"What do you mean you fucked up?" She tilted her head back so she could see my face. I wrapped my arms around her, knowing that if she found out, she'd run. And I promised her father I'd keep her.
"Your father and Margo know," she frowned before she turned around in my arms to fully face me.
God, she was beautiful.
"What does that mean?" She asked, her hand lightly touching my shoulder.
"They figured it out. I'm a bad actor and they saw almost right through me," her face stayed straight, not indicating any change in emotion. "I'm really sorry for that, love."
"So..." she looked down at my chest. "They know I'm alive?" I nodded.
"And I'm pretty sure your mother will know soon." She looked up at me, almost clear she wanted to flee. "And I can't let you go." In a matter of seconds, she turned from the calm and sweet Cel that I loved into the wicked and dangerous killer. I tightened my arms around her as she started to move around frantically. "Baby, Dante knows you're here," she pushed her hands against my chest, trying to shove me back.
"Liam, please, I have to go," she pleaded. I held her tight against me as she moved around.
"No, Cel. I'm sorry," she grunted as she tried pushing me away. "Baby, listen, we'll help you, I promise," she hit my face with her hand, letting the spot sting.
"Let me go, you piece of shit!" She shoved me back but I just tightened my grip on her, almost plastering her to my front.
"Cel, listen to me. You'll be fine. No one is going to try and kill you. I'll be right beside you."
"You don't understand. No one can help me. I only needed you to be with me that all. You have a good-ish aim and you know how to fight. That's why I needed you. I don't need anyone else knowing. It's too risky," I placed a kiss on her head as she kept trying to pull away from me.
"My love, please. You can't run from me now." I placed another kiss on her head. "I hate to break it to you but I'm stronger."
"Let. Me. Go." She demanded, her hands planted on my chest, giving me some warmth.
"Celeste, no."
"Liam."
"Celeste." She looked up at me and I smiled. "You're strong, you know that?" She rolled her eyes before I pushed her on her back and wrapped my hand around her throat. Fuck, I've missed that. "Don't roll your eyes at me." I placed a kiss on her lips as her hands rose to my shoulders.
"Liam, let me go. It's all I'm asking." I shook my head before I kissed her cheek and moved my lips onto her ear.
"I love you," I whispered.
"Then show me." I stilled before pulling my head away from her neck and looking at her. I raised my brows as I watched her closely. Her eyes looked all over my face until they finally settled on my eyes.
"Round two?" She almost burst out laughing.
"Liam, I mean let me go. Sex isn't the only thing that can make me know you love me." I smiled before kissing her.
"You're staying here. Like it or not." I grabbed her small body and dragged it towards the end of the bed as I rose to my feet. I pulled her naked body to me and as she wrapped her legs around my waist, I walked into the closet.
"I hate you."
"I love you," I smiled at her as I said that. She gripped my hair hard, making it hurt. "Ce," I whined.
"Stop being a baby," she said before placing a kiss on my cheek. I turned the light of her closet on before closing the door behind me.
"What do you want to wear?" She looked to the side as I watched her.
"I'll pick it out," she pushed herself away from me but I didn't let go. She looked back at me with a frown. "Liam," I shook my head.
"What do you want? I'll carry you to it." She was about to say something but I continued. "I'm not taking any chances." She fought back an eye roll but proceeded to tell me where to take her.
She picked out light grey sweatpants with a white tank top and asked me to take her back to the bedroom. I did as she said and then set her down on the bed. She carefully picked her underwear off the floor as I stared at her.
Once she put her underwear on and the other picked out clothes, she rose to her feet and took her hair out of the bun. She handed me the rubber band which I took and wrapped around my right wrist. As she finger-combed her hair, I stared at her. I knew she was smarter than to run right now but she was mischievous.
Just as I wanted to grab my pants off the floor, she ran. I quickly caught up to her and wrapped one arm around her waist before pulling her back to my chest. I carried her from the door of the closet to the bed and slapped her ass hard once I laid her down.
"Wicked thing." She looked at me with so much rage that it made me smile. I grabbed my pants off the floor and put them on. She watched my every move and once I put my shoes on as I sat on the edge of the bed, her arms wrapped around my chest. I smiled as I felt her lips touch my cheek.
I placed one of my hands on her forearm and then touched her thigh behind me with my other.
"You're the biggest moron I've ever met, you know that?" I smiled as I tilted my head in her direction. I met her eyes before she leaned down and kissed me.
"And you're the only fucking thing that makes me happy in my fucked up life," she smiled lightly before her hand that was on my chest travelled to wrap around my neck. She kissed me slowly and passionately, taking her time. I kissed her back as my hand moved from her thigh onto her ass before I gently gripped it.
"Ti amo, you bastard," I let out a small laugh as I looked at her.
"I love you, my love."
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I had texted Dante five minutes ago to come into my bedroom as Celeste paced around the room. She wasn't ready. Not in the slightest.
"This is a terrible idea," she said over and over.
"My love, it's the closest people to you. Just your parents. No one else," she stopped in her tracks and turned around to face me. I knew she wasn't pleased with my words. I held my hands out in defence. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," she frowned before crossing her arms over her chest. "You're right, I did," she rolled her eyes and turned away from me, once again proving she had the upper hand. Once a message reached my phone, I raised it upwards to see the news.
