I feel like this song is perfect for the Alessandro and Eva love story! It's honestly so fitting so I'd definitely recommend a listen :)
But here's an update guys. I hope you enjoy. <3
~ ~
Eva
Her dainty fingers wrapped themselves around mine.
The concentration on her face was unwavering and faint mumbles came from her mouth — but I couldn't distinguish the words. They were unclear due to her focus on my hands.
I tried to keep my body still, despite the laughter that was bubbling in the back of my throat. "How's it going?"
Arianna hummed to herself and her eyes briefly glanced up at me. "It's going good," she told me before looking back down at my hands. "I just need to finish the edges."
My lips twisted in an attempt to hold back an amused smile. I had promised Arianna that she could paint my nails, oblivious to the fact that I would have to sit in the same position for 45 minutes. She'd washed off the nail-polish five times before she was actually happy with carrying on.
I think it's safe to say that she's a perfectionist.
Eventually she finished off and clapped her hands together. "I'm finished!"
Looking at my pale-blue nails, my eyes widened in shock at the result. Surprisingly they were almost perfect — except small specks of varnish outside of my nails.
"Good job, Ari." I praised with surprise remaining on my face.
Her face blossomed into a proud smile and her hands bundled together infront of her.
Seems like those 45 minutes paid off.
"Now we're matching." Arianna pointed out, wiggling her identical nails up and grinning widely at me.
My head bobbed and I chuckled in her direction. "We are indeed."
Arianna and I played around the room for the following couple of hours. She introduced me to every single one of her dolls and we made up random games to pass the time.
"Guess what?" She chirped in a giddy tone, rolling her body on the floor and looking up at me.
My lips tilted in a crooked smile and I raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Guess how many dolls I have."
I'd lost count. It was clear that Arianna got spoiled. Even though we practically played with her doll-house whenever we had free-time, she'd always have more to show me. Some of them were cheap ones that were easy to toss around, and others were large and fragile.
"A lot." I responded with a chuckle after thinking for a moment, leaning back on my hands and keeping my eyes on her.
A series of high-pitched giggles erupted from her in response. "I know, but how many?"
A thoughtful hum vibrated through my tightly closed lips. "Hmm... 100?"
Her head shook.
"200?"
Again, her head shook but this time, her mouth spread into a wide smile.
"300?" I exclaimed with my eyes wide.
"350." She answered with laughter following, her eyes squinted due to her smile expanding.
350 dolls.... that was more than I could even imagine.
I remembered the dolls that I used to have when I was younger. They were cheap but never failed to entertain my young mind. My mother would always make a conscious effort to never let my playful side fade. Even when I began to grow up, she'd try and force toys on me and encourage me to be immature and play with them.
That was one of the things that I adored about her the most.
"I can tell your Daddy spoils you." I told her with a smile.
Her body shuffled into an upright position. Her bouncy curls were pushed out of her face by her tiny hands as she looked at me with bright eyes.
"He always buys me dolls." Her voice was cheery and grateful. "It's because they are my favourite toys."
It made me smile to imagine the kind of unconditional, unwavering love that Alessandro had for his daughter. He seemed hard on the surface but I knew that there was softness deep within his heart. And I knew that Arianna got most of it.
And that's when I was reminded of the previous day. The day she began sobbing and nobody could comfort her but Alessandro.
I knew that it was a sensitive topic and of course, curiosity killed the cat.
And I knew it would. If not physically, I knew that I'd be dead to Alessandro if I knew something that he didn't want to tell me.
But I had to know. It was an urge that was taking over me. An urge to know his truth. An urge to know him...
And that's when my mouth began to run before my mind could halt.
"Ari... what happened the other day, when you started crying? When your Daddy had to come and comfort you?"
God, I felt nosy.
The way my words shamelessly blurted out made me cringe.
And to make things even worse, Arianna looked at me with a blank expression on her face. Complete blankness that made me feel disgustingly uncomfortable.
"If-"
"I sometimes have bad memories," she abruptly spoke, just when I was about to stop her from telling me. "And I can't stop them.... that's why my Daddy has to come and help me. He's the only one who knows."
The only one who knows what?
I was desperate to know, but I decided against asking any further questions. I could tell by the way Arianna looked down in shame when she spoke, that she didn't feel comfortable around that subject.
And the last think I wanted was to make her feel like she couldn't be comfortable around me.
"I'm hungry." Arianna told me, thankfully changing the subject before I had to. Her hands were rubbing her stomach and her face was twisted uncomfortably.
