A/N: Thank you sooooo so much to everyone who has read this series. I love you all immensely. Song is ‘’Hard for Me’’ by Michele Morrone. I hope every one has a very happy safe new year, thank you for sticking with me throughout this journey.
You could smell the salty musk of the ocean from below. The light breeze kissing your cheek bones the same way your eyelashes did as you permitted them to rest upon your face. Out of all of abrupt changes that had been forced upon you, you were grateful that the calm essence of the sea had remained a constant in your life. Your anchor, your safety net, your-
‘’Mrs. Amarro.’’
The tide drew you in, captivated you. The sound of the waves carrying you further from the cruel orbit of the world into the loving embrace of salty arms. Carrying you back to an old friend, long forgotten, but still familiar all the same; carrying you back to your innocence.
‘’Alessia.’’
You sharply exhaled, turning your attention back to your therapist. You had become very familiar with Dr. Jeevika Singh the past year and a half. Her graying hair hidden in a tight bun contradicted her youthful face. Even with her lips set in a firm line, her eyes often displayed her empathetic nature when meeting with you. Just as they did now. She was one of the most renowned therapists in the area, and she was one tough cookie. She also knew how to reel in your attention, such as purposefully calling you ‘’Mrs.’’
‘’Miss Amarro is fine, doctor. We’re not married,’’ you offered a small, lopsided smile before turning your attention to the ocean’s horizon outside of her office windows. You didn’t need to be facing her to know she gave a disapproving shake of her head before setting down her notebook, taking her glasses off from the bridge of her nose before gently placing them on the oak coffee table between you two.
Summary: Following Massimo’s betrayal and his kidnapping of you, you struggle to maintain some level of sanity and dignity. Massimo struggles with his emotions, leading to an eventful showdown between you two.
Your fingertips traced invisible patterns into the silk sheets below you. You wondered how long it would take for the video to reach your father. Would it even reach him? Would he even watch it? Massimo Torricelli was one of the most powerful men in the country, you were sure he could easily manage to get the tape to your father. As for whether or not your father would view the tape, it was something you chose not to harp on. Massimo. He had tricked you. With each passing day the desire to strangle him became more and more passionate, but even that was no match for how much you hated yourself for falling into bed with your father’s rival.
‘’Principessa, you need to eat something.’’
You automatically winced at the sound of Massimo’s deep voice. Whereas you would once swoon or blush over his pet name for you, you could now only shudder in resentment and disgust. You tried not to think about how he looked walking into that dress shop the day the two of you met. The day your life ended. How charming and suave he was. How you, for a brief moment, wondered what it would be like to be his lover and feel him inside you. He had betrayed you, and you hated him for it. You hated yourself for falling for his charm and allowing him to take you like some rutting beast. You hated the fact that your father was either going to have a heart attack when he saw the video of you and Massimo having sex, or that he’d cut you out of his life for being so weak; you weren’t sure yet which you preferred.
You gasped when you felt Massimo’s warm touch on your shoulder and immediately curled into yourself on the bed, tucking yourself away from him as if you could will your environment away. The sheets still smelt like the two of you, a fact that brought tears to the corners of your eyes. Massimo sighed, pinching his brow together as he attempted to gather his thoughts. He knew it was a low blow, what he had done was despicable. He was crushed when he had stared down at your sobbing form after had met his final release that night. You may have wanted it, wanted him, but he knew he had betrayed you in the worst way by filming it. He contemplated releasing you when you cried for your father, and for your mother who he was very much aware was deceased. He knew the pain of losing a parent, he had lost both of his due to the mafia life. He knew the perpetual wound of losing a loved one, and it was then his thoughts drifted back to Laura.
Laura. She too was another innocent whose life was snuffed out by needless mob violence. She was carrying his child, Domenico later informed him after the accident. Massimo thought about how he had been robbed of the chance to be a father, to be a husband to the woman of his dreams. He thought about how he’d never see Laura’s smile first thing in the morning or hear her laugh as she shopped to her heart’s content. He’d give anything to see her twirl around in some designer dress once more. He burned her image into his memory, the paintings of her had been long locked away in an unused room so that he did not have to be constantly reminded of what could have been. Of what had been so violently and maliciously stolen from him. He then looked at you, his anger quickly bubbling to the surface.
You were not Laura. You could never be. Yet, you reminded him of her in many ways. Your strong will, your caring heart, your unparalleled beauty. You were otherworldly. In many ways, you reminded him of her. You were intelligent and that made you dangerous. Based off the many months of following/watching your every move, he felt like he knew you in many ways. He knew you loved the smell of freshly cut grass and detested the way people practically bowed before you just because of who your father was. He knew you loved walking along the shores of Italy in the early mornings. He knew you had only one previous boyfriend in high school and that you had broken it off during a humanitarian retreat to some third world country. You had a big heart. You constantly gave to others. You were a protector of the downtrodden. That’s why he could never understand how you were related to one of the most vile, violent men in all of Italy and possibly the world.
‘’Y/n,’’ his voice was firm, and you were aware that was the tone he used when his patience was wearing thin.
You suppressed a shiver, before turning your head to glare up at him. He matched your gaze, eyebrows furrowed in both annoyance and as a warning to you.
‘’Eat,’’ he grabbed a pear from the bronze tray that lay at the foot of the bed. Your eyes glanced at the sweet fruit before taking it in your own hand. You took one bite, Massimo’s eyes softening only slightly in approval. That is, before you spat out the chuck of pear onto his face. He snarled, easily pinning your body back onto the mattress despite your struggling.
‘’Listen to me, and listen good,’’ he growled down at you, your face whipping side to side as you screamed in utter anguish, like some fox caught in a trap.
You choked on a scream when you felt the familiar grip of his hand around your neck, gasping for air as he forced you to look up at him. You blushed in complete humiliation when you felt his manhood harden slightly as he caged you in. He suppressed a smirk.
‘’You and I are not equals. I’m in charge. When I say ‘eat’ then you better eat. When I say ‘strip’ you better be on all fours waiting for my cock. When I say ‘shower’ you shower. Try and see what happens if you keep up this little defiant act of yours, babygirl. I dare you.’’
You hated the way your eyes filled with tears at his rough tone. Massimo had rarely spoken to you like this, although you noted he was quick-tempered and unafraid of manhandling you to get the point across. He had never hit you, other than a few spanks and light choking during the one time you two had sex. But you weren’t sure how much longer it would take until the mafia leader snapped and dragged you out of bed only to spray your brains across the front lawn.
‘’Y/n.’’
His tone was back to normal, but the grip on your neck was still firm to ensure you were focused on what he was telling you.
‘’Do I make myself clear?’’
You nodded your head, sucking in a sob as he released you, thrusting his hips against yours for further torment.
‘’You’ll pay for this, I’ll make sure of it,’’ you hissed lowly, shrugging the silk robe back onto your shivering form. If you were capable, your gaze would set this entire estate ablaze and would happily dance on the ashes.
Massimo smiled at that, a sad, melancholy smile that made your own gaze soften for a moment. He stretched out his arms as if surrendering.
‘’I have nothing left to lose.’’
Massimo felt like he was drifting throughout the lavish halls of his mansion. He paid no attention to his surroundings, his feet already knowing the destination. He knelt on the grass in the grand fields out back, beyond the pool that he used to enjoy frequenting but now had no desire to entertain. The shade provided by the large cork oak tree gave the illusion of some privacy as he brushed a few dead leaves on the golden plaque. His fingertips gracefully traced Laura’s name, dancing across the cursive font.
‘’I knew I’d find you here,’’ Mario’s throaty voice caused Massimo to straighten up, rising from the ground but not looking away from the pathetic attempt of Laura’s grave.
‘’Ridiculous, isn’t it? Kneeling over an empty space. Mourning her when her remains aren’t even here,’’ Massimo scoffed, biting his bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
Mario’s hand on his shoulder offered some comfort, but even that did little to soothe the pain. Mario’s eyes flickered to the golden plaque, Massimo had it made about a week after the search for Laura’s remains were called off. Nobody questioned it, everyone knew Massimo needed to mourn. The fact that Laura would never be given a proper burial, the fact that Massimo could never lay her to rest and thus get the closure he so desperately yearned for, nobody questioned it.
‘’Not at all,’’ Mario stated firmly. Massimo turned to look at the older man, the man who had been the only father he had known for the past seven years. He raised his brows as if to ask what he needed.
‘’The y/l/n girl…y/n,’’ Mario hesitantly began and Massimo rolled his eyes, already stalking back towards the house with Mario on his heels.
‘’Mario-,’’ Massimo sighed, only to be cut off by his confidant.
‘’It was wrong Massimo, you know that. Your father would be rolling in his grave at your tactics,’’ Mario sternly reprimanded. Massimo visibly tensed at the mention of the former Torricelli leader.
‘’What would he have had me do then? Please indulge me, Mario,’’ he hissed, whipping around to stare down the man in question. Mario’s thick, graying brows furrowed.
‘’She had nothing to do with what happened to her, Massimo. Your father firmly believed that the sins of the father should not be passed down onto the child,’’ Mario replied, his gaze unyielding.
Massimo clenched his jaw, chest rising and falling as he struggled to keep his temper at bay. His gaze shifted to the direction of the room you were currently in. He could almost picture you now, your full lips stuck in a perpetual pout as you wandered the room. The curves of your body sashaying with every step you took. He quickly snapped out of his day dream, clearing his throat as he tried not to get lost in his images of you.
‘’What do I do, Mario?’’
‘’Make it right, earn her trust back. She is the future of the y/l/n clan. When her father is gone, she is who will be calling the shots, if I were you, I’d get on her good side.’’
The warmth of the shower head cascading down your body allowed some of the weight you had been carrying to evaporate. You were no longer aware of how long you had been Massimo’s hostage, whether it had been weeks or even months was completely unknown to you. The smell of green apples filled your nostrils as you washed out the shampoo from your hair. A small smile graced your lips as your eyes automatically closed, lost in the aroma. You instantly thought back to the orchard on your family’s summer home. You imagined running up and down the endless aisles of apple trees as your father watched from the balcony. You remembered riding horses alongside him before a large dinner composed of different meats, wines, and cheeses filled the night. You remember your caretakers chiding you as they picked the grass and leaves from your hair. The smell of apple pie so tangible your mouth began salvaging. The way the water ran down your nude body felt heavenly, but you were quickly interrupted when you felt it run back up your sides.
Your eyes snapped open and you gasped, whipping around and looking up at Massimo. He was completely naked, the water causing his hair to hang nearly over his deep chocolate eyes. Your skin flushed with arousal as you steeled yourself not to look at his impressive manhood. Too late.
‘’Did I scare you, baby girl?’’ Massimo gave you a crooked grin, leaning more into the warmth of the shower head.
‘’Get out,’’ you bit out, one arm covering your breasts while the other cupped your womanhood.
‘’It’s nothing I haven’t seen already, principessa,’’ his velvet voice practically purred as his hands slide past your form to reach for the soap. He began lathering up his body, taking extra time to wash his torso. He was putting a show on for you. You bit your tongue as you tried not to linger on the way his strong hands touched his tan skin. The way his various tattoos decorated his physique. Heat rushed over your cheeks and the back of your neck as you remembered the way those hands touched you. The way his hands had mapped out your body and had you squirming and begging for more. You stole a quick glance at his semi-erect manhood. How had he ever fit inside of you?
‘’Do you want it?’’ his voice brought you out of your explicit daydream. Your lips were already parted to object when you realized he was referring to the loofah.
‘’N-No,’’ you could’ve strangled yourself from how weak your voice came out. Massimo chuckled, fully aware of the effect he had on you. He wasn’t putting a show on for you; he was setting up a trap. Your eyes narrowed and turned your back towards him. If he wanted to play with fire, he would go down in flames. Your backside brushed against his member as you let the water pour over your body. His little grunt did not fall on deaf ears. Your smirk could’ve rivaled the Cheshire Cat’s as you slightly swayed your hips, your skin barely gazing his.
‘’What are you doing,’’ his low voice filled your abdomen with want. You slowly turned back around, your big doe-like eyes glancing up at him. You didn’t hide your modesty this time, your arms hung down at your sides as your nipples hardened from the water that was quickly turning cold.
‘’I don’t know what you’re talking about,’’ you stated, your best pokerface on display. Massimo nodded, eyes glancing at your breasts, his bite marks still somewhat visible on the otherwise smooth flesh.
Your slim fingers crept toward your womanhood, dancing around the lips like a ballerina. Your eyes never left his even as your index finger parted your lips and entered your tight canal. Your back met the wall as Massimo took you into his arms. His hardened cock poking at your tight entrance as he growled down at you.
‘’What’s wrong, Massimo? The great mafia leader brought down by a tiny woman?’’ you sneered from below him, your skin flushed with arousal as the painful throbbing from your sex made itself known. His breathing was harsh, the veins on his arms and neck quite apparent as he stared you down. One hand gripped yours and made you wrap it around his thickness.
‘’See what you do to me?’’ he grunted. You simply squeezed tighter causing him to hiss. You then turned your head upwards, noses brushing against each other as you gasped when the head of his cock slid along your pink folds.
‘’Then do something about it,’’ you whispered into his ear, burying your face in his neck as he shoved his length into you. You cried out, feeling your body being stretched open by his girth once more. Your nails scraped his shoulder blades, down his back as he rutted into you. If you were going to be kidnapped, held hostage, used as a pawn in this nonsense mafia war, you were going to take every opportunity that resulted in your pleasure. Your hips bucked against his, craving that slight burn that came whenever Massimo initially entered you. The slightly discomfort, feeling of absolute fullness whenever his cock speared you. You craved it. You basked in it. He gripped the back of your hair, matted against you scalp and back from the shower as he pressed his lips to yours in a bruising kiss, his hips never losing their rhythm.
You cried and mewled, clinging onto his soldiers as your legs wrapped around his waist, you decided to look down at where the two of you were joined and nearly came then and there. The way his dick pistoned in and out of you, disappearing repeatedly between your soft pink folds into your tight hole was something more than simply erotic; it was carnal. His teeth sunk into your neck, claiming you as his once more. His hot breath fanned your skin in stark contrast from the cold water. The water was barely even noticeable, you were too busy engulfed in the flames and embers that came from Massimo ramming you into the cool tiled walls.
‘’Y/n, fuck. You fit me like a glove,’’ he grunted, eyes closed in pure bliss as his thrust became sloppier. Your hands held the back of his neck and tangled into his hair, pulling it hard enough to draw a hiss from his perfect lips. You pressed a kiss to those lips, a slow kiss that he quickly lost himself in. His hand pinned your throat back against the tile, looking at you as he savagely took you. You didn’t cry, you steeled yourself for the brutality of his thrusts and allowed yourself to become lost in the pleasure.
‘’Massimo,’’ you moaned, barely above a whisper. Your body racked with his thrusts, mouth slightly open as you panted like some wild animal in heat.
