Page 53 of Falling for the Mafia Dom
Pulling myself from her, I sit on the couch beside her while pulling her into my lap. Her exhausted body melts into mine and I hold her close as my fingers delicately roam over her skin.
“You did so fucking well,piccolo fiore,” I stroke her hair and tuck it behind her ear.
Gently lifting her chin, I place a tender kiss against her lips and whisper against them, “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
I feel her smile against them with pride before her head retreats to my shoulder. We sit in silence as I gently caress her body.
As she becomes more lucid, I feel her finger tracing over a stab wound below my left shoulder.
“Have I told you what that is from?” I speak softly as my lips kiss her forehead.
“You don’t have to,” she cautiously responds.
“I built this family…my empire…my legacy. I built it from nothing. It was my life. There is absolutely nothing I would not have done or sacrificed to make it more powerful. And I truly mean nothing.”
I stroke her hair as she looks up at me when I continue, “And then I met Amelia.”
“Sal,” her voice is timid.
“We had the boys,” I continue to hold her close as I caress her skin, “And then Venecia. And suddenly, I would have sacrificed anything for the four of them, a weakness my enemies had no problem trying to monopolize.”
“You really don’t have to—” she tries to stop me.
“Please,” I place my finger over her lips, “Just listen,piccolo fiore.”
She hesitantly nods her head.
“They took her,” I slide her fingertips over the scar she was previously touching, “This was from the first man that tried to stop me from getting her back.”
I move her fingers to a diagonal scar running along my flank, “This was from the second.”
Her eyes widen as I slide her hand across my chest to two bullet wounds just below my right pec, “These are from the man that pulled the trigger ending her life.”
“Sal,” she sits back and painfully looks at my body still riddled with unexplained scars. “And all of these?”
“These are from the men that tried to stop me from burning down this city. From destroying the empire of the people who took her from me. And finally, those are from the men who tried to stop me from killing the man who decided to useamore miofor leverage.”
ChapterForty
ELLIE
Tears well in my eyes as I listen to Sal speak about Amelia and how she was taken from him.
The way he speaks of her.
The things he did for her.
Their love was all-consuming.
“I built this fortress to ensure my family would be protected. No harm would ever come to my children. There would be no one else in my life people could use to hurt me,” his voice is deep and adamant.
“You know…you aren’t a bad man, Sal,” tears roll down my cheeks as I stroke his beard, “You’re a good man that has done bad things for his family. For the people he loves.”
Looking down at me, his voice softens slightly. “And then you walked into my home. Into my life. And you made me want to tear down every wall I had built to protect myself.”
“Sal,” I quietly sob.
“You are the first thing in a long time that I have worried about someone taking from me,” his fingers wipe the tears from my face and he kisses my lips, “Sei il tesoro piu prezioso che ho trovato e che vorrei custodire per sempre, piccolo fiore.”
