Eliana:
It was days before I felt well enough to even consider going back to work, and even then I hesitated. I decided that a week was more than enough time to heal to where I needed to be, and that I would head back in two more days. The Italian-American mafia was surprisingly welcoming, and I had become more comfortable there than I predicted. After texting Ezrah that I would be back soon, and hearing about how the first round of his treatment had gone, I felt better about the whole thing. I tossed my phone onto Alessio's bed and fell back onto it limply.
"Are you alright, cara?"
Alessio's voice from the doorway made me sit up immediately. "Of course. I just miss Ezrah, for some reason I need to see it to believe how much he's improving."
"If you want to go back to work, I really think that-"
"We discussed this, Alessio. I don't think it's necessary for one of your men to accompany me at all times to work. I'll carry a gun, I'll carry a panic button if that makes you feel better, but I don't want anyone changing their plans for me right now. If the Russians come looking for me again, I'll know to be on the lookout."
"Eliana, it's not a matter of if they come looking for you, it's a matter of when. I don't want you gambling with your life like this. I already have my men checking on the shop every few hours just to make sure that the Russians aren't still scouting out the place."
It meant so much to me that Alessio cared enough to make an effort to protect me, and even the friends that I held so dear, but I was having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I couldn't just shake off danger and paranoia like I always did. I checked the time on my phone and realized that it was well past midnight. "Let's figure this out in the morning, when we're both less tired."
He grinned ruefully and nodded, grabbing some clothes out of his dresser. He was shirtless and sweaty, I could only assume by one of the red welts on his cheek that he had been sparring with Leonardo in their basement gym. It was something I had come to realize that he did when he was stressed, but it was rare that Leonardo actually got a good hit in. Alessio's bathroom was so large that the sink wasn't even connected to the shower, so while he went to clean up I dug through the medicine cabinet until I came across a first aid kit.
I was curled up in a tight ball, reading one of my favorite books when he stepped back out, freshly showered and clean. Alessio usually slept in just a pair of shorts, but he had been trying to be a gentleman and wore a loose shirt until I laughingly told him that I didn't care and I trusted him. That was the same night that the wall of pillows disappeared, and the night I had my best sleep in years. I hadn't thought that sleeping in the same bed as someone else would dull the nightmares that haunted me or stop me from waking up in a cold sweat every couple of hours, but the proof was undeniable. It also helped that I saw Alessio put his favorite gun in the nightstand every night.
It was obvious he was exhausted and wanted to go to sleep, but I knew he would thank me for this in the long run. Alessio seemed wary as I put some of the medicine on my fingers, "Eliana, I don't need that."
"You know that's going to bruise and it'll be throbbing by morning. You can avoid the headache if you'll let me do this," I raised my eyebrows, half daring him to stop me. He still seemed hesitant, "Don't worry, I won't tell your men that the big bad mafia don used something to dull the pain."
His sarcastic smile was permission enough, and I gingerly pressed my fingers to his face as he muttered, "You would make a good doctor."
"Except the part where I can't even step foot into a hospital without panicking," I laughed. "I wish I was medically minded. I'd work on cancer research."
He reached out to hold my free hand in his firm grip without flinching away from my fingers still at his face. "Ezrah is going to get better. The doctors at the Saint Laziosi program are some of the best in the world, much less the nation."
I took a deep breath, knowing that he was right- the situation was bad, but Ezrah had been granted some of the best resources. Snapping the first aid box closed, I stuck it back underneath the sink. As I walked by the door, I had to resist the urge to lock it three times, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought. All of my worries and stresses seemed to be less prominent when I was with him.
I curled up underneath the blankets, slightly cold as always, and tucked my knees towards my torso as Alessio hooked his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his chest. It was a feeling I had gotten used to, someone there to not necessarily talk to me or do anything with me, but someone that would simply exist by my side.
It didn't take long to drift towards sleep, especially since one of his hands was gently playing with my hair. It was soothing, so was the slight drizzle that could be heard against the rooftop.
Waking up was painful. I couldn't tell if it was the sound of glass breaking that yanked me from sleep or the feeling of feet and hands shoving my back so that I went flying off the side of the bed, but the jarring change made my brain stutter, halfway awake and wondering if I was having a nightmare.
