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“Why’s that?”
“She has just taken on the role of consigliere. She pretty much runs the show anyway.”
I raised my eyebrows with an equal mix of surprise and admiration. I was still a little baffled by how much I had instantly bonded with Cecilia Buccini. I had never really had a strong motherly figure in my life except for zia Flo, but there was something about Cecilia’s strength yet vulnerability that I connected with immediately.
“Marco, a little help please?” Elle shouted behind her as the one-eyed soldier strode over to us and lifted my arm over his shoulder to help me up the stairs.
“Grazie, Marco. Buccinis seem to have a habit of shooting me in the leg. It is very inconvenient.”
Elle rolled her eyes as we made our way to the first floor, “The doctor will be here in a minute to check you over.”
“I told you I’m fine, Elle. I’ve been through far worse and survived.”
“Just shut up and let him look at you for my sanity then!” she berated me, which caused a massive grin to appear on my face.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you, Princess.”
Her gorgeous brown eyes, that had haunted my dreams, found mine and she gave me a shy smile, that cute blush tinting her cheeks.
“I will wait outside,” Marco added, once we had made our way to a single door at the end of the landing.
“No, you don’t have to, Marco,” Elle smiled. “We’d appreciate a little privacy actually.”
He looked me over, showing his uncertainty at leaving Elle alone with me, so I gave him a nod of understanding. I may be allowed in this house without being murdered, but I still had a long way to go in gaining their trust.
“I’ll just hover on this floor then. In case you need me,” Marco responded, stepping back from us as I pulled Elle into my bloody and bruised body. I couldn’t stop touching her. Needing to be as close to her as possible.
“Is this the part where you let me in your bedroom, Princess?”
She giggled, reaching for the door handle and yanking it open. “Why do I feel like I am inviting that naughty teenage boy into my room when you look at me like that?”
“Because he fantasised about this for years,” I smirked, stepping into the large space. My eyes left her beautiful face to take in every little detail around me. I wasn’t lying. I had imagined what her room was like many times as that obsessed teenager. I used to daydream about sneaking into the Buccini estate in the dead of night and throwing stones at her window until she woke up and let me in just so I could kiss her again.
“It’s not much. I only just moved back home a few months ago so I hadn’t had a huge amount of time to decorate. It’s pretty much as it was when I left,” she rambled, running forwards and grabbing stray items that were hanging over a stylish chair in the corner and throwing them in a drawer. But I didn’t want her to tidy up. I wanted to see how she lived in this space naturally. My eyes scanned the walls as I sat down on the double bed, running my hand over the satin sheets. Bright paintings, sketches and canvases were hanging in organised chaos around the room, creating so much feeling and vibrancy. Some I could tell were hers. Others must have been famous artists. Along the other side of the room were shelves of books, photographs and personal knickknacks she had collected over the years. Pictures of her as a child, with her family, with friends from university. I spotted one of her and Finn.
“You are being very quiet all of a sudden,” she frowned, walking over to me and standing between my legs. I wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my head into her stomach, inhaling the sweet floral scent of her deeply.
“I’m just taking it all in. Taking you in,” I mumbled against her top, lifting it with one hand to reveal the silky, soft skin of her torso. I nuzzled my face against her as she giggled, trying to pull away from the tickle of my stubble, but I wouldn’t let her go. I would never let her go ever again.
“Alessio! Your head!”
Her fingers delicately touched the back of my skull where I knew I had cracked my head open when it hit the pavement earlier.
“Oh that. It’s nothing. I got hit by a speeding car.”
“What? When? How?”
I chuckled, into her stomach, “I met your fratello on a bridge. It didn’t go very well. Lorenzo crashed the meeting, quite literally and tried to run Giovanni over. I pushed him out of the way and got hit myself.”
“You saved Gio’s life? Why?”
I lifted my head to look deep into her eyes as her dainty hands ran over my face. “Because he is your brother and you love him.”
We held each other’s gazes as her eyes turned glassy with emotion. Hopefully, that gesture alone was enough for her to realise that I would never hurt someone she cared about. She was an extension of me and so were the people she loved.
“I love you so much, Alessio Barbieri. Even when I thought I had lost you and tried so hard to stop loving you, it was completely impossible. I know I will love you for the rest of my life.”
I closed my eyes briefly, relishing in the warmth and rush of happiness that swept through every cell of my body before I opened my eyes and grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her lips down to mine. The kiss was soft and sensual, our lips parting to savour the taste of each other once more. My fingers gripped her thick, black hair as my tongue explored every inch of hers with so much need that the world stopped turning. Nothing mattered but this. Holding her in my arms and kissing her like it was the very first time all over again.
