Deal • REWRITE • BOOK 1

By btwitssurina

253K 8.7K 37.1K

• REWRITE OF OLD VERSION • If you were told to protect the daughter of Salvatore Moretti, would you do it? ... More

Before You Begin;
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER
1; Wicked Games
2; Dusk till Dawn
3; Smoke and Mirrors
4; She Loves Control
5; All I Know
6; Play No Games
7; Heaven in Hiding
8; Don't Think About It
9; Just like Fire
10; In the Dark
11; Fill Me In
12; King of the Fall
13; On My Mind
14; One of Those Nights
15; Devil in Me
16; In My Blood
17; Walking The Wire
18; Good for You
19; Save My Soul
20; Never Be the Same
21; Now or Never
22; Say It Right
23; Not Used to It
24; Whatever It Takes *
25; Flight of the Stars
27; For the Love of a Daughter

26; Take It out on Me

3.1K 143 1.6K
By btwitssurina

"Salvatore gave me explicit orders to keep Aria away from any harm, he didn't specify if that included him."

L U C I E N

"I never knew you to be a man who liked to drag out death."

With narrowed eyes I glared at Alex as he entered the large shipping container I was in with his phone twirling between his hands, his eyes meeting my harsh stare in a happy squint before he motioned towards what was behind me.

Easily, I turned my head and stared at Diego who was sitting lifelessly to the chair I'd tied him to. He was barely recognisable with the damage that I'd inflicted, the sight of his bloody face and cut open arm being enough to warm my blood as the buzz of adrenaline seeped through my veins and made me swallow.

"I thought you were more of a shoot and end it kind of guy," Alex muttered, kneeling in front of Diego and inspected the wounds that had been a result of trespassing Salvatore.

"I am," I spoke bluntly, cleaning the knife in my hand with a handkerchief as I felt the heat of my anger suddenly push into my blood just like it had nearly six hours ago. "...but Salvatore wanted me to give him a slow death..."

"Well Salvatore definitely got what he wanted..." Alex spoke quietly, poking the side of his phone against Diego's cut arm and watching as a broken groan strung out from his bloodied mouth.

"Salvatore always gets what he wants..." I mumbled under my breath, feeling my anger increase tenfold when I mentally recited that he was the reason I was stuck in a fücking shipping container, babysitting what was left of the man I'd tortured at five in the fücking morning instead of being between my girlfriend's legs.

Fücking idiot.

Just the reminder of hearing the ring of my business phone mesh in with Aria breathlessly saying my name was enough to lose all sight of rationality, the thought pressing deep into my mind when I recalled the way Salvatore had demanded me to find the rat that was fücking around with his drug shipments.

With ease I'd only abided to my Don's demands despite the fact I knew he didn't trust me, but it didn't stop me from realising what he was doing when I pieced together his motive to keep me away from Aria today out of all days.

Her mother's death anniversary.

The sudden visual of her was something that I thought would be more than enough to extinguish the fire inside of me when I thought about her father and all the things he'd done to her, yet I still found myself starting to burn from the inside out when I looked at the time of six in the morning and realised I'd been away from Aria since midnight.

"Figlio di puttana," I gritted my teeth and swallowed harshly whilst opening up my message thread with her on my phone, my fingers quick to type out what I wanted to say before I pressed send and watched within seconds to see it being read.

Simultaneously I waited for her response to my question whilst looking towards Alex who was still poking and prodding Diego, the sight of him and the happy smile that soon adorned his face leaving me with irrational thoughts that I knew shouldn't have passed through my mind.

Fück.

I hated to say that I was envious of the fact that my older brother clearly didn't have any priorities and problems to deal with, but I was.

He looked care free, poking at Diego once again. It made my fücking blood boil considering that it seemed that the man in the sky had something against me with the things that were testing me lately, the monster within me awakening with every second that passed with me realising that Alex didn't have any place to be or person to be with.

I was once like that.

It made me glare as I watched him stand up and hum happily, my enviousness towards his lack of problems leaving me teetering on the edge of snapping until the vibration of my phone in my fingers pulled me away from my thoughts, in turn leaving me to look down to see Aria's name on my screen.

Tesoro.

Almost instantly I realised how stupid I was being, her reply to my message wondering whether she was ok or not resulting in me cementing the fact that I wouldn't trade places with Alex when I thought back to the past three days with her.

It seemed that after confessing my past issues with drugs and the history of my mother the dynamic had changed between Aria and I once more, my lack and unfamiliarity of using my words to say what I felt leaving me stuck and with no choice but to use the one skill that I knew I had finessed.

Séx.

As a result it meant that the past few days had been nothing but Aria and I obsessively fücking between all the madness that had accumulated, the mutual need to keep touching one another leaving us tangled between sheets for the better part of the day...today being included until her father had interrupted by calling me.

Hm.

Just like that I was once more back to being pissed off as I walked out of the shipping container and pressed my screen to call Aria, my phone quick to be against my ear as it rang once before it was picked up and I was hearing her voice.

"Aren't you supposed to be torturing someone?"

The tease in her voice made my body instantly languid and the edges of my lips curl, my tongue quick to lick across them as I hummed and looked to the sky to see the fuzzy edges of the sun rising.

"I finished with that," I told her, hearing Alex exit the shipping container behind me before he said he was going to call someone to clean things up. I didn't do anything but stare at the back of him as he walked away, my eyes squinting just as Aria spoke up once more.

"Do you know what time you're going to come back?" she asked, bringing me back to reality as I looked at my watch and then rubbed the back of my neck.

"Maybe in an hour or so," I told her, hearing Tofu meowing in the background of the call. "What time does the church service start?"

"Two," she simply said, sighing quietly and adding fuel to my own personal fire as I pictured her sitting on the bed we'd shared over the last seventy two hours...alone.

"Are you okay?" I said without thinking, almost instantly hating how strange it sounded and the weight it left in my mouth.

"I'm fine," she started, sounding preoccupied with something else when I heard the shuffle of papers. "I'm just trying to figure out what Joe's agenda is, but I keep on coming up blank just like I have for the past six hours."

"Wait..." my eyebrows furrowed. "You've been awake since I left?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Aria," I sighed, recalling the way she'd said the same thing to me yesterday.

"Don't say my name like that...I'm not tired," she breathed out, almost frustrated which left me biting the inside of my cheek and realising her mood was stemming from one thing, one day, she couldn't control and erase.

Instead of saying it out loud and causing more friction that I didn't have the patience to deal with right now I told her that I'd be back soon, my fingers quick to hang up as I ran a hand through my hair and then turned to Alex when he walked his way back to me whilst ending his own call and looking at me confusingly.

