My Mafia Madness

Chapter 37 - Dealing with the Aftermath

Luca had escorted Alexa into a more secure room located deep within the safehouse mansion.

Dante had given strict orders that she be kept under heavy guard while being treated by their family physician for what appeared to be a mild case of shock.

In the meantime, the mafia men had gathered in Dante’s office, and were currently plotting to sort out their most recent and highly tragic situation.

While a dismembered hand didn’t necessarily mean that young Bruno was already dead, the other possibility was even more terrifying; that their enemies the Grecos had him.

The Grecos were sending the Romano’s a clear message.

One that Dante, as head of the Romano family understood loud and clear.

War had come to their household.

A war that the Romano’s themselves had initiated after decades of their families battling it out in the streets.

Countless lives had been lost in this terrible feud between two powerful mafia families and Dante was determined to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.

He would make sure to wipe out every single member of the Greco family, one by one.

And he had a plan.

-

Alexa hadn’t eaten a thing since her horrific find and her skin had become much paler with apparent dehydration and malnourishment.

She was being watched over by Luca, who was seated opposite her in one of the comfortable armchairs positioned beside the room’s electric fireplace.

He hadn’t left her side since it happened.

Alexa was seated right in front of the fireplace.

It wasn’t massively cold enough to need to use it at this time of the year, but Alexa had asked them to turn it on so that she could sit in front of the warmth of the flames, to feel some sort of comfort once more.

The shock had caused poor Alexa to feel unusually cold, and as per the physician who had come to check on her, the men needed to keep her as warm as possible in order to prevent the shock from progressing any further.

The terrified young woman had both her feet pulled in against her chest and a large thick black blanket draped over her entire body.

She sat in silence, with her head off to the side and resting against the headrest.

Dark stains remained below each of her eyes as she blinked slowly every now and then.

Her eyelids were becoming heavier and heavier.

It appeared that even waterproof mascara couldn’t protect itself from the several hours’ worth of crying she had done.

She couldn’t seem to make any sense of what had happened back there in her guest room. When she found the severed hand gifted to her in a beautifully decorated box.

The image of the bloody hand kept flashing before her eyes, causing her to scrunch her eyes closed and hold them that way until it finally vanished.

She felt sick.

Nauseous even.

Maybe that’s why Alexa had refused all the food and drinks she had been offered in the past couple of hours.

That and… still no sign of Dante.

She hated how he had left her, all alone and at her most vulnerable.

The Mafia Don had gone into full on Reaper mode, ordering Luca to ‘take good care of her’ and then disappearing off into the mansion, followed closely by his men.

She recalled the concrete expression he held as he turned away from her and marched off.

One moment things were lovely, and they were so close to one another, and the next he was an entirely different person, pushing her away.

Alexa wasn’t a fool; she knew Dante had only pushed her away because of their situation.

He would have to handle it himself.

He was after all, the boss.

But she wondered why they hadn’t called the police, to report their gruesome find.

The hand had to belong to someone!

Was that person dead?

She began to wonder why she had been sent such a grotesque gift I the first place.

It had to be meant for her, it was in her guest room, on her bed!

But what had she done to warrant such unspeakable behaviour from someone?

Yet another stray tear rolled down her salt-covered cheek and she sniffed softly.

Luca was worried. Worried about what something like this would do to someone like her.

Alexa was as pure and innocent as they came. Sure, she could talk the talk, but she wasn’t a part of their world at all.

The poor woman had no idea of what she had gotten herself into, the moment she signed those papers and became Dante’s personal assistant.

Luca suddenly stirred at the sound of voices coming from outside of the door.

Cautiously, he frowned, his hand reaching down and unholstering his glock.

His eyes were locked on the doorway as he slowly went to stand in silence.

He watched as the door opened and in came Dante.

Luca let out a small sigh of relief at the sight of his Don and quickly clipped his glock back into its holster, then flicking his jacket back over it.

Dante crossed the room, meeting Luca halfway. The two spoke with whispered voices as Luca went on to update the boss of just how Alexa was doing.

“How is she?” Dante asked him.

“Not good boss.” Luca admitted honestly, shaking his head.

“She’s refusing to eat or drink anything. Drifts off every now and then, only to wake in a panic… Honestly, I’m kinda worried about her.”

Dante nodded his head, his eyes locked onto the back of her chair as he took this unfortunate information in.

This was not the way he wanted Alexa to learn the truth about his dark world, that was for sure!

But now he had little choice in the matter.

She knew enough, and surely, she would have questions for him.

But would they be answers that he could give her?

Thanking Luca for watching over her, Dante sent him off to take the rest of the night off and watched as his henchman exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Now they were alone.

Dante was unsure of how he should approach such a highly sensitive matter.

