Arya's POV -

Waking up for school the next morning, I found myself actually being excited.

Not for the part where I need to catch up on everything, but seeing Izzy after so long.

"Arya, are you ready?" I can hear Rome calling me from downstairs.

"Coming!" Grabbing my backpack, I make my way downstairs where Rome is waiting for me with his keys in one hand and my lunch in the other.

True to his word, he planned on bringing me to school and back.

"Did you eat enough?" He asked as I approached him and turned for him to unzip my backpack to place my lunch inside.

"Yup, all set." I replied as I turned back around and flashed him a smile.

"Let's go, then." Opening the door for me, we made our way to Rome's car.

Once we were on the road, I was getting a bit jittery at the thought of going back.

There was also another matter I was focused on, my parents.

I will ask Rome tonight about it since It's been a while now since everything happened.

Things have cooled off according to Rome, he said there were no recent signs of Ivan and Oliver.

Speaking of Oliver, "Can you believe it was him? The café dude?" I asked quietly to Rome.

Rome scoffed, "I should have seen the signs, the similarities in their features when I first saw him, but I was hardly paying attention."

He faced me for split second and gave me a wink, "I was too focused on the beauty at the table."

Flushing red, I turned away and heard his pretty chuckle.

All this mafia stuff that I learned had another person coming into mind. It's been a while since I've even thought about him.

"Hey, Rome? Did you hurt Trevor?"

I squealed when he swerved a bit on the road before straightening the wheel out.

My mouth was agape as I looked at him in shock. Well I guess I got my answer.

"Is that a yes?"

He breathed out a heavy breath before suddenly reaching over and clasping my hand in his.

"Why is that boy still on your mind?" I could hear a bit of firmness in his tone.

"He's not," I said quickly, "It's just that when I thought of Izzy, I thought of Trevor. I think It's because before all of this we never figured out what happened to him. And...and after learning about the mafia I just thought that maybe you did something to him when the party happened." I rambled.

Sighing, he gripped my hand tighter before answering, "Something did happen to him that night, no he's not in danger or is he no longer hurt."

"No longer?" I repeated on my tongue.

"I didn't let him get away with what he did to you, darling. Volevo però farlo a pezzi, cazzo. Voglio ancora."

(I wanted to fucking rip him to shreds though. I still want to.)

"W-Where is he now then?"

"No longer living in this town, that's for sure."

"He moved?"

"Mmm." He hummed in response to my question while I was still left baffled.

"Did you hurt him badly?" Looking at him, his green eyes were hard as he stared at the road.

Getting no response from him, I thought maybe he hadn't heard me, so I went to ask again before he beat me to it.

"Sì," He said quietly.

My brows rose but I said nothing, I didn't really know how to feel about that. I didn't want to know about the violence that was involved.

Deciding to just drop it, my eyes drifted out the window to watch the trees, cars, and anything else I could see pass by.

Rome kept my hand in his for the rest of the ride and eventually we made it to my school.

Turning to him, I went to say thank you but his lips then landed on mine, silencing me into shock.

Eyes widening slightly, they fluttered closed and relished the feeling of his soft lips.

His hands gently moved to cup my face before he pulled away and pecked my forehead.

"Make sure you eat your lunch, okay?"

With my heart stuttering, I nodded softly before opening the door and getting out.

Giving him a wave, I turned towards the school and it was now my mission to find Izzy.

Wandering the halls once I made it inside, I peered around the lockers to look for any sign of her.

Everyone else was pretty much taller than me so it made it quite difficult.

However I guess I didn't have to find Izzy, because Izzy found me.

I heard her yelling for half a second before a body crashed into me.

I lost my breath for a moment while I was being hugged by Izzy.

"Finally! About damn time you showed up!" She laughed, pulling away to smile at me.

"I missed you too!" Giving her another hug she then crossed her arms, her demeanor switching.

"Where exactly were you? You've been gone for weeks!"

Was I going to tell her the truth because I hated lying?

No. Even though I didn't want to lie it was for the best for now.

Glancing at the floor I muttered, "I got into a huge argument with my mama, I'm staying with Rome and I needed a few weeks to recover."

That statement wasn't actually a lie, it was just half of what happened.

Her eyes bulged out of her head before narrowing, "What happened between you and your mama?"

Oh you know, she just caused a severe injury.

"It was over something a bit pointless that's all."

She looked like she wanted to say more but I guess she decided to stay silent. And then she squealed.

"You're staying with Rome? The tattoo party Rome?!"

Tattoo party Rome. That doesn't even make much sense but I know where it came from.

