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Xavier's POV
Grabbing a pair of grey sweatpants, I tug them on along with a black shirt. Leaving the bedroom where Eloisa is currently fixing herself in the ensuite bathroom, hurrying down the stairs I see the empty house once more. The house has been rather abandoned all day today, which is fucking unusual for my mafia.
I'm so used to all of the dickheads running around.
The pot of chicken florentine pasta is still left behind, and I fill two plates with the food before walking upstairs again. Balancing the plates and opening the door is extremely difficult, but I get it done in some mysterious manner. My eyes meet the emerald ones instantly, her curious gaze has me smiling at her and I shut the door behind me.
"Dinner then?" Her soft voice cuts through the silence.
"Wouldn't want it to go to waste," I tell her with a smile, handing her the plate which she accepts graciously. "Hai fame?" (Are you hungry?).
A smirk lights upon her beautiful features, the dimples on her cheeks deepen, "Starving."
The suggestion behind her voice has my crotch straining, "I'll fuck you with no regards for anything if you keep this up, amore."
Her breath hitches and a tint of red covers her glistening cheeks, is she fucking blushing? The one and only Eloisa Martinelli is blushing?
She tries to hide her face behind her brown hair, taking a bite of the food and I sit down next to her. Both of us are leaning against the headboard behind us, the darkness of the room is welcome and I relax in her presence. Eating the food in silence, I try to control the fleeting thoughts rushing through my mind.
She is messing me up.
Her emerald eyes are etched into my soul by now, her beautiful dimples when she allows herself to smile, her laughter. All of the things she rarely allows others to see are part of the reason as to why I find myself wanting to be next to her, wanting to hear her say my name, wanting to feel her pressed against me.
The fear of losing her after she was shot, woke me up to the harsh reality of our situation. I don't want to lose this woman, she's a part of my life by now and my family adores her. Everything about the two of us screams to stay away, and yet we found each other in the midst of all of it. We let our walls down for even a slight second.
"This dish reminds me of my family," She speaks softly, breaking the comfortable silence in the room.
Her words register in my mind and I look in her direction, "You never talk about them."
She shakes her head and looks at me with insignificance shining in her eyes, although I see the downturn of her lips and the worry lines between her eyebrows, "Well, I'm sure you know everything about the tragedy anyway, it seems unimportant to mention them then."
"I wasn't talking about what happened to them," Telling her this I sit up straighter and place my plate onto the table next to the bed. "I would like to know how they were, their personalities and quirks. What made you love them."
She looks at me with such intensity hiding behind her stare, it knocks me off my feet for a minute. I grab her empty plate from the bed and place it next to mine on the table, turning to her again. I'm certain she hasn't opened up about them to anyone, it must've been strangely lonely to live as she has for the past couple of years.
"It's weird," Eloisa shakes her head. "To talk about them like this, it feels odd and as if I'm betraying them."
"You aren't," I reassure her and she nods.
"I know," The slight pause has me believing she will back out of this, but then she opens her mouth and meets my stare. "My family was amazing. All of them had their own special traits, all of us loved to live with each other even through fights and disagreements. Giovanni was my little brother, we were close. He had a troublesome time growing up with bullying and depression, his problems made me grow closer to him in the hopes of helping him. I did everything I could, from buying him flowers at random times, to showing up at his school and screaming at the bullies. All of it was done in the beliefs that I would be helping Gio."
My heart swells in pride for her, such a selfless and beautiful creature.
She takes a deep breath before continuing, "My parents were the typical type of parents, I guess. They loved each other so fucking much, both of them always appreciated each and every moment we had together. My mom taught me so much about being a good person, she knew what I did to help Gio and mentioned how much it warmed her heart. Dad was different, he had a hard time verbalizing his feelings, but all of us knew how much he loved us. It was unquestionable."
She stops slightly and looks up at me, I give her a smile, "Your family sounds amazing, Eloisa. I'm glad you had such a loving home growing up, they gave you the right set of standards and I'm sure they're proud of you wherever they are right now."
This has her shaking her head, "No, nothing about me is a reason for them to be proud. They would dislike the killer I've become, none of them would allow any of the shit I've done."
Grabbing her smaller hands in mine, I ignore the twist in my stomach from being so close to her, "That's bullshit and you know it. You're fighting their fight, guaranteeing the revenge of your parents. While some of your tactics might be outside the set of norms they taught you, you're still fighting for them and that's fucking honorable."
For the first time in the while I've known her, she conveys a sense of hopefulness through her emerald eyes. The sight has me on my fucking knees.
"You think so?"
Nodding my head with a smile, "Sì. You're doing the best you can with the situation you were forced into."
My words seem to truly register in her mind, and she flings her body against mine, throwing me onto the bed. Her hands grip the sides of my face and she smiles down at me, straddling my hips with a relieved smile playing on her lips.
"The mafia boss should be a therapist," She teases, her beautiful dimples on display.
Grabbing her neck I pull her down to me, placing my lips against hers she responds immediately. Kissing me with such tenderness I have to calm myself down. Eloisa is the definition of a strong person, she has been through so much shit and still manages to be this annoyingly perfect individual. Even with all the things she's fighting through.