‘’Beg for me to fill you up,’’ he ordered, watching himself enter your pussy, thumb teasing your sensitive pearl.
‘’P-please,’’ you whimpered, eyes shut tight as the coil in your belly became tighter, making it harder to breathe and focus.
‘’More,’’ he grunted, lips managing to take one of your buds into his mouth, suckling like a starved man.
‘’P-Please, Massimo. I want it. I want to feel you fill me up from the inside,’’ you begged, but still refused to let a single tear slip through your eyelids.
That had been enough for him, his hot cum readily invading your sore womanhood, triggering your own release as you slumped against him and the shower wall. You felt him shudder, lazily thrusting in and out of you to milk him of his release. His eyes watched as his cum dripped out of your pussy, only to be washed away down the shower drain, his warm hand on your abdomen and you shivered at what could possibly be on his mind as he touched you. You looked up at him through heavy eyes, noting that he was in fact beautiful despite his flaws. What he did next thoroughly surprised you. His hand cradled the side of your face before he leant down and gave you a sweet kiss. The kind of kiss that was reserved for lovers; real lovers. Not the kind where you fucked each other like animals and one of you was a hostage. It stunned you. Not even your ex-boyfriend had kissed you like that in your entirety of dating. When he pulled away you noticed his eyes were heavy, the slightly dark circles under his eyes were now much more noticeable to you. You carefully stood on your own two legs, his strong hold on your hand offered support.
You hesitated before leading him back into the room, not bothering to put clothes back on. You looked up at him before gently tugging him to lay down with you and get lost in the silk sheets. He hesitated only a second before he laid down, encompassing you in his arms as you laid against his chest. He fell asleep not ten minutes after his head met the pillow. If anyone walked in, it would look serene. Two lovers, happily in each other’s embrace after making love in the shower. Ready to live happily ever after. But this was no fairytale.
By the time Massimo awoke, it was pitch black. He hadn’t meant to sleep the day away, but the gentle breeze that came with Sicilian summer nights comforted him and gave him the most pleasant sleep he had in nearly a decade. He grunted, reaching for your sleeping form to tug you close against his chest when the familiar ‘clink’ of handcuffs sent an ice-cold shiver down his spine. He sat up straight, or as straight as he possibly could, and snarled as he found both of his wrists cuffed to the headboard. He struggled, snarling like a rabid wolf as he tried ripping the cuffs from the headboard, stopping when the steel bit into his wrists. You had tricked him, just when he thought he had you, you turned the tables on him.
‘’DOMENICO! MARIO!’’ he roared out, not even caring that he was still nude.
Both men, along with a handful of bodyguards rushed into the room, staring wide-eyed and mouths hug open like trout at the sight of Sicily’s most notorious mob boss cuffed naked to his own bed.
Summary: Post!365 Days, Massimo is out for revenge following the events of the film, and who better to pay than the daughter of his rival gang’s leader. Based on Melanie Martinez’s song ‘’Tag, You’re It.’’
Looking at me through your window Boy, you had your eye out for a little
You squealed in absolute excitement, holding the acceptance letter to your chest and jumping up and down in joy. You had done it, you were accepted to your dream university in the United States, and while the thought of leaving your family here in Italy tugged at your heart, you were unbelievably thrilled at the adventures that awaited you. Although you had taken some time off between graduating from secondary school to now, it was worth it. You were ready to take that next step and pursue an honest career. You loved your father with all of your heart, but you wanted to distance yourself from the family ‘’business’’ as far as possible, especially with the threat of a mafia war breaking out between your family and the Torricelli clan.
‘’Papà,’’ you grabbed your phone, stepping outside of your lavish mansion into the warm summer morning light.
‘’Y/n, yes? Is everything alright?’’ your elderly father’s concerned voice answered.
‘’ Papà, I got accepted into Harvard University. I’m going to America,’’ you beamed, clutching the strap of your sundress in sheer excitement.
‘’Oh, honey. I’m so proud. Your mother, she’d be so proud of you, y/n,’’ you could practically hear the happy tears in your father’s voice.
‘’Thank you, Papà. I know.’’
‘’Well if you’re going to the states in fall, you’ll need new clothes-‘’
‘’ Papà-‘’
‘’Now y/n I insist, let a father spoil his daughter, eh?’’ your father caught you off with his deep chuckle. ‘’I’ll wire the money into your account, we’ll have a big dinner in celebration tonight, ok?’’
‘’Alright Papà, thank you. Ti amo,’’ you smiled, already walking towards the limo that was magically awaiting you.
‘’Ti amo bella, ciao.’’
You analyzed your figure that was currently in a beautiful designer dress. It was something out of a fairytale, the details complimented your figure and you felt like a million bucks. No one else was in the shop, the owner recognized who you were and immediately shooed everyone out to give you all the freedom to shop despite your protests. She had quietly entered the back room to show you more dresses in various colors and styles, but you had your heart set on the one you were currently wearing. You had to admit, you loved the dress. It was white, a color that had always looked amazing on you, and you couldn’t wait to wow your close friends and family tonight. You hadn’t noticed the tall figure looming behind you in the mirror.
‘’That’s a beautiful dress,’’ a deep voice startled you, leading you to twirl around.
There, in the middle of the shop, stood the most handsome man you had ever laid eyes on. His skin was sun kissed, his eyes like warm pools of chocolate. He had to have been part god, or at the very least sculped by one. But the way his eyes scanned you led you to believe something was amiss. He had the same look in his eyes the way a lion would when stalking a lone, helpless gazelle. The smirk on his face did little to ease your nerves.
‘’Thank you,’’ you whispered, suddenly feeling very exposed. As you remained on the round platform, he slowly began to move around you. Ready to pounce. Stalking.
‘’I’m sorry for startling you. My fiancé had a dress that needed to be picked up here,’’ his voice was like velvet. A private symphony to your ears. You felt yourself calm down at the mention of a fiancé; of course a man this good looking had a woman. You offered a warm smile, hoping he wouldn’t notice the apprehension that still lurked in your e/c hues.
‘’No it’s alright, I just didn’t hear you come in.’’ He returned your smile, finally stopping right in front of you, between your body and the large mirror. His eyes raked up your body, lingering a little too long on your breasts before falling once more on your eyes. He looked familiar, you realized. You couldn’t place it, but you knew you had seen those honey-brown eyes somewhere before. Dread slowly spread throughout your being.
‘’Have we met?’’ you asked, steadying your voice as you calculated how many seconds it would take to make a dash for your phone.
‘’Officially, no. But I know who you are, baby girl.’’ One step closer to you.
Your heartbeat sped up in your chest, turning your head to look for your driver who was meant to be stationed outside.
‘’I wouldn’t bother. Your friend is a bit…preoccupied.’’
You could feel the heat radiating off his body as he slowly closed the space between the two of you. Your blood turned to ice. The second you heard him reach up to grab you, you jerked your body away and made a run for the door. You had gotten two, maybe three steps in before you were kicked to the tiled floor of the dress shop. You cried out as your body made contact with the unforgiving ground, desperately clawing when you felt the man’s hands grip your ankles and drag you back towards him. You glanced at your purse that was within your reach and kicked back at your attacker, hitting him in his chest and freeing yourself. You scrambled to your bag, quickly grabbing your phone and frantically trying to call your father. You didn’t even notice you were crying until you felt the tears drip down your heaving chest. With one hand gripping your phone and the other pushing yourself toward the door, you used all of your strength to make a break for it.
‘’Y/n?’’ you had never been more relieved to hear your father’s voice.
‘’ Papà! Help!’’ you screamed before the man wrestled the phone from your ear and pinned your body down.
‘’Y/n?? Y/N!’’ your father’s voice roared on the other end.
The man calmly raised the phone to his ear, his other hand pressing your cheek onto the cold floor while his body pinned you down. You sobbed as he stroked your hair in a way that could almost be considered lovingly.
‘’Now you’ll know how it feels to have what you love most taken from you,’’ your attacker hissed.
‘’Massimo!’’ you heard your father roar before the phone was smashed right beside your face.
‘’Massimo,’’ you whispered before you felt a cloth with a distinctly sweet odor emitting from it shoved to your mouth and nose. Then it all went black.
Running through the parking lot He chased me and he wouldn’t stop Tag, you’re it, tag, tag, you’re it
You awoke with a throbbing headache, groaning as your blurred vision began to focus. You blinked, noticing that you were in a dark room, the walls a bloody-wine colored red and the room was cold enough to give you goosebumps. You shivered, gasping when you realized your hands and feet were cuffed to the bed you were laying face-down on. You cried out, struggling against the cuffs, the metal nipping the soft skin of your wrists and ankles. The beautiful white dress you had adorned earlier was still on your shaking form…for now.
‘’Oh God, please, no,’’ you sobbed, cheek against the silk sheets below you.
‘’No. There’s no God here,’’ a familiar deep voice called from the darkness, filling your entire being with dread. You couldn’t even meet his gaze if you wanted to, you could barely look up. You thrashed when you felt his warm hand trail up your leg.
‘’Just me,’’ he growled out, taking in your shaking form. The dress had ridden up your body during your struggle, your more intimate parts barely being covered by it. Massimo swallowed thickly, his hand going up your inner thigh and stopping short of your core, but he reveled in the heat that came from you.
‘’M-Massimo. Please. Please, whatever you want I can work something-‘’
‘’YOU can’t give me what I want! NOBODY can!’’ he snarled above you, causing you to sob uncontrollably and duck your head in a pathetic attempt of protecting yourself. The sight of you so petrified helped Massimo reign in his anger, he deep exhaled and regained his cool demeanor.
‘’Your father took her away from me. My everything. Now he’s going to pay,’’ Massimo growled out.
‘’I had nothing to do with my father’s actions,’’ you meekly cried out, keeping your legs locked together and trying to tuck into yourself.
‘’Neither did Laura,’’ Massimo whispered above you. You gasped when you felt him unlock the handcuffs around your ankles. You remained completely stiff, terrified of what he had planned for you, although you had a gut feeling about it.
Your hands were freed next and you resisted the urge to rub your sore wrists, but whimpered when Massimo gently turned you over so that you were finally able to look him in the eyes. He was dangerous, the devil himself. His hand gently held your chin, his eyes surveilling you.
‘’I’m going to give you one chance and one chance only to escape. If you can find your way out of my mansion, you are free to go,’’ he spoke calmly and that alone sent alarms throughout your entire being. You swallowed a sob.
‘’And if I can’t?’’ you asked apprehensively, eyes shiny with unshed tears. His smirk sent chills down your spine.
‘’You’re mine. For as long as I need you.’’
You silently cried, feeling very much like a mouse stuck between the massive paws of a lion. He was toying with you, setting you up to fail. You wondered if this is how a lamb felt on its’ way to the slaughterhouse.
‘’Well? It’s either that or I give you no chance at all and you submit right now. I’ll even give you a head start, principessa,’’ he stepped away from you, leaning against the red walls of the room. His tongue slowly licked at his bottom lip as he watched you carefully. Your breathing became labored as a million thoughts ran through your mind.
‘’Ten…nine. . eight-,’’ you sprung from the bed, sprinting out the door and staggering down the hallway of the mansion. You cried as you raced down the colossal estate. Your tears left a trail behind you and your lungs were on fire as you tried your best not to trip down the grand staircase. You desperately searched for a sign of a window or a doorway, anything that alluded to an exit.
‘’Ready or not, here I come,’’ Massimo’s thundering voice called from the distance.
‘’Shit shit shit,’’ you murmured, your bare feet slapping against the tiled floors.
You practically sobbed in relief when you saw a large door, what could only be an exit, given its’ size. With all of your might you pried open the double doors, your heart quickly falling into the depths of your stomach when you saw a large mattress in the middle of a room. The lights were dimmed but you could see the chains on the bed as clear as day. Your teeth clenched as you let out a devastating cry. Not even bothering to fight when you felt two hands grip your shoulders and Massimo’s breath on your neck.
‘’Tag, you’re it.’’
Can anybody hear me I’m hidden under ground Can anybody hear me am I talking to myself Saying, “tag, you’re it, tag, tag, you’re it” He’s saying, “tag, you’re it, tag, tag, you’re it”
You had no clue how long you had been held here. Whether it had been hours or days or even weeks, time did not exist in this place. You were sickened to say that you were grateful that Massimo hadn’t taken advantage of you, but the anxiety that came from being kidnapped by the gang leader of one of the most powerful mafia families was overwhelming. You were fed and clothed and permitted to walk around the spacious room, but the door were always locked and you had no means of escaping. All you could do was lay down in a bed that was not your own and wonder how much longer it would be until you would be murdered, raped, or both. The chances of your father’s men locating you were slim, your chances of being rescued were miniscule.
You flinched but made no sound when Massimo’s knuckles grazed your cheek. You were so preoccupied with your thoughts you hadn’t noticed him enter the room. You slowly rose your head, clutching the sheets to your body in an attempt to shield yourself from his hawkish gaze.
‘’You look so sad, baby girl,’’ Massimo’s voice sent unwarranted flutters in your stomach.
‘’I’ve been kidnapped by Sicily’s most dangerous man, I’m not sad…I’m petrified.’’ His warm chocolate eyes locked on yours’ as he stood over you.
‘’Have I hurt you? Have I not fed you, provided you with water and clothes? Do your lungs still have air in them? That’s more than what your father and his men gave Laura,’’ Massimo’s voice became more rough as he continued, but you resisted the urge to wince and continued looking into his eyes.
‘’Would Laura want this?’’
You yelped when Massimo’s massive hand wrapped around your neck in a firm grip, not enough to bruise your skin but surely enough to warn you to shut up. His nostrils flared as he snarled in your face. ‘’YOU don’t get to talk about her. You didn’t know her!’’ he roared, you shaking underneath him. The moment the tears escaped the corners of your eyes Massimo’s hand immediately withdrew from your neck as he sighed. You twitched when you felt him begin to rub your arms in an attempt to soothe you.
‘’Give it time, you’ll want me. Just as she did.’’
You sniffled as you looked up into the man who took everything from you. ‘’Surely you’re above raping an innocent woman?’’ you bit out. Massimo scoffed, hand trailing up to cradle the side of your face. His thumb swiped across your bottom lip in a suggestive manner.
‘’I’m not above anything anymore, baby girl. Your father made sure of that. Don’t test me.’’
You watched as he stood up, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. You remained perfectly still on the bed, watching. He was beautiful, truly the devil in human form. Sin in its’ most beautiful embodiment. The various tattoos on his tan flesh captivated you and you cursed at the slight throbbing within your core. Massimo picked up on this, biting back a smirk as his eyes trailed up your exposed legs and cleavage.
‘’You look so beautiful, principessa,’’ his husky voice led you to close your eyes in an attempt to resist him; to resist this.
