Within The Bonds

Epilogue

Third Person P.O.V

31st October...

The day that Astoria has been so anxiously awaiting has finally arrived and now fifteen-year-old mafia princess still lays snuggled into her comforter as the clock on her nightstand strikes 8:00 AM.

She buries herself further into her cocoon of warmth as the window she had left open the previous night lets in the chilly winds that marked the onset of an early winter.

As the clock ticks to 8:10 AM it lets out a beeping sound alerting her of the alarm she had set nights ago.

"It's too early," she whines into her pillow, as she silences the annoying machine before returning to her dreamless slumber.

But when her groggy subconscious mind processes the reason for the alarm, her eyes snap open, and with anew found spring to her steps she jumps out of bed with excitement fueling her she rubs the sleep off her eyes and ambles into her bathroom to get ready for her day.

For the first time in a long time, she chooses to take her time with her morning routine. After a generous 15 minutes, she steps out of the bathroom while dabbing her face with a warm towel only to let out a soft gash as her heart goes into overdrive and adrenaline starts to pump through her veins at an alarming rate.

"Hey, there birthday girl." A smiling Alessandro greets her, comfortably seated at her open bay window looking handsome as always.

"Sandro!" She squeaks before throwing herself into his arms that welcome her mirroring her enthusiasm, the towel that was once in her hand long disowned on her bedroom floor.

Secured in his arms he twirls her around, her feet a good few inches off the ground. They make sure to keep their volume at bay, still having not told her family about their relationship.

"How the hell did you get in?" She asks as soon as her feet touch the ground only to be silenced by his lips crashing against her making her almost instantly respond, her question left hanging midair.

It takes a generous few minutes for the couple to stop their making-out session before the conversation from 2 days ago surfaces from the back of her mind and she pulls away leaving Alessandro's mind in a hazy tangle of confusion.

"What's wrong?" He asks, not liking the distance she was so quick to put between them.

"You didn't answer my calls yesterday or my question," she replies as she an internal tug of war commences between her heart and mind.

"Got caught up in some work, dad had me supervise the unloading of a shipment that came in yesterday," he explains himself being as honest with her as he can while simultaneously being vague about the details.

"You sound just like them," she says pulling away from him completely and going to fetch her towel that she left on the ground.

"Like who?" He asks.

"My brothers," she replies, exasperation evident in her body language. But this emotion much to his surprise isn't directed towards him or even her brothers, it's directed to her situation which causes a wave of empathy to wash over him.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but you know I can't give you many details about these deals," he tries explaining his side, which feeling an emotion arguably no mafia-born should feel; helplessness.

"That wasn't what you said when you promised you would tell me everything if my brothers didn't," she argues, as numerous emotions try taking control of her, frustration being the dominant one.

"And I will if they don't or refuse to tell you everything today as they promised," he assures, but at the back of his mind, he knows full and well how difficult it will be to keep this promise.