Him (A mafia story)

Chapter 24

I was getting pretty good at having small conversations in Italian. I'd had lessons with Leo every Sunday for the last three weeks and I'd have lunch with Julia a few times a week to practice and catch up. Julian and I had started running together again and I was getting more and more familiar with the grounds of the estate. Charity and I got to spend more time together now that I was back and we were getting closer.

The most important thing that had happened in the last few weeks, though, was that I finally got to visit my sister's grave. Nikolai had taken me down a trail in the forest behind the estate that led to an open clearing with a small cemetery.

A lot of the headstones had the name Alexios written on them, but the freshest one had the name Bentley carved neatly on it. Nikolai had held me while I finally mourned properly.

We settled into a routine fairly quickly. I would read in the morning after my run while Nikolai took care of business

We'd have lunch together when I wasn't meeting with Julia before going off and doing our own things until meeting up again for dinner with the rest of the family.

After dinner, we'd shower together, have sex and then go to sleep. I was happy.

I was sitting in the armchair of his bedroom reading a book when the door burst open with force. The sound of it hitting the wall ricocheted around the room as Nikolai stormed inside.

I immediately stood up, alarmed by his sudden entrance.

"Nikolai, what's wrong?" He didn't normally meet me for lunch for a few more hours and I had never seen him this angry. "Are you-"

Nikolai drew his gun faster than I'd ever seen him before, efficiently cutting me off. "Get on your knees." He ordered. His voice shook, but his expression was cold as stone. I could tell he was obviously struggling to keep his composure. Hurt and anger swam in his eyes, but nothing stood out more than the look of betrayal.

"Nikolai?" I pleaded softly, but I complied, slowly sinking down to my knees. I had no idea what I could have done to make him this angry, but I didn't want to risk acting out

When he had a gun to my head. I cautiously raised my hands before speaking. "Nikolai, tell me what's wrong. Talk to me. I can help you get through this, just talk to me." I reasoned, trying to hide just how terrified I was in that moment.

"Destiny...." Nikolai struggled to croak out. His gun was shaking in his hand as he pointed it at my head. "Destiny please tell me you didn't do this. Tell me you weren't the one who betrayed us. I don't want to shoot you. I can't shoot you."

My eyebrows knit together in confusion. Someone had betrayed Nikolai? And he thought it was me? I couldn't even begin to fathom doing anything to upset him, let alone betray him.

I hesitantly reached out and placed my hand on the barrel of the gun, lowering it. When he let me push it down, I deemed it safe enough to stand. "Nikolai, I would never."

I took carefully calculated footsteps, closing the space between us.

"You can trust me. I promise I didn't say
anything to anyone." I gently placed my hands on his chest.

A look of pure anguish crossed Nikolai's face, making him appear to have aged ten years. "I want to believe you."

"Then do." I whispered softly, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "You can trust me Nikolai. What do I have to do to make you trust me?"

I jumped at the thud Nikolai's gun made as he dropped it on the floor. Nikolai pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me, securing me to him.