Two months later
Riley's pov:
"XAVIER!!" I yelled running into the living room
My. Heart.
Xavier was sitting on the couch with Olive and Waffle on his lap
Waffle was licking Xavier's hand like a lollipop and Olive kept putting her finger in his mouth
And what's shocking is he didn't look that bothered
Layla and Caleb arrived in California 2 days ago, they come to visit every once in a while every since that arrangement of My cousin Jacob
One month until I'm 18 anyway
"Hey" a grin stretched across my face
"Hello amore" he gave me a small forced smile
But his eyes lit up at my sight
"What's wrong?" I pushed Waffle aside and he gave a small sound of disapproval
I'll make it up to him later
"Alessandro just called" Xavier muttered taking a hold of my hand and playing with my fingers like Olive doing him
"And?" God he always brings bad news
"He said he took care of my parents and Jasmine situation and that he left"
"Come again?" I blinked
"He left. Called, told me I'm a mafia leader and left"
Excuse me?
"What?"
"Meet the new italian Mafia leader Amore"
Oh Shit
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"Jacob? Dude?" I knocked for the hundredth time on that damn office door
I'm at his company because now I apparently had to ask for permission to go out
It's absurd
And that door doesn't budge and it's locked
God damn him
"Oh, Ms Stewart hello" Lauren, my cousin's personal assistant came from behind me
"Lauren! What is my asshole of a cousin doing inside I've been knocking for hours" she opened and closed her mouth
"He's...in a bad mood" she averted her gaze to the ground
"Can we go inside or what?" Seriously this is ridiculous I'm an adult
"I- I guess we can try" she knocked once, twice
No reply
"Mr Hugo I have papers you need to sign"
Silence
"I need to deliver them in an hour, I kinda need the signature I have work to do"
The lock on the door switched open and I barged in
"Fucking finally" I glared at my cousin who was glaring at...Lauren?
"There are no papers are there?" He muttered
"Nope I just wanted to come in"
"And she lied to let you in?" He asked
"Yes, but with good intentions!" I justified
"Back to your work Lauren" he went to the couch and sat down
"I want to go out" I said still standing
"When"
"Six"
"With who"
"Xavier"
"Where"
"Some Chinese restaurant, it's 20 minutes away from us"
"When will you be back?"
"At nine"
"Okay"
"Good business cousin" I grinned tipping my head and leaving the room "bye Lauren, take care dude is in a very prissy mood"
"Yeah I know but thanks" she mumbled
I bet my left lung his mood is based on something she'd done
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I called Lilly on my way back home and asked her to come to the house
Her and I need to have a talk
"Hey" she tiptoed into my room
"What's with the tiptoeing?"
"Layla said whoever wakes up Olive will put her back to sleep, Olive never goes back to sleep" she closed the door quietly and came and sat on the bed
"So what's up?" I playfully narrowed my eyes at her nonchalant behavior
I leaned back against the bed "how about we cut through the bullshit?" I'm her bestfriend
Why's she keeping this away from me?
"I have no idea what you're talking about" she shrugged innocently looking around the room
"Jaden."
"Your cousin? Seriously you called me here to talk about your cousin Rhys?" She should sign up for an acting class
"Listen, I know I haven't been the best friend I should be, I had shit going on all the time. These past few months were very...eventful. To be honest I'm still taking everything in, but you're still my bestfriend and I'd like to know when you have something to share, you should always be comfortable coming to me" I said every word slowly emphasizing my point
She opened and closed her mouth a couple times like a fish
"If you don't want to talk to me fine, I won't force you, we can talk about something else" I have about 2 hours to get ready to go out with my lover
He went out to run errands
Comes with the new title and stuff
(Sarcasm noted)
"No I want to tell you" she placed her hand on my arm and looked at the ground for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking back at me "We...had something going on"
"Had?"
"He ended it"
"Excuse you?"
"Jaden ended it"
"But why!?" I was against it but I knew the way Jaden looked at her wasn't just friendly
Why did that fool end it?
"I hurt him" her lips wobbled as she gave a small smile
"Did you cheat on him!?" I almost yelled
"What? God no Riley, do you really think I'd do that?" She frowned
"Nope sorry just checking" I smiled apologetically
"Let's just say you're not the only one who got herself in trouble this past month" I really don't know what happened last month with her
I'm an awful friend
"I'm sorry for not being there" I placed an arm over her shoulder
"Riley you had way more dangerous shit going on, what's that nonsense you're apologizing for!?"
