Alessandra Capello
We're unannounced, standing in front of Rio's parents' house, my mind is right here with me but my heart is somewhere else.
It's stuck with my little sister who's at home, our home, mine and Rio's, it's already a decision I'm very grateful for, yet, here we are, doing me another favor.
One I don't think I can thank him enough for, his father has connections to a lot of people who will make it easier to hire my sister a bodyguard, to protect her from her own father, ironic I know.
But her living with us 24/7 isn't exactly possible, and it's not an option she'd want at all, I know her enough to realize that, so hiring a bodyguard is the only solution left.
And we're here for that.
Rio knocks again. His jaw already tenses, giving away his irritation, "I can feel a disaster coming." He mutters under his breath, my eyes widen slightly, "God forbid that happens." I retort.
He grabs his keys from his pockets and opens the door moments later, he steps inside and I follow him, it's quiet, huge, and dark, even though we're in the morning.
He frowns as he looks around and interlocks his hand with mine, my heart thumps harsher at the gesture, even when we don't exchange words, my heart tightens in my chest.
He continues walking along the house, I try to ignore the extremely stunning furniture and decor, but I'm mesmerized, I now know where Rio got his exquisite taste from.
It's still quiet. But so suddenly, I hear some noises, We follow it and my jaw unhinges when I take in the sight in front of me. We've strolled through the kitchen, I hope we never did.
But that's far from the point, "Close your eyes, it'll be gone." I assure Rio, who already has his eyes closed as he works his jaw, his father turns to us, grabbing his shirt that's on the floor.
"Maybe when you find the door fucking locked, you leave." He offers dryly, as though he doesn't have a single embarrassed cell in his body, as though we didn't just walk on them having sex.
In the kitchen, on the counter "Oh my god, Romero." His mother buries her head in her hands, too embarrassed, I turn to Rio and try to erase the sudden rising laughter up my throat.
He scratches the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with both his parents, "I'm waiting in the living room." He announces and abandons all of us, disappearing.
I tighten my lips in a line and avoid looking at Romero's body, my cheeks heat up, and I smile awkwardly, leaving without a word, "I told you the kitchen wasn't the right place!" Her voice reaches me.
And unfortunately, so does his response, "It's not like I'm the one who started this, sweetheart." he says in a tone that's softened, or more specifically, humanly, the way Rio talks to me I realize.
Other than that, it's blank, robotic even, it makes my body relax even through this chaos, I reach Rio who's sitting on the couch, legs stretched, and eyes ahead.
"It happens you know." I start, he smiles, so suddenly and abruptly it takes my breath away, "Happens, my ass." He rolls his eyes, "Just erase the image from your mind, distractions." I emphasize.
Raising my eyebrows. He stares at me intensely, in a way that sends shivers cascading down my skin yet makes my whole body swirl with sudden hotness, "You're an enough distraction for this, darling." He reaches out and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ears.
My lips part ever so slightly, the first time he ever did this was yesterday, and it still surprises me, "I'm a distraction?" I ask, my voice breathy, his eyes darken with something I can't indicate.
"A very stunning one." He flirts, or compliments, it doesn't really matter cause the outcome is the same, I heat up, I may act all mighty and unaffected by his presence but god knows I'm not.
Not in the slightest, not at all, "Hey honey, I missed you so much." A feminine voice fills the air and Rio's hand drops from my face as he turns to his mom. Who still looks embarrassed but her love toward her son is outshining most of the embarrassment.
He hugs her.
And I watch them as my heart jumps out of my chest.
It's a beautiful sight, especially since he isn't one to outwardly show affection, but his mother has always been exceptional to him, he's mentioned it numerous times.
Her eyes meet mine as she caresses his back, tiptoeing to even reach his shoulder, it's cuter, "Hey." She mouthes, smiling widely, it makes me uncontrollably smile.
When they pull back she bypasses him and sits right beside me, side hugs me seconds later, "Forget anything you saw, please." She whispers in my ears and I laugh, genuinely.
"Forgotten." I make a motion of zipping my mouth up and throwing the keys away, it's a motion I've stolen from my dearest sister, the reminder of her pops up the reason we're here and my muscles tense.
"I'm traumatized." Rio places a hand against his chest, dramatic, which never happens it makes me smile, "Stop being dramatic, honey, how do you think you came in this world?" She caresses his shoulder playfully and he rolls his eyes.
"Never thought that far." He raises an eyebrow, "Now you have." She shakes her head in disbelief, "I'm so glad you came nevertheless." She pulls us both in a side hug.
