My Mafia Romance

Capitolo Otto

I don't know when or even how but I eventually feel asleep during the car ride to the villa. I felt myself being gently removed from the car and carried into the main house and up the grand staircase. When I was laid on the bed by Domenico I heard him rummaging through the dresser drawers looking for a pair of pajamas, grumbling to himself in Italian whenever he came across the wrong set of clothes.

"Middle drawer on the left," I whispered sounding scratchy from sleepiness and exhaustion. He spun around at the sound of my voice.

"Why don't you take a shower Apollonia," he walked back over to me and gently pulled me up to a standing position. "You've been through too much for one night."

"I'm fine Domenico," I attempted to argue. "You aren't fine," he said his gaze lingering on the bruise on my upper arm of a handprint. "Just go take a shower, you'll feel better."

I agreed to take a shower not just because he said so, but I did want to wipe away the memories of the nightmare that this night had been. When I finished getting ready for bed Domenico was on the balcony staring out into the night. I stood next to him gazing out over the expansive garden.

"What's wrong?" I asked looking up at his rigid facial expression. He was acting like he was upset but not at any particular person, more so at himself.

"I told you that nothing would happen to you tonight," his grip on the railing turning his knuckles white. "And something did happen."

"It's fine Domenico, I'm fine. It's over with," I attempted to reassure him. I mean sure I was shaken to the core and had been scared out of my wits, but I gotten through it and was okay now.

"Apollonia why don't you just go to bed," he ran a tired hand across his face. "You look like you're about to collapse."

"If I'm going to bed then you have to come too," I gently grasped his wrist and tugged it so that he would follow me into the bedroom. I let go to throw the decorative pillows off before grabbing his wrist again and pulling him onto the bed next to me. Domenico kicked off his shoes and joined me on the bed.

"This isn't your fault," I said running my nimble fingers through his thick dark hair.

"The only thing your father made me promise to do in order to marry you was to keep you safe," he said. "And I failed," his words broke my heart. "I should have known Emilio would have men everywhere."

"What did Emilio mean when he said that you did something years ago?" I pondered aloud. That statement from the evil man struck me as odd.

"Emilio had a much younger wife named Francesca," he started. "I met her at a meeting my father brought me to when he was still the head of the family. Francesca was only a year older than me and we hit it off from the start. She was beautiful and in a bad situation, so I took care of her. We started getting serious fast and within a few weeks of knowing each other we started having an affair."

I shifted uncomfortably from hearing my husband speak so vividly and passionately about another woman.

"Did Emilio ever find out?" I asked.

"Not for a year," he responded. "He discovered it when he found her pregnancy test on the bathroom counter and beat her until she told him who she was seeing. Emilio and Francesca never had sex, he always had women on the side for that. My father saved my ass when Emilio came looking for me."

"Where is Francesca now?" I asked.

"She ran away to the states, she said she had an aunt over there that would take care of her and the baby," Domenico said. "Emilio tracked her down when she was eight months pregnant and had her killed. But a pedestrian found her and called an ambulance. Doctors managed to save Francesca's baby but she died."

He had a distant look in his eyes as he finished. I never would have guessed that he would've had a tragic love story. 

"Where's the baby now?" I dared to ask. "I heard he is being raised by Francesca's aunt in Chicago, but don't worry about Apollonia just go to sleep."

With that he draped one arm around me and dozed off but my mind kept wondering about the baby, about my husband's baby.