My Mafia Madness 3

Chapter 32 - Finding the Note

An unusually cold and crisp wind had managed to sneak its way in through the small opening of the small rectangular window located in Alexa’s guest room.

With the window only open a crack, the sudden chill showed just how cold outside was as the temperature in the room continued to drop with each passing second.

Wafting its way in throughout the entire space, as if on a silent quest, it finally reached the slumbering blonde who lay nestled safely in a thick cocoon of fluffy blankets and pillows.

Gently dusting across the soft skin of her exposed arms and face, the morning breeze was just enough to wake Alexa as she eventually began to stir.

Slowly blinking her chocolate brown eyes open, she glanced around the well-furnished room as if in search of something… or more precisely, someone.

But it seemed that she was indeed alone, just as she had feared.

With an already deeply aching heart, Alexa let out a long and heavy sigh before she rolled herself over to face away from the window, making sure to support her growing belly as she manoeuvred herself.

This was certainly not how she planned on waking up on Christmas morning, that’s for sure!

All the exciting hopes and dreams that the soon-to-be-mother and wife had of waking beside the man who had stolen her heart had been instantaneously washed away due to a fight the night prior.

And all because of a kiss…

Wallowing in her own grief and sadness and afraid to face anyone else in her current mood, Alexa happened to glance across, noticing something out of place almost immediately.

There appeared to be a singular golden envelope, carefully positioned so that it was leaning against the oak lamp on the bedside table and facing her.

It looked as if there was something written on it, but from her position laying down she couldn’t quite see what it said.

Frowning in a mixture of both confusion and excitement at a sudden surprise, Alexa sat herself up and reached across to grasp at the smooth envelope before eagerly opening it.

What she didn’t know was that Dante at that very moment was seated at his desk, in his office, his laptop screen currently displaying his beautiful fiancé as she continued tearing into the golden paper to retrieve the hidden note from within.

He couldn’t help the small smile which fought to appear on his handsome face.

Seeing her excited like this, it was just what he needed right now.

Meanwhile, Alexa now had the expensive piece of folded paper held in her hands as she then proceeded to unwrap it and reveal its contents.

Her eyes widened.

It was handwritten note… and it was from Dante!

She wondered if someone as stubborn and powerful as the Reaper had ever written anyone else a handwritten note before in his entire life… probably not.

Shaking her queries away, Alexa then focused to begin reading what it said…

-

My dearest Alexa,

I have never done this before... written an actual letter on a piece of paper, I mean. Not since my mother was still alive. So, please forgive me if I make a mess of this, as I did of things last night.

The truth is I have hurt you deeply, and I did so in such a selfish and uncaring manner that I would never expect you to forgive me.

It was a cruel and terrible choice, made only for my own selfish gain and with no thought whatsoever of any repercussions that would arise afterwards.

I got caught up in the chaos that is my work and lost sight of the most important thing in my entire life; the one thing that I could never possibly think to lose…

You.

You are the most important thing in my life, Alexa Myers, and the one thing I could never live without.

At your command I would kill an entire army of men. I would burn down entire cities and go to war with the whole f*****g world if it meant pleasing you.

I would die for you, bella.

Now, I know that none of this makes up for what I did last night. I understand that I must live with my mistakes and take on the consequences one by one, as they come.

But the truth is, I need you, Alexa.

Last night’s sleep was the most terrible I have ever endured, just knowing that you were unhappy with me. Knowing that you were in pain because of me… it was truly unbearable.

I can only hope that at some stage you will feel ready enough to speak with me. So that I can give you all the love and admiration you deserve. So that I can make amends for my mistake.

And of course, to be the man I should have been from the start. A completely loyal, supportive and trusting partner to the most incredibly perfect woman I have ever met.

My heart hopes that I will hear from you soon.

I miss you, Alexa.

Yours forever and always amore mio,

Dante

-

Her breathing had become noticeably heavier as Alexa tried to resist the tears which were threatening to flood outwards.

There were so many emotions stirring within her right now, it was hard to control them all at once…

Anger.

Love.

Fear.

But the one that stood out most to her gave her no surprise as she suddenly began to smile, her warm salty tears glistening in the corners of her eyes as she lowered the note down to her lap and leaned her head back against the pillow with her eyes closed.