...and just like that, I was back to being annoyed.

"What?"

"What happened to you?" he asked, placing his phone back into his pocket as he looked at me expectedly. "I was gone for two seconds and now you're pissed again."

"Nothing happened," I countered back bluntly, pressing my lips together and running a hand through my hair as I proceeded to tell him to hurry the fück up so we could leave until his phone was ringing once more.

With my eyes narrowed I watched Alex answer the call as he muttered Salvatore's name, my body immediately tensing as he turned and said a few things. It would've been easy to hear the conversation had it not been for the fact that my mind was anticipating the fücking worst, the empty pit in my stomach growing and leaving me agitated within seconds as Alex nodded, said yes a few times before sighing, ending the call and turning to me.

Don't fücking say it. Don't fücking say it. Don't fücking say-

"There's a weapons shipment arriving at seven thirty, he wants us to take care of it."

Silence.

It took me a few seconds to register Alex's words before I was humourlessly puffing out a breath, Salvatore's seeming knack to get on my nerves today out of all days only succeeding as I realised how long it was going to take to stock check the weapons, the hours in my head only in turn transitioning into the time I was going to be away from Aria.

Fück, I needed to get back to her.

Just the thought of missing most of the morning with her due to her idiotic father made my blood burn and jaw set, my chest tightening uncomfortably as I inhaled a large breath, grit my teeth and then turned back towards the shipping container with my fingers curled into white knuckled fists.

I could barely hear the call of my brother asking what I was doing when I opened the door and slammed it behind me, the colour red clouding my mind in the form of spilled blood as Diego's body jerked at the sound before it completely seized when I was taking out my gun, pulling back on the safety and aiming with ease.

"Lucien, what the fück are you doi-"

With precision that was uncalled for I shot four bullets into Diego's chest and felt my index finger burn from the pressure I used, his already tortured body jerking at each fire and spilling more blood, soaking into his clothes as he writhed in pain. Alex's words were barely heard when my mind envisioned Salvatore's face instead of Diego's as his body lulled back on the chair he was tied on to, red seeping from the wounds as the echo of the gunshot burst in my eardrums, left me breathing sharply through my nose before a sense of calmness washed over me and I was staring bluntly at my brother.

"Like I said before...Salvatore always gets what he wants."

><

Hours later with my body coiled tight in anger I took harsh steps towards the door to my safe house, my bloodied knuckles stinging with the force of my closed fists as I bypassed the biometric security and slammed the door behind me.

I stared across the ground floor searching for a specific brunette to ease the fücking fire inside me, my vision narrowing when I found nobody downstairs and ran my hands through my hair, inhaling a large sharp breath when my clothes stuck to me from the blood covering my body.

I was teetering on the edge of insanity, wanting nothing more than to find Aria to forget about the fücking bloodied mess Salvatore had forced Alex and I into, my body strung so fücking tight from the uncalled for drama that came from a weapons shipment that didn't have what we needed, in turn ending up with nothing but a bloodied execution.

In one way it satisfied the monster inside me who was looking for a fight, my thirst for blood rushing through my veins and goading the voices inside my head until I was feeling blood leak over my fingers. Alex called me crazy for it when he'd watched me brutally murder the idiot who'd fücked up our shipment order but I couldn't care less about what he fücking thought, my internal fight being something that I wanted to keep to myself, and if I willed it, Aria too.

Just the thought of her brought me back to my senses as I took the stairs two at a time in search of her again, my wrist turning to check the time on my watch since I'd broken my phone during the chaos.

The time that just ticked by half twelve made me inhale a sharp breath and swallow, the lack of seeing Aria for twelve hours settling deep in my veins as I reached the third floor where our bedroom was shared to see Aaron exiting the room and suddenly stopping when he saw me.

"What the hell happened to you...?" he questioned, tone drawled as he looked me over once and stared upon my bloodied suit, face and hands.

"Business," I bluntly answered him whilst stalking forward, not in the fücking mood for a conversation as I stared at the closed bedroom door before glaring at Aaron when he put his hand out to stop me from walking past him. "Aaron, if you don't move your fücking hand in the next two seconds you're going to lose it."

"You'd think that I'd be accustomed to your rudeness but clearly not," he chimed in with a sigh, my glare narrowing as I shoved past his hand only to stop when he spoke up with what he wanted. "I need to talk to you about Aria."

Almost instantly my feet stopped as I stared at the bedroom door once more before turning to Aaron, feeling my anger dipping between obliterating me from the inside out and dissipating all together at the nearness of Aria.

So close, yet so fücking far.

"What about her?" I retorted, uncaring for my tone that stemmed from possessiveness that burned my veins.

Aaron sighed in lieu of answering me, instead leading me down a floor and creating a thumping impatience that matched my fast steps down the stairs as I grit my teeth, swallowed harshly and suddenly felt violent again at someone keeping me away from my fücking woman.

It took everything within me to not flick Aaron against the wall, my hatred for being blindsided playing a part within my mood as I instead envisioned killing someone that was worth my time.

Despite being my Don, my respect for Salvatore was barely existent anymore and had been steadily deteriorating the instant he'd laid his hands on his daughter.

I wanted to skin him alive for hurting Aria and for blaming her for what was the reason for today. I wanted to feel his blood leak into my hands and to watch his last few breaths exit his mouth once I'd gained all the answers to his fücked up motives.

I wanted him gone. Dead.

"You know you can't do that..." Aaron suddenly said, invading my thought process that formed a fantasy of Salvatore giving a speech, suddenly choking on his own blood and dying from the bullet I'd effortlessly fire from within the crowd.

If only it were that easy.

"You're speaking out loud," Aaron commented, grating further on my nerves as the stickiness of the blood on my hands dried further and created a tight film around my knuckles that split under the pressure of my fists. "Giovanni warned you that you can't mix Aria with work...killing, or whatever you want to do to Salvatore, is due to what he's done to Aria, so..."

"Salvatore gave me explicit orders to keep Aria away from any harm, he didn't specify if that included him or-"

"Have you kept her away from harm though?" Aaron simply questioned, his words instantly leaving my blood to burn with the instinctual feeling of a threat as I stilled and felt my body almost instantly float.

You can't kill Aaron. You can't kill Aaron. You can't kill Aar-

"I'm not saying that you're not doing your job right," he quickly interjected at the sight of me, instantly becoming nervous when I glared violently and waited for him to correct himself for his own sake. "I'm just saying that Salvatore has probably threatened you into keeping Aria safe, right?"

