Rosalia began to exhale quick short breaths as she stared at Mason unable to take her eyes off him. She could hear her own heartbeat in her ears, her rapid pulse quickening without fail. Her senses were overtaking her, blocking out all other sounds around her. She remained frozen behind the counter terrified to make a move secretly hoping this moment wasn't happening. That she was asleep in her apartment, Giovanni wrapped around her. "Rosalia. I... How are you?" The sound of his voice tore through her. Her name leaving his lips made her stomach clench, she wanted to hurl at the sight of him, the sound of his voice. Nausea settling in through each and every pore on her body. When Mason said her name everything felt wrong. It was nothing like the way Giovanni said it, not even close. "Rosalia." He shuffled to the side in an attempt to get closer to her. She immediately pushed against the counter backing herself up against one of the blue illuminated refrigerators. She let out a sma
Rosalia looked up when a woman's hand slammed onto the surface of her desk. Her eyes travelled from the hand up her barely covered perfectly shaped body. The moment their eyes connected Elisa had one hand placed on her hip and was dragging the other off the desk and to her side. "That's my bill." She flicked her head forward, pointing her chin towards the piece of paper she had left behind. "The least you can do is sort out my medical bills. I haven't exactly been able to show my face around her. I lost an entire weekend of work because of you!" "Are you actually being serious right now?" Rosalia queried lowering her eyes back to her screen offering Elisa very little attention. "Shouldn't you be out there right now shaking your ass or whatever it is that you do?" She waved the back of her hand towards the club door dismissively still keeping her eyes on the computer screen. "Oh I'm deadly serious." "Fine." Rosalia exhaled giving up fairly easy. She was too busy to de
There was screaming, tears, slamming of fists and objects, and mainly all from Rosalia and Giovanni while Ricci barely spoke unless spoken too, or mostly screamed at! But by the end of it all they enjoyed a second coffee. Together in silence. Giovanni and Ricci weren't one hundred percent fine and all wasn't done and dusted. But it was a start. Everyone had said what they wanted to say, Rosalia had explained she never had romantic feelings for Ricci. She had dragged Ricci under the bus that night out of pure rage and spite towards Giovanni. She had wanted to hurt him in a way she knew he would react too. Knowing full well that it was wrong and that someone else was going to share the consequences of her actions. Giovanni never reacted to anything, but this she knew he would have no choice. It was done to hurt him deeply. Drive him away. Make him angry enough to finally push her away instead of pulling her closer to him. She didn't want to feel for him, or anyone else. She had
Rosalia sauntered around the kitchen the next morning smiling to herself humming a tune. She never hummed and the realization that she was beginning to allow herself to actually be happy began to fill her with hope. She encountered some dark moments away from Giovanni, had convinced herself that she was better off alone. There was no way she could foresee any type of normal relationship, especially not with him. He was cool, calm and relatively collective in many situations, but to expect the same amount of patience towards a relationship she couldn't promise was a big ask. But now she was humming. Cooking scrambled eggs and bacon wrapped in his enormous dress shirt while humming. Whisking the eggs in the pan she felt a hand come around her stomach and pull her back a fraction as a pair of rough warm lips connected with her shoulder. "You're going to make me fat." Giovanni murmured against her inhaling the inviting smells which always surrounded her in the kitchen. Removing the
"You know..." Rosalia grinned cheekily sitting back comfortably on Giovanni's couch. "There was no need to send Stefano with Ricci tonight." She had been dying through dinner to bring it up but didn't want to ruin their first proper date together since returning to New York City. She was surprised at how perfectly the date had gone. It was drama free and without any business interruptions. It was clear he was putting in the effort the moment he had fished out his cell before they were seated and placed it on silent. Now they sat comfortably on his couch, almost like a normal couple. Well, a normal couple surrounded by expensive things and breathtaking views of the city night lights. "If you're going to make me reinstate Ricci it'll be on my terms." He loosened his tie eventually bringing the loop up and over his head discarding the black silk. He smiled when he heard her giggle then muffling the sound by biting her lip. The sound was music to his ears. The way she sat cross legg
"About time you answered the door." Ricci stated rolling his eyes bringing a hand in front of him to push Rosalia's front door further open. He casually made his way in with Stefano following closely behind. "I see I have two drivers tonight," she closed the door sauntering over to the kitchen to retrieve some drinks. She should have known Giovanni would pull such an act. She certainly didn't mind Stefano's company and she hadn't specified to send Ricci alone. But she had hoped Giovanni was willing to trust her more, have a little faith in her. She couldn't explain anymore times that Ricci was not a threat. All she wanted was to mend the relationship between the two. She had already worked things through with Ricci and the pair felt as though they were in a good place right now.Ricci simply wanted his boss and friends trust back. There had been chatter amongst the higher ranking men, considerable chatter regarding the assassination of Giovanni's father. Yet his roll was basically
Giovanni shuffled within the bed as the morning sunshine broke through the barrier of the large bedroom window. With his eyes still closed he stretched across the bed expecting to feel Rosalia but coming up empty. His eye flung open abruptly tilting his head to the left where he expected her to be sleeping. Wrapped up in the sheets, her hair splayed against the pillow. She left... How could this happen again? Why? Had he pushed her too far? He shot up out of bed, scurrying out quickly tearing through the room over to the chair where his suit pants and jacket hung, there was no time to wait for Stefano to bring his change of clothes. He needed to find her now. As he hobbled around frantically attempting to simultaneously step into and pull his pants up like the apartment was on fire, the bedroom door opened. "Oh. Do you have to leave?" Rosalia asked holding the tray containing chocolate croissants, blueberries, yogurt and coffee. She turned to her left placing the tray on top
Sneaking out one of the back doors of the restaurant had been exhilarating. Almost as exhilarating as watching Giovanni hail down a cab in the middle of New York City. Has he even done this before? Rosalia had found herself thinking as they stood hand in hand on the side walk. His fingers laced with hers in a way he had never done before. She had looked down at their entwined fingers fondly, it had just felt right. But now as she unlocked her apartment door with her swipe card and Giovanni leaned over her to push the door open her excitement quickly turned into a large bundle of nerves. Had they really just abandoned everyone at the restaurant? Rosalia took a deep breath in as they made their way inside, Giovanni walking by her fishing his cell phone from his pocket to quickly send a text. Presumably to his abandoned brothers. He sat on the edge of the oversized couch looking up to find her staring back at him. "Would you like a drink? Something to eat? You must be hungry, I'll m
Giovanni was fuming and frantic. He had yanked Rosalia to her feet kicking and screaming completely out of control. He dragged her into a private dining area of the restaurant slamming the sliding doors shut behind them securing the lock while his brothers dealt with Elisa who was loudly hurling abuse behind them. His eyes widened as Rosalia came charging towards him once more attempting to bypass him and charge back out the sliding doors like some sort of wild bull. He grabbed her arm yanking her back. "BASTA!" (STOP!) Не screamed shoving her lightly standing his ground. He wasn't going to let her out of the room, not until she cooled off considerably. "Che cazzo!?" (What the fück!?) "She fucking deserved it!" Rosalia spat, her tone disgusted and full of resentment. She was panting, short of breath and clearly feeling the rage within her. She tried once more to charge past Giovanni who immediately stopped her with his body once more. "That's enough!" He scolded, "You need to calm