Mafia Men II: Romano

Chapter 17

It's been days and I've tried texting her. She would respond but was very short with me. I didn't know how else to tell her that I was over Lauren. I professed my heart to her the other day and I'm not sure what else I could do to show her that. I was at a Gala that I'm sure she'd be working at. I was looking around for her until I saw the doors opened and in came Christian and Lauren. They were dressed up and Lauren wore a black dress with red heels. She looked amazing as usual, but something was different. My heart didn't race at the sight of her. My throat didn't feel like it had a lump in it. I didn't feel short of my breath. It didn't feel like she was the only woman in the room. They spotted me and came over to me. Christian shook my hand.

"Hey what are you two doing here?" I asked

"Christian had to talk to Cameron and Cameron has been avoiding his calls. We thought we could use a night out." Lauren said and I nodded

"How's the kids?" I asked

"We left them with Kim although not my decision. Amelia and Lucian won't stop fighting. I think they got that from me" Christian said and I laughed

"Auntie Kim is an excellent baby sitter" Lauren said glaring at Christian

"There the bastard is. I'll be right back baby." Christian kissed Lauren on the lips and I braced for impact but nothing happened. My chest didn't tighten at the view of them kissing or his hand on her waist. I didn't feel envy of his proximity to her. Nothing.

He walked off and we stood there.
"What's going on in your head?" Lauren asked taking two glasses of champagne off the tray and handing me one. Her hand brushed mine and no jolts of electricity, no loss of breath.

"Thanks. What do you mean?" I asked her taking a sip

"You look stressed. More than usual" She said

"My job is stressful." I said and she smiled softly. Again. Nothing. No weird fuzziness from her warm smile. No butterflies.

"Don't let that job run you into the ground Gio." She said and my heart-ached at not hearing the nickname from Angel herself

I looked around for her and still didn't see her. Maybe she chose not to work today.

"Who are we looking for?" She asked me "Is it a lucky lady?"

"My girlfriend-I think." I said sadly because I wasn't even sure that's what we were at the moment anymore

"You think? Do tell." Lauren said happily "Where is she? I want to meet her"

"We got into an argument a couple of days ago. She said she needed space. I gave it to her." I said

"Little thing of advice. We don't want space. With space comes overthinking. We want reassurance." She said and I looked at her

"Look at you giving me advice. What a turn of events" I said smiling and she laughed hitting my arm

Soon I saw a tray fall down and looked at the direction of the noise to see Angel falling to the ground and her look over at us and run off. My instinct was to go straight to her. I needed to make sure she was okay. I groaned knowing that what she saw probably looked terrible. Me days after not talking to her being seen with the woman she worried about laughing and smiling with her husband no where in sight.

"Damn it. There she is." I said running off towards the kitchen

I followed through the kitchen doors. I saw her run out back after taking her apron thing off and throwing it on the counter. We were in the alley and she was facing a wall. It was a dead end. She turned around and I saw the tears in her eyes. My heart constricted.

"Angel. I-" I started

"I can't get hurt by you Gio. I'm hurt now. So hurt, but if I continue down this path, I won't be able to take it. I have to be there for my father. I can't go through heartbreak. So, this is done. I love you but I won't survive this if this fails." She said and I felt my heart break.

"Angel please " I tried to grab her hand and she let me go going back into the party.

I stood there feeling like I had been kicked down and beaten by her words. I couldn't cope. I decided to go back inside to the bar and drown my sorrows using my all too familiar coping mechanism.

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Angela POV

I walked back into the party wiping my tears after ending things with Giovanni. Seeing him laughing and smiling with her killed me. She was so stunning and I envied her. He was right. She was beautiful and I could see why he was so stuck on her. I couldn't compare to her. I was literally a damn waitress. Men ogled her with their attention and I realized I bumped into someone. I looked up.

"Sorry sir" I said and he looked at me

"Angela I assume?" He said and I nodded. Of course he was handsome as well.

"Christian Rossi" He said and shook my hand "Let's talk."

He ushered for me to go into a meeting room and I followed him.

"So you're the Christian Rossi that everyone's been talking about " I said looking around the room

"My wife told me you are the one Giovanni is dating" he said leaning against the desk

"Was." I corrected and felt sad at what that meant

"I'm not the advice kind of guy. I like to leave that to my wife but she thought you'd find some sort of comfort in hearing my perspective." He said and I nodded crossing my arms

"When I met Lauren and we were interested in each other, Giovanni wanted her too." He started

"Not a great start Christian." I said and he smiled a bit

"I'm getting there be patient, Angela" Christian said and I sat down on the couch in front of him

"Sorry" I said putting my hands in my lap "Continue"

"They had a connection. I hated the idea of it completely. I knew she had feelings for him. Everyone knew. I felt like the third party in some way and it fucked with my head constantly. No matter what Lauren told me, my head would say she'd rather be with Giovanni. What if I wasn't in the picture, would I be intruding into their happiness? She reassured me continually but I needed it for myself. I'm a jealous bastard and even the idea of them near each other used to haunt me. But then I learned to trust her. I learned that our relationship wouldn't last if I didn't let go just enough to make her feel like I believed in us despite his presence in her life. Today I went to go speak to my cousin and I left them alone. My old instincts would have never allowed that to happen, but I left knowing that as my wife and the mother of my pride and joys, I know that she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize what we have because that's how strong our love is." He said and I wiped the tears that I didn't know fell

Christian sat next to me. He handed me his handkerchief and I took it using it wipe my tears.
"I hated the man for a while. I won't lie to you but he's been nothing short of incredible to Lauren and now I'd say a friend to me. Please don't tell him I said that. I'd have to kill him if he repeats it to me." He said and I laughed

He smiled softly. "Everyone said you were an asshole" I said and he laughed loudly

"I am" He said smiling at me "I think it's the kids. After watching so much Cocomelon, a man can't help but be more approachable."

"Thank you Christian" I said smiling at him

"Of course Angela." He said

Soon the door busted open. It was Giovanni and he didn't look happy at all.