Dangerously In Love: Mafia In Love Series, Book One

by Christine Black

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  My father had been taken to his room to rest a few hours ago. I decided to sit in his room on the chaise lounge that my mother used to lay on when she read me stories before bedtime when I was very young. I had picked out one of my favorite books from the library that was connected to my room before I had come in here to sit. My father and mother gave me an entire library for my tenth birthday.

  "Close your eyes, my daughter. You will spoil the surprise we have for you." My father whispered as he carried me. I was too clumsy to walk blindfolded. I could hear my mother's soft laughter following us.

  "What is it Papa? What did you get me?" I begged him to tell me.

  "You have to be patient, sweet girl." My mother chided. I heard a door open.

  "My young girl, welcome to your hide away. Happy birthday, my darling Princess." My father spoke as he sat me down on the floor and took off the blindfold. I saw books upon books upon books lining the walls of the room. My eyes were wide and I ran to touch the books. I walked around and felt the books as I made my way back to my parents, who sat on the couch that was in front of the fireplace on one wall.

  "This is the best gift, Papa! This is better than the pony I asked for!" I hugged him tightly and smiled.

  "Now you can learn all of the secrets of the world from inside this room. You have the world at your fingertips. My sweet darling Princess, your mother and I hope that this gives you a secret hide away from the world and all that is evil." He placed a key in my hand. "It is a secret room that only we three know of. It is our secret for life. This key leads to this room, my darling. The door is hidden in the one place no one will ever think to look. Come now, you can read later but we have guests waiting."

  My parents stood up and held their hands out to me. I quickly placed mine in theirs and we walked out of the door. I was surprised to see that the door led straight into my closet. That was very clever of them. No one would ever look there, they were right.

  I felt tears fall from my eyes as I replayed one of my fondest memories. I heard father move as I stood up. I grabbed the glass of water I had poured myself just moments ago and sat on the side of his bed. I sat the glass on his nightstand and helped him sit up. "You've been crying my darling Princess." I hadn't heard him call me that since before mother died. My father put a hand on my belly and the babies started to kick like crazy.

  "They know who you are, don't they?" I whispered softly.

  "I like to think that all children know who will love and protect them even from inside their mothers womb." He smiled and wiped away the tears left on my cheeks. I pulled the key for the library from the pocket of my sweater and placed it in his hand.

  "Our secret for life, just the three of us." I felt the tears falling again.

  "Now the three of you it is to be passed on to your children. You may keep the secret between the three of you, Princess." I saw tears fall from my father's eyes. I wiped them away softly. He began to cough. I grabbed a cloth from the side of the bed and handed it to him. He pulled it away after he had finished coughing and we both saw only the blood that was left behind. I let him sip slowly from the glass of water.

  "Paolo and I haven't thought of names for the babies yet because we can't think of any that would be appropriate. Would you like to help me, Papa?" I saw a twinkle of hope in his eyes. I would make him feel normal in his last days with us.

  "It would be an honor, my daughter."

  "I want a strong name for both of them but not one that strikes fear into hearts but instills compassion and love."

  "The boy will need a strong name that he can grow into and be a force for this family. Something strong and fierce. Something that when people hear his name they wish to swear loyalty and give honor to."

  "I think I have the perfect name for him, Papa." I smiled.

  "Tell me."

  "I will name him after the great men in my life that have left this world. Vincent after you, father. Giovanni after Paolo's father. Dante after my Godfather. He will be Vincent Dante Giovanni Salvatore." I saw more tears fall from my father's eyes.

  "I would be honored to pass along my name to your child, Princess. What about your daughter?"

  "Paolo and I tossed around the idea of combining our mother's names. It was a disaster because there is no good combination of Maria and Arabella so I have no idea. That's another reason why I need your help."

  "There is a perfect name that comes from both your mother and his mother..." My father chuckled.

  "You always know everything don't you Papa?" I squeezed his hand.

