Confrontations

V A L E R I U S ' P O V :

My family has been here for a few days. Things have gone well for the most part. Actually, this might be the best we've ever gotten along.

It's dinner time and mamma offered to make us food. I didn't deny, I honestly didn't feel like cooking today. She made a simple dish, not extravagant, we all know she isn't very good at cooking. It's also not a secret she brought in a cook to do most of the work but don't ask her or she'll deny it.

We all got our food while light conversation starts to pass around. Since Ellie is sitting with me I get her a plate too. Starting to cut her chicken into small pieces for her to eat, I hear mamma clear her throat.

I feel her eyes on me. "What?" I ask but I don't look at her. I finish cutting Ellie's food.

"Nothing." Mamma brushes my comment off, going back to her food.

Okay then.

I ignore her attitude and continue on helping Ellie. "It's just that-" She starts and I sigh, putting the utensils down with a clatter. "Don't you think you're babying her?" She says and everyone else stops their conversations to listen.

You've got to be kidding me.

"Mamma. She's five. I'm not going to let her use a knife." I respond with an eyebrow raised. My jaw begins to twitch, I'm seconds away from losing it.

Does she really think she can cut food for herself?

"I just think—"

"You can think after dinner." I stab a piece of chicken and hand the fork to Ellie.

"Thank you." Ellie says quietly and takes the fork out of my hands. She chews on the piece in silence, looking around warily, her cheeks puffed out.

"Sei la benvenuta, piccolina." You're welcome, little one. I reply back. I don't fail to notice how Ellie sounds upset. She probably senses that something is wrong. She's smart, like her papà.

I guess my brothers notice too. "Ellie!" Mar shouts in a hushed tone and Ellie looks over to him. Mar crosses his eyes and sticks his tongue out to make Ellie smile. Fabio pours water down Mar's back and he screams like a baby.

Ellie laughs softly.

• • •

"Ellie is not watching the Purge." I say while snatching the remote out of Fabio's hands. He goes to argue with me but I cut him off with a hard glare.

"I say we watch Moana." Marcello said casually and we all look at him. He pulls a pillow tighter to his chest like a child would.

"How the fu-fudge do you know what Moana is?" Fabio asked Mar with a taunting look.

"How do you?" Mar retorts and narrows his eyes at Fabio. Fabio glares back at him.

Here comes the fighting.

"I don't." Fabio fights back and shifts in his seat. His eyes drift around nervously.

"Yes, you do."

" No I don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"D-"

While the two idiots bicker on I go to Disney+ and put on Moana for Ellie and I guess Marcello too.. maybe even Fabio.

As soon as it starts Marcello stops talking. "IT'S ON!" He shouts with a giddy smile. Fabio rolls his eyes as Mar begins to hum the intro to the Disney castle song.

After a few moments the movie starts to play and I hold Ellie tight to me, her head flat on my chest. I sigh peacefully. "Valerius." What the fuck. I bite my tongue before looking at mamma. "Can we talk?" She asks tightly. I restrict myself from rolling my eyes. I don't move. "Now."

I look down at Ellie before looking back to my mamma. "Fine," I reply shortly. I shake Ellie's shoulder carefully. She looks back at me and I send her a short smile. "I'll be right back." I whisper to her and she looks sad for a moment so I kiss her forehead which makes a smile appear on her face.

I hand her off to Enzo who is sitting next to me, busy with his laptop. He looks at me with wide eyes but I ignore him. Ellie sinks next to him, leaning her head on his chest and playing with her bracelet. After another glance at Ellie, Enzo shut his laptop and puts it away. He watches her instead of the princess movie.

I always knew he had a soft spot.

I look to mamma and we walk out.

We walk into a guest room on the second floor. I don't need Ellie to hear me arguing. That's not something I want her to get used to.

I close the door, turning to mamma. "What do you want to talk about." I ask lazily. I just want to get back to my Ellie.

"First, I want to talk about your tone. You know how to properly treat your mamma so do so respectfully. I thought you knew better."

I choke out a laugh. "What about your respect for my daughter?" I spit out. She look taken back, like what I'm suggesting is crazy.

"I don't understand what you're saying." She says faking innocence. I can't help but scoff at her.

She steps away from me like I'm someone unfamiliar to her. Her mouth drops and her eyes tear up pathetically. The hand over her heart tops off her performance.

"You've ignored and disregard her ever since you got here. You sat there at dinner and told me in front of everyone that I treat her like a baby. She's only five.. five! I don't understand why you're acting like this. She's just a child. Your granddaughter." I reply coldly, cutting her off before she speaks again. "Do you feel like you're losing me? Is that it? You aren't. From now on, though, my number one priority is Ellie. And it will always be Ellie."

"But what about you! You are my first priority. My son! That girl puts you in danger." She raises her voice, her tone sharpening.

"That girl is my daughter! I understand you're worried for me but I'm twenty nine! She's five and has no ability to protect herself! Everything I do puts me in danger. For fucks sake I'm the Don of the Italian mafia!" I shout back. I'm starting to lose my patience. "You always knew my life would be like this. This isn't some fucking surprise."

