Aria's POV:
I wait for Derek to come through the door. He seems to be in a good mood. I stand up from the couch. I got dressed in a dark red dress with black heels.
"Ready to go?" Derek asks me. I nod. Derek offers me his arm and we walk to his car.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"You'll see." Derek replies. We've only gone out like this once before. I wouldn't call it a date, but it was a date in some ways. He got us wine and we talked a lot. That was the night we actually got to know each other. It was about 2 weeks ago.
"How'd it go with the Archers?" I ask.
"How'd you know it was the Archers?"
"I overheard someone talking about it."
"Oh, yeah, it went good. We have a set plan in motion." Derek explains.
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you, if you know, it'll jeopardize the whole damn thing."
"Fine." I sigh.
After about 15 minutes, we arrive at a very fancy restaurant. "Derek? This place looks pretty fucking expensive!"
"And?" Derek says with a devilish grin. I roll my eyes and scoff.
"Come on, preziosa." Derek says getting out of the car. I open my door and get out. Derek and I walk inside the golden doors.
When we walk inside, Derek waves someone over. "Reservations for Montgomery." Derek says. The man nods and leads us to a smaller dining section where its less crowded. Derek pulls my chair out for me and I sit down. Derek sits across from me.
"Did you just take me on a date?" I laugh. Derek leans forward. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."
"You could have just asked."
"Would you have said yes?"
I lean forward in my seat. "Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't."
Derek sighs and rolls his eyes. I sit back again smiling. I don't know why, but his charm is finally rubbing off on me. I don't fuck around like this usually, but Derek, he's starting to rub off on me. Am I falling in love with the Italian Mafia leader?
A waitress comes over to serve us. "Hello, my name is Alice, I will be your waitress for tonight. What would you like for starters. We have Didier Dagueneau Silex wine as your drinks upon request." Alice says putting the expensive wine bottle on the table.
"Thank you." Derek says. I sit there with my eyes wide. Its so damn expensive! Alice nods and smiles.
"I'm going to let you take a look at the menu for tonight." Alice says walking away.
"Derek! Holy shit! I can't pay for this shit!" I say.
"Good thing your ass isn't paying." Derek says smiling.
"Derek, no, you're not paying all of this." I argue.
"Preziosa, I'm not letting you touch that damn bill." Derek says. I slouch in my chair with my arms folded.
"You look cute when you pout." Derek says pouring our drinks. I sit up and keep my pouting face on.
"How adorable." Derek says.
I take a sip of the wine. I don't think I've had better wine than this! "Aria..." Derek sighs. I hum in response because I take another sip of wine.
"I need you to tell me. Do you want Ryder dead?" Derek asks me in a low voice. I start coughing. I don't want him dead!
"No, death is to good for him. He needs to suffer." I choke. Derek nods and smiles. "That's what I thought."
"Derek? Why are you planning."
"I want to tell you, believe me, but I can't. It's also fun to mess with you."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"I think I'm hilarious." Derek says leaning back in his seat. I feel my phone buzz under my leg. I just mute it.
About an hour later, Derek and I finish dinner. He flirted with me for most of the time, and I flirted back. I don't know what's happening to my emotions, but they are going somewhere!
Alice comes around with the check with comes to over 300 dollars! Derek swipes the check before I can even lift a finger. I huff in response while Derek pulls out three 100 dollar bills and a 50. That's more than enough! The check is only 326 dollars.
"Keep the extra." Derek says. Alice smiles and nods. "You have a nice night." Alice says. Derek smiles and nods at her. She walks away and Derek stands up. I stand up as well and grab my wallet.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" I suggest. It's only 10 o'clock.
"Of course, preziosa." Derek says.
We walk outside and a cold breeze hits my skin. Derek takes his jacket off and gives it to me. "Are you sure you want to take a walk?" He laughs. I smile and nod.
Not even a minute later, I feel Derek's strong arms wrap around me and pin me to the ground followed by gun shots. Derek hands me his gun and tells me to use the car we're behind as cover.
I nod and start shooting. I learned how to use a gun well. I've gotten used to it. I've also taken self defense training. I shoot one man in the back of the head. Derek runs out from the car and shoots more people. I take out my phone and call Noah.
"Pick up damn it!" I exclaim. I pear back out by the side of the car and shoot someone else.
"Aria, what's-?"
"Noah! Get your ass over here now! And bring a team!" I exclaim. I look back out from the side of the car. The man I saw before isn't next to the dead man anymore.
"Aria! Who's shooting!?"
"I don't-." I start. Someone covers my mouth and gets a good grip on me. I slam my elbow into his side and step on his foot.
"Son of a bitch!" I exclaim.
"Aria!" Noah tries to get my attention.
I turn around and face the man. I punch him in the face and wrap my hand around his throat. He starts choking and drops his gun. While holding the man, I pick up the gun and shoot him in the head.
"Go to hell!" I exclaim.
I pick up my phone. "Just get here, now." I drop my phone hearing one last gunshot. Derek goes down. Ryder stands near him.
"No! Derek!" I exclaims running towards him. Ryder tries to stop me, but I shoot him in the leg. He falls to the ground. Derek stands back up.
"I'm okay, look, just a graze." Derek says trying to calm me down. More gunshots are heard behind us. Derek pushes me out of the way back on to the sidewalk. I don't notice until now, but tears stream down my face.
"Look, everything will be okay." Derek says. He walks me to the car and we drive back to the mansion. Noah comes into view before we leave. He pulls over and starts shooting the rest of the people behind us. But as we suspected, Ryder's already gone.
Derek drives until we're safe at the mansion. I just keep crying and Derek tries to calm me down. Derek pulls into the driveway and parks the car. He gets out and walks to my car door. He helps me out of the car and I instantly latch onto him.
"Shh, you're okay. You're safe now." Derek says rubbing my back. Derek just holds me as rain starts to fall upon us.