[BL] The Mafia Boss Wants My Body

Chapter 254: Chapter: 254: You Should’ve Come for Me

Adrian looked away without answering.

Matteo’s gaze drifted briefly to the hand Adrian still had pressed against his stomach before returning to his face.

"These cramps... are they from not eating properly, or from a serious lack of sex?"

Adrian slowly turned his head to look at him, stunned by the blunt question.

He said nothing.

He simply stared at Matteo for a long, quiet moment before deliberately turning his back to him and curling up on one side of the bed.

Matteo watched him for a second before quietly climbing onto the bed behind him. Resting his head on the pillow, he carefully moved closer until there was barely any space between them.

He slipped one arm gently around Adrian’s waist and slowly reached beneath the hem of Adrian’s shirt.

Adrian’s entire body tensed.

Thinking Matteo was reaching for somewhere else, he immediately grabbed his wrist, stopping his hand.

"Stop," Adrian rasped, his voice weary. "I told you... it’s over."

Matteo didn’t pull away. He simply looked at Adrian’s tense profile.

"I’m not trying to touch you there," he said quietly. "I was reaching for your stomach."

He gave Adrian’s wrist a gentle squeeze before adding,

"Your cramps haven’t stopped since we left the ballroom. Just let me ease the pain."

He kept his hand still beneath Adrian’s grasp.

"I’m only going to rub your stomach, Rian," Matteo murmured near his ear, his voice calm and steady. "Nothing else."

Adrian didn’t release his wrist immediately. His breathing remained shallow, his fingers still wrapped tightly around Matteo’s hand.

"Trust me," Matteo whispered. "I’m not here to force you into anything tonight. I just want to ease the pain... and listen to you."

The quiet sincerity in Matteo’s voice slowly chipped away at Adrian’s defenses.

After a long moment, Adrian loosened his grip and let go.

Matteo carefully slid his hand beneath Adrian’s shirt until his warm palm rested against Adrian’s feverish stomach. With slow, gentle circles, he began to massage the cramped muscles.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments.

Then Matteo broke the silence.

"Talk to me, Rian," he said softly. "Tell me everything you couldn’t say downstairs."

Adrian stared blankly at the wall as the warmth of Matteo’s hand slowly eased the painful knots in his stomach.

"You never came for me," he whispered.

The words were so quiet Matteo almost didn’t hear them.

His hand stilled for the briefest moment.

"You told me not to find you," he answered gently.

Adrian’s breathing faltered.

"You should’ve tried," he whispered, his voice breaking. "You should’ve come looking for me anyway."

Tears slid silently down his face.

"You didn’t come..." he choked out. "You didn’t even know... maybe I was waiting for you every single day."

Matteo rested his forehead lightly against the back of Adrian’s neck, closing his eyes.

"You walked away," he murmured. "And you were still hoping I’d come after you?"

Adrian gave the smallest nod.

"Yes."

The single word shattered something inside Matteo. His hand never stopped its slow, soothing circles against Adrian’s stomach.

"I’m sorry, Rian," he whispered hoarsely. "I’m so sorry."

Adrian swallowed hard, the weight of everything he had kept buried finally becoming too much to carry.

"You know..." he whispered, his voice trembling. "Maya doesn’t love me the way she used to anymore. Sometimes... it feels like I’ve become a burden to her."

"Why would you say that?" he asked quietly.

Adrian stared blankly at the wall.

"Before..." he whispered, another tear slipping onto the pillow, "she couldn’t stand seeing me cry. If something was wrong, she’d sit down and listen until I finished talking. But now, whenever I try to tell her how much I’m hurting, she doesn’t even ask me what happened. She just tells me to stay with you. She tells me you’ll protect me... that you’ll take care of me."

Adrian closed his eyes.

"I know she says it because she believes I’m safe with you. But I hate that she doesn’t hear me anymore. She doesn’t listen to my voice anymore."

Adrian let out a shaky breath, his fingers tightening around the bedsheets.

"The morning after everything happened at the hotel, I called her and told her everything."

His voice trembled.

"Her answer broke me."

"She told me to go back to you... that we should talk it out... that I should never leave your side."

Another tear rolled down his cheek.

"She said you only did what you did because I made myself unavailable to you."

Adrian squeezed his eyes shut.

"I was so hurt, Matteo. It felt like I was losing my sister."

Matteo’s hand never stopped its slow, gentle circles against Adrian’s stomach. He didn’t interrupt. He simply listened.

"I was so angry after that," Adrian continued, his voice trembling. "I went straight to her house. I stood right in front of her and asked her what was wrong with her. I asked her, ’If your own fiancé treated you the way Matteo treated me, would you still tell yourself to just adjust?’"

Adrian’s eyes filled with fresh tears.

"Do you know what she said?"

He didn’t wait for an answer.

"’Aside from Matteo... your friends... and me... who else do you even have, Adrian?’"

His voice cracked as he repeated Maya’s words.

"’You just have to learn to adjust. Matteo loves you. It was only a misunderstanding. He’ll protect you... and he’ll give you happiness.’"

Adrian’s chest rose and fell unevenly.

"When I told her I wanted to go to Paris for a while, she completely lost it."

His voice trembled.

"She told me I wasn’t allowed to leave. She even took my passport away for days while I was stuck at home."

He let out a shaky breath.

"All I could do was cry, Matteo. My own sister truly believed that all I needed was your protection... that as long as I stayed by your side, I’d be safe."

Matteo remained silent, his hand continuing its slow, gentle circles over Adrian’s stomach.

Adrian swallowed hard.

"Then Charles and Frank came to see me," he murmured, exhaustion weighing down every word.

"They told me it wasn’t because Maya didn’t love me. They said she was terrified after everything that happened with Elena... and that she genuinely believed I was safest with you, even if the way she was trying to protect me was hurting me."

He paused for a long moment.

"Charles also told me how much you were suffering after I left."

Adrian closed his eyes.

"For a moment... I almost gave up on going to Paris. I almost came back to you."

His voice cracked again.

"Because Maya was right."

"I don’t really have anyone except all of you."

He stared blankly ahead.

"And you never hurt me physically. You only hurt me in a way no one else could see. It was emotional... and I was the only one who seemed to understand how much it was destroying me."

Adrian squeezed his eyes shut.

"I know Maya just wanted to know I was in safe hands before she got married and started her own life. But why couldn’t she just try to understand me?"

His voice softened.

"She finally gave my passport back after a week and let me leave for Paris."

Matteo fell silent, listening to every word. Only now did he fully grasp how isolated Adrian had felt, trapped not only by Matteo’s actions but by the fact that no one had truly heard him.

He leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to the back of Adrian’s shoulder.

"Adrian..."