Enjoy ✨

~ Luciana's POV ~

"What?"

Alessio narrowed his eyes at me as he took a step closer to me, giving me a weird look before he repeated his question again, this time much slower.

"What happened at the police station?"

"Oh." I earned weird looks from all four of them but I refused to make eye contact with any of them and instead looked around the kitchen absentmindedly, looking for anything to divert their attention away from me. "Has that always been there?"

They all looked over at the glossy black coffee machine that I was pointing at before turning back to me, this time Alessio came even closer to me.

"Luciana..."

"Where's Alana?" He stopped in front of me and even though I was sitting on the stool he was still taller than me and therefore as intimidating as ever. "With my dad upstairs. Now, tell me what happened." He lowered his voice a little when he said the second part and I instantly knew he was trying to keep both himself and me calm while he asked me again what happened.

"Don't make me ask you again Luciana." I let out a small sigh when he rested his hands on my thighs, my eyes focusing on his hands instead of looking into his eyes.

"Jake found me outside the store and said he was arresting me for obstruction of justice. They haven't actually charged me yet though."

"Justice for what?" I glanced over at Tomasso who was frowning at me, but more out of care for me than anger - I'm not sure the same could be said for Alessio, not that I was even looking at him.

I didn't want to see his expression when I mentioned something that would hit a soft spot for all of them. He was after all a really close friend of theirs.

"Rafael's murder. He says I must know what happened - which I do." They all seemed to be surprised by the reason I was arrested, although it had been almost ten months since Rafael was killed I knew they still missed him. I wasn't even there for Alessio when he was trying to get through it and I'm pretty sure the reason no one has mentioned this topic since I've been back is because that wasn't a good time. For any of them.

Once they'd taken in that information, I finished explaining the story to them, leaving out the part where he explained why he hated Alessio so much.

"He said he would let me go if I gave Alessio up." I finally glanced at him to see a hard expression on his face, like he was bracing himself for bad news, which broke my heart. He really thought I might do that to him.

"But I didn't. Then he went through a list of all your names and Silvana too. When he realised it was Mason I didn't like out of everyone, he put the recording back on and asked me formally to turn Mason in exchange for my freedom."

"And you said no, right?" Tomasso stepped closer to me, while I kept my eyes firmly on Mason. He held my stare, an unreadable expression on his face as everyone waited for my answer. In those few seconds I stared into his eyes, hoping that one day he would understand everything protecting him could have costed me.

"Of course I did." I could instantly see the relief on his face but that was only for a second before he covered it up.

"So what happened?" I let out a small sigh before turning back to Alessio.

"He said he's going to charge me soon, but because I have a daughter he let me go home for now. Once he charges me I'll have a court hearing and a trial and if I'm found guilty-"

Alessio held my stare and I knew by the way his eyes softened he could sense how scared I was, especially when my voice broke at the end.

"No way that's not going to happen. Luciana don't worry, we can get this to go away." I glanced over at Tomasso who was now much closer to me. I was thankful he was even here listening to all of this after what had just happened with Thea. I couldn't imagine what he was going through but one thing I've learned about these mafia men is that when something bad happens they prefer to throw themselves into work rather than let it consume them. It might not be that healthy for them though.

"It's not that simple Tomasso. He hates Alessio and he's trying to use this to make a name for himself as a cop. Bringing in the best of the worst. He's not going to rest until he's got him."

The kitchen fell silent for a moment, everyone lost in their own thoughts until Alessio broke the silence by telling everyone to get out, leaving just the two of us. I refused to meet his gaze as we listened to the sound of everyone's footsteps retreating out of the room and finally the sound of the door closing behind them.

"Why does he hate me Luciana?" Alessio didn't move from where he was standing right in front of me, the heat of his hands on my thighs burning through my jeans against my skin. I could feel his eyes on me while I still refused to look at him even when he spoke in such a quiet soft tone.

"You killed his brother. He told me a story of a police raid on one of your warehouses three years ago. He was only 18 and you killed him."

