Run

C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N

Vincent's POV

"Ma, wait." I scramble after her as she expertly weaves her way through the crowd of people. She ran right after she dropped the bomb on Leah, but I can't let her leave, not like this.

I finally catch up to her and grab her arm right before she has the chance to grab the door handle. I can feel her body tense as I touch her. I've seen my mother mad, but never this mad. Not to the point where she can't even stand to look at me.

My mother and I have always been close. Especially after my father died, I had to step up and be the man of the house. I helped my mother take care of all my younger siblings. It was hard, but we pulled through, and we have such a special bond because of it. But seeing her acting like this, it hurt me. Seeing her recoil away from me in disgust, it hurt.

"Please, mama." My voice was strained and she could definitely hear the desperation in my voice.

She sighs and turns back around, her hard eyes soft again as she looks at me. She looks behind us to where Leah is still standing, confused. Then back down at me once again.

"What do you see in this girl, Vincent? Her family, they're horrible people."

"Just because her family are horrible people doesn't mean she is. And...I love her, mama. Please give her a chance." Her eyes slightly widen as I tell her I love Leah, but I don't care. I do. With all my heart. I knew from the moment I saw her, I just hope Leah eventually feels the same way too.

She sighs defeatedly and nods her head. "Yes, I will give her a chance." A huge smile takes over my face and pull her into a bone crushing hug. She laughs and hugs me back, her warm, friendly personality back.

"But," She says. "if I think she posts any threat to you or our family, any threat at all, I will stop this immediately. Do you understand?" I nod my head profusely and sigh to myself. I'm a goddamn twenty-six year old mafia leader who still follows his mother's every word.

Ultimately, I think that even though I'm supposed to 'dangerous' and a 'criminal' I'll always be a mamas boy. No matter how old I get.

I take her hand and lead her back through the crowd of people over to where Leah's still standing, looking as confused as ever. She looks curiously at my mother and I, as of waiting for an explanation. Seemingly catching on, my mother clears her throat and extends her hand to Leah.

"Why don't we start again. I'm Marissa Esposito, Vincent's mother." Leah hesitantly shakes her hand.

"I'm sorry," She says, sounding confused. "but can you please explain to me what you said before? About my dad.." She trailed off, letting my mother put together the rest of her sentence without saying it.

"O-Oh, Yes, I'm sorry about that. Why don't we just forget about that." My mother starts to trail off about something completely different, but Leah isn't listening. Instead, she's looking at me, giving me a look of complete confusion, to which I try to respond back with a look of comfort.

"Mrs. Esposito," She says, stopping my mother. "I'm very sorry to interrupt you, but I really would like to know more about what father did. Please." Leah looks at me pleadingly. And, as much as I don't want to tell her, it's something that she needs to hear.

"Ma," I say. "We should tell her, she deserves to know." She opens her mouth to object, but quickly closes it. I can see the internal struggle she's having with herself. The struggle of not wanting to talk about something so horrible, but also the need to get it out before it builds up and just bursts.

"Okay, but not here." I nod and lead them both through the house and up to my office. I make sure I close and lock the door after they've both entered and sat done, then sit in chair behind my large mahogany desk.

A few moments of silence pass over us, and as much as I'd just like it to be said and over with, I'm willing to give my mother as much time as she needs. Even after almost thirteen years of him being gone, it's still hard for her to talk about, so I'm willing to wait.

"Okay, alright, I'm ready." I nod for her to continue and she turns to Leah, looking at her dreadfully before continuing.

"When you were born, Leah, your father and my husband had arranged for you and Vincent to marry. It was the deal they had made so they could intertwine their companies." Leah raises up her hand to stop her.

"Wait, companies? You mean my father is part of this? The mafia?" She looks heartbroken as my mother nods and continues on.

"Yes, and when you were five years old, your father and my husband got into a fight over some of the agreements they had made, and my husband ultimately broke off the deal. Which meant both of their companies would suffer a major loss. And in the next few months, my husband became bitter and cold, and borderline verbally abusive. But, your father then came over to try and re-negotiate the deal, but it escalated into a fight. And one thing led to another and your father ended up shooting my husband."

She says it quickly, like ripping off a bandaid. I know she was just trying to make this as quick and as painless as she possibly could, but I can tell how much it's hurting her. She wants to cry, to lash out, but doesn't. She just sits there, waiting patiently for Leah to say something. But by the look on her face,  I don't think she'll be saying anything anytime soon.

Her eyes are squeezed shut, and her breathing was erratic, almost as if she was trying to stop herself from crying.

I almost regret telling her, but it was inevitable. She would've found out sooner or later, and it's better that she finds out from us than from someone who doesn't know the true story.

"D-Does my father still run these, companies? Is he still caught up in all this?"

"There's been rumors that he's been circulating again, and some of my men have provided me with evidence that he's leading our rival gang, but as of right now, I haven't encountered him."

I've had more than a few of my men come to me with reasons why they think Jordan Russo is the Tallios' leader, but I haven't acted on any of them yet. I need to confirm this myself before I do anything too irrational.

"Vincent." Leah calls out my name, her voice slightly cracking as she tries to contain her tears.

My mother looks at me with sad eyes and nods her head.

"Go ahead, I'll take care of the party." I give her a look of gratitude before silently picking Leah up and carrying her to our bedroom.

I went to lay her down on the bed, but she grabbed my shirt collar in her hands and refused to let go.

"Please don't leave me alone, Vincent. I really need someone with me right now." I fought back the smile that tried to make its way onto my face. Now is not the time to be happy that she wants to be with me.

"I won't leave you, I promise." I got onto the bed with her still in my arms and laid down. I tried to think of something to say, something that would ease the tension of the situation, but I came up with nothing. So I just opted for slowly rubbing my hand up and down her back until she drifted off to sleep in my arms.

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I finally updated!!! Yay!!!

Hey, sorry for leaving you guys in the dark for so long, I seriously wanted to update but didn't have a lot of motivation for this chapter. But I still hope you enjoyed it!