"Yeah, him."

"Are you guys romantically involved?"

Sure enough, my cheeks heated up automatically at the thought and she gasped, smiling wildly.

"You are! Have you kissed? Done other stuff?"

"Izzy!"

"What? I'm just asking."

The bell then rung saving me from this conversation.

"Oops, I guess It's time for class." Smiling sheepishly she gave me a blank stare in return.

"I'm going to take your refusal to answer as a yes."

Before I could deny it she walked away making me groan and follow her.

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Rome's POV -

"It's weird, It's like those Russians completely disappeared off the Earth." Elijah continued as he did whatever the hell he does on his computer with me standing to the side.

Cursing under my breath, my hands continued to itch. I just wanted to kill those two fuckers for taking my girl.

I wanted to kill the Russians once and for all.

But I can't do that if their current location is unknown.

After what happened they ran away like a bunch of little cowards. I was so close to getting my hands on Oliver. So close.

According to Arya that little prick has an obsession over her which just increases my anger.

"Where could they have gone back to?"

Shrugging, he turned to me. "Who knows, they could have left the state. Hell they could be on the other side of the world currently."

Rolling my eyes I took out my phone and sent a quick text to James asking if he did what I asked of him.

He was supposed to send some of my men out a day ago to stay in closer states so they could try and find anything.

Less than a minute goes by before he answers.

James: Is that even a question?? Of course I did, who do you think I am Capo? So little faith in me.

Me: A simple yes would have been fine, James.

James: Well that's no fun.

With an unamused face I turned off my phone and looked back towards Elijah who was back to typing on his computer.

He looked like he could use a small break.

"You know It's been a while since we boxed." I state, shifting the weight on my foot.

He paused mid-type before slowly continuing. "Has it?"

"It has, feeling up to it?"

As much as I wanted Elijah to continue searching, I don't think I've seen him move away from his office for days. He needed to get out of this area for a little while.

"I don't know."

"Don't know?" I scoffed, "Quando mai ti sei tirato indietro da una rissa? Diventare debole?"

(When have you ever backed down from a fight? Getting weak?)

I knew that would trigger something because when I saw his fists clench I knew I had him.

Slowly he pressed the off switch on his computer before turning to me with a smirk.

"Fine then Capo, let's see if I'm weak."

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Arya's POV -

When Rome showed up to pick me up after school, I didn't expect him to have a bruise on his face.

"What happened?!" I got in the car and my mouth dropped open.

He grunted and rolled his head over to me with a small smile.

"Did you get in a fight or something?" I asked, cupping his jaw and trailing a finger over the bruise on his cheek.

It wasn't a huge bruise, but it was still visible.

His eyes closed briefly before opening again and meeting mine. "No baby, Elijah and I were training earlier. Trust me he has far worse bruises than I do."

Gasping, I clutched my chest, "That's not a good thing!"

He chuckled and started the car as I crossed my arms. "Training for what?"

"It's just what we do often to help us get stronger. It's usually boxing."

"Training for like...fights and stuff?"

He nodded and while I was deep in thought I didn't realize he parked the car again.

Confused, my eyebrows scrunched together before a smile made its way onto my face.

The café...

Turning to him with my chest full of warmth, my eyes glanced down towards his lips that were lifted into a small smile.

Feeling brave, I leaned in and gave him a small peck on the lips. It was so quick I'm sure he barely felt it, but his smile got wider.

Biting my lip, I leaned in again and pressed another kiss on his bruise, this one a bit longer.

His chest rumbled beneath me as his hand came to grip onto my hip lightly.

"Thank you," I whispered, unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out of the car.

Once we got inside I ordered my Vanilla Chai Tea Latte once again. Oh how I've missed my favorite drink.

After Rome paid for our drinks we made our way to the same booth.

Rome retrieved our drinks a few minutes later. He got the Black Coffee he always drinks.

"I've missed coming here." I told him, his green eyes meeting mine.

Nodding, he placed his cup down. "I know how much you love this place."

Love.

I do love this place.

But I also love you.

Holy cow, I love Rome???

I love Rome?

I love Rome.

I love him so much it hurts, my heart yearns for him whenever he's away.

Eyes sparkling, I looked up at him and his own softened down at me.

I want to tell him. I want to tell him so badly, but not now. Not yet.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I sipped on my tea before nervously looking at him again.

"Rome, can I ask you a question?"

"Anything you want, sweetheart."

I didn't know how he'd react to this since he was the one who saw her hurt me.

But It was time, I needed to physically see that they were okay.

"Will you take me to see my parents?"