30

Victoria's POV

The next morning, I woke up snuggled to Ross' body. I didn't know what time it was, but I assumed it was pretty late already, as I could feel the sun on my face through the curtains. His bare chest made me want to stay like that a little longer, but I refused to, as it must had been around 11 am.

I also guessed that he didn't go to sleep early, and that's why Ross hadn't waken up yet. It wasn't usual for him to wake up too late in the morning.

I stretched my arms and slowly got up from bed, careful not to wake him up. I wasn't exactly feeling little, maybe just an older headspace or something, but I didn't pay attention to it. I grabbed a jacket and headed outside, until Ross' voice surprised me.

"Where are you going?"

"Uhm, I'm going downstairs to eat something"

Ross let out a slight groan and sat up on bed, tiredly massaging his shoulders and stretching up a bit.

"Let daddy go with you. What do you wanna eat, baby?"

His raspy voice and his nicknames would always make me feel smaller somehow, and he knew that, too. Ross grabbed some black t-shirt near him and put it on, signaling me to sit next to him on bed.

I obeyed, feeling his arms hugging me from behind.

"Can I eat cookies?" I excitedly asked.

He chuckled a little from his spot on my shoulder and shook his head.

"You're not gonna eat chocolate for breakfast, baby. But maybe I'll let you have some after lunch" I didn't say anything as I knew he would say no, but he kept talking. "Wanna talk about yesterday?"

I stayed still, unsure of what to say. I heard a sigh from him but he didn't push it anyways. Honestly, it was nice to tell him everything. After that, I realized how much it all was affecting me and I was thankful for that.

After some seconds, I decided to speak.

"Thanks for listening to me... I haven't told anyone about that before"

"You were so brave for telling daddy. I'm proud of you, princess" he praised, making me smile and snuggle further to him. "It must've been difficult for you"

"Uh-huh. But I'm better now because of you"

It must had surprised him, because he stayed silent for a moment before starting to chuckle. I loved hearing his laugh, it was really nice, but he didn't do it too often.

Ross hugged me tighter and kissed my ear, making me giggle in surprise.

"I didn't know you were too ticklish" he smirked, and then started peppering kisses all over my face and neck, making me turn into a giggle mess and try to escape from his arms.

We both started laughing at it. If I hadn't met Ross that night, right then I would had been arguing and yelling at my mother, as usual. Even though I didn't say anything last night, I couldn't stop thinking of his words, and he was right. My mother had no right no treat me like thrash all these years.

So... I loved being with him.

"Daddy, s-stop!"

Just when he was about to speak, a few knocks on the door made us stop. I heard Ross sigh and a "come in" escape his lips. It was Marcus.

"Ross- I, uh, sorry to interrupt. I wanted to talk to you about yesterday's matter"

"What is it?"

"Brown is... he says he knows something about the Bianco's family, and I think we should hear him out"

Ross frowned and grabbed the bridge of his nose, his expression going from happy to stern in just a few seconds.

"Now why is he still alive Marcus?" He said through gritted teeth.

He didn't answer, but I saw him signaling Ross to go with him. I believed it was something I wasn't supposed to know.

Before he spoke, I stood up and reassured Ross it was okay and that I was going to be a good girl for the rest of the day, and he simply nodded before kissing my forehead.

I wasn't really upset. I was used to this, the fact that he and I couldn't spend too much time together because of work and his business, but I couldn't help but being frustrated about it. I mean, Marcus, Jeff and Jake were all nice, too, but they weren't Ross.

I watched as he and his brother left the room and went downstairs, feeling my stomach grumble as I hadn't eaten anything in a while. I thought of yesterday and Ross and I's talk, and honestly, it was a lot to process, but it was fine now.

I headed to the kitchen, were someone said,

"Oh, hi"

I was so into my own thinking that I didn't notice Alistair standing right there, apparently he had just talked to someone on the phone. He locked it and spoke again.

"Do you... wanna eat something?"

"Ah, yes" I timidly said. I didn't really know Williams, as we had only seen each other a couple times.

Something inside me needed Ross right now, I just wanted him to carry me so that I didn't have to see Williams, because he was as intimidating as the Caruso's.

"I'm sorry" he said, "did I scare you last night?"

I simply shook my head while ignoring him and trying to reach a cereal box on a top shelf. Of course I was too short to reach for it, and I mentally cursed at whoever had put it there.

I heard a slight chuckle and Alistair grabbed the box, handing it to me. I thanked him, somehow feeling more comfortable. So, I started fixing me some breakfast.

"It was scary, but it's alright. Thanks for helping me yesterday"

"Oh, so you can talk" he mockingly said, making me smile. "I'm glad nothing bad happened"

"Yes, me too... it was my fault though, since separated from them"

"Oh that's okay, I'm sure it was an accident. Plus... that's how those places work"

After that, an uncomfortable silence was set between us. Only the sound of me eating my cereal and Alistair occasionally scrolling through his phone, but it was nice to feel accompanied, though.

Williams was completely different from this mafia. At least, from the Caruso. Unlike them, he had a shiny blond hair and it was common of him to smile. His personality, too, was the opposite of theirs sometimes, as he seemed less tense and stressed, even if he was just hiding it.

But he seemed nice. After all, he was Ross' best friend.

"So, how did you meet Ross?"

His tone, different from daddy's, made me feel shy all of a sudden. I realized it was the first time I got to have a conversation with him.

I answered though, not missing a single detail. I knew he would think I'm crazy for suddenly living with four complete strangers, but he wouldn't get it. I wasn't okay in my house either, so what could had gone worse? That and also, I had always had a good feeling about Ross.

Alistair listened to every single word, nodding at almost every sentence. He didn't make any comments until I finished talking, which took a good few minutes since I wanted to finish eating, too.

"I see. Well, I've known Ross for a lot of time now, and ever since you met him, he's been another person. You know, more focused and stuff"

"Really?" I curiously asked.

"Really. So I'm glad you two are together"

I finished my bowl and put it into the sink, thinking about his words. It made me too happy to know that about Ross, because I was feeling the same way about him.

"And how did you meet R-"

"Williams? What are you doing here?" I heard Marcus said. He entered the kitchen followed by Ross, with a tired look on his face. I could tell he hadn't slept too much either.

"Good morning to you, too. I just wanted to see how you were doing after last night, and I wanted to apologize to Vicky. Right?" He asked me with a smile.

I nodded at them, and they just shrugged and started talking about things I didn't understand, not only because they were related to business but because they tried not to mention too many things in front of me, something that bothered me.

Ross' patted my head once they finished, but I could tell he was upset over this morning's matter, so I didn't say anything. He would always try to make me feel like everything was okay.

"Yeah, so, we'll talk about that later. Right now I'm not in the mood" Ross finished, he stopped stroking my hair and suddenly picked me up, taking me out of there.

"Did you have breakfast, princess?"

"Uh-huh. I wasn't too hungry, though" I said while resting my head on his shoulder. "Daddy?"

"Yes" he answered, softly stroking my hair again. I was starting to get sleepy again at that.

"Can we cuddle now?"

"Anything for my little baby"