The Bringer Of Death

Chapter 18

Massimo POV

A soft knock fills my office.

I slowly lift my eyes to the monitor that shows the camera outside the door. Outside, just a few feet away, was a familiar head of long brown hair.

A smirk appears on my lips as she lifts her head and looks straight at the camera.

She's been here for one day and already has spotted all the cameras in the house.

"Come in," I say as I look back down at my paperwork.

I continue working as Serena enters the room, closing the door behind her.

I see her walk cautiously into the room while looking around, all the while staying quiet.

I finish the page of shipments before sitting back and looking at Serena.

She was already sitting in the chair across from me, scanning me with her eyes.

"Did you come here to ask something or to just stare at me?" I ask with humor. Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on the desk and stare at her amused. She had changed into a pair of sweatpants with an oversized shirt.

She was drowning in the shirt but still looked like the sexiest person on earth.

"My phone?" She asks in a monotone voice.

"Discarded," I say back. Her head nods lightly as her eyes scan the wall behind me. "All of your other belongings from the hotel were packed in your bag Joyce gave you."

She nods again before looking back at me.

"Why?"

"Why what?" I ask as I stand from the chair and walk over to her. She tenses slightly before relaxing as I leaned against the desk in front of her, our knees touching slightly.

"Why marriage?" I feel tense now as I look down at those deep hazel eyes. "We both know I don't need your protection so that's not the reason. All you had to do to get me to help you was ask. Plus, mafia men don't do anything that won't benefit them in some way. So why?"

Now it was my turn to go silent.

A part of me still has no clue why I did that. I had never seen myself getting married and having a family.

Although thus far the mafia has been in blood lineage, I was planning on giving it to the person I trust the most when I was ready to step down. I have fully excepted this mafia as my family and never questioned it since my youth.

So why did I do it?

"I think," My hand reaches up and swipes my hair back out of my face. A long breath leaves my lips. "I think I absentmindedly did it with alternative meanings."

She raises an eyebrow and clenches the arm of her chair.

"What do you mean?"

My eyes scan hers as she expects the worst to come out of my mouth.

"I told myself it was for your protection, but your right. You do not need the mafia shield. I did it because... because you made me feel something again," I pause to gauge her reaction. Shock fills her eyes before she shields them again. "I have always done this job with no emotion and no enjoyment except for when I carved flesh with my knife and drew with blood.

"But these past two weeks, you made me feel something. I don't know what it is. I just know I never want that feeling to go away," I say and look away from her.

She was silent as that information sunk in.

"Alive," She says and my head snaps to face her. She had a look of understanding on her face. "The freedom of not having anyone to count on you, not having a mission or a job to do. It made you feel alive and free."