𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐀 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄

𝐗𝐈𝐈 - 𝐀𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨

I wake up when I feel Novalie shift in my arms. She tries to get up but she can't move under my arms.

“No don't go” I mutter liking being so close to her.

“I need to pee..” she trails and I chuckle letting her go.

I watch her get off the bed and into my bathroom. I stare at the door waiting for her to come back and when she does I don't even try to hide my feelings.

“Now come back,” I say making grabby hands at her and she chuckles as she slides into my embrace.

“Good morning bellissima,” I say to her kissing her forehead.

“Good morning Adriano,” she says back at me.

“Feeling better?” I ask her.

“I do” She smiles looking up at me and I nod.

A moment of silence passes before she speaks again, “Can I ask a question?” she sounded nervous.

“Whatever you want to know Tesoro,” I say back to her.

“Who is Alessio?” she asks curiously.

“He used to be my best friend,” I tell her.

“Oh but what happened?” She asks me leaning further into me.

“Okay let me start from the beginning. I met Alessio when we were just kids. His father worked for our family at the time. We literally did everything together and we were so close but once we turned seventeen, Alessio got involved with the wrong crowd and took up drinking. I understood drinking on occasion but at the time, every time I saw him, he was high. From vodka to tequila, gin, rum, whiskey, brandy, whatever, Alessio did it all as a habit. I tried to be supportive and help him get through it but it kept getting harder as he pushed me away. Unfortunately, his father had a heart failure and passed away when we were twenty and our family paid for his burial just as we had paid for his treatment. On the day of the burial, we were all present but Alessio failed to show. I called him like a billion times but it all went to voicemail and after the ceremony, I drove straight to his house angry that he would miss that.” I looked down at Novalie who was looking up at me with expectant eyes.

“Then what happened?” She looked so cute when she was curious.

“Alessio opened the door and almost slammed it back shut when he saw it was me but I held it open and walked in”

I start to flashback to that evening as I narrate it to Novalie.

“I'd expect to be done with you now Milano,” he said.

“Sorry?” I ask confused by his unfamiliar tone.

“My dad is dead now I don't have to pretend to be your friend anymore,” he says confusing me further.

“I don't understand,” I say to him.

“Don't be dumb Addy, you can't claim you didn't know that all these were fake” he said, gulping down the content of another bottle.

“All what?”

“Our friendship. I never liked you. This was all Dad's idea” he said with spite for his dad and me.

“What was your dad's idea?” I asked getting angry.

“To get close to you in hopes of having a high position in your family's mafia when you become don,” he tells me.

“But I never cared about your family's mafia or having a high position. That was Daddy's dream. But now he's gone, I don't have to be associated with you anymore. I was never your friend, Adriano. Is this weird for you, sir? Not getting something you want?” He said walking up to me and before I could dodge, he landed a hard punch on my face.