Riccardo's POV. I don't know the kind of reaction I expected from Aria but it definitely wasn't this attitude thing she had going on. Okay, scratch that, I know what I was expecting. I thought she would be excited, you know, I thought she would go 'Oh yay! I have a dad now' but obviously I thought wrong. My first mess-up was showing up late to a doughnut date that I did not even realize I had signed up for and she was already giving me so much attitude and I also don't understand why I am so concerned about her attitude. I am Riccardo De Luca. I should not be getting concerned over a tiny five-year-old giving me attitude and shit. I don't even get concerned about anything other than the issues that have to do with the Mafia. "You might want to slow down here. The doughnut shop is right around that corner." Emilia said snapping me out of my thoughts. Aria was silent throughout the entire ride. Her silence either has something to do with me or she was just really interested in whatev
Emilia's POV. "We need to talk," I told Riccardo the moment we were alone. We spent the entire day together, or rather he spent the entire day with Aria. I was silent for most of the day and only interfered when it was absolutely needed. Aria had a great time with him. She was extra chatty, she asked a lot of questions and she wanted to do everything with her daddy. I also found out from her today that she had made a list of things she wanted to do with her dad when she finally gets to meet him. It makes me wonder how she managed to keep quiet about her dad all these years. I know how important having a father is to any child. I had both of my parents and even though they expected too much from us most of the time, my father has never deserted me. He might act all gruff and look angry most of the time but he is a sweet man, not very sweet but sweet. "Of course." He replied. Aria fell asleep on our way back home. She had so much fun that it was expected. I helped her to freshen up
Emilia's POV. "Somebody is excited to go to school today," I said in a singsong voice to Aria. She has been humming and doing a slow dance in the bathroom since and she didn't even complain when I was washing her hair so yeah, she is definitely in a good mood. "Yes, mummy. I am super excited." She announced. "You want to tell mummy what has got you so excited?" I asked her while helping her to dry her hair. "Daddy said he would come and pick me up from school later in the afternoon, isn't that exciting? I get to show all of my friends that I do have daddy too." She said. She was so excited about it that she could not even sit still and I wasn't about to ruin that for her. "Daddy said that?" I asked her and nodded. "We will go for ice cream after school and he will drop me off at the salon." She said. "Okay, Princess. Why don't you go and put on your uniform while mummy gets ready." I told her. She was out of the chair before I could even complete my sentence. I picked up my p
Riccardo's POV."I have news from our man in the Spanish Mafia," Enzo said the moment he walked into my room so I already knew it was going to be something serious. I was busy texting Emilia about picking Aria up from school. Aria had asked me the day before if I will be willing to pick her up from school and I agreed to pick her up. The look on her face, when I agreed to pick her up, made my heart swell— quite literally. I should have asked Emilia if she was fine with that but it slipped my mind and I didn't think she would have a problem with it. I was right. "What is going on?" I asked. "Word has spread that you are not in Italy anymore." He answered. "That wasn't meant to be a secret," I said. "You know what that means to them. You know what it means when a don leaves his territory. They have been looking for ways to harm you for years now, Riccardo. Do you think they won't take advantage of the fact that you are no longer in Italy and you have little security with you here?"
Riccardo's POV. I drove as fast as I could to Aria's school even though a part of me already knew that Emilia would have picked her up. Just as I expected, the school was already by the time I got there and even the guy that I placed in charge of Aria was nowhere in sight. I fucked up big time. Aria was really looking forward to me picking her up from school. I could see the excitement in her eyes yesterday and now...I don't even want to imagine the pain she would be in. I don't know how I forgot all about picking her up because I was looking forward to picking her up too and now... I drove out of her school and started heading for Emilia's workplace. Emilia, I have only given her another reason to not come with me to Italy. I started thinking about how I was going to apologize to Aria. I don't even know the things she likes yet, apart from doughnuts. I stopped over at a toy store and just started picking all sorts of things that I thought Aria would like but then again she is way t
Emilia's POV. I was mad okay. I was mad. Who forgets to pick their daughter up from school? He even forgot to drop a text too. I was really mad at him and I got even madder when I got to Aria's school and found her crying alone. I had no plans of forgiving him as easily as I did but I could not stay mad at him when I saw just how sorry he was and I particularly enjoyed how he looked like it was painful for him to apologize. It was evident that he was not used to saying the word 'sorry' to anyone and he has been using the word often since he showed up at my doorstep. "You forgot to mention just how hot he is, girlfriend," Patricia said after he went out of sight. "Is he hot?" I feigned ignorance "Oh you know he is hot, Emilia. How have you not jumped him yet? I admire you, girl, it can't be easy to resist that." She said. I rolled my eyes at her. "Stop being dramatic, Pat." "Just saying. I won't blame you if you come over tomorrow and tell me you are pregnant with baby number two
Riccardo's POV. I won't be getting any sleep this night, that much is already clear. I shouldn't have gone as far as I went this night. I didn't plan to, I was just going to warn her about her urge to always interrupt me when I am trying to talk to her and to make her keep quiet about the love thing but she has been tormenting me since she stepped out of her room in that nightie that wasn't supposed to be so seductive or rather won't look seductive on anyone else but it looked really good on her. It fitted her like a second skin and showed off her body in the most flattering way. I think I was just able to hold myself back because Aria was with us. I should have just allowed her to go to bed after Aria did but the urge to have her close was too strong to resist.The feel of her body against mine and her smell, that fucking smell that I couldn't resist. She smelled like chocolate cake and I have never been one to enjoy that dessert but I couldn't resist it and she was responsive. I ha
Emilia's POV.I still don't know how I managed to fall asleep last night but somehow I did and then my dreams were filled with Riccardo doing...unspeakable things to me. I woke up when my alarm went off and I went to check up on Aria, she always wakes up before my alarm goes off and that is why I always wake up early when she is sleeping beside me. Aria is a light sleeper and she always wakes up early even on days that she sleeps late. I went to her room but she was no longer there and then I heard the sound of her laughing downstairs and I started heading there. I found her in the kitchen with Riccardo. She was sitting on the high stool and swinging her legs and laughing at whatever Ric was saying. She was already in her uniform and I glanced at her feet and saw that she had already put her shoes on and she wore them correctly— pretty sure Ric must have helped her. "Good morning baby." I greeted her and she turned to face me with a huge smile. "Mummy, good morning. Did you sleep w