Debt to the Mafia

Chapter 23

—MICHELE—

Amelia snuggled her head into my chest and raised her hand to tickle it with her nails. I wanted to f**k her brains out and punish her sexually for being a pain in my arse, but since it was her first time I made sure that it was special. I was gentle and sensitive towards her which I’m guessing she enjoyed by the way it was completely silent. I won’t be so gentle next time.

“Can I ask you something?” She said nervously. I hummed at her, giving her permission to ask me a question.

“I wanted to ask what your eagle tattoo on your hand represented. Nico has the same one but I haven’t seen it on any of the other guys” she continued. Looking down at the tattoo on the back of my hand, I was quiet whilst I contemplated whether or not to answer her. It wasn’t really something I wanted to talk about straight after f*****g her but she seemed like she’s been wondering about for a while by the tone she used.

“It’s for our mother” I answered her honestly. She didn’t reply, instead she just took hold of my hand and raised it up to get a better look at it.

“It represents her courage and purity. The eagle flies higher than any other bird which is the equivalent of how people saw her. Everyone respected her and not one person could say anything negative about her characteristics. She had the purist spirit but she could also handle herself if she needed to. She was a saint in our eyes” I explained, a lump forming in my throat. My stomach was churning from the painful reminiscence of her. 

“The picture at the top of the stairs, was that her?” She added. I nodded my head and grinned.

“Yeah... that was her” I replied in a softer way. The picture above the stairs was a portrait of her on her 40th birthday, a few weeks before her death. She had dark long hair which was always perfectly tied up into either a bun or a ponytail. Her light brown eyes matched mine and her petite body was always dressed in the most beautiful clothes. She always looked like she was dressed up for dinner. My mother took pride in her appearance, even her make up was always subtly done. She was so beautiful, inside and out.

“It wasn’t your fault you know” she caught me off guard.

“Your dad should have taken the bullet himself, you shouldn’t be made to feel like it should have been you”. I was taken back for a minute. Someone was clearly talking about my business with Amelia for her to come to that conclusion. On the other hand, it was nice to hear her say that to me because I know that she doesn’t lie. For her to think that means that she must be learning to let go of her anger towards me and trust me. 

After a little while, I heard Amelia’s breathing start to grow heavy. She had fallen sleep on me, leaving me with nothing but my own thoughts to listen to. I knew that we wasn’t going to be safe here for much longer.  Earlier on today Nico got a call from Donte, telling him that one of my business in Spain has been raided by Ezio’s men. He was trying to ruin me and make his presence known. He wanted to make sure that I knew he was coming. I found out that he had relocated but no one knew where to. He used the raid as a decoy to distract my men, they lost sight of him. I didn’t know where Ezio was or what he was planning to do next but he was mistaken if he thought that I couldn’t find out. 

—AMELIA—

Last night was really special to me. Michele has never opened up like that and I saw a side to him that I didn’t even know existed. He really showed me his vulnerable side and I could see that he was gradually starting to trust me. He left the room early this morning, leaving me to sleep in. I grabbed my clothes from the floor and got myself dressed in the clothes I was wearing yesterday to go back to my room. Once I had changed into some fresh clean clothes I went down to grab something to eat. 

Like always, Sandy was making everyone breakfast. She flashed me a warm grin and greeted me.

“How did you sleep?” She asked.

“Really well” I smirked to myself. I didn’t realise that s*x was going to be that exhausting.

“Good, and how are you feeling?” She asked directing her question to the bruises on my face and neck. I nodded as I made my way to the fridge to grab a glass of milk.

“They don’t hurt as much today, as long as I don’t touch them” I sniggered. 

“That’s great” she replied as she dished up 5 plates of food.

“I have to do some shopping today so I won’t be around much. If you need anything then just ask one of the guys and they will help you” she grinned at me as she handed me one of the plates. 

After finishing my food, I headed out into the hallways where I saw Ricco walking towards the stairs. I called after him and he turned on the fourth step up. 

“How’s Mario?” I asked him expressing my concern. He flashed me a thankful grin and placed his hand on the banister. 

“He’s doing okay. He’s just trying to recover from his injuries” he replied. 

“Has Karmelo been to see him?”. 

“Yeah, he came by earlier for a check up. He said that his bullet wound is healing well but he needs to stay in bed so that his ribs can mend” he informed me.

“Okay, if he needs anything or is in any discomfort then please don’t hesitate to come to me” I smiled. Ricco nodded gratefully and went to turn around. 

“Oh Ricco...” I interrupted.

“Would it be okay if I went for a swim in the pool?” I asked politely, not knowing if it was off limits or not. He chuckled and flashed me an amused smile.

“Of course you can, use it whenever you like” he replied.