Mariella grew up in the foster care system, abused every day until she found solace in the most unexpected form; Mateo, the son of an Italian mob leader.
Fate brought the two together, but when it tears them apart, how is she supposed to cope? Espe...
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"Italy?! Are you insane!?" I practically scream, staring into his eyes, trying to grasp if he's actually being serious right now. And what am I met with? Seriousness.
The kids come barreling into the room. A screaming Vivi trying to catch a laughing Angel, who has a small stuffed toy held captive above his head. I grab Teo by the arms and storm into the other room, not wanting the kids to hear us arguing.
"We can't go to Italy Mateo! I can't go to Italy! For crying out loud, why on Earth would we go to Italy?" I plead for an answer. He looks so stern, as usual, but I can't help but notice the small amount of humor creeping onto his face little by little.
He just proposed that we go to Italy and he's laughing?
Seeing my rather pissed off, and annoyed face, he decides to finally answer, "Bambina, I know it's a big deal, but that's really where we'd be safest right now. New York is swarming with the Irish mob right now, and I don't want to take any more risks with you and our kids. Please just hear me out."
Hearing him say our kids makes my heart flutter with so much love. This is what I always dreamed of, a cute little family. I may have gotten that, but I also got Mafia life, my kids not knowing their dad for 6 years, and moving countries just to stay alive.
"I-i get it, but it's just hard. As much as I love you being around the kids, everything is changing around us and it's hard to put my babies through that, Teo."
He gives me a look of understanding and wraps his big, burly arms around my small frame. His hand goes to the back of my head, boring it in his chest while I wrap my arms around him as tight as possible. Still tired from an eventful yesterday, I let out a pathetic yawn. And we've only just had breakfast. Mentally rolling my eyes at myself, I snuggle deeper into the large man in front of me.
Hearing my yawn, he leans his head down and pecks my forehead, before surprising me and hauling me up into his arms as if I'm the lightest feather in the world. And trust me when I say, I'm not. I still haven't lost all of my baby weight from Angel and Vivi.
Squealing, I wrap my arms around his neck. "What are you doing Teo?" He glances down at me before giving me a chuckle and walking into the bedroom.
Tossing me softly on the bed, just enough that I bounce, he pecks me one more time on the forehead.
"Get some more sleep beautiful, you're gonna need it." Then he closes the door, leaving me sprawled across the deep red sheets and covers.
Burrowing myself into a clump and covering myself with the comforter, I allow myself to close my eyes and relax.
