A Z A L E A

Chapter 14

AZALEA

When I woke up, the first one I saw was Luca.

He was seating beside me holding my hand, his head down.

I thought he was sleeping but I was mistaken when his eyes suddenly snapped to me when I moved slightly.

"How are you feeling? Do you feel pain somewhere? How does—" Luca began shooting me questions and I shook my head to him slowly.

"Luca," I whispered his name softly.

"Yes cara mia? Do you need anything?" his eyes was filled with worry as he stare at me.

I shook my head no and smiled at him.

He sigh, relief washed over his form and then glanced at me again.

"I'm sorry," he started.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there with you, I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you, I'm sorry I was—" I placed my finger on his lips, silencing him.

For the first time in forever, Luca's eyes misted.

"Shhh," I shushed him before resting my palm on his cheek.

"It's okay, I'm fine aren't I?" I assured him and he shook his head.

"He came here for me, he came here to hurt me but you're the one who ended up hurt instead! I.. It's.. It's my fault," he argued before I shushed him again.

"No, Luca, don't ever blame yourself for this," I told him and pulled him closer.

He nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck and it wasn't long before I felt his tears soaking my shirt.

He's crying.

Luca Moretti, The boss of the Italian Mafia, The most successful businessman in the country, The most powerful man to ever grace the land of Italy, The man who feared no one, is crying on my shoulder right now.

I drew comforting circles on his back and whispered comforting words on his ear.

We stayed like that for a long time before he wiped his face harshly with his hands like he didn't want to show me the trace of his tears and Straightened up in his seat.

He cleared his throat before telling me to go back to sleep and rest.

I told him that I'll only sleep if he lay down beside me and rest as well.

But he insisted that he'll stay up to watch me and that caused us to argue before he resigned and laid down next to me.

Not even 5 minutes passed before I saw him already deep in his sleep.

This boy!

He insisted that he wasn't tired but it was him who surrendered to darkness first.

I laughed lightly before I felt the same darkness consume me.

•••••
AZALEA

3 weeks later

It was hard for me to sleep at night after the incident that happened 3 weeks ago, sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, but thankfully, Luca was always there to comfort me.

We were in the middle of dinner when a maid interrupted us

"Signore, you have a visitor," she said making Luca and me turn towards her.