The Mafia's Angel | 18+

𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧

𝘼𝙧𝙞

✦⋆𓆩✧𓆪⋆✦

This was dangerous.

Ariella was a dangerous little thing for me to have around. She was bewitching, I followed her no matter what. And as we sat at the foot of my bed, her legs spread over mine, I realized how fucking beautiful she was. Let me be clear, I had always known that Ariella Abelli was a beautiful young woman, she took after her mother, with onyx hair and beautiful green eyes that had golden flakes in them. I often found myself getting lost in the memory of them late at night.

But what made her truly beautiful was her outlook on life. She never let the world dim her shine. Even today, a measly few hours after her family was brutally slaughtered on the opposite side of her door, she got up and faced the world when all she wanted to do was hide in the covers. She walked into that house, and she did not let those monsters win. I admired her truly, she was a unique woman—a gem in a mountain of coal. She was not going to let anyone dim the way she shined. And I found myself wanting to make her burn brighter. I had always been the strength behind Ariella, secretly fanning her confidence for years, but I've also convinced her father to turn down every proposal she's had. I was being selfish about that, but I couldn't help, I wasn't willing to let her go.

Ariella looked so fragile against me, yet she was the strongest person I knew.

A summer breeze flowed in from the cracked window, blinds fluttering in the air only to let the breeze slide through Ariella's hair. Her hair may mimic a starless sky, but her eyes were emeralds in the dark, leading so many of us to her when everything seemed to be going wrong. The room was covered in an orange glow as the sunset under the mountain, pink clouds reflecting off the lake outside my window. Yet, Ariella didn't move from her spot between my legs. She didn't dare look outside, all she did was look at me through the mirror, her eyes boring into mine to try and learn my soul. And I was more than willing to let her in, I may have been her father's best friend, but I've always been Ariella's.

"Eliana said that you need to settle down," Ariella's voice was loud in the silent room, but my attention fell on her regardless, she could've spoken barely above a whisper and I would've watched her mouth, would've read the syllables falling out of her pink lips. "Why haven't you?"

Because no woman is you.

I hummed as I draped my arms over her shoulders, hands dangling above her chest, "I haven't found anyone worthy of me calling my own," That may have been the biggest lie I've ever said, and she seemed to know that too because her eyebrow rose in the most perfect arch I've ever seen. But then again, everything that Ariella does is perfect. "It's hard to find someone who won't ask too many questions pertaining to my employment, it's not easy to casually say you're an underboss in the most prominent family in New York."

Ariella nodded, relaxing further against me.

My hands slid down her arms, watching her palms turn toward me, a silent invitation to put my hand in hers that I followed almost instantly. It was natural to have her touching me, years of stolen glances and hugs weren't enough anymore, her body pressed against mine was needed, almost as badly as I needed air.

"Ari," Eliana poked her head into my room and I leaned against the mattress to catch her eye, "Erik is on the phone."

"I'll be down in a minute."

I squeezed Ariella's hands gently, untangling her body from mine even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. She was quiet as she watched me tower over her, one hand linking with the other while she studied me. "When I'm done with Erik," I whispered, leaning down so I could kiss her forehead, "Let's go on a walk around the lake yeah?" When she nodded, I smiled, walking out of the room and nearly colliding with my cousin.