Page 307 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

I swallow a chuckle.

Nice to have some of the power for once.

My mind flickers back to the nightmare that woke us both, the one that brought him to me, the one that led me to his bed.

And suddenly, the clouds of euphoria part and an icy hand clenches my heart.

I should have known the feelings of bliss would fizzle out sooner than later.

“You look like you wanna say something.” His forehead creases.

Damn, he’s perceptive.

When you look at him, you don’t think he’s going to be firing on all cylinders. He’s just too gorgeous to have it all.

Another shocker.

His eyes blaze with longing, and while I want to flip him over and ride him until the sun comes up, he asked me something before and I need to give him an answer. I want him to know why what he did for me by bringing Bella here was so special.

I also need him to understand why she can’t stay.

“When you came into my room before, you asked me if I was okay.” I take a deep breath. “I’m not, for a lot of reasons. The past couple of days have turned me into a tangled mess of anxiety and panic and sadness. Oddly enough, even though you caused some of it, you did more than you know to relieve a lot of it.”

He wraps his arm around me, obviously sensing that I need to be held.

Like I said, very perceptive.

I stare up into his face, a face that over the past couple of days I’ve wanted to both punch and kiss at varying intervals. He’s gone from sexy to menacing to downright villainous. I get those transitions. It’s who he is that drives them.

But maybe it’s who he wants to be that morphs his expression into concern right now.

“It’s a little weird for me to hear that I’ve helped more than I’ve hurt.” A small smile tugs at his lips. “I don’t get that often.”

“Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“This is a first I never thought I’d experience.”

Tears sting my eyes. “When I was younger, we had a dog. She was a Boston, just like Bella. Such a good dog,” I muse.

“What happened?”

“Mama loved to visit me at school when I was at NYU. She’d take a car downtown and we’d walk in the park. Just the three of us. It was great. Those were the best days…” My voice trails off and an ache in my chest makes my voice quiver. “But then things got worse. The visits started to get more and more sporadic. Until the last time she came down to see me.”

Roman just waits. He doesn’t speak, just gives me a moment to breathe. It’s like he can sense what I’m going to say next, and that it really needs no prompting at all.

“We went for a walk in the park, like always. Frankie came with her because she wasn’t in great shape but desperately wanted to have one of our days. It was a beautiful one, too. The sky was clear, the air was crisp and fresh, the grass so green. But Mama was really tired and weak,” I whisper. “And at one point, she collapsed onto a bench. I panicked and dropped the leash to help her. I blinked my eyes and she was gone, Roman. Forever.”

He brushes his lips against my forehead as the tears roll down my cheeks. “I lost her. I lost my Princess.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “That’s really horrible.”

“The worst part is, we chipped her but something went wrong with the microchip registration. Her chip was registered to another family, who also had a Boston Terrier. It was a crazy mix-up, but we never were able to find her. And then not long afterward, Mom passed. I lost Princess, my mom, my dad…” I sniffle. “And now Frankie…” I shake my head as the tears slide down my cheeks, forcing a dry laugh. “Wow, talk about post-coital bliss, huh? I just wrecked that completely, didn’t I?”

He shrugs. “Eh, bliss is overrated. I like to keep things real. They may suck and they may hurt but they make you stronger.”

“I don’t feel very strong right now,” I whisper.

“You are. More than you know. You may have resisted being a mob enforcer’s daughter, but that blood still flows through you. And you have that strength, Marchella. I can see it. I can feel it.”

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