  "I don't know everything. Sometimes you just have to have some outside perspective." He squeezed my hand back.

  "So what's this name idea for your granddaughter?" I sighed.

  "Aria." He smiled and started to cough again. I handed him the cloth again but it wasn't enough. I felt the scream rising from my throat. He kept coughing and the more he kept coughing, the more blood there was. It was running through the cloth and onto the sheets and his clothes. My hands were covered in my father's blood as I held him close to me. I screamed for help but by the time the door swung open...my father was gone.

  I stood up as I stared at my father's lifeless body and I felt my heart shattering all over again. This felt like losing my mother all over again. I ran out of the room and down the hall. I quickly opened my bedroom door and pulled the key from my sweater pocket. I was going to hide in my safe place. No one would find me in my safe place.

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  I sat in my library for at least four or five hours. I didn't touch the books. I had grabbed a change of clothes and was glad that my father and mother had added onto the library for my sixteenth birthday. They had added another bedroom and a small bathroom in the lofted area. I had showered and gotten dressed in a long silk nightgown and wrapped myself in a blanket. I laid in the bed and just softly cried, holding my belly. I was an orphan now.

  My phone started to buzz. Paolo had called. Xavier had called. Pierre had called. Belle had called. I just wanted to be in my safe place with my babies. The babies who were going to live without really knowing who their father is. Never knowing that their mother married a man she didn't love because she was protecting her children. Never knowing that the man she longed to be with and dreamed of every night was the man they would grow up to stand against. At this moment, I wanted to give up everything to run away to protect my babies from the monster their father was but then it hit me...I was a monster too.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Maria

  I woke up to my phone continuously buzzing over and over. I still didn't want to talk to anyone. It had been a week since Papa had died. Paolo was asleep down on the couch in front of the fireplace. I had told him how to get into my safe place after he saw me slip out of my closet. He promised not to tell anyone where I had been hiding away. He made me promise to let him stay with me because he needed to know that I was safe. He went and made an extra key for my safe place so that he could always have access too. We installed a new lock on my bedroom door so that when we were in there no one could look around in my room and stumble into the safe place door in my closet.

  I quietly walked down the stairs from the loft and went to lay on the couch with Paolo. I was glad that I had bought a larger one a few months ago. I tried not to wake him but that failed. He stirred and opened his eyes as I pulled the covers over us. "It's okay, I was just lonely up there and really cold." I whispered as he wrapped his arms around me.

  "It's okay, love. I'm sorry I didn't come to bed last night. You just looked so peaceful and I didn't want to wake you." He kissed my forehead.

  "Thank you for everything you've done for me the past week. I just don't want to face everyone today." I sighed as Paolo splayed his hands around my belly. The twins started to kick and roll around.

  "I'll make it absolutely clear that no one is to bother you or speak unless you approach them and speak first. You're my Queen to protect and I
am supposed to make you feel safe and loved." He kissed my forehead again.

  I heard Paolo yelling my name throughout the morning after I woke up. I didn't want to come out of hiding just yet but I knew that if I didn't he would think I ran away and that would only cause more trouble. I got up and wrapped the robe that was laying on the chair opposite the bed in the loft and slipped it on. I walked down the stairs and quietly opened the door to leave my safe place. I tried to close the door as softly as possible but when I turned around there was Paolo. I jumped and grabbed my chest in panic.

  "Where the hell have you been, Maria?" He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly. I didn't speak but somehow he knew I wouldn't. I wrapped my arms around him too. I felt the tears fall from my eyes and suddenly I was just standing there sobbing.

  We'd gotten close over the past week. Close is more of an understatement to be honest. I had started to see a different side of Paolo and I'd fallen head over heels for him. I hadn't told him that yet but I think he knew from the way I clung so closely to him. He had confessed how he felt after he freaked out when he couldn't find me the first couple of nights after Papa had died.

