The Mafia Man's Girl

Chapter 73: Years

Arya's POV -

Both of my parents stare at me, not an ounce of emotion showing on their faces.

Did they hear me?

I open my mouth to ask but then they start laughing. Both of them. Like that's the funniest thing I've ever said to them. Oh gosh, they don't believe me.

"That's funny dear, really." Mama says, still chucking and I'm about to say something again but papa beats me to it.

"The mafia? How did you come up with that one?"

Facepalming, I run my hand down my face and nervously bite my lip.

"I'm not kidding." I say seriously and when they get a good look at my face they stop smiling.

"What?!" Mama exclaims.

"Rome's in the Italian mafia. So are Elijah and James." I continue to just rip the bandaid off.

"Remember when you guys were um...taken a few months ago and then you were just released like nothing ever happened?"

Still speechless, mama nods slowly with a skeptic look on her face.

"That was one of Rome's enemies, the Russians." Why can't I stop talking? I'm making it worse.

"That's not funny Arya. Stop joking around." Papa says sternly and I play with my fingers.

"I'm being serious, but I promise he's a good man. All three of them are. They'd never hurt any of us."

More silence follows and I feel sweat forming on the back of my neck.

"Say something please? Anything?" I whisper and mama blinks.

"So this whole time you knew he was in the mafia but didn't say anything?" Her voice is calm so I have no idea how she's really feeling.

"Y-Yes but I just didn't know how to tell you guys. I was terrified of your reactions."

Their eyes soften as I move to sit down, staring at the floor.

"I love both of you so much and I don't want to damage our relationship again. The idea of Rome being in the mafia scared me at first, but I knew he'd never hurt me. He won't ever hurt me, he won't ever hurt you guys, and he'll never hurt anyone innocent, I can tell you that. Please just give him a chance, you can even talk to him about it."

I feel my voice wavering towards the end and I blink my eyes rapidly since they were tearing up. My eyes widen a tad when papa wraps his arms around me into a bone crushing hug.

"Alright, I'll give him a chance." He says and I smile widely, hugging him back and whispering a quiet thank you. Peering at mama whose staring at the two of us, she looks at the ceiling for a moment before smiling at me.

Moving out of papa's arms, I give mama a large hug .

"We want to talk to Rome and hear everything. About the mafia and anything that was kept a secret." I nod at her and pull away.

"I promise you can talk to him." I assure them.

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10 minutes later Rome is alone in his office with both my parents, talking.

My heart is beating erratically and I can't calm myself down. At least my parents didn't totally flip out and start screaming.

Now I'm sitting alone at the kitchen table nervously biting on my nails as I stare at the direction of Rome's office door. James, Elijah, and Cassidy are in the living room watching some show on the TV. I'm glad they're bonding.