"I know that but she makes you vulnerable! Before all of this, you didn't have a weakness but now you have one! The Russian mafia will use her to blackmail you! What if it's your life for hers? What would you do then!?" She yells back.

My whole body goes stiff. My fists tighten within themselves. I can't believe she thinks that's a hard question to answer.

"Then I do it. I would give up anything if it means that she stays safe."

"Exactly my point, Valerius! I can't lose you! You are my son!" She yells back with tears in her eyes.

Frustration builds within me. Annoyance rips at my skin. She's not seeing the hypocrisy in her words.

Why can't she just understand?

"And I can't lose her! She's my daughter!" I shout back. "These are only 'what ifs'. You can't know for certain that any of this will happen." I grit out. "We have an entire army protecting us."

Mamma looks away with something in her eyes. She licks her lips, shaking her head in utter disappointment.

"But even the thought of it, Valerius! There's a chance." She says, distraught, with something in her voice.

I know she's only starting all of this because she loves me but she needs to understand that what she would to for me, I would do a million times over for my daughter.

"There's always going to be a chance! Me being a father doesn't change that. There will always be a chance that I may never come back." A lone tear falls down from her face which only angers me even more.

Why doesn't she get it?

"I don't know why you would even say such a thing! This is not the son I raised!" She shouts. I'm taken back for a clear moment. My jaw ticks.

"Bianca I think you should leave."

I turn around to see my papà standing at the door with a cold face.

"P—" I start.

"No." He cuts me off, still starring at mamma. "I think you need to go back to the house until you realize how ignorant you're being. I won't tolerate you speaking so poorly of Eleonora or my son." He speaks colder than I've ever heard him speak before.

"Our son." Mamma corrects him angrily.

"If you keep this pathetic act up you'll have no children left." Papà snaps. Mamma storms out of the room quickly.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I didn't have to.. but I needed to. I may love your mamma but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of knowing when she's wrong. She never should have said anything about you or my granddaughter." He sits down next to me on the bed.

I look down at my hands in my lap before looking back to my papà. "Thank you." I tell him sincerely.

"No need to thank me." He says and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Now.. you have a little girl downstairs waiting for her papà to come watch a princess movie with her." He smiles at me. I roll my eyes and force back my own smile.

It's odd speaking to my papà like this. We haven't ever had a nice conversation before.

We get up and start to walk towards the door but papà stops me from walking any further. "Val, you know I'm proud of you, right? I always have been." He gives me a short nod but you can see the heartfelt look in his eyes.

I swallow the lump in my throat. I don't think my papà has ever said anything like that to me before.

I clear my throat. "Thank you."

He just smiles at me and we continue our way out of the door.

As soon as we step into the room Ellie's head snaps towards me. Her eyes dance with excitement. She tries to get up to run to me but Enzo's arm is tied around her waist. The problem being Enzo fell asleep and his arm, to Ellie, probably feels like it weighs forty pounds alone.

It takes her a good moment before sliding under his arm and falling on her butt. I smile in amusement and bend down to her height. She runs into my arms and I squeeze her with a tight hug.

"I missed you, papà!" She whispers in my ear. I smile, holding onto her tighter. I was only gone for twenty minutes.

"I missed you too, baby." I whisper back. I feel her tuck her head into the crook of my neck.

Ellie lays on my chest and looks up to meet my eyes. She touches my jaw and I loosen it. I hadn't even realized it was clenched.

My face relaxes, I give her a small smile. "I love you, papà." She whispers, smiling at me. Her hand stays resting in my cheek, I kiss her palm.

"I love you so much more, Ellie."

I wrapped my arms around her. She lays with me while we watch the rest of the movie in silence.

• • •

"I wanna be the good princess! You're the bad guy!"

My eyes travel to Ellie and John's daughters, Alessandra and Aurora. Alessandra has been fighting with her sister about which role they have in their game they're playing. Ellie has stayed quiet and I'm curious as to why.

"Nooooo! You're always the princess! I wanna be the good princess too!" Aurora argues back.

"Then who will be the bad guy!" Alessandra shoots back at her twin and John was about to interrupt but he pauses when a different voice speaks.

"I'll be bad guy." Ellie shrugs.

The two girls look at her.

I hold back my laugh.

My little devil-spawn. Just like her papà.

"Really?" Both the girls asked simultaneously.

"Uh-huh," Ellie nods. She picks up the pirate eye-patch from the center of John's girl's toy stash.

"V—"

I whip around and throw the person into the wall behind me. When my eyes focused I saw Marcello with his face red and his eyes bulging. I let him go.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!"

With all this talk of attacks I guess it has put me on edge.

"Papà?" I see Ellie staring at me through the crack of the barely open door.

"It's nothing, baby. Go back to playing." I smile through the doorway and close the door shut.

I guess my cover is blown. I was trying to watch Ellie from afar to see if she's comfortable without her being there.

"I—"

"What are you still doing here." I huff to my brother.

He clears his throat and rubs his neck. "Well," he pauses. "You're out of milk."

I blink at him.

He blinks back at me.

We stare at each other for a good minute.

"You have three seconds—"

By then he was already running down the hallway, out of my sight in seconds.

Idiot.

• • •