Saved by the Mafia (BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 21

Alessandro

I rest my chin on her head as I hold her.

"My mother was also very beautiful. She was an amazing woman, I don't know how she got into the Mafia life. Right now things are different than they were back then. They used to be ruthless and have absolutely no compassion. It was a world of bad with no good. Ever since I can remember my father would force me to train. I didn't want to be a part of that life, as a child I only wanted to play although eventually I ended up as capo." I pause.

"That means boss by the way." I feel her smile against my chest. I sigh before continuing.

"Anyway. He never really liked me. All I ever remember is him telling that I couldn't do anything right. My mother always managed to calm him. He was a cold man but he loved my mother in his own way. He rarely expressed his feelings for her but she was his soft spot. When I was about eight years old my mother became pregnant once more. My parents were thrilled and I was excited to have someone to play with. Things were going well in a general sense. Then, one day before my ninth birthday my mother went out to get thing for a surprise birthday party she was organizing for me. She never got back. She usually didn't like taking bodyguards with her and that day she managed to go alone, after living in such a dangerous world for years she died because of some reckless driver. I don't know any details, all I know is that she died in a car crash. That day I lost my mother and a sibling." I feel the pain resurfacing and the tears begin to stream down my face. I let out a sob. Amber lifts her face and puts her soft hands on my cheeks, wiping away my sadness. She hugs me.

"I'm sorry Alessandro. I really am." She gives me a soft kiss.

"Thank you." I offer a half smile.

"My father lost it after that. He lost the only thing he loved and I lost the only protection I had against him. At first he drowned himself in vices. He would get drunk every day and sometimes take out his anger on me. He would tell me it was my fault because she had only gone out because of my stupid birthday party. I don't know why he never loved me Amber. After about a year he decided it was time to straighten himself out, except he was a changed man. If he was ruthless before, he was completely heartless at that point. All he cared for was power. He began training me again, but it was more torture than actual training. He would have his men show me how to fight, but all they did was use me as a punching bag. I was a child and they fought me as they would any grown man. The worst part of it all was the punishment for losing every fight against them. They would hit me some more, sometimes my father would burn me with his cigarettes, cut me with a blade and when he was feeling exceptionally cruel, he would beat me with a whip." I feel her get off of me and sit right in front of me.

"I'm sorry Ale. I know I already said that, but I truly am. Is that what Nicholas had to go through as well? He didn't tell me that part because he said it involved you." When did he have the time to talk to her about that?

"He told you his story then?" She nods.

"So you know my father went to kill his supposed best friend and kidnapped his child?" She nods again. I sigh. Nicholas doesn't blame me because they were not my actions but I can't stop feeling responsable for it. After all, he was my father.

"Well, he brought Nicholas home after murdering his parents in front of him. If I could change things I would, even if that meant not having him in my life. When he got there I was excited to finally have someone my age but I knew that I didn't want him to go through the same thing. His arrival will always be bittersweet to me. We grew up together from that moment on. Marcos would train with us as well but apparently he was a natural which means he was very good. He was also the son of one of my father's most trusted men so he was less strict with him. Soon, we actually started learning how to fight, but it was thanks to Marcos. He always did his best to protect us, he couldn't always stop our punishment but he helped us improve so we wouldn't fail as often. We got older and things continued as they had been. One day, I decided to finally remove my father from his role. A lot of his men agreed to go against him and I did what I thought best at the moment, the only way I found to stop him was killing him. Nicholas and Marcos helped me do it." I look at her, this is why I didn't want to tell her.