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Mistaken Identity	By : Kanashii Category: S through Z > The Sopranos Views: 1826 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Sopranos, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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She awoke and felt still and sore but yet
refreshed. She noticed her vision was fuzzy out of her left eye and swiped half
heartedly at it. The air was warm and soothing and she could still hear the
distant sounds of the surf. Charlene turned over hoping to see Rick in bed with
her, but the bed was empty. Where was this place? This wasn�t her home in New
Jersey? Had she and Rick partied too much and she had gotten drunk? Her mind
struggled, trying to fill in blank spots, as dark thoughts began to come back
in bits and pieces to her.
She remembered a car, strange men dragging
her inside, fighting for her life� Someone with an Italian accent named Furio?
Who was Furio? She had vague memories of plane trips and stern Italian women
tending to her. With a groan she lay back and allowed her mind to try and merge
as much of the disjointed memories as possible, trying to index them in some
kind of coherent order in her skull. Her right arm was stiff and didn�t
cooperate very well with her commands to move it, but she thought she may have
slept on it funny. With her left arm she
ran her fingers over her face and eyes trying to wake up even more. She could
feel some lumps on her forehead, soreness and a rather cruel indentation near
her scalp line by her temple. She realized she could only see fuzzy shadows
from her left eye, but her vision was fine in her right eye.
It
was warm and breezy in here, bright sunlight streaming through the open bedroom
window, white cotton curtains that swept back and forth in the balmy ocean
breezes. She struggled to wake up more, to move her body. Her left leg had some
kind of rigid metal like brace on the knee, and seemed sore and stiff. Her
mouth felt dry and her lips a bit chapped. She was panicking now, trying to
work her throat muscles. �Rick?� she tried calling out, at first it came out
little more than a whispered squeak, now she fought even harder to scream her
husbands name, each time her voice growing a bit stronger until like the roar
of the ocean outside her voice came through as a scream of panic, fear and terror.
�RICK,
help me!!!!� she screamed over and over.
A man
suddenly came flying into the room, dressed casually with longish hair loose
around his broad shoulders, cold grey eyes glaring with concern at her
distress. The scream of terror died on her lips, �oh god� she remembered then
with a cold clarity, this was Furio. And she had been bought here by this man.
�Shhh,
quiet, I here now.� Furio had quickly come over to her side, his hand coming up
to gently stroke her cheek. With an angry growl she shoved hard at him, trying
to push him back and get him away from her.
His
strong hands gripped her wrists and she felt tears burning in her eyes, anger
and sadness in her heart. �Leave me alone! Go away! Where is Rick?� she tried
still fighting him. She saw Furio�s eyes grow as cold as ice as he easily
pinned her wrists to the bed, leaning his frame half atop her.
�Stop
fighting me, Aria.� He said with a cold level tone. �I am you husband now, No
Rick! You not say his name anymore.�
She
lay there now, not fighting him still desperately trying to piece together
missing chunks of the whole puzzle, fresh sobs still choking her throat. �What
is going on? I don�t understand?�
With
a soft sigh Furio let go of her wrists and still leaning against her began to
once again stroke her face and his eyes softened. �You forget again, didn�t
you.� He said with a resigned gentleness that surprised her. �Not unexpected,
you have done this like 3 times now.� He kissed her once tenderly on her
forehead and then leaned back. �Ok, this time you look much more awake and
coherent so maybe now you will understand.�
She
could only tremble slightly and look at him, as he relaxed and began to tell
the tale of what had had happened. �First, you have been asleep for 2 weeks,
eh? Sometimes you would wake up and fight or just mumble things� Thankfully it
look now like you truly are healing. Maybe that bleeding in you brain stop,
maybe you just needed to shut down and heal for a long time.� He then filled
her in on everything she had forgotten, the story of Paulie and his group
mistaking her for Sarah Harrison, how they had beaten her, how her and Furio
had fled the country all of it. As Furio filled her in more became clear in her
mind, and she remembered more and more of what he spoke of.
�Napoli.� She said a bit hoarsely as he
finished the tale, �We�re in Napoli.�
A slight smile crept up the man�s face.
�Napoli, yes. Well about 60 kilometers to the north in a small town of
Mondragone.�
Almost hesitantly she reached up and fingered
the shoulder length hair of his, she was used to seeing it tied up, but he
still looked just as darkly handsome and even intimidating with it loose. Next
her fingers trailed slightly over the smooth planes of his face then down the
strong shoulders and finally she just let her hand slip back to her side.
