DAGGER IN THE HEART

twenty-four

DAVINA'S POV:

*two weeks later*

"Daddy please", I beg through tears and feel the hot lashes of his belt on my bareback.

"Next time stay out of my office", he grits out through another lash.

Screams tare through my throat and I quickly sit up and scurry to the top of the bed.

My hands pat the spot next to me, waiting for Matteo to wake up and hold me,

but he's not there.

"Davina?" Eli moves over to me on the other side and scoops me in his arms. "What's wrong?"

I sob into his chest and feel my throat turn soar. Tears flow down my eyes when he lifts my head to his and brushes away the fallen hair.

"What can I do?"

"I want Matteo", I sob out and feel my heartbreak in every way.

I know I shouldn't see him- not yet at least. I've still been struggling with the whole mafia thing, but every night I jolt awake and look for him next to me.

"Shhh ok it's ok", Eli whispers and placing a small kiss on my forehead before getting up and unlocking his phone.

I curl into a ball and try everything I could to get the image of whiskey and belts out of my head. I sob into the pillow and make out what Eli is saying.

"Hey it's me", he whispers into the phone. "No this isn't a booty call", he scoffs and places his hand on his hip.

"Look can you put Matteo on the phone", he says into the speaker.

After a couple of minutes of loud shouting pulling through the speaker, Eli says something, but my mind wanders back to the nightmare.

After what feels like hours, I hear shuffling downstairs and the bedroom door flies open.

"Love", I hear behind me and I sit up from the bed and see him standing there in sweatpants and a hoodie.

I let out a small sob and leap into his arms, nudging my head into his neck. His arms tighten around my waist and I inhale his natural scent that calms me down.

"What's wrong, my love", he whispers and strokes my hair.

After a couple of minutes, I pull my head out of his shirt and curl my hands around his face. "Promise me you'll stay tonight."

"I promise", he says and kisses my forehead. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

I shake my head and let him lead me back under the covers, where he takes off his shoes and lays down next to me.

I curl into his chest and inhale a shaky breath. "Have you slept well? Are the nightmares getting worse, you can tell me-"

"I'm fine", he softly says and rubs small circles on my back.

"I missed you", I cave and try to get as close to him as I can. His silver rings leave shivers down my spine from how cold they are.

"Try to sleep", he says and kisses my head. "I'm here now, it's ok."

And with that, I'm falling asleep in his arms. Something I've craved for far too long.

~

When I woke up, I felt an arm around my waist and I smiled softly before turning around and watch Matteo softly snore.

His facial features are softened, under the light glow of the sun peeking through the curtains and I let out a small sigh before taking my finger and tracing his jawline.