"He told me that he'd burn me alive if even a single hair on her was touched," I told him, suddenly revelling in the anger I had towards Salvatore when I was back to imagining the ways I would kill him for what he'd done to Aria. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It just makes me think that everything is so backwards," Aaron explained, leaving me to press my lips together as he validated an assumption I already had once again. "If he really did care for Aria that way, why doesn't he care when shít happens to her? He slaps her around and then gets mad at you for caring in the first place."

"Just tell me what you want to say so I can fücking go upstairs to my damn woman," I spoke bluntly to him with narrowed eyes when I hated the way I could see him swaying into defending Salvatore.

"I'm just saying that it doesn't make any sense," he explained, quieter this time and ceasing eye contact with me once again when he met my line of vision. "He makes you take a blood oath to keep her safe and threatens your life if you don't, but then he goes ahead and tries to kill her at the Halloween party and is also tracking you? It doesn't add up."

"Are you defending him?" I squinted my eyes.

"No," Aaron quickly spoke, clearing his throat. "I'm just trying to figure things out...because if Salvatore truly is behind putting out a hit on your dad or partnering up with Joe, he's not stupid enough to just put a tracker in your phone."

I raised my brow.

"He'd put them in everyone's phone and eliminate being caught out..." he kept speaking. "I'm not saying that he's a saint because he's done some pretty fücked up stuff to my best friend...but I just know he's not stupid enough to get caught out by you..." he added, sighing and fiddling with the ends of his sleeves again. "When I was trying to look through security footage after Aria went upstairs two days ago when she saw Chloe's head, something was clearly fücking up the electrical system I made which means that-"

"An amateur did it?" I questioned, loathing the way I felt confused as Aaron hummed uneasily.

"Kind of," he clarified. "It was just too easy to find...which either means that Salvatore's not the one trying to track you, someone else is...or he is trying to track you and just made it easy to fück with your head..." he trailed off, leaving me to inhale a sharp breath as I thought over his words. "Either that or Joe is getting Salvatore to do all the dirty work from the inside...which would make sense because Salvatore did get you and Alex to leave the Halloween party only for Aria to get attacked ten minutes later."

"You thought this all up yourself?" I asked.

"Aria helped..." Aaron smiled nervously. "I knew she wouldn't be the one to tell you today, so I thought I'd let you know instead."

I stilled.

"What do you mean she wouldn't be the one?" I asked, narrowing my gaze at him as he cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly.

"She got a call from the hospital this morning about her injured foot," he said, my lack of knowledge about the situation leaving me to open my mouth until Aaron was already answering me. "You weren't answering your phone when we tried to call you."

"I broke it this morning," I pressed my lips together, exhaling sharply through my nose. "What did the doctor want?"

"Well remember when I said that Joe is closer than we all think?"

I hummed sharply.

"Well Joe might have hired the doctor looking after Aria...the guy you called doctor idiot..."

I stilled.

"Turns out he purposely misdiagnosed Aria with a fractured ankle instead of a sprain," he said, pulling out his phone and scrolling as I pressed my lips together and inhaled a sharp breath. "...and the only reason she got the call this morning was because yesterday afternoon someone anonymously tipped off the hospital that he was misdiagnosing patients, which led to him apparently shouting at his colleagues that a man named Joe made him do it whilst he was taken away in handcuffs," I turned and ran a hand through my hair, screwing my eyes shut. "I have the police report from the staff here, it hasn't hit the news yet...says here that Joe threatened his family if he didn't do what he was told but they haven't got any evidence yet."

"Why the fück would he be petty enough to do something like misdiagnosing an ankle injury?" I muttered, the sting in my tone leaving my chest tightening when I followed the stairs with my eyes and made a mental note to give doctor idiot a visit.

"Aria said that you had told her that maybe Joe wasn't killing you both just yet because he was trying to work out Aria's strengths and weaknesses to use them against her," he spoke, witnessing the way I muttered things to myself in Italian and gripped the roots of my hair until my scalp burned. "Maybe he knew that taking Aria's love of heels away and a fractured ankle would keep her inside and stop her from finding things out before-"

"That's fücking bullshít," I snapped, turning to him. "You could stick her in a fücking cell with no windows and she'd fücking find things out before anyone else," I spoke, hating the way Aria had been painted to be underestimated and in turn hating myself when that was what I focused on instead of the threat at hand. "Cazzo, where the fück is she?"

"She's upstairs but..."

Aaron's words were barely heard when I took the steps two at a time once more, my chest tight and burning with my inner turmoil goaded by the devil on my shoulder who wanted nothing but blood on my hands once more as I moved towards the door, pushed it open and searched for my woman until I found her.

"Wait, Lucien she's-"

"High and drinking," I quietly finished off for Aaron, sighing and feeling the devil on my shoulder instantly puff into nothing when I set my eyes on Aria sitting in the chair facing the large floor to ceiling window, glass of wine in her hand and smell of weed lingering in the air.

Tesoro.

"I'm fücking pissed off at the world today," she muttered, not bothering to look to me as I closed the door, discarded my bloodied suit jacket to the floor of the bathroom before walking back until I was standing in front of her and squinting my eyes when I set my eyes on what she was wearing. "It's a twenty thousand dollar dress from Valentino, I put it on so that I know I can't get mad without ruining it."

"It's white and you're drinking red wine," I pointed out, raising my eyebrow when she narrowed her gaze, her eyes on me as I moved over to her only to stop when she set her bare foot against my chest and stopped me from coming near her.

"Shower first and then we can talk about what Aaron said to you-"

I didn't bother listening to her when I gripped her ankle, moved it to my liking before dipping my body between her legs and moving towards her face to kiss her. With ease I mollified her anger and relished in the touch of her mouth against me that extinguished my own fiery thoughts, her body lax just as she kissed me back before moaning quietly when I moved back and let her leg fall back to cross over the other.

"Now I'm going to shower," I told her, enjoying the irritated look she sent my way when she pressed her lips together. "Follow me if you want, baby. I know you better than that...you want to be angry at someone despite your dress."

"Fück you," she snapped, muttering things under her breath in Italian as I unbuttoned my shirt and threw it to the floor of the bathroom, my sigh echoing around the room as I stripped and walked into the shower whilst counting in my mind.

Upon hitting a minute and thirteen seconds was when I heard Aria's footsteps in time with the curve of my lips, her body appearing distorted behind the foggy glass as she moved until she was at the open entrance and watching me shower.