�There, easy now.� He seemed almost pleased
at her gentle explorations of him, �how you feeling now?�
�Hungry, thirsty.� She was able to pull
herself into a sitting position, �Stiff as hell.�
�I imagine so.� He got up and went over to
the dresser and pulled out some fresh clothing for her. �You cuts and such have
healed pretty good. I am sure you knee still�� he fought for the English word
for it a moment, �you know, messed up. Hopefully it will fuse together soon and
not cause anymore pain. I would guess you broken skull is knitting together
good as well.� He held out his powerful hands to her and she gingerly and a bit
slowly at first swung out of the bed. She was able to bear her weight on both
legs thanks to the metal brace and she felt more alert and awake than she did
from the beginning of this whole screwy nightmare.
�Yes,
very good,� Furio�s face broke into a pleased smile. Still holding her hands he
backed up some. �Walk with me.� Her first few steps were like a child learning
to walk for the first time, stiff and hesitant, but as blood flowed back
through her limbs she found herself growing stronger more awake with each step.
She
couldn�t help the unconscious smile that crossed her lips, she could move now,
and indeed did seem to be healing up as best as her body could. Furio stopped
her by a small mirror in the bedroom and she gazed in shock at her reflection.
The skin was pale and hollow, the bruising on her face now yellow-green as it
was healing. The jagged cut by her forehead was indeed closed up, the swelling
of her eye and face had gone down. She ran her fingers across her face feeling
the slight indentation by her scalp line where Paulie�s gun had cracked her
skull. She had regained most of her ability to move her right side it was just
weak, a bit sluggish. Her long red hair hung limply over her gaunt face, but
her green eyes still looked sharp as ever, even her left eye.
She gave a little sigh but felt Furio
standing strongly beside her, his fingers stroking her red hair. �You beautiful
in my eyes, Aria, no matter what.� He said plainly but honestly, �You will feel
much better after you take shower, eh?�
Now barely having to support her he led her to the small cramped
bathroom that was here, there was a small shower and he went about turning it
on for her. �I leave you in peace to shower up, I think you strong enough to do
on your own. I put fresh clothes for you here,� he gestured to the bed, �you
need any help you call me right away, yes? No falling or hurting yourself. I go
make some nice lunch for us.� He gently kissed the nape of her neck a moment
then quietly left her in peace, leaving the door open a crack. She could hear
him humming some song as he walked back somewhere to wherever the kitchen was
in this rustic shanty.
She
began to undress a bit clumsily at first but gaining more confidence as she
concentrated. She was surprised she didn�t hate Furio more than she thought she
would. She knew somehow like her, he was caught up in something he had little
control over, and he had saved her life. She still had no idea why this strange
Italian seemed to like her so much, but for some odd reason she felt no anger
or disgust when he touched her and soothed her. In fact if anything she was
almost angry at herself for the feelings of growing attraction to him she felt
deep inside her. He was not bad looking, he had been nice to her, and she
somehow felt he was being truthful, that if Tony Soprano got wind of either of
them that they would be killed. At least right now, a part of her still longed
to go home, back to the husband and life she had known but she knew better than
to bring that subject up in front of Furio now, it only made him angry and
jealous.
She
let the cool water cascade down her body cleaning and refreshing her, as she
carefully soaped herself and shampooed her hair. Whether it was the foreign
ocean air, or the shower or the long sleep, she truly did feel revived and even
better after she had gotten out of the shower and dried off and redressed.
Furio had put out a knee length gauzy white skirt for her, and a light blue
gauzy like tunic top for her, it made her feel even more swept up in the warm
oceanic environment as though she was on a beautiful Mediterranean vacation and
not the forced bride of Furio Giunta. She smelled the inviting smells of strong
Italian coffee and rich food as she limped out of the bathroom using the cane
to balance herself.
Aria
entered into the kitchen and saw him standing by the small rickety stove
happily saut�ing sausages with peppers in tomato sauce with some pasta nearby.
Already a steaming cup of java was on the table for her. Furio seemed to sense
she had entered the kitchen and he swung around to say something when she saw
in his eyes then a look she had not seen before; a look of lust and passion
that nearly froze her to the spot. �Sei
bellisima, mia moglie.� He lay down the spoon he had been using and walked
over to her, his hands gently cupping her face.
�What did you say?� she asked looking up into
those compelling blue-grey eyes, �What did you say, Furio?
