My Childhood Bully is a Mafia Boss-Chapter 124

Giovanni

A sharp, sinking feeling pierced my chest when I watched the slow trail of tears falling down Ellie’s face.

I told the driver, John, to pull over so I could focus on her. "Give us some privacy," I ordered. John nodded before stepping away.

I quickly pulled her to my lap. "What’s wrong, my love?" I asked urgently, wiping the tears off her face.

"I...I just..." she choked out.

"Shh...breathe, mia cara. Whatever it is, you can tell me," I crooned, kissing her forehead.

Ellie took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to steady herself. "I... I just feel overwhelmed," she finally admitted.

Disappointment washed over me. "You don’t want to marry me," I said gravely.

Ellie looked up at me, her eyes wide with surprise. "No, Giovanni, it’s not that," she said. "I want to marry you."

A grin escaped me before I could stop it. "You do?"

She nodded.

"Then what’s wrong? What can I do to make it better?" I asked, turning serious.

"You already did so much for me!" she said.

I chuckled. "You sound as if it’s a bad thing."

"I don’t deserve it," she said, her voice barely audible.

"No, that’s not-"

"No, Giovanni, listen to me. I have to tell you something. Something you don’t know," she said in a hoarse voice.

She took another deep breath, her voice trembling. "There are things I haven’t told you about my past. I’m afraid that if you knew everything, you wouldn’t want to marry me."

I caressed her cheek. "Tell me," I said in a calm and steady tone.

"My father was an alcoholic, and he used to stumble home every night in a drunken rage. He would take out his anger on Aidan, beating him mercilessly since he was just a young boy," she confessed, her eyes filled with pain and fear.

I kept my eyes on her, trying to read the emotions flickering across her face. Her eyes were downcast, and tears streamed steadily from their corners.

"Did he beat you?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

She nodded, her hair falling around her face like a curtain of sadness. More tears fell down her cheeks as she spoke, her voice trembling. "He beat me when I was a kid," she admitted, the pain evident in her words. "B...but when I turned fourteen, he..." Her words trailed off and a wave of dread crashed over me, filling the pit of my stomach with icy coldness.

"He did what, Ellie?" I asked slowly.

"He decided I was too pretty to beat up." She let out a humorless laugh. "He decided he’d rather fuck me instead."

I felt a rage building up inside of me. My hands clenched into fists, and I could feel the tension coursing through my veins, but I remained calm so I wouldn’t scare her.

My love," I said hoarsely, my voice laced with emotion and longing.

"You can’t love me, Giovanni. I am damaged," she responded, her words trembling as she spoke. "When someone calls me beautiful, it fills me with disgust. It reminds me of what he did. He told me that he did it because he couldn’t help it. Because...because he thought I was beautiful."

Her voice wavered with raw vulnerability, but her gaze remained steady, unwavering in its determination to push me away.

In that moment, I was flooded with a black, destructive fury that threatened to consume me. Every muscle in my body tensed and my hands clenched into fists. "Where is he now?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

"He is dead," Ellie said timidly, her voice barely audible above the pounding of my own heartbeat.

"That’s too bad because I wish I could tear him apart, limb by limb," I growled.

Tears welled up in Ellie’s eyes as she slowly reached for something on her finger. "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner," she whispered, sliding off a ring and holding it out to me.

"What do you think you are doing?" I growled.

"I...I thought you would like to have your mother’s ring back," Ellie said hesitantly, her hand still extended towards me.

"Why the fuck would I want that?" I said with a tight jaw.

"You can’t possibly want to marry me now. Aren’t you disgusted by me?" she asked.

"Ellie. You are being ridiculous," I said, almost scolding her now.

"I killed him," she declared.

I stared at her. My heart pounded in my chest, and I could feel my breath catch in my throat. I looked down at the ring still clasped in her fingers and felt a strange mixture of emotions - anger, sorrow, and protectiveness. "You killed him," I repeated.

She looked up at me, her eyes filled with both sadness and defiance. "Six years ago. I stabbed him right in his heart."

That’s my girl, my inner voice whispered to me.

She continued. "Six years ago, I killed him when I found out I was pregnant." Her voice broke.

"Lucas," I said. "He is your father’s..."

"Don’t say it," she snapped. "Lucas is mine and that’s all there is to it. I killed him because I didn’t want him to know. I didn’t want anyone to know."

"Lucas is your son. And once we are married, he will be mine too," I said, sliding the ring back into her finger. "And don’t try to slink your way out of this marriage because I won’t let you go, mia cara."

"But Giovanni," she started to protest, but I pressed my lips on hers.

"Don’t speak," I whispered into her lips, my arms wrapping around her tightly. "I don’t want to hear any more protests."

"But I killed my own father, Giovanni," she said, tears brimming in her eyes again.

I chuckled humorlessly. "Do you have any idea how many people I killed in my lifetime, Ellie? Do you really think I’d be the one to judge you for killing that despicable man?"

"But wouldn’t you rather be with someone who isn’t...ruined?" she asked.

"Good god, Ellie," I nearly growled. "You are absolutely insane, but you are not ruined. You are beautiful, and you are perfect."

She sniffled and wiped her face. "You are full of shit, Giovanni."

"Maybe, but tell me something." I leaned and pressed my forehead against hers. "Do you feel disgusted when I call you beautiful?"

"N...no," she said timidly, brushing her lips against mine.

"Are you sure? Because if it does, I will never use that word again. I will use every other word in the dictionary to describe how much I cherish you," I declared.

"What?" she stammered, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Ellie," I said, my eyes searching hers, "I promise. I will never say that word again if it hurts you. But I will never stop loving you or cherishing you. You are my life, my heart, my soul. I couldn’t imagine living without you."

Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked up at me, her lips trembling. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly, her body shaking with emotion. "I love you too, Giovanni," she whispered. "And I don’t feel disgusted when you say it to me."

"What do you feel? Tell me," I demanded.

"I feel loved," she said softly. "I feel warm and...safe. I feel like I can be myself with you, Giovanni. Like I don’t have to hide anymore."

"You never have to hide, Ellie," I reassured her, brushing the tears from her cheeks. "I want to know everything about you. So no more secrets."

"And you? Will you tell me everything about yourself?" she asked.

"Certainly, mia cara," I replied, kissing her palm. "Anything you want to know, just ask me."

"Then will you tell me what happened to you when you went missing when you were sixteen?" she asked.

I halted. "How do you know about that?"

"Nonna told me. She told me how you were gone for a week, and because of that, your mother..."

"Killed herself," I said flatly.

"Yes," she breathed. "Will you tell me what happened?"

For years, I had shoved that memory deep down within me, pretending it never existed. But after hearing Ellie’s own dark and vulnerable experience, I knew I couldn’t keep mine a secret anymore. She had opened up to me, and now it was my turn to do the same and reveal the darkest part of my past. It was only fair.

"I will tell you everything. But first, I should call John back to drive us home. I am sure he is freezing out there." I laughed.

She smiled for the first time. "Okay," she said as she leaned on me and closed her eyes.