Not edited- im so sorry for leaving everyone here hanging for a whole ass month, the exam month just hit me really fucking hard and i had a lot to study for and there were so many tasks shoved into the last month of school. like i still have two more exams, one tmr and one the day after. im dying.
Make sure to vote n comment, when this has 1k more comments n 500 more votes then it alr says up above i'll start the next chapter for u all!!
But yeah, AHHH THANK U ALL FOR GETTING THIS BOOK TO SIX MILLION READS I LOVE U ALL SM I CANT- THANK U SM.
**RECAP**: bella is marrying Ace for protection for both her and max n ari, he's marrying her so his parents can hand him the mafia, viktor is the leader of the russians who kidnapped bella and wants to marry her, milos (the pharmacist) is the doc dude she met at the beginning of the book.
Bella Hale
Maybe if I said yes to the dinner with the hot pharmacist I wouldn't have to be having one with a murderer?
I wonder how many people the man I'm sitting across from has killed in cold blood, and if he's going to kill me, it better be in a creative way or else I'll rise from the dead.
"I'm not going to kill you," he assures me as if it's normal to have to tell someone that while he looks through the menu, I hum with a slow nod as I cross one leg over the other.
I pick up the menu and start looking through it, although I'd rather be at home with my brother and niece eating his homemade dinner. They were happy to see me all day today. I took work off because I had a feeling that it would be my last time seeing them for a while.
I also told Max that I might leave for a few weeks for a meeting that takes place in Europe so he doesn't get worried if I mysteriously disappear.
Honestly, I want all this to be over as fast as possible. Everything leading up to the marriage and the horrible six months until the divorce can happen, and by then he'll have Viktor dealt with.
Whatever 'dealt with' means...
"When is the wedding?" I drop the menu and ask him with an emotionless tone, I'm done beating around the bush.
He doesn't even look away from the menu as a small smile takes place on his lips, "careful bellissima, I might think you're actually excited for my last name." he taunts me and I take a deep breath, it's a simple joke Bella, it's fine.
I'm getting married to a immature murder asshole who is about to run a whole mafia, fuck me this is anything but fine.
I tried
"Do you ever answer questions properly?" I ask him with irritation ringing in my voice, he slowly puts the menu down before leaning back in his chair getting comfortable.
We're seated in some booth towards the back of the Italian restaurant, and judging the silence and disturbance free area I know we can talk about this whole situation.
"A week," he brings the cold water to his lips and I hum, "then what?" I question lightly as he keeps eye contact. His grey eyes seem darker in the dim lighting of the restaurant as he takes a sip of water.
My eyes trail down for a split second to see his Adam's apple bob up and down before he places the glass back onto the table, "you stay with me for safety, because the news of our marriage will no doubt piss Viktor off."
Great, I really thought I could live in a separate apartment with some guards. "What about Max and Ari?" I ask, the more I think of it, and the more Ace reminds me of how dangerous Viktor is the more I stress about my family's safety.
He leans over the table a bit and asks if I'm ready to order lightly, I nod awaiting his answer to my questions as he presses the order button.
"I'll have my best men guard the house, make sure Viktor's mafia doesn't step close to them." He explains and I feel my leg bouncing up and down, it's going to be fine, perfectly fine.
Why was it me that my evil father had to give to Viktor? Fucking asshole.
"We need ground rules," I state. Maybe these rules can help us make this even a bit better than it is right now.
He raises an eyebrow as we wait for someone to come take our order, Ace nods for me to elaborate and I take a deep breath before talking.
"Sleeping in separate beds," I quickly state my first rule but he sighs. "My parents have to think this marriage is real, so whenever they come over we need to act the role of husband and wife, understood?" he explains to me like I'm a three year old child.
I glare at him for that reason and he dares me to say something about it with those stupid eyes of his, I was about to speak up but before I could a waiter walked into our booth.
"What can I get for you two?" he grins, not knowing what conversation he walked into just now, I give him a tight lipped smile before speaking. "I'll take the Fettuccini Alfredo, please", basic but it tastes good so whatever.
He mutters the order back to himself as he writes and looks at Ace for his order, "a Spaghetti Carbonara with a bottle of Bruno Giacosa Collina Rionda wine" he orders off the menu with a perfect accent while saying the names of the foods and wine.
Jesus christ how can he speak with such a good accent?
My eyes fall to the menu and I let out a small breath when I see how much the bottle of wine he ordered is, and not to mention that the restaurant probably sells it for ten times the price you could get it somewhere else.
The waiter tells us how good our choice of wine is as he grabs our menus before leaving, I mean of course you'd think it's good when he's paying for it.
