Arya's POV -

I had never kissed a guy before.

I barely even talked to them.

But every time I was with Rome, these feelings just came along when I gazed at him.

I didn't necessarily know what they meant, but when Rome's lips landed on mine, I couldn't breathe.

And it wasn't a bad 'I can't breathe'. It was a 'this is the most amazing feeling ever I can barely comprehend it'.

Rome's lips softly moved with mine, guiding me since I had no experience.

Zero.

My whole body warmed at the feeling, his strong arms wrapped around my waist, holding me close to him.

The kiss was slow, but it was passionate.

A low groan came out of Rome's mouth and I just wanted to hear that sound on repeat.

My legs tightened when they went around his waist, trying to feel him as much as possible.

One of his hands rose from my waist and slowly went through my hair, tugging lightly.

A sound that had never came out of my mouth appeared, and the hold he had on my hair became firmer.

After what felt like forever, Rome slowly pulled back with hooded eyes. They were so dark. So green. So pretty.

I tried to catch my breath as I panted, but there was a big smile on my face.

His chest was slowly rising up and down, he didn't loose his breath like I had at all?!

The hand in my hair had started to run through my locks, "Was that okay?" He questioned softly.

My smile only continued to grow as I wrapped my arms around him and clung to his chest.

The man chuckled, both of his arms wrapping back around me and pulling me into him.

We hugged in silence for several minutes, his hand sometimes raising up and down my back, rubbing it.

My eyes were shut tightly in content, there was such a calming aura in the room. I never wanted it to go away.

It had to be about 5 minutes before I spoke up. I guess both of us were enjoying being in each others arms.

I looked up at him sheepishly, "Can we do it again?" I squeaked out and his chest rumbled as he laughed, both of his dimples showing.

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The time was now 7pm and I was sat at the table in the kitchen. My math homework by my side and pencil in hand.

Rome was near the stove cooking while I tried to focus on my assignments but my eyes kept looking up to him.

My cheeks had remained red for the rest of the night, and I could tell they still were from the slight feeling of warmth radiating off of them.

I shook my head and licked my lips, looking back down at my paper that contained multiple math problems I haven't started.

Apparently James and Elijah were out right now. Rome had said Elijah would be gone for the night but was unsure if James would return or not.

I guess Elijah had never told him about my crying session which I was thankful for.

I know Rome wanted to be there for me, but I didn't need to bother him with my crying.

I finished the first problem on my paper before my pupils subconsciously made their way back to Rome.

However, I squealed as I saw he was right in front of me. I hadn't even noticed he moved...

His brows were raised, his eyes glinting with a huge amount of amusement.

"I-Um I was just." I stuttered, trying to form words.

"Just what?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Trying to...trying to finish my math but you distracted me!" I blurted but then covered my mouth.

"I distracted you?" He questioned, teasing in his tone.

Swallowing, I looked back down at my paper and tried to focus on the second problem.

His fingers went under my chin and lifted my face back to him. Before I could even comprehend, he pecked my lips before swiftly moving back to the stove.

I heard his chuckling as I blushed furiously. He was teasing me!

Snapping my eyes back to my math, I decided it was best to no longer look at him until I was done.

Only one question had been finished in the span of 20 minutes.

To my relief, Rome hadn't come back over to the table so I was able to actually focus and finish the 15 problems.

I sighed in relief and dropped my pencil on the table. It made a noise which caught Rome's attention, making him turn towards me.

"Finished?" He asked as he turned off the stove but was able to watch me while doing so.

"Yup." I responded, grabbing my paper and getting up off the chair.

"I'm going to put this away," I gestured towards the paper and he nodded with a small smirk.

Turning away, I ran for the stairs, wanting to control my flaming face before I went back down.

Once I put my assignment away, I went straight to the bathroom and turned on the sink.

Splashing my face multiple times with water, I patted my cheeks and tried to cool them down.

Was it even possible to blush for this long?

After about 5 more splashes of water to the face, they finally cooled down and weren't red.

Wiping my face with a towel, I made my way back downstairs to see Rome grabbing two plates.