"I'm fücking pissed," she told me bluntly, swallowing a mouthful of wine as she leaned against the wall meeting the shower entrance as I listened intently whilst scrubbing blood off of me. "First Joe goes after Aaron, someone who he knows is close to me and has been by my side since before I'd been summoned to Sicily," she said, her head turning briefly to stare at my chest and then up to me as she puffed out a breath and scrunched her brows. "Then he sends a child's head to my penthouse, most likely already knowing what that would do to me and now...now he tries to keep me inside by stupidly lying about a fractured ankle. Who the fück does that?"

"He's trying to work out how you-"

"I don't want to deal with this stupid fücking shít today. Do you know how many outfits that motherfücker has ruined for me?" she asked rhetorically, my vision settling on her as she held her wine glass once she'd swallowed the rest harshly and let her hands flare as she made a strained noise and cursed. "Do you know how many heels I could've worn? He just has to fücking know every fücking thing," she snapped loudly, the sound of glass shattering upon impact leading me to inhale as I quickened my movements and watched her glare straight ahead to the wall where she'd thrown the glass. "Wait till I fücking find out who's been giving him all this inside information-"

"It's your dad, Aria."

"We both agreed that we weren't doing anything to my dad unless we had concrete evidence, don't even go there," she warned me sharply, breathing heavily as she turned away from me and sucked in her cheeks. "I'm aware my dad hates me, but again, if he really wanted to kill me he would've."

"You're defending him again..."

"Yeah well maybe today is just full of so many surprises that I might just fücking do that," she snapped at me again as I wrapped a towel around my hips, securing it in place as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned to me. "You know, maybe after I start defending my dad I'll go on stage and confess to everyone that I was the reason my mother died. Sounds like a good idea, right?"

"Aria..." I sighed, watching her mood unravel before me as the wine kicked in harder and she rode the underlying panic that weed had when you weren't in control.

"Maybe I'll let everyone know how it all went down, how I got a scar, how my dad kept the fact I can't have kids from me whilst also not allowing me to enter New York-"

"Bab-"

"No, Lucien!" she shouted, shaking hands flaring as she set her eyes on me, wild and wholly ruined as she breathed heavily with a few moments passing. She looked like she was calculating a million and one things in her mind as she muttered something under her breath, her eyes closing as she swallowed, rubbed the back of her neck before she looked at me and spoke with quiet and reluctant admittance. "I don't know if I can deal with anything else today...if I do, I'm going to lose it."

Her almost immediate switch from being quiet and upset to being sharp and snappy made my lips curl, my feet padding across to her as she leaned against the wall in a slump and watched me until I was front of her.

"You're going to lose it more than you already have?" I spoke quietly, looking over to the broken wine glass that was a mess of crystal shards across the floor as Aria hit me in the chest, calling me an idiot who she didn't want to deal with today either in Italian before stepping away from me and failing when I pulled her back easily.

"Lucien," she sighed firmly, fighting me a little until she completely gave up, her body leaning back against the wall as she stared up when I looked down to her and held her face.

"I'm teasing, baby..." I mumbled, watching as she did nothing but narrow her eyes and glare at me, a few moments passing before she looked away, sighed and then eventually leaned into my touch and closed her eyes, her inner turmoil something that I wanted to alleviate as I swallowed, thought about what I wanted to say before speaking quietly. "Remember those heels I bought you when you vanished on me for two days because of your idiot ex I want to kill but can't?"

Her hum sounded out weakly.

"Do you remember what I said to you?"

At my words I saw the ghost of a smile curl at her lips, vanishing as quick as it came as she opened her eyes and looked back up to me.

"Be upset with me instead of without."

I inhaled lightly as she spoke, my chest tightening at the sight of her.

"You haven't said anything about what today is for you...talk to me, Aria..." I coaxed quietly, unfamiliar words swallowed down easily as she continued to look at me, moments passing as I watched her proceed to speak but then bite her tongue and retreat back to being quiet. "Tesoro..."

"I can't, Lucien," she whispered, closing her eyes momentarily as she leaned her head against the wall, mirroring the frown that appeared on my face.

"Why not?"

"I don't know how..." she sighed, slumping further as I looked at her, seeing her blink her vision open before looking away from my gaze. "I..." she stopped talking once more, sighing and then rubbing her lips together as she found my free hand and used both her hands to play with my fingers. "I never spoke to Ryder about what today meant for me because I never had to," she started, my body instantly tensing at her words before she reassured me. "...and I'm not saying that you're like Ryder because you're not, but ever since my mother's death I've always just kept to myself this specific day and just dealt with everything by myself despite being in a relationship."

"Aria..."

"Lucien, I'd love to talk to you about what I'm feeling right now but I just..." she swallowed harshly, dropping her hold on my fingers as she finally met my gaze with glassy eyes. "I just don't know how to because I've always just dealt with it myself by going to church and staying in my room...it's been like that for nearly ten years."

She gave me a half-hearted smile when I kept my eyes on her, her words leaving me conflicted with wanting to give her everything despite what she said as I settled my hands at her waist, pulling her closer and into the heat of my body. Once more I was back to feeling stuck on what to tell her, my eyes darting across her face as I felt the familiar bubble of heat start in my body when I recalled the last few days with her that formed words I found hard to speak out loud.

It seemed to be a familiar feeling lately as I stared at her, feeling my hands become greedy as I pressed my fingers into the soft white material of the dress she was wearing, bunching it in my hold as I pulled her into me once more. She didn't need to say anything else to me when I felt her considerably relax at the proximity, her hands splaying against my chest as I inhaled deeply, moving my hands to the side of her face as I cradled it and moved close enough so that her forehead was against mine and I was swallowing harshly at the words spilling from my mouth.

"I want to help, Aria."

"You do help," she spoke quietly with her eyes fluttering closed, her nails scratching softly against my skin as she breathed in, my lips ghosting over hers whilst her hands moved from my chest to over my shoulders and to the back of my neck. "I love that you've been a distraction for me lately," she mumbled, her chest caving as she breathed a little heavier when I pulled her closer and kissed her once, her body coiling tighter in my arms as I groaned to myself, weaving my fingers through her hair as she spoke. "A happy distraction..." I kissed her again. "One that I've needed..." she breathed quietly, her fingers sliding down my shoulders and to my face as she tilted her head and moaned softly. "One that I need."

With ease I kissed her back as she did me, her lips soft and pliant against mine whilst I tilted my head, conveying everything that I wanted to say but found it hard to into my actions as I leaned down easily. My hands gripped the back of her thighs and picked her up easily as she cradled my face and kissed me deeper, her need mirroring my own as I settled her against the bathroom counter top once I'd shoved everything to the side.