This note, this single handwritten note on a piece of paper was a far better gift than anything else Dante could have given her.

His heartfelt apology was something that Alexa never thought someone as powerful as Dante Romano would ever choose to give willingly.

Not to anyone!

But here it was, in plain black and white. Proof that Dante Romano wasn’t as cold and unfeeling as many had labelled him to be.

Proof of the guilt, sorrow and regret that he now felt for being unfaithful towards her.

And who was she kidding; every single second she forced herself to stay away from him was agonising torture for her also!

Opening her eyes and glancing across the room, Alexa made her decision within the matter of a brief moment.

She would go to him.

They would talk, straighten this s**t out and move on, like a strong and powerful couple ultimately would.

Because, deep down she loved the man.

Because she couldn’t stand being apart from him for any longer than absolutely necessary.

Tossing the blanket off her legs, she slid herself off the mattress and headed towards the bathroom to have a shower.

If she was going to find her fiancé and make amends, she needed to at least look the part.

And of course, seated at his desk and peering desperately at the screen of his laptop, Dante finally let out a long, heavy sigh of relief as he lowered his head and closed his eyes for a moment.

The letter had in fact worked as suggested.

Dante would have to thank Nicola for the last-minute suggestion a little later on. He made a mental note of that.

With the knowledge that Alexa would soon be finished in the bathroom and on a search to try and locate him, Dante reached for his phone and began dialling away.

-

Now clean and feeling much better, Alexa found herself a comfortable little halter neck yellow sun dress and a pair of white flats to wear when she went to go and see him...

Dante.

Alexa wanted to make sure that she looked incredible and took extra time and caution when doing her own make up.

She chose to style her hair in a long and loose braid over the left-hand side of her neck and it fell neatly in place.

After that she gathered up all her remaining courage and headed for the doorway leading out into the hallway.

It was time for her to face the man that she loved.

It was time that her voice was finally heard.

-

Dante stood alone in his office leaning up against the edge of his large oak desk when he heard the soft ‘knocking’ against his door and looked towards it.

“Come in.” he called out, trying not to make himself seem too desperate in his tone as he did so.

Dante knew who it was on the other side of the door.

He had been watching her the entire time from when she left the bedroom until when she finally located him in his office.

But obviously, he needed to hide that fact and act none the wiser.

The door opened with a soft ‘creak’ before the stunning beauty stepped inside in search of him.

And the moment that she sighted him, she felt herself beginning to question what she was doing all over again.

Her hurricane of emotions spiralled vigorously merely at the sight of him.

But it was his deep, smooth voice that brought her back down to Earth again.

“Bella…” he spoke with a strangely hesitant tone to his usually confident voice.

The Don’s hands were both clasped nervously together in front of him as he warily watched his fiancé hovering by the doorway, as if he feared that she would at any moment turn and leave once more.

Holding out his hand to gesture her further inside, he spoke.

“Please, come have a seat.”

Alexa remained still for a moment, her chocolate brown eyes darting between him and the chairs that he was gesturing towards.

Then she began to move further into the room, slowly, tentatively, as if testing the waters.

The two had never before been as nervous around one another. If anyone else were watching, it would look quite peculiar.

Finally reaching the seats where Dante was now standing, Alexa then sat herself down on one opposite him, taking care to iron out the creases in her bright day dress with both her hands as she sat in an awkward silence.

And Dante took notice of this immediately, seeing the distance she was still keeping between them.

She was clearly still unhappy with him.

With a soft sigh, he sat himself down on the chair opposite her with the intention of allowing her the space she apparently still needed from him.

The last thing he wanted was to anger her further.

Swallowing away some of the nerves, the Don began to speak once more.

“Uh... how did you sleep?”

“Fine…”

As Alexa gave her almost immediate reply with her timid-like voice, she refused to meet his eyes. An obvious tell that she was lying to him right now.

And Dante clued onto it right away.

Closing his eyes, he felt rather foolish for asking such a silly question. Of course she hadn’t had a good sleep, after staying up all night crying about his betrayal.

He suddenly wanted to punch himself in the face. How could he have been so careless to ask such a question?

Opening his eyes once more, he spoke with a deepened remorse.

