Psychotic Love (a mafia love story)

Chapter 25

LUCA'S POV

Echo has been locked in the basement for about eight hours now. When I left that basement and heard her screams it ripped my heart into two, but I need her to understand. She can't just run off like that, this is her life we're talking about. And whether she does or not, I value her life, and I will not let her put it in danger.

I think she's probably learned her lesson now. I leave my office and head to the basement. When I reach the door she is behind, I pull it open. A ray of light casts upon her body that is curled into a ball on the concrete floor. She doesn't move.

"Echo?" I call out to her but I don't get a response. She must be sleeping.

I walk into the room and crouch down in front of her. She shivers a bit and lets out soft whimpers. I move her hair from her face. Her eyes are wide open and tears rush from them onto the floor. They splatter like drops of water from a leaking pipe.

She stares straight ahead at the light flooding the room. She doesn't even blink. It's like she's not even there.

"Baby, can you hear me?"

She still doesn't respond. Irritation grows from deep inside me.

"Echo, you're not a child. I'm not playing this silent game with you."

Like before, she stays silent. I gently pull her up by her arm. She doesn't resist. I began to leave the room but she just stands there, her arms wrapped around herself and her head facing the light. She stares into nothing.

I walk back over to her, cupping her face in my hands. I look into her eyes, but I see nothing. She's not there. I give her cheek a few soft slaps.

"Hey, come on. Stop fucking around. Say something."

She rolls her neck before closing her eyes. She takes a deep breath in and slowly exhales it. Her eyes finally meet mine, and I feel like I can see her soul again.

"You're the f-fucking...devil, I h-hate you," She says softly. The remark is so low in tone that I barely catch it.

Those words feel like a dagger piercing through my heart, coming from her. This is the second time she's said them. I've heard many people tell me that exact same thing before, and it never fazed me. It does something to me, hearing it from her. I don't want to be the devil in her eyes.

I don't even know what to say. Instead of saying anything, I lead her from the basement, all the way to my bedroom. Echo doesn't say another word to me. She hops in bed and falls asleep within minutes.

It's early, 4:03 am to be exact. I should be working but a part of me wants to sit here on the edge of the bed until she wakes.

I do just that. For an entire 3 hours, I sit until she starts to stir in her sleep. She groans as if she's in pain. I get up moving closer to her. I sit right beside her bringing my hand in contact with her face. It's slightly bruised.

Guilt rushes through my body when her eyes open and frantically moves away from me. She's scared and she has every reason to be. I don't know why I feel this way. I've been feared by many, maybe even all, but I hate this. I hate her fear of me.

I don't want to hurt her, but I don't know how to keep her safe from the world, without doing so.

As a young boy, when my father wanted to make sure I didn't do stupid shit to endanger myself or the family, he'd punish me. It always worked, it worked with my mother too. Suddenly I don't feel like it's the way to go anymore.

I don't like this. There has to be another way. Fuck, she's just so goddamn disobedient. I don't know what to do. If I let her run wild, she will get herself killed.

"I'm sorry." The words burst from my mouth like water from a broken fire hydrant. I don't even think, I just speak. I remember being a young boy and swearing that I'd never say those words to anyone. I'd never be or feel sorry for anyone.

Echo doesn't even gaze in my direction. Her head is facing the window. The sun has begun to rise, casting a soft golden light. It grazes her beautiful skin so gently.

"Echo, please...look at me."

She hesitates before showing me her glossed over, puffy, red eyes.

"I apologize, for hitting you. I...have problems, and until I brought you into my life I never planned on fixing them, but I don't want to hurt you anymore, so I will fix them."

The silence in the room is loud. I can hear every breath she takes. I can feel irritation spilling over me like a pot of boiling water. The way she ignores me has me infuriated, but her soft exhales calm me.

Echo loves calling me a psychopath, I know it's because she thinks I'm crazy, to which I can admit I am, but I am not a psychopath. I even questioned if I was a psychopath myself, but I'm not, I feel emotions, I have empathy. It's not often but I do, I'm not a psychopath.

Echo turns her head back to the window. She wipes away the tears that stream down her cheeks.

"I shouldn't forgive you..." she starts to speak. Her voice cracks in the process. "But something keeps telling me to. It's probably my fucked up brain. Maybe I'm the psychopath."

I give a soft laugh, considering I'd just been thinking about psychopathy. "Do you even know what a psychopath is, baby?"

"No, not exactly, but I don't need you to tell me." Her head still faces the window. I get up from the bed and walk over to her side. I sit next to her, turning her head with my finger so I can see her face. God, how that face could turn the darkest demons into angels.

"I'm truly sorry. I just wanted to make sure you'd never run off like that again. I realized my methods in doing so, weren't the best."

Our tongues hang in silence for what seems like an eternity. Her face is back off to the sunrise, and once again, I find myself admiring her beauty. The soft pink shade that lays across her lips and cheeks, the long length of her eyelashes that brush her eyelids, I love it all.

"Is your hand okay? I'm sorry for biting you. I don't know why I did that."

My brows frown at her words. I can't believe she's apologizing. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, maybe you should think before you speak. When you apologize for things you have no business apologizing for, it comes off as weak."

Her apology leaves me thinking. I just did the most horrendous thing to her and she's apologizing to me. Why? Why is she like this? What happened to her to make her this way?

"Hmm...well I'm not afraid to admit that I'm not a very strong minded person. I've always hated that about myself. In high school, I'd get anxious doing some of the simplest things. I'd even apologize when people bumped into me."

"Maybe I can help with that, and I don't think you're weak. It takes a very courageous person to disobey me."

She laughs. "Courageous? No, maybe stupid."

"That too," I tease.

She brings her head onto my shoulder. It feels like a weight has been lifted from me when I realize she's relaxed. Next to me, she is calm, not petrified.

"Did you mean what you said back in the basement?" I ask.

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

For the first time in my life, I think I feel hurt.

"But you can change my mind," she says softly. "I'm giving you another chance. I don't really have a choice in doing so, but I'm choosing to willingly give you another chance."

I turn my head to place a kiss on her forehead. She's such a kind soul. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before. Even my mother who I deemed as loving, wasn't this kind. I vow not to take advantage of her kindness any longer. I've realized just how fragile and easily manipulated she is, I don't want to take advantage of that. I want to build her up. I want to teach her just how strong she truly is.

"I love you," I say.