Hidden Away (Mafioso Series Book 2)

by Serena Light

  She hardly slept, lying awake and staring up at the ceiling, and even when she managed to fall asleep, she woke up after a couple of minutes, maybe an hour. Serafina was even awake when Alessio stirred beside her, grabbing his phone from the side table and checking the time. She watched him rub his eyes tiredly before sitting up in bed, his legs thrown over the edge and his hair disheveled.

  Alessio's gaze turned over his shoulder to see Serafina sitting up, having no doubt in his mind that she slept just as fitfully as him.

  "We uh..." He trailed, trying to remember what he wanted to say. "We have this...what's it called?"

  Serafina watched him rub a hand over his face thoughtfully, his eyebrows furrowing as he couldn't recall what it was they had.

  "We have this...?" She trailed in question, pulling a knee up to her chest.

  "Fuck, what's it called? Le déjeuner," He groaned in irritation, trying to remember. "Lunch! Yes! We've been invited to lunch by the Mancini's,"

  "Okay,"

  Nodding in confirmation, Alessio stood up, looking and feeling even more tired than when he had gone to sleep. Running a hand through his hair, he went to shower as Serafina stayed lying in bed, her head pounding and her body aching. Pushing herself off the mattress, she walked downstairs and started the coffee machine and took out some scones, throwing her head back as she waited for the machine to brew their morning beverage.

  Alessio bounded down the stairs in a t-shirt and denim jeans just as she was pouring the coffee, holding his mug over her shoulder as he grabbed it along with a scone and settling at the bar counter.

  "I'm thinking about going to mom and dad's tomorrow," Serafina informed, leaning across from him.

  "Mhmm?" Alessio hummed through his bite, taking a sip of his coffee.

  "I don't plan to stay the night, but just go for a day trip you know?"

  "Yeah, sounds like a good idea,"

  "Besides, it's been a while since I last saw everyone,"

  "Such is the busy life," Her husband shrugged, dusting his hands before getting up and going to sit out in the porch.

  Exhaling heavily, Serafina hung her head, knowing he was still thinking about last night and their conversation about babies. He would give her time, she knew, but then he also wouldn't say anything until she comes to a conclusion. Running a hand through her hair, she went and took a shower, knowing she had to get ready in a while for the lunch their neighbors were hosting.

  The morning was spent in silence as Serafina went about cleaning their room, Alessio having fixed things downstairs before he settled down and fussed over some file, scribbling on the page when she had come to him.

  Wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, she noticed his head tilt a little before she placed a kiss on the top of his head.

  "When's this lunch?"

  "At 1,"

  Looking towards the clock on the wall, she noted the time to be 11 a.m.

  "We have about an hour before we head off to get ready," Serafina murmured into his ear, snaking her hand into his t-shirt as he exhaled, knowing what she was doing.

  "Maybe later, baby girl," He spoke lowly. "I want to finish this report before we leave."

  She stilled for a moment before taking her hands out from his shirt and taking a step back from him, knowing he felt betrayed about the fact that she hesitated about baby talk.

  Serafina didn't say anything as she went and sat outside on the porch, taking off her shoes before sitting cross-legged on their swing, watching life pass by and waving at her neighbor who stepped out of the house across from theirs. She sat alone until it was time to get ready. Returning inside, her eyes took a moment to readjust to the interior lighting as she noticed the sofa to be vacant of Alessio's presence.

  Walking towards the kitchen, she peeked out the window and saw him sitting on the back steps, smoking a cigarette and speaking into the phone.

  He typically didn't smoke, but when he did, it was always outside. Serafina had forbidden him from smoking inside their house.

  Shaking her head, she went and got changed, deciding on a white blouse and navy blue pencil skirt, her hair left open as she pulled on a pair of nude heels, Alessio arriving upstairs just then.

  "Ready?" He asked as she nodded and watched him make his way towards the closet. "Just give me 10 minutes and we can go,"

  "Okay," She shrugged before grabbing a handbag and putting her essentials into it.

  By the time Serafina was completely done and waiting, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrow to see her husband stepping out of the closet in a navy blue Ralph Lauren button-up and white jeans, her outfit, just inverted. Having felt her eyes on him, he looked up and took in her attire before looking down at himself.

  "Well, one of us would have to change," She teased with a smile which broadened to see the tilt of his lips.

  "I think we can get away with matching,"

  "Isn't it cliché?"

