarding that whole incident as well, at some point.” She looks down at her fingers, twirling them together.

“Yes, I’ve told her. She promises she won’t tell Kat. It was a good conversation with tears, but despite it all she’ll always be my grandma. Enough about that. How about a tour of the cabin?”

“Sure.” They walk slowly around the house as he gives her the grand tour. “This place is just as beautiful as the outside, Gio. I can’t believe how gorgeous it is.”

“I’ll be right back. Please wait here.”

While Gio is gone she decides to go over to the window seat and look outside. The landscape is beautiful. Nothing she has ever seen at home. She could permanently live here. The serenity, landscape and wonderful people have made her feel right at home. Ben and Cassie made the best decision for her to go on this trip.

“I’m glad you’re having a wonderful time here. I love you. Please be nice to Giovanni. He’s hurting too. I love you always and forever, my love.”

Gracelynn looks around and sees nothing out of the ordinary. But when she looks down, she notices a yellow rose sitting at her feet. She smiles and holds the flower to her heart and starts tearing up. At that moment, Gio comes in and sees the tears falling down her face.

“Is everything okay, Gracelynn? Do you need more pain medication for your ribs? I’m sorry I left you for so long. Holly needed out and I wanted to help her.”

“Stop worrying, I’m fine. But have you heard anything or feel like someone is watching you lately?’

Gio nods. “I think we have talked about this before when I told you that someone told me turn around and come home and that there would be a present waiting for me; but that’s not the only time that I’ve heard voices.”

Gracelynn looks down at her rose and says, “No? When else have you heard voices?”

Gio fidgets in his seat and rubs his beard before he looks at her. “I heard them while I was away at my other hotel. I was in my office and then I heard a voice telling me I needed to come get you and that you were in dire trouble. It’s how I got to you in time. Believe me, it scared the living shit out of me. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

Gracelynn puts her hand over her mouth and gasps. It sounds as if something magical is happening in New Hope.

“Giovanni, do things like this happen a lot in New Hope? It seems like ever since I’ve been here we have had help in more than one mysterious way.”

He shakes his head. “No, nothing like this has ever happened to me before. It has to do with you, I’m sure of it.”

“Let’s drop this conversation for right now. Let’s talk about the letter that you got from Angelo,” Gracelynn says in an effort to distract him from the voices.

“I can’t believe that I was kidnapped, Gracie. How could have I been taken? Why would Breanna take me from my birth parents? How could she do that to my family, to me and then lie about it for years?” He puts his head on her shoulder and sobs. “How could they do that to me? Do you think my so-called dad knew I wasn’t his child? Do you think that’s why he treated me like shit my entire life?” He pauses and takes a deep breath.

“They always treated me like shit. Like I was the problem. Kat was the favorite and could do no wrong. The only man who truly gave a shit about me was my grandfather, Timothy. He was a kind man, devoted, and loving to my grandmother. I’ve never seen two more people in love, other than you and Angelo of course from the wedding photos that I saw. Their love was one I envied. I loved seeing them together. I wished my parents would’ve been like that, rather than fighting my entire life until they both passed away. They robbed me of a wonderful life. The life Angelo led, in which he was treated with respect and love.”

She lets him cry on her shoulder. She holds him, trying to comfort him the way he has done for her. Then she ushers him to lie down on his side, and she lies next to him, holding him despite the pain in her ribs. Comforting Gio is more important than the pain she feels.