All Yours

XXVIII

AURORA

"I owe you an explanation."

Those 5 words won't stop replaying in my head as I sit in my chair, watching his gestures carefully, waiting for him to speak.

His eyes are closed briefly and I can sense the amount of turmoil he's feeling right now. He sighs for a moment and opens his eyes to find mine. His left hand comes out weakly, reaching for mine that's resting on the bed and I intertwine my fingers with his, squeezing hard.

"I knew who your father was," he mutters, looking down and refusing to meet my eyes.

I squeeze his hand to urge him to continue. I know there's more to the story than just that, and this time I'm going to let him fully explain without running away so carelessly.

"Your father was a trusted man of my family. The French and Italians never got along, but my family took your dad is like he was our own."

His entire family knew my father?

"Your father...wasn't very smart with his financial decisions," he trails off. So I guess he was a bad man after all.

"He played with his money dirty and soon enough, his luck ran short and my father cut him off since he was helping fund some of his big expenses." He lifts his head to look at me weakly, a pained expression on his face.

"One day, my father found a woman, beat up and bruised carrying her child. Revealing her identity, my father immediately sent her off to America to hide from her child's father." I feel his thumb rub soothing circles on my outer palm as he continues.

"But, before she took off, my father promised her a home-cooked meal and a hot shower before she left the country. And that's when I met her child." He brings my hand up to his lips for a chaste kiss.

"She looked so small and dainty, her brown hair already swooping past her ears." Oh my god.

"She looked so fragile, like everything in the world was seeking to break her. And that's when I made it my goal to always protect her, wherever she may be, or whenever I'd run into her again."

I didn't even realize until now that tears are streaming down my face and I wipe them away so I can see him clearly.

"And imagine my surprise when I find out that the girl I'm enraptured with just happens to be her." He smiles at me, his lips barely turning, but his eyes say it all.

"I had no idea that you were your father's daughter all along until the meeting we had with my brothers and father there."

What?! So he's barely known for a few days.

"What? Frankie said that he's surprised that you took it well; that I'm his daughter?" The ending comes out like a question like I'm still trying to believe it myself.

"Frankie's one of my dad's most trusted men and nephews; so it wasn't a surprise that he knew before me. And that he knew right away when I found out."

My mouth makes an "oh" shape as everything starts to make sense now.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, my eyes shutting tight. If only I had waited for him to explain, none of this would've happened.