"I owe you another orgasm from this morning," I muttered against her lips, feeling my chest cave at the moan that left her mouth and the reminder that even though Aria couldn't be something that came between business, I was a fücking man and leaving her high and dry was something that I never wanted to do...especially when it came to her fücking father demanding me to do things at midnight.

Whether it was for my own satisfaction or not I didn't care, but feeling her cum over my fingers and watching her body shake as she breathlessly said my name was something that I would never get tired of, the notion leaving my body coiled tight once more, this time for all the right fücking reasons.

The pleasure of feeling her under my fingertips whilst my tongue was in her mouth was enough to make me fücking hard, my cóck straining against the fabric of my towel as Aria gripped the back of my head and whimpered when I wasted no time to rub the moisture between her legs.

Easily I had her putty in my hands and distracted when my thumb rubbed over the heat of her séx, the slick satin of her püssy enjoyed under my touch as she pulled away from kissing me to breathe when I followed the slit of her püssy and teased her entrance with the tip of my thumb.

"Fück baby," she moaned, her chest caving as she breathed something in Italian before whimpering once more when my middle finger sunk into her with no warning, long, thick and all the way to knuckle. I groaned and gripped her waist harder as I leaned in to kiss her, her lips incessant against mine instantly as she moaned and became breathless with every movement I made.

She was fücking wet and tight, her séx sucking my fingers deeper when I added another and relished in the shake of her body when I rubbed over her clit with my thumb and coaxed her to an easy orgasm. I wanted her control to crumble once more whilst she forgot about what she was feeling, my lack of words making me groan as I kissed her harshly as she did me whilst keeping the movement of my fingers steady until I could feel her start to unravel.

With her chest caving and her body shaking Aria climaxed over my fingers as a blissful fücking distraction, her breathless call of my name music to my fücking ears as I watched her back arch and her eyes roll. She was exquisite sight to see normally but there was something about watching her orgasm, the slight sheen of heat that settled under her skin as she moaned pleasing me more than it should've, even more so when I found myself distracted...both in the best and the worst way when all I could think about was fücking her until I found myself turning to the bathroom door when it slammed open.

"Lucien, Salvatore has been trying to fücking call-"

The sight of my older brother holding what looked like my business phone with an angry look on his face soon morphed into one of shock as his words died down, his eyes settling between Aria and I before down to my hand between her legs.

"I-"

"Get the fück out!" I shouted, the heat in my body soon morphing into being pissed at someone interrupting Aria and I for the second time within twelve hours as Alex closed the door abruptly, apologising and clearing his throat as I cursed him to hell and back, ready to fücking fight him until it seemed Aria was feeling the same way.

"Can't get my boyfriend's dick or enjoy my orgasms today without someone fücking interrupting..." she snapped to herself, shoving me away and rearranging her dress as my work to distract her unravelled just like she had. I tried to mollify her but it seemed she was focused on the interruption instead, her curses in Italian not going unheard as she muttered about losing it since God was testing her whilst she moved to stand and then glared at me. "Sort out whatever your brother wants before I kill him, Lucien."

I didn't get a chance to say anything to her before she stripped out of her dress and threw it carelessly to the floor despite her words earlier about how expensive it was, the notion seeming to set her words in stone as I inhaled a sharp breath and turned to the door with a glare whilst I heard the shower turn on.

I ignored the thought of Aria naked in my mind as I tightened my towel and glared at what was my now soft cóck, my hands quick to open the door and then close it as I felt my anger rush into my veins when I looked at my older brother.

I expected him to enjoy annoying me for fücking Aria since he had a tendency to want to piss me off, yet it seemed he was mirroring my own mood when he looked at me and raised his eyebrows with an expectant look on his face.

"Please tell me I heard Aria wrong and she didn't just call you her boyfriend, Lucien."

Merda.

"Just give me my phone and leave, Alex," I spoke, ignoring his words as I put my hand out and then felt my frustration build when I realised he was here in the safe house. "How the fück did you even know I was here?"

"You don't think I have access to the safe house and get notified when someone uses it when we both bought it?" he asked rhetorically, pissed and tossing my business phone to me as I breathed deeply and turned to the bathroom once more before I stopped when he kept speaking. "Although, that's not what I want to talk about right now."

I inhaled.

"Alex, drop it," I spoke as calm as I could, trying my best to keep my anger from spilling out of my mouth but it was hard when my brother had the same tendencies that I had and couldn't help but hate being blindsided.

"Tell me you're just fücking Aria and that you haven't let your stupid feelings morph into a relationship with her," he bit out, angry with me as I turned and inhaled through my nose once more, refusing to answer him but it seemed like enough when he narrowed his eyes, shook his head and then cursed loudly. "You're fücking dating her."

"Alex, if you don't-"

"I had a feeling you'd let your damn feelings for her get out of control..." Alex berated me, red in the face as he snapped at me and ran his hands over his face. "How long have you been with her?"

"Alex-"

"You know you're fücking signing a death sentence...you know...by fücking your Don's daughter," he questioned heatedly, breathing heavily before he suddenly calmed when he stared and then glared at me. "Is that why Salvatore put a tracking device in your phone?"

I tensed.

"Does he know that you're fücking his daughter?!" he breathed out, looking completely disgusted and shocked with me as I swallowed and kept my poker face despite the way I wanted to strangle my older brother. "God, how fücking stupid could you be, Lucien? I thought you'd fück her and that would be-"

"Who I fück or who I'm in a relationship with doesn't fücking concern you, Alex," I retorted, clenching my hands into white knuckled fists as I grit my teeth and bounced my words off his own. "You've never once fücking cared about it or fücking anything in this family, but suddenly you-"

"You're going to get yourself killed!" he snapped loudly, hands flaring as he narrowed his eyes. "Do you realise how careless you're being?!"

"I don't need your fücking advice, I know what I'm doing," I fumed, telling him to get the fück out as I turned once more before he spoke words that made me silent.

"You know what you're doing, huh?" he laughed humourlessly. "I'm guessing you don't remember what love did to dad then, do you?"

I stilled.

Without moving I looked down to my hand on the bathroom door handle before up to the door itself, Alex's words ringing harshly in my ears as I heard him scoff and then slam the door of the bedroom close when he walked through it and mumbled how much of an idiot I was.

Like a stuck record I kept hearing Alex's last words, my heartbeat suddenly thumping loudly in my ears as I swallowed harshly and then let go off the handle.