  "We're rather cliché,"

  "True," Serafina shrugged before they both left their room and then the house.

  Alessio locked the door behind him as they both walked down the sidewalk and towards their neighbor's house.

  The Mancini's were a married couple, much like them, but they had been married for 5 years and had a little 6-month-old daughter named Andrea, whom Alessio absolutely adored. Whenever they came over to their house, her husband would always be found with the baby, playing and holding her, cuddling her. On more than one occasion he had asked the Mancini's if he could adopt her as a joke, and they all had laughed.

  Today was no different.

  While Serafina interacted with her neighbors, she found her husband talking to the other men with the little girl balanced on his hip, the infant playing with his buttons.

  It was almost near impossible to draw him away from the baby, he would even walk around with her in his arms if she fell asleep. Seeing him walking around with her in his arms for hours the men asked how he could handle holding her for so long, he would just laugh and tell them that he doesn't find it difficult at all.

  "Alessio holds her more in one day than Roberto holds her in a week," Aria Mancini chuckled beside Serafina, cocking her head in the direction of her husband sitting on the couch, holding the baby up in the air and making faces as she giggled. "I have never seen her crying in his arms, ever,"

  "Now thinking about it, I have never seen any baby cry in his arms," Serafina reflected. "Even my 6 and 4-year-old nieces stop whining and crying when he goes to them."

  "He would make an amazing father," Her other neighbor, Sara, piped from the other side as she nodded in confirmation, having no doubt about it. "You're lucky to be married to a guy like him,"

  "When are you guys having kids?" Stella asked, taking a sip of her juice.

  "Well..." Serafina squirmed, uncertain about what to say. "We're talking about it, so let's see,"

  The evening passed by with Serafina interacting with everyone and laughing while her husband went around to different people, the infant sleeping in his arms. On multiple occasions, the parents had insisted that they put her down in her cot, but Alessio refused, saying he likes holding her when she's asleep.

  Eventually, he had to put her down since they were leaving. Serafina watched him place a kiss on her little forehead before putting her down in the cot, gently patting her stomach as she squirmed, feeling the sudden lack of his warmth, but she rolled onto her side and resumed sleeping.

  Alessio chuckled down at the baby and gently caressed her cheek with the back of his finger before moving away from her and giving Serafina a nod to let her know that they'd be leaving now.

  Waving farewell to everyone, they both walked out of the house and back the way they had come with the sun setting before them, the couple talking about their lunch with the neighbors.

  Once at home, Serafina walked upstairs, telling her husband she was going to take a shower. Stepping into the washroom, she took off her jewelry and wedding ring, placing it on the counter b
efore stripping out of her clothes and stepping beneath the running water.

  Exhaling, she stepped out of the cabin, drying herself before wrapping her hair into the towel and pulling on a pair of turquoise bra and panties with white lace and grabbed her moisturizer, rubbing it over her body. Going to grab her wedding ring, her eyebrows knitted in confusion when she didn't see it.

  "What the hell?" She muttered leaning down to see if it had fallen on the floor, kneeling on the marble floor as she looked around her. Her throat running dry as panic overwhelmed her at losing her wedding ring which was a beautiful gold band with a 2 carat oval diamond in the center.

  "Alessio will kill me!" Serafina hissed at herself, pulling the towel off her hair as she shook out her clothes on the counter, hoping, praying that it got tangled in the material.

  Gnawing at her lower lip she stepped out of the washroom, thinking maybe she left it in the room, taken aback when the lights of her bedroom had been turned off, with a dim flicker coming from the bedroom. Cautiously, she walked across their walk-in closet, hesitantly peeking into the room.

  Her mouth falling open to see red rose petals littering the floor with white petals across the bedsheets. Candles lit and flickering on every surface available. In the center of it all, Alessio sat kneeling before their bed, watching her.

  Quietly, she walked towards him, unsure of what he was doing when he took hold of her hand, softly smiling up at her as she looked at him in confusion.

  "Serafina, you are my dream come true, you are my world, the joy in my heart and the air I breathe. Today I take you as my best friend, my partner in life, and my one and only true love." Serafina instantly recognized them to his wedding vows, the words memorized since the day he spoke them for the first time 2 years ago, the matter of her missing ring forgotten. "I promise you my deepest love and my fullest devotion through not only the pressures of the present but also through the uncertainties of the future."