He
pulled her close a moment against him, breathing deeply of her freshly washed
hair his hands trailing over her back and shoulders, �I said you are most
beautiful vision I have seen.� He smiled, �I truly am glad you are feeling
better. I did not want anything to happen to you, I was so worried, but now��
he held her out at arms length his smile as warm as the sunlight outside. �As I
said, you are tough. A strong woman, but so very beautiful.� As though sensing
he should go slowly with her, he released her then and turned back to his
cooking. �You sit and eat, eh? There is already coffee for you, the sausages
they be ready in just a moment.�
She
slid into the wooden chair at the small table and gingerly sipped the rich dark
coffee. �Furio, did you take care of me all this time? While I was asleep and
all?� she asked.
�Of
course,� he glanced back at her a moment, his eyes again with his normal
serious look, �I let no harm come to you, I tend to everything you needed. I no
doctor, but I talk to you every day. At night we sleep side by side and I talk
to you then too.� He paused and expertly dished out the sausages and peppers
onto the two plates of pasta. �You remember I told you, my father, he had
gotten shot in the head yes? I had tended to him as well, until he could move
around. I had done everything for him while he was healing, for nearly two
months he not even remember that I was his son, but then his memories came back
to him. So I took care of you, the same way I had taken care of him.� Furio
bought the two dishes to the table and then sat down himself.
�Thank you.� She said, �Not for just the
food, I mean for all you have done for me. I know it was not easy.� She paused
and remembered a brief vision of Furio leveling a gun at her in New Jersey when
he had first found out she had not been Sarah. �I mean, you could have just
killed me many times, I am sure I was not an easy burden to drag along.�
�Shhh, shhh.� He gently interrupted her. �No
bring that up anymore. I did what I did because you were how you say, innocente, in all this. I see something
in you, a spark that touch me here�� he pointed to his heart. �I sorry, I not
know the correct translation into English.� He shook his head almost
apologetically a moment and glanced down at his plate as he mixed his noodles
and sauce together.
Gently
she reached out a moment, touching his hand. �Teach me Italian, Furio. Teach me
to communicate with you.�
�You want to learn Italian for me?� he asked
slowly. She just nodded a slight smile on her face. �You said you learned
English late in life and that impressed me, it�s hard to learn a new language.
I respect that in you.� Now it was her who blushed a bit. She was not supposed
to be falling for this man! She was simply supposed to be cooperating with him
until she could find a way to escape.
�After lunch, we go down to walk on beach, I
will help you learn Italiano!� he
smiled and began to heartily eat.
Indeed
after lunch he helped lead her down to the shore and they walked along the
beach. There seemed no one else around; there were some old docks, a few more
abandoned and broken down shanties here and there, and some small boats out on
the blue waters fishing. The warm air washed over her and it felt so good to
have the sunlight bathing her in its gentle caress, as though her body had
craved it.

Occasionally Furio would stoop down and pick up some shells for her, or
an unbroken sand dollar. �You remember what you said to me at lunch, about you
grateful for me not taking you life?� he asked gently, broaching the subject
carefully. She nodded and took one of
the small shells he proffered her. �Well I know you are not born into this life
that you are not Italian, but you must never speak of that again. There is word
for it, called omerta, it means silence and not discuss anything with anyone��
he pulled up a moment and once again tilted her face towards his, �Is just how
it is with this life, with many Italians. We keep our silence about things, we
independent and fiercely loyal and private people, we trust only our own. Hard
to explain in a small nutshell, eh?� he said understandingly. �But basically,
we never discuss what happened anymore. Not discuss Tony Soprano, and you not
ask questions of me about what I do before, or what I do now here. You just
trust in me, and let me take care of you, but you not ask questions about
things I cannot tell you. You never discuss our private business near anyone
who can overhear. Omerta, you understand?�
�Omerta.� She nodded saying the strange
word. She had heard it before in gangster novels and such, but she never really
understood it until Furio�s explanation of it. It helped explain the behavior
and independence and loyalty of people like Sophia and Marie the two women who
had helped her and Furio out. �I understand.� She quietly said and glanced back
out towards the wonderfully blue sea and the warm skies with fluffy clouds
dancing around it.
�Good,
very good.� Furio nodded and they continued gently walking, �now we work on
that Italiano.� He picked up another sea shell and held it up. �Conchiglia, seashell. Conchiglia.� He said gently.
They
stayed outside for nearly two hours Furio teaching her Italian in baby steps as
one would teach a small child. She liked the sound of the language, the way it
flowed from Furio�s lips. He was a good teacher and very patient with her
explaining, �Believe me, no one learn a language overnight, eh? It take a long
time, and even worse, Napoli has its own dialects that even other Italians have
hard time understanding.� He chuckled.
