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Betrothed To The Mafia Lord novel Chapter 282

Luca’s POV

“Ohhh… I never thought of it that way.” He ended up admitting after some time and I gave a small nod of my head at him, because I kind of already figured that out. After some time had passed, I decided to continue to speak.

“I don’t want you to still hold any guilt from back then, ok? It’s of no use. You were gaslighted a whole lot by father and I want you to let go of everywhere, ok?”

I reached out and took his hand in mine, feeling his warm palm fit into mine– although it didn’t fit like the way it usually fit when we were both younger, but my hand was still able to envelop his hand and I closed my fingers around his and stared into his eyes before continuing.

“And I know I’ve never told you this before, but I’m proud of you.”

I watched as he averted his gaze at first and when he lifted his face back up, his eyes were somehow a little shade of red.

“Stop, don’t say that…”

“What shouldn’t I say? That I’m proud of you? I’m actually proud of you, like really proud of you, you have no idea.” I paused and smiled a little when he started to blink rapidly to stop the tears which I found already seen coming from falling.

“I’m proud of you, of how far you’ve been able to come on your own–” He cut into what I was saying before I could complete my sentence.

“Stop, I didn’t really do a thing, I haven’t done a thing compared to you–”

I cut into what he was saying as well, rolling my eyes a little before starting to speak once again.

“That wasn’t what I meant, what I meant was that I’m so proud of you. So, so proud of you. Of how far you’ve been able to come on your own. You went into a foreign country which you know nothing about, by yourself – I didn’t go with you and wait around until you’re settled in… no, it was all you. You went, and you did your thing, you figured yourself out for years and finally called me, when I was starting to think you might have ended up dead at one point.”

I shushed him when he tried to get a sentence in, and then I continued. “I had started to think you were dead at one point, because it was already over nine years and I haven’t heard a thing about you, you know? But then it turned out to be that you’re doing just fine, on your own, by yourself. That’s a very huge and impressive thing to do. I don’t think it’s easy for someone to be able to actually fit into a new place all by themselves. I’m really proud of you and I don’t want you to ever doubt that.” Before I was even completing my sentence, he was pushing forward, closing the small distance between us and throwing himself into my arms. I knew the exact moment that he started to sob, I could feel his body start to tremble against mine, and I held him throughout the whole thing, patting his back and squeezing him against me, reassuring myself that I was indeed holding my baby brother in my arms once again.

“Never doubt the fact that I’m proud of you, alright? Being proud of someone doesn’t have to be about what the person has physically accomplished, it’s way, way deeper than that, it’s really deeper than that.” I paused for a moment and pulled him out of my arms, taking in his tear stained face and his slightly swollen eyes before starting to continue. “And you told you that I was never proud of you when you were little? And that apparently it was until you became a fighter before I’d become proud of you?”

I watched as he sniffed a little before starting to speak. “Well, dad said –”

“Of course dad just had to be behind that, he just had to. That fucking bastard, fucking selfish bastard…”

“You didn't swear this much when I was still little.” Armani cut into what I was saying with those words and I huffed out a small laugh at his words.

“That was because you were still little and innocent.” I said to him with a little eye roll, just as I reached out and started to pat his hair. His curls weren't as soft as mine, but it still felt really nice to finally be running my fingers through his hair once again.

“You’re not all that innocent, are you? You even ended up dying your hair.” I continued, tugging a little at his curls and I watched as he grinned a little, looking cute as fuck right before he bat my fingers out of his hair.

“Thank you so much for all what you do, Luca.” Armani started to say after a few moments, sniffing a little. There was still a little bit of tears clinging to his eyelashes and I dug into my jacket and brought out my handkerchief this time. I dabbed at his eyes myself this time and he didn’t pull away, which sent a pleased and fulfilled feeling inside of me.

“You’re my baby brother, of course I’d do all what I do and even more.” I said to him after a few moments, watched as he swallowed emptily without saying a thing. We fell silent after that, and I went back to leaning against the headrest of my seat the next moment.

“So uh, I went to college and even went back for my masters.” Armani started to say after some time and turned my head around until I was staring at him almost immediately, feeling a smile start to break out on my face as well.

“Really? That’s so wonderful to hear. See? You’ve accomplished so much all by yourself, making all your important decisions by yourself, that’s a great fucking thing to be able to do, and once again, I’m proud really of you.” I said to him and watched as he swallowed emptily without saying a thing, and I decided to reach out and stroke my fingers through some of the curls framing the front of his face, and that made him laugh a little the next moment.

“You say the best thing at the best moment.” Armani started to say after a little while and I raised a brow at him at first before grinning teasingly. “I do?” I asked and watched him nod his head in response, right before he started to speak.

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