10: His Truth

Lucca

It's been almost two hours now since my angel had fallen asleep on my shoulder. Her strawberry scented shampoo was tingling my nose and I was enjoying it. Our fingers were entwined with each other and I kept rubbing circles with my thumb over her wrist. I noticed she had a gauze bandage on her palm. I wondered what happened and decided to ask her about it once she is awake. But until then I was enjoying the feeling of her lying next to me. At that moment I didn't care about anything. I just wanted my angel next to me all the time. Forever.

She shifted slightly when my phone on the nightstand pinged with an incoming message. I didn't want to wake her up. So I grabbed my phone quickly silencing it and then looked down at her. She was still sleeping peacefully. I sighed with relief because I wasn't ready to let this moment come to an end. Also that I wanted her to rest because I knew she must be tired. Because I knew she had the night shift earlier and then I woke her up in the middle of her sleep, only to interrogate her.

I felt anger building up in me as I got furious over Francesco and Ciro stunt all over again. I couldn't believe Francesco. I literally told him not to ruin this and how important my angel was for me. But still he went with his shenanigans and asked my angels those awful questions.

I knew he was burned from his past girlfriend, which left scarred and doubting every single girl he met. But he can't go around ruining other peoples love story. I already had enough trouble on my plate to worry about with Francesco's help. I was scared she will run for the hills once she knows my reality, my demons, my enemies. The thought of my angel running away from me causes my heart to ache and it had nothing to do with my injuries.

The phone in my hand vibrates with another incoming message. I glance down and see two text messages from Francesco. Talk about the devil.

Francesco:  All okay???

Francesco: If you don't reply in a minute, I am walking in.

I just roll me eyes at that and then quickly type in a message just in case he decides to barge in and wake my angel up.

Lucca: All okay and don't you dare barge in. She is sleeping and I would like to keep it that way.

His reply comes with a seconds.

Francesco: Just letting you know she has night shift today. So she has to get going in an hour, if she wants to make it on time. Also the dinner is ready.

Lucca: And how on earth do you know that??

Francesco: Ciro just told me that. Apparently they both bonded on their way over and she mentioned it to him.

At that I looked at my angel. She was sleeping so peacefully. Her long, thick eyelashes were resting on her creamy cheeks. Her lips were slightly parted, and she was snoring softly. God she is perfect and I hope soon she will be mine.

She shifted next to me, and I felt her waking up. Then she opened her eyes slowly and tensed.

"Angel," I whisper softly letting her know it was okay. She was okay.

She looked up at me and scanned my face. Then her body visibly relaxed and she shyly smiled at me.

"Did I wake you up??" I whispered as I got my lips close to her forehead and placed a soft kiss there. I didn't move, I kept my lips there loving how skin felt on my lips. She released a small hmmm sound and moved closer to my chest. I loved her response to my touch.

"Lucca." she said softly and shifted so I could see her face.

"Yes angel." I replied once our gaze met.

She moved her tiny hand to my face and gently caressed it over my bruised area "Does it hurt??" She ask as she moves her thumb back and forth over my cheek.

I cupped her hand with mine and placed a kiss on her bandaid palm. "Does this hurt?" I ask her back and she looks at her palm in confusion like she doesn't remember that bandaid was there. Then shrugs her shoulder "Not even a single bit."

"What happened??" I ask as I kiss her palm again.

"Work related injury. Nothing serious or nothing new there." She says in a dismissing tone.

I raise my eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean by nothing serious or nothing new there angel?"

She looks down not meeting my gaze "I am a accident prone person Lucca." She says as if she is ashamed of it. " I trend to get into trouble quite often and if not that trouble runs into me"

"Then you better keep me around you. So I can save you from all the troubles that you trend to run into" I say in a lighter tone and she looks up at me in surprise and smiles at me. Her eyes look at me with so much trust that I promise myself that I would do anything to protect her.

"Lucca, don't avoid my question. Does it hurt???" she asks as she points at my bruised face.

I sigh loudly pretending to be frustrated but only loving her caring side for me. "It looks worse than it feels angel and beside that I am high on painkillers. So I can barely feel anything." I say with a wink trying to relax her.

"Lucca, you need to rest and.. oh, I forgot I got you chicken porridge. Let me warm it up for you, so you can have that for dinner." She says as she tires to move.

I move my hand quickly to her back and hold her close to me "Angel I need to talk to you about something."

She looked up at me in confusion.

"Angel I think we need to talk about what just happened here today." At that her face goes pale as ghost and her eyes widened.

I mentally slapped myself and rush to explain "Oh god angel relax. It's nothing bad." I feel her relax in under my hold but she still looks at me suspiciously. Like any minute now I will ask her questions like Francesco did and judge her.

"Angel first I need to apologize for what Francesco did. He was been an insensitive jerk and I will make sure he apologize to you for his mistake. He should have never doubted you when I specifically asked him not to dig into anything." I wanted her to feel comfortable around him, and the only way that could be possible was when he apologized to her.

"Lucca, it's okay. He was just doing his job and...."