My head tilted to the side and I got up from the sitting position that I had been in. "Come on then," I gestured, holding my hand out. "We'll go and have some dinner."
Her hand locked with mine and we walked out of the room and into the wooden hallways, towards the kitchen.
As we made our way into the kitchen, I saw Rosie and a couple of other maids gathered around the counter. Some were working in various ways and others were taking a break and chattering.
They all looked towards us when we stepped inside, their smiles welcoming.
"Ari is hungry." I stated with a small smile in Arianna's direction. "I've come to give her some food."
"Oh, don't worry..." Rosie insisted as she walked over to us. "I'll make her something. I actually need you to do me a massive favour."
There was something strange in her eyes. It was brief but nevertheless noticeable.
"What favour?" I asked curiously.
"If you don't mind.... I need you to give this paperwork to Alessandro in his office. Our secretaries wanted me to give it to him before but it slipped my mind."
She grabbed an envelope on the counter and offered it.
I didn't understand why she couldn't do it herself but something told me that I should give it to him anyway. So I nodded and took it in my hand with a small smile. "No problem."
A wide, grateful smile spread across her face in response.
The questions still circled through my brain as I walked back into the hallway and back down the hallway. Something was strange. Rosie was very suspicious and looked as if she was planning something — which definitely scared me slightly.
But I told myself that it was probably nothing.
Eventually I reached Alessandro's office. The door was closed so I hesitated before my fist made contact with the wood and I knocked three times.
"Come in." A raspy voice ordered from inside the office.
My hands wrapped around the door-knob and I twisted it slowly, creaking the door open and immediately catching sight of Alessandro.
He was sitting behind his desk, his legs resting ontop of the wood and his body laid back in the chair. There was also a glass of liquor infront of him — half full.
His blazer was absent and his white shirt was unbuttoned at the top, revealing some of his toned chest.
"Eva," he spoke in a slight chirpy tone, his low raspiness remaining. "How can I help you?"
His eyes focused on me and I saw the corners of his mouth raise slightly as he waited for an answer.
"Uhm.... Rosie wanted me to give this to you." I told him, distracting myself from his appearance by looking down at the envelope as I walked towards the desk and held the envelope out.
It took him a few moments to make a movement.... almost as if he was contemplating letting me leave so soon.
"Thank you." He finally broke the awkwardness, taking the envelope and briefly brushing his fingers against mine in the process.
I looked up at him and smiled quickly, turning around and beginning to leave.
"Eva, wait." He quickly called before I could open the door.
Confused, I turned around and raised both of my eyebrows expectantly. My heart began to race. What did he want?
He sighed to himself and looked at me. "Do you want to take a walk?"
"Take a walk?" I repeated with my voice slow and still confused.
"Yeah," he replied with a single nod. "I need to talk to you."
Talk to me? Suddenly the worst case scenario popped up in my mind. He was going to do the same as Antonio.... fire me from my job, throw me on the streets and let me wander alone with the dangers of the world lurking behind me.
I could do it once.... and then I could survive it the second, but I couldn't do it the third time.
"Sir..." My voice was croaky and broken in fear.
His eyebrows immediately dropped in concern at the sight of me. "It's nothing bad."
My heart slowly calmed down. The pace was still racing but it brought me relief to know that he wasn't going to take the job from me. That was the one thing that would surely tear me down.
"Okay." I spoke meekly. "Will I need a coat or something?"
"You shouldn't," he answered, walking over to me. "It's good weather."
His body towered over mine and the masculine scent that radiated from him almost made me dizzy. His eyes darted from my eyes to my lips and back to my eyes... causing so many emotions to run through me.
"Shall we go?" He finally spoke with hooded eyes.
All I could do was nod; the words simply wouldn't come out. And so I followed him through the Estate towards the outside world. There were no words between us until we got into the bright sunlight.
The rays warmed the exposed skin outside of my uniform — which included my bare arms and legs.
My uniform was almost identical to what the maids wore except my dress was slightly different... less fancier patterns and design. But it was beautiful nevertheless and I was still grateful.
"I hope you don't mind coming outside with me." Alessandro spoke as we walked further away from the Estate.
I looked at him and my head shook. "Of course not."
"It's just that you don't really get the chance to come out much. I thought you'd appreciate the chance." He explained with his head turning to look at me.
Happiness rushed through my body at his words.
"Thank you." I whispered with gratitude dripping from my voice. "I do."
He smiled back. "How are things with Arianna? Is she behaving?"
"Of course," I chuckled to myself. "She was just reminding me how many dolls she had this morning."