I'm guessing you don't remember what love did to dad then.

I felt nothing and everything all at once, almost like I'd been shot and the adrenaline was masking it.

It only made it hard to think as I pressed my lips together and stupidly answered Alex's question in my head, the fact that my father had taken bullets to the chest over jealousy concerning my mother leaving me inhaling another deep breath as I walked into the closet and busied myself with changing.

Admittedly it was a fücking failed attempt to distract myself when I found myself repeating a certain four lettered word in my head despite my focus on the suits in front of me, my hands quick to shuffle through them with the screech of hangers scraping easily over looked until I halted when my phone started ringing.

Salvatore.

Quicker than I should've is how I picked up the call that acted as my own needed distraction, Salvatore's demands of Aria's safety that included three men leaving me with no room to speak as I looked around the closet, still listening to him before I found myself staring at the shoes I'd bought Aria tucked away neatly at the end of the closet.

It made the edges of my lips curl as Salvatore asked if I understood his demands, my words of distant agreement simply overlooked as he hummed and ended the call and left me walking towards the heels until I found myself staring at something else.

"She's crazy..." I mumbled to myself as I moved back the mirrored door a little more to reveal the multitude of designer shoe boxes and dresses Aria had bought, most of them from today when I took a look at the receipt. It seemed she'd taken a material approach to ease the ache of knowing that her ankle injury was a lie, my fingers letting go of the receipts as I moved the mirrored door again only to reveal a zipped up cover that was hung on a hanger.

My eyebrows knitted as I checked the label dangling from the metal holding it up, my fingers quick to turn it to display Giorgio Armani just in time with a voice speaking up from behind me.

"I bought it for you."

I turned to see Aria wrapped in a towel, hair slightly wet from her quick shower as she looked at me. Almost as if Alex's words had affected me I felt my chest tighten more than it ever had, my lips pressing together before they curled as I stared at her.

"Do you not remember the last time you bought me a suit?" I questioned, the hesitance in my mind overshadowed by the amused narrow of my eyes.

"Yes, you had a princess worthy tantrum and said that you didn't want me buying you things," she rolled her eyes, reaching for some sweet smelling lotion as she sat down on the cushioned futon by the side and looked at me. "...but that was before you were getting great séx from me on the daily, so put the suit on Lucien and we won't have any problems."

Her bossiness made me blood pump in heated rushes through my body, my hum sounding out loud as I proceeded to reply with a snarky comment until I found myself focused on her rubbing lotion into her legs.

She knew what she was doing when she kept doing so until she had finished both legs and was standing, her hair flicked over her shoulder as she dropped her towel. Instantly my breath hitched and my body tensed, forgetting about the chaos with my brother as I watched Aria slip into a matching black bra and panty set that made me want to bite the curve of her áss...although it seemed my distraction was vanishing as quick as it came when Aria turned and spoke.

"What did Alex say to you?"

Aria looked at me expectedly, narrowing her eyes as she tilted her head and said my name again when I didn't speak instantly.

"He knows about us," I licked my lips, my eyes trailing down her body before I met her gaze and then turned to put on some clean boxers as she kept watching me. "He told me that he thought my feelings would get out of control and that I'm, in his words, signing a death sentence being with you."

Aria hummed sharply as I slipped on the already ironed slacks she'd bought, the perfect fit pleasing me more than it should've as I looked up to Aria who asked what else he had said.

"Aria, it's fine-"

"What did he say to you, Lucien?"

I exhaled at the sound of her voice and her mood that was steadily mirroring the same I'd had with my argument with Alex, my hands running through my hair as I rubbed the back of my neck and wondered what to tell her.

"He asked if Salvatore knew I was fücking his daughter and if that was the reason I was being tracked through my business phone-"

"That's rich coming from someone who doesn't realise that's happening because we have a suspicion over his father's killer, something he doesn't seem to care about, but go on..."

Her words that only matched mine made my chest tighten further as I watched her calculate things in her mind whilst looking at me, my own spinning over what to tell her once more before I swallowed and spoke.

"Well on the topic of my father, he said that being with you-"

"-would lead to you being in the same place as Jeremy, right?" she finished for me as I sighed, realising what was about to happen as I said her name softly in a failed attempt to pacify her. "Where is he?"

"Aria-"

"Where the fück is your idiot brother, Lucien?" she snapped quietly, reaching for her robe that she tied around her waist as I felt the tension in the room spike at her palpable anger. "Fine. Don't answer me."

"Baby, don't..." I could barely get a fücking sentence out before Aria was walking out the closet, defiance in every step she took as I inhaled a large breath and quickly followed to stop her having another reason to be pissed at the world today. "Aria!"

Despite me being twice the size of her I couldn't catch up as I watched a rush of brunette hair vanish behind the second staircase, the sweet floral smell of her being followed by me before I was settling at the bottom of the stairs just in time with Aria snapping at Alex who had taken residence near the countertop in the kitchen.

"You know I'm real tired of people underestimating me lately, Alex," she started, glaring at my older brother who had turned to Aria by swinging around in the kitchen barstool. "You think Lucien is going to end up like your father by being with me?"

Alex sighed as he looked between Aria and me with a roll of his eyes, his humourless chuckle only mocking her mood as I leaned against the wall and didn't bother to stop anything when I hated the way he looked at Aria before speaking.

He underestimated her.

"Listen, I'm sure that you think-"

"Answer the question, Alex," Aria bluntly spoke, crossing her arms over her chest as Alex reflected her mood and narrowed his eyes instantly.

"Yes, I think you're going to kill my brother by being with him," he simply said, glaring at her. "Who knows, maybe you have bad luck surrounding you like a black cat considering my father died after being your security for years on end," he watched Aria tense at his words. "If you haven't understood it yet, I'm not in the mood for losing anymore family. I'm sure you know how that feels."

Alex didn't realise the weightiness of his words and how personal they were to Aria today out of all days as I looked at her and back to him with a possessive glare, my body moving in time with Aria's as she laughed quietly to herself, mumbled how she was going to fück Alex up and then stalked towards him.

"You think I'm the reason that you're fücking father is lying in a hospital bed?" she snapped heatedly at him as she walked to Alex who had risen out of his chair, my feet quick to get to Aria when she picked up a knife from the knife block on her way and pointed it at him. "That's fücking ironic coming from piece of shít son who doesn't seem to care who put him there in the first place!"

Aria's anger that stemmed from today and was goaded by Alex's actions left her throwing the knife easily before I'd even got to her, Alex's obliviousness to Aria's violent side leaving him ducking instinctually as I grabbed her and held her to me.

