aeipathy

Chapter 33

Wow two chapters in one day I'm on fire :)

Luca's POV

"He's after Caleb?" I asked cautiously as I comforted Karmen as she cried. She nodded into my chest as I tried to comprehend everything she filled me in on from the past few years.

My heart stung as she told me that he said Anastasia was gone. Just the thought of her not being here hurt to think about.

"It's okay. We can protect him, love, he won't get to him." I mumbled, cupping her face in my hands. I leaned down, placing a small kiss on her cheek.

As I held her I could tell she hadn't been eating just off of how small she had gotten. "Let's get you something to eat, si?" I asked, to which she just nodded.

As I brought her downstairs I could see her looking around the house, taking everything in. We got to the kitchen and saw Caleb laughing with Ana, who was sitting on the counter, while Micah sat back eating some chocolate chips with Natalie.

All of their attention quickly turned to us as we made ourselves known. "Hey, momma!" Micah greeted, coming up and hugging her tight. "I've missed you so much beautiful!" Karmen spoke back.

Her attention went over to Caleb and Ana while she had a sad smile on her face. Caleb held his hand out for her to take which she did without hesitation. "Ana, questa e tua mamma," she spoke making her eyes sparkle with excitement.
(This is your mom,)

"Hi!" she spoke excitedly but I could hear the sadness in her voice. Anastasia glanced at me for a second before responding, "hello!" she uttered. I smiled at her enjoyment, as she looked around smiling at everyone in the room.

Karmen opened her arms to hug her, which she gladly took, and as they hugged I saw a tear leave Karmen's eye, which she quickly wiped away before turning to hug Caleb. She whispered something to Caleb which he smiled at before responding.

Their hug was interrupted by barking as Sprinkles entered the kitchen running towards Karmen. "Hi, baby!" Karmen cheered after almost being tackled by her dog.

After Karmen got up from petting Sprinkles, she noticed Natalie sitting with Micah. "Momma, this is my girlfriend Natalie. Natalie, this is my mom." Caleb introduced them. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" Natalie said, sticking her hand out to shake Karmen's.

Within a second Karmen ignored her handshake, instead pull in her into a tight hug. "It's nice to meet you too, you're so beautiful!" she greeted, it was the first time I ever really noticed her accent except for when she spoke Spanish.

Eventually, she started helping the kids with their cookies. I wanted to stay, just to enjoy the moment, but I knew I needed to get on top of things. "Caleb?" I asked drawing his attention away from his mom and sisters. I nodded my head towards to kitchen door, signaling for him to follow me.

I lead him to my office and sat down taking a deep breath. "What's wrong? shouldn't we be celebrating?" he asked with a confused face.

"I need to talk to you about what happened with your mom," I spoke confusing him even more. "What about it? She's back. And we are gonna kill everyone responsible." he answered without a doubt in his mind.

"Of course, but apparently we had it wrong." I couldn't help but best around the bush, how am I supposed to tell him this? "So it wasn't the Russians?" he asked even more confused.

"No it was definitely them but now we just know a little more-" my sentence was cut off with Caleb's frustrated sigh. "Okay, can you stop dodging the situation and tell me?"

"Okay well, even though Dmitri, the Russian don, was after Karmen before because he wanted to take me down but the newest reason was that he wanted you. He told Karmen that you are his heir and he wanted revenge for us taking you from him." I blurted out. That's right you just have to rip off the band-aid.

"What!?" he yelled, standing up. "Caleb..." I defended. "No! This is my fault. I'm the reason that the only mother I've ever had has been tortured for the last 5 years! She probably hates me." he states running his fingers through his hair. "Hey!" I yelled back, stopping him in his tracks. "This isn't your fault, and she doesn't hate you." I coaxed, trying to calm him down.

"That's why she tried to run away at the mall, isn't it? She doesn't want anything to do with me!" he continued to yell, which the hurt resonated in his voice. "Enough! Go. Go tell her that and see if she doesn't smack you clean across your face, Boy!" I yelled again.

"She tried to run away because Dmitri threatened all of us, including you. She was trying to protect us from getting killed." I continued.

He sat down, staying quiet for a second before his face contorted from sadness to confusion. "What did you mean? Why does this guy think I'm his heir?" he asked me.

"We still have to look into it but he thinks he's your biological father. Apparently, when your biological mom got pregnant she didn't tell him about it. By the time he found out it was after he had already found you and took you in, and he was definitely not happy about that." I spoke, even though I was hoping I wouldn't have to explain that part. I hate the thought of someone trying to take him away from me. I'm his dad even if it wasn't my sperm who made him.

"Wow," he said leaning back in his chair. "All this time I've been a fucking Russian."

"No. You're a Vitale, Simple as that." I corrected him. He shot me a small smile before getting up. "Oh yeah one more thing," I said, dreading this part. I know he's going to throw a whole fit about it.

"Yeah?" he asked. "As of right now you're in lockdown. You're not to leave the property." I finished and his eyes widened.

"What!? How come?" he yelled.

"Caleb, I just told you that you have a Mafia after you. Now that we have his only bargaining chip back he is going to get more impulsive. We can't risk him getting to you."

"Come on! Me and you both know I can handle myself." He pleaded. "Yes I am well aware but I'm not going to risk your life. You're staying here, end of discussion."

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After saying good night to The kids, I went to me and Karmen's room and saw her lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, with Sprinkles laying next to her. "How are you feeling?" I asked while unbuttoning my shirt. "I've missed so much." She answered still looking at the ceiling.

"It's okay love, there's still a lot waiting to happen." I tried to soothe her worries as I went to the closet and changed into some shorts. I also grabbed one of my shirts and a pair of my boxers for her to sleep in since she was still laying in her jeans and jacket.

I exited the closet to see that she was now sitting up, waiting for me. I sat the clothes on the bed next to her before resting my hand on her jaw, pointing her face up to look at me. "I've really missed you." I sighed.

"I've missed you too," she said looking into my eyes before she glanced at my lips. I let out a light chuckle before leaning down and placing a kiss on her lips.

I could feel her melt into the kiss allowing me to deepen it. After a few seconds, I pulled away and grabbed the clothes from next to her. "It's been a really long day, get changed, and let's get you to bed." I smiled down at her.

She silently grabbed the clothes from my hand before heading into the bathroom. As I lied down I gently pushed Sprinkles out of my spot on the bed and down to the end of the mattress.

After a few minutes, she came out, looking amazing in my clothes, making a smile form on my face. I pushed the blanket to the side for her to come lay next to me which she quickly did with a little skip in her step.

I went to turn off the bedside lamp when I saw her ring laying in a bowl. "Here mi amor," I spoke grabbing the ring and placing it on her finger. She smiled down at it before she smiled at me. "Thank you," she spoke softly.

After I turned off the light, I layed down on my back and pulled her to rest on top of my chest, giving her a small kiss on the head. "duerme bien, mi Amor"
(Sleep well, my love)