Arya's POV -

Since neither James or Elijah showed up last night I assumed it would just be Rome and I when I woke up this morning but I was surprised to see all 3 of them in the kitchen.

Rome was speaking to them as they stood in a triangle, and I could see the cold looks on both Elijah and James.

Elijah I understood since he usually looked like that, but even his face looked a bit tenser.

What shocked me more was James' face, his fists were also clenched together tightly.

Well, I'm definitely not going in the kitchen.

I change my path and head for the living room that I haven't even tried to use yet.

Entering, I saw the huge widescreen TV and I automatically plopped down onto the L shaped couch.

Placing my backpack on the table, I reached for the TV remote and pressed the button to turn it on.

I waited as it lit up and loaded the screen. I pressed the guide button to see what was on.

The news was on.

More news.

Other news.

After scrolling for 5 minutes I picked some cartoon show I've never seen in my life.

It wasn't terrible.

I became bored after 10 minutes and I looked through the channels once again.

Luckily my boredom didn't last long because soon Rome was entering the living room with a plate of breakfast in his hand.

I cringed slightly and he gave me a stern look before placing it in front of me.

He kissed my forehead, "Good morning, sleep well?"

I nodded, glancing at the food. "Yes, I did."

He sat next to me and tilted his head towards the food which made me pout.

"I'm not hungry." I say and he raises a brow challengingly.

"Want to say that again?"

10 minutes later I had a full meal in me as Rome drove me to school.

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Rome's POV -

I gave Arya a quick kiss on the lips when she was about to get out of the car.

I watched with an amused look as her face began to turn red.

"Have a good day, call me if you need anything, okay?" I ask, tucking some hair behind her ear.

She looked at me for a few moments without saying anything.

"Arya?" I ask and she snaps out of whatever shock she was in.

"Y-Yes, you got it!" She gives me a thumbs up before getting out of the car and and literally running towards her school.

"Così fottutamente carina." I mutter with a smile on my face as I watch her small frame enter the building.

(So fucking cute.)

Once she's out of my sight my face automatically turns into a scowl. Digging my phone out of my pocket, I call James.

"Anything?" I ask once he answers.

"Nope, Elijah is still trying to figure out how they even found out about Arya."

"What about the text messages?"

"Not able to track it, it has some sort of blockage on it."

"Fuck," I curse, running my hand down my face.

Arya can't know about this. It'll break her. This shit is all my fucking fault.

I'm interrupted out of my thoughts by Elijah, "Does Arya hang out with anyone that could be suspicious?"

"Not that I know of, the only person she talks about is her friend Izzy."

"Okay, I can do a background check on her. What's the name of Arya's school so I can find her?"

I give him the name before muttering another curse under my breath.

Luckily when that number had sent me the photo, Arya's father looked unharmed.

It was a scare tactic.

"Alright, I found her easily, not many Izzy's in her school. I'll get the background check done and let you know what I find. When Arya gets back ask her if she talks to anyone else besides her."

Hanging up the phone, I throw my phone onto the passenger side and grip the steering wheel tightly.

I glance outside the car window to look at the school once more before making my way back to the house to try and find the location of Arya's father.

I have some of my men searching around the city to try and find any clues.

I know that they won't hurt him. They don't want anything to do with him actually.

It all circles back to me and the mafia.

The Italian and Russian mafia have always hated each other.

Ivan Volkov. The Russian Don.

I've always hated that fucker, I've wanted to kill him before I even became the Italian Don.

Before he killed my parents.

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Arya's POV -

I walk to my 3rd period humming a tune to myself.

Today has been pretty decent so far. Izzy was in a good mood today as well and that just made me happy in general.

I look down at my feet as I walk, not even paying a glance to my surroundings.

So I guess it only makes sense when I run into someone.

Literally.

I ram into them, making me fall straight onto my butt.

I wince and look up to see a boy standing over me.

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry I didn't see you." He says, offering a hand to me.

I take it hesitantly and I get pulled to my feet.

"It's okay, I wasn't even looking up." I reply, and then my eyebrows raise a little as I look at him.

I swear I've seen him somewhere before.

His face is very recognizable.

"Are you new here? I've never seen you in this school." I question as I look him over.

"Nope, I've been here for a while, but I've never noticed a pretty girl like you here."

I ignore the flirting in his voice. There's only one man that can flirt with me.

"Have I seen you before from somewhere?" I ask, a small tilt to my head.

The boy shakes his head before smirking at me, "I don't think so. I'll see you around?"

Before I can reply he's walking off with quick steps.

I paint the image of him into my mind before turning and heading to my class.

I know I've seen him before.

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I spot Rome in his normal spot with his car after school.

A question has been on my mind since lunch.