She's so adorable and precious I would love laying here in her arm all day, and even though she's probably in her late 40s If not early 50s, the woman still looks young and spirit-full, I bet my sister will age in the same way.
They both have the same personality, the one they show to people at least, "Why are we blessed with your sudden appearance, son?" A rough accented voice fills the air and my muscles tense as Rio's father strolls in the living room.
He sits opposite of us so I have no choice but to stare at him, he doesn't look exactly bothered by his son's appearance, his voice is rather light, which makes Rio flashes a smile I've also never seen before.
"Blessed, huh." He emphasizes and my lips pull in a smile, and so does Eleonora's, and I swear that's what she insisted I call her before, I'm not impolite, "Always blessed, always." She intercepts, smiling wider.
Her husband's gaze softens when his eyes stay on her, just watching her laugh as his lips slightly pull in a smile, as I said, the most peaceful and least threatening expression he has is whenever she's in view.
"That's why you're my favorite." Rio makes a fake innocent expression at his mother to which she kisses his cheeks for, I smile wider, my cheeks aching from it, it's just cute seeing a guy who's literally feared among people being bear-hugged and engulfed with kisses.
And the better thing is, he looks like he's enjoying it, Eleonora turns to me and smiles, her eyes kind and full of love, "Come on, I have something to show you." She interlocks our hands together and I take it as a hint to leave them alone.
I take one last glance at Rio's father and stiffen. "He's not as bad as he seems." She whispers assuringly in my ears and I smile, "Doesn't look like it." I reply as she leads me downstairs.
She grins further, "Oh I know, I was so scared of him at first, but my god, now, he's the love of my life. You'll get used to his unnerving presence." She wiggles her eyebrows.
Her features softening even further as she speaks about him, I don't think I can ever love someone that much, I don't think I've met anyone who could ever find his way through my heart like this.
One day, hopefully.
"I hope so." I mutter under my breath, we continue walking before stepping inside a balcony, she turns in a small circle, motioning for me to watch, "Wow." I say, taken aback by the amount of colorful flowers I'm witnessing.
"I know right." She smiles wider, before her face falls, "Oh my god, I haven't asked you what to drink,or eat, I'm so sorry, we have orange, apple, strawberry-basically all the fruits' juices here. And I made a vanilla cake yesterday, you can have some, it's burnt slightly though, I'm grateful my food-skills gene didn't pass down to Rio." She holds her heart.
I realize that she's a ray of sunshine, a literal one, and it still surprises me that someone like Romero didn't dim her light, instead, it seems like it's intensifying, "Yeah, he knows how to cook for that matter, also, I don't want to drink anything, thank you so much." I smile.
"Did he cook you anything?" Her eyes turn into hearts. Pride filling them at the slightest mention of her son, "Yes." I assure, "How is he treating you, Alessandra? I'm sorry if that's over your boundaries, but I just-I need to be sure that he's not-hurting you, I know that sounds awful cause I'm his mother, how can I doubt that? But Rio, he's just always in his mind, sometimes I think he puts on a fake personality in front of us, and who he actually is is someone I know nothing about." She breathes out. Then waves me off.
"That's not the point, ignore my babbling, I'm just asking, is he hurting you? Or doing anything that you don't like?" She asks, her voice gentle and sincere, I shake my head as hard as I can, "He really surprised me with that, but he's great, he's not as awful as people say." I shrug.
She relaxes, but she looks sad "Are you two not close?" I grimace when I realize that I probably shouldn't ask something so private, but she doesn't look bothered so it erases my guilt.
"We are, supposedly, but I feel like there's so much space between us, do you get me? I think Rio usually puts space between him and people, he doesn't show them who he truly is, major trust issues he inherited from his father, but-I thought I'd be an exception. Just that." She smiles but it's weak, and I see the pain in her eyes.
I reach out, holding her hands in mine, "I don't think that's true." I shake my head and she frowns, confused, "I think he's scared that you'll have a different reaction if he showed you who he truly is, he's afraid of the possible negligence or whatever his mind is making him see." He's dropped this in an indirect way numerous times.
And now it makes sense, he loves his mother a lot more than she might realize, but so does she, she looks surprised and hurt, "I would never, he's my son, my kid, I'd never think of him differently." She shakes her head.
"I know." I smile, assuring, "Do you think I can ever change that thought?" She asks, doubtful, I bite my lip, "I don't know, but I think I know someone who can." I don't know where the confidence boost arises from, but this conversation proved that Rio revealed to me a part of himself a lot bigger than I thought.
"Who?" She asks, hope stretching her smile.
"Me." I breathe out.
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