Million Dollar Mafia

Chapter 26

It was late, I spent most of the night talking to Mrs. Brambilla about her family and Antonio. Now that I know a lot more about Antonio, people don't have the chance to say I knew nothing about him. The words Antonio promised me at the pool rang in my ears. I'd been with him for a few days, and he's already promising me my safety. For some reason, part of me didn't feel safe around Antonio because he was just like my brothers. Training hard, killing people, getting injured every day when I wasn't around. I didn't know if he was going to lash out on me, who knows what he was capable of doing.
- - -
It was well past 1 am, I sat on a bench outside in one of the many gardens the Brambilla's owned. The sound of their water fountains splashing water echoed about. My soul was tired, but my brain was wide awake. I hugged myself as the cool night breeze fluttered by. I had wrapped a white camisole around myself since I was only wearing a black slightly cropped tank top and grey loose shorts. I didn't want to be in the house because some people were already sleeping. The gardens were always peaceful, lamps lit up the walkway and lights filled the trees. I still couldn't believe everything that had happened and was going to happen. I had left my best friend, my school, and my family for a completely new life. If I was a kid and I saw what was happening now, I don't know if I'd be able to control myself.

Footsteps approached me, I looked up and saw Antonio. " Didn't know you slept out here," Antonio teased as he sat down next to me. I held back a smile and inhaled deeply. " My mom saw you come out here," Antonio said sitting back. I tilted my head and watched two birds fly from treetop to treetop. Antonio looked at me, " couldn't sleep?" " Yeah," I said softly. Antonio stared at me before looking at a patch of roses. " I haven't seen my brothers in over a month," I finally said, breaking the awkward silence. " I don't know why I want to see them since one of them lied to me," I added. Antonio frowned, " what do you mean one lied to you?" I closed my eyes, my heart was still sore and broken from what my parents and Emiliano did to me. " The entire time, my older brother Emiliano knew about the arrangement. I'd ask him wha was going on and he said he didn't know, he looked me dead in the eye and said nothing." Antonio's face softened, " I trusted my brother with my whole life and he lied to me," I added. Antonio looked down at his hands, " my other brothers didn't know what was going on until the night I met you and your family," I informed. I opened my eyes and found my vision to be blurry. " If I'm being completely honest," I said, hoping to not hurt Antonio's feelings. " I don't think I'm ready for any of this," I said. Antonio smiled, " I don't blame you." I turned my head and met eyes with Antonio. He looked so calm, so peaceful, so at ease. " We're in this together," Antonio said. " We may not know a lot about each other but I'm not going to let you go through all this alone." I clenched my jaw, forcing the tears to stay back. " We're doing everything on your time," Antonio added. " Whatever you don't feel ready doing, we won't do." Antonio's smile faded, " no matter what shitty opinions your father has to offer." I scoffed and smiled, which made Antonio's smile resurface. " We're in this together," Antonio said. I turned my head and sighed, the knot in my throat crumbled. " I'm going to be out here for a while," I said. Antonio nodded, " I've got nothing else better to do." I smiled and bit my bottom lip. Holy hell, what was this man doing to me?

Without hesitation, I scooted towards Antonio and rested my head against his shoulder. I felt his arm slip around my waist, pulling me closer. " What's your favorite flower?" I asked once I closed my eyes. I could feel Antonio breathing, it calmed me down. " Orchids," Antonio answered. I held back a smile, but eventually cracked. " What?" Antonio asked seeing my smile. " Nothing," I said shaking my head. " No, tell everyone what's so funny," Antonio teased, which only made me laugh more. " I'm just surprised you had a favorite flower," I explained. Antonio nodded, " being with my mom most of my child life, I developed a love for flowers." " Your mom sounds like a wonderful person," I said. " She was, but not to my father," Antonio said, his tone darkened. " All he wanted was to have kids and keep his attention focused on work." What Antonio said about his father reminded me of mine. " My father did the exact same thing," I said. " My mom told me the whole story of how they met and the whole point of her pregnancy." Antonio looked at me, " my father wanted all boys," I informed. " When my mom had me, my father pushed us away and spent endless hours in his office doing work or flying around for business." I could feel Antonio's jaw tighten. " Then one day my mom forced my dad to spend one with me," I said. " I spent an entire day watching my dad and brothers fight people for training." " How old were you?" Antonio asked. I stared at a tree and watched a squirrel clump up into the leaves. " Eight years old," I answered. Antonio scoffed in disgust, " I had nightmares for weeks," I added. " My dad told me it was healthy for me to be seeing things like that as a kid. My mom said I'd get trauma from it and that I should stay away from business things. Once my mom shared her own opinion, my father lost it. I spend about a month watching videos on fighting and some days I was with my brother watching them kill and fight people." " Your father was never a father to you," Antonio said calmly but sternly. " I looked up to him even when he didn't even want me," I said softly. Antonio sighed, " I'm not ever going to push you away."

And with that, we sat in silence for about an hour. Everything felt right next to Antonio, he knew me without having to know me my whole life. He assured me that I'd be safe, he assured me that everything was going to be okay and that things would happen on my time. I wanted a guy like that, I wanted a man who could protect me and still work. At first, I thought Antonio was jus going to be a guy who'd want to start a family immediately and then drown himself in work. But after tonight, I knew I wanted to start a family with Antonio. I knew I wanted to have kids with him and plan a whole new life with him. I wanted my kids to call him dad and I wanted to call him mine. But that little part of me knew what was going to happen. I'd seen the darkness in every upcoming mafia leader. They get angry and they rage out on everyone. I know those green eyes hold pain and anger somewhere, I can feel it in each breath Antonio takes in and out. I just hope he doesn't take it out on me, I couldn't bare to see the anger my father used to release out on others.
- - -
The sound of girls laughing and footsteps running down the hall woke me up. After last night, I barely got any sleep. I opened my eyes and looked at my phone, it was 7 am. " Oh my gosh," I groaned out. What was it with Milan and waking up so early? " I pulled my blanket above my head and tried to go back to sleep, but the sound of girls, laughing, and walking prevented me from returning back to my slumber. I rubbed my face in annoyance and got out of bed, I walked into the bathroom. I had bags underneath my eyes, the last few weeks had been rough and tiring. I washed my face before turning and making my way downstairs. The smell of eggs, bacon, blueberry muffins, and pancakes filled the kitchen. My mom wore black slacks, and a nice red button down shirt. She looked good in anything, especially red.

My mom saw me and smiled, " good morning honey I smiled and walked over to her, " It smells good in here." Mrs. Brambilla smiled, " I thought today's breakfast was appropriate for tonight's event." I frowned, " what's going on tonight?" My mom looked at me, " you and the girls are going out tonight." I scoffed, " what?" Mrs. Brambilla nodded, " I think it'll be good and fun for you to get to know everyone." " I know everyone pretty well, why do I need to go out with a bunch of girls?" I asked not realizing my tone was rising. " Thalia," My mom stepped forward, I looked at her. " It'll be fun okay?" She said. I stared at her, knowing I wasn't going to be able to back out of this. " Okay," I sighed. Mrs. Brambilla clapped her hands together, " I have a dress for you for tonight." I looked at her, the last time she prepared me something, I almost flashed everyone at the pool. " Thank you," I forced myself to say in a warm tone. Mrs. Brambilla nodded, " know hurry and get some food before it gets cold and everyone else eats it all." I looked at my mom who shot me the just-do-it look. I mentally rolled my eyes before grabbing a plate and serving myself.

What could be worse than spending an entire day with a bunch of stuck up Milan girls? Absolutely nothing, I'd rather go out on a date with Alessandro than be with Milan girls for a whole day.