I didn't let her complete her sentence. Because I knew what she was doing. My angel is so sweet and kind that she will never hurt anyone even when she was getting hurt. That alone make me to protect her and to keep her safe even more.

"Angel please don't make excuses for someone else's mistake. He did wrong and he needs to apology to you. Period." I say as I snuggle close to her and place a soft kiss on her head. I didn't wanted to be rude or anything but I wanted her to know he should never undermine her self, especially if she was going to be mine soon.

I hold her close to me and after a moment has passed she says "Lucca, can I ask you something???"

"Anything angel, you don't even need to ask." I reply the next instant not even worried what she will ask. Because I will always be faithful and honest with her. No questions there.

"Why do you need a bodyguard with you all the time??"

I sigh deeply because I was waiting for this question. One question that could break us apart or make us each others forever. "Angel, promise me one thing first."

She looks at me with confusion. "Promise me that you will let me explain everything first and then you will make any decisions."

I wait for her to reply and after a few seconds which seemed like a minute  she nods in agreement.

I let out a breath as I relax a bit before I say "I am Lucca Massimo." I wait for her to jolt up and run out of the house. Because everyone in this part of city knows who I was and what I am capable of. They all scared of my shadow let alone my presence.

But my angel just blinks her big brown eyes at me. She looked so beautiful with confusion written all over her face that I wanted to abort the idea of telling her about myself and just devour her mouth. But I knew I couldn't so I start again.

"I am the underboss of the Massimo family." I explain slowly "My family has been part of the italian mafia for over several generations now." Her eyes go wild but i continue. "As an underboss I am responsible in charge of the city. Everything that happens here needs to be approved by me first. I might be an underboss angel but I don't kill innocent people nor I let them get killed by others." She seems to understand my point and visible relaxes.  "And yes Francesco comes everywhere with me. He is like a virus that I can't get rid of. " I try crack a joke just, so she does run out of the room and never come back. I mean I get it she barely knows anything about me. But I don't need to scare the hell out of her.

"....uh so you are... uh.. umm ... member of .. a..."

"Mafia" I say in way of helping her.

She swallows and then just nods her head. I was not sure if she was agreeing or just coming to terms with the news. But either way I wanted to know what she was thinking. But I knew that I needed to give her time to absorb the news. So I decided to stay quite. But when the silence stretched to one whole minute "Angel, please say something. Anything" I pleaded with her.

"...uh..a.." She starts but then stay quite again. I started getting nervous now. "Angel, please don't be scared of me. And please don't leave me. I know we just meet but...."

But before I could complete my plea she interrupted me with something I never thought I would ever hear.

"Scared... omg no Lucca, I am more like worried for you."  Worried for me??Now I was the one who was confused. Nothing she was saying was making sense. Why was she worried?? and that too for me??

Noticing my silence and confused face my angel explained "Lucca you are the underboss of the Massimo family, don't you get it what it means????"  She raises both her voice and eyebrow at me and I wonder if I should answer her. And also what on earth am I supposed to answer to that.

"...uh...." I try to answer but trust me uh is all I got. So I just stare at her in utter confusion.

She sighs loudly as if she could believe I was unable to answer such an easy question. "Lucca, it means your life is in danger 24/7 and that worries me."  Her voice sounded genuinely worried.

I gaped at her and then started to chuckle. I mean out of all the possible outcomes I thought this truth will bring. I never thought my angel would react this way. Quickly my chuckle was converted in to a laughter and rested my head in the crook on her neck. I couldn't believe her reaction to this news. She was amazing and she was mine, now.

"Lucca???" She asked with uncertainty.

I got my laughter under control and looked back at her. But before I said anything I placed a kiss on her temple. Kissing her was something that I was getting very found of.  "Angel" I try to say with a straight face but ended up laughing again.

"Lucca, I am serious. You are in danger and I get the feeling that the attack in alley was done on purpose. I wonder who they were ??? and what do they want???" She says on a serious note.

At the mention of attack, I sober up quickly.

"I think you should hire more security guys. It's not that I don't trust Mr.Hulk. But it's just that I worry about you and I would suggest you increase your security men."

"Hulk???" I interject in confusion. But she completely ignores me and continues to give me ideas on how to improve my security and what all precautions I should take.

I just smiles at her protectiveness and kept looking at her big brown eyes.

"Lucca focus... you need to upgrade your security and ..."

I grab her hand softly, avoiding the bandaid part and placed a kiss on her palm once again "Angel, love listen."

"Everything is under control and I am pretty sure Francesco upgraded my security team. Trust me he is the worst." I say as I roll me eyes remembering how Franceco reacts. He must have added 10 more soldier to security team and 15 new cameras to track every single movement happening around me. He hates surprises and yesterday was definitely one. And also with new enemy on lose, he must be going crazy.

"Good," Angel sighs with relief. "I am happy he takes his job very seriously and I bet he must be worried." She adds with a smile.

I nod in agreement "Angel, I swear I never thought you would react this way. But I love it and thank you so much for not running away from me. " At that her eyes softeren. And then I member "By the way who the hell is Mr.Hulk???" I ask trying to mask my annoyances at that.