You gasped when you felt him hover above you, the warmth of his skin and the delicious weight of his body sabotaging your resolve. He pressed a kiss to your shoulder, seeing how you’d react. When you did not fight him, he pressed another to your neck, slowly trailing up to your jaw. It felt divine. His facial hair tickled your skin and you gasped when his hands mapped the curves of your body. You fisted the silk sheets beneath you, your body squirming from both the increasing desire building up within you and the desire to resist him.
‘’Just give in, baby girl. Let me make you feel good,’’ he grunted, slowly thrusting his hips into yours. His hardened manhood could easily be felt between the fabric of his pants and the flimsy fabric of your silk night shorts. You whimpered as his thrusts became more forceful, his lips crashing into yours as his hands gently held yours’ and pinned them on either side of your head. The blood was rushing to your cheeks and to your core as he ground himself against you. As his tongue explored the cavern of your mouth, his hand moved to grope your breast.
You cried out when his fingers tweaked and pinched at your sensitive bud, the smile on Massimo’s face evident as he continued kissing you fervently.
‘’Tell me what you want, baby girl. I’ll give you everything,’’ he groaned, cradling your head as his hips thrusted against you.
‘’Please,’’ you whined, closing your eyes and gasping when his mouth moved south and began suckling at your clothed nipple while his hand continued teasing the other. Your hands ran through his hair, tugging at it when he nipped at your sensitive bud.
‘’Louder,’’ he grunted as his other hand began rubbing against your clothed clit.
‘’Oh God, Massimo please,’’ you moaned out, shifting your hips to gain more friction.
You were convinced that he truly was the embodiment of sin. The way he made you feel and the way he knew exactly how to use your body to bend to his will was proof enough. He pulled away from you abruptly, you crying out in protest as you lay there a panting and needy mess. His hooded eyes looked over your body, squeezing the very noticeable bulge in his pants. He began stroking his length as he watched the way your body reacted to him. Your nipples were pert and nearly visible against the white silk top you were wearing. Your legs slightly pressed and rubbed together out of sheer want, your lips were swollen from the heavy kissing and unshed tears of desire glossed over your eyes. You were truly beautiful and for a split second he forgot about Laura.
‘’Beg for me, y/n. I’ll give you whatever you want, you only need to tell me,’’ he whispered.
‘’I want. . .I want you,’’ you whimpered.
He descended upon you, going in for the kill. Your teeth clashed against each other’s as his mouth consumed yours. Your hands clawed at his broad shoulders and trailed down his muscular back. His hands, the same hands that killed who-knows how many men, easily ripped apart your silk two piece, leaving you completely bare to him and ready for the taking. He gripped your thighs and dragged you to the edge of the bed, easily shoving himself between your legs and immediately dove into your soaked sex.
‘’Ahhh! Massimo,’’ you cried out, his tongue diving deep inside of your tightness. He knelt on the side of the bed, keeping a tight grip on your thighs as his tongue dove in and out of you, occasionally nipping at your sensitive pearl. Your full breasts heaved as you panted, shifting from looking down at him and closing shut in absolute bliss. You felt yourself involuntarily clench as your first climax was steadily approaching.
‘’Mas!’’ you moaned, your juices coating his snake-like tongue. His eyes locked onto yours as he greedily licked up your juices only to spit them back onto your pussy and lick it back up once more. You were dazed at this point, putty in his hands. You barely felt him maneuver around so that he now crept over you, manhood in his hand.
‘’Suck me,’’ he calmly ordered. When you hesitated to move, he straddled your chest and placed himself between your lips, teasingly tracing your lips with the head of his cock. Out of pure instinct you opened up for him and he took the opportunity to grab two fistfuls of your hair and shove you onto his thick shaft. You struggled against him, gagging on his cock which seemed to only please Massimo more by the way he throbbed and bobbed in your mouth. ‘’That’s it, there you go. Keep going, principessa. Take my cock,’’ he grunted as he fucked himself into your mouth, guiding your head back and forth on his length. You felt like a ragdoll, tears cascading down your face as he fucked you mouth, the salty taste of his precum on your tongue. You focused on breathing rather than the vulgar sounds coming from your mouth as he used you.
Massimo suddenly released your hair, taking a second to all you to feel his entire length throb in your mouth before roughly pushing you back onto the mattress, sliding his cock between your breasts. ‘’Squeeze your tits together,’’ his voice dripped with desire. Before you could even move he had already taken both breasts into his strong hands and began thrusting like a madman. You whimpered, unable to look anywhere other than his eyes as he fucked your tits.
‘’Massimo,’’ you cried out as he pinched your nipples between his fingers. ‘’You’re mine, mine to fuck. Mine to fill. And you’re going to take it all baby girl,’’ he grunted as his hips snapped furiously on top of you.
With no warning you felt the warmth of his thick release shoot onto your chest, a thick rope landing on your face. As you moved to wipe it off he smacked your hands away and flipped you over so that you were laying on your stomach. ‘’Let me see you,’’ he grunted, groping your ass and his fingertips grazing your sensitive core. Your body didn’t even feel like your own, you were too dazed and too inebriated on what this man was doing to you that you didn’t even respond when his hand came down on your ass, your body jerking from the slap.
‘’Let me see that tight pussy, let me see what’s mine,’’ Massimo whispered in your ear as you slowly arched your back, presenting yourself and readying yourself. The little moan that escaped Massimo’s throat was not lost on you as he slowly rubbed and prodded at your tight core. You gasped when you felt his saliva at your opening.
‘’I’m going to fuck you until you can’t leave this bed,’’ he began as one hand gripped the back of your neck and the other had an iron hold on your hip. His knee kicked apart your legs so that you were completely spread under him. ‘’I’m going to fill you up, baby girl. Every drop in this tight pussy. You’re mine inside and out,’’ you screamed as his cock stretched your needy cunt, his hips digging into your backside as he held you down to him. Once he was completely inside of you, he took a moment to admire the image of his rival’s daughter full of his cock and completely soaked and vulnerable to his touch. He began thrusting, gaining momentum as you moaned and whimpered his name over and over. He gently squeezed the back of your neck, grunting as the sound of his balls slapping against your cunt echoed around the room.
‘’You like this baby girl? I can feel you squeezing me, moaning my name like a common slut. My slut,’’ he growled in your ear before licking the side of your face and burying his head in your shoulder as he rutted against you. The way he moved was animalistic; bestial. Every time your body bounced due to the force of his thrusts his hand was quick to yank you back and spear his manhood into you.
‘’Mas, fuck ahhh. It’s too much,’’ you practically sobbed, hand reaching behind in a pathetic attempt to ease his brutality. He quickly grabbed hold of your hand, abandoning the grip he had on your hip as he took hold of your hands and pinned them in front of you. He didn’t answer as his thrusts sped up, completely hammering into you. You squeezed around his pulsing cock, screaming his name and vulgarities as he claimed you.
‘’So fucking tight, do you feel your pussy gripping onto me?’’ he growled, nipping at the side of your neck and pressing rough kisses onto any inch of your skin he could reach.
He slid around to the front of your neck, pulling you up so that your body rested against the front of his, thrusting up and forcing the crudest of noises from where the two of you were joined. Your hands gripped and clawed at his muscular forearm, whining like a bitch in heat as his grip remained firm around your neck and the other toyed with your body.
‘’Mas, I’m going to cum,’’ you cried, panting and thrashing against him. The knot was rapidly tightening in your abdomen, making you more desperate for that sweet release. He groaned, bucking up into you and watching as your tits bounced with every forceful thrust.
‘’Cum for me, principessa,’’ he ordered, kissing away some tears that fell down your cheek.
‘’Ahh!’’ you yelped when he slapped your pussy, paying extra attention to rub furiously at your clit.
‘’I said cum,’’ he growled, tightening his hand around your neck. You sobbed as you came harder than you ever had on his girth. You were intoxicated in this thick cloud of lust and ecstasy. Your body fell limp against Massimo’s as he still rutted into you. Your orgasm was cut short as the overstimulation quickly became too much. You struggled against him, crying and begging to slow down. ‘’Massimo, I can’t, it’s too much,’’ you sobbed, thrashing against him. Still, he held you against his chest and his movements only became faster and rougher. He rubbed and swiped at your clit, jerking your body as he did.
‘’Look at how well you take me,’’ he panted, kissing away your tears as he forced you to watch his length disappear into your folds. ‘’Try pushing me out,’’ he growled. You clenched around him, your muscles squeezing around his cock as he spread your lips to ensure he could be as deep as he possibly could inside of you.
‘’Fuck, principessa.’’ Your third orgasm fell over your body the same way waves crashed against the shores of Italy. You both fell forward as Massimo emptied himself inside of you, slowly thrusting so that you milked him of his release. The weight of his body on top of yours filled you with both a sense of comfort, but also possession. You felt like an object, his object. You whimpered as he kissed your cheek as he slowly removed himself from your sore, full pussy. Once your daze had subsided enough that you could think clearly you noticed a blinking light from the shadows of the room.
‘’What is that?’’ you asked, voice weak as he kissed up your back. Your heart immediately dropping into your ribcage.
‘’I wanted to make sure daddy witnessed his little girl becoming a woman. Who knows? He may have just witnessed his grandchild being conceived,’’ Massimo’s voice was smug, his manhood poking into your backside as your breathing became uneven. A camera. He recorded everything. Before you could protest you were flipped over so that you straddled Massimo.
‘’In time you’ll forgive me,’’ he stated, reassuring himself more than you as you sobbed in utter humiliation. You felt him lift you by your hips as you were seated on his shaft once more. You screamed as he began bucking up into you, holding you to his chest as he comforted you.
‘’Just give it time.’’
Grabbed my hand, pushed me down Took the words right out my mouth Tag, you’re it, tag, tag, you’re it
A/N: Thank you sooooo so much to everyone who has read this series. I love you all immensely. Song is ‘’Hard for Me’’ by Michele Morrone. I hope every one has a very happy safe new year, thank you for sticking with me throughout this journey.
You keep telling me that I am free to go But I’m addicted to you It’s a lie It’s a lie
‘’No, absolutely not.’’
‘’And why not?’’
Cocking her head upwards, she beams at the sight of his thick eyebrows knotted together in feigned annoyance. The twinkle in his dark eyes gives him away as he grins down at her, admiring that tiny dimple that graces the left corner of her mouth whenever she laughs or smirks in mischief. Just as she is doing now. Her waves of dark hair frame her face as they bathe in this rare moment of peace. She giggles and he knows then and there that he’ll never tire of hearing it.
‘’Mario, we are absolutely not naming them ‘Brutus,’’ she sits up. His eyes immediately fell upon her proud bump, bare to see in the privacy of their little love nest. Their little miracle, their ‘’little pea’’ as she had recently coined them. Mario had been so eager to find out the sex of ‘’little pea’’, but he could not help but indulge his wife’s wishes of being surprised at the birth. They waited nearly ten years for their little miracle, a few more weeks wouldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t be much longer, he constantly found himself reflecting, only a few short weeks until they would welcome little pea home.
‘’What? It’s a classic. It’s a good, strong name for a strong boy,’’ Mario leaned forward, pressing his forehead against his wife’s as she placed his hand against her stomach, maneuvering it around her smooth skin until little pea’s strong legs began kicking against his palm much to their shared delight.
‘’Bold of you to assume we’re having a boy,’’ she quirked a brow in amusement, her full lips stretched into that smile that made it hard for Mario to breathe at times.
‘’You seem pretty confident we’re not,’’ he retorted, pressing a kiss to her nose.
She smiled up at her husband, taking in his features. As the years passed by his hair had begun to thin and gray hairs speckled around the sides, although that was most likely due to the stress that accompanied his job rather than age. He was still her Mario, her strong and protective, devoted husband. Her hand cupped his cheek, her thumb stroking his tan skin.
‘’After all these years…when will you realize I’m never wrong?’’ she sighed, leaning into his embrace as little pea’s kicks settled down into more of a flutter in her stomach.
Mario scoffed, encompassing his wife in his strong arms as they laid back down on their bed. So many years had they tried for a child, each year filled with bitter disappointment and less and less hopes of ever being a family. Just when they had begun to make their peace with the possibility of never being parents, one tiny pink ‘’+’’ sign changed their lives and filled it with newfound hope.
‘’What about Alessia?’’ she pondered, staring up at the ceiling as they curled up to one another.
A small, genuine smile graced Mario’s lips. He looked down at her, kissing her forehead. ‘’I like it. I like it a lot.’’ She smiled back, sighing as she stretched out her legs, enjoying the feel of her husband’s hands running along her skin.
‘’I have been thinking…of stepping down as Torricelli’s bodyguard.’’
He felt her stiffen a bit at the confession. He knew she wasn’t a fan of his line of work. She was aware of the horrors he had witnessed since joining the Torricelli clan. More than on one occasion had she awoken to him having night terrors or had to scrub his shirts until her knuckles were sore from getting crimson stains out of them. While she hated the lifestyle that came with her husband’s job, she knew it was no use to convince him to ever leave it. As hard as it was saying goodbye to him every morning, not knowing if that would be the last time she’d ever see him, she remained loyal to him and supported him to the best of her ability. And deep down she knew that he harbored immense guilt.
The guilt of introducing her, and now their unborn child, into the world of the mafia. That he felt less than for introducing her to this life of danger, despite the money he provided and the ostentatious lifestyle they were now capable of having. Two poor children growing up on the streets of Sicily with barely enough money to afford dinner some nights, now living in a mansion of their own thanks to one of Italy’s greatest mafia families. Yet, she wondered how different their lives could have been if they just left it all behind and moved to some unchartered island surrounded by beaches. Somewhere safe, where their child could just run and grow and be merry. Where her and Mario could grow old in a humble house and surrounded by their grandchildren. Just her, Mario, and little pea.
‘’You might step down, but I know you could never leave it for good. If not for the money, then for that little boy,’’ she hummed.
Little Massimo had always looked up to Mario. His own father loved him dearly and spent every second he could with the boy but work tended to pull him aside and left Mario to fill the role of the father more often than not. She knew Mario secretly thought the same of Massimo, and her heart ached that she could not have given him a child of his own to play soccer with or to tell stories of heroes and gods to. Until now, that is.
‘’He’s a good kid…too good for this life,’’ he thought to himself, fingers stroking the exposed skin of her back. She didn’t respond, leading him to look back down at her. They both knew it was too late, that he would carry on his father’s legacy at some point. That those sweet, innocent brown eyes would harden with age and the violence would shape him into his father and his father before him.
‘’You both are.’’
She heavily exhaled through her nose, hand cupping his cheek to force him to meet her eyes.
‘’We’re not going anywhere. We’re a family,’’ she firmly stated. Mario nodded, ignoring the terrible feeling that this was all a dream. A child’s prayer. That they were working with borrowed time. But he would allow himself to rest easy now, for her sake. He would will himself to enjoy this rare moment of bliss and light in a life where blood and crime filled every waking moment. He willed it with every atom of he possessed; that things would just remain as they were now.