A gunshot rang out, too realistic and too loud for this to be anything but real life, and my mind somehow kicked back into action. I yanked myself upright by the edge of the bed just in time to see Alessio lunge for a tall man who stood a few feet from him with a missing ear. There was shattered glass on the carpet in front of the french doors that led out to the balcony, but the intruder seemed to take advantage of our stunned state and managed to wrestle the gun out of Alessio's hands before he could get another round off, tossing the gun to the floor. It wasn't exactly a fair fight, as both of us had both been asleep only seconds before, and I had the feeling that if they were matched evenly, this opponent would have never stood a chance.
I knew that Alessio had pushed me off the bed to try and keep me out of harm's way, but I wasn't about to lay there like a dead fish. The blonde man got a kick to Alessio's head, sending him to the floor, but only after Alessio sent a right hook to his face. Without thinking, I threw myself off of the mattress into a flying tackle.
I took blondie down with me, both of us slamming into the floor before he used his feet to flip me over his head and into the wall. Alessio scrambled back towards us, the two of them throwing punch after punch as I lunged for Alessio's gun that lay abandoned on the floor. I swung around, raising the gun to my eye level.
"I wouldn't," The blonde man snarled, warning me as he managed to wrestle Alessio into a headlock. I never thought I'd see a mafia don slowly suffocating in the grip of an intruder, but only a few seconds before, I was comfortably asleep.
I lowered the gun slowly in response, trying not to seem too weak or willing to give in, but the man was adamant and commanded me, "Set it on the ground in front of me slowly. Any sudden movements and I snap his neck."
One step at a time, I inched closer until I was almost in arms reach. I did what he said, trying not to look at Alessio too obviously and give anything away. I stood back up straight and clenched my fist, hoping that Alessio understood. I shifted my weight onto my right foot as I swung my left up, aiming above where Alessio was and straight at the intruder's skull. My right hand swung around at the same time, catching his head between them as Alessio broke blondie's hold and grabbed the gun laying on the floor in front of him.
I caught the intruder by surprise, but he recovered quickly and sent his own foot straight into the side of my chest, where I swear I felt something crack. I flew back into the hard ground as Alessio rounded on him, putting one carefully planned bullet into his thigh and another into his side. The man collapsed, still breathing, but obviously too incapacitated to do anything else as Alessio stood over him with a gun.
Not wanting to move too quickly or injure something further in my chest, I tried pushing myself up on my elbows, but the movement was already too much. Alessio still had the gun trained on the intruder, but he glanced at me worriedly over his shoulder, "Are you alright, cara?"
I nodded, still scared to move from flat on the floor and instead I flashed him a thumbs up. "I think so. You?"
"Of course," He adjusted his grip on the gun and wiped at his bloody nose and lip, smearing the blood there and making him look ten times more terrifying. Using his free hand, Alessio reached for his cell phone on his nightstand, managing to dial someone on the first try. "Leonardo, emergency. I need you upstairs. My room. Immediately. Bring the capos."
Something in my mind was telling me not to move, to stay as still as possible and even out my breaths. Leonardo must have already been with most of the capos because it took less than a minute for an urgent knock to ring through the room.
"Come in," Alessio commanded, not even looking up from the man on the floor who was only somewhat conscious.
The looks on their faces would have made me laugh if I didn't think it would irritate my ribs even more. None of the men, not even Leonardo, moved until Alessio said, "I need some of you to take this man downstairs. Lock him up until later, but don't let him bleed out. We have some unfinished business."
Three of the men, the ones that I had learned to be Roberto, Emilio, and Cesare, dragged him from the room unceremoniously. As soon as the intruder was through the door and out of our sight, Alessio was on his knees by my side, "Are you hurt?"
"Angelo," I grit out between my teeth. "Is he here?"
I knew that Dr. Montcroix had been at the hospital lately, and the best medical knowledge on hand was going to come from one of the most deadly men from the room. Alessio was about to move away to make more room, but I grabbed his hand and refused to let go.
Angelo appeared on my left side as I took shallow breaths, "What happened?"
