32. Aria
Chapter thirty-two
Aria
Since that day at my father’s place, I started staying at Mia’s. Since then, I have also avoided both my dad’s and Elio’s calls. And since then, I have been doing nothing but tossing and turning in bed, thinking of what was...is and what could have been.
A strained breath leaves my lips as I curl the duvet tighter around me. Despite Mia’s advice to go to the mansion and face Elio, I can’t bring myself to do it...not yet. Perhaps because I’m scared of facing the truth. What if Mario was dealing drugs for Elio, and when they found his true identity as a journalist, they decided to eliminate him? How would I live with myself knowing that truth?
The thought turns in my head until I hear a knock on the entrance door. My first instinct is to ignore it, but the least I can do in someone else’s house is accept their mail for them or attend to whomever is at the door.
I drag my limbs off the bed and head toward the door. Mia rarely comes back after leaving for work in the mornings, but maybe, this morning, she forgot something. The knock continues until I reach the door.
I instantly regret opening the door when I come face to face with him.
Elio.
A shaky breath escapes my lips as I take in his messy hair, sunken eyes and almost translucent skin.
“Aria,” he breathes, the expression on his face contorting as if he’s in physical pain.
Despite feeling a knot tightening in my stomach, the words tumble out of my mouth, “What do you want?”
“Fuck, Aria! Please...” he runs a hand through his hair.
“How did you find me here?”
“Look, I know what you think. I know you think I had something to do with your late brother, but please just calm down and hear me out.”
The fucking audacity to ask me to calm down!
“You’re in no position to tell me to calm down when you’ve been keeping secrets about my brother,” I interject.
“Aria, I swear, I had no idea until recently. Look, we can’t do this here. Will you let me in, or will you mind walking to my car with me?” his hands reach out to touch my arms as he adds, “Please…” but my entire body recoils from him.
I hold his gaze firmly, pushing the door wide open for him to enter and eyeing his pained expression but instead of a knot in my belly, I feel betrayal in my chest.
“You know what, Elio?” My voice is high-pitched and bitter as I slam the door once he enters. “Save it. Save your meaningless, bloody apology. I’ve done my research and I know what you did to my brother.”
Elio’s expression shifts, but it’s unreadable. He sighs, rubbing a hand down his face.
That’s it? A sigh?
My entire body begins to tremble with rage.
“I can’t forgive myself for sleeping with the man who had a hand in my brother’s murder.”
“Aria...”
“Don’t! Just don’t patronize me!” I cut him off, my hands trembling as I rip the ring off my finger. “This stupid, sham marriage or whatever agreement we had here? It’s over. Done.” I turn around to leave but firm hands grab at my arm.
“Wait!” His voice cracks, “Just...listen to me.”
I whirl around, yanking my arm free, glaring at him through tears. “Why should I? So you can lie to me again?”
“I didn’t kill your brother,” he says, his voice laden with desperation for the first time since I’ve known him.
“Don’t.” The first teardrop slips free from my eyes. “Don’t you dare…”
“Mario didn’t work for me!” he bursts out. The words stop me from raising my hand to his face.
I stare at him, my mind racing. “What?”
Elio runs a hand through his hair, his face etched with anguish. “Mario and a few other guys did business at the warehouse all the time, but he wasn’t one of mine. He was a solo drug supplier who sold to multiple families, Aria. He sold to the Marinos at the time…during Ezra Marino’s reign as the don.”
I shake my head furiously, my vision blurring with the uncontrollable tears slipping down my cheeks. “Stop lying. I saw the video. If he didn’t work for you then why did your lawyer seal the case?”
“I…”
“Just tell me the truth already! Why the hell did you kill my brother? What sort of relationship did you two have? What kind of jobs did he do for you? Why did your lawyer hide the case by sealing it as if he was a nobody?”
The words cascade out of me in a single, high-pitched breath, startling Elio, but only for a moment.
“I’m not lying!” he insists, stepping closer. “Mario never worked for me personally. The day he was killed... he wasn’t the only one who died. My men died, too, and I was only sent to supervise the cleanup. You said you saw the video. I wasn’t in it, was I?”
His eyes plead silently for me to believe his bullshit, but the rage coursing through my veins fuels me to believe otherwise.
“You didn’t need to be in that video,” I spit. “I’ve come to know how manipulative you can be, Elio. You could just have been an accomplice or even given the command.” My mouth refuses to stop jabbing at him with fierce words.
“Aria, Princess, you have to trust me…”
“Trust you?” a soft scoff escapes my lips. “Hell yeah, I trust you! I trust that you, Elio Donatelli, murdered my brother, Mario Abruzzi. In. Cold. Blood.” He opens his mouth in protest to say something but I’m not done with him just yet.
