Page 86 of The Grumpy Billionaire's Mafia Princess

Ava states. “I’m just happy that Graham’s happy. But I am worried that he’s being slightly delusional. When his father finds out about this, I’m sure he’ll raise hell.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t already found out,” I mutter.

“Maybe he has. I’m not going to pretend to understand Richard’s motivations. I’ve been married to him for almost three decades and I’m not in any way closer to figuring him out. I just hope the two of you are strong enough to weather the storm ahead.”

That makes me a little nervous. She’s right in thinking that Graham and I aren’t taking what his father could do seriously. He’s working so hard to become CEO, but what if it’s taken away from him because of me? I want to believe that his father wouldn’t do that to him. But I can’t be sure.

I stare at Ava for a second, wondering if I should ask something.

“Go ahead, honey,” she prompts, seeing the question in my eyes.

“I’m sorry if this is intrusive and you don’t have to answer,” I start. “I was just wondering. Did you ever love him?”

She lets out a soft sigh. “I know Graham thinks I only married Richard because of him, but that’s not true. I was young and dumb once, too. And when I first met Richard, he wasn’t completely awful. He was quite charming in his youth, and handsome. He was also relentless, and when he set his sights on me, I actually did fall for him. Which is embarrassing because I knew he was married. So yes, I loved him once. And even now, some parts of me still care about him. And while I’ll never be able to forgive him for how he’s treated our children over the years, I also can’t regret marrying him. Because he gave me my children, all three of them.”

There’s a fierceness in her eyes as she finishes. Graham thinks his mother is being a coward by staying in a marriage with her husband, but I think it shows how brave she really is. How strong she’s had to be by enduring it all for so long.

“I think you’re pretty amazing, Ava,” I tell her.

And somehow, I see bits of the mother I never met in her. Because just like her, my mother was also married to a monster. Although sometimes I do wonder if my father became a monster after her death or whether the man I knew was the man she fell in love with.

I used to hope that wasn’t true. But I suppose being a part of my world means conforming myself to the idea that sometimes it’s possible fall in love with a person’s darkness just as well as the light they might possess. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

“Does that mean I can give you a hug?” Ava asks hopefully.

My eyes are a little misty as I nod, getting to my feet. My mother passed away due to complications at childbirth so I never got to meet her. When Ava wraps her arm around me, I feel motherly warmth for the first time.

“Mom,” we hear Graham yell from upstairs.

The two of us pull apart suddenly at that. Ava shares a look of confusion with me for a second before we both hurry toward the steps. We find them inside Nate’s former room. The door’s wide open and Graham’s standing over his nephew. I arch an eyebrow at the expression on his face. He looks slightly green, like he’s about to puke.

When he sees us, he lets out a sharp breath of relief.

“Nate has a paper cut,” Graham announces, with complete seriousness.

He says it in the same tone he would use if Nate was bleeding out on the ground from a bullet wound. My eyebrows rise. Ava and I step into the room. She immediately lowers herself in front of the kid, who’s sucking his thumb into his mouth. At his grandmother’s insistence, he removes it so she can inspect the wound. It’s barely anything, a slight cut, with a meager amount of blood pooled outside of it.

I turn to my boyfriend. “You’re joking? Is that why you were yelling?”

Graham makes a disgusted noise, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here. His mother answers my question, a note of amusement in her voice.

“Graham gets a little squeamish at the sight of blood.”

My mouth falls open. “No way,” I say, looking at the six-foot-tall man standing at my side. “Dude, you’re thirty years old and you can’t handle the sight of blood?”

He rolls his eyes as his gaze meets mine. “I wouldn’t say I’m squeamish. I’d just rather not deal with it.”

My eyes shut briefly for a second and I rub my forehead. “I’m so embarrassed on your behalf right now.”

Nate giggles at that, looking okay for someone with the life-threatening injury his uncle was screaming about. His grandmother leads him out of the room to fix up the wound. I cross my arms over my chest once she’s gone, and Graham chuckles at the expression on my face.

“You look fucking hot when you’ve got that sexy scolding look on.” He reaches for my arm, but I shift out of his grasp.

“You’re a big baby,” I tell him teasingly.

His expression darkens. “Hey, I can usually handle blood. Today just caught me off guard. One second, he was flipping through a book I got him, the next, his finger was bleeding. Plus he’s a kid you know so… I freaked out.”

I make a tsking noise as I walk out of the room, turning my back on him to hide the smile on my face. His squeamishness is actually the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard.

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