‘’I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. To both of you.’’
‘’I know. But there will be a day you will stop hating yourself for trying to make a better life for them than the ones we had as children,’’ she responded, pressing a kiss to his lips, smiling as little pea gave a hearty kick in agreement.
‘’I love you so much, Isabella. Mi principessa.’’
‘’I love you too Mario.’’
I thought that it was enough But I don’t wanna say goodbye
You awoke with a start, letting a deep sigh exit your mouth as quietly as you could. The strong arm wrapped around your midsection aided in evening your breaths as you took in your surroundings. The familiar scent that made up Massimo filled your being with instant relief despite the few stray tears that stained the beige pillowcase under your head. It wasn’t too often that you dreamt, and if you did it usually revolved around your loved ones. A faceless woman and Mario, scenarios that were impossible to remember but you tried desperately to create and unfold. The parents that you were robbed off. Dreaming of them helped heal you over the years, despite the heaviness in your chest. You quietly untangled yourself from the man heavily snoring beside you, admiring his peaceful state and noting that even with age he was still the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.
The sun was beginning to peek through the curtains of your bedroom, New Zealand’s winter weather providing a nice comfortable chill. Winters, as you and Massimo quickly discovered, were one of the warmest times of the year, and your favorite. The locals had been kind, quick to consider the two of you and your son ‘’whanau’’ or ‘’extended family.’’ They showed you the ins and outs of life in rural New Zealand, sharing their language and culture. In no time, your family of three felt as though this place had been your true home all along.
The blades of grass tickled your bare feet as you took your morning stroll through the clearing. The Northern part of the country was full of them, and you found that your ritualistic morning walks through the fields did wonders for your health. Nearly twenty years had passed to the day the two of you moved to this new country with nothing but two suitcases filled with clothes and your infant son. So many birthdays passed, Christmases with Massimo dressing as Saint Nicholas in red swim trunks, graduations, staying up late on New Year’s Eve and waking up early to take the kids to school, all of it.
You would think of these moments along with other random things as your bare feet felt the cool earth beneath you. You would think of Massimo, who was still as handsome as the day you met him. Older, but still divine in his own right, gray hairs gracing his beard and atop his head. Fine lines by the corner of his light brown eyes from so many years of happiness and laughter. You also thought of your children.
Your son would be visiting you two for Christmas break. Shit, you hoped Massimo would find the note you left instructing him to take the chicken out of the freezer for the special dinner tonight. Apparently y/s/n was bringing a girl he met at university and it was of the upmost importance that you and Massimo did not ‘’totally embarrass him’’ by bringing out the baby albums. You grinned at the thought of showing his girlfriend a particular picture of a six-year-old y/s/n mooning the camera because his father had not allowed him a second slice of pie.
Having your daughter had been easier, admittedly. By the time you fell pregnant with y/d/n the three of you had set roots down in your home. Y/s/n was in school and old enough to help out with his baby sister and you and Massimo had settled into comfortable careers and your neighbors acted as adopted grandparents to your children. She was a spitting image of you, but she had her father’s pride that often served as the source of numerous insignificant fights between the two. Y/s/n resembled a perfect blend of his parents but had developed your reserved and empathetic nature while y/d/n could bring the former boss of the Torricelli clan to his knees with one glare. . .most of the time.
Other times your mind drifted to things that needed to be done around the house, of the ocean, of the handful of genuine friends your little family had made over the years. Years of therapy and the occasional call with your therapist allowed you to also reflect on the past without the tight restraints of anxiety and fear restricting your breathing. Instead, you reflected on happier times. Like the way Mario would sigh in content after each sip of his black coffee. Or the rose garden that you adored so much. Or even as a child the way your pseudo-parents laughed as you ran along the shore, jumping over waves and feeling the sand between your toes.
You found yourself constantly repeating the process of making peace with the past. How the horror and the beauty of it all could both coexist and live in your memories. The good and the bad could both exist and remain true, and the guilt did not have to plague your being as it had done so in your youth. The ghosts of the past no longer filled you with dread but would rather greet you and walk alongside you like old friends. That’s the thing about dealing with ghosts, they could only hold power over you if allowed them to.
You sat down on a mossy log, sighing as you took in the smell of sea salt and fresh grass. Occasionally a few Kaimanawa horses would cautiously graze the fields, only to quickly gallop away as if they had never been there, much like the ghosts of your past.
Y/d/n would be running late for dinner, as she had begun volunteering at a local retirement center between graduating high school and making the move down South for college. Medical school was clear in her future, while her older brother preferred studying World History to become a professor one day. Admittedly, both Massimo and you had full hearts that swelled with pride at your two children who grew up exactly the way the two of you had desperately hoped for; normal. A peaceful smile graced your lips, hands brushing away a few strands of hair that danced in the wind.
‘’You’re not very inconspicuous, dear,’’ you called out, only to be greeted by a pair of strong arms wrapping around your shoulders and lips pressed against your temple.
‘’Yeah, well once you’ve been married for 19 years, you tend to abandon being inconspicuous,’’ Massimo retorted, coaxing a playful scoff from you. You had some faded love bites from the other night that would greatly argue against that sentiment. The two of you had gotten older, but the sexual appetite seemingly only increased with age. You glanced down at the ring that had been resting on your left hand, the sparkle of the diamond would always draw attention in the sunlight. The two of you rested in comfortable silence, laying your head against his shoulder as you both watched the way the sun bounced off the turquoise waves.
‘’Your son is bringing a girl home for dinner tonight,’’ you murmured.
‘’I just got off the phone with him, apparently it’s serious,’’ Massimo responded, a shadow of a smirk on his face and playful wiggle of his dark brows led you to playfully swat at his chest.
‘’Be nice, he’s nervous. I’m sure you can attempt to remember when we were young and you’d get flustered around me.’’
‘’Remember? Principessa, to this day you still take my breath away.’’
‘’Yes because whenever I try to cook the house nearly always bursts into flames,’’ you joked, earning a deep laugh from your husband, his chest vibrating against the side of your face.
‘’Y/d/n will be late again, I’m sure. She got that trait from you,’’ you added, squealing as he jokingly pinched your thigh.
‘’I wasn’t the one who took her sweet time getting to the hospital.’’
You grinned at the memory. So much laughter. So many wonderful moments. A stark contrast as to how the two of you had met. Almost comically different from where you two began. Life had just been so easy following the fire, following the move here. Like everything just fell into place the moment you got out of Italy.
Both of your wedding bands glistened in the sun as the sounds of the waves echoed throughout the crisp air.
‘’Are you happy?’’ you asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Massimo nodded, his head, knowing that your question did not mean if he was happy simply in this moment.
‘’I’m happy…you happy?’’
Happy. The word you had been chasing and dancing with your whole lives. The word you wanted so desperately to fill your children’s lives with, and you both knew you had succeeded when they thought their parents were a normal, boring middle-aged couple who had met somewhere in Europe and moved to New Zealand for a better life. You succeeded in concealing the past and all of its’ demons. A pandora’s box of secrets and violence, locked away but never forgotten. You both raised wonderful children who were beginning to take on the world and make it their own. The two of you were so beautiful together, Massimo was such a devoted father.
He was your best friend; you had realized at some point early on in your marriage. Friendship, it turned out, had been the basis for your relationship. Not lust. Not greed. Not vengeance. Friendship. The two of you had been given a life of lies and crime at birth, but in one another found something worth growing old for and worth leaving it all behind.
Both of you defeated the odds and made a home for yourselves and a blissful marriage filled with love and passion and patience. How could you simply limit what you were feeling to just one simple, but powerful word? ‘’Happy.’’ Neither of you were all that experienced in happiness, prior to having your children of course. Or truth. Or normalcy.
You analyzed Massimo’s face as he broke his gaze from the ocean to stare down at you. The face you woke up next to every morning and kissed before falling asleep at night. The one person who loved you without question as equitably as you loved them. Your Massimo. A soft smile found its’ way back home to your face as you leaned in to meet your husband in a kiss. Maybe, just for him, you could allow yourself to ease into the simple, powerful world.
‘’I’m happy.’’
And I think you should know That I won’t let it go
Y/d/n sighed as she made her way down the halls, ready to check out for the day. Untying her thick hair from the tight pony tail, she sighed and rubbed at the stiffness in her neck. She knew her parents would tease her relentlessly about her ‘’impeccable timing’’ at the dinner table later on. She still had to change clothes and shoes and at least try to look presentable for her brother and his new beau. She groaned, readying herself for the night ahead.
‘’Alessia?’’ a soft-spoken voice called out, making her tense up and twirl around with furrowed brows. Was one of her mother’s friends here?
‘’Ma’am?’’ she questioned, entering the room of one of the many residents. An elderly woman, probably entering her mid-eighties sat in a bed, her white hair pulled into a tight bun.
‘’A-Alessia? Is it you?’’ her meek voice called out, hands shakily reaching towards her.
‘’No ma’am, I’m y/d/n,’’ she smiled down at the woman, taking one of her hands with both of her own in an attempt to comfort her.
‘’Y-you look so familiar,’’ the old woman whispered, eyes squinting only slightly as she gazed into the young woman’s eyes. ‘’You remind me so much…I-I lost her, I don’t know where she went,’’ her sad eyes conveyed years of pain. Honey brown eyes, similar to her own shiny with unshed tears.
Y/d/n smiled sadly, stroking the older woman’s hands and listening with an empathetic ear. Alessia wasn’t a common name around these parts, which left y/d/n feeling confused and slightly unsettled as she comforted the elderly woman who, although never having met her, felt. . .different. As though she had known her without knowing her.
‘’Who did you lose?’’
‘’My daughter…she was so tiny. Little pea.’’
The older woman sighed, shaking her head and laying back down into the crisp white sheets, running a shaky hand down her face as she collected her thoughts.
‘’If you’d like, I can come by tomorrow and visit you? I’d love to be friends and get to know you more,’’ y/d/n offered, earning a small smile from the woman.
‘’Thank you, Alessia.’’
‘’My name is y/d/n, ma’am.’’ The older woman smiled, settling back into her bed before resting her eyes, trying to dismiss a feeling of uncertainty brewing in the back of her mind.
‘’My name is Isabella.’’
Y/d/n smiled kindly, nodding her head as she tried to search the archives of her young mind. Who was she? Why did she look so familiar?
‘’I’ll be back tomorrow, Isabella.’’
The elder woman offered a sad smile, but a spark of hope illuminated her honey brown eyes.
‘’You will?’’
She was already halfway out of the room, turning back to give a grin that showcased the dimple on the left-hand side of her cheek.
‘’For you, a thousand times over.’’
It was like a million times I’m singing a lullaby And I think you should know That I won’t let it go
You could smell the salty musk of the ocean from below. The light breeze kissing your cheek bones the same way your eyelashes did as you permitted them to rest upon your face. Out of all of abrupt changes that had been forced upon you, you were grateful that the calm essence of the sea had remained a constant in your life. Your anchor, your safety net, your-
‘’Mrs. Amarro.’’
The tide drew you in, captivated you. The sound of the waves carrying you further from the cruel orbit of the world into the loving embrace of salty arms. Carrying you back to an old friend, long forgotten, but still familiar all the same; carrying you back to your innocence.
‘’Alessia.’’
You sharply exhaled, turning your attention back to your therapist. You had become very familiar with Dr. Jeevika Singh the past year and a half. Her graying hair hidden in a tight bun contradicted her youthful face. Even with her lips set in a firm line, her eyes often displayed her empathetic nature when meeting with you. Just as they did now. She was one of the most renowned therapists in the area, and she was one tough cookie. She also knew how to reel in your attention, such as purposefully calling you ‘’Mrs.’’
‘’Miss Amarro is fine, doctor. We’re not married,’’ you offered a small, lopsided smile before turning your attention to the ocean’s horizon outside of her office windows. You didn’t need to be facing her to know she gave a disapproving shake of her head before setting down her notebook, taking her glasses off from the bridge of her nose before gently placing them on the oak coffee table between you two.
‘’You’ve been seeing me for quite some time, Alessia. And we both know we haven’t even scratched the surface of all the trauma you’ve endured.’’
You offered an airy chuckle, absent mindedly playing with your fingers as you did so often when confronted with hard facts. Deflecting, you believed Jeevika had pointed out, was a common occurrence during your bi-weekly meetings.
‘’My trauma? I told you everything. My childhood, my real parents, meeting Massimo. I don’t know what more you could want from me,’’ your e/c gaze met her honey-colored orbs.
‘’What I want from you is to allow me to do my job, to help you open up emotionally. How about what you really feel? How are things with Massimo?’’ her tone softened. You sighed, tapping your fingers against your jean-cladded thighs.
‘’We’re fine, great even. He’s been very understanding. Honestly, I was worried I would resent him. I felt as though I should hate him, for everything. I even hated myself for not being angrier at him. For not screaming at him. But I never had. It’s like…it’s like…I don’t know,’’ you trailed off.
‘’And you read the articles I recommended to you, yes? On Stockholm syndrome?’’
You nodded, biting at your bottom lip momentarily before turning your head back at the waves meeting the ivory shores.
‘’I was sure it was that, at least at first.’’
‘’What changed?’’
‘’Everything.’’
The incident at the mansion had taken place nearly three months ago. Both Massimo and you had worried about how the fire and general stress would effect the baby, Massimo had the best doctors from around the world checking up on you, taking your vitals, and you had grown used to the dreadfully cold gel they slathered over your growing bump. It wasn’t until you personally told him that you were both fine that he backed off a bit. You let out an easy sigh through your nose, smiling to yourself as you laid against the cool sheets of your shared bedroom. Spring was fluttering into summer and a gentle breeze carried the smell of the orange blossoms into the room. Your hands gently pressed and traveled over your growing bump, which by now was more noticeable and your baby was apparently the size of a nectarine. 32 weeks, and your baby proved to be perfectly fine and almost unbothered with all the turmoil that surrounded his or her parents.
‘’I love you so much,’’ you spoke gently, as if any loud noise would startle the life growing inside you.
‘’And your daddy, he loves you so, so much,’’ you continued, smiling at the thought of him.
Your smile faltered only slightly, your subconscious drifting back to your own parents. Both of them. The ones stolen from you and the ones forced upon you. An uneasy, uneven sigh escaped your lips.
‘’My parents…they loved me too. I didn’t know them, not really, but they loved me enough to fight for me. I missed out on knowing them. My dad, he…we…there wasn’t enough time,’’ you choked on your words, hands pausing on your stomach.
‘’There just wasn’t enough time… and my wish for you is for you to know how loved you are. I promise to love you, and to love your daddy until the day I die. Because…the love a parent, a mother, has for her child. Well, I’d do anything for you. No matter how much we might argue or disagree, whatever you choose or wherever you go in life…I will love you until the day that I die. Both you and your daddy,’’ you whimpered, smiling down at your growing bump and letting the warm tears roll down your cheeks.