Like I said earlier, I knew what he did was bad and it sounded even worse when I said it out loud, but by the tone I used when I told him, he knew I wasn't angry about it even though most girls would have said it with disgust and probably fear- wondering who they'd just agreed to spend the rest of their life with.

"I don't remember." When I looked at him, Alessio had a small frown on his face which showed he was trying hard to remember the incident I was talking about, but he couldn't. "It's okay Alessio."

He went silent again for a moment, the frown only deepening as he thought about something.

"How can you love me Luciana? After all the things I've done to you and to other people?" His words caught me off guard, coming out barely above a whisper. If he wasn't standing so close to me and we weren't the only ones in the room I probably wouldn't have heard him. Before I could reply to him, he spoke again.

"How is Alana going to love me when she finally realises who I am?"

"Alessio stop." Even when I put my hand on his cheek, he still refused to look at me. It wasn't often he ever showed this side of himself but when he did, it wasn't something I liked to see.

"I'll never stop loving you Alessio, and neither with Alana. This life isn't your fault."

From the moment I found out he was in the mafia, I knew exactly what that meant. It didn't just mean he ran an illegal 'business' selling drugs and weapons and whatever else. It didn't just mean he knew the worst of the worst people and it didn't just mean he was dangerous. This was the life he was born in to. People may say he has a choice and that he doesn't have to kill anyone if he doesn't want to, but sadly we don't get that luxury. Once you're in this life it's extremely hard to leave it and for someone in Alessio's position the only way out is death.

This is where that saying 'kill or be killed' applies the most - if he wasn't a ruthless leader willing to do anything to protect his mafia and his family we would all be dead.

So yes he was a ruthless murderer. But I loved him and nothing would ever change that.

"She's supposed to look at me and see a good person, someone she can admire and look up to. She's going to hate me Luciana." I swear I felt my heart break when he finally looked up at me with unshed tears in his eyes before he let out an angry scoff. "I can't even remember killing someone in cold blood."

"Alessio, your daughter and any children we have in the future will always love you. They'll understand, just like you understood when you found out about all the things your own father has done. If it makes you feel any better, you're not that bad compared to my father and the Russians." I gave him a small smile to try and lighten the mood and although he smiled back, I knew it wasn't real.

Instead of saying anything else to him I just pulled him in for a hug. That was the best thing I could do because no amount of me trying to convince him it would be okay would work. He just had to wait and see for himself when our children were old enough.

"So Thea? How are you feeling about that? You know, just to add to your already crappy mood." I felt Alessio's chest vibrate when he chuckled at my comment before he eventually pulled away after placing a kiss on my forehead.

"I haven't really processed it yet. We literally just found out and called her to come over, I didn't expect to see you with her." Alessio stepped back leaning against the counter next to me, raising an eyebrow as if it ask me why the hell I was with Thea in the first place.

"When they released me I had to be careful who I called. It was between Daliah and Thea...I went with my head and chose Thea."

He nodded his head in understanding as he listened to what I was saying when I continued.

"I can't believe Tomasso just shot her like that. I know it's something you do in the mafia when someone betrays the family but he loved her." He glanced over at me before he let out a deep breath.

"Yeah we all did, which is why it hurts so much more. I think he probably just knew it had to be done, so he got it over with. That and he was freaking furious. I don't think I've ever seen him like that. When we found out from our guy in the Russian mafia that it was her and not Daliah, he didn't even say a word. The only time he spoke after that was to her before he killed her."

"It's crazy." Alessio nodded in agreement while he let out a sigh. "Anyway, did Jake give you his number? Or his card?"

"Why? I mean he did, but I don't need it. I never want to see his face again." Alessio nodded like he understood what I was saying but the expression on his face told me I wasn't going to like what he said next.

And let me tell you, I definitely didn't.

"I need you to give it to me." I rose an eyebrow at him, leaning back slightly to put some distance between us, not that it helped much since I was sitting on the stool and he was standing next to me leaning against the counter.

