My Mafia Madness 2

Chapter 35 - The Apology

There was absolutely no question in his mind whatsoever.

Dante was deeply in love with Alexa.

He had never been more certain of anything else in his entire life and right now, he fully intended on proving it to her.

To win back his woman and convince her not to leave as he had just learned she had secretly planned to.

Dante needed to make things right.

No matter the cost.

After his most recent conversation with his brother Roberto, the youthful Mafia Don made his way through the maze of castle hallways, walking along at a rather brisk pace towards Alexa’s guest room where he had last seen her.

His anxiety had heightened substantially by now as he felt his icy heart pounding over and over again like a giant drum.

It felt louder and louder with each passing ‘thud’ that sounded in his head.

Rounding the final corner, the normally confident Don suddenly came face to face with his last obstacle; the wooden door separating him from the beautiful woman he cared so much about.

In this sudden moment, he found it quite strange… strange that he as head of the Romano Family had never really taken the time to notice the smaller details in life.

The sights… the smells…

Things like the unique design and calming colour of this particular door he now stood before.

The wood was painted in an off-white eggshell colour, with beautifully intricate carvings running along the outer rim on all four sides.

Clearly a lot of care and craftsmanship had gone into the making of this one particular door, and yet right now Dante had no idea whatsoever as to why he seemed so entirely focused on it.

Perhaps it was his heightened nerves…

Perhaps he was merely procrastinating having to talk to Alexa after the way he had left things between them.

Shaking the confusion from his head, Dante reached out his hand with the intention of opening the door but paused with it hovering over the handle.

The sound of sweet Alexa’s pained sobs coming from the other side of it had caused him to freeze in place.

The mighty Reaper’s heart broke in two at the saddened sounds coming from inside.

Alexa… his beautiful, kind, caring woman was crying…

And it was because of him.

Because of how he had reacted to the news of her impending pregnancy.

The Don’s heavy feeling of guilt grew with each passing moment and just when he thought he could no longer handle such a horrible burden, Dante felt his hand grasp the handle of the door, turn it and then push it open.

It was as if his body was on automatic pilot and steering itself along without his say so.

As soon as she had heard the door opening, Alexa immediately forced herself to cease her tears, instead choosing to turn her head away from him and look in the opposite direction at the window off to the side of the room.

She couldn’t bear to look at Dante right now.

Alexa was furious with him. She hurt deeply.

It was bad enough that she was confined to her room on strict bedrest due to the knife wound she had sustained in her suspected mugging.

But now she would also be forced to confront the man who had just broken her heart for a second time in a single night.

It had to be some kind of a record, she cruelly thought to herself in silence.

And of course, thanks to her newest pregnancy hormones which seemed to have taken over all logical thoughts of how she should think or act in a moment such as this, Alexa was seriously contemplating taking all of her anger out on him right here and now.

Really letting him have it.

She suddenly had the strongest urge to get out of bed, march right over towards him and punch him right in his extremely handsome face for how he had treated her.

God, how she wanted to…

But the truth was deep down, Alexa wasn’t that kind of person.

It just wasn’t in her.

Dante in the meantime had noticed that Alexa was purposefully avoiding him, and he realised that apologising to her might be a lot harder than he had initially thought.

Alexa wouldn’t even spare him a single glance.

Sighing softly, he took one step after the other slowly closing the gap between him and his woman as he tried to catch her gaze, even if only for a moment.

Willow, who was standing on the other side of Alexa’s bed had also noticed that Dante was approaching Alexa and she saw this as her cue to leave them alone for a chat for a bit.

And perhaps, the chance to make up…

To finally celebrate their sudden gifted miracle pregnancy… after all, they would soon be parents together.

“I’ll be right outside, girl.” Willow reminded her friend.

Alexa nodded in silence.

Giving Alexa’s hand a reassuring squeeze and a smile, Willow walked around the bed and made her way out of the room, closing the door softly behind her and giving the couple privacy for what would come next.