�Now, you getting sunburned out here with that
fair skin and red hair.� He led her back towards the shanty, �I going to have
to get you lotion to keep you from burning.�
She was sad to return inside so soon, but
she knew he was speaking the truth, she could already feel her skin hot and red
from the warm spring sun. Furio seemed drawn to her fiery red hair and he was
always gently caressing it. �You know, many Italians think red hair is bad
thing, that redheads unlucky and sinister people.� He laughed a moment, �but I
think you most beautiful woman I have seen, I love you red hair.� He caressed
it again and gently kissed it.
She
turned for a moment a slight look of worry on her face, a look of confusion.
�Furio, I have to know, have we�?� she tried to put into words the question she
so desperately needed to know, �Have we made love?�
He harshly shook his head a moment, �No.
What you think I am?� he snorted angrily, �I not want to make love to you until
you were truly awake and healed. I not a rapist, Aria.� His gaze grew a bit
dark again, �I want you to want me, is no good if I just take you is it?� he
hastily got up; she knew she had insulted him and she felt ashamed.
�Furio, wait I�m sorry, I never meant�� she
tried to explain but he merely muttered some curse in Italian and had abruptly
left the room. She truly did feel bad in her heart, Furio could be a very
passionate and expressive person, at least with those he trusted, and she had
not meant to hurt him. She just had not remembered. Why was her own heart and
soul wavering so strongly with him? She was supposed to be loyal to Rick, he
was her husband. Why was she being so drawn in and seduced by this enigmatic
man Furio? What had he called it? �Avanti-Indietro�
Push-Pull. That is indeed what her heart and ethics felt like, being pushed and
pulled in two different directions.
Dinner
found Furio calmed down by then, and Aria wisely chose not to bring the subject
up anymore. They had large salads with a simple antipasto of fresh tomatoes and
some prosciutto drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, crusty warm bread
and red wine. She noticed he was quite a skilled cook and seemed to enjoy
cooking a variety of dishes. �Tomorrow night, Malco will come have dinner with
us, you remember him, yes? He is the one who has helped me; he�s my migliore amico, my best friend.�
�I
remember him,� she said, �the really happy fellow you said you trusted with
your life.�
�That�s Malco,� Furio nodded with a smile,
�always happy, always the optimist. Tomorrow we go fishing see if we can catch
some fresh fish for dinner, eh?�
�That sounds fun.� She agreed, wanting to
enjoy another day of warm sunshine and the beautiful ocean. Outside the wind
had picked up and there was some soft rumbles of thunder beginning. A nocturnal
spring shower was blowing in from the ocean.
�I close up windows before rain gets here.�
Furio finished up his dinner, �Do you know how to brew coffee the old way with
a press pot?� he asked and pointed to the strange contraption on the stove. Aria shook her head and looked at him almost
helplessly. �Not to worry, I teach you. I let you get started on cleaning
dishes, does that sound fair?� he asked.
�Yes,� she said pleased to be able to do
something at least. So far the man had taken care of her every need, seemed to
be the one to do everything, so she welcomed a chance to use and strengthen her
limbs and help him out. He nodded in
gratitude and went around the shanty closing up and securing the windows. Since
this had been an abandoned fishing shanty there was no electricity here, light
came from oil lanterns and candles, there was no hot water and the stove ran
off a small rusty propane tank. Furio had told her eventually they would move
to a better house once he got situated and found out what the word on the
street was, but for now this was best for hiding under cover. She washed the
dishes by hand using the soap and put them up to air dry.
When she was done Furio had come back into
the small kitchenette and he showed her how to use the press pot to make
coffee. �Takes some getting used to, yes? But once you learn it, is easy to do
and makes wonderful coffee.� And indeed the man made one mean and delicious cup
of coffee.
They sat in comfortable silence together on
the front porch watching the lightning in the distance and smelling rain in the
air of the impending storm. As a loud rumble sounded overhead she found herself
unconsciously scooting closer to Furio and he in turn wrapped one strong arm
around her waist his fingers caressing her ribs and back in a soothing
way.
It
was then that he suddenly sat bolt upright, his eyes narrowing with a dangerous
look. �Get in house!� he hissed. Before she could even comprehend or react she
heard what sounded like distant firecrackers and the whine of bullets hitting
the porch sent adrenaline coursing through her. �Vaffanculo!� he growled and with a strength that stunned her, he
easily dragged her into the house and slammed the door shut. �Get down and stay
down!� he demanded as he sprinted to the living room and pulled out his Beretta
9mm. Ducking down low, he stalked to the kitchenette and grabbed a large and
cruel looking chopping knife and gently slid it over to her. �You hang onto
that, now go hide in closet.�
She
could see Furio was sidling over to a back window to crawl through it. �Furio,
no!� she pleaded. �Please don�t go! Don�t get yourself hurt.� Panic was racing
through her now, she could not conceive of him being hurt or killed. She was
afraid of these assassins and of Furio being taken out and then these killers
coming for her.
