The Mafia's Angel | 18+

𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

𝘼𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖

✦⋆𓆩✧𓆪⋆✦

I jumped when the car door shut behind me.

My family home was in shambles. Broken shingles from the roof hung onto the structure by a hair, water poured from the broken windows, and the plants that Mamma had loved so much sat in a pile of ash by the trim of the house. My chest hurt as I took a timid step forward, pausing when Ari placed his hand on my shoulder. "Angel," he murmured, offering me his hand, and I flickered my gaze between his hand in front of me and his face. Sincerity and care were written over every inch of his beautiful face, so I slid my hand into him, smiling softly when he squeezed my palm.

He led us to the front door, pulling a gun free from his jeans, just in case intruders were still in the house.

The smell of wet plaster hit me like a brick wall when we entered the house, and I let out a long breath while Ari tugged me closer, nearly sending me to the ground when I tripped over pieces of burnt furniture. But I wrapped one hand around Ari's arm, pulling it in front of me, getting a squeeze of his hand as approval. We stopped at the door, the door to Papa's office and I froze, watching Ari bring his foot up, slamming it against the middle of the door, sending the oak flying across the room and into a bookshelf.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," I muttered hearing a small chuckle from him.

"I'd never hurt you, angel."

Ari scanned the office, starting to go through files as I stood in the open doorway. I was never allowed into Papa's office as a child or as an adult. He claimed it was to keep me safe, and after everything that happened, I'm inclined to believe it. At first, I thought it was a way for him to control me, but now, I'm resigned to the fact that no matter what my Papa did, even if I disagreed with it, it was to keep me out of the direct line of fire. He knew Erik would need me as if I didn't need Erik more.

I slipped past the men filtering into the office to help Ari search for important documents, heading to the grand stairwell that led to the second floor of my once-beautiful family home. The stone railing was still slick with water when I wrapped my fingers around it, focusing on the openness above instead of the red water that rolled over the terracotta stairs. There was still so much blood, and I was still covered in it from my steps. But I slowly climbed, careful not to slip through the water that was rolling down the stairs, and when I reached the landing, I took a shuttering breath, walking through the blood-stained terracotta, the place where my family was brutally executed and pushed open the door to my bedroom.

My room was still untouched, my bed disheveled from where I kicked the blankets off, the warm summer breeze flowing through the window and making the sheer curtains dance. My room was always comfortably warm during the summers, the terracotta soaked up the sun's rays and expelled the heat toward the stucco walls, it reminded me of Nonno's vineyard in Italy, and that's how Mamma wanted the house to feel.

"I'm assuming this is your room?"

I whirled around, tumbling backward onto my bed at the voice behind me. Ari's cousin stood in my doorway, curiosity written all over her features as she took in my room. "Sí," I let out a nervous breath, "Sorry, yes, this is my room." I pushed up on the mattress to stand again, my hands shaking as I carefully walked to her, "Let me introduce myself properly," I murmured, "Ariella Abelli, it's nice to meet you."

Ari's cousin smiled, placing her hand against mine and giving one firm shake, "Eliana Levinson, Ari's annoying, younger cousin, or that's what he'll tell you," I couldn't help the smile from crawling across my face, she reminded me of Lily, "And hopefully to become one of your friends, it's lonely being the only girl around the Levinson gang."