“You think you can pull some rich people’s game on me? Just murder my brother without facing the wrath of the law? Well, you tangled yourself with the wrong bride! I will find out what you did to my brother and make you pay every penny for it… That’s a promise!”
“Fuck Aria, would you shut it for ten seconds and listen to me?” he roars. His face is squeezed up in an ugly frown, his hands bunched into fists at his sides.
“The guy who pulled the trigger was actually one of ours, but that day was when we discovered that he’d gone rogue. He shot at my men, too, Aria. He killed three people that day…your brother and two of my men who were sent to get the drugs from him. He had stolen the drugs and cash for himself…”
My knees weaken as the words sink in. So those other guys in the footage were killed, too?
“…we caught him,” Elio says, his voice quieter now, filled with unmistakable bitterness. “But by then, it was too late. Mario and the others were already dead.”
My palms reach to close over my mouth, the tears spilling over as my whole body trembles.
“I didn’t know, Aria,” Elio says, his voice breaking. “Your brother never used his real name. I didn’t know it was him until recently. If I’d known, I would have…” He stops, his voice choking on the words.
The fight drains out of me as I drop to my knees. Elio lowers himself down in front of me, pulling me into his arms. I don’t resist. I can’t. The pain is too much, the truth too heavy to bear on my own.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers against my hair, his voice trembling.
I want to tell him that I’m sorry, too, for keeping his baby a secret from him for weeks now, but the words seem too heavy. Now isn’t a good time to confess my secret. I’m still trying to come to terms with the truth about Mario. The last thing I need is to reveal that I’m pregnant.
Elio’s thumb traces lightly against my cheek, flicking tears away from my eyes.
“It’s okay, Princess. I’m here now, and I won’t let anything like that ever happen again,” he mutters against my ears, leading me up to my feet.
He chooses that moment to graze his lips over mine, parting them open with the persistent tip of his tongue. My hands end up shoving his jacket off, pulling him closer instead of shoving him away.
My fingers find their way into the soft cotton of his shirt, left unbuttoned almost halfway through, relishing the feeling of his tense muscles beneath my cold fingers.
His mouth is so warm and tender, having the stormy aftertaste of cigarettes. It’s been only a couple of weeks, and yet it seems as if I’ve been starved of this man’s sensual touch for years.
His lips, tongue, and teeth are working frenziedly on my mouth, parting my lips, trailing over my neck, scraping at the lines of my jaw…
“Aria,” he growls my name. My response is a soft whimper, which causes his growl to deepen. Somehow, my hands are in his hair, tugging him deeper in. I just want all of him on me…in me.
My hands roam his back freely as he clutches the nape of my neck, sliding his hand down slightly over the front of my light pajama top and then back up again.
It’s like he’s teasing me. Like he wants me but doesn’t want to take me. Ah…
Frustrated, I yank at his hair, completely certain that a few strands have pulled off and sifted in between my fingers.
“Tell me what you want, Princess?” His eyes are dark and hungry?just as much as mine?as they look down on me.
“Y…you…” I respond. I can’t tell why the words come out in a stammer, but his response completely delights me. His body strains against me, turning around to pin me to Mia’s glass table behind us.
“Legs around me!” he orders me, hefting me up to the table as his coarse fingers trail in between the delicate walls of my thighs. An involuntary moan escapes my lips as my legs part voluntarily, giving him free access to the lacy nothingness covering my now dripping pussy.
His fingers swipe lightly over my clit through the soft lace, and my hips rise in response, riding softly against his hand.
“Fuck, Aria!” he snarls as his other hand reaches behind to grab at my ass and squeeze. His head reaches down to lick my nipple through the light fabric of my pajama top, causing my back to arch, pushing my taut nipples further into his face.
Even through my pajama top, I can feel the warmth of his hungry mouth sucking and his eager tongue running in little circles until the frantic need to have my bare flesh in his mouth nearly runs me senseless.
“Elio…” I gasp his name, trying to communicate that I immediately need his skin on mine?no barriers, “Elio…I need...”
“What do you need, Princess?” His mouth is still clutching at my breasts like it’s his last meal, reluctant to let go.
“I need… I want…” He raises his head, genuine concern clouding his eyes.
Since the words are taking time to form on my lips, I reach out for the hem of my pajama top and yank it over my head, revealing my white, lacy bra underneath.
A sly smile curves over Elio’s lips as he reaches behind me to unravel the bra hook. My breasts spring free, hard nipples aching for his skillful hand and mouth on them.
His hands reach for the buttons on his shirt, exposing his smooth, sculpted, work-of-art torso, causing my mouth to water with the need to taste him.
Leaning forward, I do just that as soon as he shrugs off his jacket and shirt, taking his nipples in my mouth and running my tongue over his deliciously rippling biceps.