"I think I'm alright, but my ribs weren't fully healed and he got a kick on the left side. I heard- I thought I heard a crack."
Never was I more grateful that I slept with a sports bra on as my shirt got pulled up to expose my ribcage. His fingers were far more gentle than I expected from someone who tortured people professionally, but that didn't stop the shot of pain when he pressed into my side. I bit my lip, refusing to let any sound out.
"Seventh rib is definitely refractured, maybe the sixth as well. Those were two of the ones still healing, I believe. I can't be sure without a scan, but they may be bad enough for surgery. They should be checked immediately."
"No hospitals," I demanded, still staring at the ceiling and not meeting their eyes.
"I'll be just fine. Could you help me wrap them?"
Angelo frowned at the request and his eyes flashed to Alessio, almost like he was asking for permission, but I drew his attention back as I used my good side to force myself into a sitting position. It was painful and I knew he was right about fracturing them all over again, but the pain I felt in the weeks leading up to this made it feel like a drop in the bucket. If they were going to insist on a doctor, I was more than capable of wrapping it all myself.
Both jumped into action, Alessio sliding his hands under my upper back to support me and Angelo gave in, throwing a command to Leonardo, "Go get the bandages."
He hurried from the room as Angelo warned me, "This isn't a good idea, bandaging here at home without knowing how bad it is could do more damage than good. Wrapping can cause pneumonia and-"
I shook my head, leaning back onto Alessio's legs who was half propping me up. "I'll be fine, I swear."
I could tell that Alessio was holding back his criticisms, but I gestured to his bloody face, "You might want to get that looked at, though."
He chuckled, but part of me felt bad. I had no doubt that under fair circumstances, the intruder wouldn't have ever been able to get a single punch in, but Alessio had given up precious seconds of his first reaction to push me away and over the side of the bed in an attempt to hide me. He could have turned and fought immediately, probably gotten away without a scratch, if it wasn't for me distracting him.
"You've got blood in your hair, too." Angelo noted to me, pressing on the spot lightly and then glancing at Alessio's own forehead where a cut had opened up. "It's probable that you both got some sort of concussion."
He pulled at my eyelids and squinted as he tried to assess my pupils, but I shrugged, "I'll just set an alarm for every couple of hours. I can make sure Alessio wakes up, too."
I glanced around the room, suddenly aware of the men that somehow crowded the large space. I was only in shorts and as Leonardo came back in with bandages, I essentially didn't have a shirt on. Normally it wouldn't have bothered me so much, but Alessio and I had kept the whole thing rather guarded from the others- neither of us knew much about how we should present our relationship, and I knew he wasn't very transparent with all of his employees. It was work, after all. Both of us being in his room with only our pajamas on made the whole thing much more obvious, so if any of them hadn't figured it out at that point, they were about to.
I didn't need three people to help me wrap my rib cage, but Alessio, Leonardo, and Angelo, all felt the need to lend a hand and then gently help me to the edge of the bed. I continued to insist that I was fine, but I also knew better than to reject the pain medication I was being offered. I finally got them to stop fussing over me as Cesare, Robert, and Emilio came back into the room.
Maintaining shallow breaths was my main focus, but I couldn't help the feeling of raised hair on the back of my neck. I broke from my reverie to notice the suspicious stare that Stefano was sending my way. His eyes were narrowed in doubt, something about the whole situation seemed to be sitting wrong with him.
I was about to ask him what could be bothering him when Alessio stepped between me and the drilling gaze, "Is there a problem, Stefano?"
Alessio's voice was chilling, daring his capo to say anything that would cross a line. Stefano had more courage than I thought, as I probably would have withered under Alessio's gaze, "I'm just trying to work out the details of what happened, sir."
"And what do you mean by that?"
"It would be incredibly rash of Niklov to make such a blatant move against you. It would be a declaration of war, so what did he want so badly that he was willing to break into your home like this?"
The implication wasn't hidden- to the others, it looked like the Russians were directly hunting me. I was the only other thing in the room that had much value besides Alessio, and the only big enough change in the Italian headquarters to warrant the attention was my arrival.
