Chapter 163
Aria First Person POV
the
I was still holding my breath when I said it.
Rita had been making tea, moving around the kitchen like it was just another normal day. Her voice had been calm and kind all morning. But ! couldn’t keep it in anymore. The secret felt too big inside me. So I told her. Quietly. Almost like I hoped she wouldn’t hear.
“I’m Victor’s stepdaughter.”
Silence.
I stood there frozen, my hands clenched at my sides. Her back was still to me. She had just placed the sugar jar back on the shelf. I watched her shoulders rise a little. Then slowly, she turned around and looked at me.
Her face didn’t twist in anger. She didn’t look disgusted or shocked the way I expected. She blinked. Then she laughed.
Actually laughed.
“Oh, Dio mio,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I should have known.”
I stared at her, confused.
Rita placed both hands on the edge of the counter, leaned forward slightly, and gave me a tired smile. “I broke up with that man over a year ago. And he is still refusing to sign the damn papers.”
My mouth dropped a little. That was not the reaction I had expected.
“I thought you would be upset,” I admitted. “I thought… maybe you’d see me differently. Because the triplets are technically my stepuncles.”
Rita rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might fall out of her head. “Cara, do you know how many technicalities this family ignores every
day?”
She walked over to me and grabbed my hand. Her fingers were warm and soft. “Victor’s father only wanted me for my money. I was lonely, and I was grieving someone. I made a mistake. And I’m not ashamed to say that.”
She gave my hand a small squeeze. “But you? You are not a mistake. And whatever is happening between you and my boys, that is your business. Not mine. As long as they love you, and you love them, that is what matters.”
I let out a long breath. One I had not realized I was holding.
“You’re really okay with it?” I asked again, needing to hear it one more time.
“Yes, sweetheart,” she said, gently brushing a piece of hair from my face. “I’m not here to judge you. I’m here to make sure you’re safe. And happy. And well–fed.”
I laughed at that. It came out unexpectedly, and she joined me.
Just then, Chiara walked into the room with a loud yawn and a messy bun on top of her head. “Did someone say food?”
Rita turned quickly and started fussing over her too, asking if her head hurt, if she needed painkillers, if she wanted soup or tea. Chiara answered every question with a groan or a shrug. I could tell she liked the attention, even if she pretended not to.
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Chapter 163
We sat down together at the table with toast and tea. It was quiet for a few minutes, in a peaceful way. I sipped my drink and tried to let myself feel normal again.
When Chiara got distracted with her phone, I leaned in a little toward Rita
“How do you deal with it?” I asked softly. “The mafia thing. Your boys being part
of i
it.”
Rita sighed. Not dramatically, just like someone who had carried that question for years.
“It is never easy,” she said. “I try not to think about it too much. But I worry every day. About what kind of danger they’re in. About what they might become if they lose too much of themselves to it.”
I nodded slowly, my chest tight.
“But,” she added, looking me right in the eye, “they are not monsters. They are still my sons. And even if they do terrible things sometimes, ! know they would never hurt the ones they love. I raised them to protect what matters.”
She reached over and took another sip of her tea.
“They’re grown men now,” she continued. “I cannot protect them the way I used to. I had to let go of that dream a long time ago.”
Right then, the door creaked open, and Enzo walked in.
He didn’t say anything at first. Just walked over and leaned down to kiss Rita on the cheek. She smiled up at him, and he rubbed her back gently, the way a son would when he knew his mother was carrying too much.
“You did good, Ma,” he said softly. “We’re still standing.”
She smiled wider and swatted his chest. “You are always listening, huh?”
“Always,” he grinned.
Then his eyes turned to me.
Without a word, he came around the table, slid his arms under me, and lifted me like I weighed nothing.
“Enzo!” Rita said in mock protest. “Put the girl down.”
“She’s coming with me, I need my girl tonight” he said over his shoulder, heading for the stairs,
I didn’t fight him. I curled into his chest and let him carry me.
We went upstairs in silence. I could feel his heart beating against my cheek. He opened the door to his room and stepped inside.
It smelled like him. Clean and deep. There were no bright colors. Just dark grey sheets, black furniture, a deep brown wooden wardrobe. The curtains were pulled halfway, letting in soft light. There was a leather chair in one corner and a neat stack of books on the nightstand. Everything was tidy, but lived–in.
He set me down gently on the bed, like I was something breakable.
Then he pulled off his shirt and let it drop to the floor.
His eyes stayed on mine as he crossed the room and got onto the bed. His fingers reached for the hem of my shirt, slow and careful. He pulled it over my head and tossed it aside.
He didn’t touch me right away.
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Chapter 163
He just looked at me.
Like I was something precious.
Like he had waited all day for this moment.
A slow smile tugged at his lips as he leaned in.
Then he climbed over me, his body warm and strong above mine.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight again,” he whispered, just before his lips brushed mine.
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