He stiffens, curses in Italian, and winces painfully. My brows furrow at the sight of something blood-stained covering a part of his abdomen.
“Jesus, Elio. What happened?” My fingers reach to touch it, but he jerks out of my reach.
“It’s nothing, Princess. Just a slight bruise.”
My eyes dart back to the bandage. I don’t think this is just a slight bruise, but I let go of the subject when his hands move over my breasts, helping my nipples to his hungry mouth.
His eyes meet mine after a few moments of sucking, and all I can see in them is his need for me. A need I can tell is brutally desperate, a need that makes me want to torture him so he’ll long for me even more.
My tongue runs over my lips, watching as his gaze follows my every movement like a starving stalker following meat.
My bare breasts jab his bare chest, my fingers slipping to the waistband of his jeans in an attempt to get my hands on his rock-hard erection.
My mouth closes over his, drawing our bodies together in an inseparable tangle, devouring him just as he starts devouring me.
Elio reaches down to unzip his jeans, that massive cock of his straining too boldly against his briefs. My hand reaches down immediately, dragging his briefs down to set it free.
Oh, Lord! What a sight!
He immediately parts my thighs with his hands, tearing the soft, lacy thong away from my hips, and easing his massive length into me, inch by delicious inch.
Oooh!
My knees buckle at the invasion, a whimper escaping my lips as pleasure courses through every part of my being.
It’s like I’ve suddenly lost my ability to think, to breathe…my hands reach up to cup my left breast as his head swoops down to latch onto the right one. His hands are holding onto my lower back, feverishly thrusting my hips against him.
My free hand digs my nails into his shoulder, hanging on for dear life as he rams into me with all his might.
“Don’t stop! Never stop!” Those words escape my lips, riding on the wind to his ears. His body jerks and strains at the words, drawing quiet sobs from my lips.
Pausing briefly to reach in between our bodies, he rolls my clit between his thumb and forefinger. My body responds by pressing itself against him as he continues to thrust into me.
Instinctively, I lower my body backward until I feel my back on the fragile table as he tilts his hips forward to get in ever deeper. His hard cock is now buried so deep in me that it’ll reach my lungs any moment now!
Locking my ankles around his waist, I let my head fall back against the glass as I feel my climax seize my abdomen.
He’s still rocking hard against me, eyes rolling back as he doubles over me with his own orgasm. Just then, I hear the first bout of thunder assailing the sky.
“Fuck. I could go another round in your heavenly pussy, but I don’t want to get caught up in the thunderstorm,” he manages to mutter into my ears. When he pulls himself away from me, his smile is so wide it crinkles his eyes.
I smile when he reaches out for the roll of tissue just beside my head so he can wipe us both clean. “How did you know to come here? Mia didn’t, by any chance, call you, did she?”
“Did you forget I’m a mafia don, Princess? Plus, I was worried you may have gone to spill stuff to your old man?or others?about me. I came looking for you once I decided I’d given you enough time to cool off.”
My lashes flutter rapidly for a few seconds before I shake my head. “No! No... why would I?” I can’t bring myself to tell him the truth about my discussions with Mia.
A grin takes over his face as he yanks his briefs and pants up, buckling his belt into place.
“Let’s go home, Principessa .”
A small frown tugs at my lips. “I already promised Mia I’d be here till I leave for law school this weekend. My internship ends tomorrow.”
Surprisingly, he doesn’t argue, he just takes my hand in his, leading me outside to his car.
“That’s okay,” he finally responds as we arrive at his car. Reaching towards me, his warm lips cruise over mine in a sweet kiss. “I can always come here to see you. But I’ll have the honor of dropping you off at school, no?”
A low chuckle escapes my throat. “Anything for you, Donatelli.”
He gets into the car and slams the door shut. As he turns on the ignition and rain begins pattering lightly on me, I make a mental note to call Mia.
Now that I know the truth about Mario, guilt clutches at my chest, though I don’t know why. Or maybe I do.
With everything that happened, all the facts that I learned now, I don’t want Mia or anyone else going after Elio any longer. Because under that ruthless mask of his, I now realize that Elio does have a heart, no matter how deep it is buried. And I know that he has already started to unearth parts of it.
My hands reach to caress my stomach lightly. Maybe this pregnancy could be the breakthrough we need to work things out between us.
Maybe—just maybe—he’d even abandon his criminal life to start our own family?our own normal family. After all, it’s apparently not unheard of in the mafia world.
Turning to look at him maneuvering out of Mia’s driveway amidst the thunderstorm, a realization flutters in my stomach, bringing a tear to my eye.
I’m in love with Elio Donatelli. And I’m ready to do whatever it takes to make this work.
All along, I’ve been living for Mario and to get justice, but maybe now I can finally make peace with the truth.
Maybe now I can finally start living my own life with Elio and our baby.