There would be many words to describe Roman Cecilio, but one would be: malicious. Don of the Italian Mafia with no remorse, but what happens when he meets a woman and her daughter?
Jasmine Torres shelters her daughter from any and all harm, hiding...
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Today feels off. I can't put my finger on it but a deep feeling lays in my stomach and makes my chest flutter with anxiety.
"Mama, you getting out of bed for me?" Roman asks, coming out of the bathroom.
"No, today's a bed day." I tell him, patting the blanket to signal I want him to come back to bed with me. He frowns but joins me, laying in between my legs as his head rests on my chest.
"How come?" He mumbles as I rub my fingers through his hair.
"I don't know, I just don't want to get up. Will you stay with me?" I ask him nervously. I feel like a burden to him sometimes. I know he has stuff to do and I shouldn't hold him back from doing it but there's days where I just need him; I need him near me, touching me, telling me sweet nothings.
"Yeah, mama. My schedules cleared for the day." He tells me, nuzzling his face further into my chest.
"Can you- can you just tell me something, anything?" I ask, feeling my chest tighten at the sudden urge to just get rid of this pressure on my body.
"Um, the hotel I worked on in Mami is finally open. The casino too. Uh, Luis deadlifted 280 the other day. Tanner is thinking about getting a cat. And, uh, the government is raising prices again?" Roman blurts out random stuff, nearly making me chuckle. He's working that brain too hard.
"Never mind." I breathe out a chuckle.
"Well, I tried. Do you want another project to do?" He asks, looking up at me from his spot on my chest.
"Maybe. Maybe I could do the foyer, it's just kind of empty." I shrug.
"Yeah, you could do that. You can change things in here too. Everything in here is just black because it's easier to keep clean." He says but it sounds like it pains him to say it. I wouldn't want to change his precious room anyways.
"It's fine, I like the way it is." I tell him. ——————————————————————— "Mom?"
I turn my head towards the door, seeing Luis peek his head inside our room. Roman is sleeping on my chest with his arms completely wrapped around my torso.
"What is it?" I ask quietly, watching as he comes further into the room.
"I haven't seen you today. Are you okay?" He asks, taking a seat on the bed beside me as his hand reaches for mine.
A small smile crosses my lips as I look our hands. His love language is physical touch. Not to mention I think he feels that if he isn't touching the person he cares about, they'll disappear or go away. He even grabs Roman's arms or sleeves sometimes.
"I'm okay, just a little tired. What's wrong?" My eyebrows furrow as he looks at me while chewing the inside of her cheek
"It's nothing, mom. Can I sleep with you?" He asks with hope in his eyes. I nod and lift the blanket for him to lay beside me.
He gets comfortable and lays his head on my shoulder as he hugs my left arm to his chest. I watch him as his breathing evens and he sleeps.
My chest aches knowing that I should feel loved and happy that I have my family around me but all I can think about is that Ansley should be tucked in here with me.
I have my son and boyfriend laying with me, feeling safe enough to fall asleep near me. I should feel happy.
I hate who I've become. I hate that I can't enjoy this. I hate the people who took her away from me. I spent my entire life trying to stay alive, even in the darkest times. I've lost so much and I never let myself get to the point where I'm affected by it but now that Ansley's gone, I can't help but think if what if I never tried.
What if I just kept talking and fighting back just so he could kill me? Ansley would have never had to hide in a small apartment, living off barely any cash, having to watch her mother walk away while she ate because she was the only one who did eat.
Roman wouldn't have lost his best friend and his daughter. His life would've carried on without me coming into it and ruining it.
Luis wouldn't have to walk around on eggshells around me as if I'll break if he says one thing wrong.
I am the cause to all these problems. ——————————————————————— "You want to go get something to eat?" Roman asks, rubbing his puffy eyes. He just woke up from a four hour nap. Luis slept for about two hours before he woke up and went to go do something.
I start to shake my head but I catch myself. I'm worrying them. "Yeah." I mumble, standing up and stretching. The satisfying popping of my joints feels so good after laying in the same spot for four hours.
I hold his arm to my chest as we walk to the kitchen. I've been there a couple of times since there's normally food on the table but the kitchen is really pretty. It's quite big with a big island in the middle of it. The cabinets are black with marble countertops, the sink is a shiny silver, matching with the sterling silver appliances.
Roman lifts me onto the counter before going to the fridge and grabbing the container of raspberries, handing them to me to snack on before looking for something real to eat.
"Do you think you could get me a job?" I ask, putting a raspberry in my mouth. I watch as he turns towards me slowly with furrowed eyebrows.
"Why? You don't have to work, you know I'll take care of you." He says, moving to stand in between my thighs.
"Yeah, I know but maybe it'll bring a little normalcy into my life. It'll give me something to do besides walking around or sleeping." I shrug, looking at his hands that kneads my thighs.
"Okay. There's some files backed up, you can handle those and it wouldn't be too demanding so you can still have your 'bed days' if you need them." He mumbles before pecking my lips and going back to pulling ingredients out of the fridge.
I watch him as he cooks, his muscles moving underneath his thin shirt providing me with the sight of seeing them move while the delicious smell of his food fills the kitchen.
The muscles in his biceps flex every time he flips whatever he's cooking in the pan as his body moves with his movements. How does he make cooking more erotic?
Soon enough, we're halfway done with our meal when the doorbell rings obnoxiously loud throughout the estate.
"Why does it go through every room?" I ask him confused, setting down my fork.
He just shrugs and moves to get up but I place my hand on his telling him that I'll get it. He looks at me warily but let's me.
I don't think I've ever heard the doorbell go off but I know the guards at the front doesn't just let anyone come through so someone must've been expecting someone.
I open the door, only to freeze and feel blood rushing to my head as all my senses gives out on me.