"I couldn't be that valuable to them," I shrugged. Most of my time locked in that basement had been blocked from my memory, and some of it I had dissociated during so badly that I couldn't remember it if I tried. "I didn't recognize any of the men who kidnapped me, I never saw Niklov at all, I never even heard them discuss their business."
Stefano didn't seem vindictive in his next words, but there was genuine doubt there. "We know very little about you, and escaping the Russians should have been nearly impossible. Yet here you are, a girl with no real history whose identity doesn't turn up much before three or four years ago."
I didn't have time to respond before Alessio stepped forward, "You have five seconds to get out of this room before I put a bullet between your eyes."
The severity of the threat shocked me. I didn't like being accused of lying or being a spy, or the implication at all, but he had a point and I knew that his primary concern was to look out for the organization that he worked with. He tried to defend himself, "I mean no offense sir, but I think it deserves real considerat-"
Angelo moved before Alessio could follow through with his threat, gripping the front of Stefano's shirt and dragging him from the room forcefully. The door slammed behind them and I could hear yelling from outside.
I tried to stand despite the pain in my ribs, but Leonardo held his hand up and leaned closer to whisper to me, "Let this one go."
"But he didn't do anything wrong," I hissed. "He's being honest and shrewd, he's not entirely unjustified. It is suspicious how I managed to escape, and I don't have much of a history-"
"You don't ever disrespect your don, Eliana. Or his woman."
I suppose that's what I was, to these men. I wasn't anyone's 'anything', I wasn't a belonging. But vice versa, that meant that Alessio was mine, and while I didn't agree with the way it was said, I knew that it was their way of looking at things. I was the girlfriend of their leader, and that earned me a level of respect, however it was said.
I would just have to get them to stop saying it like it was part of an archaic tradition.
Alessio made a pronouncement as I tuned back into the conversation, daring anyone else to speak against me. "If I hear anything like that again, it won't end well."
The atmosphere was incredibly tense, but everyone still in the room nodded. Emilio had the courage to speak first. "This is a declaration of war, any way that you look at it."
"Call Blaise first, the French have had some trouble lately with Niklov, and Fynn second so that he and Ansel know what's going on. After that, let all of the others know. If we're going to end Niklov now, we need all of their support, or at least their guarantee that they won't get in our way." Alessio was quick with his command, then threw a glance at the time on his phone. "I don't care what time it is, let them know before this gets any worse."
Most of the capos left the room to do exactly as he said, but Leonardo stayed behind. As soon as the door was shut, he held the bottle of painkillers out to Alessio. "I knew you wouldn't take any of these in front of your men, but you're going to want one as soon as that adrenaline wears off."
Alessio frowned, but now that it was me and his best friend alone with him, he conceded. "I'm going to need you to check that post office box as soon as you can. If Scarlette can answer Eliana's letter, it could really give us a leg up."
Leonardo nodded and then left the room, leaving us alone. Alessio dropped onto the bed next to me and I looked at him cautiously, "So we're really going to assassinate a Russian mob boss?"
Alessio threw a couple of pills into his mouth and sprawled out next to me. "We're going to try."
It wasn't exactly what I had expected to be doing while I took a semester off, but with everything going on, I figured that I could afford to go off script from my original life plan. A cold wind was filling the room since the glass doors to the balcony were beyond immediate repair, so I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living portion of the suite with the couches and desk. Out of habit and my odd method to stave off terror, I turned every lock in the room three times. My hope was that Alessio wouldn't notice, and sure enough, he was sitting on the coffee table with his head in his hands.
I settled into the couch with a book, "The sofa is more comfortable. You could join me."
A tired grin was the only response that I got at first, but he finally sighed and collapsed next to me, placing his head on my lap when I gestured for him to. He saw me set an alarm on my phone for two hours, and I started running my fingers through his hair while he closed his eyes, "I'll wake you up in a couple of hours, just in case."
"Eliana, it's not me I'm worried about. I didn't take too many hits, but I heard your skull hit that wall. I should be the one staying awake to make sure you're waking up every couple of hours."
I shook my head even though he couldn't see, "You've been up later than me almost every night this week, and there's no way I can go back to sleep after that."
"If you don't feel safe-" He began, his eyes now open and staring up at me.
