𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚

Chapter 39

I held my breath as the car pulled up to the house. My whole body felt numb as I got out, and walked up to the front door. When I walked inside the house everything seemed normal. Maids were just walking around doing their jobs, so were the guards.

"Giada, are you alright?" Beatrice asks, and I snap out of my paranoid trance. I hadn't even noticed she had been standing in front of me.

"Y-yes I'm fine." I answer, my voice clearly full of fear.

"Are you sure? You look pale." She says, reaching to put her hand to my head. I quickly reach up and wave her hand away.

"Really, I'm fine." I say, quickly walking away from her, and heading upstairs.

At this point Beatrice was like family to me, but the fact that this might be the last time I see her broke my heart. What would she think of me after she found out I betrayed the family? What would all these people think?

I felt ashamed and terrified. My whole body was shaking, I was on the verge of tears. When I finally got to the bedroom I slammed the door behind me and started weeping. It was only a matter of time before they discovered the mistress was missing from her cell, put two and two together, and realized I had done it. Once Cristiano found out he'd kill me, I knew it. I hated myself for what I had done.

I paced around the room as tears streamed down my face. I was tempted to try and find a hiding place, but I knew that wouldn't work. There was no escape, no way out, except for death. Suddenly I hear loud footsteps marching towards the door. The door bursts open, and Cristiano storms in. He stares at my angrily for a moment, and I'm frozen with fear.

To my shock, he calmly turns around, shuts the door, and locks it. He turns back around, and looks at me, clearly still angry, but he also had something in his eyes, something that I couldn't figure out, something that terrified me.

"You have no idea what you've done." Cristiano says sternly, yet almost calmly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I reply, almost automatically. This is what sets him off. He marches over to me and slams me against the wall.

He grabs my face between his thumb and his index finger. I squirm and push against his chest to try and get him off of me, but it was no use.

"You're a fucking terrible liar. Why did you do it? Do you just like pissing me off? You do realize that you've betrayed the family? I could kill you for what you've done. Is that what you want? To go be with your parents? Do you wanna join them?" He says furiously.

Finally I get a good hand placement on his chest, and shove him off of me. I was only able to get him a few inches away from me, but at least I had done something to get him off of me.

"Don't ever talk about my parents again!" I yell at him. He raises his hand, as if he's going to hit me. I flinch and close my eyes, preparing for the slap that is going to hit my face.

When nothing hits my face, I open my eyes. His hand is still suspended in the air.

"G-go on. Do it. Hit me." I say, my voice wavering.

His jaw clenches, he raises his hand a little higher, as if he's going to hit me even harder than he was going to. But his hand still doesn't strike my face.

"You're not going to fight back?" Cristiano asks scornfully. I scoff at him.

"That's what you want isn't it? For me to fight back? Then you could hit me." I say, trying to sound strong.

"That's enough Giada." He says, angrier that I had ever seen him. The look in his made me feel like he might strangle me with his bare hands. But I didn't care.

"I can see it your eyes, you want to. So go on, hit me! Hit me!" I yell at him.

He swings his arm back and makes a fist. I cover my face with my hands, and move back against the wall. I hear a loud crash next to my head, but felt nothing hit me. I took my hands away from my face, and looked up. Cristiano was right in front of me, and when I looked to my left, I could see his fist in the wall.

"I-I can't do it. I can't hit you." He says, almost defeatedly, and slowly takes his fist out of the wall. I could tell he was in pain, his hand had smalls cuts on it. He walks away from me, and it looks like he's going to leave. I didn't want him to leave, I didn't want to be alone.

"I'm sorry. For what I did. It was stupid, and it jeopardized the family." I blurt out before he leaves. He stops and turns around, a bit surprised. He walks back over to me, and gently takes my arm.

"Why did you do it then?" He asks, looking straight into my eyes, making me look at the floor.

"I-I don't know. Because I thought it was the right thing to do. Th-they were victims." I say, feeling ashamed and holding back tears.

"Does that make you a victim?" He asks. I look up at him, a little startled by the question.

"What do you mean Cristiano?" I ask, I struggled to speak without my voice wavering with every word.

"You're married to a mafia boss. You and that woman are practically in the same position. If she's a victim, you must be too. Is that what you think?" He asks, sounding ominously eager for an answer.

"I-I..." I try to get an answer out but it's caught in my throat. He suddenly seemed remorseful.

"It's ok, I shouldn't have asked you that." He says, wrapping his arms around my waist, and pulling me closer. I rested my head against his chest, and let out a sigh of relief. Then another though comes to my head that makes me panic.

"What's going to happen when the Consigliere's find out what I did?" I ask nervously. If they found out, they'd want me dead. There was no question about that.

"They're not going to." He says sternly. I look up at him confused.

"Wh-what?" I ask.

"They're not going to find out anything. I'm going to pin it on a guard." He answers.

"Why are you doing this for me Cristiano?" I ask pleadingly. He sighs, and hesitates before he answers.

"Because, I need you. I don't know why, I can't explain it, but I need you by my side." Cristiano says. I didn't know what to say. I look up at him, studying his face for a few minutes.

He meant what he said. He needed me. And, though I couldn't figure out why, a part of me knew I needed him too.

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