Dante: Can you perhaps come down to the meeting room?
I frowned.
"Dante asked if we could come down to the meeting room," she turned around to face me again and after giving me some thought, nodded. "You're sure?"
"I want to get this over with," I nodded before sending him the reply. I tucked the phone into my pocket and handed my hand out to her. She bit the inside of her mouth as she hesitated. She was shaking as she thought but I couldn't blame her. This was a big step as much as she didn't want to do it. She walked over to me slowly and placed her hand in mine.
I pulled her to my chest before placing a kiss on her forehead. "It'll be okay. I'll be there," she looked up at me before she slowly nodded. "I love you." She didn't respond nor react to my words, throwing me slightly off guard. Instead, she walked over to the door and dragged me outside.
My heart started beating rapidly as we walked down the stairs. She, on the other hand, looked as if it was a normal day for her and she wasn't about to surprise her family that she wasn't dead. Once we reached the hall, she stopped. The door was just a few steps away and considering there were no guards or any other people present, I knew Dante had taken care of it.
But the one thing I had hoped was that he didn't invite everyone he could because that would freak her out. And she might run. But she wouldn't get far. I wrapped an arm around her waist before leaning down to her neck.
"If you don't want to, we can go back," she shook her head before her hand touched my arm.
"I have to, Liam," she stated, before pealing my arm away from her and walking over to the door. I stayed close behind but once she opened the door, it seemed as if time had stopped.
The room was packed with people. More than I wanted but less than I expected. Margo sat right next to Dante with Alex on her side. Giorgia sat on the other side of her husband. Laura sat on her side with Egon on the other, Aldo sat next to Audrey and Lorenzo sat right across from them with Marco by his side.
When Dante's eyes locked with Celeste's, everything went quiet. Any chatter vanished and everyone that had been looking at Dante turned to where we stood. Giorgia's face turned pale.
"Mia figlia," Dante placed his hand on her back before she rose to her feet. I couldn't see Ce's face but judging from the frequent rise and fall of her back, I knew she must have been crying. Giorgia practically ran around the table as most of the people inside rose to their feet. She didn't even think twice before she grabbed Cel and hugged her tight as she cried into her shoulder.
"Mama," Ce cried out. I gently pushed them forward to close the door and walked over to the side. I stood close to Cel just in case but she was in good hands. I was sure of it.
Soon, her closest family surrounded her and hugged her. It brought a smile to my face as I saw that smile of hers I loved. Alex walked to my side and nudged me with his elbow.
"I fucking knew it. You don't deserve an oscar." I looked at him with a frown. "You're terrible at lying. Well, acting. Not necessarily lying," I rolled my eyes before I looked back at my girl. "Egon saw it too." I glanced at him who was already looking at Alex and me. He shrugged before turning his head to the side where Laura stood. "The bar gave it away. And Margo was acting suspiciously."
"So the both of us can't act," he smiled before crossing his arms over his chest.
"I know her well enough to know when she's hiding things from me." I smiled as I glanced at him. "Thank god you're alive," he said towards Ce and walked over to her before giving her a hug. She smiled as he pulled away. "This asshole was losing his mind," she looked at me sympathetically, making me roll my eyes. She then chuckled and looked back at Alex.
Even though her tears were clearly visible, the smile on her face was able to hide any hint of sadness. Everyone began to go back to their seats but before Aldo made his way around me he smacked me in the head.
"That's for keeping this from me." I looked at him.
"Margo knew too," he frowned before looking over at her.
"Hell no, I figured it out. You would've kept it to yourself because you were more scared to get your ass whooped by your girl," I tried to suppress my smile because it was true.
"I think he'd like it," Egon said making some of the girls chuckle including Cel. I looked over at him and he just smiled at me innocently. "What? I'm sure you'd like it if she stabbed you to death," I was already laughing before Dante put a stop to it.
"Okay," he said roughly, "none of us need to know about Liam's preferences in the bedroom," I sat down right beside Cel who tried to stay still from the laughter. I placed my hand on the back of her chair as I leaned back in my chair. Her mother sat down on the other side of her daughter and took her hand in hers.
"Where the fuck were you?" Margo asked not waiting for everyone to sit down. Once everyone was seated, Cel spoke.
"Long and thrilling story." Margo frowned before Cel continued. "But what I want to know is what the hell happened after I died. And how the hell you weren't able to get me?" I don't think my heart has had a breath since the night.
"They swarmed the place," Aldo said. "We tried but they took you." Ce looked over at me but I wasn't going to give her a better answer than that.
"Don't even ask him. We dragged him out of that place." Something cloudy passed her eyes. "But don't think for one moment that we wanted to leave you," Margo continued.
"Tell me what you remember and in exchange, I'll tell you everything that I did since it happened." I shifted in my seat.
"We're going to get more from you than you will, is that a fair trade?" Aldo asked, making me avert my eyes from my girl onto him.
"Since when do you play fair?" Cel asked, making Aldo smile. "Just do it. I want to know what happened."
"Alright," Margo said before she started talking.
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