A masculine laugh ripped through his chest. "Yep. She loves her dolls."
Things with Alessandro were tense at the start due to how he came across — hard and stubborn — but it didn't take long before I became calm in his presence. It was the way he spoke to me with such comfort and solicitude.
"She's an angel, honestly." I said with my head down and my eyes on where my feet were going.
"I know." He replied with a content smile.
We strolled for a few more minutes before the salty scent of ocean-water drifted through my nostrils. "Here we are."
When I looked forward, my jaw almost dropped to the floor. It was the most beautiful beach that I'd ever set my eyes on. The water was clear and foamy as the tide washed up on the shore; the sunlight reflected through the greenery; the sand was bright and looked soft and cushiony, and there was nobody on the beach but Alessandro and I.
It was utterly peaceful and I almost couldn't move at even the sight of such a gorgeous beach. I hadn't been on a beach in years.
"It's beautiful..." I spoke — not knowing whether I was speaking to Alessandro or just myself.
"I know. It's my favourite place to come when I need to clear my head." He explained, looking towards me with a smile.
My eyes were focused on the beach and my body was glued on the spot. How could I possibly move with such a view infront of me?
"Come... sit with me." Alessandro spoke after a few moments of just standing there.
He took a seat on one of the sand-dunes and I sat on the one directly next to him. We had a perfect view of the beach and I couldn't be happier.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" I asked him curiously, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.
He sighed and rested his arms on his knees. "I wanted to ask you about something."
I shuffled on the sand-dune and waited for him to continue, listening to whatever he wanted to ask me.
"I didn't want to drag you into my business..." He told me with an apologetic look. "But I don't really have much of a choice. I need to know more about Antonio and you're probably the best source I have... working for him in the past."
I really hoped that he didn't expect me to know any important information.
I always kept to myself when working for Antonio. Never getting into his business because I knew the consequences.
Of course, if I would have known that I'd have a chance at helping Alessandro and his family — I would have listened. But I didn't and so I had nothing to offer.
"Alessandro, I can't help you." I told him truthfully with desperation dripping from my voice.
"I know." He quickly told me, his hand raising to stop my words. "And I don't expect you to know anything. But I need you to try and remember a few things. Please..."
A small sigh left my mouth. "I'll try and help you as much as I can but please, don't expect anything big."
Guilt suddenly rushed through my stomach at the reality... how I didn't even listen to him, and now I can't help the people that have helped me in such a powerful way.
"Do you know anything about where Antonio has his meetings?" Alessandro asked me with his eyes begging me to know anything.
I tried to remember the conversations that occurred while he briefly came into the rooms that I'd be working in. "I can't really remember much," I sighed, trying my best to remember. "But I do remember that whenever he would have meetings, he'd always have them outside of the main building..."
"Like a separate building?"
"Yeah." I nodded my head.
He thought for a moment and mumbled something under his breath, but I didn't manage to pick it up before he looked back at me. "And can you remember anything else at all that could be useful?"
Anything. My head spun as I tried to remember. "All I know is that he's been planning an attack for months... presumably on you? And he's been having different meetings with different men. There's many on the mission."
For some reason, my stomach felt nauseous at the thought of an attack on Alessandro's Estate. The people were so lovely, that I simply couldn't imagine such a brutal event happening to them.
"That's all I can remember. I'm sorry." I told him with a defeated sigh.
He shook his head at me. "No, you did great," he reassured. "I appreciate it."
I knew that he was expecting more. I mean, he knew that I wouldn't exactly be able to recite the whole of Antonio's plan to him, but there was still hope that I'd at least be able to help him. But I most likely just told him things that he already knew.
"I've been wondering, actually," Alessandro began to say, and I could tell that he was changing the subject. "How come you lost your job with Antonio?"
My heart stuttered in my chest and I looked down in shame. "He never wanted me in the first place. I guess when he really had enough of me, he just threw me out."
Alessandro's lips twisted — almost in annoyance at my words — before his eyes met mine in the sweetest possible way. "Well I want you. And you've been amazing, Eva, not just with Arianna but with everyone else in the Estate. You have an aura that is undeniable beautiful."
My aura.
I remembered Ethel's words and how she promised that somebody would see my aura. The one that she adored so much. And suddenly my heart felt sore with her absence. I had almost forgotten that she was still in Antonio's Estate with all those evil men around her.
God, I missed her.
"What's wrong, Eva?" Alessandro's voice snapped me back to reality.
"Hmm?" I hummed as I looked back at him.
"You looked upset about something." He pointed out with his eyebrow raising in concern.
