Page 39 of Vengeful Mafia Prince

He trusted me.

And he was going to kill me. And Giovanni. That's the part I have to remember. He would have destroyed us without a second thought. That man, he's not my father, he's not my family. He's just another killer, another murderer who would have done anything to make sure he didn't lose what he felt was rightfully his.

We drive through the city in silence. I want to say something, but I don't even know where to start. How do I tell him that I'm... grateful, despite everything? That even though he killed my father in front of me, I'm glad that he's still here? That I love him and I want him even in the face of all this madness?

Eventually, we pull up outside a handsome townhouse, and it strikes me that this must have been where his family lived. So far, I've only ever seen him at his apartment, like he's been trying to keep some part of himself separate from me. But he's showing me everything now, and there's an intimacy to it that I can't deny.

I hang back, though, before I get out of the car.

"Will Valentina be there?" I ask nervously. I really don't feel like having another conversation with his sister, not after the way everything has been going.

He shakes his head. "Not right now," he assures me. "You're in the clear, trust me."

He takes my hand and leads me to the townhouse, unlocking the door so we can step in. The first thing I see, sitting on a small table to the side of the hall, is a framed picture of Giovanni and his sister, along with two people who must be their parents.

I pick it up, staring down at it for a long moment as I try to take it in.

"These are...?"

"That's my family, yeah," he replies, his voice slightly tight. I can tell it still hurts to live without them, to even be reminded of them like this, but he doesn't try to shut me down or pull away.

"I'm sorry," I murmur. "We don't have to talk about them, if you don't want. I just..." Tears fill my eyes again. "I just can't help but wonder what it's going to be like, living without my dad."

He pulls me into his arms again, and I sink against him, heaving in long helpless breaths as I try to bring myself back from the brink. It feels as though the truth of this is hitting me over and over again, the weight of it nearly more than I can take. My dad, gone—the one family I had, vanished. I can't believe it.

"I'm sorry, Elena, I'm so sorry," he murmurs to me, over and over again. "I'm sorry. If there was any other way, I could have done it, I would, but..."

I finally manage to draw my head back, long enough to look him in the eyes and speak with some level of certainty.

"You did... you did the right thing," I breathe. "He was going to kill you. And me. There was no way he was going to let either of us walk out of there alive, and I just... I could never have lived with myself if something had happened to you, Gio..."

"I know, I know. That's exactly how I felt, too. I just... I couldn't stand to lose you. In that moment, when I saw the bullet skim you, I just knew I would do anything to keep you safe. Even if it meant..."

He doesn't need to say that last part. We both already know it.

I reach up and cup his face in my hands. I can't get over how deeply I care for him. It's like nothing I've ever felt before, a certainty that takes over everything else in my life, pushes it to the side so there's only room for him.

"I meant what I said back there," I tell him softly. "That I love you, I mean."

He smiles slightly. "I know you did. And I love you, too, Elena."

He kisses me softly. I can feel him shaking slightly, the adrenaline from everything that has happened starting to wear off. Wrapping my arms around him, I press my head into his shoulder, trying to just lose myself to this a little longer. I know that it's not going to be long till the reality of the world beyond comes flooding in to catch up with us, but here, now, it can just be us.

He kisses me again, and this time, there's more heat to his touch, a need that speaks to how much we've been through, how much the two of us have survived together. And I need it. God, I need it. I need to let myself get lost to him, no matter what thecost. I need to let myself be consumed by the two of us together, like nothing else matters in the world.

He scoops me into his arms and carries me toward the bedroom, not breaking the kiss for a moment. With my hands in his hair, he lays me down on the bed, careful, tender. My hips rise to meet his almost on instinct, asking for more, asking for him, showing him that no matter what has happened between us, we still belong together, like this.

In love.

He strips me slowly, taking his time to undress me completely so he can gorge himself on every inch of my skin. I can't get over how good it feels, his touch, even after all this time, after all these doubts and questions, after all this wondering if he can really mean everything he says about me, and now, I can just give myself over to him like it's the most natural thing in the world. He's proved to me, once and for all, that he's on my side, and I need to show him that I'm entirely on his.

He pulls his shirt off over his head, and I reach for him, pulling him down on top of me. I can feel the strength of his chest pressed against me, the pressure of it grounding me, the thud of his heartbeat from deep inside him soothing me. He kisses me once more and kicks off his pants as he does so, tangling our legs so that the two of us are pressed together completely.

I can feel the hardness of his cock nestled against my hip crease, so close to sliding inside me that all I really need to do is shift slightly and he'll be filling me completely. And right now, that's all I want.

I hook my legs around him, my ankles resting on the back of his calves, and lift my hips so that the two of us are pressed together nearly flush. He takes the cue, guiding himself inside of me for the first time, and my head sinks back onto the pillow in total pleasure as he fills me with his cock.

It's not like the last few times we were together, not by a long shot. No, those times, they felt frantic, needy, desperate, like the two of us were always trying to outrun each other and find a way to hide the truth of who we were. But this? This moment we're sharing right now? It's anything but fake.

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