Bound To My Mafia Stepuncles novel Chapter 111

Chapter 111

POV: Aria

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the sunlight. It came in soft and golden through the thin curtains, stretching across the bed like a gentle touch. For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was. The room smelled like clean cotton and something warm–something familiar. Then it hit me. Dante. His scent was everywhere, wrapped around me like a second skin.

I looked down and realized I was wearing his shirt–one I had seen him wear a hundred times. It hung loosely on my body, brushing against my thighs, too big but somehow perfect. I could feel him in it. Like a memory.

Slowly, I sat up and looked around the room. It hadn’t changed much. A dark leather jacket was tossed over a chair in the corner. A few books were stacked on a small table. On the wall, there was a framed photo–three boys standing shoulder to shoulder, smiling wide with messy hair and matching eyes. The brothers. The ones who used to be mine. The ones I had once trusted with my whole heart.

And now I was here, back in the space that had once felt like home, wrapped in one of their shirts, and my chest ached with the weight of everything unsaid.

I used to belong here. I used to be someone they held onto like I was their future. Then they let go.

My feet touched the floor quietly as I stood. The house was still. Peaceful. Safe. My fingers grazed the edge of the door as I stepped out into the hallway, heart thudding with quiet nerves.

As I walked into the open living room and kitchen, the warmth of the sunlight followed me. So did the smell of something sweet–pancakes. Enzo was at the stove, flipping one with practiced ease. His dark hair was a mess, his shirt slightly wrinkled, but he looked relaxed, almost like nothing had changed.

He glanced over his shoulder, and when he saw me, his face softened. A small, crooked smile tugged at his lips. “Morning,” he said gently, like his voice was trying not to startle me.

Matteo sat stretched out on the couch, a mug of coffee in his hand. His bare feet rested on the table like always. He raised an eyebrow when he saw me, his lips curling into a grin. “No offense, Aria, but our clothes look way better on you than they ever did on us.”

I couldn’t help the little smile that tugged at my mouth, even if it didn’t reach my eyes. I didn’t feel like smiling. My heart was too full. Too confused. But their voices… they made me feel like I hadn’t really left.

And then there was Dante, standing at the kitchen counter with his arms folded. His eyes met mine. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The way he looked at me–like I was someone he had lost and just found again–it said more than words ever could.

Enzo brought me a plate and gently handed it to me. “You okay?” he asked, and even though it was just two words, I could hear the weight in

them.

I nodded, slowly. Not really. But yes–for now. I was here. I was breathing. I was safe.

We sat around the table, eating in a quiet that wasn’t awkward. It was soft. Careful. Like we were all scared to say the wrong thing. The pancakes were warm and buttery. Sweet. Comforting in a way I hadn’t expected. But even as I chewed, my thoughts were far away. Caught in the past. Caught between the warmth of their presence and the cold reminder of why I had left.

I set my fork down gently..

“You weren’t supposed to find me,” I said softly, my eyes fixed on the plate in front of me.

Dante’s voice was steady when he answered. “We never stopped looking. We just finally got lucky.”

I looked up, meeting his eyes. “Why?” I asked, and my voice trembled. “After everything?”

It was Matteo who leaned forward this time, his expression serious. No teasing. No sarcastic smile. “Because we still love you.”

1/3

Chapter 111

Three sets of eyes. One truth..

I couldn’t breathe for a moment. The air felt thick, heavy with something I didn’t know how to name. All that love…. still here, Still burning. After everything.

But how could I believe in it again?

How could I trust something that had already broken me?

Later, I found myself sitting outside on the small patio. The breeze was cool against my skin, and the city felt far away, like a world I didn’t need to think about. I stared out into the fading light, my hands tucked under my thighs, trying to stop the shaking.

Dante came out quietly. He didn’t speak. Didn’t touch me. Just sat beside me, close enough that I could feel his warmth, but not so close that it hurt.

“I never stopped loving you,” I said finally, my voice a whisper. “That was never the problem.”

He turned his head toward me slowly. “Then what was?”

I kept my eyes on the ground. “I trusted you with everything. With my heart. With my dreams. And when things got hard, you shut me out. You didn’t fight for me, Dante. You let me go. You made me feel like I didn’t matter. You let my sister come in between everything we built together, i was beginning to trust you…all of you”

He didn’t argue. Didn’t try to explain.

He was quiet for a long time. Then he said, “I thought I was protecting you. But the truth is… I was just protecting myself.”

My chest tightened at his words. They felt honest. Real. And still, they hurt.

“I’m tired,” I whispered. “Tired of running. Tired of hurting. Tired of wanting to believe you and being too scared to try.”

He didn’t promise to fix it. He didn’t say we’d be okay.

He just sat there. Beside me. Not trying to hold me, not trying to pull me back in.

Just being there.

That night, I stayed.

Not because everything was fine. Not because the pain had gone.

But because being near them… it didn’t hurt the way I thought it would. It felt like breathing after holding it in for too long.

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