Undressed By The Mafia God novel Chapter 402

Chapter 402: Don’t Leave Me

"Bambola," he murmured, easing one hand to her wrist. "I’m just trying to cover you."

She shook her head against the pillow, eyes filling without spilling over. "Don’t leave me."

"Now, why the hell would I do that?" Luca asked.

"Because your life would be much better if my dad never asked you for a favour."

"My life is much better, thank you very much," he said. "Would you let me go?" He raised a brow, trying for humour, trying to give her a familiar version of himself to hold onto.

Vee only looked at him with heavy, unfocused eyes. "You think so," she whispered, "but it isn’t."

"Babe..." Luca exhaled slowly, forcing his hand to relax. "Can we discuss this in the morning?"

She shifted suddenly, pulling herself up just enough to press a light kiss to his mouth. His eyes narrowed slightly.

He pulled back a fraction. "Have you been smoking?"

"Maybe."

Luca shut his eyes. "Goddammit," he swore.

The anger flashed back. "What in the hell are you doing?"

Luca tried to shift, but she refused to release him. "Veronica....I am not leaving." He sighed and stopped fighting her grip.

Instead, he slid one hand beneath her waist, careful not to jostle her too much, then shifted his weight and turned them over in one smooth movement until he was on his back and she was lying on top of him.

Vee settled against his chest, still clinging to him.

"There," he muttered. "You win. I am captured." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Her cheek rested over his heart. Luca stared at the ceiling, one hand resting across her back, the other slipping into her hair.

"This isn’t how you heal, Bambola."

"That’s the thing," she admitted quietly. "I don’t want to."

"Why not?" he asked.

"I don’t want to heal," she whispered, "because I don’t want to forget."

Luca’s arm tightened around her.

"I want to stay angry," she said.

Luca brushed his fingers through her hair slowly. "I have enough anger for both of us."

"I don’t want your anger. I want mine."

He frowned.

"I need mine," she continued. "I need it to fuel me."

"For what?" Luca asked softly.

Vee was quiet for a moment. Then she lifted her head slightly, eyes distant. "I’ll know when I see it."

A chill passed through him. He understood her too well, way too well.

Yeah, maybe it hurt too much to talk about it. Maybe they were already drowning in Nonnina’s loss, and there was only so much pain a heart could hold before it began throwing pieces overboard to survive.

Maybe someday they would cry together properly. Maybe someday he would stop feeling like the world had robbed him.

Maybe someday, they would lean into each other instead of away. But Luca knew one thing with certainty.

Their love would not break. No matter how hard the world tried to bend it. And until she was ready to talk about it, he would protect her from it.

******

Voss was the one to rouse the house the next morning. Luca’s mind was still foggy when the knock came on their bedroom door.

He opened one eye. His arm was still around her. Veronica had him in a sleep grip. One leg tangled with his, one hand across his mid section, her face pressed into his side.

Another knock came. Luca carefully disentangled himself from her, moving inch by inch.

He slid out of bed, dragged a hand through his hair, and walked to the door. He yanked it open. "Yeah?"

One of the maids stood there, hands clasped tightly in front of her apron.

"There is a Detective Voss downstairs waiting."

"I’ll be right there," Luca said.

The maid nodded quickly and disappeared down the hallway. He turned back toward the bed and found Vee awake.

She was lying on her side, hair tangled over one cheek, eyes still heavy from sleep and alcohol, but alert enough to read the change in him. Her fingers curled around the edge of the blanket.

(100 power stones!!! We are already close to 200. Lets do this)