My Childhood Bully is a Mafia Boss-Chapter 37

Aidan, present time...

Ivy had her back turned toward me, but I knew she wasn’t sleeping.

"Ivy, you sleeping?" I asked tentatively.

"What?

"You ever think about when you were a kid? What’s your favorite memory from back then?"

Ivy stayed silent for a moment, letting the question hang in the air.

"County fairs," Ivy muttered eventually, not bothering to hide her irritation. "Winning a goldfish, okay?" her words were clipped.

"County fairs, huh?" I let out a laugh. I shifted, propping my up on one elbow. "You know, my favorite memory is something less... wholesome."

Ivy turned just enough to give me a wary glance. "Oh?"

"Senior year," I began, a smirk playing at the corner of my lips, "in your bedroom when I sneaked in one night after getting beat up by my dad..."

The memory slithered into the space between us, uninvited. I couldn’t see Ivy’s face in the dark, but judging from how she stirred so violently, I could imagine she was blushing.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, Aidan," she said.

"Wild times, Ivy. We were quite the pair," I continued.

"Aidan, I am warning you..."

"You were so sweet to me, Ivy. Giving me a blowjob just to make me feel better. Who knew, under all that sweetness and innocence, was a girl that was so naughty," I teased her.

Ivy sat up abruptly. "If you think I will give you a blowjob right now to make you feel better, you are sorely mistaken."

"I never said I was expecting one," I said, holding my hands up in mock surrender. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her anger. "I was just reminiscing."

Silence settled between us again until Ivy spoke first this time.

"Have you ever thought about it?" Ivy’s voice was barely above a whisper, a soft sound in the dark room. "Walking away from all this... the Mafia life?"

My body tensed. "Every damn day, Ivy," I confessed. "But it’s like quicksand—the more you struggle, the deeper you sink. I’m in too deep."

"It’s never too late," she murmured.

"You won’t understand," I said quietly.

Ivy shifted closer to me, her eyes never leaving mine. "Are you even capable of guilt anymore, Aidan?" she asked me.

"Guilt is a weakness I can’t afford," I replied.

"The Aidan I knew didn’t have blood on his hands," Ivy whispered, her words felt like a knife through my heart.

The weight of my sins pressed me down, suffocating me. "That Aidan died a long time ago," I said hoarsely, "and I’m not sure I want him back."

I rolled onto my side away from her, the silence between us heavier than ever before.

"What if I want him back?" she asked.

"Too late for that, angel. I’m not the same guy you fell for in high school."

"I know," Ivy’s voice was barely audible. "But maybe—just maybe—there’s still some of that boy left in there somewhere."

"Keep dreaming," I said bitterly. I shivered as I felt her hand on my bare back.

Her hand started at my shoulder blade and moved down to the middle of my back, tracing the ridges and valleys of my spine, sending goosebumps all over my body in response. "It’s so hard to imagine you as this...criminal," she said, her voice trembling. "I mean, you were a bully and acted all tough, but at times, you were so sweet to me."

I didn’t say anything and closed my eyes to enjoy her loving caresses. It had been so long since someone touched me this lovingly.

"How did you become like this, Aidan?" she asked me. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"What does it matter?" I grumbled under my breath.

"Because I want to understand," she said.

I let out a deep sigh. "It happened gradually, like a frog in boiling water. One day I was just another kid trying to survive, and then... BAM! I woke up and realized I was knee-deep in this business."

"But you could still leave," she insisted. "You’re smart, Aidan. You could have done anything else."

"It’s not that simple, Ivy," I countered. "There’s no way out once you’re in."

"But we could find a way together," she said, her voice filled with a desperate hope that almost made me believe it could be possible- that we could leave this life behind and start over someplace where the sky was always blue, and the air smelled of possibility instead of the acrid stench of death and the lingering scent of gunpowder.

"No. This is who I am now, and I like this life," I said firmly.

