Mafia Princess

Chapter Seventy-Six

Twilight...not mine (sigh).

Chapter Seventy-Six

Bella and I spent an hour shooting at the range. We didn't go outside because it did start raining. Next to our stall were two piles of targets. We were going to have Mario and his wife, Francesca, determine who was the better shot. As we worked with the weaponry, we both improved. I was nearly back to how I was before. Bella was shooting with precision that the bureau would kill for. Hell, if Carlisle could have an ounce of the precision my girl had, we'd be incredibly happy.

Yeah, Carlisle...great department head. Horrific shot. There's a reason why he's one of the pencil-pushers and not out in the field. If the target was big and stationary, he could probably hit it. Other than that, not so much.

After our time in the range, Bella called Mario and we went over to his house. It was a smaller home, made entirely out of brick. Bella explained that it was roughly three hundred years old, surviving numerous natural disasters in addition to Mario and Francesca's marriage. Apparently, Francesca loved to yell and most of the time, the yelling was directed at Mario. In fact, as we were walking up to the house, you could hear the distinct sounds of a woman yelling. "She'll stop when she sees you, protettore," Bella snickered.

"She scares me, Bella," I whimpered, crouching behind her tiny form.

"Ooooh, big, bad bodyguard afraid of an Italian mama mia?"Bella laughed heartily. She elbowed me and I stood up, giving her a smirk. We linked hands and walked into the house. The yelling stopped. Mario slunk into the family room. "Everything okay, Mario?"

"Francesca was yelling at me because I forgot to get the fresh mozzarella from the market," he grumbled. "It's for the caprese salad she's making for you."

"Pick up fresh bread, too!" came a shrill voice. "SOMEONE had to make himself a sandwich with the bread I purchased this morning." Her voice dropped, cursing lowly in Italian. Mario made a face towards the direction of the voice. "I saw that Mario Leonardi! So help me, if you don't get your scrawny ass..." A small woman with long brown hair trailed off when she saw that we were in the family room. "Oh!"

"Hi, Francesca," Bella said as she walked over to the woman. They kissed each other on the cheek, hugging each other tightly. Bella whispered in Francesca's ear. She nodded and turned to me.

"Welcome, Edward," she said, holding out her hand. I shook it, feeling somewhat silly that Bella had to field what could be appropriate or not in regards to touching. "I hope you're hungry. We've got a feast of all Italian delicacies."

"I'm looking forward to it," I said politely.

"Now, why don't you two go upstairs to shower and get cleaned up. Bella, you can use Annie's rooms and Edward, you can use Pietro's room," she said, inching us towards the stairs. "When you're done, come out onto the patio for some sangria."

We climbed up and went to the respective rooms. "Who's Pietro and Annie?" I asked before I ducked into the obviously male room I was assigned.

"Annie and Pietro are their children. Annie lives in Rome, completing her college education. Pietro is in the states, trying to gain his United States citizenship to join the organization," Bella explained. "He lives in Portland and is on one of the crews that you haven't met yet."

"Portland?"

"Pietro wants to work his way up the chain and eventually make the money that my dad does. Mario's accident and surgeries, drained the family dry. Pietro lives with one of the other guys on the crew, rent-free and he sends most of his money home to help pay for the house," Bella said, frowning slightly. "My dad knows the situation and he arranged for Pietro to live rent-free, plus pays him a little extra."

I scowled deeply. I knew what it was like to survive, to be hungry and to worry about where your next meal or next paycheck would come from. Bella placed her hand on my face. "My dad loves Mario and his family. He takes care of them."

I nodded, leaning down to kiss Bella's warm, sweet mouth. "Your dad is a good man, Little One," I whispered. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I hugged her before reluctantly separating from her. I padded to the bathroom, stripped out of my clothes and quickly hosed off. As I was drying off after my shower, my mind drifted to several things...

My feelings for Bella were obviously deep. I loved her and there was no doubt about that.

My feelings for Bella scared the shit out of me. The depth of them were down to my very soul and I knew, knew that when she found out about my assignment, that she'd probably hate me forever. I didn't want that. I wanted her. She made me happy, secure, loved.

My feelings about Charlie were not one of a federal agent. Despite his proclivities in dabbling in illegal behavior, Charlie del Cigno was an inherently good guy. I had to get him off, or some sort of reduced sentence.

The most troubling thought crossed my mind, though, was about losing Bella and how my love for her could get myself or her killed if I wasn't careful. I couldn't let that happen.

I loved her.

I loved Isabella del Cigno.

And she couldn't find out.

Fuck.

A/N: Lots of realizations for our poor tortured agent. Anyhow, recipes for Caprese salad and the sangria are on my blog (two separate entries). Link for that is on my profile. NSFW pictures (none for this chapter) will be on my tumblr. Links for that will be on my blog but the actual link for the tumblr are on profile as well. Find me on Facebook: Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation or on Twitter: tufano79. Leave me some!