The room instantly fell into an awkwardly deafening silence for around a full minute or so, as both Dante and Alexa stubbornly refused to say anything to one another.

Eventually, Dante decided to man up and speak his mind.

“Alexa… I’m… I’m sorry…” his voice was softer than it usually was. Perhaps vulnerable even.

“The way I reacted… it wasn’t at all fair to you, and I want to apologise.”

Although she kept her head turned away from him, Alexa lowered her eyes down to the floor as she contemplated what he had just openly confessed to her.

Was Dante finally opening up to her?

The mighty Reaper, the most feared Mafia Boss in all of New York City had just apologised.

And to a nobody like her, no less.

Alexa needed to make sure that she wasn’t just dreaming up such a miraculous occurrence in her mind. Making it all up…

Reaching her hand across, she lightly pinched at her opposite arm, causing her to groan with discomfort at the sudden sting. She frowned.

At least the pain felt real enough.

Noticing her frown, Dante too frowned as he asked his next question.

“Uh, what was that? Are you alright?”

Still with her face pointed away from him, Alexa willingly answered his question.

“Just making sure I’m not dreaming right now...” she explained, hesitantly turning to meet his concerned gaze.

“I mean come on, Dante. Have you ever apologised to anyone?”

Dante smirked as his emerald eyes sparkled mischievously.

“Don’t worry, I won’t make it a habit.”

From where he stood, Dante could see the outline of a faint smile curving the corner of Alexa’s mouth upwards, though she tried to hide it from him.

Taking this moment to continue with his apology, the Don stepped in even closer towards the edge of the bed she now lay on as he spoke.

“The truth was…”

He paused, taking the time he needed to gather up enough courage for what he was about to admit aloud.

Something he never thought he would openly admit.

“I was... afraid...”

Alexa furrowed her brows after hearing this come from his own mouth. She couldn’t believe it!

“You? Afraid?” she questioned in disbelief with a frown.

Pursing his lips together, Dante nodded his head, coming to sit down on the edge of the bed beside her as he went on to explain.

“Becoming a father… it’s not something I ever honestly considered until now, given the level of danger I surround myself with on a day-to-day basis. That and my father…”

“You father?” she queried.

“What about him?”

“My father was a heartless man, bella... If I’m completely honest, he still is.” Dante explained.

“He raised my brothers and I to value respect above everything else; to fear his apparent power over us. And like the fools we were at the time, we did exactly that; we feared him.”

“That’s a horrible way to treat your own children.” Alexa spoke up, clearly disturbed by what he had just told her.

“I can’t believe he did that to the three of you!”

Dante lowered his eyes to his hands as he went on.

“It wasn’t until I was much older that I realised the truth he hid behind for all those years. Like the true coward he was…”

“What truth?” she questioned, hanging on his every word.

Dante’s eyes lifted to meet hers once more.

“That he never had any power over us… we feared him for all those years, and for nothing. The day I challenged him I left the family Castello and moved over to America to start a new life for myself. One free of his rule and power over my choices. My life became my own again, and I’ve never looked back since.”

Alexa took a moment to allow it all to sink in.

Dante had run away from his family home and made a life for himself, all on his own!

“So… how did you become Don then? I thought your father was head of the family, and since he’s clearly not dead, how did the title pass onto you?” she queried wisely.

“Correct, he was our Don, and for many years mind you…” Dante admitted.

“My leaving really caused some problems back home, especially for my father. At the time, he really relied on me, as his eldest son and closest confidant, to help him run the family business which of course also included Romano Enterprises. Back then the company only existed in Italy.”

As Dante took a moment in silence, Alexa sensed his anxiety and reached out her hand, placing it on top of his and squeezing to reassure him.

And it worked; he went on to explain.

“A year after I left, my father had a total mental breakdown and was labelled unfit for the role as head of the family. As the next in line, I unwillingly assumed both roles as Mafia Don and CEO of Romano Enterprises, along with the countless responsibilities that came along with them. I never even got a choice in the matter.”