  Paolo had bought a table to go up in the loft for just two people. He was putting it together and I was sitting on the bed watching him. I was in charge of handing him tools. "Will you hand me to the screwdriver please, Ria?" I picked up the screwdriver and handed it to him.

  "Here ya go." I smiled as he took it from me.

  "Thanks, baby." We both paused for a second and looked at each other. He sat the screwdriver down and stood up. "I'm sorry."

  "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong." I smiled at him and stood up.

  "Promise?" He half smiled.

  "I promise." I put a hand on his cheek and slowly stood on my tippy toes to kiss him. I don't know what had come over me but I just felt like it was right. Our lips met and it was like a blazing fire ripped through my body. It was in that moment that I knew we were going to be happy and that whatever happened between us was meant to be.

  "You've been pretty silent, what are you thinking about?" Paolo broke me away from my thoughts.

  "Our first kiss." I giggled and the twins started to kick again.

  "I was thinking about it a bit earlier too." He kissed the back of my head and slowly moved his hands up and down on my belly. "We need to take care of business, love. We can't hide away anymore, at least not right now. As soon as everything is done and over with we'll resume hiding, I promise. Oh, by the way I have a surprise for you in your room." He got up from behind me and helped me up too.

  "What would that be?" I half smiled.

  "You'll just have to look and see. I spent hours trying to figure it out but I think I finally got your room set up the way it should be." He took my hand and we slipped out of my safe place into my main room.

  "You mean our room. You keep saying my room but it's our room now." He looked down at me and kissed me softly.

  "Okay, so I hope you like our room..." He whispered as we walked out of the closet and I saw an entirely changed room. The room was repainted a warm tan color like the sand on the beach. One wall was painted turquoise and two dark cherry colored cribs were set up with a changing table between them. There was a small dresser beside each of the cribs as well. There was a new bed in place of my old one. This one was a dark cherry color California king size canopy bed. He had changed the entire color scheme from red and black to tan and turquoise. It was beautiful. The sheets and the duvet on the bed were the turquoise color that matched the twins' wall. I looked up at Paolo with tear filled eyes. "It's so beautiful. How did you manage to do all of this without me noticing?" I smiled and kissed him softly.

  "It was pretty difficult but they set up the furniture while you were asleep during the night and I painted while you were reading or napping. Pierre and Xavier helped too. Anna picked out the twins' bedding with me too. She loved the turquoise polka dots on the tan sheets so that's what we got. I think that it's gender neutral enough, don't you?" He hugged me tightly and I laughed.

  "It's absolutely perfect. They won't care anyways but I love it." I smiled and gave him another kiss. There was a soft knock on the door and Paolo walked over to answer it. Belle walked in and softly smiled.

  "They're asking if you're ready yet or not. I told them to give you a couple of hours. We need to do your hair and your dress just arrived this morning from Italy." She folded her hands and placed them in front of her just waiting for me to say or do something. All I did was nod after Paolo kissed my forehead and left the room. "I'm glad you have him." Paolo and Belle had decided that they wanted different things in life after she wanted to move away for college and break tradition. Belle walked out of the room before I stepped into the shower. When I finished and sat at my vanity she walked back into the room with a long black garment bag.

  "It's a truly beautiful dress. Are you wearing a different one for the crowning ceremony too?" I looked up at her and nodded again. I decided to honor my father in a dress from our home country. I sat still as Belle did my hair and makeup. When she was finished I slipped on the dress and walked over to the mirror. Since the beginning of this whole mess my life hadn't ever really been mine to live. Everyone made my choices for me. I didn't have a normal life. I would never have a normal life. I looked in the mirror and I didn't even recognize the girl who was staring back at me. She was wearing a thin smile, a floor length one shoulder black chiffon dress, black stilettos, diamond earrings, a small diamond necklace, and two huge diamonds on her ring finger.

