𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚

Chapter 31

Written 4/23/21

His eyes are widened with shock and anger. The rest of his body was calm, but I could tell he was caught off guard. I was dying to know what was going through his head.

"Where did you hear that?" Cristiano asks, taking the bottle and pouring himself another glass of wine.

"Does it matter? I already know." I say. I could easily just tell him it was Rosa, but I didn't want to risk her being punished or worse for meddling in the Don's business.

Cristiano suddenly slams the bottle back on the table.

"Watch your tone when you speak to me." He says angrily. I flinch a little, I was surprised he hadn't smashed the bottle into pieces.

He stares at me, I can he's on the verge of an outburst.

"I'll ask again, how did you know about Paola?" Cristiano asks sternly.

If I lied he'd know. He was inside my head, or maybe he was just toying with me. I still couldn't just throw Rosa under the bus. Not after all the kindness she had shown me.

"I don't remember." I say, my eyes avoiding his. It was obvious I was lying, but I didn't care. I was waiting for him to have some sort of outburst and start screaming at me. But he didn't. I glance up at him for a moment. He was angry for sure, but at the same time, he seemed calm.

"Go upstairs, don't come down for the rest of the night." He says, taking another drink from his glass.

I don't hesitate to get up from my seat and scurry back to our bedroom. I shut the door behind me, quickly strip off my clothes, and get in the shower. A part of me was glad he hadn't beaten me for asking about Paola, but I was also disappointed he hadn't answered my question. But his defensiveness said something. I shouldn't even really care, I should just be glad Paola was gone. As much as I hated to admit it, thinking about him being with another woman made me jealous.

When I step out of the shower I feel slightly woozy. It was probably from the wine Cristiano made me drink. It was a full glass, and I've never been allowed to drink alcohol before. I couldn't understand why some people drank so much. I didn't like the taste, or the way it made me feel.

Regardless of how dizzy I was, I quickly changed into some pajamas and climbed into bed. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop thinking about my mother. The way Cristiano seemed to be downing glasses, reminded me of how my mother used to do the exact same thing. The thought of him becoming anything close to my mother terrified me. He already smoked and had anger problems, drinking was just going to make everything worse.

I decide not to dwell on it anymore, and just go to sleep. You can get through this Gia, you always have.

• A Few Hours Later •

I wake up screaming. I immediately sit up and get out of bed, trying to process the nightmare I just had. I felt like I was out of breath, I was shaking. I couldn't believe what I had just seen. I immediately run to the bathroom and turn on the sink. I splash water on my face to try and clear my head, but it wasn't working.

My dream, or I guess I should nightmare, was completely different from anything I've had before. Typically they'd be about my mother and father, but this time I saw someone completely different. Livianna.

She was screaming, begging for me to help her. And I just stood there confused, staring down at her. It was so confusing, I couldn't understand why I had a dream about her. Probably for the same reasons I had nightmares about my parents. Guilt. I had practically abandoned her with Diavolo in Chicago.

I dried off my face with a towel, and looked at myself in the mirror. Tears welled in my eyes. I felt like an awful person. But there was nothing I could do to help her.

Suddenly I hear the bedroom door open. I walk out of the bathroom to see Cristiano coming into the bedroom.

"I heard screaming." He says, with a concerned look on his face.

"It-its fine, everything's fine." Is all I manage to get out.

"Why were you screaming?" He asks, walking towards me, and gently grabbing my arm, completely ignoring what I just said. 

"I had a nightmare. It's nothing really!" I say, trying to get him to let go of me. He looks at me quizzically for a moment.

"What was it about?" Cristiano asks.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I ask, trying to play dumb, I was clearly avoiding his question.

"Your nightmare Giada, what did you have a nightmare about?" His grip on my arm tightens, and his tone becomes more frustrated.

I could try and say I don't remember, but he wouldn't buy that. But there was no way in hell I would tell him that I had a nightmare about Livianna. Then he'd keep asking me questions, and eventually figure out our plot. I was going to take that secret with me to my grave. I could tell he was getting impatient, so I came up with the only lie I could think of.

"My parent's. It was about my parents." I say, staring into his eyes. I see a bit of pity fall onto his face, and he pulls me closer.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." He says with a tinge of regret in his voice.

To my utter shock, he wraps his arms around my waist, and pulls me close to him. When he rested his chin on my head, I realized what he was doing. He was hugging me. It felt so strange, I couldn't remember the last time someone had given me a hug. I didn't know how to react. It made me feel guilty for lying to him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He says. I just stand there completely confused. A few hours ago he and I seemed to be at each other's throats. Maybe he was just drunk.

"N-no, I just want to go back to sleep." I say, removing myself from his embrace. I walk away from him, and crawl back into bed

"Gia." Cristiano says.

"Yes?" I say, turning my head to look at him. I was shaking on the inside, did he know I was lying?

"Just...get some rest." Is all he says, before walking out of the room.

I laid down, and shut my eyes. I felt horrible. Cristiano had actually made an attempt to get close to me, and I completely turned him away.

Deep down I knew I wanted to be close to him. But I couldn't let myself fall for him.

hello my lovelies!! thank you for over 50k reads!! what do you guys think of Cristiano being "nice"????