“I’m sorry, that was a really stupid question to ask after… what happened…” he announced solemnly, his normally proud shoulders hunching over with guilt.

At long last, her eyes lifted upwards to meet his for the first time and as soon as their eyes met, Dante felt a warmth filling him; a feeling that he needed more than anything else right now.

A sense of hope.

“Don’t worry about it.” Alexa chose to speak now, shrugging off his question.

“How was your sleep?”

Dante couldn’t quite prevent the smirk that formed in the corner of his mouth as he lowered his head in surrender to her challenge.

“Horrible.” he responded honestly.

“And if I’m being completely honest, it was one of the worst nights of my entire life.”

Alexa, now able to meet his eyes, took that on board.

The fact that he was feeling regret and guilt was comforting, but it didn’t quite dull the pain of his betrayal.

It felt like an open wound, stinging and throbbing with a tedious ache. Something that Alexa never thought Dante of all people would allow her to feel.

Caught up in the moment, she had the sudden and desperate need to just come out and be completely open with him.

As she spoke, Dante lifted his head and squared his shoulders, while listening intently to her every word.

“Dante, I know you didn’t intend for me to get hurt when you did what you did with that woman...” she announced, a serious expression plastered across her pained face.

“And if you’re really serious about this… about a future for us-”

“-I am! Of course, I am!” he cut in, leaning forwards in an effort to get closer to her.

But Alexa raised her hand, cutting him off this time as she continued.

“-If you are serious, I need to feel like I can trust you again. Really trust you, you know?”

This time Dante pursed his lips together, fighting to prevent himself from cutting her off a second time with his promises.

Instead, he nodded his head to show his understanding.

And Alexa saw his restraint, admiring it.

“I love you Dante. I do, it's just that…”

Her comment had surprised him as Dante frowned with confusion.

What was she about to say?

Was this it?

The end of their relationship?

Was his beautiful Alexa about to break up with him?

His heart began to do somersaults, over and over within his ribcage as he sat watching her, praying for her to say something else… anything else.

After drawing it out for what she felt was long enough, Alexa continued to explain her feelings and thoughts.

“For this to work, I need you to be totally open with me about everything in our lives. I need one-hundred percent honesty from you from now on, no matter what. And that means no more hiding things from me.”

Without even realising that he had, and acting out of pure impulse, Dante suddenly leapt down onto the floor and crouched down on his knees before her, cupping both of her hands in his as he looked her in the eye.

“I would do anything for you, bella. Anything.” he assured her.

And there wasn’t a single shred of evidence in his tone that he had meant otherwise.

This man would gladly give his life for hers, without a second thought.

“If honesty is what you need, for me to be more open with you… then I will try to do that… for you, bella.” he agreed gently nodding his head.

“I will do whatever I must to protect you. You and our son. I'd do anything to keep the two of you safe, you know that right?”

As she sat there, staring deeply into his intoxicating emerald-green eyes, Alexa felt herself warming towards him. Towards the love and affection that he had for her. For their future family.

This incredibly powerful and highly dangerous man was now kneeling before her in his expensive Armani suit and cradling her hands in his as if she were the most important person in the entire world.

As her heart continued to thud heavily within her chest, she couldn’t fight the urgent need to feel his lips on hers. To taste them; to claim him as her own.

Her lips tingled at the thought of it.

And within the fraction of a second Alexa had leaned in towards Dante, crashing her lips up hard against his and igniting a passionate kiss between the two. One of pure desperation, primal need and loving apology.

It honestly shocked the Don whose eyes widened as soon as her softened lips met his.

But it didn't take long for him to melt into their sudden moment of intimacy.

And before either of them knew what was happening, the couple were soon grasping at one another, panting and moaning between relentless kisses.

Their lips only parted for a moment as Dante forced himself to stand before leaning down and picking Alexa up into his strong arms, cradling her lovingly.

And not once did he break eye contact with her while doing so… the woman of his dreams.

Not until she leaned her head in against his muscular chest, snuggling her face into his familiar scent as the Don stood proudly with his beautiful woman in his arms.

A large smile graced him as he began to walk her out of the office, one long stride at a time.

Alexa was back in Dante’s protective arms.

And he would do whatever it took to keep her there.

Where she belonged.