Page 56 of Mafia King's Secret Baby
I make an effort to not gulp in fresh air. However, I can’t help taking a few steadying breaths before I open my eyes again.
Elio is staring at me with curiosity, but he doesn’t move forward.
“I am not a monster, Caterina.”
I snort. “Okay.”
“Why are you so quick to think that?”
“Maybe the fact you murdered my parents,” I snap.
Darkness, like a summer storm, clouds his eyes. “And you think I killed mine too?”
To inherit the company faster? Yes.
“I don’t know anything about that,” I say, turning my head.
There’s silence for a minute longer. Then, Elio speaks again.
“How do I deserve it?”
My eyes snap back to his. “What?”
“Being Luna’s father. How do I deserve it?”
You can’t ever get there, Elio. “I don’t know. Show up. Be there. Be kind. Be a good fucking parent.”
“And what if I don’t know how to do that?”
“Learn, Elio. I had to. You can too.”
“But you will not help me.”
“No.”
I don’t provide any additional context. I don’t reassure him.
I don’t want to. I don’t plan to. If I have my way, Elio won’t ever have the chance to be her father.
We will be long gone from here, and there won’t be anything that he can do to find us. Because when I leave him this time, I’m going to make sure it’s somewhere that no one will follow. Not Elio. Not my brothers.
Luna and I will escape and never come back.
Elio studies me a minute longer then sighs. “Fine. Let me show you to your room.”
My heart skips a beat. My room? There’s no way in hell that I’m sleeping in another room and away from Luna. “I’m here. This is my room.”
He frowns again. “Your… our… Luna is in there.”
“And she’s my daughter. So we stay in the same room.”
I can tell that Elio doesn’t understand this answer. I arch an eyebrow at him. “Did you think that I was going to share a room with you, husband?”
I make the last word sound like a curse.
“I can afford for Luna to have her own room.”
“It’s not about you being able to buy her a room, Elio!” I whisper shout at him, conscious of my sleeping child in the room behind me.