ARELLA (A Mafia Story)

Thirty

Damon

Several weeks pass peacefully. Almost too peacefully. There hasn't been any backlash since kidnapping Dimitri. It has me on edge.

Nevertheless, I let my family leave the house as long as they're guarded by one of my close soldiers. Freya is having a ball spending my money again. I swear she's bought a whole clothing store worth of clothes for Arella.

The poor baby can't even fit all her clothes in her walk-in closet. It's spilled over into the spare bedroom's closet.

Arella grunts from beside me in her highchair, pulling me from my musings. I look over to her and scoop another spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth.

She smacks her lips happily and rubs her belly. Reaching over, I ruffle her hair and smile. "Is that yummy?"

I get a little hum before she opens her mouth again for another bite. Freya chuckles from the other side of Arella's chair, cutting up her pancakes.

"She's greedy when it comes to food. You need to be quicker." My beautiful wife voices.

"I would be too if I was starved for three years. Now our baby has an adorable chunky belly." I reach over and tickle the belly in question.

The baby shrieks with laughter and tries pushing my hand away. I let her and take a bite of my own food. It's already getting cold from my time spent feeding Arella instead of myself.

"Can I go to the gym after breakfast? I'm getting all flabby from the time spent sitting on my ass." Gianni asks through a mouthful of food.

"There's a gym here. Why can't you use that? And don't speak with your mouth full." I snap.

He shrugs and looks down at his phone, responding to a text message. "I want to use their equipment and hang out with my gym bros."

"As long as you're not out there sticking it in some girl, I don't really care. Take your guards and be careful." Freya tells him.

Davide bites down on his bottom lip and snickers under his breath. I look over at him with my eyebrow raised. What's he laughing about over there?

"You have something to say?" I question, feeding Arella another bite.

He shakes his head and lifts his phone, hiding his face behind the rectangular screen.

Hmm. Davide has never been able to look us in the face when he lies. What secrets is he hiding? I watch from the corner of my eye as Gianni shoots him a warning look.

Fine, he can keep his secrets for now. I have to worry about getting Arella ready to head to her doctors.

We finally decided that it was time to get her fitted for a prosthetic. She's gained enough strength and can finally support herself by holding onto something.

Andrea stands and straightens out his white tee shirt, taking his plate into the kitchen. "I'm going to head to pick up some more protein powder. I'll be back in about an hour."

"Take your guards." Freya shouts at his retreating back.

"Yes, Mama." He turns, tips his head in her direction, then starts his climb up the stairs.