Marked For Crime Royalty| Book One | ✓

29 - What a Love Life

"Well I know you don't want to sit around me crying over another man when you're clearly-"

" In love with you?" He raised an eyebrow and her eyes widened.

" That's...not what I was going to say" Rolo figured out the toy was gone and he ran to Adriano and she watched him fight for the toy, smiling at them. Like they were some kind of family or something. His laughs and smiles were adorable, he was happy. Eventually Rolo got tired of it and decided to lay across Teresa's lap and she rubbed him repeatedly to sleep.

Adriano chuckled, while building the playpen. " I've known ever since you came back from Milan" He finally said after half an hour of silence and fixing the playpen.

" Why didn't you tell me?" She questioned and he shrugged.

" Wanted to save conversations like this"

" What's wrong with it?"

He picked up the connected pieces, standing it up, " Nothing. It just doesn't change anything you know?"

" Do you want it to?" She questioned, curious if he wanted to be with her or if this was just an attachment thing from being around each other too much. He stopped what he was doing to stare at her.

"No" He replied and she nodded, not knowing how to respond to it.

"Not like that. It's just-" He huffed.

"You wanna hear a story? " She nodded and he looked like he spaced for a moment, before he started talking.

"There was this woman. Beautiful, naïve at times. Like you in a way" He chuckled. "And just like you, she was in love with a Don. He was good to her of course, spoiled her, but just like you, she wanted more than nice gestures and affection. She wanted to be with him, committed. But this is what she didn't get. Once a woman is completely committed with a Don, there is absolutely no way out of that relationship anymore. And it comes with disadvantages, his enemies become your enemies, people always trying to target you, it's dangerous. And then the advantage is just being with a powerful man, being spoiled-" He paused, thinking.

" Of course, being the person, Don he was, two factors kept him from commitment as did the same for Luciano. His position as a Don, and for her protection. But this woman wasn't as patient as you are with Luciano. She thought well, we're not together, he won't claim me, commit, it's just a game to him. So she went to a club, got drunk, had sex with another man. And a few more times she did the same, all just to forget about that Don. And it was this one day, a cop showed up at her house. They told her one of the men was found dead and she was the last one to see them. It wasn't just one, it was all the men she slept with."

Teresa's eyebrows raised.

" She went to jail, but the Don got her out and it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. He got her out so he could look her in the eye and kill her." Adriano looked at Teresa.

" The point is, it depends on what Don you're with, what Don you've emotionally, and physically involved yourself with. Luciano is also that Don. The Don that would kill any man you sleep with just for touching you. And once it's become too much, he will kill you because 1, you embarrassed him in front of his entire business and 2, because you betrayed his trust and his love."

Teresa huffed, Luciano didn't love her though. But she could see how it would betray his trust.

"So basically I'm his prisoner?"

"Never. Luciano would never force any woman to be with him." She grew confused now.

" But -"

"Want to start over? Have a chance of commitment with someone else? Tell Luciano you never want to see him again. Tell him you don't love him, that you're done."