"Let me fücking go!" she yelled as Alex looked at her with wide eyes, his anger only increasing tenfold like hers as he looked at her crazily.

"You're willingly with her?!" he asked me incredulously, turning back to see the knife in the wall as Aria fought me and grew frustrated as she sounded out her unease and glared at Alex violently.

"Yes, he is," she fumed through gritted teeth. "That's because he has his own brain and doesn't need his ásshole brother's approval on the relationships he wants!" she shouted once more, garnering the attention of Aaron upstairs as he jogged down the stairs with wide eyes and Tofu in his hands.

"I'm looking out for my brother," Alex snapped. "Yet it seems you don't care about his feelings when you literally just tried to fücking kill me."

"Please, if I really wanted to kill you, your mouth would've been filled with bullets by now," she sneered, retorting easily as I said her name which she ignored as I held her body to mine tighter. "Your brother may have a rule for not killing family, but I have no problem in doing that for him."

"He'll be six feet under because of you, Aria."

"Alex, shut the fück up," I snapped, warning him to keep his mouth shut as Aria laughed once more before speaking.

"The only way Lucien is ever going to die is by my own hand and that's not fücking happening," she cursed at him, breathing heavily as she slipped out of my hold by twisting my wrist. The pain that shot up my arm made me groan through gritted teeth as I reached out for her once again, only instead of moving to Alex she stayed put and glared at him. "If Lucien ever dies, then you can try and kill me...but just remember that blood oath you took means that if you lay a fücking hand on me, you'll die too."

With the tension spiking Aria turned and shoved herself out of my hold, cursing everyone to hell today as she walked past Aaron and took Tofu with her when she ascended the stairs. I watched as she did, her own argument with Alex only repeating in fast forward in my head as I felt the familiar burn of anger start in my fingertips as I turned to him and scowled, feeling everything in my body coil tight with the promise of instantly unravelling at a threat.

...if only Alex knew that before he spoke.

"All of this drama because you're fücking that piece of áss-"

Alex didn't expect to be the victim of my anger. Without thinking my hands shot out to his neck as I pinned him to the countertop and choked him by gripping the collars of his shirt with my mood blurring all sanity, his criticism of Aria only acting like a match to the gasoline of my anger as he suffered in the fiery blaze and struggled to breathe.

"Call her a piece of áss again and it'll be me burying you six feet under."

My heartbeat was back to thumping loudly in my ears as I felt the rush of blood heat my body at his comment, my hands white knuckled around his neck as he went red in the face and struggled to say something as a result of consequences that followed berating Aria. He tapped my hands as a sign for me to let go but it seemed that the predator in me fed off his fight, his argument with me upstairs only goading my need to hear bones snapping when I recalled the words he'd put in my fücking head until I was pulling back to reality when there was a loud siren that meant someone was at the door.

Instantly I let go and felt my fingers burn from the hold I'd had, blood rushing back to my hands as Alex sagged to the floor and held his neck whilst spluttering incoherent words through wheezed breaths.

"You just tried to k-kill m-me."

I didn't bother answering him, instead I shook off the rest of my anger and walked to the screen in the wall that showed all the cameras as if I hadn't just strangled my brother, the monster inside of me silenced at getting what it'd wanted over and over since the day had started.

An out for its anger.

I felt like I was on fire as I swallowed harshly and then looked at the camera to see Giovanni standing with his own security, my sigh echoing out loud as I walked to the door and bypassed the security to let him in.

"Lucien," he spoke simply as he entered the safe house, looking me once over as he proceeded to speak until he caught sight of Alex on the floor, suit scruffy and struggling to breathe.

"He's my brother and he won't be a problem," I said to Giovanni, seeing him nod as he did the same to Aaron before scoping the room and then looking at me. "Aria is upstairs getting ready."

"Tell her we leave in an hour," he simply spoke, leading me to nod as I exhaled a breath and then returned upstairs to see Aria standing in her robe and spraying something in her hair. She didn't say anything to me as I looked at her, my mouth opening to say something until I felt tiny paws at my feet and I was looking down to see Tofu.

I sighed and bent down to pick him up, my fingers smoothing over his head as he nuzzled his face into my bare chest and made a home in the palm of my hand.

"And he says he doesn't like the cat..." I heard Aria whisper to herself, her words leaving my lips to curl as I moved to be behind her and then looked at the reflection of us in the mirror to see her face. "If you're looking for an apology for nearly killing Alex then you'll need to look elsewhere."

"I'm not," I said to her moving her body into me, feeling it instantly relax as she placed her hand over my own, leaned into me and sighed quietly. "You okay?"

"Hanging by a thread..." she whispered, turning in my arms and taking Tofu from me as she cuddled him to her chest.

"Giovanni just arrived," I told her. "He said we leave in an hour."

Aria did nothing but nod at my question before letting Tofu settle across a dip in the futon cushioning, the both of simultaneously getting ready as I remembered Salvatore's words of there needing to be three men protecting Aria.

At this point Alex was already at my disposal despite his fücking idiocy and he knew where he stood, in turn leaving me with one spot left to fill just as I caught myself watching Aria slip on heels for the first time in weeks.

I hummed sharply.

With a swallow of my pride I slipped on my suit jacket and picked up my phone once I'd sprayed my cologne, my fingers tapping against the screen as I left the room whilst Aria sprayed her own perfume, the smell making me swallow as I dialled a number I had blocked for the past few weeks and heard it pick up on the second ring.

"Lucien?" Jinx's elated voice sounded out.

"I need you to meet me at the church that's part of Damia's service, you're helping me with security for Aria," I told him in lieu of a greeting, hearing him hum as I explained everything that I'd thought of over the past few days, my words also acting like a strange apology considering Aria's ankle hadn't been injured to the extent I'd blamed him for. My lack of saying sorry left a bitter taste in my mouth but eased when Jinx happily agreed to everything I said, his quick goodbye's leaving me hanging up as I turned just in time to see Aria leaving the closet.

"I'm guessing you said sorry for ignoring him since Halloween?" she asked, dressed to the nines and seeming more like herself with red painted lips and heels that looked too high to be comfortable in.

Splendida.

"Asking him to help be your security is my apology," I said to her, complimenting her quickly before she could roll her eyes as she walked to me and fixed my collar.

"You look good in the suit I bought you," she murmured, smiling to herself and then up at me before she held her hand higher for me to see, the cross pendant necklace dangling from her fingers leaving me raising my eyebrows. "It's my mother's."