My eyes meet the man sitting across from me and I raise an eyebrow, "did you just order a four thousand dollar wine?" I ask him and he shrugs.
"It tastes like heaven in your mouth," is his only excuse and lets out a small laugh. Sure it does.
"Back to the conversation," I fix my suit's blazer as I speak lightly. "We can put on the whole loving couple act in front of your parents, but other than that, we're just two people living in one house. Kinda like roommates." I phrase it in the nicest way that comes to mind.
That is nice to you? Should've heard what I was about to say...
He nods and grabs his water, "you have to come to events with me, as my wife." He shares one of his rules and I sigh, of course I do. I mean or else this marriage wouldn't really benefit him would it?
I agree with a nod just like he did before the same waiter walked into our booth with two wine glasses and the bottle of red wine, he places a glass in front of each of us before smiling. Why the fuck is he so happy?
Bella, leave him be.
As soon as he leaves my eyes fall to Ace, "what events?" I mean he's in a whole ass mafia, I have no idea what I'm walking into but I'd die before walking in without any information.
I slowly grab the wine glass and bring my lips towards the thin rim, "normal business events and mafia events, they're both the same thing with different types of people. Don't stress it." He waves me off before grabbing his glass.
Totally, mafia and business tycoons are the same thing.
"I'll still go to work everyday," I take a sip of the wine, my eyes flutter as the wine that truly does taste like heaven in my mouth runs over my tongue and down my throat. Damn that is really fucking good.
"You'll go to work everyday with a guard with you," he rephrases my words for me and I glared at him as I pulled the glass away from my lips. I get the whole keeping me safe thing but a bodyguard? Why can't someone guard the building, from afar?
He gives me a look that allows no room for negotiation and I let out an annoyed sigh, again, this is why I never say yes to partnerships. Something bad always happens, and I hate when things aren't my way.
I would argue with him but considering he's keeping me and the two only important people in my life safe, I'll keep it minimised with the arguing.
"You're coming home with me tonight," he announces and I choke on the fucking wine before looking at him, wiping my lips with the back of my hand and looking at him with a shocked look. He's so damn lucky my suit is black.
Ace simply drinks the wine as his eyes run over my face and stop at my lips, my tongue darts out and licks the wine from my lips before I clear my throat. "Are you in the right state of mind?" I grit under my breath, why is he only telling me this now? What about all my belongings?
He almost laughs at my question for some reason before reaching into the pocket on the inside of his blazer, pulling out a black velvet box and sliding it onto my side of the table. "Not in the slightest."
My eyes fall to the small black box and my breath gets stuck in my lungs, and now it hits me in the face, this is really happening.
So romantic, this has always been my dream. For the man I'm marrying to slide me the ring box and expect me to slip it on. I'm flustered, best perposal eve-shut the fuck up.
What? I have dreams for the both of us and this is not it.
I don't care, it's not that bad.
It's pretty bad, don't lie to yourself he passed you the ring.
Not that I'd scream and shout yes if he got down on one knee.
But still, he could've tried.
It doesn't matter to me, it's a six month marriage to get over it.
No, a proposal is such a big thing and he passed you the ring like Ari passes 'fuck you's' to people that annoy her.
Not to me it isn't
But-it's fine consy.
"Put it on and don't take it off until the divorce is final six months later," he mutters and I grab the box. Slowly flip it open and I freeze when the ring basically shines in the dim lighting, a round diamond in the middle with small ones placed along the band, another small simple diamond covered band connected to the ring.
"Lucia got it this morning while I was in a meeting, she said you'd probably like it." he mutters as if he's nervous whether I like it or not, why does it even matter? I'll only have it for six months.
Flattering, this gets even better everytime he speaks. His sister got the ring that he passed to you like one of Ari's 'fuck you's'. And they say romance is dead.
Seriously?
What? He's stepping on all my dreams and squishing them under his stupid desginer shoes.
He's not my husband forever you dumb bitch, if I ever get married again the guy will probably propose properly. Does that make you feel better?
Nope!
I sigh at the voice in my head before pulling the ring out of the box, my eyes fall to Ace as I slip it onto my left hand's ring finger. "Anything else?" I ask sarcastically and he gives me a smile with a bitter amount of sarcasm in it.
"Any other rules, roomie?" he asks in the same tone I used and I bite the inside of my cheek.
Asshole, he wants to be petty? Fine, let's play the petty game.
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A/N
Word count: 2123
Sorry for not updating once again, exam month just took me by surprise.
Anyways make sure to vote n comment for the next one n ill see u all next chapter.
ish <3