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Ava
It had totally slipped my mind that I was supposed to have my menstruation this week. Despite me being on the pill, it was still a small gap after every map of pills. The main reason that I was taking birth control at all, was because of the extreme cramps I got. And the fact that I didn't want to get pregnant, obviously. Since the start of mine and James' relationship, it was more important than ever that I took them. We had sex a lot...
The last couple of days, my body had felt like absolute crap. I was lucky to have James by my side. I noticed that he was inexperienced when it came to periods, but I enjoyed seeing him do his best to be there for me.
Last night when I was watching a movie, waiting for him to be done with work, he came into the room holding a bag filled with sweets. Don't take me wrong, I was thankful, but he was so excited to see my reaction that he just watched me eat as if my uterus would stop leaking blood. He had a thing or two to learn.
He had taken some time off from his tasks to spend time with me too. Whether it was assisting me in the shower or making a luxurious dinner every evening.
It was now the last day of my cycle, and my cramps had reduced. I could finally get out of bed without feeling as if my insides are getting ripped out of my body.
I walked down the stairs, wearing one of James' t-shirts that reached down to the middle of my thighs. I still had a light headache and waited impatiently for the pills that I just took, to kick in.
When I got down to the foyer, I smiled at the guards, and they greeted me by bowing their heads. I'm not going to lie, I liked feeling like a queen. If it wasn't James that made me feel like it, it was the people working for him.
James had his back to me when I stepped over the threshold into the kitchen. A smile made its way onto my lips while I watched him move his hips slightly to the beat of the music. I didn't recognize the song that played softly in the background, but my attention was on the man in front of me anyway.
I was happy to see that ever since we got more serious he had taken down his guard. He was still the dominant, possessive mafia Don, but he was so much more than just that now.
The side of my body leaned against the counter while I watched him cook, still moving to the beat of the sound.
"I didn't know I dated a dancer?" I said, and he turned to me when he heard my voice. He smiled, a tiny blush on his cheeks. I melted.
"Come here." He held out his hand to which I took, and he immediately spun me around and forced me to join his ridiculous dancing.
My back was pressed against his front as he guided our bodies back and forth. He locked my body with his arms, holding me in a tight grip.
"You're going to burn the food." I chuckled, feeling his nose grace over the skin on my neck.
"I can make more." He answered.
He spun me around again, pulling me close by gripping my waist. He reached down to kiss my lips and my arms went around his neck, wanting more.
I pushed myself closer to him, feeling the bulge in his sweats against my lower stomach. He groaned against my lips and pulled back to look at my face.
"Are you still on your period?" He questioned, his eyes dropping to my lips.
"Yes, so you better restrain yourself, mister." I teased him with a smirk.
His lips formed a childish pout, making me chuckle. I stood up on my toes to peck his lips and unfortunately had to let go for him to continue with the cooking.
"Are you sure you don't want any help?" I held his arm while I stood close beside him by the stove. He was making lunch for the both of us and hadn't even allowed me to lift so much as a finger.
"Yes, don't force me to kick you out again." He warned, glancing at me with a cocked brow.
"But I want to help, you always make food for me," I argued.
He chuckled and placed a quick kiss on top of my head.
"I know, that's the whole point. I want to take care of you."
"I'm not a child, you know," I said, looking up at him. His mouth formed a smug smile.
"Oh really? You sure?"
I elbowed his side, which unfortunately not proved my point. He chuckled at my reaction and I turned to sit down on a chair. If he won't let me help I can at least watch him cook. I enjoyed it, seeing his muscles flex when he moved, his concentrated frown when he added different spices.
He was an amazing cook too. What doesn't this man have? He felt too good to be true. Apart from his overly protective and dominant behavior — and small anger issues — he was the ideal man. For me, at least.
"Staring is rude, just so you know." He looked at me over his shoulder, smirking.
"Can you blame me though?" I tilted my head with raised brows.
"I guess you're right." He agreed, turning around to walk to the opposite side of the kitchen island."If I had a hot partner like me I would stare too." He glanced up at me with a teasing expression, waiting for my reaction.
I narrowed my eyes at him."I never said you were hot, did I?"
"You don't have to, gattina. I can see it all by the way you're drooling." He smirked, starting to cut the vegetables on the wooden board.
