Page 47 of Always Meant To Be
I scoff, “Yet she used a belt on me growing up….”
His grip tightens on my cheek at the reminder. “I’m not sticking up for her, because I don’t agree with what she did, and I want to kill her for it, but….”
I finish for him, “She didn’t want me to be like Liliya.”
He nods and asks, “How old were you when it started?”
I frown and try to think back. “I-I think I was eleven, maybe. Liliya had taken my doll and wouldn’t give it back. I remember stomping my foot, and then hitting her.”
He nods, pulling me closer, his lips caressing mine, making my traitorous body melt, and he whispers, “I’ll never allow anyone to hurt you again.”
My tears fall. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Rome? Why wait until I’m ready to leave?” I ask with sorrow.
He sighs. “Your father didn’t want you to hate your sister,farfalla, and he also wasn’t ready to admit how much of a bitch she is.”
I sniffle. “He’s twenty years too late for that.” His grip tightens. My tears fall again, and I admit, “I do love you, Rome,” causing him to smile, and I continue, “I didn’t want to, but I fell, and I fell hard, but four years of feeling like second best, of being pushed to the side, of trying to get you to even speak to me, to open up.... I don’t know how to get over that, and then there’s the fact you forced this pregnancy on me.”
He sighs, kissing me lightly again. “Forgiveness will take time, I know this, El. Why else do you think I’m allowing you to stay in that room? I was giving you time, but you need to meet me halfway here. No more ignoring me.” He pulls back a little, making eye contact, and he rasps, “Let’s make a pact.” I raise a brow at him, and he smirks. “We make a pact to date again, only this time, you won’t be shut out for your safety.” Gently, he undoes my hair, then runs his finger through it, gripping it tightly at the base. “You allow me to show you what you mean to me and, when you’re ready, you’ll move back into our room.”
He raises a brow as I furrow mine, looking down, my emotions all over the place.
Can I do that, can I give him a chance to basically woo me? To make things right?
Can I open my heart to him again?
Can I forgive him for what he’s done?
Will I regret it if I didn’t at least try?
I look at him and see the sincerity in his piercing blue eyes, and I twitch my nose before slowly nodding in agreement, because, well, I meant what I said. I do love him, and I’m willing to allow him to prove to me that he does love me, and prove he doesn’t wanther, but that doesn’t mean I won’t leave at the first sign of him straying. So far, he’s proven he may not have cheated, but emotionally, I feel like he has, which is worse in my book.
Smiling, he nods and places his forehead against mine, rasping, “Thank you, El. I promise, I won’t let you down.” He takes a deep breath, and says, “As much as it kills me to say this, but until you’re back in our bed, no sex.” I freeze, and he smirks like the dick he is. “If you want me,farfalla, then you need to be back where you belong. Just know, once you come back, you won’t be leaving ever again.” He kisses me lightly, then murmurs, “As for our baby, I don’t fucking regret it, because right about now, you would have been pregnant with our fourth, and the contract would have been void years ago.”
With that said, he kisses me hard and dirty, all tongue and teeth, and I melt, gripping his arms, all while hoping I’m not making a big mistake.
Sixteen
Romeo – Two Weeks Later
I sighas I put my jacket on, my stitches pulling a little.
The fuckers are just annoying at this point, and God help me if I tear them, and my wife has already made me fucking pay….
Ray was pissed when he realized I got hurt and even more pissed when my traitor of a wife told him she was the one who stitched me up.
She called him after our heart-to-heart, ripping into him for not keeping me safe, but she was still nice enough to give him the brownies she had made before he stormed into my office to give me a lecture, demanding to see the wound.
When I expressed the knife didn't go that deep, the fucker's face went so fucking red I thought he was going to blow.
My wife wasn't done with her punishments though, because not long later, my fucking parents and brothers came in, guns blazing.
"Fucking worrywarts," I mutter under my breath as I grab my phone, putting it in my suit jacket. Antonio was only panicking because he doesn't want to be Don, and Leonardo, well, heknows my wife has lost faith in their friendship after he took his anger out on her, not happy El told Holly about who he really is. Which means he also knows I'm the only person holding my wife back from killing him for what he's doing to Holly, although it helps that Holly keeps playing tricks on him when he leaves during the day.
Last week, she'd cut holes in the crotch in all his pants, the next day, she dyed all his clothes bright pink.
Fucker still won't let her go, though. He mumbled yesterday about finding a priest, not that my wife knows. When he tried to speak to her regarding it, she walked away from him, and the fucker had heartbreak written over his face.
"Dammit!" I hear snapped loudly from down the hallway, and I smirk, my eyes going to the light blue maternity dress on the bed.