She giggles and rests her forehead at my chest.

"Angel, love please tell me, you are killing me here," I say in a serious tone, just letting her know it is bothering me. I hated the idea of any other man near her.

She looks back at me  and reply shyly "Your brother, Francesco he looks like the hulk from the movie 'The hulk' - with all the muscles and a scowl look on his face."

For one second I just stare at her and then we both start laughing. I agree Francesco does look like the hulk. He is build like a tank and loves to workout - which is weird to me. I mean who loves to workout??? and also he does have a scowl look 24/7.

"Angel you definitely got that part right." I say and relax next to her and she chuckles even more.

"Lucca, are you in danger??" She asks once she is done laughing. I look at her, and she has worry written all over her face.

"I don't want to lie to you angel but the less you know the better it is."

"It doesn't answer my question Lucca and either way I am going to worry about you." She tries to argue. But I don't want her to worry about it. My safety is  something for me and Francesco to stress about not for my angel to worry about. I just wanted to keep her away from this part of my world. But I know this won't be possible.

"Angel I promise you I will be very careful from now on. " I had to because now I had my angel to come back to. Someone I never thought I would ever meet. Someone who has become so special to me that I can't imagine living without her.

I can see from her facial expression that she wants to fight with me on this. But she holds back and agrees with me.

"Thank you." I reply and then just stare at her.

She was just perfect and that was driving me crazy, and the funny part was that I was letting her. I wanted to tell her that but before I could, her stomach growled in protest. Both of us looked at each other and then started to laugh.

"It looks like we need to take food break angel." I say with an easy smile on my face. I rarely smiled but whenever my angel was with me I tend to smile a lot. She just made everything so beautiful.

I try to move slowly but my angel pushes me back to bed gently "Oh no Mr. where do you think you are going?" She questions me a stern voice. " Lucca you need rest and also..."she glanced at the bedside table for the clock. I followed her gaze and the clock read 7:40pm "..... on no I need to get going. I got work at 9"  She says and hurries to slide from been on top of me.

But the thought of her leaving left a sinking feeling in my heart. I know it's for work but I didn't want her to leave. Ever. I wanted next to me forever. But I knew I couldn't keep her here with me, ...for now -  the possessive side of me said. Soon she will be me mine and I won't let her out of my sight for even a second.

"Angel let me take you downstairs and then get you something to eat first." I try to sit up again, but she shakes her head, not agreeing with my idea.

"Angel, even I need to eat too and Francesco and Ciro are waiting for us downstairs." I add with a pout.

She looked at me and was quite for a moment. It was like she was trying to reason with herself and when I notice her having a change of mind I add "And once we are done eating I will see you out and call it a day. I Promise."

She about my idea for another minute but I know I have got her. "Okay, but I will help you and once we are done you will take your medicine and sleep."

"Promise" I reply solemnly.

I send quickly text to Francesco before we both head down for dinner.

Lucca: Angel and I would be joining you guys for dinner. Make sure you both behave. You especially.

Angel helps me down and then through the foyer down to the dining room. As we enter the room I notice both Francesco and Ciro sitting there, waiting for us.

"Buttercup, you are up." Ciro chimes with excitement.

"Cello" She replies trying to sound annoyed but I know she is happy to be welcomed here.

"Thank you for waiting for us. Hope you guys didn't had to wait so much." My angel adds trying to break the ice with Francesco. I hate that she has to be careful around him. But it won't be for long, soon I will talk to him and kick his butt for the stunt he pulled.

"Oh it's okay." Ciro says with ease and then we all move to sit around the table.

My angel sits next to me on the right side. I move my right hand to grab hers under the table and squeeze it. When she looks at me I smile softly at her in reassurances.

The butler enters the room and starts placing food plates in front of us.

"....uh I actually made chicken porridge for Lucca. So if you don't mind, could you warm it up for him??" My angel ask as she hands the butler her container.

"Sure Miss." He replies with a smile and takes the container from her.

I didn't even notice her holding it until now.

We all enjoy our dinner comfortably. And once we are done eating my angel excuses herself to restroom and I take this opportunity to inform Ciro that he needs to drop my angel back home.

But to my utter shock Francesco chips in and offer to take her back home.

"I don't think that a smart idea." Ciro says while I just looked at Francesco skeptically.

Just hours ago he was doubting my angels intention and now he is volunteering to drop her home.

Francesco ignores Ciro questioning gaze and looks straight at me. "Lucca, I know I have been acting all paranoid about Miss. Gabrielle's past. But you need to understand,  I am trying to secure all our ends. And after what happened yesterday, I needed to do that."

"But what your way was way over the line Francesco." I hiss at him.

"I agree with you and I am sorry for doing that. I promise you I will be more careful from now on. And if you would let me, I would like to apologize to miss.Gabrielle also." I looked at him and he looked genuinely ashamed about his mistake.

I nod in agreement and was happy that he realized his mistake.

"Francesco, Angel is important to me and I don't want you to ruin this for me anymore than you have already done. So you better behave yourself.  I warn him and he nods in understanding.