"Why do you want his number?" Although he probably knew my question was inevitable he still let out a sigh, running his hand through his already tousled hair. He looked down at his feet for a second before turning his head to look at me as he spoke.

"I just need it Luciana. Don't ask me questions about something that doesn't concern you." I scoffed at his words shaking my head in disbelief. "It doesn't concern me? If you contact him Alessio, you're going to get yourself into trouble."

My words, for some reason, were amusing to him since he let out a short chuckle. "Trouble? Luciana nothing is going to happen. You know I don't necessarily need you to give me the number, I can get it any other way pretty easily - this would just save me from having to tell someone to get it for me."

I rolled my eyes at his cocky tone, ignoring the smirk on his face which was definitely only there to keep the mood light. Alessio hated being told no so I knew he wasn't taking this very well on the inside.

"Fine, take it." I reached into the pocket of my jacket, taking out the card with Jake's contact details on that he gave me in case I 'thought of any new information', tossing it at Alessio. His eyes narrowed at me, a glare slowly making its way onto his face when he watched the card hit his chest and fall to the floor by his feet.

I watched him pick the card up and thankfully neither of us said anything else after that, both of us still obviously reeling from the events that just took place and now this conversion which could easily have turned into an argument or something along the lines of one. Only a few minutes passed before Alessio eventually stood up properly letting out a tired sigh and took my hand prompting me to stand up too. Placing his hand on my waist he pulled me in closer, pressing his lips to mine for a short kiss even though I didn't return the kiss.

"I love you Luciana, but this is something I have to do." He pressed his lips to mine one more time before I was able to pull away from him and put some distance between us just as the kitchen door opened revealing Alessio's father with our daughter in his arms.

"I heard you two have had quite the day." Alessio scoffed as he went over to his dad and gently took Alana from his arms while she squealed in delight at the sight of her father. "I suppose you could say that."

We talked for a while until Tomasso came into the kitchen and for a second it fell awkwardly quiet. My eyes took in his perfect appearance and his crisp Italian suit, if it wasn't for his puffy red eyes you wouldn't have known he was hurting. When he came into the kitchen I had to hold back a smile when Alessio passed Alana to Tomasso knowing it would have brought him some amount of comfort to have his God-daughter in his arms.

As soon as he was holding her, Alana started smiling at Tomasso, touching his face like she usually did. Alessio then decided to fill the awkward silence by telling his father all the events from last night, also explaining why we had to keep so many secrets from everyone. I guess he already knew why we lied since we all just found out Thea was telling the Russians inside information.

"So what are you planning to do about my father?"

"Kill him." I rolled my eyes at Tomasso's blunt response to my question before turning my attention to Alessio hoping to get a better answer. My fiancé gave me an amused smile, seeming to be over the little spat we just had, before he elaborated on Tomasso's great plan.

His way of elaborating anyway.

"We've sent a message to him to come and see us. Hopefully he'll come and then, yes, we'll kill him." I rose an eyebrow at him causing him to smile even more. "That's it? That's all you're going to tell me?"

"That's it." I rolled my eyes and took Alana from Tomasso while the three of them just gave me amused looks. Tomasso wasn't as amused, but that was only because he just killed his girlfriend. Excuse the bluntness.

"When you're ready to tell me the actual details of this plan of yours, let me know - I'll be at home." With that I made my way out of the kitchen with Alana in my arms, only to be stopped in my tracks when Alessio called out to me, amusement evident in his tone.

"Are you forgetting your car is still at the store?"

So much for my dramatic exit.

I let out a sigh before turning to face them again, watching the last bit of my pride slip away as I gave him a tight lipped smile. "Then you can take me home."

Alessio let out a small chuckle at my words while shaking his head. He took a moment to say goodbye to his father and soon he and Tomasso were following me to the front door. We almost made it when I heard my name being called out and we all turned around to see Mason standing there with an apprehensive expression on his face.

