The Don and His Angel

Chapter 33

I wake up being shaken, not that gently, with the cries of a baby echoing around me. I open my eyes to a disheveled Luca and a crying Elle. The room is pitch black and I have to sit up fully to see them.

"I tried. I swear to God I tried angelo," Luca says as he frantically bounces her, "she just won't stop."

"Just," I don't even bother to finish my request as I hold out my arms.

"I fed her. I changed her. I held her. She won't stop crying," he sighs, taking a seat next to me.

Luca places Elle in my arms and I rock her back and forth gently. He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. Elle's cries soothe out until she's asleep.

"How do you do that?" he asks, throwing his hands up.

"I don't know," I shrug. I really don't and I'm not awake enough to figure it out.

"I'm sorry for waking you up," he says as he stands. He lifts Elle from me slowly and brings her to her crib.

He tucks her in carefully and whispers, "sogni d'oro tesoro."
(Goodnight sweetheart)

I flop back down in bed and I feel the mattress dip under Luca's weight. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. He's laying on his side with the other arm holding him up.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," he whispers.

"It's okay," I reply as I turn to face him, "I don't mind. I kind of asked to take care of her."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" he hesitantly asks, his arm lifting from my waist to tuck stray hairs out of my face.

"Not really," I tell him, "Someone shot Mike and then drugged me. I woke up tied up and Chris' dad, Richard, and this guy, Alexei, hit me a couple of times. It really wasn't that bad. You guys came before anything worse could happen."

"I'm sorry," he says, "I should have never let that happen."

"Luca you can't control everything," I reply, "you couldn't have known they were going to do any of that. You weren't there, you couldn't have done anything."

"That's my point Victoria," he says.

I blink hard at him. He never calls me by my name. It sounds foreign and just wrong coming off his tongue.

He sighs and cups my cheek, "I wasn't there. I should have been with you; with you both. But I wasn't and because of that you got hurt."

"I'm fine," I remind him.

"I'm going to put an end to all of this. I know you're going to try and fight me on this but you're not leaving my sight until it's all resolved," he says.

"Even when I'm in the bathroom?" I ask, poorly holding back a grin.

I don't give a fuck if I have to be with him all day. I'd prefer it that way honestly. I feel safest when he's around, which is something I'd like to feel while we're still at war. Plus it seems to bring some sort of comfort for him and he needs that.

"No, you can have privacy," he says, trying to read my face, "you're not going to fight me?"

"You're just keeping me safe," I shrug, "I trust you."

"You stopped flinching," he says with a soft smile.

"What?" I ask with furrowed brows.

"When I touch you," he clarifies, "you used to flinch every time but you stopped."

"I didn't even notice," I smile back.

"You might hear or perhaps see some fucked up and violent shit these next few days," he warns.

"I know," I nod, "I can handle it."

"I know you can," he replies softly, "I just don't want you to see me any differently than you do now. I would never hurt you, ever."

"I know what kind of man you are. I won't see you any differently," I reply.

"I love you so much il mio piccolo angelo," Luca says softly.

"I love you too Luca," I reply.

"Non mi stancherò mai di sentirti dire che," he says.
(I will never get tired of hearing you say that)

He rolls onto his back and pulls me to his chest in the process. His arm wraps around me and I lay my head on his chest. He takes my chin in his other hand and pulls my face to his.

He gently presses his lips to mine. I kiss him with equal tenderness, our tongues caressing each other in tandem. I pull away to breathe and look up into his eyes.

"Goodnight Luca," I whisper.

"Goodnight angelo," he replies.