The Mafia Life (BOOK 3)

CHAPTER 7

"Amber, I'm sorry. Please, just tell me something. Anything. You have no idea how much I've missed you. You're acting so strange and it hurts. No one is telling me anything and I just don't understand." He extends his hand out hoping I'll hold it again, silently telling me that I know he won't hurt me. Selfishly and stupidly I walk back over and oblige.

"Alessandro, I get it but the doctor said we should avoid stressful topics alright? How about we just talk about other things?" He frowns slightly but nods.

"Fine. I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just that I've lost three months of my life and it's hard not knowing what's happened." Silence. Deafening silence. After a few long seconds he clears his throat.

"Anyway, I missed you so much you know that? The entire time I was in that fucking basement all I thought about was you. I knew you would come for me. You're what kept me sane." He smiles at the bittersweet memories but I feel a knot in my throat again.

"I can't imagine what it was like for you bella, I was there for about a month. But, ten years? Mio angelo, whatever respect I had for you has multiplied." I feel the tears threatening to fall. I don't deserve his respect or the way he admires me.

"I admire you so much. You are so brave and so fucking strong." My strength leaves me and I pull my hand away once more.

"I'm sorry Alessandro, I can't." With the tears now flowing freely I bolt out of the room.

"Bella!" I don't turn back.

"Wait!" I'm obviously gaining distance between us as I hear his voice further away.

"AMBER!" One final roar from him that pushes me to my limits. I need to get away and stay away so, I run. I run until I no longer can and find myself in the only place I feel safe.

"Amber?" Nicholas stands from the chair in the office, wide-eyed and startled by my abrupt entrance. I had thrown the door open without thinking but I don't care and so I ignore the men sitting on the other side of the desk and run over to him throwing my arms around him. I begin sobbing into his chest and he clears his throat.

"If you'll excuse us." I hear shuffling and soon the door closes. We're alone now.

"That bad, huh?" He knew I was going to see Alessandro today and when he asked to come with me I foolishly denied and said I needed to do it alone. What a mistake that was.

"He loves me so much. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve his admiration. I don't deserve him... I don't deserve you. All I do is bring chaos anywhere I go. I shouldn't have ever accepted to stay here. I should have left right from the start!" He places his hands firmly on my shoulders and gently pushes me back in order to look at me.

"I've had it with that kind of talk, Amber. I don't know when you're going to finally listen to me but you deserve everything! If you hadn't agreed to stay here you would most likely be dead or in a bad situation, Alessandro would probably be spiraling into a pit of depression because before you showed up he was already on his way down, you would have deprived him from knowing what love is and you would have taken away my chance to meet you, Emily wouldn't be with Marcos, Cobra would most likely still be out there somewhere and Dominic would still be alive. Do you realize that so much good has come out of you being here? So what if there's been some trouble? Since before you got here there's always been some kind of shitstorm going on. That's just part of this lifestyle. We're in constant danger with or without you here so just stop it. You know I hate when you talk like that about yourself." It's true. If I ever talk badly about myself in the slightest, he quickly tells me to stop thinking like that. He's always there for me and reminding me how special and important I am.