"Can I speak to you for a moment, please?" As soon as the words came out of Mason's mouth, Alessio was standing in front of me, taking a threatening step towards him. "Absolutely not, not after the things you said to her. You're lucky I'm even letting you in the same room as her."

"Alessio I just wanted to apolo-" Once again Alessio stepped closer, his voice dropping even lower as he spoke.

"You know what Mason, you can take your apology and shove it-"

"Alessio it's fine, stop it." When Alessio completely ignored me and Tomasso didn't do anything when I turned to him for help, I let out a frustrated sigh. Stepping between Alessio and Mason I managed to get Alessio to step away from him and before he could say a word I passed Alana to him. "Go and put her in the car seat. I'll be there in a minute."

Cue another glare. He really wasn't happy with me.

Thankfully, he decided to keep his annoyance to himself until we were alone later that evening and instead begrudgingly went outside with Tomasso in tow.

"What do you want Mason?" I rose an eyebrow at him as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck his eyes lingering on the door Alessio just walked out of. "I just wanted to say thank you...and sorry. Now I know what he sees in you, not many people would keep their mouth shut knowing there's a chance they could be separated from their own child."

"I didn't do it for you Mason." He nodded his head, a sad smile tugging at his lips. "I know. I just wanted you to know I'm grateful anyway. I'm really sorry for how I spoke to you Luciana."

"Well I accept your apology, but I can't forgive you yet. It is going to take a lot more than this for me to forgive you."

With that I turned around and made my way outside to the car, ignoring the glare I was receiving from Alessio as I got in the backseat next to Alana. "Is that it? You don't want to invite him round for dinner? Maybe he can stay for a sleepover too."

I rolled my eyes at his immature comment as he started the engine. The car ride was dead silent apart from the few sounds Alana was making as she stared out the window with curious eyes. She really was the only innocent, perfect little human in this whole mess.

It only took ten minutes to get home and the second we did both Alessio and Tomasso went inside, leaving me to get Alana out the car seat and bring her inside myself.

"Promise me when you're older you won't throw tantrums like they do?" As expected she didn't reply and instead gave me a grin, reaching out and taking some of my hair in her hand as I carried her inside. As soon as we got inside I took her upstairs to give her a bath and put her to sleep since it was already way past her usual bed time - all of us had lost track of time thanks to the craziness of today's events.

Almost an hour later I'd finally gotten her to go to sleep and I went downstairs to find Alessio and Tomasso sitting in silence in the living room, both of them holding a glass of bourbon - the bottle sitting on the coffee table between them. The second I stepped into the room they both looked up at me and while Tomasso just looked back down at his glass uninterested, Alessio kept his eyes on me, the same glare resurfacing again.

"Tomasso's staying here with us again tonight." I awkwardly nodded my head, not really knowing what to say in that situation. It was obvious he was thinking about Thea and Alessio was angry at me, there wasn't anything good I could have possibly said in that moment.

"Okay, well I'm going to head to bed then..." Alessio didn't bother to respond to me and I took that as my cue to go upstairs and get ready for bed. After I'd finally brushed my teeth and changed into my pyjamas, he quietly stepped into our bedroom and went straight for the bathroom.

"Alessio stop." He stopped in his tracks when he heard my voice but he didn't bother to turn around to face me, which was actually better for me since I didn't have to speak while he glared at me. Now he was glaring at the bathroom door instead.

"Why are you so mad? I'm the one who should be annoyed. First you want to put yourself in unnecessary danger with Jake and then you jump in with Mason when he was trying to talk to me, not you."

I rose an eyebrow at him when he suddenly spun around and as expected he had a serious glare on his face.

"You're my fiancée, of course I was going to 'jump in' - he has no right to speak to you after what he said! And as for Jake, that's nothing to do with you, it's business that's all." I rolled my eyes at the last part deciding it was best not to even get into it with him about Jake, that was a touchy subject for me and he knew that.

"You're so happy to keep things from me and yet you won't even let me speak to Mason without throwing yourself into it first."

