Mafia Legacy

Chapter Nine- Luca/Charlotte

"Are you surprised? I had such an exemplary one myself." I teased.

"I'm not surprised at all. You're incredible, Luca Catalano, and I love you more every single day." She grinned, a soft blush blanketing her cheeks.

I chuckled, kissing her one last time. "Alright, that's enough of this mushy stuff. I'll be back in a bit."

I headed upstairs and towards Layla's room. The door was shut and I could hear soft sobs on the other side, nearly shattering my heart right there.

I knocked on it gently. "Layla?"

"Go away." She hissed.

"Sweetheart, I know you're upset, and I'm really sorry..."

"Dad, I just want t be alone. Please go away."

"Okay, well..." I sat down in front of her door. "I'll just sit out here until you don't want to be alone anymore."

I could hear her huff on the other side, and it brought a small smile to my lips. A few seconds later, the door opened, and she stood above me with a glare on her face. "Seriously, dad?"

"What?" I chuckled.

"You're going to be sitting here all day." She narrowed her eyes at me.

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I just want to be here when you're ready to talk."

"How can I get you to go away?" She gave me the same look her mother did when she was irritated with me.

"You can't. I'm your dad and my job is to be here for you, even when you don't want me to." I smiled sympathetically. "I'll always be there for you when you're ready. Even if I have to sit on the floor in front of your room for the entire day."

Layla chewed on her lip, leaning against the door frame before finally sitting down in front of her. "Promise you won't tease me?"

"Of course not."

"There's this kid at school I really like. He's on the football team and he's really smart and sweet and..."

"And a senior?" I arched my eyebrow at her.

"Dad!" She rolled her eyes.

"Okay, sorry, sorry. Sweet, smart, continue..." I waved her on. I couldn't believe I was actually having this conversation with my sweet baby girl.

"We've been having lunch together and hanging out after school and stuff, and I really thought he liked me too, but... He asked another girl to prom." She wiped a tear off of her cheek.

I could kill the little bastard. How dare he do something like that to Layla? Did he not know how incredible she was? He was lucky she was even considering him and here she was, crying about him. "Sweetheart, sometimes guys do really stupid shit when they like a girl because they want to make her jealous. It doesn't always mean what you think it does."

She arched her eyebrow at me.

"Like when your mom and I got back together... There was a woman, a reporter, who I knew made your mom feel uncomfortable, and I knew that. I told your mom that things happened between us that really didn't."

"What kind of things?" She stared at me.

"Just...things." I spared her the finer details. "The point is, your mother was the one I wanted all along, and I wanted her to be jealous. I had no interest in the other woman, but I wanted her to think I did."