Bound

29. The Gift

Amara turned around, under the pretence of looking at the office, all the while trying to slow down her racing heart. She looked around, hoping to distract herself for a few moments when her eyes caught something interesting.

She walked closer, taking in the picture that was hung on a side wall and her eyes widened in shock as she recognised the people in it.

"That's my Nonno and Grandpa!",she exclaimed in excitement.

"Yes", Valerio agreed as he came to stand behind her, "And that's my grandfather in the middle", he pointed out. "It was taken on my grandfather's eighteenth birthday celebration, if I remember correctly."

Amara's smile fell slightly. None of them looked remotely happy to suit the occasion. Infact the eighteen year old selves of  Sean Sullivan and Bernard Romero seemed to be glaring at each other hatefully, while Vitiello Valentini seemed unfazed by them as he looked on grimly towards the camera.

Valerio smirked, "A happy bunch, aren't they?"

Amara giggled softly, running her fingers over the frame once before a truly crestfallen flashed across her face.

"What's wrong?",Valerio demanded immediately.

Amara turned her sad eyes on him, attempting to offer a small smile.
"Nothing", she said, turning away from the frame.

"Not nothing", he retorted.

Amara sighed, glancing at the picture again. "I... I get scared sometimes",she confessed quietly.

Valerio's irises darkened at her response. "Scared?", he asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Amara nodded hesitantly, "Yes, when I hear about the past wars between the Irish and the Italian families...it makes me realize how easily the alliance could be broken if something happens...how fragile it is in the first place. I know about the past feud between both my families. It frightens me...I don't know what I'd do if... " Even the idea of a war between her Irish and Italian family was enough to cause her pain.

"They would never do it Amara", Valerio told her in a hard voice, "Don Sullivan and Don Romero would never break their alliance. The stakes are too high for them now, their most precious possession would suffer the most through their actions."

Amara glanced at him in confusion.

Valerio smiled softly, cupping her cheek and gazing into her amethyst eyes.

"You", he said."You mean the world to them and no man ever willingly destroys his own world."

"I know they won't", she replied softly.

"Good", he praised, brushing his lips lightly along her forehead making her smile at him shyly.

"I think it's time that we return back to school",Valerio said, "I have a game to win."

*****

"Your team is not going to win", Amara mused while looking over the score board.

"I don't lose Amara",Valerio told her simply.

Amara glanced at the game going in front of her.Without their captain, Valerio's team appeared to be suffering at Allister's hands.

Valerio and Amara were currently in the school's basketball court, watching the match being played on the court through the tinted glass shield that spanned the entire wall of the spectator cabin on the first floor.