I walk up to him and give him a sweet smile, and he smirks down at me.

"Cafe?" I ask and he nods. That was my question.

I haven't been to the café in a bit. I kind of want to try something new.

Soon we reach the familiar place and Rome opens the door for me as we enter.

Such a gentleman.

"Same thing?" He asks and I shake my head, "I want a different drink this time." I say, rubbing my chin.

"Oh?" He questions.

My eyes light up as I look at the Mocha Frappe. That sounds really good.

"Can I get the Mocha Frappe?" I ask and he nods.

"Anything to eat?"

"Mm no, I'm not that hungry?"

"You're sure?" He replies with a stern look like this morning.

"Yup! I promise I'm really not. I've been craving a drink since lunch."

He sighs, "Alright sweetheart, go sit." With a kiss to my forehead he's heading to the registers while I find the same booth.

It doesn't take long for him to sit across from me, but there's now an odd look in his eye I couldn't pinpoint.

"What's wrong?"

He grunts before running a hand through his black hair, "Do you talk to anyone besides Izzy?"

Confused by his question, I can only reply with "Why?"

"I'm just curious. You always talk about Izzy and it makes me wonder who else you know."

I hum, "I don't really talk to anyone else." And it was true, I really only hung out with Izzy.

"I tell her everything but she's the only one." I continue.

He looks deep in thought before his name is called to get our orders.

When he places our drinks down, I'm not surprised to see the same black coffee he always gets.

"Do you always choose the black coffee?" I ask.

"It's the only one I like." He replies simply, sipping out of his mug.

"Nothing odd is going on at school, right?" He asks once he pulls away the mug from his lips.

"Odd?" I repeat slowly, testing the word on my tongue.

My mind immediately goes back to that 'odd' encounter with the boy in school.

I'm sure it was nothing though. He did help me up after all.

But then he basically ran away from me afterwards.

"Nope!" I chirp, sipping on the yummy mocha beverage.

"Mierda." I hear Rome mutter.

(Shit.)

After a bit of time we both finish our drinks and we're heading back to the house.

A question suddenly pops up in my head.

"What were the three of you talking about this morning?" I ask, turning to him slightly from the seat.

Rome clears his throat, "Just some business things."

"You know, I just realized I've never really asked. What do you do?" I was genuinely curious. I knew Rome owned some type of business, but he never specified what.

He looked slightly uneasy, "I own a few buildings in the city. Business buildings such as the office ones."

"You own those?" My eyes were wide, picturing them. Those were some pretty big buildings.

"Mmm." He hums before continuing, "I do, I basically make sure they're running smoothly is all."

My mouth turns into an 'O' shape before I nod. He had a pretty cool job. It seemed easy too.

The rest of the ride back was in comforting silence which I didn't mind.

As we walked inside, Rome tugged onto my hand making me pause mid-step.

"Did you eat the lunch I made you today?"

My eyes clenched together tightly and I bit my tongue. What was I supposed to say?

'Oh yup yup, I ate everything.'

But I hadn't.

I barely touched it.

"Um."

His face turned into a frown.

"I just...I just wasn't that hungry. I really did try." I exclaim, looking down at the floor.

There was a bit of silence as we both stood in front of the door.

But soon he was pulling me into his arms while my heart raced.

I buried my face into his chest as he held me, sighing in content.

"It's okay, as long as you tried." He replied, smoothing down my hair with his hands.

"We'll just have to make a good dinner for you, yes?"

I smiled and looked up at him as his eyes shined down on me like they were praising.

"Yes." Is all I said and he leaned down to capture my lips into a kiss.

He's been a lot more affectionate lately and I'm loving every second of it.

"My eyes! No more I can't take it!" I hear a voice cry.

Both of our heads turn to see James with his hands over his eyes.

"Is it safe?" He asks and I giggle while Rome rolls his eyes.

"Yes It's safe you idiota."

(Idiot.)

James gasps and clutches his chest like he's in pain.

But then his eyes narrow down at me making me confused.

"I've heard that a little birdie hasn't been eating properly." He says, crossing his arms.

"What." Is all that comes out of my mouth. I then look up at Rome to see a smirk on his face.

Suddenly James stalks towards me, "I'm going to now lecture you and give you 100 reasons on why you need to eat 3 meals a day. Plus snacks!" His voice gets louder as he talks.

"But-" I'm cut off as James grabs my hand and tugs me away towards the couch.

"Rome!" I call out but his smirk only turns more gorgeous and he winks before turning and heading the opposite direction.

My mouth drops in disbelief. He told James on purpose!

James pushes me down onto the couch and stands in front of me.

"Reason number one!" He starts and I groan once I realize he's actually going to give me 100 reasons.