I could smell the sweet aroma of chicken.

I sat back down at the same seat as Rome placed a plate in front of me.

My eyes observed the dish. Chicken, rice, and some vegetables.

"Drink?" Rome asked.

"Just water." I said and he brought a cup of it to me.

This meal was definitely too big for me. I wouldn't even be able to finish half of it.

Rome sat across from me, his own plate in front of him.

I then noticed the chicken on my plate was already cut up for me.

"This looks so delicious." I said, picking up my fork and eating a piece. "It is so delicious." I gushed.

"I'm glad," He smiled, digging into his own meal.

However after only a few bites of each different piece he made, I was full.

Why was I not able to finish even half of it?

Rome noticed me staring down at the food, "Are you going to finish eating?" He questioned sincerely.

I shook my head, "I'm full." I said, reaching for my plate to take it to the sink but his hand stopped me.

"Already? You barely ate anything." He noted, eyes filling with slight questioning in them.

He then leaned back in his chair, "It's been happening recently. You didn't even want to eat breakfast the other day."

"I ate the lunch you made me." I mumbled, twirling my thumbs around each other.

He stared at me in silence, head tilting in a way I found adorable each time he did it.

His brows then furrowed slightly before he spoke, "Did you eat a lot when with your parents?"

My throat constricted at the mention of them.

"I don't really know. I think so...?" I said but it came out as more of a question rather than a statement.

"You think so?" He copied my words and I bit my lip.

"I don't know, I was normally just focused on school."

He continued to probe, "Did you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday?"

I didn't want to lie to him, so I shook my head 'no' which made a frown appear on his face.

"I never ate breakfast..." I started off slowly, "I would sometimes each lunch, and sometimes dinner as well. Dinner would depend on how much schoolwork I had that night."

"School..." He mumbled to himself, "Why did it depend on school for if you ate or not?"

"W-Well I was always wanting to please my parents when it came to school." It was more mama.

"I guess I always thought about that so I'd stay up late at night to get things done forgetting about food." I continued and I saw his eyes harden.

"It's not that big of a deal I don't think." I murmured and he shook his head before those eyes became soft.

"Baby you need to eat more. I get that school is one of your biggest priorities but you can't forget about taking care of yourself first."

I slumped in my seat.

But then his lips turned up into a small smile, "Don't worry, we'll slowly get you back there, okay?"

His words were so comforting and soft and I nodded, giving him a smile back.

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Rome's POV -

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, glancing down at the paperwork in my hands.

I signed my name on the useless papers that won't matter in a year.

Glancing at the time, it was now 12pm and I still had a lot of fucking shit to do.

Arya had gone to bed long ago, I made sure of it.

My anger only rose towards her parents when hearing she hadn't been eating or sleeping well because she wanted to 'please' them.

I wanted to go over to her goddamn house and talk some sense into them.

Just talk...

After what I heard her mother did to her, I definitely only wanted to talk.

Rolling my eyes, I chugged the rest of my whiskey and pushed the glass aside.

Looking back down at the pathetic pile of papers, I was about to scribble my signature on another when I got a notification from my phone.

It was probably James complaining about some bullshit.

That man always had something to say that pissed me off.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, my brows furrowed at the sight of a text message from an unknown number.

Slowly unlocking it, I tapped on the message, and was met with an odd message.

'Tick. Tick. Tick.'

'You're about to get a kick.'

'You'll be surprised when you see this.'

My eyes looked over the words multiple times. Was this some sort of joke?

I went to block the number, a bored look on my face, but then I got another message.

Opening it back up, I almost dropped my phone at the image that was sent.

Arya's father.

Tied up in a chair.

I gripped onto my phone tightly, my jaw clenching.

However, the message sent under it made my whole body go rigid.

'Tick. Tick. Tick.

'You got a kick.'

'How will you tell your chick?'

When I had asked Elijah to do a background check on Arya's parents, there were no past criminal records or enemies made.

These were my enemies.

And I knew exactly who it fucking was.

Russians.