His Chosen Mafia Queen

Chapter 7

Sophia’s POV

Here I am looking at the man who left me 10 years

ago without a trace. No call, no text, no letter, no

email, not even a postcard or dm on social media;

through my doorbell camera. His face looks the

same, only more mature. His hair is short but long

enough to run fingers through. He’s wearing a fitted

henley so I can see that he’s more muscular than I

remember him. He’s wearing jeans and a pair of

sneakers. This must be what his sense of dressing

casually looks like now. Years ago, his style was a T-

shirt and jeans with sneakers or a pair of joggers, a

T-shirt and sneakers. Although I’m mad at him, I

can’t help but admire how good he looks. Some

men can’t look equally as good when dressed

casually compared to a suit, but he definitely

does…..ugh, now I’m mad at myself for thinking he

looks good, he doesn’t deserve my compliments

even if they are just thoughts in my head.

I open the door quickly as I see him raise his finger

to the doorbell: “What do you want?”“Okay, I deserve your irritated tone, but damn; no

good morning?”

After rolling my eyes at his attempt to get a nice

greeting, I look at the Starbucks in his hand: “Is that

for me?”

He smiles at my change in tone as I look at my

favorite Starbucks drink: “Yes, it is, but only if I

could get a good morning first.”

I roll my eyes again, then sigh: “Fine, good

morning,” I state while grabbing a drink, then

stepping aside for Valentino to enter my apartment.

He smiles and enters slowly, then I lock the door

behind him: “I would offer you a tour, but I’m sure

you already know what the apartments look like

since this is your building,” I state sarcastically while

gesturing for him to go into the living room.

“Here, I also got you a slice of banana nut bread.”

“You can’t buy my forgiveness with Starbucks…but

thank you anyway for the food.”

“I know I can’t, and I wouldn’t try to buy your

forgiveness. I know I hurt you, and you feel betrayedand abandoned by me. I’m truly sorry for how

everything happened. I tried to stay, I wanted to

stay, but…I….I couldn’t……Can I sit down so we

can talk?”

“Yes, go ahead,” I gesture to the sofa while I sit

down sideways next to him.

“Thank you…Where to start? He asks more to

himself than to me.

“How about you start eating your food as well, so

I’m not eating alone, and start at the beginning, aka

why you left the way you did?” I state while taking

his sandwich out of the bag and putting a straw in

his drink, which causes him to chuckle a little.

“You changed throughout the years,” he states

matter-of-factly before drinking some of his frappe.

“I kind of had to, I’ve been through a lot throughout

the years.”

“I know you have, Sophia.”

“What do you mean you know? You weren’t even

around.”He lets out a sigh: “There’s so much you don’t

know.”

“Well then, enlighten me, isn’t that why you’re here

on my sofa?”

“Okay, but promise me you won’t storm out,

Sophia.”

I scoff: “I honestly don’t have to promise you

anything, and of course, I won’t storm out, this is

my apartment, remember?”

“Fair enough, but I’m not walking out on you again,

even if you asked me to.”

“Can you just tell me what happened 10 years

ago…sheesh.”

“You’re being a bit pushy, but okay, I’ll tell you….I

know you knew my family had respect from

everyone, but you never knew why….My…my

grandfather’s father was a Mafia king, and we were

living in that town because my father wanted to give

me a normal life. When my father had to suddenly

take over, we had to move quickly. I wanted to

stay…I tried to stay, but my father told me wewouldn’t be safe if I stood behind…I had to make

the very hard choice to leave that day, but your

safety meant more to me than you ever knew, and I

couldn’t risk you being in danger because you were,

and are affiliated with my family…..I had plans, we

had plans, and they all went to s**t that day….I

know you were hurting, I know you looked for me,

and when you stopped, I know the jerks you dated

and the things you went through…I’m sorry, and I

hope you can forgive me or at least let me be in

your life again with your knowledge.”

“Ummm, your dad was nice, but I always thought

there was something he was hiding, but I paid no

mind to it….that explains why your house looked

the way it did when I went there after graduation…I

watch mafia movies. I understand sometimes close

friends and family can become collateral damage,

but I thought we were connected enough to be in

the know, instead of being made to think you

vanished off the face of the earth…it was my

decision to make; concerning taking the risk to have

you in my life…speaking of that, what do you mean

you knew about everything I went through and

having you in my life without my knowledge?…were

you close enough to stalk me but yet didn’t want

me to know?…do you have any idea how much youbeing gone hurt me?” I state the last part while

wiping a tear off my cheek.

“I know I hurt you, Sophia, and I’m sorry I caused

you that pain….I wish things happened differently,

but there’s nothing that could be done to change

our past…every time I saw you hurting, I wanted to

run to you and be in your life again, but I couldn’t

risk putting you in danger by revealing myself to

you.”

“Then why now? Why not leave me oblivious to your

existence? You were doing it so well for 10 years,

and I was able to store my feelings away and move

on with my life.”

“I had no choice, Sophia….believe me, I wanted this

to go differently and when things were safe…

Unfortunately, that’s not the case, but I’ll make sure

you stay safe.”

“Who?”

“Who what?”

“Whose after me because you’re the god damn

mafia king now?”“I don’t know yet.”

“How do you know I’m in danger if you don’t even

know who's after me?!”

“We received a letter. I won’t let anything happen to

you.”

“How do you plan to keep me safe?….body guards

following me around and bringing attention to me

and my business? I worked hard for the life that I

have, and here you are causing it to become fucked

up once again.”

“Soph, don’t say that, I never meant to f**k up your

life….I just want to keep you safe.”

“Safe would have been leaving me alone.”

“We both know that’s not true, you always meant

the world to me, even before taking over the mafia,

and I planned to do something about it after

graduation, but life had other plans…..I love you,

Sophia, I’ve always have.”

His words catch me off guard, and an awkward

silence fills the room for what feels like eternity, until

he clears his throat softly.“Look, Sophia, you-“

I cut him off: “no…don’t say anything else….I….I

can’t talk about this anymore. Thank you for the

breakfast, but you gotta go…this is all too much

right now.”

He hangs his head defeatedly, then quietly gathers

his garbage, a cup, and stands up while letting out a

small sigh, then approaches the door while I follow

behind him. Before he opens the door, he stops,

and without turning, he states quietly:

“Soph, I wasn’t lying. I have always loved you, and I

always wanted to be with you. You may not feel the

same way, you may hate me now, and I don't blame

you if you do, but that won’t change how I felt or

how I still feel about you.”

Then he opens the door and leaves without another

word.