Page 38 of Cold

ChapterThirteen

ROMARE

I rubbedmy eyes as I walked out to the living room. Vito gazed up at me and raised a brow. I shuffled over and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. Once my face was in the crook of his neck, calm settled over me while I took in his scent.

“What are you doing, Ragazzo?” he asked.

“Cuddling you,” I answered. “I don’t want to think about…any of that stuff from before.”

Vito sighed. “I understand.”

My fingers stroked over his strong chest. There was so much I wanted to say to him but keep to myself at the same time. Like the way, he spoke to me when I was asleep. I’d heard him, even in my dreams, saying that he wanted to be my Daddy. And he’d held me tightly, letting me know that everything was going to be okay

You’re everything I could ever want, Vito.

“Did you mean what you said?” I blurted out.

Vito tensed. “About what?”

I pulled back and gazed at him. “Something about being all that and more,” I answered, tilting my head. “Did you mean it? It felt like I was in a fog when I heard those words, but I think you meant being my Daddy.”

Vito frowned. “I don’t know if I’m Daddy material,” he answered. “There’s a lot about me that you don’t know, Romare. Shit that makes it hard for me to function sometimes. I can still do my job, but when I come home this becomes my sanctuary at times, and it’s hard to let go of the shit that haunts me from the past.”

“What do you mean?”

He looked at me intently. “You really want to know?”

I nodded. “Of course I do.”

Vito sighed and pushed his fingers through his soft hair. I was tempted to touch it too, but I wanted to hear the story that he had to tell. Vito finally collected himself and nodded, but his eyes were far away. He didn’t look at me, he looked past me.

“You’ve seen the way my family is with me. I’m older, but I stay on the sidelines and only come out when called. Do you want to know why?”

I nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Vito blinked as if seeing me for the first time. He reached out, his calloused fingers tracing my skin. I leaned into his touch and smiled softly trying to give him some form of the comfort he gave me every day.

“When I was younger, I left the family business.”

My eyes widened. “You did?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “There was this girl that I’d fallen in love with and she wanted a different life, a better one away from all the violence and pain. And me being a head over heels in love moron followed her.” He smiled a little before his expression darkened. “My brother, Vincenzo, didn’t approve.”

I tugged at my lip. “I remember him. He was always nice to me too.” I smiled thinking about Vincenzo sneaking me candies or patting my head in passing. “Is that why I don’t remember you?”

Vito nodded. “Yes, I wasn’t around back then.” He laid a hand on my lower back and his grip tightened on me a bit. “Anyway, my brother didn’t approve of the fact that I would abandon the family for love. I tried to explain to him that wasn’t what was happening, but he wouldn’t hear it. Stubborn bastard.”

Reminds me of someone else I know.

I kept that thought to myself. There was clearly some unresolved stuff between him and his brother and I didn’t want to make his mood drop more by pointing out that fact.

“It fucked up my and Vincenzo’s relationship. And of course, that spread to the rest of the family and eventually into my relationship. The non-stop arguing ruined everything,” he said, his voice choked as he shook his head. “I was so angry at Vincenzo. I wanted revenge.”

I saw the fire in his eyes and shivered. “What did you do?”

Vito’s anger disappeared and he glanced away from me. “The stupidest thing I ever could have done. My brother and sister hated Vincenzo for his power and his position in our family. If we teamed up together, we could get rid of him and live the good life. I went with it right up until we were supposed to kill him and then I stopped.” He shook his head. “I told Vincenzo everything and it cost my other siblings their lives. The only reason he kept me alive was because I’d told him what was going on. But he also turned me into the family’s own workhorse. When they need me, I’m there. No questions asked. That’s the nature of my debt.”

I stared at Vito. His shoulders sagged and I saw the regret written all over his face.I reached out and cradled his cheeks in my hands. At first, he refused to look at me, but finally, he had no choice but and met my gaze.

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