I felt her moving closer to me until our bodies touched. "But why drag me into it?"

"Because...I am tired of being alone, I guess," I said in a hoarse whisper.

Ivy didn’t say anything for a moment, her hand still on my back. "You could have just called, you know that right? You didn’t have to get me kidnapped and dragged into this mess."

"I didn’t actually know you were the CEO Joseph kidnapped," I chuckled. "It was a happy accident."

"But you said you had been watching me," Ivy sounded confused.

"I lied to make myself sound more dramatic," I replied, grinning to myself.

"You asshole..."

"And when I saw it was you, I just took you because...I don’t know..." my voice trailed off. The truth was, I missed her. The old Aidan missed the girl who made him feel human.

"Aidan?" she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I am scared," she said, her voice shaking with unshed tears. And in that moment, I realized that she was right: I had dragged her into this mess of a world where our lives hung by a thread every single day.

I turned the lamp on and turned around to face her, my chest constricting at the fear in her eyes. "Hey, you’re here with me now, and I won’t let anything happen to you," I said, stroking her hair gently. "I promise."

"Promises are empty, Aidan," she countered, but she didn’t pull away from my touch. "How do I know you won’t change your mind tomorrow or the day after that?"

"Because... because..." I started to say something witty but stopped myself. "Because I still care about you, alright? And the last thing I want is to see you get hurt because of me."

"You care about me? You have a funny way of showing it," Ivy pouted.

At that moment, she looked like my cute little Ivy from high school. So sweet and kind. I wanted to press her against the mattress and kiss her senselessly.

"Aidan, you are staring," Ivy said.

"I can’t help it. You are too beautiful," I said slyly.

"Being charming won’t impress me," she sneered at me. "And I can never forgive you for forcing yourself on me that night."

"I’m sorry, Ivy. I was angry and I..." I tail off, feeling like an idiot. There were no excuses for what I had done to her at Maldives.

"You were angry? You had no right to be," she said curtly.

"I know. I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have hurt you like that," I said, hoping she would realize I was being genuine.

Ivy didn’t say anything for a moment and bit her lower lip as if she was thinking hard about something.

"You know, I always imagined it would be me to take your precious virginity," I joked.

Ivy let out a dramatic gasp and playfully hit my back. "Aidan!"

"What? We had a little fling in high school, can you blame me for having some fantasies?" I chuckled.

"Well, I am glad it wasn’t you because you turned out to be such a douchebag!" Ivy made a sour face.

"Ouch! So...who was it?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Who was what?"

"Who was the guy who took your virginity?" I asked.

"You don’t need to know!" she said, her face turning red.

"Aw, come on, Ivy. We are practically an open book to each other."

"It’s none of your business, Aidan!" Ivy was practically shrilling.

"Was he as good-looking as me? Did he have a big dick?" I asked, laughing.

"Aidan, stop it! I don’t want to talk about my personal life with you," she said, but I could see a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the mattress, my eyes searching her intently. "I bet he couldn’t make you cum like I do," I said huskily.

"Aidan, stop!" she giggled, but she didn’t push me away.

I leaned in closer, our lips mere centimeters apart, the air between us charged with sexual tension. "Admit it, Ivy, you missed me," I said in a low voice. "Did you wish it was me?"

"Never," she breathed out, but her eyes betrayed her.

"Liar," I said before softly kissing her lips. "Tell me who was your first."

"Why?" Ivy whispered.

"So I can find him and then kill him."

"Aidan! You are not funny," Ivy laughed and pushed against my chest.

I chuckled and dropped down beside her. "I am joking, but I am still curious."

"It was just an old boyfriend in college. Things didn’t work out between us in the end," she said, sighing.

"That’s Good because you were always meant to be mine," I said firmly.

"You are delusional, Aidan. You need therapy," she said and placed her hand on my cheek.

She may think I was delusional, but I knew deep down that we were meant for each other.