  "I promise to be forever by your side, to always sleep in your arms and to be forever faithful to you." A shy smile overcame her face as she felt her heart swell in her chest just like it did at the altar. If she closed her eyes, she could even picture the entire scene with her standing in her wedding gown and Alessio in his immaculate tux - standing before her rather than kneeling - her hands grasped in his own and pressed against his chest, feeling the beating of his heart, the ecstatic thumping matching the state of her own. "I promise I will always be there for you, when our love is simple and when it is an effort."

  "I promise to laugh with you in good times and comfort you in bad. I promise you will never have to face anything alone. I promise to cherish our union and to love you more each day than I did the day before." Just as they had on her wedding day, tears welled in her eyes even now, her tough girl act crumbling into a puddle at the simple sweet words of the man before her. The man who was her now and forever, her partner, her heart, her husband. The man who had the power to make her smile with a simple look and cry with a few words. "I promise to trust you, respect you, and protect you,"

  "I give you my hand to hold and my life to keep." Serafina recited with him, wiping the tears with her hand that was free, a choked chuckle escaping her to see the surprise on her husband's face to realize she knew the words. "May we never forget how we felt when we first stared into each other's eyes and when we shared our first kiss. May the bond that we make today never be broken and may it only continue to grow stronger for the rest of our lives."

  She watched Alessio take out her wedding ring from his back pocket, a relieved breath escaping her to see that he had it and it wasn't lost.

  "May it be the strength that binds us and our love until the end of all eternity," He spoke slowly, sliding the ring onto her finger. "These are my solemn vows to you," Alessio finished, placing a kiss on the back of her hand.

  Wiping away the tears, she let out a soft laugh, looking at her husband still kneeling before her.

  "I'm sorry for breaking my vow," Alessio shook his head in disappointment and stood up, cupping her face into his hands as she looked at him in confusion. "I promised to respect you and I didn't,"

  "Alessio, what-?" She began to ask, being cut short by him.

  "Last night, when we were talking about trying for a baby, and I could see you were hesitant and a little scared, and instead of respecting it, I felt angry at you for that. I know you have your reasons for being unsure, but it wasn't right on my part to break my solemn vow of respecting you. I needed to remind myself of everything I promised you,"

  "Alessio," Serafina murmured, her heart swelling at his words as she cupped his face into her hand. "Yes, I'm scared of having a baby because you are wonderful with them, but I don't know how I'd be as a parent. And I'm not saying I never want a child, I definitely want a child, but I don't know if I want one right now,"

  "It's just that..." Her husband trailed, holding her hands in his own as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well...I'm 35, right? And I kinda always pictured myself married at 30 with kids by 31...and now I'm 35 and it just kind of...feels like a failure, y'know?"

  "Oh, baby," Serafina chuckled, pulling him for a hug as his arms snaked around her bare stomach, causing her to realize that she wasn't wearing anything other than her bra and panties. "I get it, you feel like it's a missed milestone. But it's not, really Alessio, it's not. We still have time, granted I should probably have kids soon given that I'm turning 29, but that's beside the point. We'll have kids, I promise you that, it's just that you kind of jumped it on me out of me blue and I panicked, but after seeing you with little Rosie today, it occurred me that I would want that. You with our baby, walking around with it in your arms and playing with it."

  "I would like that too," Alessio smiled against her shoulder, placing a kiss against her neck.

  "Me too," Serafina nodded with a wistful sigh, imagining the scene of her husband and their child, playing, laughing, giggling. "Although, can you handle 2 babies?"

  "2 babies?" He questioned in confusion, his fingers trailing across her bare skin as goosebumps formed on Serafina's arms, a cold sensation oozing down her spine and having her stomach twist in knots. "You want 2 kids?"

  "No, I'm saying how will you be able to handle 2 babies at one time? Our child and me,"

  Alessio chuckled against her skin, placing a kiss against her neck and her shoulder, lowering to her collarbone and chest, trailing kisses down her stomach as he kneeled before her with her hips grasped in his hand as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

  "I wouldn't mind handle two babies," Alessio placed open-mouthed kisses against her flat stomach, Serafina biting her lips as heat pooled between her legs. "I'll have help with the little one, and I know how to handle the big one,"

  "Do you now?" She gasped when he stood up, pushing her onto the bed as she landed with a bounce.

  "Oh, I do," Her husband smirked as he removed his button-up, covering her body with his own as a burst of giggles escaped her when he attacked her sides with his fingers, Serafina writhing and squirming beneath him with laughter.