You jumped when you felt a warm hand wipe away your tears, sighing in relief when Massimo’s warm smile lit up the already sun-kissed room. You held your arms up to him and he laid down beside you, ever careful around your stomach and rested his forehead against yours.
‘’I love you so much,’’ you whispered, leaning into his touch and the butterfly kisses he covered your cheeks in.
‘’Mia bella principessa,’’ he responded, his lips turned up into a charming smile.
His massive hand rested carefully but firmly against the flesh of your abdomen, jumping in surprise when he felt a powerful and distinctive kick. He laughed, looking up at you as you grinned back at him. ‘’He’s always playful whenever daddy is near,’’ you beamed, completely in love with the way Massimo’s eyes lit up as he looked down.
‘’You seem pretty confident that we’re having a boy,’’ he teased. The right side of his mouth turned up into a smirk that was nothing short of sinful. You nudged him with your knee.
‘’I’m always right,’’ you quirked your brow in defiance. Massimo chuckled, bringing you down to his lips with a gentle hold of the back of your head. ‘’I know now better than to underestimate you,’’ he whispered between kisses. You nodded your head at him. The two of you fell into a comfortable silence, his head resting against your growing bump as he traced invisible patterns along your exposed skin.
‘’Any ideas on a name?’’ you broke the silence, fingers threading through his dark locks. You felt him stiffen before hearing him sigh, your own brows furrowing in question as he sat up to face you.
‘’I’ve been thinking…’’ he trailed off. You squeezed his hand gently, prodding him to continue.
He hesitated for only but a moment before meeting your eyes. ‘’I feel almost ridiculous deciding our child’s name when I don’t even know what name to call you now.’’
Every muscle in your body tensed, even the breath in your lungs seemed to erase itself from existence. Against your wishes, against every fiber of your being and every molecule in your essence, flashes of the flaming estate and your ‘’father’s’’ charred corpse flashed through your mind’s eye. Coupled with phantom memories of your faux mother, Mario’s smile and comforting baritone voice, a distorted/murky vision of a woman you had met but was ripped apart from. All of these images, burned into your subconscious and rotating on some sadistic merry-go-round.
‘’It doesn’t matter-‘’
‘’Of course it matters,’’ Massimo cut you off, much to your shock and annoyance.
‘’Massimo,’’ you warned, readying yourself for the imminent fight.
‘’We need to acknowledge what happened. We need to at least talk about it once, we can’t pretend that none of it happened. You have not cried once since that day. You don’t mention it at all and when you wake up screaming in the middle of the night you brush it off like it’s nothing.’’
‘’That isn’t your place to decide, Massimo. It’s not your fucking right to tell me when to open up or to corner me into talking about my fucked up life and what happened.’’
He clenched his jaw, running his hand down his face in an effort to keep levelheaded. You, on the other hand, sat up in your shared bed, hands in tightened fists and nostrils flared in defiance and anger. Massimo’s gaze flickered briefly to your bump, releasing a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding in.
‘’You’re absolutely right. It’s not my fucking place to tell you how to mourn or to corner you into opening up to me about all the shit you’ve been through,’’ your body remained tense, but your breathing began to even out as you processed his words.
‘’But, if there is any hope of us getting you through it and getting you to a place where you can at least acknowledge the past, you have to open up to someone about it, eventually. Even if that somebody isn’t me.’’ His hands hesitantly reached for yours, thumbs stroking your knuckles.
‘’I don’t know how this ends for us. I don’t expect him or her to come along and make everything right, because the truth of the matter is I don’t know if anything will ever be ‘right’ between us. After all I’ve put you through, I don’t expect ‘and baby makes three’ or ‘happily ever after.’ But I know I want to try. I want to try for you, and I want to try for them,’’ he nodded at your stomach. You didn’t even know you were crying until a strangled sob escaped your lips.
Massimo’s hands cupped your cheeks, gently batting the tears away with his thumbs as his forehead pressed against yours’ in a gentle embrace.
‘’I’ve done wrong by you, so many times. And I will never make it up to you, because I can’t. Maybe in the next lifetime I can, but not in this, mi amore. But I mean this with every fiber of my being; I am in love with you. I want to raise our child with you and give them some sense of normalcy that we were robbed of in our youth. I want to grow old with you, if you’ll permit me. I’ve done wrong by you, principessa, and I’ll never be able to make it up to you, but I swear to all of the Gods above and below that I will spend the rest of my days trying to.’’
You held each other like that for what felt like eons. Crying together, slowly letting down your walls only slightly. He was right, in some aspect. It didn’t make anything okay, any of it. But he was right nonetheless. He had been wrong and done wrong so many times. So many wounds imprinted on your heart, some by him and many by others. And, while the wounds were not your fault, the healing was your responsibility.
‘’Call me Alessia.’’
You located a Dr. Jeevika Singh from New Zealand just a few weeks later and booked the first available slot in her schedule. And just like that you found yourself in therapy via video chats and phone calls. And not two months later did you find yourself with a child with wavy locks the same color as yours and the same beautiful amber brown eyes as his father.
‘’You mentioned in past appointments that you struggled with your son shortly after he was born,’’ Jeevika’s voice tore you out of your deep thoughts.
You nodded, a bitter taste of guilt and shame infiltrating your tastebuds.
‘’I struggled with postpartum.’’
‘’And you still feel guilty about that, yes?’’
‘’I love my son more than anything in this world,’’ you whimpered, accepting the tissues with gratitude as Jeevika handed them to you.
‘’There is no shame in that, Alessia. You are a great mother. The fact that you show up to every appointment and have the courage to talk about all of this is proof alone of that,’’ her voice soothed the pain in your chest as you sniffled. You remembered all those early mornings with y/s/n crying and being too defeated to get up and tend to him. Massimo had been a godsent and part of you was envious at how well and natural parenting came to him. You remember spending countless days in bed, drowning out the world around you.
The night terrors came and went, you found yourself arguing with Massimo about irrelevant things occasionally. While he would sometimes shout back, you had to hand it to him on how patient he had been with you. He stood by your side as you video chatted with Jeevika during a handful of sessions, working through his own trauma before Dr. Singh had put him in contact with a colleague of hers.
‘’I’m still so afraid,’’ you admitted after minutes of deafening silence.
‘’That your past will affect your son?’’
‘’That it will destroy him.’’
You hardly remember the drive home, only realizing you had actually driven home when you found yourself in the comfort of your driveway. Massimo’s car was in its’ usual spot and if you strained your hearing, you could already hear his and your son’s laugher bounce of the foundations of your house.
New Zealand took some getting used to. Traveling with a one-year-old during a pandemic had been no easy feat. Faking your deaths and obtaining new passports along with birth certificates and the appropriate paperwork was even more difficult, although you would argue otherwise at times. Trading a mansion for a humble, two-bedroom house was a welcome change of pace, as well as the small town you currently resided in. Nobody knew who you two were. Nothing tied you to Italy any longer, but you knew Massimo struggled saying his goodbyes to Laura and laying the ghosts of her and the child he lost to rest. Only Jeevika knew the truth, sworn to secrecy. Although it took some time trusting an ‘’outsider’’, you found it increasingly necessary for your sanity. Now you were just Alessia and Antonio Amarro to your neighbors. Or, as a certain little boy referred to you, you were Papa and-
‘’Mama!’’ squealing made you jump in your seat, only to grin at the sight of your son eagerly reaching his arms out from his father’s strong arms on the porch towards you.
‘’There are my handsome boys,’’ you beamed, rushing towards them. A sloppy kiss from y/s/n precedented an affectionate kiss from his father.
‘’How was it?’’ Massimo asked, closing the front door, and setting y/s/n in your arms before you two walked to the kitchen. You sighed, offering a tired smile. He offered one back, reaching into the cupboard.
‘’Was it a one one-shot or two shot kind of day?’’ he joked, setting two glasses down on the kitchen island as your son crawled off to play with his toys the second you set him on the floor.
‘’Honey, it’s a pour the bottle in a bucket of day,’’ you retorted, switching your shot glass with a wine one and helping yourself to a local bottle.
Massimo chuckled, kissing your temple as the sweet liquid left a pleasant burn down your throat.
‘’And you? How did you fare with your mini-you?’’ you grinned, the two of you watching y/s/n organize his various stuffed animals into a half circle and make incoherent noises.
‘’He is my penance for giving my parents grief in my youth,’’ he snorted, but it was clear to see how much Massimo adored your son. You both did. He was the center of both of your universes and the best parts of both his parents. At times, you questioned how something so beautiful and sweet could have been forged in so much hurt and strife. Massimo’s strong arms wrapped around your waist, his lips pressing against your head as the two of you watched the proof of your love play with his blocks. So, maybe it wasn’t all grief strife and pain…maybe it really was love your son was born into. And maybe even hope.
‘’He asleep?’’ Massimo asked, flipping the page of the latest novel that caught his interest.
‘’Out like a light,’’ you grinned, making sure the baby monitor was on despite your son being just across the hall. You sighed as you shimmied out of your clothes in favor of your undergarments. You didn’t need eyes in the back of your head to know something else now had Massimo’s full and undivided attention, and you smirked in satisfaction. As any new mother was, you were not immune to the self-consciousness that came with motherhood. Your thighs a little thicker, breasts a little fuller, and a few stretch marks left their mark on your abdomen. But according to the father of your child, you were enchanting all the same. You were still his principessa.
‘’Have I told you how beautiful you are today?’’ his voice rumbled as he abandoned his novel on his nightstand in favor of crawling to you at the foot of the bed. You bit back a smile, failing at it, as he began pressing kisses up your spine to the dip of your neck.
‘’You may have mentioned it,’’ you whispered back, heat rising to your cheeks as his expert hands unclasped your bra.
His warm breath fanned your shoulder and the column of your neck as his kisses made their way to the soft spot of your neck. A tiny, almost inaudible gasp left your parted lips as his hands cupped your exposed breasts, rolling the tiny buds between his thumbs and index fingers. A low growl of approval vibrated against you, and the hardness of his erection made itself known against the small of your back.
You were flipped around, meeting the familiar smoldering gaze of the man before you. Your mouths fought for dominance, with you winning in a rare display of submission from your better half. And as your tongues intertwined and explored each other’s caverns, you tore at Massimo’s clothes freeing his thick appendage. With panting breaths you leaned forward, keeping your eyes locked onto his as you bent down to take his weeping cock between your lips.
‘’You don’t have to, mi amore,’’ he rasped out. You offered a quick smile before taking him in, his manhood quickly hitting the back of your throat. Bobbing your head, mewling around his cock you felt his hands tangle themselves in your hair as his deep groans and heavy breathes filled the room.
He tasted divine. The saltiness of his precum was a welcome taste on your tongue as you whimpered when you felt his thick fingers rub against your pantie-clad pussy.
‘’You’re so wet for me, principessa,’’ he growled out, teasing your lips from outside your sopping wet underwear.
You gave a particularly deep suck, flattening your tongue against the underside of his manhood as your hands cupped his balls, earning a tug at your hair and a long, thick finger entering your tight womanhood. A second one quickly followed with a third attending to your throbbing clit. You moved quicker, taking him in deeper as his fingers thrusted hard and filling your drenched canal.
The way he tensed made it aware of his impending release. The lewd squelching noises emitting from the two of you filled your ears and you were grateful you closed your door so that your son would not be awoken by the debauchery his parents were taking part in. You promptly removed yourself from Massimo, his eyebrows furrowed in question before you shoved him onto his back and taking your place on your throne.
Without breaking eye contact, your took the fingers that had previously been inside you and took them into your mouth, sucking the sweet juices off of them. He groaned, looking up at you as if you were Venus herself. You never tired of that look. You never would.
Spreading your legs and moving up his body, hands clasping with his as he filled your needy pussy. You gasped, cheeks flushed as blood coursed through your body. You sunk down, impaling yourself on his thickness. His hands held yours, grunting as your tight walls welcomed him home. His hips rolled up against yours, bucking you with that Devil-may-care smirk of his. You scoffed, releasing your hold on his hands before steadying them against his pecs. You swiveled your hips, grinding against him as the two of you gasped each other’s names.
‘’I’ve missed this,’’ you whispered, bouncing as his hands traveled up and down your body.
He moaned lowly in agreeance, his mouth taking one nipple between his lips as you rode him hard and fast. You cried out his name, biting your lip in a futile effort to keep your voice down, hissing as his cock hit seemingly new depths inside of you.
‘’You feel me right here, mami?’’ Massimo grunted, pressing a firm hand against your stomach. You whimpered at the feeling of his bulge filling you over and over with each of your movements. Hands planted firmly against his chest, Massimo’s hand cupping the side of your face as you made love to him. You leaned forward, breaths intermingling as the coil in the pit of your stomach was close to snapping undone.
‘’I-I love you,’’ you whispered so quietly you were afraid he didn’t hear you. You knew that wasn’t the case as one hand cradled the back of your neck and the other brought you forward to meet his soft lips in a climax-inducing kiss.
‘’I love you too,’’ he whispered back, the throbbing of his cock causing you to whimper as his release flooded your insides. Each twitch overstimulated you as you moaned out his name like a sacred prayer.
There had been no time to recover as you were gently placed onto the mattress, laying face down and your legs spread. You sighed into the sheets at the feeling of Massimo’s release dripping out of you and making its’ way down your inner thighs. You bit down at the comforter as he filled you once more, the force of his thrust making your body bounce and eyes shut in overstimulated ecstasy. His hands gripped your hips, drawing you back to meet his powerful thrusts.
Your mind drifted back to the scene of the ocean, the strong and powerful tide rocking against the steady shore. And you found yourself moaning his name as his strong thrusts rocked against your sensitive core.
‘’Like this, amore?’’ he groaned, the dragging of his manhood against your silky walls driving you mad. You could no longer form a coherent sentence, but the tears gathering at the corners of your eyes and the flush of your cheeks let him know you weren’t too far off from another sweet release. He sped up the pace, holding you firm enough to ensure you could not escape the onslaught of his thick member entering and reentering your most precious place.
‘’Mas. . Massimo,’’ you mewled out, turning your head to catch a glimpse of him and the way he moved against you. He leaned over the canvas of your back, grunting as his thrusts displayed the urgency residing within him. A powerful hand wrapped around the column of your neck, the other shoved beneath your quivering body as his fingers found your pearl and flicked at it.
You gasped, twitching under him as your orgasm coated his cock. He didn’t stop even then, only speeding up to bury his manhood as deep into you as he could. Your legs shook around him, your hands clutching the forearm nearest your face as you whimpered and moaned his name and sweet praises.
The warmth pooling inside you, along with the violent throbbing of his powerful cock made you all too aware that he found his release. His body went rigid on top of you, his forearms holding his weight as to not crush your smaller form beneath him. He stayed inside you long after you two had finished, lazily thrusting his hips to ensure every drop stayed inside your sated core.
