Dangerously In Love

Chapter Nine

Maria

I woke up to by a loud banging on my door. I got up, wrapped myself in a blanket, and opened my door. Paolo was standing there with a face as pale as if he'd seen a ghost. "Ria, something's happened to your mother." I fell to my knees and saw Anna in Belle's arms sobbing and screaming for mama.

"What..what happened?" I held back tears as Belle brought Anna to me. I held her close as she cried and stroked her hair.

"She was killed. Your father came back to the estate to find that the guards had been killed and so had your mother. He's positive it was the Russians because he had gotten intel that they were going to take one of his clubs on the upper east side by the river and they showed up ready for a fight but no one showed. He thinks it was a distraction to draw him away from your mother." Paolo sat on the floor next to me and held me in his arms. He was an amazing friend and an even better man. Belle would be happy with him one day.

"What's father planning as a retaliation?" I felt heartbroken and thought of Niko. Did he order the hit on my mother? Did he know that it was my mother? He had felt terrible about what he had done two years earlier and said he never knew that he was potentially hurting my mother and sister.

"He hasn't said. He's locked himself away and hasn't spoken to anyone or given any orders other than to leave him alone and for Xavier to plan your mother's funeral and to tell you to call your brother Pierre." He hugged me tight.

"I'll call him in a few minutes." I hugged Anna tight. She finally stopped crying and looked up at me with sad eyes.

"Mama gone?" I started to cry as soon she spoke. I didn't know what to tell her. 

"Your mama is in heaven, piccolo. She is with God and in a much better place. She doesn't feel sick and isn't hurting anymore, amore." Paolo spoke for me and I was so very grateful that he had the words to say what I couldn't. Anna put her arms around my neck and hugged me tight.

"Ria hurts." She said as she hugged me.

"Yes, piccolo. Ria hurts very much." Belle joined us on the floor and wiped my tears away as she responded to Anna. She looked at me, "I called Pierre for you. He'll be here in a few hours. He was already in route from Rome to Seattle. He said he's cancelled the rest of plans for the next month."

"Thank you, Belle." I moved to stand up and Paolo helped me as I held Anna close to me. Marco came in the door. He had healed and was about doing father's dirty work so he was probably in the neighborhood. He came up to me and kissed my forehead and took Anna from me, holding her tightly in one arm as he took me in the other arm.

"I came as soon as I heard. I'm so sorry, il mio amore. I wish I could take away your pain." He kissed my forehead again.

I nodded, "How is my father doing?"

"He's not doing very well. They took away his heart and soul by doing what they did." He was filtering for Anna's sake.

"I need to get dressed and call Xavier. We all need to be together when Pierre gets here." I took Anna from Marco and went to my room, locking the door behind us. I laid her in my bed. She didn't fight it. She curled up into my pillow as I laid the blanket I had wrapped around me on her. She closed her eyes and I kissed her forehead. I picked up my phone and texted Xavier to come here as soon as he could. I walked into my closet and grabbed a black lace long sleeve dress and a pair of black Louboutin's. I laid them on the bed and I went to shower. 

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I got dressed after putting on my makeup and straightening my hair. I woke Anna up and took her to her room to get dressed. Belle came in and curled Anna's hair. I picked out a long sleeve black sweater dress for her and some black sparkly flats. After Belle finished curling Anna's hair I got her dressed and put a black bow in the back of her hair, pulling the curls out of her face. She hated when her hair was in her face.

"Comfy, baby girl?" I asked her as I kissed her forehead. She nodded yes and I picked her up and she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. Belle and I walked into the kitchen. "Are you excited to see Pierre?" I asked Anna softly. She didn't answer and I looked at Belle.

"She's asleep. We should leave now, he'll be arriving at the airport in about forty-five minutes." She was wearing a knee length sleek black dress that was sleeveless matched with a pair of black boots. She hated wearing heels unless it was to a party. Both Louis and Paolo were wearing suits. I looked around for Marco.

"Where's Marco?" I quietly asked Paolo.

"He got called away to deal with some club checks and business." He sighed and shook his head. I knew exactly what he was thinking. We were both thinking that same thing: he should have delegated and come to support me and my family. I made a mental note to yell at him for it later tonight. We all made our way downstairs and Xavier had pulled up right as we made it to the cars in the parking garage. 

He parked his car walked over to us. He pulled Anna and I into his arms and held us there for a few minutes. "Let's get moving." He whispered and kissed my forehead. We got into the two black Chevy Tahoe's. Anna, Xavier, myself in the first with Louis driving. Belle, the other two guards that came with Xavier were in the other car with Paolo driving. We got on the road to the airport. It would take about forty-five minutes to get there. Pierre should be landing in the next ten minutes.

My eldest brother walked out of the mafia life when he told father that he wanted to go to college. My father had allowed it knowing that he had Xavier to fall back on when he was gone. Pierre studied biology at NYU and then went off to medical school at John Hopkins. He was a trauma surgeon and decided that he wanted to move to Italy. He got an amazing job offer there after medical school. He was very wealthy and decided to go back and get a degree to become a plastic surgeon too. He bought his own private jet, a villa in Tuscany, a country house in France, and a mansion in Seattle. He was very successful and my father was very proud of him but would never say it.

