Their Little One (ON HOLD, EDITING CHAPTERS!)

Chapter Eighteen

Marco Romano

"What does this mean?". Arielle asked me, her doe eyes staring into mine as she pointed her finger to the teardrop under my left eye. Something I hated, something that didn't matter to me. Only my d- Only Crowne.

I gently grabbed her wrist and held her hand instead, softly sighing. I wanted to express myself to her more, she deserved to know a bit more from such a quiet person like me. And with the situation, I didn't know if I would be around for much longer, for her safety.

"Nothing baby, my father did this. He wanted it for me". I noticed her small smile form into a sad frown and she raised an eyebrow slightly tilting her head to the side, "Just like Gio.. and Mario...". She trailed off and I just nodded at her, gripping her hand a bit tighter.

"Yes princess, just like them. You know.. what you saw in the basement the other day.. You shouldn't have seen it but you did. And i'm sorry to say but that's just who we are, we never got to be ourselves. But you do princess, our father did everything but be a father to us. He used us to rise in his business, ever since we could walk and talk". He stopped talking to take a breather, having not spoke so much in what felt like decades. I gently took his thumb to wipe away her eyes as they began to tear up.

"When my father made me first harm a man, and take his life. I was only 9. And that's also when I got this..". I spoke, referring to my teardrop. And I remembered my father's words before opening my mouth again.

(13 years ago) Authors POV

"The ink son, this ink. Is what makes you powerful, feared by any man. These tattoos I am getting for you and your brother are for your own good, you are the son of Crowne and you have to be ready for anyone who tries to cross you and your brothers". He pierced the tattoo gun into Marco's skin more, I looked in the mirror with tears in my eyes and I looked at the black mark that sat under his left eye a bit sore and red.

Blood stained his shirt and hands, a lifeless bloody body laid behind his father in the mirror completely unrecognizable by the hands of his own father. He had Marco pull the trigger, and after that. He beat the man to a pulp, he was in shock. He wasn't talking, he couldn't, he wasn't even crying from the pain of the needle. It was the fact he just took someone's life so carelessly following his father's instructions.

The task was, to get rid of one of Crowne's close mate and the guys whom he worked with to feed information to. Crowne didn't like traitors, he felt as if it was utter disrespect. Taking people under your wing, only for them to turn on you and not be genuine in the first place. But his name was Crowne, what did he even know about genuine if he was putting his kids to his dirty work?

Three small boys walked into the room, with towels sniffling and shaking. Their backs sore after receiving a tattoo of a kingdom with a crown on top. The kingdom stood for Romano, cause there was so many, and most of them stood together or most would fall apart. And the crown of course stood for their dad since he was the highest in the family right now. The ink was in black and red, the whole kingdom being black and the crown being red. A blood red. Cause that's what Crowne liked, blood.

"My sons, you look magnificent. Just like your dad, the ink is about the meaning behind it. If it has no meaning then it can't be a tattoo". He smiled peacefully, turning his head back to his work on Marcos back not giving the children any breaks from the first time pain of a tattoo.

"D-dad why did you m-make us do it?". Marco asked, and Crowne stayed silent for a bit before stopping and turning off the tattoo gun. He looked at Marco in the mirror, fluffing up his hair and rubbed and patted his shoulders in a bit of a rough way.