Page 53 of Bound to the Mafia King

My heart stilled in my chest. The color drained from my face, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to utter a single word, because I feared she would stop.

“I was pregnant.” She lifted her gaze. Her eyes glazed over like her mind had taken her somewhere far away. “I felt so trapped. I only wanted one night of being rebellious. I was tired of always having to be the good girl who fell into line. I didn’t even know who I was without this world. Without my brother.”

The silence in the plane was thick.

“I went out one night while my brother was away. One of my guards came with me, his name was Leonardo.” A small smile played on her lips. “He was a good man, and he loved his family, but he hated the Mafia life. He wasn’t built for it. I had noticed the first day I had seen him. He was too gentle for this world. He took pity on me and took me out, to town, so I could experience the life of a young and single woman. It was my one night of freedom. I wanted to go big or go home. So, he took me to the club and we went dancing. I had never felt more alive before in my life.”

My heart thundered in my chest. On one hand, I felt annoyed that another man was able to make her feel those things when I was not, and on the other I wanted to hear more of what they did. I wanted her to go into great detail for me. I needed her to do that for me so that I could understand what made her feel those beautiful emotions that made her eyes shine as bright as they were doing now, just reliving the memory.

“It was a great night,” she pursed her lips together, “and then afterwards, when it was time to go home, I asked him to sleep with me. I knew he had a thing for me, and I wanted to know what it felt like to choose the man you want in between your legs. I didn’t want him chosen for me, at least for the first time. And so... he gave me what I wanted.”

The blood that gushed past my ears was deafening.

“I found out I was pregnant two months after that night. At first, I was scared and afraid of what my brother would think or do. Then… when all of that had worn away and just the soft beating of my child’s heart could be heard in my ears, I knew what I needed to do. He had been my little saving angel, my miracle that had come out to light my darkness. I don’t know if you have ever felt something like that before, but for me, my pregnancy was my lighthouse, sent to guide me from the crashing waves against the rocks.”

I knew exactly what she meant, because that was what she was for me. She was my lighthouse. She was my miracle.

“Was it a boy?” I didn’t even know how I had the voice to talk. The pressure that was building against my chest was immense. There was so much chaos in my mind, from Alex, to Sergei, and now this.

“I had a feeling that it was.” The small smile that had found its way to her lips dropped. “I had been on my way through Michigan, on my way to a small town in Alaska. That was where I wanted to raise him. Away from the Mafia world. I knew my brother would never let me keep him, and Leonardo had risked his life already by getting me out of there. I had told him about the baby, and he had freaked out. But when I told him he didn’t need to take any of the burden, he said that he would help me escape.”

I nodded my head. “Is he the one who gave you that?”

I pointed to the necklace around her neck. She shook her head. “This was a gift from my mother. It was meant to be a reminder that I should keep my heart for the one who deserves it most. If only she knew just how crappy my life would turn out.”

There was no humor in the laugh that bubbled from her chest. I was glad that the man had not been the one to gift her that necklace. I didn’t want him attached to her anymore. It would only serve as a painful reminder of the pain in her past.

Or maybe that was me, seeing as I was the one she had encountered the night she miscarried her baby.

“He should have never left you alone,” I quipped. “A real man would have stayed by your side and honored you and your child.”

I was glad that he had been a waste of a man. He had led her right into my arms, and that is where she would remain until my dying breath.

“I am sorry that you faced that pain in your past. You didn’t deserve it.” I meant ever word that fell from my lips. “Your brother should have done better for you.”

“I know you have your feelings of what my brother did by betrothing me to Sergei, but his heart was in the right place. At least, that is what I am choosing to believe. I just need to make sure that he is protected from Sergei. I have no real power of my own, so I ask to borrow some of yours. Keep my brother safe, Valerio, I beg you,”

“Your brother won’t be harmed,” I reassured her after a long pause of silence. “Alex gave me his word that he would be protected.”

She wiped the tears from her face and nodded. She cast her gaze to her hands on her lap and sniffed. “Thank you for protecting him. It means the world to me.”

I shook my head. “I am protecting him for you,cielo. I continue being wary of him. I’m not his biggest fan. He is thesame man that wanted to sell you off to that heinous monster without a single thought. He will be fine and safe from Sergei, but I will still have words for him.”

She lifted her eyes to meet mine. “I have a few short words for him too. What he did wasn’t right, and he did manipulate me into doing what he wanted. I understand where he was coming from, and for a time, I was willing to do whatever I needed to for my family. But you helped me see that there is more to life for me. I need to live, I need to breathe. I need to be free.”

“I understand.” I nodded my head. “I will make sure to keep it peaceful when I see him next, when this is all over.”

Something passed over her eyes when I said that. It was a brief moment, but it was there, and I had no idea what it meant.

“After this is all said and done, I think I will need some time away.”

“Time away? What do you mean by that?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Exactly that. I need some time away. This world, these organizations. All they have ever done for me is take and take. I can’t do it anymore. There is not much of me left anyway, and I want to salvage the little bit that still remains and figure out what that part of me wants.”

Why did my heart squeeze the way that it did? I didn’t want to assume what she meant by that, but my mind could not help but to wonder. Did stepping away from it all include me?

The rest of the plane ride was spent with me liaising with Alex and trying to come up with a plan of how to move this forward best. I had jumped the gun a little. But I had good reason to. I knew that he was going to be there, and I couldn’t let him take her away from me.

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