My brother had the normal life that I craved but being a girl I had no way to escape so I gave up dreaming of college and a normal life. I accepted that this was my path in life and I would follow it wherever it went. 

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We were on our way back to the condo after picking up Pierre. Belle and Xavier traded spots in the cars so that Pierre and Xavier could catch up. They were joined at the hip when we were all younger. We may be the Italian mafia but our family dynamic was just like everyone else's. Our family came first over everything. Family first was apparently not something that Marco agreed on. Anna was watching a movie on my ipad with her headphones in so I knew she wouldn't hear Belle and I's conversation. 

"Xavier got a call from father on the way to the airport. He cremated mama and we're having the ceremony tonight. Immediate family only and then in a couple of weeks we'll have a huge ceremony. Pierre is staying for a couple of months. I also really need to talk to you when we get back to the condo." I whispered as my phone buzzed three or four times.

"Who's blowing up your phone, Ria?" She questioned. I looked at it and his name popped up: Niko. Now was not a good time. "Is that the guy from the party?" She whispered.

"Yes." I whispered coldly.

"Why are you ignoring him?"

"I'll tell you when we get back." As I said that we pulled into the parking garage. We got back to the condo and father was there when we walked in the door. He was sitting on the couch in an all black suit. He stood up and turned around as we approached him.

"Girls, go upstairs to the library or something." My father spoke quietly but it was an order. Anna didn't listen but instead she ran to father and he picked her up. She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.

"Mama would want us happy. She's not hurting. I loves you papa." He hugged her tightly and held her close.

"Go with Maria and Isabelle, piccolo amore." He kissed her hair and set her on the ground. She ran over to me and we walked upstairs to the library as father ordered. I locked the door behind us.

"Now, what did you need to tell me?" Belle put a hand on her hip as she sat on the couch. I sat next to her as Anna went to her little book corner and started to read.

"Niko and I had sex." I whispered.

"What? You waited a month and half to tell me that?!" She tried to keep her voice down. Anna shushed her and we chuckled. 

"That's not all..." I trailed off.

"Tell me everything!" 

"That wasn't just any party. Did you know that the Demitry Elana is seeing is Demitry Romanov?"

"No!" She gasped.

"Niko is a nickname. His full name is Nikolay Alexander Romanov. I slept with the Russian mafia boss, Belle." Her eyes got big.

"Are you kidding me? You're lying. You couldn't have!"

"There's more..."

"You haven't been seeing him in secret have you?" She grabbed my wrists.

"No. It's worse than that."

"What could be worse than that? Marco found out that you slept with someone?"

"No..."

"Then what is it, Ria?!" She started to freak out.

I lowered my head as tears formed in my eyes, "I'm pregnant with his child."

Belle gripped my wrists tightly, "You are royally screwed, Ria. What if Marco finds out? What if your father finds out? Ria, you have to get rid of the baby or get Marco to sleep with you and then tell him your pregnant with his kid. Those are your only choices." My phone started buzzing. I looked at the screen, it was a text from Paolo.

Your father found out who killed your mother. There was a leak of intel from our side. He said that it's someone close to him. 

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Later that night, we had a small ceremony at the main estate with the immediate family. Our priest officiated the service and we placed mama's urn in her library above the fireplace. Her urn was gold with black inscriptions etched around the top with flowers etched in around the middle and bottom. Her favorite flowers...lilies and roses. 

We had a meal as a family. My grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, my siblings, my father, and I all sat around a large table in the dinning room as the maids and butlers served food. We had all of mama's favorites. Caprese Salad, followed by Minestrone, for the main course we had Chicken alla Boscaiola,  and for desert we had Panna Cotta with chocolate almond biscotti. 

We finished the meal and I escaped to mama's library with Belle and Paolo. I hadn't played the violin since mama had gotten sick. My father stopped me as I closed the door, "Where is Marco, Maria?" 

"I asked him earlier and all I got was what he told Paolo. He got called away for club checks and family business."

"What're you talking about? I didn't send him on any business. I told him that he needed to be with you. Where is he?"

"I don't know father. When you find him tell him not to bother speaking to me until he learns respect for our family." He looked at me shocked.

"You have your mother's strength."

"I got my ferocity from my father. He taught me that family comes first above everything." I half smiled at him and he pulled me into his arms.

"I love you, Maria Anna. No matter what, mia figlia forte." He kissed my forehead and smiled.

"I'm going to start playing violin again, would you like to listen?" I offered quietly, not trying to push our moment away.

"I'd like to, figlia, but I'm going to track down Marco and make sure he understands that this has been his last strike against you and the family. If it happens again then I'll kill him myself." He winked at me and smiled. I gave him another quick hug and went into the library, shutting the door. 

I smiled and walked over to where my mama kept her violin and picked it up. I began to play the first song she ever taught me...Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.