"So tell me, what happened? maybe I can fix it" I grinned
Time to play matchmaker
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"Holy shit little vixen" Caleb whistled
"You actually look decent looking" Jaden gave me a dirty side look before going back to his phone
"Dude shut up she looks gorgeous" Layla playfully glared at him
"Thanks guys but Where's Xavier?" I asked frowning
"He's on a business call" Caleb cringed
"Oh" I leaned against the wall beside the staircase "should I go to him or wait or what?" I asked twirling the ring on my finger
"No I'm sure he'll come" I sighed resting my head on the wall
Is this how it's going to be?
Him not showing up on time for me because he's busy?
Right, mafia leader
That's not sinking in anytime soon
I looked up when I heard sounds filling the house and the front door slamming shut
"No, lo voglio consegnato entro domani, ascolta, non me ne frega un cazzo di quello che ti ha detto Alessandro che voglio- shit"
(No I want it delivered by tomorrow, listen I don't give a fuck what Alessandro told you I want-)
I love that look, the one where he looks so mesmerized by me he forgets everything else
A minute passes while he stares at me like he won a trophy before he realizes he still has a phone to his ear
"Shit parlare più tardi" he tucks the phone in his pocket and stalks towards me
(Talk later)
"I don't think I want my kid in here I'm out" Caleb gets off the couch carrying Layla who was holding Olive and goes into one of the rooms downstairs
Jaden also gets up and we hear the front door slam
But his gaze barely lets me focus on anything else
"Fuck mio Campanellino, you look mesmerizing" Xavier places his hands on my waist pulling me to him
"What does that mean?" I whispered against his chest
"What does what mean?" He kisses my head
"That nickname you keep calling me" I look up alittle and his unshaved beard pokes my forehead
"Well the literal meaning is little bell, the other meaning is tinkerbell from Peter Pan-" I giggled
"What?" He looked down at me with a soft smile
"You know Peterpan?"
"It's Jasmine's favorite movie it grew on me" he playfully rolled his eyes "anyway I'll continue what I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, I call you tinkerbell because you're the little sparkle in my life, without you my life would be dark and boring. You're the most magical thing in my life Riley. And like Peter Pan would not be able to fly and be free without tinkerbell and her pixie dust, I wouldn't be able to live without you sweetheart" I felt myself blush so hard I hid my reddening face in his neck
"I'm being romantic here and you're hiding your face?" He chuckled
"Shut up" I mumbled from his neck
"You love me" he said under his breath
"I do" I whispered clutching his clothes in my fist
"You look absolutely magnificent by the way sweetheart, did I tell you that?" He kissed my cheek
"You did" I chuckled
"la mia bella ragazza" he sighed threading his hands through my hair
"Shouldn't we go?" I whisper, letting go of his shirt
He layed one more kiss at the top of my head before letting go and taking hold of my hand "After you mio Campanellino"
I love him
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"I know this isn't an ideal situation, love" he sighed placing his hands on the table after we placed our order at some fancy diner that probably cost more than I'm willing to know
"Yes, it isn't but I'm not running away, we're in this together, no one is leaving. do you hear me?" I placed my hand on his, giving him a small reassuring smile
"I don't want to put you in danger, I love what I do but I don't wish it upon you" he looked down
"Hey" I placed my other hand in his hair and tilted his head so he was looking at me "Don't push me away, I choose this life for me, I choose to be with you Xavier, I want the full package, the student, the teenager, the brother, the gangleader and the mafia leader" I kissed his hand
He pulled his hand out of my grasp and wrapped it around the back of my neck "I'll have to go to Italy alot" he talked slowly looking into my eyes deeply
Like he's showing me all the worst parts
He's giving me the chance to back out
Never
"Okay" I nodded once
"I'll be alot more busy"
"That's fine"
"Jasmine won't live with my parents she'll live with me"
Why does that have anything to do with me?
"Okay?"
"You're not catching up, are you sweetheart?" He smiled and turned away letting my other hand fall onto my lap
I shook my head frowning
"Well I want the whole package too" he looked ahead, clenched his jaw, before looking back at me "Move in with me"
"I-" I have nothing to say
"Say yes Riley, we'll go wherever you want, you want to stay in New York? Fine, you want to go back to California? With pleasure, heck if you want to live in Italy we'll live there" God I love his eyes
That electric green color
So hypnotizing
So beautiful
"I'll move in with you" I smiled even more when I saw his child like smile
"I love you" he kissed my hand
"I love you more" I caressed his face with my other hand
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Antonio's pov:
I traced her sleeping face with my hand
Not fucking again
Maybe she'll hate me for real this time
I clenched my fist until it turned white
"I'll fucking come back for you, April" I placed a kiss on her forehead and let go
Leaving the room
The place
The country
Leaving her
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God guys suck
I hope you enjoyed this chapter
I update when I can so please be kind ✨️
Hugs and kisses 💋
K.m.