�I
have to, don�t you see. Otherwise they burn us out. I have no choice, now get
in closet!� And then before she could protest further he ducked nimbly through
the window and disappeared into the darkness. The rain began to fall in a
torrential downpour now, and she was even more panicked. What was going on out
there? She could suddenly hear the distant sounds of gunfire even above the
rumbles of thunder, above the pounding of her own heart in her throat, above
the sound of the rain beating down on the small shanty.
There were a few screams of pain, some angry
shouting in Italian and then suddenly the front door flew open, there
silhouetted in the doorframe stood a man dripping wet and dressed in dark clothes,
his eyes black like the grave. Blood covered the front of his shirt and dripped
steadily down him onto the wooden shanty floor with a sickening drip, drip,
drip. His dark eyes swung around and saw Aria cowered in the corner, the knife
gripped in her hands. She was frozen in sheer terror and as her and the
stranger locked eyes; she saw her death in those eyes. He narrowed his gaze at
her and with trembling muscles bought up his left hand that was gripping a
pistol. His breathing was labored and heavy, and Aria felt herself grow
lightheaded as time seemed to slow down. Where was Furio? He must have been killed
by this assassin.
Still it seemed as if in slow motion that the
killer was drawing up his gun, aiming at her, his face a mask of fury and
determination now. There was another crash of thunder and Aria practically
jumped out of her skin. Before her the assassin�s chest seemed to explode
outwards and blood and gore spilled out as he toppled forward onto the floor.
Behind him stood Furio his pistol in his hand, his eyes even more fiercer and
dangerous looking than the assassins had been. A wave of relief swept through
her as Furio came back into the house, �You Ok, mia cara?� his own breathing was deep as though he had been running
hard, and he was soaking wet with rain.
Aria
nodded yes and with shaking hands dropped the knife she had been holding in a
death grip. �I was so scared for you Furio.� She said the words running out, �I
was afraid you were hurt, thank God you�re Ok, I...�
He
made a shushing noise and sank down near her, his arms wrapped around her. �I
fine, Aria.� He said stroking her hair, �just settle.� But when Aria looked up
into his eyes she saw a very dangerous and angry look indeed in his eyes. She
knew it wasn�t directed at her, but for the first time she felt that something
behind the wall Furio held in check was about to come crashing down and it sent
an ominous feeling through her.
�You need to sleep now,� he said helping her
up and glancing over at the dead body that lay on the living room floor of the
assassin he had shot. �I have lot of work to do, I will be up late.�
�Furio, no, let me help you with it
tomorrow�� some how she sensed what his �late work� was going to be, that he
would be out in the torrential rains hiding the bodies of the two killers.
�No.� he said quietly but in a tone of
finality. �You sleep, I have to do this now, no question me�� he paused then
looked at her deeply and briefly caressed her cheek. �Please, Aria.� He added
gently.
She nodded and gave him a brief hug, �Ok, but
I will clean up in here. You do what you must, but I will clean the inside.�
She too glanced at the blood splattered floor and the assassins body.
He
kissed her forehead for a moment and gave her shoulder a squeeze. �Thank you.�
He sincerely said, and then slipping the gun back into his waistband he
casually walked over to the corpse and grabbing it by the leg began to drag it
out the door like a dead deer. The body left a long, wet smeared trail of blood
as he disappeared with it out into the rainy night closing the door behind him.
She used the cane to limp over to the kitchenette and began mixing a bucket
with sudsy water, as she glanced outside the window she saw the lightning
briefly illuminate Furio as still dragging the body he grabbed an axe from the
side of the house and began towing his grisly cargo on towards the shoreline.
Her heart felt bad for him, knowing indeed he would have a long night.
She
worked hard scrubbing and cleaning the floors of any trace of blood, double
checking the walls to make sure she had cleaned any evidence off them as well. The
whole time she cleaned her mind kept wandering over Furio, how many times did
she owe him her life now? He had saved her, cared for her, saved her again. She
remembered how he had looked framed in the doorway after killing the assassin,
a look in his eyes of deadly fury and protection of her. With a sigh she forced
her now aching and tired body back up dragging the bucket filled with bloody water
and dumped it in the sink. Since she was still recovering she was beat, sore
and exhausted, but she could only imagine how tired Furio must be right now.
The rain had let up at least with just occasional flickers of lightning as the
storm moved on. She was determined to wait up in the living room until Furio
was safely back inside. She figured she might even make him breakfast when he
came back home.
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Mistaken Identity