The Mafia Boss: His Rebellious Little Bride

CHAPTER FIVE

‘What’d y’all you think of this????’……

Madeline lazily tapped on the picture Madison had sent to the group chat; an emo outfit, something she was entirely uninterested in.

‘You in?’. Had been Alison’s reply.

‘Yup’.

‘Whoa! I’m so in!!!!’. Roxy had replied soon enough.

And then nothing more had been said. Madeline tossed her phone aside, that had been last night’s chat, she hadn’t been a part of it because she had been upset about how the night had turned out. She had rushed into her room, climbed into bed and had fallen asleep feeling like s**t. Her mood was no different now, she was still upset, but who was she upset with? Herself? Alvise?

It was easy to be upset with herself, it was easy to despise herself for everything, it was how she had been for a long time now, but right now, at this very moment, she didn’t want to despise herself, she didn’t want to blame herself for anything, she wanted to be understood, and she was upset that he hadn’t understood her, that he had reacted the way he had.

But what if she had overreacted?

She pushed the thought aside; she was done harboring and entertaining such thoughts. All set and ready to head out, she stood up, grabbed her backpack and picked up her phone before heading for the door, she had barely gotten to it when a knock sounded. she opened the door to find a bodyguard standing there, and for a moment her heart sank as she thought Alvise had once again assigned bodyguards to her.

“Good morning Miss. The Boss wishes to have breakfast with you”. He said to her.

And a small breath of relief left her, she couldn’t imagine living like that again, she couldn’t imagine being restricted and watched closely, she couldn’t imagine having to take bodyguards to school, she almost shuddered on thinking about it. She nodded once before saying:

“I’ll be there shortly”.

Saying nothing more, the guard turned around and walked away. She dragged in a deep breath before stepping out of the room and heading to the dinning hall, it was time to start the day.

~~

“Miss”. The guards greeted as they opened the door for her.

She managed a stiff smile as she made her way into the hall. And as she made her way to the table she couldn’t help but marvel on how much things had changed, she couldn’t help but recall how nervous and unsettled she had been the first time she had been here.

Alvise was seated in his usual spot at the head of the table, dressed in a regal black suit which fitted him perfectly. He sat languidly with his legs crossed at the knees and his elbow rested on the armrest of the chair. His penetrating gaze watched her with every step she took forward, watched her as though he sort to drink her in everything about her.

“Good morning”. She grumbled on getting to the table.

“Good morning, Madeline”. He responded. “I thought you weren’t going to be available for breakfast”.

“You didn’t want me to be?”. She asked him.

A faint smirk curved his lips and he gestured for her to take her sit, she did. She set her backpack on the floor beside her seat before settling down fully.

“You’re still like this?”. He asked her.

He had somehow expected that she would have snapped out of her wretched mood, that she would come to breakfast and they’d sort things out rather quickly.

“Can we….not talk about it?”. She said quietly.

“No, on the contrary, I was hoping we could talk about it”. He said to her. “I don’t like being like this with you”.

He cared about her too much to remain mad at her, and he cared about her too much to have her be mad at him.

“What’s there to talk about? I said I was sorry, it was you who chose not to let things go”. She said quietly.

He let out a breath while nodding. Perhaps he had overreacted, perhaps he had been too hard on her, perhaps his….issues were kicking in again. He reached out, picked up the glass of water in front of him and took a small sip.

“I apologize for upsetting you”. He said to her.

Her gaze flickered to his.

“Do you mean it?”. She asked him.

Like her, he had apologized, yet he didn’t seem apologetic at all. She knew how it felt now and to say she didn’t appreciate it would be an understatement.

“I value you more than anything else, I mean it, and I want to put this behind us”. He said to her.

She cleared her throat quietly but said nothing.

“Come on, Madeline, talk to me, what’s on your mind?”. He said as he set the glass down.

“I…I wasn’t happy with how you reacted yesterday. I thought…you’d be more understanding”. She said.

Oh, he had been understanding, and it was for that reason he hadn’t once again assigned bodyguards to her, it was for that reason he had decided to apologize to her, to sort this out.

“Just how understanding, Madeline?”. He asked her. “You didn’t exactly expect me to be calm and chill with a defenseless girl like you staying out so late, did you?”.

“It’s not just that”. She said. “And besides, what are you so worried about? You said you owned the town, I’m safe in it”.

He shook his head.

“Don’t be silly, I can protect you better when I know where you are. I can be more understanding when I’m certain you’re safe and sound”. He said to her.

He was getting slightly irritated. With her, he very well couldn’t help it; understandably so, because she was literally the most important person in his life, and when she was being like this it was hard for him to be the calm and controlled person he usually was.

“I was safe; I was at a friend’s”. She said almost exasperatedly.

“Yes, a friend I know nothing about, and you weren’t picking up my calls or returning my messages. Madeline, do you truly not understand that I am being like this because I care about you? I want you to be alright, always, and if you don’t understand that till now then I must say that I am beyond disappointed”.

His words hit her unexpectedly. She suddenly felt like some insolent kid being reprimanded for stepping out of line, and though she hated it she knew she could do nothing about it, he was right, he always was. She averted her gaze from his and sank into her seat.

“People stay out late all the time. Yes; I know you’re thinking that. But you are not them, Madeline, you’re inexperienced in the ways of the world, you’re just getting to know people”. He said to her. “We both know this, and you know that even you would have reacted the way I did were you in my shoes”.

She felt tears sting the back of her eyes, the fact that he was right made her feel bad, and she truly hated the feeling. She just wanted to not have to be in the wrong always; she just wanted to be….normal.

“I survived most of my life alone; believe it or not, I’m more experienced than you think”. She said quietly.

He said nothing, just stared at her, knowing she was truly inexperienced in the ways of the world, knowing she needed all the protection she could get. But he didn’t point that out; he didn’t want to make her feel worse than she obviously felt at the moment.

“I’m going to be late, I’ll head out now”. She said.

“Have breakfast first”. He said to her, “Please”.

She shook her head. She picked up her backpack and got on her feet.

“I won’t drop dead if I skip a meal; I’m not as fragile as you think I am”. She said to him.

And with that, she turned around and began walking away. And for a moment he did nothing, just sat there staring at where she had been, and as much as he cared about her and her feelings, he very well couldn’t sit back and watch her insolence grow, and watch her twist his motives to make him seem like the villain.

One moment he was seated there, and the next he was on his feet stalking towards her. She gasped as he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him, and before she could fully process what was happening, he crashed his lips onto hers in a possessive and punishing kiss.