Heat.

| Chapter 23. |

"Posso avere una fetta di pizza?" Back home in Italy, Aaron asked the Italian man for a real slice, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $5 dollar bill.

It had been about a month since he returned to Italy, and was back to being the Aaron he was before he left. He received enough credits that he was able to graduate a bit early before leaving NY and now he was getting prepared to get back to his normal. Well, a new normal without his mother.

"Grazie." He thanked the man, grabbing his slice of pizza and walking over to the table that he and his friends were seated at.

"Ci sei mancato, Aaron." His friend Joey spoke, as Aaron sat down at the table, a small grin overtaking his face.

"Yeah, I missed you guys too," Aaron replied, sipping his water before he bit into the greasy pizza. "Mi scusi."

He apologized for speaking English, something he had been doing since being home, but damn, it was hard to continuously go back and forth.

"New York, giusto? Sono quelli New York ragazza migliore della nostra?" His friend joked, causing the other guys to join in laughter.

"Modo migliore," Aaron winked, before his friends narrowed their eyes. "Soprattutto la mia ragazza." Aaron finished, as his friends eyed him.

"Hai una ragazza?" John raised an eyebrow as Aaron smirked.

"Questo è per me sapere." Aaron chewed his last bite with a smile, wiping his hands off as he gulped down the rest of his water.

In response, his friends began chatting about him as if he wasn't there, jokingly, as Aaron stood up, grabbed his things and began walking towards the garbage.

"Hello? I mean, Ciao. Do you know an Aaron Russo? Aaron Russo!" A young teenage girl's voice caught his attention, as Aaron squinted, eyeing her strangely. The girl was far away, so his sight and hearing was a little off. And wasn't sure if he heard her correctly.

But as soon as he started getting closer, his heart began thumping wildly, almost as if it just wanted to pop out his chest. He couldn't contain himself upon getting closer to her, already knowing exactly who stood in front of him. But he was shocked and allowed her to continue.

"A-A-R-O-N! It's not that hard. He's a rich boy here!" The girl screamed, and Aaron knew for sure, his arms wrapping her waist and pulling her into him before he could have a second thought.

"Cercandomi?" He whispered against her ear, their bodies clashing as he felt her tighten- then relax at his touch.

"Air!" She smiled, allowing him to swing her around in small circles as she buried her face in his neck. Content as could be.

-

He couldn't keep his eyes off the beautiful girl that sat right in front of him. He could have sworn that she had gotten more gorgeous over the last six days.

"Can you quit staring at me like that?" She snapped, before a small grin spread throughout her face.

"What are you doing here?" Aaron raised an eyebrow, as she shrugged.

"Uh, just needed some fresh air."

"Fresh air? In another country?" Aaron asked, as she bit down on her lip. "How did you even afford to get here? You do know that a plane ticket is almost $700?"

"God! Yes, Air. I know. My dad's insurance policy came through and I thought maybe I wanted to see you." She snarled back, as Aaron's eyes went wide.

"Maybe?" Aaron couldn't help the smirk that tugged at the corners of his lips, his index finger coming to tear open the mail he had pulled from the mailbox on the way in. He was staying in a small studio apartment by himself, saying he needed time away to process things. Turning 18 a few months ago had its perks. "Nah, you came to apologize. Knew you was wrong. D told me you'd come back but-."

His face fell as he read the letter in his hands. A summons. For a court appearance on behalf of his mother's case. And just when he thought he was finished, here was something else.

"Apologize?" Shianne answered with a question, pulling on the ends of her hair. "That is not why- are you okay?"

"Huh?" Aaron looked up from the letter in his hand, not noticing how distant he looked while reading it. "Yeah, yeah. Everything's okay."

"Okay. Then we okay. Do you have any snacks?" She got up from his bar stool at the counter, heading to the fridge and searching. Typical Shianne.

"Snacks? Weren't we discussing your apology-" He couldn't even finish his sentence before he spotted the car in the distance, the man's arm reaching out with an AK in his hands. He didn't even get any time to prepare. All he knew was he had to save Shianne.

So instantly, Aaron dove on top of the young woman, pulling her close as the gunshots began ringing throughout the apartment. He felt her body shake in his arms as he let them fire their clips, counting each second it lasted.

12. When it was all done, he let go of Shianne, telling her to not even move as he stepped over the glass in the kitchen, reaching into one of his drawers and pulling out two pistols. He went to the door, addressing the situation with his guns locked and loaded and coming up empty.

Sighing, he went back inside to his baby, who was still crawled up into a ball, tears streaming down her face. And she may have lived in Brooklyn her whole life, but Shianne was not as tough as she depicted. He reached for her hands and pulled her to his feet, pulling her into a hug and inhaling her vanilla scent. They stayed like that for a few, before he brushed her stray hairs out her face and kissed her lips a few times.

"So, you're sorry?"