"Oh, it's nothing." I brushed the subject aside.
"Not if it upsets you," he responded back. "Tell me."
His voice was stern but remained gentle.
"I knew a woman when I was working for Antonio." I explained with a sigh. "She was called Ethel. And she was the head-maid. I was like a daughter to her..."
"And you miss her?"
I nodded in his direction. "The night that I was thrown out, she told me that I had an aura that would undoubtedly attract people. You just reminded me of her, that's all."
His face blossomed into a content state with his lips slightly turned upwards, and his eyes peacefully drifting around my face. "Well she spoke the truth."
I looked at him and grinned to myself. "Well actually, Leon was the one that got sight of my aura. A few little birdies have told me that you didn't exactly want me around when I first arrived in the Estate."
My eyebrows wiggled playfully which caused him to smile and tilt his head to the side.
"You caught me." He chuckled to himself. And then his eyes met mine once again and the love within them was undeniable. "But not anymore."
"So you don't hate me now?" I checked with a grin, enjoying the light-hearted banter that was occurring between us.
It wasn't often that I was able to freely joke around with Alessandro so I enjoyed the moment as much as I could.
"I promise... I don't hate you." He reassured with a shake of his head and the sweetest smile on his face.
For ONE moment, he looked almost vulnerable. As though I was slowly peeling away the guard that he put up. The hard, rough image that everyone saw him in, and replacing it with laughter.
Comfortable silence followed for a few minutes. Both of us enjoyed the feeling of the beach wind around us and the view that lay before our eyes.
But I noticed that Alessandro had his eyes cast down in thought, his lips pressed together. I wondered what was going on in that crazy head of his.... what things were racing through his brain.
"I wish I could tell you everything, Eva..." He finally spoke, raising his head so that his eyes were meeting mine. "But I can't... because I don't want you being dragged into my world. It's not a pretty place."
"Mine isn't pretty either, Alessandro." I told him with seriousness in my voice.
He seemed to think I was some sensitive, untouched angel.... when I was far from that.
"But mine is so much more worse." He croaked out with his eyebrows dropped.
For some reason, my blood boiled at those words.
For him to claim that his life was more painful than mine — despite the fact he didn't know anything about my past.
I had told him the bare minimum the night we spoke about our deepest secrets. He had no idea what pain I actually had to endure... the brutality of what happened to me.
And I didn't know about his pain either. But at least I didn't claim that his pain was more severe than my own.
"Are you serious?" I almost spat at him.
He looked surprised at the harshness of my response. "I don't understand."
"You're trying to say that your life is more painful than mine? How could you judge me like that?"
"Eva, I didn't mean to-"
"You know nothing about me, Alessandro." I cut him off. "So don't judge me based on what you see, because behind my sweet, angelic appearance, there's a broken girl that has been through a hell of a lot."
Speechless was an understatement. But I didn't care. I'd been thrown around and spat on my whole life by people that judged me by my exterior. Most of them didn't even care to know what was deep inside. All they knew was the sweet Eva that couldn't possibly endure any pain... the fragile little girl that everyone looked down on.
"I want to go back to the Estate." I told him blankly, standing up from the sand-dune and waiting for him to do the same.
He eventually stood up and looked at me. "Eva, please-"
"Just take me back." I interrupted him, my arms crossed over my chest. "Please."
He got the hint that I didn't want to discuss the matter, and began to lead me back to the Estate.
There was an awkward silence between us but I didn't exactly care. All I wanted to do was go back to the Estate and distract myself from the anger that was boiling inside of me.
Once we got back to the Estate, I immediately stormed towards my bedroom.
My footsteps were rapid and impatient — but Alessandro didn't try and stop me. He'd realised that his words and actions wouldn't change the way I was feeling. Realised that it was better to leave me.
But though he was silent, I could feel his burning gaze on my back as I walked down the hallway, watching me like a hawk.
Most likely wondering what had happened to the untouchable little girl he'd known.
Most likely wondering how those simple words could possibly cause such a powerful anger to erupt inside of me.
But they did. Because to say that anybody's life was more painful than mine — simply because I was better at hiding it than others — was the one thing that killed me inside.
And it always would.
~
Woahhh! This was definitely a dramatic one.
Eva is mad at Alessandro :( I can't believe they've had their first ever argument... *sob*
I actually need your help because I need a ship name for them. They have quite difficult names to ship together so maybe some of you can think of ideas? The best I got was #Alesseva which is kinda cute but if anyone has any better ones, PLEASE let me know.
Hope you enjoyed <3