Chapter 6 .

Aria's pov.

I looked over at Richard and I saw he also had tears in his eyes before he looked up at me.

"I'm so sorry, Aria. I know that must have been hard to listen to, but thank you for sharing that with me." He said sadly, drying his tears.

"So your mother told you that you are a mafia princess." Richard said, looking down on the table in front of him.

"Yeah, not that I truly understand what that means." I said with a shaky voice.

"It means you are the pure blood princess to the American and Italian mafia. And you are the only born girl in the family for many generations. You are truly cherished and that is also why the Russian mafia wanted to come after you when you were younger and still is after you." Richard said more seriously now.

"I'm also a member of the mafia and that's why I'm your family's lawyer. And to all the members of the mafia, you are our most important one. You are even more important than your big brother, who has taken over the Don Roll, who is the leader of the American mafia." Richard continued to explain.

"The entire mafia have been looking for you since your mother ran away with you. She has been good at hiding you, and we all want you home with us more than anything. But I gave you my word yesterday that I will give you a few days to come to terms with it." Richard said softly, and I gave him a light bow in gratitude.

"I also think we will use these days to try to help you get rid of some of these habits Ivan has forced you to learn. I know it will be hard. But you, Aria, are our princess. And none of us like to see our princess bow down to us." Richard said with a hint of sadness and that made me look at him shocked and then carefully looked around at the guards in the room.

They all looked at me with such a sad expression and when they noticed I looked at them, they all took a bow and that made me blush a deep crimson red.

"As you see, it's us that will bow to you and not the other way around." Richard said more understanding.

"I don't know if I can help that habit." I said, looking down on my lap.

"If I didn't bow down, if I didn't answer with 'Yes Sir' or 'Yes Ma'am', if I didn't make sure all his meal, coffee and drinks were made to absolute perfection, if the house wouldn't be spotless when he got home." I said before I took a deep breath.

"I was given a brutal beating. I have also been cut and stabbed more times than I can count. Those habits have been beaten into me time and again till I became the version he wanted me to be." I said, and I heard many had to suck in a breath of air around the room.

"I'm telling you all this because not only did my mother tell me to trust you and only you for now. But I can also feel your genuine care for me. It's like I just trust you won't hurt me or harm me in any way." I said, looking at Richard with a serious look on my face.

I struggled to keep my eyes on his for long, so I quickly lowered them and kept them on his chest instead.

"I can give you my word, neither me nor anyone of the guards that's in here or out in the hallway will hurt you in any way. Your safety and happiness are always our number one priority." Richard said, and that made every guard here bow down again.

"It honestly pisses us all off hearing how Ivan and even Lily have treated you." Richard said with a hint of anger, and I started to tremble, so he took a deep breath and got his anger under control quickly.

"I'm sorry, I will do my best to keep my anger under control. Just know I will never ever hurt you, Aria. If anyone in our mafia hurts you in any way, the punishment is death." He said, looking at me seriously, and that made me look at him shocked.

"When the rest of the family hear about how Ivan and Lily have treated you, they will not stop until they have Ivan in their cell." Richard added, and that made me look down on my lap again.

It's not that I want to protect Ivan, he could be killed for all I care. But I don't want to be the reason why my biological family is upset in any way.

"Can you please not tell them until I'm ready to do that myself? I do hope I will be able to get my memories back. Mom said I had courage before I lost my memories due to Ivan hitting me on the head. And I think I need that, to talk about my past to them like I do to you right now." I asked with tears in my eyes and I even felt myself trembling.

I heard Richard let our a deep sigh.

"As you wish, Princess. You have my word, none of us will tell anyone about this until you give us the green light." Richard said, giving me a deep bow and that made me look at him shocked again.

But hearing that let me let out a shaky breath in relief.

"But Aria, can you be okay having a doctor check you out? You say Ivan and Lily have been beating you as well as hurting you in many other ways. It will truly ease my mind." Richard asked with a pleading tone.

I looked down at my lap and chewed on my lower lip for a moment.

"Yes, if that will help ease your mind." I said, playing nervously with my fingers.

"Thank you, I will call one right away. And breakfast is on its way up as we speak." Richard said, taking out his phone.

I could hear he was talking to someone, so it must be the doctor he wanted to have check me out. I also heard he told them that a female nurse had to come with since I was a girl, and he wouldn't be comfortable having me alone with a man even if he was a doctor.

That honestly means a lot. Richard is truly looking out for me, and he really cares, trying hard to make me feel comfortable and safe.

Our breakfast also got here, and before we could eat it some of the guards had to check it first and that made me look at Richard confused.

"They are checking it, making sure it's free from poison." Richard explained, and that made me look at him with wide eyes.

"Your safety is most important to us. With Ivan being out there, we don't know if he tries something crazy to get you." He explained, and I nodded in understanding.