"It's not that," I set my book down and cupped his cheeks, leaning over him. "I just won't be able to work the adrenaline out of my system. I'm not used to coming back down from that so quickly."
He chuckled darkly and let his eyes close as I traced the lines of his face with my thumbs. "Stick around long enough and you'll learn. Really, though, Eliana. You're in worse shape than me, I should be letting you rest. It's my fault anyways-"
"Alessio, we talked about that. You shouldn't feel guilty."
"I know you said that this isn't my fault, but it is," He muttered, a troubled look not leaving his face.
The couch was so wide that I could lay parallel to him, throwing my legs across his and leaned sideways against his chest. "You didn't do this. You didn't know that they would-"
"But I should have predicted it, I should've seen it coming. I shouldn't have put you in this position in the first place."
I leaned my head into his neck and sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon. His fingers ran through my hair in a soothing motion, but I couldn't stand the thought of him blaming himself. He was a good person, at the end of the day, and he didn't deserve to carry that guilt around. I leaned back and glanced at his clenched jaw and severe features. It was a slight loss of warmth and comfort, so I reached up and cradled his face in my hands. He seemed a little surprised, which made me smirk.
"Alessio, none of this is your fault. You are not responsible for any of it."
I had to lean as far as possible and pull his face towards me in order to press a kiss to his lips. He froze at first, but once he regained his senses, he wrapped one hand around my back to pull me closer, and used the other to brush the hair from my face.
The adrenaline in my system wasn't fading yet, my emotions were running high and I had to remind myself to calm down, to not get too far into the kiss as my hands were already creeping up Alessio's chest. Thankfully, he seemed to have a more rational head on his shoulders, and pulled away, resting his forehead against mine. I couldn't make out much of his expression, but I finally understood the look in his eyes that he'd had since we went back to my apartment together. It was guarded. It was exactly the same sort of thing that I felt whenever certain emotions rose deep in my chest- it was the terror that the thing you cared about could be gone so easily. Knowing that you've lost things before, that you'd lost people before, and there was nothing you could do about it.
He searched my eyes for something in return, "So you've made a decision? This is what you really want? I want to protect you from the work I do, I thought that I could, but if tonight or the past couple of weeks is any proof.... I can't make any promises."
"Life is going to be a little dangerous. Always has been, always will be. If I'm going to go up against it, I'd prefer to be doing it alongside you."
My words were sincere, but my mind was spinning a million miles an hour, not because I was finally verbally making a commitment to a life involved in the mafia, but because thoughts rose in the back of my mind about the danger I had endured for the past half of my life.
Alessio knew that I didn't talk about my childhood, and he never pried, probably because he assumed that I didn't like thinking about growing up in foster care. But these were smart men, with almost unlimited resources. It wouldn't be long until someone unearthed something.
It was like waiting for a tsunami. The deeper that I got into a relationship with Alessio, the more the water drained away, leaving me stranded on the beach and holding my breath, waiting for the wave to hit me. For someone to find out the truth, or worse yet, for me to have to tell them. I couldn't run from the amount of water that would come crashing down on me, no life jacket could hold up against 30 feet of ocean pounding me into the sand. I would be dragged back out with the tide, hoping to survive and break the surface again.
I knew that they wouldn't care so much what I had done- I wasn't naive when it came to their jobs. They dealt in unsavory deals, I knew that they had killed people and done bad things. Compared to them, I was still probably a saint. But talking about something that I had buried for years, something that I shut out so completely, felt like drowning.
Hello once again! I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy right now! I'm still working because my job is considered essential, but we don't have our doors open to the public- so I have some time to write, but not a lot. I'm hoping that my boss keeps it closed a little longer because I'm from Texas, and our governor is being ridiculous and trying to open everything again even though our death rates are still increasing. I'm really trying to not get sick (and my mom is super immune compromised right now), so if we open to the public soon I'll probably take some time off... in which case I'll write a ton.... and if my grad school stuff for next semester doesn't get in the way. Anyways, not trying to bore y'all, but thank you for reading Eliana's story and supporting me, you'll never know how much I appreciate it- my reads are in the thousands now! As always, comments and constructive criticisms are welcome and appreciated! Let me know what you think, it's going to amp up soon for Alessio and Eliana!