  She looked so different from the girl that wore the sun dresses that came in all the bright colors and didn't care about dressing to impress people. She used to be happy. She used to live a life that seemed to be going according to plan, well, her father's plan. She royally screwed it all up. She made a simple mistake that changed the outcome of her life forever. She fell in love with the wrong person. She got hurt and hurt badly. She swore she would never love again or give herself to someone without knowing exactly what they were capable of.

  It was hard to believe that the girl I was seeing...was me. This fierce, strong, brave girl was me. I suppose you shouldn't ever underestimate what sudden changes, pain, and heartbreak can make you become. I came back to reality as Belle handed me a black wrap to place over my shoulders. I didn't need it. Papa's funeral was inside and the tent we had set up outside was heated but I guess it was more for comfort than practicality.

  "I'll go get Paolo so he can escort you downstairs. My date is here." I stared at her. A date. She brought a date to my father's funeral. She stood there frozen in front of me.

  "You brought a date. A DATE!" I screamed at her. I'm sure it was echoing through the house. She started to walk away from me so I followed her. No one walked away from me without me allowing them to. I was her Donna not just her cousin anymore. We were at the top of the stairs when I grabbed her arm and stopped her.

  "Jesus, Maria. Let go of me! You're hurting me." She spat the words at me angrily.

  "You brought a fucking date to my father's funeral! A fucking DATE! You thought it was appropriate to bring someone to an event for FAMILY ONLY!" There was a man staring up at us from the bottom of the stairs. I felt a hand on my shoulder and for a moment glanced at who it was. Paolo was standing behind me. He was trying to tell me to let it go but I wouldn't let this go.

  "It's not a big deal, Maria. Seriously." She sassed back.

  "It may not be a big deal to you, Isabelle but it is most certainly a big deal to me! This is my father's fucking funeral! This isn't a dinner party! You need to grow up and stop thinking everything is a party. We aren't celebrating anything here today. We're mourning and I officially become an orphan today! Unless you're celebrating the fact that now you are the one with the perfect life, Isabelle!" I screamed at her and more people came into the foyer. I recognized at least ninety percent of the faces staring up at me. I let go of Belle's arm and turned to face the people below me. They all bowed
and lowered their heads as a sign of respect.

  "Let me make this absolutely clear to everyone since some people are choosing to follow what they think is right. I am The Donna. I am replacing my father who is now dead. That's why we're all here today...to bury my father. If you are here for a party then get out." I stared straight into the eyes of the man that belle now clung to, "I'd like for you to introduce yourself and tell me exactly why you decided to crash my father's funeral." He opened his mouth to speak but didn't. I knew those eyes.

  "Maria, enough. Don't do this." Paolo whispered into my ear as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I ignored him.

  "I'm waiting for a response." I yelled at the man.

  "My name is Anton. I'm Belle's boyfriend." I felt red hot anger still burning through my veins.

  "What is your last name?" Those ice blue eyes stared back at me. Those eyes. Those were Nikolay's eyes. I felt my hands shaking and I felt lightheaded.

  "I go by my mother's maiden name...Mikhailov." He was a Russian. Just like Nikolay. Some of the guests started to part their ways from Belle and Anton.

  "Well then, it looks like you've stumbled into quite the wrong place and have started a relationship with quite the wrong girl, Anton. Isabelle is going to show you out and you two will part ways. Permanently." I moved my glare to Belle and she did as she was told. She knew that she couldn't have kept this a secret, it's almost like she wanted me to do this.

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  After the mess that Belle started, everyone settled into the ballroom where my two brothers spoke of memories with our father and everyone said their goodbyes to my father. We had his casket open so that people would never forget his face as he was finally leaving this world. Paolo stood up and went to the podium that was beside the back end of the casket. "The family asks that you all pick a word that you believe describes the late Don and write it on the slips of paper provided in the foyer. They ask that you hold onto it and after the late Don has been lowered into the ground that each person speaks their word one at a time and tosses a rose into the ground to give the late Don one last token of your loyalty and love." He stepped back and rejoined me as I stood by my brothers at the front end of the casket. I held my belly as I tried not to cry.