With ease Aria turned and moved her hair for me when I asked her to turn around so I could clasp the necklace around her, her hair falling back in place as she touched over it and then turned back to me with a sigh.

"Let's get this day over and done with."

Within minutes Aria and I were walking downstairs, her heels tapping underneath her as she looked at me and then to her grandfather with a smile on her face once she'd reached the ground floor. I watched him embrace her and say consoling things in Italian once she'd walked to him as I looked to my brother rubbing his neck, his suit a little dishevelled which pleased me more than it should've as Aaron slyly handed me a phone whilst smoothing over his own suit.

"I think I have a lead on Joe, look at the phone when you have time..." he whispered to me whilst turning, my fingers quick to put it in my pocket just as Giovanni goaded us to leave with a defiant tilt of his head and demanding words.

Once I'd checked all the security measures were up to my standards I followed behind everyone, the scan of my eyes closing the door and sealing it shut as we exited through the tunnel, through to the adjacent building before walking through another apartment and down into the parking lot.

I took my precautions seriously and didn't care for the roll of Alex's eyes when he looked at me, my feet quick to step to Aria as I splayed my hand against the back of her coat, her face tilting up to me where I kissed her quickly before I turned to Giovanni's call of my name.

He beckoned me over with his fingers and in turn pulled me away from Aria, his silence leaving me wondering what he wanted to talk about as I stood by him and then stopped walking when he did, his face stoic along with his body that tensed as he looked at me and spoke.

"Do you remember when I told you that you were to accompany me to pay a visit to Ryder, but you instead spent the night with my granddaughter?"

I inhaled a sharp breath, clearing my throat and nodding as I recalled exiting the lift, telling Giovanni that I was going to get my fücking woman and then proceeding to fück her silly all night...which I had.

But he didn't need to know that.

"Good," he said simply, adjusting his cufflinks as I glanced at Aria talking to Aaron whilst Giovanni's security drove towards her in four black SUV's. "...because you're not to say anything to him."

I blinked.

"Say anything to Ryder?" I asked confused as Giovanni began to walk once more, my feet quick to keep up with him as I turned to him, stopping him in his tracks which made him raise his eyebrows. "Giovanni."

"If you chose to accompany me that night, I would've told you why you're not allowed to kill him...ma non l'hai fatto," he spoke, mocking that I didn't accompany him in Italian and leaving my shoulders slumping despite the way my body tensed and I felt every muscle in my body coil. "You didn't think that your punishment for going against my orders was just me talking to you in my car, vero?"

I inhaled once more as I registered his words and the memory of him threatening me in his car after the morning I'd had with Aria, his eyebrows raising expectantly at me as I berated myself silently for being so stupid to think Giovanni would've let shít go.

"No," I appeased him through bitten teeth, hearing him hum sharply just as I tilted my head to see his security moving towards Aria to open the door for her, my eyes on her before I simultaneously spoke to Giovanni with my jaw aching from the grit of my teeth. "...but can I ask something?"

Giovanni didn't say anything but instead pressed his lips together and stared.

"Why are we talking about Ryder?"

Giovanni exhaled a breath through his nose as he proceeded to answer my question, my body anticipating his words until it seemed he didn't need to say anything when I was turning, watching his security open the SUV doors to reveal Aria's ex who was settled inside just as Giovanni muttered words whilst walking past me.

"Not a word, Lucien."

**A/N**

GOOD EVENING CHILDREN OF MINE

AS BRYSON TILLER ONCE SAID (ALONG WITH MY TWITTER BIO)

IM BACK AND IM BETTER

*throws mic and screams at the floor*

I AM BACK AFTER SO LONG and omg I hope that this chapter was worth the wait

It's more like a filler and a calm before the sh*t storm that is the next chapter because I knew I had to get y'all up to date with stuff so that you were comfortable enough to scream at me for the ending of the next chapter I have planned (((:

Don't you just miss me and my torturing ways?

SIGH

Anywho. I'm going to keep these end notes short and sweet (I hope!) and just say I missed y'all so much. Last year after I updated I basically threw myself into work and got rid of toxic friends and just focused on myself because I needed it!! But now that I feel better, and I'm also quarantined, I'm writing again and I've never been happier!!! HERE'S TO MORE LARIA. I'VE ALREADY STARTED CHAPTER 27!!

YAY @ LIFE 😭

BUT NOW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

How do we feel about Salvatore doing all that he could've to keep Lucien away from his woman? We'll have words with him next chapter dw

Joe messing around and making a doctor fake Aria's injury? Thoughts???

How about Mr Alex Romano? His fight with Lucien? His fight with Aria???? Was he outta pocket? Talk to me babies

ALSO! Lucien being freaked out by the L word!! Did y'all see the way my man completely acted like that didn't happen hes so dksjdksksk

ALSO 2.0 Jinx is back!!! Ugh I missed Tofu's babysitter dkskdksk 🥺

What do we also think about Giovanni letting Ryder tag along for Aria's mom's fundraiser? Y'all will get your answers to why he can't be killed in the next few chapters, I promise!!

How do we feel all together about this chapter? Worth the wait? Anything you want to see (except smut cos I know y'all obv want that)

Any improvements I can make? I haven't written in so long and have at least 20,000 words lying around in my emails as failed attemps at writing this chapter over the past year...which is actually ironic because the first part of this chapter is something I wrote all the way in march of last year...I'M SO PROBLEMATIC BUT LET ME KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO MAKE YOUR READING EXPERIENCE BETTER !

But ok, there are no votes or comment goals this chapter for obv reasons but please vote and comment and let me know what you think! It means so much that y'all support me.

ALSO THERE ARE LITERALLY 9 CHAPTERS LEFT IN THIS BOOK BEFORE DEAL 2 STARTS. YAY AT NEW BOOKS AND YAY AT AMAZING ENDINGS I HAVE PLANNED THAT'LL LEAVE YOU SHOOK

I WILL SEE YOU SOON (I've already started writing the next chapter, so it'll be quicker than the year and four month wait *winks*)

VOTE + COMMENT + ALL THAT GOOD SHIZ FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER

COME FOLLOW ME AND TALK TO ME ON MY SOCIALS;

Twitter | btwitssurina (@ me if you wanna be part of the laria gc where we talk about deal Lucien's fat d*ck)

SC | btwitssurina

Instagram | btwitssurina

Ask.fm | jxnnerslayss

CHARACTER SOCIALS;

Aria's IG | ariamxretti

Lucien's IG |lxcienromano

SEE YA LATER LIL CHICKENS 🥺

I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER

I love u to the moon and back 🌙✨

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