*Elio*
The ride back ho after lunch had been awkward at best. I could tell Caterina was pissed but didn’t want to argue, which just led to her giving the silent treatnt the entire way ho.
My attempts to break the silence by asking about her day had only resulted in her giving terse one-word answers that made feel even worse than the silence did. I couldn’t stand arguing with her. All I ever wanted was to make her happy.
I sighed when we finally made it back to the house, hoping that an afternoon of relaxation would help us both cool off a bit. Caterina was always a bit testy after her classes and she needed so ti to unwind. I wondered if she’d like it if I drew a bath for her.
Just as I was about to turn and ask her, my phone rang. I checked to see who was calling and groaned when my father’s na popped up.
He was the absolute last person I wanted to talk to right now, when I was already on edge and trying to figure out how to smooth things over with Cat. But I knew my dad was not to be ignored. He would just continue to call until I picked up.
He claid it was because he worried when I didn’t answer, but I suspected that it was more about wanting a bit of control over . It was hard on him to have living my own life. It had been tough ever since I had moved out for college. He trusted , but he also wished he could be there with every step of the way.
I sighed and headed for the balcony just off the kitchen so that Cat could go to our bedroom or wherever she wanted to relax.
“Call to fake congratulate again, Dad?” I asked, not bothering to conceal my irritation.
He had really pissed off with his little stunt the last ti he’d called. I should be able to celebrate my new position in the family without his disapproval hanging over my head. I knew it was just because he was scared, but it didn’t change the fact that he was going about it in a shitty way.
“No, that’s not why I called, although I’m still not going to congratulate you. I think you’re making a huge mistake.”
I rolled my eyes at his words. He had already made his opinion pretty fucking clear. I really didn’t need a reminder.
“Yeah, I get it. Doesn’t change my decision. I’ve been a grown man for a while, and I’m going to make my own choices.”
“I understand, Elio.” He sighed. “I just hate that I can’t protect you.”
I was so tired of him acting like he still needed to protect . I had never asked for that. “Alright, why’d you call, Dad?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“Your mother wants you and Caterina to co to dinner tonight. She hasn’t seen you in a while, and she misses you. And you know we love seeing Caterina.”
I was certain that this was just a ploy to get to co over so he could once again berate for my choices, but the idea of spending the evening with the two of them instead of arguing with Caterina did sound nice.
And I knew that Cat and my mother always enjoyed seeing each other. They had a lot in common. Hell, maybe spending so ti with my mom would help convince Cat to back from so of the mafia stuff on her own.
“Alright, we’ll be there,” I said.
“Great! See you at six o’clock.”
I hung up and headed back into the house, looking for Caterina. I heard her favorite music blasting from sowhere near our bedroom, so I headed upstairs.
As I had suspected she would be, she was taking a bath in our gigantic jacuzzi tub. Bubbles surrounded her as she laid back, her eyes closed. She had piled her hair up on top of her head in a ssy bun, revealing the delicate curve of her neck that I loved to kiss. The bubbles concealed her body, but she had one leg propped up on the edge of the tub that was just begging for to go and touch it.
I sat on the edge and took her foot in my hands, kneading her calf in the way she always begged for after a long day. Her eyes popped open, and she glared in my direction, but she didn’t pull her leg away.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I murmured, trying to charm my way out of being in trouble with her.
“You know what’s wrong,” she grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
The movent swished the bubbles around so that I could see a lot more of her under the water. My body reacted to the beautiful sight, and I looked away to keep myself from getting distracted.
“This is still about the Elijah guy?” I asked, playing dumb.
“Obviously it’s about him, Elio! You would rather look like an ass in front of a complete stranger than trust that I can handle myself.”
She yanked her foot away from and plunged it back into the water, sending a small wave over the side of the tub and effectively soaking my thigh. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to stave off my growing anger. I was so tired of everyone being upset with when I was just trying my best to do the right thing.
“I’m not going to apologize for that, Caterina. I have dedicated damn near my entire adult life to keeping you safe. Our relationship has changed a lot, I acknowledge that, but that doesn’t change the fact that I will always, always fight to keep you safe. Your safety is and always will be my top priority. There’s nothing that I will ever let get in the way of protecting you,” I told her, opening my eyes to stare down at her.
“I know you’re just worried about . I know. But I have to be able to live my life,” she said with a sassy tone.
“Yeah, and you just living your life has resulted in n like Junior and Alexi coming in and hurting you. I’m so fucking sick and tired of seeing you get hurt, Cat! I wish you could just live a normal life. Trust , I want nothing more than that. But you don’t have a normal life, we don’t have a normal life. And that makes it to where I constantly have to be watching out for you.”
I had to work hard to stop myself from raising my voice at her. I hadn’t ever wanted this to turn into another argunt, but she just made it so damn difficult. I loved her stubbornness, but when it was directed at , it made my life harder.
Cat rolled her eyes, making my irritation continue to rise. I hadn’t even managed to ask her if she was okay with going to dinner with my parents yet, and we were clearly on our way to yet another explosive argunt.
“I didn’t even really notice Elijah. I definitely wasn’t planning on letting him into my life in any capacity. You think I haven’t learned my lesson when it cos to strange n approaching ? Because I have. Anna is the one who was interested in him and wanted to get closer, which has nothing to do with really. But that does an that if he and Anna get serious, I can’t have you treating him like shit. I’m not trying to be his friend, but I don’t want things to be awkward either.”
Hearing her say that she had never planned on getting close to him did relax a bit, and I was glad to hear that she was reluctant to let anyone get close to her after everything that had happened, but it still didn’t an I trusted the guy.
If he was going to be hanging around Anna, I needed to do a background check on him. I just wouldn’t be telling Caterina that. I knew she’d think it was an overreaction. I thought back to what Alessandro had said about slowly phasing her out of everything and once again, it felt like he had been right about that. Caterina wanted to be as normal as possible, attending school and eting new people, and I wanted that for her if that was her dream, but she couldn’t have that life if she was also trying to keep one foot in the mafia. The best way forward would be to reduce her involvent and encourage her to focus more on other things.
I sighed, finally releasing the tension that had been building inside all this ti. “Alright, I promise I’ll try to be better with this stuff going forward. Do you forgive ?” I asked.
She smiled up at , looking so sweet it was hard to believe she’d been sassing the hell out of just a minute ago.
“I forgive you. And I love you.” She reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it once. “So, what was the phone call about?”
“Oh, right, it was my dad. He wants us to co over for dinner. I’ll warn you. It’s probably going to be uncomfortable as hell. I think he’s going to try and convince to change my mind. He’s still upset that I went behind his back like this.”
She nodded, biting her lip as she thought. “Of course I’ll go. You know I love seeing your mom. And I happen to be pretty good at arguing with people,” she chuckled.
“Fuck, it’s going to be a long night,” I groaned, standing up from the tub so I could go get ready for dinner.
Caterina laughed behind , the sweet sound reminding just how lucky I was to have her. I was so grateful that she would be accompanying to dinner. Just having her there with , knowing that she was on my side, would be a huge comfort.
There was a splashing sound behind as Cat stood up out of the bath. Without warning, she wrapped her soaking arms around my waist and pressed her wet body against . I laughed, glad that I had already planned on changing as she quickly soaked through the back of my clothes.
I turned and wrapped my arms around her naked body, letting the front of my clothes get wet too. I didn’t care. I was just happy to have her in my arms where she belonged.
I wished that she could stay right there forever.
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