The Mafia's Angel | 18+

𝙎𝙞𝙭

✦⋆𓆩✧𓆪⋆✦

𝘼𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖

Red, so much red.

It's pooled around my feet, the tangy iron smell permeated the air. Papa's eyes are wide, his mouth agape like a fish struggling, his fingers are wrapped around my ankle, and I'm screaming. The terracotta is fresh with blood, I can feel the warmth between my toes, and then I'm dropping to my knees, heaving the contents of my stomach out of me. Mamma is staring at me, her lifeless gaze so hollow, so opposite to how she was. So full of life, so full of love.

"Ella," Tears gathered in my eyes as I blinked, looking at my little sister, her baby blanket covered in blood, "Why'd you let them hurt me?"

I shook my head, my trembling hands reaching for my little sister, "I didn't mean to," I cried out, tears rolling down my cheeks, I hadn't even noticed the house catching fire, "I promise I didn't mean to."

"I called for you," Lily was pressing against the wound in her temple, "I wanted you before they killed me."

"Lily," I breathed out. God, please let me wake up, I don't want to relive this. "I'm sorry, I love you so much."

Lily gave a sad smile, before she disappeared into the mist, no longer a fragment of my imagination anymore.

I shot up in Ari's bed, covered in a cold sweat with the sheets tangled around my feet. I could hear my heart roaring in my ears, I could feel the harsh thump as it beat against my ribcage like a bird in a cage. A dream, that's all it was. It was a dream. Yet, the tears rolling down my cheeks were very real, and everywhere I looked in this godforsaken room I saw the weak woman who wanted to crawl on her knees to beg for forgiveness from people who would never see this world again.

My limbs were heavy as I pulled myself from the bed.

I didn't know where I was going, I just needed out. I needed to not be alone. So, I tugged Ari's shirt tight around me and entered the hallway. It was so late, and for the first time since I'd been inside Ari's Manor, there was no light in the hallway. So I followed the path the moon illuminated from the stained glass, and I walked to the stairwell, waiting to hear voices. When there was none, I slowly made my way down, following the blue light spilling out from the living room.

Ari was sprawled on the couch, his black sweatpants low on his hips as deep breaths left his chest. He was so beautifully handsome it was painful. Ari Levinson had no flaws, just deep scars. But while he was everyone's bringer of death, he was the safety I had craved for so long already. So, I shuffled into the living room, up until my thighs hit the back of the couch. "Ari?"

Tired blue eyes blinked awake, and instead of him being irritated, he just reached up, cupping my face with one of his large, warm palms, and his thumb wiped away tears that were still falling."What's wrong angel?"

I wrapped my arms tightly around my waist as if it were my defense against the man in front of me. "Can I lay with you?"

Ari nodded, the notes of confusion worn plainly on his face as he watched me round the couch and lay beside him. That wasn't close enough for Ari apparently, because he wrapped his arms around my waist, hauling me up so I was pressed flat to his chest with mine. "What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream."

Ari hummed, his fingers tracing shapes on my lower back. I had always felt safe in my life, my father had always protected me, but there was something about the way Ari protected me. The silence ran from him, not to him, and I wasn't swallowed whole. He was always there, always watching me, always waiting to pull me back from the depths of hell I would sink into. "You're safe here," Ari's voice was thick with sleep, and I curled further into him, letting him tug me to him as tight as possible. "I promise angel."