Principessa (Book II of The Stepbrother)

Chapter 46: Anniversary

Y'all went in on that last chapter.

LOL, I love y'all man, this one is for all of you :)
Happy New Year!!

Joella

"ELLA! ELLA!" My eyes popped open to see Haden leaning over me, his hands on my shoulders with a worried look on his face.

My face was wet with tears as I frantically looked around. My hands went over my stomach, no pain.

"It's okay, baby, it was just a dream."

A dream...It was a dream. It felt so real. Without another word, I threw my arms around his neck. My tears wouldn't stop falling. I buried my head in his neck as I sobbed loudly, my body shaking. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his lap.

"Shh, it's okay, baby. I'm here." He said softly while rubbing my back. He leaned me back to look at my face. "Baby, come on, take a deep breath with me."

He took a deep breath and exhaled. I followed and did the same. After a few minutes of doing that, my breathing evened but tears still fell from my eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head. I didn't want to even think about it. I didn't want to speak about it at all. I feared there was a chance it could come true if I did.

"You had a nightmare about Maxim, didn't you?"

I'm not even surprised he knew. Haden always just knows. I took in another deep breath as I nodded my head. Haden tenderly wiped my tears away, more tears replaced those.

"Who got hurt?" He asked softly.

"Both of us." I choked out, swallowing another sob.

Haden pulled me into a hug and I tightened my grip around his neck.

"Baby, I will guard you with my life." He spoke tenderly as he continued to rub small circles on my back.

That's what I was afraid of.

"Me too," I said, tightening my hold even more.

The doorbell went off. Haden looked at his phone to see Tony at the door. He stood up but kept me in his arms as he opened the door. Tony walked in and as Haden turned around Tony looked at me, a worried look immediately stretched across his face.

"What happened?" He asked as he closed the door.

"Nothing, Ella just had a bad dream," Haden said as he sat back down. My arms were still tight around his neck.

"Maxim?" Tony asked and my body tensed.

Haden must have glared at Tony because he mumbled a low 'my bad' and took a seat.

"What made you stop by Tony? I gave everyone the day off." Haden asked.

"I need to talk to you about some information I heard."

It was silent for a moment, but I felt Haden nod his head. Suddenly, the doorbell went off again. Haden cursed under his breath.

"Is everyone coming over? This was supposed to be a day of relaxation for Ella and me."

This time I climbed out of his lap as he went to the door.

"You ok?" Tony asked.

I nodded silently as I turned my attention to the door. Papa Russo walked in along with Nonna. Her eyes met mine and she frowned.

"You've been crying." She said causing Papa Russo to turn his gaze to me as well.

"I'm fine," I said with a thick swallow.