Mafia's True Love

Chapter 5

I had began to experience my recurrent nightmare when Noah clutched me so firmly I could hardly breathe. He wore a look of anxiety and uncertainty. When I looked down at my arms to see what was holding me, I discovered that I had scratched him and myself, which was why he was acting strangely, or so I thought. And I immediately realized I was saturated in sweat, which made me feel much more embarrassed. I wanted to apologize, but I couldn't say anything. I was thinking to myself, How am I going to explain this to him? I can't, right? Fuck you, Emma, see what you got yourself into. I mentally slapped myself.

***

Noah's POV

Emma had fallen asleep on me, and I couldn't help but wonder what she had gone through. I was worried about her weight and the fact that she hadn't gotten her period in a while, so I knew I needed to get her to a doctor as soon as possible. I'd never had to deal with the dread of the unknown until I met her.

    When Emma started shaking, I had a lot on my mind. She screamed and clawed at the air, her arms, my arms. When I returned my gaze to her face, I could tell she was still sleeping; this had to be a nightmare, a particularly horrible one. When I used to have nightmares, my sisters would firmly hug me to quiet me down, I figured it was worth a go.

    I grabbed Emma's arms and wrapped my arms around her. She began scratching at herself and me, seemingly trying to get away. I quickly grabbed her hands in mine. At this point, everyone was looking at her and back at me, as if trying to get answers.

    "I don't know, okay!" I groaned. " She's probably experiencing a nightmare." When her nails started digging into me, I embraced her even closer. I was too preoccupied with her to notice the pain.

    "She clawed you like a fucking tiger, it really must be a horrendous one. Try waking her up," Luca murmured, glancing back from the front seat.

    I groaned and began shouting, "Emma, Emma, wake up! Emma, get up! Please wake up, you're safe!"

    She finally woke up after a couple more rounds of shouting. Her face began to lose color as if she had seen a ghost. I could feel her tremble as she looked down and saw the scratch scars on our arms and hands. I could see she was holding back tears, and it killed me to see her in this state. I massaged her hands after releasing her from my firm grasp.

    "Are you all right?" I questioned her as she avoided eye contact by looking out the window. I couldn't tell if she was afraid, ashamed, or both.

    "I-I'm fine," she spoke, her tone faltering. I could see she was putting on a brave face for me.

    I didn't understand why I cared so much about her; I'd never cared so much about anyone before. I would only care about my family, and I knew I had to trust my instincts when I grew concerned about her. I had never believed in soulmates before, but I was starting to think that she was mine.

    "I'm fine, I've gone through a lot worse. That isn't my concern in any way." I considered asking her about her nightmare, but I wasn't sure whether it was the proper time or not. "Well we're home," I groaned, pointing to the black mansion that was approaching around the bend.

    The car swiftly parked at the front door, and I decided that instead of getting bombarded by our sisters, I wanted Emma to feel comfortable first.

    I stepped out of the car, put Emma back in her seat, and walked up to Liam. "Liam, could you please—" I began to say.

    "I know what you're going to say. I'll take care of it. Just get her in your room, and we'll get the staff to fetch her bags," Liam answered, knowing that his brother was probably nervous right now.

    I hugged and thanked my brother passionately. He was the best big brother anybody could ask for. As children, he was always there for us and protected us from school bullies. My brother was always insistent on helping me with school projects. He even taught me how to talk to women and how to respect them. I only hoped I did him justice.

    I walked back to Emma and scooped her up when she didn't reply to my calling her name; I was curious as to what she was thinking. Nonetheless, she returned when I placed her on the ground.

I extended my hand to her, and she hesitantly accepted it. The way she hesitated stung me at first, but I understood it was probably because she felt bad for scratching me.

I rushed her into my room as fast as I could. I immediately entered and shut the door when I spotted Emma staring at me in terror, and I knew how this seemed.

"Oh, I promise I'm not going to do anything! I just didn't want my sisters to see you right now, and they always storm into my room," I hastily clarified.

Though her expression changed from scared to hurtful, it didn't sink me until she murmured, "O-oh, alright."

"Wait a minute, I misspoke. It's not that I don't want my sisters to see you; far from it. My sisters can be obnoxious, so I wanted you to relax first," I answered as I placed her purse on the dresser.

"Oh okay," she said, taking a big breath. As she began to glance around the room, I noticed a smile on her face. "Where am I going to sleep?" she said, almost making me choke on my own spit.

"Uhm, you'll sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the sofa," I said, motioning to the couch. I would have preferred that she sleep with me, but I didn't want to push her to do so.

"Not way! I'll take the sofa; after all, I'm sleeping in your room," she said promptly.

"No problem, I want you to be comfortable," I said as I sat down on the couch when I heard the most painful word.

"Why?" she inquired as she sat on the bed.

"How come?" I replied because I'm not sure where she's going.

"Why do you care about me, why do you care whether I'm comfortable, especially after what I did to you?" she said, her smile giving way to a frown and her eyes welling up with tears.

I stood up and lifted her off the bed, holding her little face in my hands and said, "Because I care. To be honest, I've never liked a woman before. And you didn't do anything because you were sleeping."

People who have only known foes for the most of their lives believe that everyone is out to get them, even if them is trying to be a friend.