His sweet kisses brought you out of the post-coital bliss, a tired smile gracing your swollen lips as you turned to meet his lips. A tired, content sigh escaped each of you, neither of you daring to part even as sleep overcame you both.
Y/s/n awoke early the next morning, you springing to your feet to throw on your robe before greeting your pride and joy.
‘’My handsome boy,’’ you beamed down at him, brushing the tuft of h/c locks that adorned his little head. With gentle ease you held him close, pressing a kiss to his soft forehead before making your way to the kitchen to get breakfast ready.
As y/s/n happily drank from his bottle in his highchair, you cherished the warm cup of coffee in your hands, keeping your eye on the waffle machine a few feet away. You heard Massimo turn off the shower before his footsteps thumped down the hallway.
‘’Good morning my loves,’’ his throaty voice, still laced with sleep caught the attention of your son who gladly abandoned his breakfast in favor of his father. You grinned, sipping your coffee before leaning up to meet Massimo for a kiss.
‘’y/s/n, your mother is the most beautiful treasure in the world, never forget that,’’ Massimo grinned, pressing a kiss to his chubby cheek. ‘’Mama!’’ y/s/n squealed in delight, chubby hands grabbing at his father’s facial hair.
You smiled, shaking your head as you prepared breakfast.
‘’Alessia, I think he wants you.’’
You tsked before setting down Massimo’s plate in front of him, taking y/s/n into your embrace. Your smile slowly faded and brows furrowed when something caught your eye.
‘’Y/s/n, what do you have, my love?’’ you questioned, setting him in his highchair before carefully prying his tiny fist open.
There it sat in your hand now, relatively small but immensely heavy all the same. Your mouth flew open and a tiny gasp fluttered from your mouth. It seemed like the house went completely still. You’re your son seemed to stop his fidgeting to admire the item you had taken from his hands. There, now in the palm of your hand, was the most beautiful ring you had ever seen. A diamond ring.
Your body turned around before you could process it, only to see Massimo kneeling down before you.
Warning(s): language, angst, violence, major character death.
Summary: Like fire, tensions come to a head and the world around you is engulfed in its’ flames. Who will become the phoenix and who will be buried in the ashes?
A/N: There will be one or two more chapters before this story concludes! Thank you! Also if you messaged me about being added to the Taglist, please send me another message because Tumblr deleted any messages I had saved!
He was absolutely unhinged, pacing back and forth as his words jumbled together. He was in a manic state as he snarled and cursed and spat. Like a rabid dog, spittle and animalistic grunts erupted from his throat. The gun would shift from being aimed at your stomach and then carelessly being waved around in the air. He alternated from discussing Massimo, your mother, your birth parents, and the child you were carrying.
‘’You’re a filthy fucking whore. Just like the worthless bitches I deal with every day. Just like your whore of a mother and the woman I took you from,’’ he spat, eyes flickering around madly.
You remained silent, for as long as he was livid and had the gun in his possession, it would be pushing the envelope too far if you provoked him.
‘’She left me. Can you believe that? SHE left ME! The moment she found out where I found you, she tried running. So I had to…I-I had to,’’ his fuming tone subsided as his thoughts trailed off. He paused, eyes searching the floors for an invisible variable.
‘’She tried taking you, tried running. Had she not been so weak she may have…faster…the bullet is always faster,’’ he chuckled, the hairs on your arms and the back of your neck stood stiff as he began laughing to himself as if a third party had made a joke. But that was the most harrowing fact of the matter. It was just you and him as he laughed over the details of how he murdered his wife for attempting to do what was right. For attempting to secure your freedom and hers’ before the mafia life had corrupted you the way it had her husband.
‘’And that other whore…Massimo’s first whore,’’ he panted between giggles. His hand that wasn’t holding the gun stretched out as if to mirror an explosion in the palm of his hand.
‘’She had no chance the moment Domenico told me their coordinates. She begged and screamed, not even for her life. F or her child’s. Just like my wife, just like the woman who birthed you. I thought for a moment about selling her off to a particularly violent ring in Serbia. But I don’t know what came over me, one minute I was standing there as this bitch wailed, the next I’m watching her burst into flames. It’s interesting, isn’t it? What lengths a mother would go to for her child?’’ his attention turned back to you, eyeing the nearly invisible bump of your lower abdomen.
You were shaking. Whether in fear or in disgust; you couldn’t even distinguish the two at this point. All you thought about was how much you hated this man. How you wanted to watch him suffer and watch the light leave his eyes. You wanted him eradicated from the face of the Earth for you, for your unborn child, for all of the women whose lives he ruined, and for your father. The glass that previously contained your orange juice flew from your hands like a meteor hurtling towards an unsuspecting planet. The way the man you once called ‘’father’’ screeched as the glass broke out into hundreds of shards when coming into contact with his face was chilling, absolutely chilling. Your body quickly fell to the floor as his finger instinctively began firing out shots in a blind fit of rage. You gasped when one bullet ricocheted off your vanity mirror and bounced to the floor, right beside your right shoulder.
When you glanced up you tensed. You would be lying if you had said the scene before you didn’t strike fear into your heart. Blood coated his face, dripping down onto his chest and forever staining that white suit of his. One of his eyes was shut tight as blood, tears, and another fluid which you could only guess to be vitreous gel seeped from the wound. Blinded. He aimed once more, only for his stomach to fall when the distinctive ‘’click’’ of an empty chamber echoed amongst the walls. From the distance you could hear the guards racing up the eastern staircase to see what the commotion was about.
Without hesitating you charged at him, landing a powerful kick to his left knee and didn’t even cringe when the sickening crunch shortly followed as he collapsed to the floor in agony. You panted, quickly grabbing the steel poker from the fireplace as well as a mop the maids had left as a makeshift barrier to temporarily keep the guards out.
Your father, through his screams and gasps of excruciating pain, thrashed on the floor like a fish clinging onto life. Through your own labored breathing, you kept your attention on him as you knelt to the ground beside him.
‘’You fucking cunt. You won’t make it out of here alive. You and that fucking bastard in your belly will burn,’’ he spat, blood and saliva falling to your cheek. He broke out into maniacal laughter, looking like the devil himself.
You brought one shaky hand to your face, wiping off his blood and spittle before reaching into his pant pocket before acquiring what you were looking for. His laughter stopped when his one good eye recognized what you were holding.
‘’No, you will. Your legacy will burn along with you. This estate, your men. It all ends with you,’’ you coldly responded before you began pouring the concoction of cleaning materials over his body, nearly waterboarding him in the process. The odor of the bleach quickly enveloped the room. The voices of his guards steadily grew louder as their footsteps drew nearer.
You rose from the floor, ensuring every bottle of bleach, spray, and scented oils was dumped onto him before clutching his lighter. You could vaguely hear him cursing you, cursing your child, cursing Massimo and everything under the sun as he desperately moved around the floor like some sort of slug.
‘’I’ll see you in Hell!’’ he roared, the flame easily taking hold of one of his drenched arms and rapidly growing thereafter. The entire room illuminated into a burnt orange glow as smoke quickly began flooding it.
‘’You will, but you be sure to tell them who put you there,’’ you responded, eyes reflecting the haze as you watched him burn. You didn’t even blink as the smell of charred flesh filled your nostrils. And as he burned, you prayed with all your might that he thought of the pregnant woman he burned in the backseat of a limo two years ago.
The sound of the door banging broke your trance as you grabbed the steel poker from the door, readying yourself as the fire quickly became fiercer. You turned on the gas for the fireplace, mentally prepping yourself for what was to come. The flames lapped at your curtains and you knew it would only be seconds before the room would explode into a wildfire.
Domenico nervously bounced his leg, repeatedly calling the y/l/n estate to no avail. In the background, Massimo gathered with his men as well as his cousins and their men, locating the weak spots of your family’s estate. Taking out the guards would be an easy enough feat, but securing your safety and drawing you away from your father while dodging snipers and bodyguards was another matter. Massimo ran a hand down his jaw as his closest cousin, Luca, set a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
‘’It’s going to work, primo. We’re going to get her back.’’
Domenico clenched his jaw, cursing your father as his private line went directly to voicemail. He had to think fast, he had to play his cards right if he had any hopes of getting out of this alive.
‘’Domenico.’’
He jumped, turning to meet Massimo’s confused gaze.
‘’Sorry, personal issues,’’ Domenico smiled anxiously, quickly shoving his phone back into his pant pocket. Massimo’s deep eyes felt like they were seeing right through Domenico. As if he could see right into his soul and uncover every lie and betrayal with one glance.
‘’I’ll ride with you,’’ Massimo muttered, tightening his bullet proof vest and ensuring he had a full chamber.
‘’Great.’’
The two exited the mansion, hurrying alongside a dozen of the most ruthless and well-known assassins within the Torricelli family. Domenico suppressed a gulp when he caught Luca loading a Beretta with such ease. With shaky hands, not unseen by Massimo, he opened the car door for his lifelong friend and boss and promptly took the driver’s seat. Domenico felt Massimo’s gaze in the rearview mirror as he started the car, eyes moving around wildly while attempting to give the impression that all was well.
‘’You seem tense, Domenico,’’ Massimo noted. His voice was unnervingly calm.
‘’What makes you say that?’’ Domenico laughed it off, foot still on the break and hand still on the stick.
Massimo shrugged, looking out the window onto the pastures.
‘’Did she say anything when you took her back?’’ he continued with his jaw clenched. Domenico tapped at the stick, wracking his brain around for any possible options.
‘’Did she? Did her father? Did your banksmen gasp when they saw the two million wired to your account the day she left?’’
Domenico’s eyes widened in sheer terror, finally meeting Massimo through the mirror. His mouth opened and closed but the only sound that could come out were tiny, high-pitched gasps.
‘’Why did you do it?’’ Massimo sighed, tired and the hurt clearly evident on his chiseled face. With a gulp, Domenico felt his entire body shake.
‘’Mas…it was…it was just business.’’
Massimo nodded, sniffing the air as he bit his bottom lip in an almost nonchalant manner. ‘’Not to me.’’
Massimo lunged forward, the wire wrapped tightly around Domenico’s throat as he thrashed around, kicking at the windshield, the steering wheel, anything he could. He gagged and gasped, trying to claw at Massimo’s face. Massimo didn’t let up, using all of his might to pull tighter while dodging Domenico’s flailing fists.
‘’It was never business! Not when they burned Laura alive! Not when they caved Mario’s face in!” Massimo roared to the point the windows of the car shook and vibrated. All the while Domenico squealed and huffed as his lungs felt as though they were burning to a crisp. His usual olive skin rapidly turned a bright purple as he shook violently against the driver’s seat. ‘’Mario began the investigation the day Laura died, I didn’t want to believe him,’’ Massimo growled, fresh tears blurring his vision. ‘’But he was always right.’’
‘’It wasn’t business when you involved Y/n,’’ he hissed lowly in the same manner a cobra would before going in for the kill. Massimo kept grunting, pulling and yanking until finally the thrashing and gasping stopped. Domenico laid rigid against the leather seats, limbs and face contorted in a gruesome manner as Luca then opened the driver’s door and tossed the body onto the graveled driveway. He took the previously occupied seat and began driving away. Massimo sighed, fixing his hair and undoing the safety of his gun. He inhaled, exhaled, and repeated the action to recollect his thoughts. He prayed you were unharmed, that you wouldn’t meet the same fate as so many before you. He was well-accustomed to loss at this point, but he knew he could not go on without you. Because if any harm had come to you, he’d set the whole world on fire and bury himself beneath the ashes.
Taking out the two guards had not been an easy task, the wound on your shoulder where the bullet had nearly gone straight through had been proof of that. But you had done it, you were covered in their blood from when you had shot one and bludgeoned the other with the fireplace poker, but you were alive. The blood soaked through your once ivory nightgown and matted your hair. ‘’Please just hold on a bit longer,’’ you prayed, hand over your stomach as you crept through the halls, clutching the rifle that had only moments prior belonged to an ill-fated guard. You could hear men frantically yelling throughout the halls as you hid among the shadows. The flames had quickly spread from your room throughout numerous others and a veil of black and gray smoke began wafting through the mansion. One of the cooks from below had been so startled by all of the commotion that he had fled, the wine used to sauté the chicken meant to be tonight’s dinner had been forgotten and led to a second fire burning downstairs. Thus, your childhood home had steadily, yet increasingly became eaten away by the parasitic flames.
‘’Sir we have numerous cars approaching the estate.’’
‘’I have eyes on the tar-‘’
Silence. The walkie talkie on the security detail went dead silent. Then a familiar sound of bullets raining down outside. You didn’t even care as random staff ran frantically up and down the halls, too terrified to approach the blood-soaked woman who eerily walked through the orange glow of the burning mansion among the blackened air with a hauntingly calm aura. You recall forgetting to breathe every now and then in a subconscious effort to keep as much ash and smoke out of your lungs. You briefly remember a guard staring at you in shock and perhaps even rage before you shot him dead, the bullet piercing his left cheek. You didn’t even pay attention to the barrage of bullets and yelling outside, the crackle and hissing of the flames quickly becoming louder by the second.
Whatever was happening outside, bullets managed to pierce through some of the windows of the mansion, the flames quickly growing in size and in fury. You knew you had to get out, and you had to get out this instant unless you would be swallowed alive by the fire. You you found yourself slowly coming out of your daze, out of the traumatic events unfolding and revealed before you. You took a sharp right, maneuvering amongst the broken glass, ashes, and bullets that littered the steps. Your fists clenched, jaw tight as the hairs on your arms and neck stood up as you felt eyes on you. Raising the rifle promptly, shocked at how easily you were prepared to take another life, you let out a gasp as you met deep brown eyes.
Massimo could’ve sworn he was dreaming, or that he died and woke up in hell. He remembered the assault on your father’s estate, his cousins and loyal men effectively taking out the security one by one. When he caught whiff of the smoke and the sight of the angry red and orange flames, he threw caution to the wind and barged into the kitchen door that had been tucked away on the side of the house. He hissed when the influx of air had breathed life into the flames’ chest, running out of the inferno that had been formally the kitchen and great dining hall.
‘’Y/N!’’ he screamed, eyes squinted due to the smoke that clouded his vision.
His nostrils and lungs stung from the unbearable smell. He stalked the burning building, ignoring the maids and cooks who were in hysterics and searching for a way out. He didn’t care, only firing once at a guard who stepped into his line of vision.
He found himself by the front entrance of the estate, not yet charred by the approaching flames, but certainly torn apart by the attack and the ashes that circulated in the air. A body or two littered the background. He allowed the thick air to fill his lungs, only for it to leave when he looked up the grand staircase.
