Betrothed To The Mafia Lord novel Chapter 7

Sofia’s POV

Luca had asked me to sleep which my over analyzing mind had broken down into multiple meanings even though it only had one actual meaning. I had hoped he wouldn’t find me attractive, so he wouldn’t have to take me against my will because there was no way I’d ever consent to…

Was the word ‘consent’ even available in the vocabularies of the men in the mafia?

There was no way my mind could even be relaxed enough to the point of me falling asleep, that fact was sparkling clear in my head. I puffed out a slow breath, not wanting to make unnecessary sound since I was supposed to be sleeping like an obedient wife like I was asked to.

The lights suddenly got turned off and i sucked in a harsh, audible breath before widening my eyes and slapping my hand over my mouth in the next second. The feeling of the bed dipping made my heart pound even harder and faster against my chest and I inched towards the edge of the bed until I was lying on the very tip, any further and I’d find myself on the floor.

I stared into the darkness and waited, and waited.

Nothing happened, not a sound was heard in the room and had I not felt the bed dip beside me and the sound of a head pressing into a pillow, I might have been able to convince myself that I was the only one alone in the room. But that wasn’t the case, Luca was most definitely lying on the other side of the bed and if he was already asleep or laying awake and planning to pounce on me was totally up to me.

Time went by, but I was still awake. The air conditioner started to make me shiver and I carefully pulled my robe against my neck and curled into myself even more, wishing for nothing more than to slip beneath a warm blanket.

My mouth twisted to the side as the thoughts of my parent house, my former home, slowly started to fill my head, I miss home.

I’d have been fast asleep by this time if I wasn’t buried in my blankets reading one of my books. Speaking of which, I wonder how I was going to survive life without that bit of my life that was one of the things that kept me sane till date. My mind drifted off to my brother, Angelo. The angry expression he wore when I got announced as Luca’s wife was still printed boldly in my head, I could remember the last few words we exchanged today.

I was called to dance with my brother and we barely spoke until when the dance was almost over. He just loosely held me in his arms and moved me along with him until I whispered his name and my voice cracked along the line due to the tears threatening to spill over my cheeks.

“Who’s going to protect you from him, Sofia?” He had then asked on a whisper which dropped with so much pain and sadness, the angry expression that had been on his face since the start of the day was gone and it in was a dejected, saddening expression which I had a feeling would be perfectly mirroring mine had I not had make up on.

“I am going to be fine, Angelo.” I said to him with as much reassurance I could muster and inject into those words, but jokes on me because my voice had cracked again oh those words. He didn’t buy my words for a moment and instead squeezed my wrist and I squeezed his in return immediately.

“Sofia,” He paused and glanced over my head towards where Luca and I were standing before I had been called to the dance floor, then he continued in a voice and a tune I had never heard him use until that very moment. “I promise to kill him if he hurts you, I swear it to you.”

I blinked fast to stop the tears that were threatening to slip out as his words laced with so much pain and bitterness hacked at my weakened heart. Angelo was only fifteen for heaven’s sake, but he was suddenly acting all grown up in the twinkle of an eye, the little brother I was used to looking out for and covering up, nowhere to be found.

“Angelo, please… Please, take care of yourself for me. Promise me” I whispered fiercely as I stared up at him, we were barely moving in a circle anymore and were only moving our feet at this point.

“I’ll take care of myself, but I can’t promise what I cannot keep. Which was why I promised what I was sure of, like I said, I’ll kill him if he hurts you.”

I shook my head immediately, “No, Angelo. Don’t think like that, I won’t get hurt. And even if I do get hurt, it won’t be something I cannot handle.”

“Promise me then.” He challenged and I ducked my head and quickly sniffed back the teardrops threatening to fall out.

“I… I can’t.”

“See? I can’t promise to take care of myself either, I don’t even know how to take care of myself without you in the picture.” He continued, his voice getting fiercer and lower as he poured out his heart, with mine weeping dejectedly in reply.

“I love you, Angelo.” I whispered when the song suddenly stopped.

“I love you, Sofia,” He replied in a heartbeat, squeezing my fingers tightly and I returned the squeeze with my whole heart in it. We couldn’t hug because it wasn’t reasonable for men in the mafia to show unnecessary, stupid emotions like women does. So we settled for squeezing each other’s fingers one last time before we finally left the dance floor for separate directions.

My right side was starting to hurt and slowly go numb from laying in a particular spot for hours but I was too scared to turn around on the bed. This side of the bed was the part I detest the most, I preferred lying on my left hand side, but since I was on the left side of the bed, I’d have to face the inside of the bed if I want to sleep on my right hand side– and risk brushing my body with Luca’s, or just facing his direction in particular.