He let out a wry chuckle and shook his head as he stepped closer to me - close enough for me to smell the alcohol on his breath. "Luciana if you're going to be my wife let's get one thing straight. My business is mine, it has nothing to do with you. You'll do well to keep yourself out of things that don't concern you."

His glare softened ever so slightly when he saw the hurt on my face but instead of saying another word he left me standing there alone as he made his way into the bathroom. I'm pretty sure if it was just us in the house and Alana wasn't sleeping next door he would have slammed that door shut. He was just in that type of mood.

The alcohol he just drank definitely didn't help either.

Letting out a sigh I got into my side of the bed and switched off the main chandelier light, leaving the two bed side lamps as the only light in the now dimly lit room. As soon as I replayed the words he just said in my head, my eyes went down to the engagement ring on my finger which now felt like it weighed an absolute ton after that conversation.

Was this really how I wanted the rest of my life to be? Alessio taking charge of every situation and keeping as many secrets from me as he wanted? I know that's how his parents' relationship was and even though it seemed to have worked for them, I don't think it would work for us. For me.

I was born into this life and even if my family thought I couldn't handle it, I could. There was no way I'd ever be able to let him get away with keeping so much from me. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

The sound of the bathroom door opening caught my attention and I looked up from the ring to see Alessio staring straight back at me and the look on his face told me he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Having second thoughts?" I followed his movements as he came around the bed to his side, sitting down on the edge with his back to me. I didn't really know what to make of his tone, it was like he was still angry and yet he was regretful of what he said at the same time.

"No, actually I'm not." When he didn't turn around I pushed the covers away from me and shuffled across the bed to get behind him. Getting up on my knees, I wrapped my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"I love you Alessio, but I'm not a push over. I'm not going to let you push me away and I'm not going to let you lie to me for our entire lives either." When he didn't say anything to me in response, deciding it was better to just let him get himself out of this mood he was in, I let out a defeated sigh before kissing his cheek. Just as I was about to move away from him, his hands stopped me from moving my arms and instead he turned around to face me.

"I know, I'm sorry - I've just had a really bad day. My mind is just going crazy right now." I gave him a small smile placing my hand on his cheek causing him to lean into my touch.

"Let's go to sleep then. Maybe tomorrow will be better."

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Are you sure about this?" I rolled my eyes for what felt like the billionth time when Tomasso asked the same question again, adjusting Alana in his arms when she moved in her sleep.

"Yes now be quiet."

Tomasso, Alessio and I were currently standing outside Daliah's hotel room, waiting for her to answer the door. It had only been three days since I was arrested and Tomasso shot Thea. Three days since Alessio and I had that 'argument'. Our relationship had been a little rocky over the last couple of days but I put that down to the fact Alessio was still trying to accept what happened with Thea. He hardly spoke to me unless we were talking about Alana or something else important.

So far nothing had happened with the police and Tomasso was still staying with us at our new house (which everyone knows about now). He did say he wanted to go home but both Alessio and I were reluctant to let him be alone after what he just did. At least when he was at our house we could keep an eye on him when he was drinking and he was also reluctant to drink a lot anyway since Alana was in the house. It also meant Alessio and I weren't alone in an awkward silence. It worked out better for everyone I guess.

"It's a stupid idea." Alessio nodded in agreement with Tomasso while I shot them both a hard glare. "I didn't ask either of you to come so shut up."

Before anyone could say anything else, the sound of the door unlocking interrupted us and finally it opened revealing Daliah. Her eyes widened when she saw the three of us, but once she saw Alana they instantly softened.

Which is exactly why I bought the little cutie with me.

"Luciana?" I gave her a nervous smile when her eyes focused more on the two next to me. "Can we come in?"

"Luciana-"

"Please?" Eventually she let out a sigh and stepped aside, all while sending both Tomasso and Alessio a cold glare.

