Page 92 of Mafia Shade's Reluctant Bride
I clenched my fists. “I don’t know how to do this without you.”
“You will.” Her voice was steady. “Because you are my son. And you are stronger than you think.”
I swallowed, my body trembling.
“You must promise me something,” she continued.
I didn’t speak. I wasn’t sure I could.
“Promise me you will fight for her.”
My breath hitched.
“Promise me you will not let fear stop you from living the life you deserve.”
I looked at her, my chest aching.
She was dying. She was slipping through my fingers, just like Maria had.
I had spent my whole life making decisions that I thought would protect me. And now, all I had left were the ruins of those choices.
I didn’t want to lose Maria, too. Not without trying. Not without a fight.
So, I nodded, and my mother smiled.
******
It had been three days. Three days of silence. Three days of running into walls. Three days of knowing that I had lost her.
I had tried calling Luca, but there was no answer. I tried again and again until my number was blocked. So, I used another number, and he blocked that too. I sent messages. Nothing. I even thought about writing a damn letter, something I hadn’t done since I was a kid. But I knew it wouldn’t make a difference.
Maria? She was worse. She didn’t just block my number; she disappeared. She had turned me into a ghost.
I would have gone to her house if I wasn’t sure Luca would put a bullet through my skull without hesitation. He had made it clear right before blocking me that if I came near Maria or Matteo, I wouldn’t live long enough to beg for forgiveness.
But I was running out of options. And desperation made men reckless.
So, I waited. I knew her schedule and knew where she went. And I knew she always dropped Matteo off at school in the mornings.
And that’s how I ended up parked a few cars away, watching her.
She didn’t see me. She was too focused on Matteo as she helped him out of the car. She knelt, fixing the collar of his jacket, smoothing his hair, and pressing a kiss to his forehead. He laughed, a bright sound, and my chest ached at how much he looked like her. How much he reminded me of myself and how much I wanted to keep being in his life and in her life.
She was a good mother.
She loved with her whole being. I had seen it in the way she held him, the way she spoke to him, and the way she protected him with everything she had. And I loved her for it. I loved her for all of it.
I had always loved her, even when I convinced myself I couldn’t and even when I buried myself in a world that had no space for love. I couldn’t let her go without a fight. As soon as she got back in the car, I moved.
She barely had time to shut the door before I was knocking on her window. Her eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. She hesitated before rolling the window down just an inch.
“Maria—”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“I know. But I have something to say to you.”
She let out a sharp breath, gripping the steering wheel like she wanted to strangle it instead of me.
