Chapter 77 To be cared for
Madison's POV
I pretended.
That was what the first thing that came to my head when I heard him utter those words to Nikolai.
Wasn't he the one who told me he didn't mean it?
Maybe Nikolai had coaxed him into saying it so he could get off his back.
"Are you sure you've rested enough, Maddie?" Alessandro jumped to my aid - not like I needed one.
His large arms wrapped around my waist, firmly.
He was so protective of me.
What was I saying?
He was ... Sweet.
Such words should never used on him but I swear, that was the only thing I could use to describe how he had been acting.
"I feel like I'll get bed sick if you keep forcing me to lay down there all day." I groaned, frustratedly.
"How's the pain? The doctor said you shouldn't feel any after a while? I swear, if you're not feeling okay I'd fucking march down there -"
See?
"Easy, Tiger." I chuckled, placing my hand on his chest. He flinched. "Sorry."
He had also been doing that lately.
"I'll go get you -"
"No. I don't want anything." I eyed him carefully, taking a seat on the couch. "I want you. "
His eyes widened. "You.. you want me?"
Holy shit! I said that?
"I mean - uhhh - I... We need to talk." I finally settled for a reasonable reply. "I want you here so we can talk. That's what I meant."
His shoulder tensed, his eyes hard. "Talk? What do we need to talk about?"
"The hospital -"
"The hospital? You don't have to -"
"The incident that led to the hospital. Everything about it. I feel like I owe you some sort of explanation. I also owe you a thanks." I smiled brightly at him.
He sighed - one of relief. What was he thinking?
"Just that huh?" He settled down on the couch, his eyes on me.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that. Are you okay?" I leaned forward, placing my hand on his chest. "Do you have any bruises? Is your heart fine? You fell into the water too."
He just stared blankly at me, shock evident in his eyes.
"Tell me please." I urged.
He placed his hand on my hand, pressing it to his chest. "Why.." he paused, his jaw ticking. "Why are you asking about me, Madison?"
"Because I care."
"Don't care." He said almost immediately, startling me.
When our eyes locked, I saw it - a strange emotion swirled in his eyes. He was confused.
"I can't do that, Alessandro. I care about you." I said calmly, still smiling at him. "Everyone deserves to be cared for."
"Not me." I was about to counter him but then he spoke again. "Drop it. I'm serious."
Sighing heavily, I did. His grip on my hand was still firm. He even squeezed it lightly but I suspected it was unintentional.
"The explanation." He withdrew his hand to his side like mine burned.
He was so weird.
"Are you sure you're okay? You didn't answer me." I creased my forehead in concern.
"Jesus Christ, Madison. I'm good. I was born to face these type of things!" He snapped, irritation evident in his tone. "I wasn't born to feel."
Why did I feel he wasn't on the same page as me?
He was talking about something else.
"Sure." I decided to drop the conversation, missing the rhythm of his heartbeat once I retracted my hand from his chest.
"Yeah." His signature scowl was back to his lips.
"If you keep frowning like that, then you should forget about my story." I told him, averting my gaze to the dresser. My eyes caught onto the new bottle he got me.
More like one from the dozen. He said he was unsure of which one to pick out so he bought all.
My rich Mafia daddy.
Focus.
When my eyes landed back on him, his expression was soft and attentive.
"It was about my mother."
"Huh?"
"I don't know but Maria knows my mother and I got this weird text from her that said to meet her at that Kitchen and then it just disappeared."
Now that I said it out loud...I fell for the prank.
"It was a set up. I don't know if Maria had a hand too." I shrugged. I didn't know what to think.
I barely knew the woman.
"She was really the one who sent the text. Glory and Gina just tailed you." Alessandro clarified, his tone hard. "Unfortunately, that's their last day seeing the outside world because I'm going to make sure they rot in jail."
"If they make it to jail." He added few seconds later.
A small smirk broke out of my lips.
I wasn't feeling sorry. Hell, I didn't even want them to make it to the jail.
Was that normal?
"I..uhm - Okay, so I got there and please don't blame Jero, he tried to follow me, I was stubborn. Oh goodness, did you punish him already?" My eyes widened as I looked at Alessandro whose face was neutral.
"Who's Jero? Does that sound like the name of a living person?"
My heartbeat raced.
What?
"Ales -"
"Oh Jero, your guard." He smirked, nodding like he just got me clearly. "He's ... I don't know."
"Alessandro please tell me you didn't kill him." I begged, praying in my heart that he didn't.
Oh God.
"I didn't kill him. There, I told you." He stared at me boredly. "What? You don't believe me?"
"Alessandro."
"I swear on my fucking father's life." He growled.
"You don't like him that much, Alessandro." I raised my eyebrow at him. "I mean your father."
"Okay, I swear on Nikolai's life." He scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose when he saw my indifferent expression. "Okay, Rose's life! Or Moons?"
"Okay, I believe you. I owe him an apology for turning off my GPS though." I scratched the back of my head.
He'd be so mad at me for trying to get him killed.
"Then I asked this man and he told me to wait somewhere but on getting to that place... I don't know, I felt somehow. Then I turned back and ... Everything just happened in a flash." I shrugged. "It was Kat, Full brow and open teeth."
"Kat, who and what?" Alessandro snickered, shaking his head. That made my lips turn up in a smile.
His onyx eyes lit up, adding a different persona to all of him.
He was so beautiful.
"That's what I call them in my head."
"It's Glory and Gina and we'd be paying them a visit soon." Alessandro cracked his knuckles, his face back to default.
Neutral expression.
"So yeah. That was it."
"I failed to keep you safe." Alessandro's eyes hardened as he spoke.
"You saved me, Alessandro." I moved closer to him, placing my hand on his knee. "You did that. I heard about how you dived without thinking twice."
"Sounds like Nikolai's part of the story. I saw the hook!" He snapped. "If I didn't, I don't know -"
My finger rested on his lips, shushing him. He paused, his eyes on my face. His throat bobbed up and down.
"Nobody has ever come to my aid, Alessandro." I whispered, leaning forward until our faces were inches from touching each others.
"But -"
"But you did that, Alessandro. Not once too."
His lips parted a bit, his eyes flickering between my eyes and lips. Not dwelling much on my thought, I locked my lips with his.
What started as soft, digressed to a rough, hungry, kiss. Our tongues fought for dominance, our body moulding into each others. His pulled me closer by my waist until I straddled him.
"Fuck, are you sure you're strong enough for this."
I smiled, pulling my clothes from my head until they were completely off.
My breast sprung free, bare naked.
I didn't have a bra on.
"Jesus, Madison." His nails dug into my waist.
"Try me, Don."