"Luciana-" I heard Tomasso scoff next to me for absolutely no reason when she spoke but thankfully Daliah either didn't hear it or ignored it.

"I came to apologise again, for what happened. I'm sorry I didn't trust y-"

"This isn't about trust Luciana. I don't care about that, I understand why you didn't trust me. It's the fact you thought I tried to hurt Alana. I would never hurt her." I followed her gaze towards Alana who was still sleeping in Tomasso's arms. When I looked back at Daliah I could tell she was trying to keep her emotions in check. Surprisingly though, she didn't sound as angry as I thought she would have been.

"I know I hurt you Daliah but all I can say is I'm sorry. Give me a chance to prove it to you." When she opened her mouth to say something I quickly cut her off as I stepped closer to her. "Please Daliah. I need you, apart from these two and Alana you're pretty much my only family."

"You consider Tomasso as part of your family?" I couldn't help but smile when she whispered this to me, but still loud enough for everyone to hear, with a look of disgust on her face.

"Of course she does." I rolled my eyes at the defensive tone Tomasso used and soon enough both Daliah and Tomasso started bickering while Alessio and I just stood there awkwardly. It was only when Alana started waking up that they finally stopped and Daliah turned her attention back to me.

"Luciana if you'd finally let me speak properly, I can tell you that I'm not even angry anymore-" Before she could even finish her sentence I let out a small squeal and pulled her into a tight hug causing her to let out a laugh as she wrapped her arms around me too.

"I should be the one apologising to you, I may have overreacted a little bit-"

"A little? You-" As soon as Tomasso cut Daliah off, Alessio let out a loud groan next to me and stepped between them, pushing them away from each other, speaking for the first time since we even got here.

He really wasn't happy with us being here. In fact he hadn't been happy for the last few days at all.

"I'm so freaking sick of hearing you two arguing. Tomasso just let them make up so we can leave already."

Tomasso sent Alessio a glare before taking a dramatic step away from the three us which was just his immature way of saying okay. Once he was finally quiet, Alessio and I explained to Daliah everything that had gone on over the last couple of days, including my arrest and Thea being killed. We had to be a bit careful when we spoke about that since Tomasso had pretty much avoided that subject over the last three days. Thankfully he was busy entertaining Alana at that point since she had fully woken up from her nap and demanded attention.

"So are you planning to stay in this hotel forever?" Daliah glanced around the room we were currently standing in before she looked back at me. "No, I just didn't want to come home, I thought you were still angry at me."

Home. Great.

"That's something else we need to talk about Daliah." I let out a nervous sigh, wringing my hands together as I thought of the best way to tell her that I'd moved out of the house we were living in to live with Alessio in a new house and now our old house still belonged to Alessio and not me.

"What's wrong Luciana?" I gave her a nervous smile but before I could manage to force the words out Alessio beat me to it. He just didn't say what I expected him to say.

"The house is yours now, if you want it. Luciana and Alana have moved back in with me." Both of us stared at Alessio in shock and I'm pretty sure Tomasso was shocked too, I just couldn't see him.

"What?"

"I'm not repeating myself Daliah." That sounded more like the Alessio I know. At least we know he was still the same him and that he hadn't completely lost it.

"You would really do that?" Alessio nodded his head at my question while avoiding making eye contact with either of us as he took out his phone and went to stand next to Tomasso, probably because the conversation had become way too awkward for him to handle.

He always said how much he hated feelings.

It took a while for Daliah to finally agree to take the house from Alessio since she wasn't sure it was the 'morally right' thing to do, but eventually she did. We spent the next twenty minutes just catching up before we were brought back down to earth by Tomasso.

"Alessio, we need to go." Tomasso came over to us and quickly but gently handed Alana to me. "Now it's an emergency."

"Why? What's going on?" Both Alessio and Tomasso were now in 'business' mode while Daliah and I just stood there completely confused at their sudden change in behaviour. I almost preferred it when Tomasso and Daliah were arguing.

"It's time. Giuseppe's at the house."

Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment ❤️