I was dating a man-child.
•••
My parents and I were supposed to have dinner tonight at some fancy restaurant. Just us three. I hadn't been home for four days, making Emily cover for me while I was here with James.
The plan about telling them about me and James was taking place tonight, and I had no idea how they were going to react. I knew they both liked James, as a businessman. But I didn't know if they would like him as my boyfriend. I already knew my dad would freak out the most. He barely accepted the guys I've dated before, and they were my age. Not 16 years older...
When I arrived home to make myself ready to go with my parents, I was greeted by the door by Charlie. I closed it behind me and crouched down as he walked to me, his fluffy tail lifting as he got closer.
"Hi, Charlie, how have you been?" I said, petting his long white fur. Not that I was expecting a response, but it was normal to talk to your animals though, right? Especially in that high tone that you only used to babies and animals.
He purred and closed his eyes when I scratched behind his ear and I let out a light chuckle as I watched him look up at me with big green eyes.
I forced myself away from him to have time to get dressed in time for us to leave. We were leaving right after they got home from work, which meant they would be here any second now.
I hurriedly got to my room and was surprised when it looked cleaner than it had been when I was here last. My mom was a neat freak who always wanted things in the right place and fresh. I was too, but not to that extent.
I changed into a black patterned classy dress and stood in front of the mirror while I put on some silver earrings. Now it was only my makeup left.
Right, when I was finished I heard the door downstairs open and checked one last time in the mirror. I let my finger drag across the outer line of my lip, making sure none of the dark pink lipstick was incorrectly placed.
My mother's voice called for me and I hurried down the stairs with my purse hanging over my shoulder.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I said repeatedly, looking down at the next step I took to make sure I wouldn't fall in these high heels.
"See, right on-" My smile dropped from my face the second I looked up. My widened eyes took in the person standing next to my parents.
What the fuck was Enzo doing here?
My parents' somewhat excited expressions showed me that they thought I would be happy by the sight of him. But I stiffened extremely.
The memory of that night came flooding back into my brain, the feeling of his hands holding me still against the cushion of the sofa so that he could zip down his pants.
I almost felt like throwing up. On him.
I tried to mask my emotions by putting a smile on my face, which I was sure looked anything but friendly.
"Look who we found." My dad said, grinning."Enzo is back in town for a couple of days and we figured he could join us tonight, isn't that fun?"
I couldn't tear my eyes from Enzo's. He didn't look like he wanted to be here. If anything he looked ashamed that he had entered our house at all. I would be happy to see him, but not after what he did to me.
"Yes, of course." I tried to sound joyous, but it came out forced.
Enzo dropped his gaze to the floor. My parents might not have noticed the strain in my voice, but he did. He knew what I thought about him.
The ride to the restaurant was anything but comfortable. It was utterly awkward. While my parents tried to make conversation I sat there quietly, as far away from Enzo as possible.
I kind of hoped James would have killed him. But deep down I knew that wasn't true because then I would have been the cause of his death.
And besides, he hadn't actually raped me, he just tried to. Also, he was drunk. But I still couldn't forgive him. He still did something so wrong, forcing himself on me like that.
Before I knew it we were parked outside the restaurant. It was dark out, yet the streets were wide awake.
My parents walked towards the entrance smiling and laughing, my mom holding my dad's arm. However I and Enzo were just awkwardly walking side by side, not even our arms grazing against each other.
After we were escorted to our table I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I had to call James. I pushed the door open and locked myself into a stall.
I waited quietly for him to answer, which he quickly did. I opened my mouth before he had the chance to say something.
"James, what the hell is Enzo doing in the city?" I asked, light irritation in my voice. He had told me that Enzo was nowhere near here. I had trusted that he had taken care of him.
"Wait, what?" His voice was firm and he sounded confused. He didn't know either.
"I am on that dinner with my parents, and they invited Enzo. Apparently, they had run into him earlier." I explained.
He sighed.
"Alesso was taking care of him."
I frowned to myself. That was his defense? To blame his brother?
"James. Tell me what's going on. You told me he would never get the chance to be near any of us again."
"Baby, I'm sorry, I should've told you."
"Told me what?"
