The Mafia's Heirs

57. Aww... Come Here

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Mateo stared at her as she laid there. She had yet another panic attack.

He felt guilty. He believed it was his fault that this had happened. She was going through a rough time. The past two months hadn't been easy for her, and though she knew the lay of the lands, this still wasn't her lifestyle. She was a respected orthopedic surgeon who lived a bright and sunny life. She didn't know how to live the life as the baby mama of a feared Capo of the Sicilian Mafia.

And yet, he had been inconsiderate. He took her understanding for granted and failed to recognize the emotions she was battling every day. For that, he felt extremely guilty and he didn't know what he could do to ever make up for it and make her feel safe.

How was he supposed to convince her that she and the twins were safe? He was always dragging them around, sometimes across the country and sometimes across continents. He had to deal with everything once and for all.

Mateo had made Alessia and Adam take the three kids out before he called the doctor. Dr. Regio, the family physician and the most reputed in the country, said that River was physically fine but she was probably bottling up too much of emotions which might have led to this.

And Mateo completely agreed with her, knowing very well that that's what River always did. And he knew that he was an insensitive arse about it as well.

River was so strong that sometimes he forgot that even she had her limits.

A lot happened in the past months. There have been drastic changes in her life, scary revelations and fatal attacks on them. And she was still putting up a strong front.

But he also figured out what was the trigger to her panic attacks. Even the last time, she had a panic attack after the kids were kidnapped. And this time, though she was the one who was poisoned, her biggest fear was what would have happened if one of their twins had the cookies instead of her.

The thing that threw her off her composure and triggered the panic attacks was one thing – Danger on their two babies.

Bless their five-year-old hearts, the kids got over whatever happened as if they were a bad dream – or he could thank the fearlessness they had inherited from both their parents or their inability to comprehend the situation. The two of them saw the good in every situation and were happy. But he was also worried that though they were just five, they were bottling all their fears and emotions up just like their mother. He hoped that was not the case but he couldn't rule out the possibility.

"Hi baby."

Mateo looked over at Susan Johnson and then at River. She was squinting at the ceiling. Mateo heaved a sigh of relief – she was finally waking up.

"Hi Mommy." She purred, voice thick with sleep. All of a sudden, the soft carefree look on her face disappeared, as if she realized she had woken up from her dream. She quickly sat up, at which her nurse friend Jacqueline Meyers hissed out in protest. "I am fine." She mumbled.

"Yeah we saw that." Sebastian Shane was quick to sit next to her, taking her hand in his. Mateo knew that they were like siblings and that Sebastian was happily married but that didn't stop the ugly green monster of jealousy clawing at his heart – he was supposed to be the one sitting next to her with her hand in his.

"I thought we had a lot to say-" He gestured to himself and Jacqueline. "-but now we realize we need to listen to a lot of things you have to say first."