I could barely keep my eyes open. Alessio laughed before placing a kiss on my neck, where his face was currently buried.
“Are you sore?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Alessio pulled away and fell on his stomach beside me, presenting me with his back. I rolled onto my side to face him.
Alessio smiled almost sleepily, his eyes drawn to my neck. He reached forward and gently caressed a finger down the skin. “I marked you,” he whispered, looking extremely proud of himself. His eyes shone with a possessive glint.
Shaking my head, I smiled. I had never seen Alessio lose control like that. For the first time, I’d seen the extent of his possessiveness. I should have been scared, but I wasn’t. Instead, I felt wanted and desired. And lastly, I felt loved.
I scooted closer to Alessio and saw his back bunch. Lying my head on his arm, I sighed dreamily. I knew he would never hurt me. Alessio would only ever give me pleasure.
My hand moved to his back, and my fingers traced the bird tattoo that covered half of his back and around his shoulder blades. The bird looked like it was rising from fire, but the design was beautifully executed. Every time I looked at it, I was completely mesmerized.
Alessio’s muscles flexed under my wandering and exploring touch. “What type of bird is this?” I asked curiously, my fingers tracing his spread wings.
“It’s a Phoenix,” he muttered in reply. “I got it the day I took over as Boss.”
“Oh.” My fingers continued to touch the bird as I asked my next question. “Is that fire it’s rising from?”
I felt him nodding. “Fire and ash.”
“Ash?” I questioned.
“When I took over, the Families were almost destroyed. After my mother’s death, Lyov completely lost it. He was drunk all the time and barely took care of the Families. We were almost ruined and were so close to losing everything. He was not fit to be Boss anymore. He wasn’t strong enough. When I turned nineteen, he handed the title over to me, and I became the Boss,” Alessio explained. At the mention of his mother’s death and father’s name, my wandering hand froze and the air left my body.
Alessio didn’t seem to notice at first as he continued with his tale. “The ash represents the Families when I took over. Everything and everyone was destroyed. We lost so much, and I had to start over, building our empire again. I had built a stronger and bigger Army, my empire from the ash.”
Sometimes I forgot who he was. He controlled and ruled New York City and every other part that belonged to him with an iron fist. He was a Boss. One of the most powerful. Even more than the Italians. “The Phoenix is you,” I choked on my words.
I felt his nod again. “Why did you stop touching me?” he asked, flexing his muscles as if demanding my touch.
“Sorry,” I mumbled and continued with my gentle caress, even though I was shaking with sudden dread. “What about the fire?”
“The fire is what I own now. I rise above everything and everyone. I’m the master, the judge, the jury, and the executioner. Everyone else bows in front of me.” His voice was strong and filled with power.
Swallowing hard against my nervousness, I closed my eyes. How was I going to tell him my truth? I trusted him, yet in many ways, I still feared him…his reaction.
“You stopped again.”
My eyes opened again, and I mumbled another quick apology. As my hand moved over his back, I heard Alessio sigh in relief and contentment. “I love your hands on me.”
“I love touching you,” I admitted softly.
“You calm me, Ayla. You calm the fire raging inside of me,” he confessed.
I placed a kiss on his shoulder as my fingers started to trace the chain tattoo on his arm. It started from his neck and curved around the Phoenix before continuing down the length of his arm, stopping right above his elbow.
“What about this one? What does it mean?” I asked, soothing my hand over the heavy, black chains.
Alessio froze underneath my touch.
I froze too. I started to divert the conversation when he answered, his voice low and deep.
“It means I am chained to my past.”
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. I didn’t like where this conversation was going, but that didn’t stop me. “What do you mean?”
“It represents my vengeance.”
His words were a blow to my chest, and I felt a crack in my heart. It was almost as painful as the thought of losing everything I had just found. I looked at the chain that marked Alessio’s body, and tears filled my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away.
“Every time I catch a glimpse of it in the mirror, it serves as a reminder. It is a reminder that I need to take my revenge against the Italians. Every time I look at the chain, it fuels my anger and hatred.”
Oh, his voice, it was filled with so much loathing and disgust. His words were laced with years of fury. His body was tense, muscles coiled tight as his words filled the room, his confession weighing heavily around us.
He hated the Italians—the Abandonatos—so much that he had marked his body as a reminder.
“Every time I look at the chain, I see my mother’s lifeless eyes, her blood around me.” Alessio’s voice broke over the last few words, but then I felt him taking a deep breath. He shuddered under my touch, and I pressed my lips together to stop an agonizing cry from escaping.
“I’m consumed by it. It is what keeps me going, all these years and even now. My need for revenge has kept me alive,” Alessio continued in the same tight voice.
I was distraught at the thought of him being in pain for so long. I wished I could take it all away, erase all his pain and the years of suffering.
I didn’t dare lift my head from his arm. I kept my face hidden from Alessio as I soothed him with my gentle touch. “Alfredo is already dead. What will you do? To the Italians?” I asked softly.