‘’Massimo…’’
You looked like some sort of war goddess. A Valkyrie sent to deliver him home. A siren calling out his name. Amongst the rubble and bloodshed, among the dead and the living. He didn’t care. All he saw was you. You froze, the rifle falling to your side and slipping from your grasp onto the steps as your mouth slightly opened. Massimo breathed heavily, the tears smearing the blood splatter and ash from his cheekbones.
‘’Principessa,’’ he practically whimpered.
‘’You came back,’’ you whispered, half to yourself and half to the bloodied man standing before you.
He nodded, his legs carrying him towards the stairs as you slowly made your way down, still in shock. Like the very foundations around you, the world faded away. There was no logic, no violence, no loss. Only love. Even as he held you in his warm embrace, even as you both cried and gently caressed each other, nothing else mattered other than the man standing before you. His thumbs wiped away your tears and smeared the blood on your face in the process. Your hands cradled the sides of his chiseled features. Whimpers and sighs passing between both of your lips.
‘’You’re ok…you’re ok, principessa… you’re ok’’ he kept repeating, holding you and kissing you, eyes glazed over with tears as he noticed your shoulder that the bullet had grazed. He gulped, choking on his words as you kept reassuring him.
‘’You’re ok,’’ you couldn’t tell if Massimo was reassuring you or himself or asking you, but you nodded up at him, offering a smile through your tears as he held you close to him. Your hand drifted to your stomach. His body tensed as his eyes tore away from you to look at where your hand pressed.
‘’We. We’re ok,’’ you kept nodding, taking his hand and pressing it to your tiny bump.
His jaw fell slack as his eyes stared down. He hadn’t known. He hadn’t known about the baby and sent you away. Had he known, he would never have let you out of his sight. But he loved you, loved you enough to let you go to protect you. Loved you enough to show you the most vulnerable parts of himself, the parts he feared were too gruesome to love. And he wanted nothing more than to have this moment engraved into his memories and to live his life with you.
‘’I’m tired of pretending that I do not love you, because I do. I’m tired of running. I’m so tired of running,’’ you let the words fall from your lips, finding it extremely freeing.
He finally tore his eyes off your abdomen, meeting your eyes as the hand that was not pressed against your small bump cradled the side of your face. You leaned in further against his touch.
‘’Then stay.’’
You nodded and let the tears fall freely as your lips met in a passionate kiss. You clutched at his vest, crying tears of relief and complete happiness as he led you out of the only home you had ever known. His thick arms clutched you to his chest, shielding your face from the ashes and smoke as you inhaled his scent. The sunshine blinded you as you left the confines of your birdcage, being placed into a truck with Massimo still clutching you and looking you over for injuries. He sighed, the exhaustion and relief evident in his eyes as he and his men began heading out. You refused to look back as the estate burned to the ground, only an exoskeleton of brick and steel would eventually remain, like the bones of a great beast.
But you didn’t look back, you couldn’t. Your eyes gently closed as your face rested against Massimo’s chest, his hand holding yours as if you would disappear if he let go. You felt him press a kiss to your temple as his arm wrapped around your body, his hand protectively covering your bump as he allowed himself to take it all in. As the vehicle began driving past the pastures where you would ride horses, past the cliffs and ocean where you had spent endless days as a child and where you had your first kiss, the sun felt like a blanket over your bodies in the backseat. A sigh escaped Massimo as his body also began to relax once he was able to comprehend that it was over. That he had found you and you were both now free. The dirt road gently rocked you both to sleep, hands still tangled together. Leaving the past behind, heading towards your tomorrow.
‘’I love you, principessa,’’ Massimo whispered aloud. And to himself, before sleep overcame him he gave thanks to his father, Mario, and Laura for watching over the two of you today. And he would’ve liked to think that all three were finally at peace, smiling as they headed towards their own tomorrows as the two of you headed towards yours’.
Warning(s): language, angst, violence, mentions of miscarriage, kidnapping, depression.
Summary: Finally, everything is revealed. The reader’s past, as well as the truth about your parentage and your secret is finally unveiled during a fatal and long overdue sit down with your father.
A/N: This is a very important chapter so I hope you enjoy! Only a few more chapters before this series is finished!
You didn’t keep track of time in the days that you had spent locked away in your room. You avoided mirrors entirely, having no desire to look at the dark circles that embedded themselves under your eyes or the way your eyes had lost any sort of light in them. Your lips were chapped, but the headaches had ceased a day or two ago. You were sure that you had cried yourself out the day Massimo had sent you away, that there were no longer any tears that your weak body could muster. A part of you felt incredibly selfish, given your condition, but you couldn’t think clearly. Every waking moment was spent thinking about Massimo. You weren’t eating nearly enough nor drinking enough water to fuel your body. Sleep evaded you, though you didn’t desire that either. All you really could think about was how you would never see the man you loved again.
‘’Honey?’’ your father’s throaty voice called from behind you as you sat against the large window of your room.
Guards were stationed everywhere, at least two of them always present at your door. In short, running away or even jumping out your balcony simply weren’t options. Your hand twitched at the sound of your father’s footsteps, sucking in a deep breath when his meaty hand gently clasped your shoulder.
‘’Honey, the maids have been telling me that you haven’t been eating much,’’ the way his voice gave the illusion of genuine concern baffled you. The way this man, this monster, who kidnapped and sold thousands if not millions of women and children could go to sleep every night and be free of guilt stunned you. How easily he could attempt to continue this charade of being the loving, doting father that you had foolishly believed all of these years filled your insides with revulsion.
‘’I…I’m not hungry,’’ you croaked, your throat dry as a tendril of your hair (which that itself seemed to lose its’ shine) fell in front of your face.
Your father reached out to brush it away, stopping short when he noticed the way you cowered and flinched. He let out a sigh of frustration, turning his attention to the door.
‘’Leave my daughter and I alone, we have much to discuss,’’ he barked at the guards, who dutifully did as their boss ordered and went on their merry ways.
A lavishly hand carved wooden chair scraped along the tiled floors as your father took his seat a few feet in front of you. He leaned forward, creasing his expensive suit and the way his gold Rolex glistened caught your attention for a brief moment.
‘’Y/n, what happened to you?’’
You barked out a laugh, shaking your head as your hand ran itself through your locks. ‘’You cannot be serious,’’ you chuckled, your father’s bushy brows pinching together in both confusion and dwindling patience.
‘’As the plague,’’ his tone took on a more serious bite, causing your faux grin to melt away and be replaced with cold, angry eyes. Those terrible eyes. You couldn’t help but think those terrible eyes had been the last thing many people had looked into before they died.
‘’My entire life has been a lie. Everything I thought you stood for, father, has been a lie,’’ you shifted your weight to look him dead in the eye. His thumbs nervously twitched.
‘’You had a great childhood,’’ he tried deflecting. ‘’You never wanted for anything.’’
‘’At what cost, father?! Human lives?? Innocent people everyday suffer because of you, because of this family! Families torn apart, lives ruined. And you didn’t even care!’’ you snarled, arms waving around wildly.
‘’I did what I had to in order to ensure we were on top! It’s time you grew up and knew what reality consists of, young lady! It is survival of the fittest, eat or be eaten, kill or be killed!’’ he spat, hands doing all sorts of manic gestures. You scoffed, shaking your head.
‘’I have been kidnapped, used as leverage, nearly assaulted in an alleyway, beaten and nearly shot by YOUR men. Don’t you dare sit there and attempt to lecture me about reality or the real world. I’ve SEEN the real world, and it is an ugly, decrepit, dark place because of men like you,’’ you hissed. For a split second you swore you saw your father cower back from your words. At the very least he was unnerved by your changed personality. You were no longer the innocent child calling him excitedly about your acceptance letter to Harvard, nor the sweet little girl picking apples in the orchard. You’ve changed into something else entirely.
‘’And you think Massimo Torricelli is any different?’’ his voice terrifyingly composed and stoic.
You were at a loss for words as you sat back into your chair. You gazed at the bronze door handle just yards away. ‘’I know he’s different.’’
Your father laughed, shaking his head at you in the same manner he would when you were young and had said something out of childhood innocence. It made your blood boil.
‘’Now I am convinced you truly live in a fantasy, y/n,’’ he chuckled, taunting you. Baiting you.
You leaned forward in your chair, forearms resting on your knees as you met his cold gaze.
‘’So set me straight.’’
He arched a brow, any implication of humor immediately evaporated from his face. ‘’About?’’
‘’Everything. Laura, Mario, my mother, everyone and everything. Set me straight. Release me,’’ you demanded without blinking. He gulped at the mention of your mother, rubbing his hands on his pants and looking down at the family ring.
‘’No, look at me. I want you to look at me as I finally hear the truth in your own words,’’ you ordered. He clenched his jaw, but did as you wished. Your gaze softened only slightly as you increasingly grew desperate.
‘’I need you to release me.’’
He sighed, glancing once more at the ground before meeting your gaze.
‘’Twenty-seven years ago…your mother and I had been married for nearly ten years. Seven…seven miscarriages and one stillbirth later and we still had no children. You know as well as I do that in this life, a family needs a legacy. Children are that legacy. Without them, the family dies out and leaves its’ head vulnerable.’’
‘’We had visited numerous doctors from all over the world. The words ‘sterile’, ‘hostile womb’, ‘low chance of conception’ quickly became accustomed to us. It took a heavy toll on her. She lost weight, her smile, even some hair and above all she lost the will to live. And the family became weaker because of my inability to produce an heir to the y/l/n throne. At this point I had been in the business for quite some time. I had done everything my father and grandfather failed to do; create an empire. I succeeded in establishing my throne, but I had failed miserably at producing an heir. One day, as I was overseeing normal operations, I saw something.
This woman, a spitting image of your own mother in her youth screamed wildly. Had her health not deteriorated from the depression and numerous treatments, I could’ve sworn it was my loving wife, but no this woman was fiercer, younger. The wails that erupted from her mouth were inhuman, like a fox caught in a trap or a mother wolf crying to the moon. She caused a great disturbance that day, work seemingly ceased as I made my way over to see what the commotion was about. I gripped her arm and saw she was carrying a small bundle tucked under her breast. The men and I finally ripped it from her and there you were…this small, beautiful child. Truly beautiful. Too beautiful to be in the hands of clients and sold off like livestock. It made sense why this woman fought tooth and nail to keep you two together; refusing to be separated and sold off. She kept screaming for her husband, and she kept wailing your name over and over as I took you. She was sent away…somewhere far down South…Australia or New Zealand rather. And from then on you were our little y/n.’’
You froze in your chair, mouth dry as the ground beneath your feet crumbled right from under you. One could hear a pen drop at the silence that plagued the room.
‘’W-what was my name?’’ was all you could think to ask. Somewhere, somehow in the deepest part of you, you knew. The name was on the tip of your tongue, yet you prayed that you were wrong. But you knew. You knew. He pondered a second or two, searching the archives of his mind before he finally answered:
‘’Alessia.’’
Your father rushed to your side as you collapsed onto your knees, sobbing and wheezing for air. ‘’Y/n! Y/N breathe!’’ he yelled, holding you to his chest as you let out a blood curdling scream, echoing off the walls and throughout the mansion. With everything in you, you screamed. You clawed, kicked, pounded your fists on any surface within your proximity. Begged. Begged to make it stop. Begged for him to tell you that he lied. That it wasn’t true. That he hadn’t ripped you from your birth mother’s arms and ripped away your identity. That you were y/n y/l/n, daughter of y/f/n and y/m/n. But he never did. He never would. And you were forced to face the dark, haunting reality of your tragic past.
Your name was not your name. Your home was not your home. Your mother had not been your mother. And your father was not your father. It had been Mario all along. So close, yet now forever out of reach. How cruel it had been.
Hours must have passed. You weren’t sure how you ended up back in your bed with a towel draped over your forehead, forcibly given water and orange juice. After the maids had assured your father that you had only suffered a panic attack had he dismissed everyone. In their urgency, the maids completely abandoned their cleaning supplies by the door to your father’s annoyance but said nothing and had taken a seat at the foot of your bed.
‘’I am so sorry. Truly y/n,’’ was all he could say, avoiding your eyes.
‘’Don’t. Don’t call me that,’’ you shook your head, tears brimming your eyes.
He huffed, shaking his own head in annoyance. ‘’You have cost me enough trouble as is. Over 80% of my produce is gone. Most of my men, dead! I have to rebuild this family from the ground up. All for your fucking fairytale romance, all because you spread your legs for that fucking bastard!’’ he snarled, finally showing his true colors.
A slight smirk threated to tug at your lips as you saw him begin to unravel, but opted to meet his deadly glare with your own as you sat up. He must’ve noticed this because he took a deep exhale and collected himself, slowly deteriorating into the role of the caring father.
‘’That said, you are ready to begin overlooking things as well. You are still my daughter, still the one to inherit this business. You will work to rebuild, restore, and expand this family’s name. And in time this will all be forgotten,’’ he rose, turning to exit.
‘’You’re wrong.’’
He visibly froze, fists clenching at his sides. He swiftly turned back around to face you.
‘’Y/n,’’ he hissed through a locked jaw.
‘’I told you, that’s not my name. It never was. And I am not going to help you rebuild this fucking family, I’m going to use the foundation of this house brick by brick and stone by stone to build my own funeral pyre if I have to. But I am done. I am done being afraid and scared and lied to. I’m done being a pawn.’’
‘’What makes you so sure you can walk away from this? You think he’s going to save you? That he’s just going to waltz right in here and take you back and you’ll live happily ever after?’’ he scoffed, face turning purple from his rage. You shook your head in disagreement.
‘’I’m saving us,’’ a protective hand placed over your stomach. It took him a moment before it finally sunk in. All the dots became aligned and, for once, it was he who was finally brought to the light of realization. You nodded.
‘’You said it yourself; children are that legacy. Your legacy will die with you while his will live on.’’
‘’You’re…’’
‘’Pregnant.’’
The air went frighteningly cold. He reached into his back pocket and you broke out into a cold sweat. The thudding of your heart beating in your chest was the only noise that seemed to matter. Now or never. He steadily rose his hand, pistol in plain sight and glinting from the evening sun shining through the sheer curtains. Now or never. The slender glass cup that you had drank from rested in your iron grip. Now or never. The abandoned cleaning supplies just feet away from the man holding a gun and aiming at your stomach. Now or never. The sound of his index finger clicking the safety off echoed in your ears as the world seemed to move in slow motion.
‘’If you think this story has a happy ending then you, my dear, haven’t been paying attention.’’