“You didn’t?” she asked softly.

“That’s… gotta be rough.”

He scoffed, chewing the inside of his mouth as he looked down at her hand on his.

“My whole life has been nothing but darkness… of merciless expectations and burdening responsibilities…”

He lifted his eyes, now filled with tears as he fought to hold back his surging emotions.

The expression on his face showed just how hard he was fighting against his inner demons as they threatened to crawl to the surface.

“I’m afraid, Alexa… afraid for my children. Of exposing them to such a dark and sinister world such as the one I am part of.” he admitted with furrowed brows.

“I don’t want them to have to go through what I did as a child.”

“You’re forgetting one very important thing here…” Alexa interjected with a small smile.

He merely frowned at her in silence, wondering what she had meant by her unfinished comment. He waited eagerly for her to complete it.

“You’re nothing like your father, Dante… you’re so much more.”

As he lowered his eyes, Alexa reached out, using her fingers to lift his chin back up so that their eyes met once more.

“That, and you have me.”

His frown slowly faded as realisation kicked in.

She was right!

Dante wasn’t anything like the man who had raised him in such a harsh and unforgiving way. He had made it on his own two feet, through tireless hours of work and focused effort on his part.

He alone was responsible for the company’s thriving offices across the world, for their company raking in billions every single year.

Dante Romano was the face of Romano Enterprises and had made a name for himself as the Reaper of New York.

And more importantly, he had Alexa there beside him. His strength...

With a long sigh, he found himself smiling back at her now.

The weight pushing down on his shoulders had suddenly subsided and he felt complete confidence in his future with this woman.

She was his light in such a dark and shadowed world.

But Alexa still had something nagging away at her as she held his hand with hers.

Her expression suddenly fell as she cast her eyes downward, and Dante immediately noticed this.

“What is it?” he asked softly.

She seemed unable to meet his eyes now, looking anywhere but at them.

“Alexa?” he repeated.

“Please, talk to me.”

Fighting up enough courage to ask what she desperately wanted to, Alexa swallowed and parted her lips, her tongue darting out to moisten them before she finally spoke.

“Is it true?” she questioned, lifting her eyes to find his.

“Are you really engaged, Dante?”

His angered frown showed her the answer she had hoped he would give her.

“No, bella. I never was.” he admitted.

“My father planned to set Cellina and I up. His only intention from our union was to further his business and associates here in Italy.”

“Then who is she?” Alexa found herself asking, simply out of curiosity now.

“Her name is Cellina De Luca. She’s the only daughter of a local Don here in Puglia. He and my father wanted us to marry, thereby uniting our families in strength and in numbers. I’ve honestly never even met the woman.” he explained, shrugging.

She nodded, apparently taking in what he had just admitted.

“But won’t your father be angry with you? For not agreeing to go through with the marriage?” she found herself asking.

But Dante’s reply shocked her as he spoke it.

“f**k what my father thinks.”

Her brows lifted up high on her forehead as Dante leaned in and cupped the side of her face with his large hand, his eyes glimmering in the dim light as he stared deeply into hers.

“I’m in love with you, Alexa Myers. You’re the only woman I want to share my life with.”

He glanced down, lowering his free palm to openly rest over her covered stomach as he spoke his next comment.

“And I’m gonna spoil the s**t outta this child…” he grinned as Alexa sobbed with a smile.

“This baby will have all the love I never had; I promise you.”

As tears rolled down Alexa’s face, she couldn’t help her brilliant smile as it dazzled upon her face and she reached out, wrapping both arms around his neck.

“Oh Dante…”

Unable to resist and filled with hormonal emotions, Alexa leaned in and pressed her lips against his, coaxing a passionate kiss from the Don and he quickly reciprocated her affections by kissing her back.

The two continued their kiss as the newly reunited couple privately celebrated the next exciting step in their future together.

They were going to have a baby together!