He stood with his hands buried in his jacket pocket for a moment before an idea suddenly crossed his mind.

He darted off towards the ensuite.

-

The flames were somewhat hypnotic for her as Alexa felt herself slipping into yet another nap.

But she continued to fight it, being far too afraid of waking up in another panic, as she had several times now in the past hour alone.

Her exhaustion had prevented her from hearing Dante come in or their conversation before Luca had left.

She was completely oblivious to what was going on around her right now.

That was until she felt a warm hand wrapping itself around hers.

She turned her head to the side and met his gaze.

His expression showed apparent concern for her, but also a powerful promise in his eyes alone.

One that told her he would protect her, no matter what.

“I hear you’re not eating or drinking anything.” he spoke softly to her with his hand squeezing hers.

Her eyes lowered with guilt as she replied in barely a whisper.

“I’m not hungry.”

He let out a soft sigh before releasing her hand and cupping her on either side of her head, staring right into her eyes, now an unusually darker shade of brown.

As he spoke his next words to her, they came from the very depths of his heart and soul.

From a place he didn’t usually allow to shine through to others.

But with Alexa, it was different…

“I am so sorry, bella.” (beautiful)

She could hear the inner turmoil lacing each of his spoken words.

He clearly hated what this whole situation had done to her and wished he could do something to take it back.

She lifted her hand up to rest against the side of his face for a moment.

No words were shared between them, they didn’t need to speak.

With her simple gesture, Alexa was showing Dante that she had, in some way, shape or form, accepted him.

Dante came up from his kneeling position and pressed his forehead up against hers as he spoke again.

The honesty continued to pour out of his heart at such a rapid rate.

For some reason, she had this sort of an effect on him.

“I am not a good man, bella. (beautiful) I have done some terrible things in the past and I can never forgive myself for doing such things…”

He paused before continuing.

“I can’t promise that things like this will never happen to you again. My world is dangerous, unforgiving…”

He pulled back slowly, watching as Alexa opened her now tear-filled eyes, staring directly into his once again as she waited for him to continue.

“But I can promise you that I will do everything within my power to protect you. To keep you safe.”

He took her hand in his once more, comforting her with merely his touch.

“And I know you will have countless questions for me… of course, I will answer them for you as best I can…”

He squeezed her hand, “…but only when you are ready.”

Alexa took a long breath in before exhaling through her now open mouth.

She was finding comfort and strength in their apparent connection.

Sure, this man was clearly into some shady s**t. And she had no idea of just how deep she too was buried in it as well now.

But it didn’t change the way she felt about Dante.

Not even for a second!

“Come on, I’ve run a bath for you.” Dante announced.

Alexa watched as he went to stand up beside her, before reaching down and effortlessly scooping her up bridal style in his strong arms.

The blanket that had been covering her fell down to the ground as he began walking across the room with Alexa in his arms, towards the ensuite.

-

The large white porcelain bathtub was almost full by now.

The warm water was now covered in a thick layer of bubbles as thick steam rose up from the water’s surface.

It certainly looked alluring!

Dante helped Alexa out of her clothing, one piece at a time, and discarding it off to the side until she was standing bare naked before him.

He helped her step into the bathtub, allowing her to slowly sit and submerge herself into the warm water and scented bubbles.

They smelled of vanilla, she thought, but she couldn’t be sure.

Her mind was a big mess right now.

As she relaxed, into the warmth of the water, Alexa couldn’t help but notice as Dante remained knelt down beside her, his tattooed hand gently brushing at the bubbles as he sat clearly deep in thought.

She took closer notice of the inked images on his hand as his large fingers moved slowly beside her.

He had a fancy inscription written in calligraphy writing across the back of his hand and she read the words aloud to herself.

“Guida con amore…”

She lifted her gaze to meet his.

“What does it mean?”

“It’s Italian. It means Lead with love.” he replied softly, shrugging.

“I guess it’s a motto I like to follow.”

Alexa couldn’t help the warming feeling growing for this man within her heart upon hearing this.

This clearly dangerous man.

“I like it.” she admitted, holding her hand up for him to take as she asked him another question.

“Will you join me?”

His smile was brilliant, revealing two perfect rows of white teeth hidden away until now. This was a real smile, genuine and dazzling.

“Of course.”

He stood up, shuffling his jacket off and throwing it to the floor.

Alexa watched as he stripped down, one piece of clothing at a time, until he too was standing naked beside the bathtub.

Alexa moved forwards, allowing him to climb in behind her.

Once he was seated, submerged by the water, his arms reached out and pulled her in against him.

With him spooning her, the two enjoyed their time relaxing with one another in the warming comfort of the scented bath.

For this moment alone, they were safe in each other's arms.