“Alberto is still alive. He is their so-called Boss. Alfredo may be dead, but that little fucker has taken over, and he needs to die.” Alessio paused for a moment as my heart accelerated, sweat forming on my forehead in tension.
When he continued, I had to stop myself from shifting away from him. “Every single one of them. I will kill anyone who comes into my path. I will slaughter until I’m their fucking Boss. I will not stop until I have them under my feet.”
Alessio laughed humorlessly, his body shaking under my hand. “That’s the ultimate payback. Making his empire, his army bow down to me, worshiping me as their God.”
I had seen sweet and gentle Alessio. I had seen angry Alessio. But this one…the one who was filled with so much hatred and vengeance, that was the first time I had seen or heard him speak.
And out of all the different shades of Alessio, this was the one who scared me the most.
But even through my fear, I felt sudden relief. And safe in Alessio’s arms.
During his confession, I didn’t miss the one promise he made.
Alessio had vowed to kill Alberto, my tormentor. He didn’t know how much that meant to me, to know that one day, I’d be rid of this man—the devil in my life.
“Alessio,” I whispered.
“Yes?”
My fingers traced the chain and then the Phoenix. “You said you’d kill anyone in your path. But what about the innocent?”
Alessio tensed. “What?” he said slowly. Oh no, I knew that tone. But I continued to push. I needed to know.
My voice trembled as I spoke. “What about those who are innocent? Will they perish, too? Just because they were doomed to be an Italian—an Abandonato?”
Like me. The words were at the tip of my tongue, but I stopped them just in time.
He didn’t speak for what felt like the longest time in my life. Then he spoke. And when he did, I knew that no matter what…my ending would always be the same.
“There is no fucking innocence in that family. They are all the spawn of the devil. They are tainted with my mother’s and sister’s blood.”
Bringing a hand to my mouth, I choked back a sob. It didn’t matter that I was a victim and innocent, because at the end of the day, I was an Abandonato.
“Tell me something, Alessio,” I said hoarsely. “You said there is no innocence in that family. You hate them. But…” I paused and took a deep breath. “What would you have done if I was one of them? What if I tell you I’m an Abandonato?”
My question was met with silence. I quickly swiped my tears away and waited. And waited. And waited. Seconds passed by…and then minutes. I still waited as silence enveloped us.
Alessio suddenly shifted from under me, and then I was on my back, and he was looming over me, his gaze intense, his eyebrows furrowed in question.
“What are you talking about?” he growled.
Palming his cheeks, I whispered, “It’s just a question, Alessio. I’m just wondering.”
“Ayla, that’s a stupid question. Why would you even ask that?” He glared down at me. “Don’t say that ever again.”
He leaned down and placed a kiss on my nose. “I don’t ever want you to associate yourself with those fuckers again. Not even as a fucking joke. Do you hear me?”
My heart stuttered at his words, and before I could stop myself, I pulled him down until our lips met each other. I kissed him with everything I had. I kissed him until I was breathless. I kissed him with such fervor as if it were my last kiss.
Alessio growled into my lips and slowly pulled away, both of us breathing hard, our heart pounding, singing to each other with the same rhythm.
“You’re too innocent, sweet, and gentle to ever be an Abandonato. Your heart is pure. An angel can’t belong to the Abandonato,” he whispered against my lips.
My breath hitched, and my fingers tightened in his hair.
“Alessio…” I said softly. He gazed down at me with loving eyes. And I knew he could see the same thing in my eyes, for I had given myself to him. My heart, my body, my soul, and my love.
Even through the searing pain my chest, I smiled.
And then he did, too.
Our smiles had lightened each other’s hearts. I could see the pain fading from his eyes until they were soft.
“Enough with this now. We should sleep. It’s late,” he admonished quietly. Getting off the bed, he turned off the lights, leaving only the night lamp on before joining me in bed again.
Alessio rolled us over until he was on his back and I was half lying on top of him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head on his chest, right over his beating heart. He wrapped an arm around my hips, holding me close to him, and he pulled the comforter over us.
I closed my eyes with a sigh.
Alessio’s vengeance was weighing heavily on his shoulders. I knew he would kill Alberto soon. It was coming. His death had been signed the moment he took over.
For the first time in my life, I prayed that someone’s death would come faster. I prayed for the day that Alessio would end the life of my tormentor and release us from the chains of our pasts.
The moment Alessio refused to believe that I was an Abandonato was the very same moment I had made a decision.
It was a naïve thought. Stupid even. Maybe my naivety would get me killed me in the end.
But in that moment, I had decided that I was no longer Ayla Abandonato.
I was just Ayla.
Alessio’s Ayla.
Alessio’s Angel.
With that as my final thought, Alessio’s heartbeat lulled me into a peaceful sleep. I dreamed of us at the creek, kissing and making love as happiness radiated around us.