After hearing what he had to say I wasn't surprised. I knew he hadn't killed Enzo, and I almost assumed that he was assisting James in some way. Like this, doing his dirty work.
What I was upset about was that he never told me the truth, which we had talked about. I felt like he didn't trust me, for some reason. But I was too tired to argue with him now.
"You know what, I don't have the energy to talk about this right now, James. I'll call you in the morning." I sighed and went out of the stall.
"Ava, it's not a big deal. You never asked about him, so I assumed you didn't care."
"I didn't care as long as I never had to see him again." My voice was raised.
My hormones were starting to take over. Although I knew it wasn't his fault I was still upset with him. After having cramps all day my body was fucking exhausted, my mind even more.
"I know, I'm sorry baby." He said softly, sounding sincere.
"I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow."
I didn't wait for him to answer, because I knew he would just be pissed by me hanging up on him. I stepped towards the long line of sinks and put my hands on the white stone. I needed to calm myself before going back out there again, otherwise, I don't know what will come out of my mouth.
The door opened, but I didn't raise my gaze. I didn't need to see a random woman giving me a judgy look because I'm standing there doing breathing exercises.
"Long time, no see." A deep voice uttered behind me. A voice I would remember anywhere. When I turned around he was standing close enough for me to feel his warm breath on my neck. It gave me a shiver of discomfort.
"What are you doing here, Enzo?" I forced myself not to scream at him, instead keeping my tone flat.
He chuckled, the sound coming out hard." I'm just here for the free food." he shrugged.
I rolled my eyes and tried to walk past him. He was quicker and grabbed my arm to hold me back. He pushed me against the closest wall and I struggled helplessly. He grabbed my other arm, pushing me flat against the cold surface. I had no other choice than to give in. He was too strong. I let out a heavy exhale and looked up at him. There was a coldness in his eyes that I had never seen. Something dark clouded his green irises.
"You better keep quiet, Ava. Don't make me do something I'll regret." He gritted, his sharp tone making me flinch back. Who was this person?
I scoffed at his threat.
"You know what your boyfriend has forced me to do for the past month? Or has he not told you?" He tried to get a reaction out of me, a sign that showed that James wasn't truthful to me. I stayed silent."You don't want to know the shit I've been through because of him. The strings I had to pull just to get to you tonight."
My eyebrows scrunched together. This had been his plan. He didn't feel guilty. Not even one bit. I bet he was the one inviting himself tonight too. My parents were just too polite to decline. I bet not even James nor Alesso had any idea of what his games were.
"Whatever he forced you to do, you deserved," I said in a straight tone. I couldn't show my rising anxiety level. I couldn't show him that I felt threatened.
His pissed-off expression deepened. "You will pay for what he did to me, Ava. You have no idea," He leaned in closer." what sort of people I work with on the side."
Unless it was Lucifer himself I wasn't too worried.
He squeezed my wrist painfully hard, making my jaw clench to not cry out. I didn't break our stare once, I wasn't going to let him win one more time.
"You have a lot of balls coming here and threatening me. If you want a battle," I leaned in, lowering my voice."I'll give you a war."
James
"I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow." She sighed on the other line, and before I could answer she had hung up.
She couldn't be that upset about this, though, could she? I groaned in annoyance and leaned my back on the counter behind me as I dialed Alesso's number. He had some fucking explaining to do.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" He said when he answered.
"What the fuck is Enzo doing in town." I snapped.
There was a moment of silence."Uh, he's doing some work here, for you." He tried to justify.
I scoffed.
"Alesso, I repeatedly explained to you that I don't want him anywhere Ava. Is that too hard for you to understand?"
"I'm sorry, but you never told me why and I figured they wouldn't run into each other."
"That piece of shit tried to rape her, Alesso." I said in a low tone. Not that anyone was near, but it was a sensitive subject for me. The memory of her face when she told me is still so clear in my mind I can paint it on a blank canvas. I should have put a bullet in his head when I had him in my hands.
"Oh Jesus...I had no idea." He answered back.
"I- you know what, bring him to me and I'll take care of it," I commanded.
"I will."
"But don't take him here, bring him to the warehouse. I don't want my cells to become bloodied."
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(Not edited chapter might be some mistakes)