#Bonus 2.2: A D'Amico

Christopher held Elizabeth’s hand when the needle pierced her skin because she held on to her protest that she was ‘squeamish’. It would be suspicious if she kept on refusing, especially when the doctor began spewing the benefits of prenatal care and knowing one's state, so she did what she could: accepted and continued to gaslight him.

“So now what? do you want my medical history?”

“If you are offering, I will take it.”

Christopher finished as he watched the doctor seal the sample he had drawn.

“You D’Amico bastards. I bet you think that because your brother scored with my sister, you’ll trap me in the same way. I use double protection; I am nobody’s baby mama.”

“Mhn…”

Still, Elizabeth found that it was hard to gaslight an unresponsive person.

“How long until the results?”

Christopher asked.

“Just a few minutes.”

The doctor reassured her, and suddenly, her limbs began to shake.

“If I'm not pregnant, I want you to disappear from my life.”

“Do you mean that?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

He said.

“If you are, I want the baby- no, I’ll take the child, you are too… irresponsible.”

The word was a blow to her gut; it was as if all the air was knocked out of her lungs.

“I don’t need to hear that from a gangster. How dare you preach morals when you still have blood on your-.”

“Stop!”

Olivia’s cry echoed through the boat, forcing Elizabeth to rush to the window.

“What the- oh my god, your crazy wife jumped with Mari!”

Christopher stood from his position on the couch and walked out without a word. While Elizabeth wanted to rush out with him, her gaze lingered on her blood sample as the doctor slowly packed away his things.

It was an impulse, really…everything was. But still, she gave in to it and ran towards the older man, snatching his bag filled with medicine equipment, running to the railing and tossing it over the boat.

“I'm sorry…I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I will pay you back.”

She said the words, but to her surprise, the older man began to cry as he said things in Italian. She was the one who was pleading, but why was he the one on his knees?

‘He will kill me’ were the only words that she understood from his cries.

“No, he won't. He isn’t that unreasonable; I’ll say I tripped you.”

She urged, but the elder fell to his knees.

It was icky to have someone older kneel on his feet, so she fell with him, too.

No matter how much she told him she would take the blame, the man remained inconsolable.

What made it funny to Elizabeth was that he did not care about his medical equipment but his task.

Seriously, who would kill a person over such a thing as an accident?

When the commotion reached its climax, she urged the man to run with the emergency helicopters that were called if he was that afraid, and he did.

No doctor means no pregnancy test. Still, the solution was too temporary.

“Auntie!”

Luca fussed as he ran into her arms the second she arrived where the commotion was.

Scooping up the little boy, she kissed his cheek and lifted him so he could see his mother was being safely escorted.

The best solution was to leave tonight.

She realized as she placed Luca on the ground at his father’s beckoning. Luca escaped her at the same time. Olivia’s hollow gaze was staring at something beyond her, so she did the same. But the second she saw Christopher drag a body as if it were a mannequin before disappearing past the walls, a chill rose in her back.

“Are you coming?”

Matteo asked over the noise, and she shook her head.

“I’ll pack the things; you go ahead.”

While Daniel gave her a look, Matteo nodded and signalled for the pilot to head out.

Curiosity killed the cat; it was a saying she repeated to herself over and over with each step she took following Christopher.

In the scuffle between her and the doctor, her heels had come off, so she didn’t have to worry about sound, yet that didn’t stop her from being overly cautious as she leaned on the wall that hid her from Christopher.

She had hoped she was wrong, that he was actually dragging a mannequin, but it was Victoria, pale, wet and blue.

Is she even alive?

Unlike the other survivors who entered the water, she didn’t have a warm blanket or a medic to soothe her; it was like she wasn’t human.

While Christopher lit a cigar, two men wrapped chains on her feet. As if they never intended on mercy, one of the men slapped Victoria awake.

Each time the slapping sound echoed, Elizabeth flinched.

And her husband watched as if it had nothing to do with him.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the fourth slap that Victoria woke up.

To keep sound from leaving her lips, Elizabeth pressed her hands to her mouth.

She had seen enough; she wanted to run, but her legs wouldn’t move.

With a subtle cough, Victoria, whose hands were tied with a rope and legs bound by chains, examined her situation and chuckled coldly.

How can she laugh?

“So, this is how it ends. What a shitty marriage.”

“I was going to let you go. Divorce you and free you, but you…”

Christopher paused to suck in his cigar until his cheeks hollowed, then he let out the smoke, pointing it at Victoria.

“Keep leaving your filthy fingerprints everywhere.”

He finished.

“I don’t want to die…please. I’ll live quietly.”

“No, just die quietly.”

There was no hesitation in his response. Christopher flicked his barely smoked cigar and tossed it into the ocean.

“Throw her in.”

He issued the command, and her scream filled the salty and humid air.

“No! No! Please-”

Without batting an eye, his men lifted her body as if she weighed nothing and swung her off the yacht as she screamed.

Elizabeth’s legs gave in, dropping her to the cold floor.

The chains ensured that she would stay underwater; even a miracle couldn’t save her. Her only mercy was a shark.

The fear in Elizabeth’s stomach at the sight made her vision tremble.

It didn’t take her long to understand that she was witnessing someone's death.

It wasn’t until she realised she couldn't breathe that she grew aware that the hand that was on her mouth to prevent her from screaming was now blocking her nostrils.

‘I’ll take the child; you are too… irresponsible.’

Christopher’s words danced around her head, followed by the doctors

‘He’ll kill me, he will really kill me’.

Nausea washed over her.

Oh god…oh god….oh god…

She chanted inwardly over and over until a complete thought formed in her mind.

This was a D’Amico.

The man she had no manners and respect with …this was him.

The only reason she even got away with treating him like she did was because he was looking for Blair in her, but what happens when she stops resembling Blair?

If he can kill his wife…who the hell was she?

I need to run

The thought was so profound that even though her knees betrayed her, Elizabeth began to crawl away slowly.

A lifeboat…all she needed was a lifeboat; she would deal with the rest later.

As if the Gods heard her, the paramedic lifeboat lay abandoned and attached to the yacht’s hull.

                                                                                         ~End of Bonus Story