Massimo felt sick to his stomach, his innards tangled in knots and quaking. His head was pounding and he could feel how swollen his eyes were from crying. He didn’t know how long he sat on the floor of his office, cursing and sobbing and replaying in his mind what had happened. It was a miracle you hadn’t woken up yet, if one could even call it that. Papers were strewn all over the ground, his desk flipped on its’ side with the drawers broken and torn apart. The only thing that seemed to be intact was the framed photograph that laid in Massimo’s weak grip and even that had been slightly marred with the blood from his bloodied knuckles. He shakily exhaled, a fresh onslaught of tears brimming his lashes as he looked into photo. His father’s proud face stared back at him, as did a cheerful young Massimo’s. Mario on the other hand, in his usual protective nature had his focus on the heir to the Torricelli throne. If Massimo gazed long enough and hard enough he could see the faint smile grace Mario’s lips as his sunglasses blocked his eyes from being seen. The reality that Massimo would never look into those old, wise, and caring brown eyes again was another blow to the heart, another reason to give up. Massimo bit his lip, tossing his head back as he sniffled. He wanted to take it all back. Nothing had been worth Mario’s life. Nothing.
Massimo eventually picked himself up off the floor, although he felt like he was floating; as if his body wasn’t even his to control anymore. He stalked the silent halls of the mansion like a broken being, a bottle of liquor in his hand. Initially it was to pour over his shredded knuckles, but he quickly took to gulping down the liquids to numb the inner pains. If he had gazed into a mirror he would unlikely recognize the entity staring back at him. He simply stumbled down the grand staircase, the sickening crunch of Mario’s skull coupled with your father’s threats echoed in his head. His feet stopped at the entrance of the wine cellar, the earthy smell of applewood and the tangy smell of imported wines did nothing to ease his sorrows as Massimo quickly downed the bottle he had been carrying and promptly shoved his fist through a row of Barolo wine glasses. The sticky liquid steadily created flowing rivers of red, rapidly streaming towards the drain located at the furthest corner of the cellar as Massimo roared like a wounded animal.
The screams and sounds of glass shattering woke you up instantly. From your estimate, it sounded like the ruckus was coming in the direction of the westward side of the estate. You sat up in bed, heart falling down into your stomach when you noticed Massimo’s absence, his side of the bed cold and the sheets appearing like he left in a hurry. Something was wrong, you knew deep down as your body quickly filled with dread. Your heart began to pound in your ears. Had your father found you? Was someone hurt? Regardless of what it was, you knew something terrible had taken place and rushed down the hallways, briskly searching each room as the yelling increased with each shaky step you took. Absentmindedly, your hands pressed against your lower abdomen in a protective manner as you hesitantly made your way to the cellar.
‘’Massimo?’’
You yelped when an already broken wine bottle was thrown to the marble floor, the splatter barely reaching your bare feet. Your eyes surveyed the scene in both shock and great concern. Shelves of the most extravagant wines were haphazardly tossed in every which way. Glass littered the once pristine floors and the smell of tart fruit and citrus as immensely overwhelming. You quickly looked to the wall opposite of where you stood, Massimo heaving as he rose his head to meet your gaze. He slumped against the cold surface, panting as his disheveled hair fell into his dull eyes. He was drunk, that much was clear, but you knew him well enough to sense something tragic had taken place this night to spur his actions.
‘’Massimo,’’ you whispered, wincing at the sight of his bleeding hands and the slight ‘tap tap tap’ noise whenever a drop hit the floor to blend in with the pool of wine.
He flinched at the sound of your voice, face contorted as if your words physically hurt him. His feet were stained red, whether it was mostly blood or wine you weren’t sure. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts before he reopened his eyes and his gaze fell back to you.
‘’Mario’s dead.’’
Your heart stopped beating for a moment or two. A horrid chill ran up and down your back, it was as if you were forcibly dunked into a frozen lake as the air was stolen from your lungs.
‘’They got him. They killed him, they made me watch on the phone,’’ Massimo’s words were slurred and rapid, but all you needed to know was that Mario was dead and it had indirectly been your fault that Massimo had lost his only remaining father figure. Another body never to be buried. Another blow to the heart. Another light snuffed out too soon. Because of you. He slumped down to the floor, legs sprawled out and pushing aside the mess.
You didn’t even know what to say at this point. To be honest, you were afraid to even speak as Massimo’s rampage made him quite unpredictable. The more you tried to read him, the more lost you quickly became. Your feet carried you to him, trying their best to avoid the shards of glass. Even as they pierced your skin, you didn’t even wince as you knelt beside him and took him into your arms. At first you thought he was sobbing into your chest as he shook against you, but he quickly pulled away from your embrace and a mighty hand found its’ way around your jaw as he made you look up at him.
‘’I need you to leave,’’ he whispered harshly. Your mouth hung open in complete shock.
‘’Massi-,’’
‘’Your father told me he’s not going to stop. More people will die, unless I give into his demands,“ his eyes did not meet yours as he stared blankly.’’
‘’We will figure this out, we can-‘’
‘’LISTEN TO ME,’’ he roared causing you to yelp and shut your eyes in terror. This was not your Massimo. This was not the man who just hours ago made gentle love to you and held you in his arms as you slept.
‘’You need to leave. You need to go home, we can’t do anything. There is no fixing this. Mario’s skull is under a man’s boot as we speak we can’t just ‘figure it out’,’’ he snarled, his grip becoming tighter as he spit venom out into your face.
‘’Stop it,’’ you cried out, hands wrapped around his wrist as you tried to pull his hand from you.
‘’We were nothing more than a fantasy, living in a daydream as more and more people die,’’ he huffed, releasing your jaw and backing away from you.
‘’You’re drunk,’’ you whispered, tearful eyes analyzing his movement the way one would carefully study a dangerous animal.
‘’I loved you. I loved you more than anything, and look where it got me,’’ his smile was cruel, taunting, and full of malice, but there was a devastating sadness looming in those deep brown eyes.
‘’You don’t mean that. You’re not in a right state of mind right now,’’ you whispered more to yourself than him as you slowly rose up off the floor to leave and pray that in the morning (which was now just a few hours from now) his anger would be pacified and he would find a way, like he always did, to make things right.
‘’No, principessa. I’ve never been more clear in my life,’’ he scoffed, rising as well.
‘’You need to leave, pack whatever you want and I’ll have Domenico take you as far as he can to your father’s estate.’’
Your eyes flew wide open as you turned to face him, fists clenching. ‘’No,’’ was all you could get out. His angry eyes stared yours down as you shook your head vehemently. ‘’No…you don’t mean that,’’ your chest felt heavier as heartbreak and anger slowly filled your senses. ‘’No you aren’t sending me away.’’
‘’I have no choice!’’ he screamed, lunging at you as you backed yourself into a corner.
‘’Yes you do!’’ you screamed back, hot tears matting your hair against your cheeks.
‘’I couldn’t protect Laura. I couldn’t protect Mario. I can’t protect you!’’ he hissed through a clenched jaw. Your lip quivered as your breathing labored. You continued to shake your head, swiping at the tears that continued to run down your flushed face.
‘’No, you can’t do this. Massimo, you can’t do this. Please,’’ you sobbed.
He shook his head, anger slowly subsiding and giving in to defeat. ‘’I can’t protect you,’’ his voice was low as his head hung. He had never felt more defeated in his entire life. He had never experienced such a feeling of complete and utter brokenness as your cried and begged him. He couldn’t let anything happen to you. Never to you. It was as if he was some disease and anything he held even the faintest inkling of love towards would end up withering and die in flames. He couldn’t let that happen to you and if sending you back home meant that you would live, he had to. He couldn’t lose you to this life too, never you.
Surely you’d hate him for the rest of your days, but at least you’d still have air in your lungs and live a full life. You’d meet someone someday, maybe another Don who allied with your father or maybe a stranger in a coffee shop. He prayed it wasn’t someone involved in this life, though the chances of your father allowing that were slim. He prayed you would get as far as you could from the mob lifestyle and that this life of murder and crime would cease to taint your kind sould any more than it already had. You’d get married, have children, and die in your bed after living a full life. Even if it wasn’t by his side as he had so desperately wanted. Even if it meant you going to your grave still hating him.
‘’Please,’’ you wailed into his chest, your hot tears piercing his heart as he struggled not to gather you in his arms and comfort you. Struggled not to say that he took it all back, that he loved you with everything in his soul. That he never wanted anything more, that he would leave all of this if it meant you’d end up together. But it was a child’s prayer, a hopeless daydream and reality was far more cruel and unforgiving than his and yours’ dreams. He had made up his mind at the thought of your cold lifeless body being held in his arms as he sobbed over your corpse. It had to be done. His arms enveloped you as he carried you out of the cellar, yelling out for Domenico as you fought, clawed, and screamed for him to put you down.
The ordeal had been a quick blur, if you were being honest. Your words did not come from your throat but somewhere more primal, wails and screams impossibly inhuman escaped your throat. As if you were a mouse caught in a glue trap and Massimo was salvation. ‘Don’t leave me,’ ‘please,’ ‘don’t do this’ all fell on deaf ears as Domenico gently forced you into the back of a limo, the doors and window shut tight so that your screams and pathetic attempts were muffled beyond recognition. Even that final confession, that one thing that had been weighing on your mind and consuming your thoughts for the past several days had fallen on deaf ears due to the thick glass of the car’s windows. That one secret only shared between you and Mario, the one thing that might have convinced Massimo to change his mind. And he couldn’t even hear it.
You were sure that he heard and chose to ignore you, or that he simply didn’t care. A part of you was relieved just to confess it aloud for once, but the reality of the limo beginning to drive away as Massimo slowly limped back into the mansion slowly sunk in. You watched as he retreated, watched as the grand mansion where you had lived for nearly a year had drifted away and resembled a small speck along the horizon. At that point you were so devastated and in utter shock at his coldness towards you that all you could do was curl up in the backseat and cry. You clutched at your abdomen and shook with each violent sob that racked through your body. Whether it had been hours or minutes, you didn’t know nor care, but when the blanket of darkness consumed you, you gladly welcomed it and prayed this had all just been a terrible, terrible nightmare.
At the same time Massimo dragged his feet to the pasture, beyond the rose garden that you had adored so much. Beyond the pool where Mario liked to enjoy his morning coffee and where Laura had delighted in sunbathing and swimming. He collapsed to his knees in front of the tree, beside the impromptu grave.
‘’Did you believe yourself to be a God, Massimo?’’ her velvet voice clicked with almost mockery and disapproval.
He shakily inhaled, eyes closed in deep thought.
‘’Great Massimo; slayer of lions and little women,’’ Laura giggled, her breath hot on his neck.
‘’I’m sorry,’’ was all he could whisper as this illusion fluttered across his being.
‘’So you sent her back to the lion’s den, eh?’’ Mario scoffed, standing in front of him. At this point Massimo was shaking as his breathing became uneven.
‘’Like a lamb ready for the slaughter,’’ his mentor continued.
‘’I had no choice,’’ Massimo whispered, a fresh onslaught of tears coating his tender eyes.
‘’There’s always a choice, my love,’’ Laura whispered in his ear. ‘’You chose to take her. Just like you chose to take me. Just like I chose to love you. Just like you choose to love her.’’
‘’Massimo,’’ Mario’s voice sounded closer, although nobody was truly there as Massimo’s thoughts ran rapid as he sat under the cold shade of the large tree. Fresh dew drops littered the grass as mean gray clouds roamed the valley from above.
‘’There is a way to be good again.’’
When you awoke you found yourself in a new vehicle, leather seats instead of suede ones confirmed it as well as you being seated in the passenger seat rather than caged in the back like a rapid dog or petulant child. The landscape filled your heart with dread as you slowly began recognizing your hometown. The familiar coastline, which had once upon a time delighted you now looked cold and unforgiving. The pastures, although to the normal eye would look no different than the ones you had encountered at Massimo’s, seemed more dull and barren. Domenico noticed you had awoken and produced a smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
‘’Good morning,’’ he offered, causing you to scoff. The fog that covered the pastures was thick and the sun had not yet risen over the valley as you neared your father’s estate. You turned your body away from him, contemplating your next movement carefully.
‘’Why are you doing this? Why is he sending me away, Domenico?’’ you sniffled, eyes gazing out, looking at the navy blue ocean along the horizon. Would the rocks below be sharp enough to pierce through a person, you wondered.
Domenico sighed, running a hand through his hair as if your question genuinely troubled him. His fingers nervously tapped on the steering wheel. You furrowed your brows at his mannerisms.
‘’Do you know what happened?’’ you pressed, mouth forming a firm line.
Domenico’s eyes flickered to yours, the car slightly increasing in speed as you could somewhat make out the silhouette of your father’s home in the distance. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
‘’Domenico,’’ your voice rose, turning to face him fully.
‘’It had to be done,’’ his eyes alternated between the road, the rearview mirror, and the surroundings but he made sure not to meet your gaze.
‘’What did?’’ you demanded, heart racing as you began to lose patience with Massimo’s confidant and someone you considered and friend.
A few moments of silence passed and you were quickly nearing the estate. Your hand reached forward, shoving his shoulder in a way that did not cause pain but certainly called for attention.
‘’Tell me!”
Your door was abruptly open, a large man who you recalled as your father’s head of security had you in his bulky arms. They were nothing like Massimo’s, you subconsciously noticed.
‘’Y/n!’’ your father gasped, a smile on his face as he rushed to you. You couldn’t help but flinch from his embrace, the smell of cologne making you nauseous as you refused to return his embrace.
‘’Principessa?’’ his thick brows furrowed in confusion. Weren’t you happy to be home? Among your people? With him?
‘’What did you do?’’ your voice was low. Domenico shakily got out of the car, men with guns watching the interaction with hawkish eyes. You were about to tell him to drive away, to get far away before any harm could befall him. Your blood ran cold when your father’s attention drifted from you to your friend.
‘’Is everything in order?’’
Domenico nodded. ‘’He has no plans to retaliate.’’
‘’Good, your payment for all of your help should already be taken care of, am I correct?’’ your father smiled.
‘’Yes sir, thank you.’’ Your eyes widened as you stood in shock.
‘’You’ve been working with him,’’ you whispered more to yourself than anyone else.
Domenico’s sympathetic eyes fell onto you, but he chose to remain silent.
‘’Yes! Brilliant, wasn’t he? He had delivered that whore to my men and I two year ago. Thanks to him we were able to give her a proper funeral pyre. We were hoping that would have been enough of a warning to the Torricelli clan, and it was never my intention to involve you, principessa. But it was thanks to him that we knew where to locate you at the beach yesterday. I had been hoping to retrieve you and Massimo’s blasted bodyguard for leverage, but alas if you want something done right…but our friend here made it possible to bag that head of security. Now Massimo is weak and vulnerable and more than happy to give into my demands.’’
Your father’s explanation did little to relieve the shock and horror from your system. This whole time, you and Massimo had been played. Mario’s death was on Domenico. Laura’s death was his fault. His fault. He had betrayed his friend. He set them all up. And now you may never see Massimo again.
‘’Why?’’ you hissed. But you knew the answer already. It was the same reason why there would always be mafia wars and innocent lives lost. Money. Power. Greed. At the end of the day it was all the same and nobody was ever an exception.
