Arya's POV -

Soft touches on my skin had me awakening from my deep slumber.

I mutter something incoherent and try to swat away whatever was touching me.

It went away for a second and I smile, snuggling closer to the comfy warm sheets.

But then the touch returned, softly stroking my cheek and I yawn.

"No, go away." I grumble, continuing to swat the air thinking that's going to do something.

A chuckle fills the quiet room and my ears perk up at the noise.

Peeling my eyes open, I cheekily grin at the figure hovering above me.

Rome's shirtless form comes into my view and I can see the amusement in his eyes.

"Why?" I croak out, gesturing to him waking me up and he smiles showing those pretty dimples.

"You need to eat, It's a little after 7." He says, leaning down to press a kiss to my cheek.

"B-But I don't want to..." I say and he raises a dark brow, daring me to disobey.

I sigh, "What's for dinner?"

Smirking in triumph, Rome helps me out of the covers that I somehow got tangled in.

Glancing down at the hand holding mine, I automatically blush at the sight of his silver ring back on his middle finger.

I cough and attempt to cover my face to try and hide the blush, but I know he noticed by the small grin that formed on his lips.

"Something wrong?" He asks and I shake my head.

"Nope!"

"Are you sure, darling?" He probes and I blush wildly once more.

Biting his lip to try and contain his laugh, he pulls me towards him and wraps his arms around my shoulders.

He sways us softly back and forth for a few moments and I take in the heat radiating from his chest.

His familiar cologne invades my senses which makes a sigh of contentment escape me.

"Still okay?" He questions, looking into my eyes to search for any sign of discomfort. I know that he's referencing to what happened hours ago...

But he's not going to find any of that in my gaze.

"It-It was amazing." I say and his own soften. He releases a small breath of what I'm guessing is relief before nodding.

He leans down to connect our lips and I smile, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I love you." He says and my stomach erupts with butterflies.

"I love you too." I reply, shimmying a bit in happiness.

"So, dinner?" I mumble after a few seconds and he pulls away, grabbing a t-shirt from his drawer and putting it on.

He swiftly picks me up, carrying me out of the room.

I expect him to head for the stairs but I'm slightly surprised when he walks into my room, dropping me on my bed.

"What-"

"You're only in my boxers and as sexy as you look in them, Elijah and James are both here and I don't want them seeing you like that." He turns to head for my drawers, searching for some pants for me to wear.

I'm left speechless.

'as sexy as you look in them'

Sexy...

My ears tinge pink as he turns with a pair of my black sweats in hand. That's when I notice he's wearing black sweats as well.

He must have changed out of his dress pants while I was asleep.

We're matching!

Taking them from him when he gets closer, I'm about to take off the boxers but then freeze.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I look at Rome to see him already staring with understanding in his eyes.

"I can turn around if you'd like."

My heart blooms. Even though he's um...seen me. He still understands that I'm a little nervous.

"Yes please." I mutter and he turns.

I quickly take the boxers off and pull up my pants.

"Okay, you can turn back around."

He does and gives me a smirk, trailing his eyes up and down my form.

"Still gorgeous even with sweats." He walks towards me and I giggle as I take his outstretched hand.

"James decided to cook for us tonight." Rome explains as we walk down the stairs.

"He made crepes?" I ask with wide eyes and he shakes his head. A small frown forms on my face. I love his crepes.

"Does James even know how to cook besides his crepes?" I ask and Rome laughs.

"He never volunteers to cook so I won't be surprised if it tastes like crap." He grins at me as we reach the bottom step.

"That's mean!" I scold and he shrugs, tugging on my hand to guide us towards the kitchen.

A sweet smell invades my nose once we enter and I smile brightly seeing James behind the stove stirring a liquid in a pot. I also notice Elijah sitting on a stool with a drink in hand.

"James!" I squeal and he turns with a gasp, his own smile forming.

"Princess! It's been too long!" He whines and comes running at us. Before he can run into me Rome grips onto his shirt, pushing him back.

"Non farle male, cazzo." He says, eyes hardening.

(Don't fucking hurt her.)

James gasps, "I wouldn't hurt her you jerk!"

I'm surprised that James got away with calling Rome that but before I can think more about it James tugs me into his hold.

"We haven't hung out in ages! Come sit!" He says excitedly, dragging me towards the island stools.

I hear Rome grunt behind me as he follows and I giggle at the man.

James practically places me on the stool next to Elijah. Why right next to him? Who knows.

I'm not sure what kind of terms we're on so I give him a little smile and wave.

I get a nod in return from him and I beam.

"What are you making?" I ask as Rome sits in the open spot next to me.

"Chicken Tortilla Soup." James responds and my mouth waters. That sounds so good.

A ringing from my left turns my attention to Rome as he pulls out his phone and his jaw clenches at the name.

"Trouble?" I ask and his eyes soften when he looks to me.

"No, just something I need to deal with briefly. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I simply nod and he pecks my forehead before getting up from his seat.

"Che c'è, capo?" James asks and they start a conversation in Italian making me pout.

(What is it, boss?)

"Notizie su Ivan, dammi quindici minuti. Veglia su di lei. Entrambi." He says, glancing back down at his phone.

(News on Ivan, give me fifteen minutes. Watch over her. Both of you.)

"You got it." James replies and Elijah grunts in response.

Once he's out of sight I look towards Elijah once more.

I blurt out the first question I can think of, "Do you have any siblings?"

"No." His voice is slightly tense and my shoulders slump a bit.

I watch as James stirs the pot some more and tastes the soup with his spoon before cringing and adding some more seasoning. A small laugh escapes me.

"Do you?" Elijah questions and I'm startled for a second. He's talking to me!

"No, but I really wish I did. I've always thought about having an older sibling."

It was true, I've always wondered what it was like. I always felt really lonely at home when mama and papa weren't around.

Speaking of, I should probably call them after dinner.

"Why older?"

"Hm, I think just because I sometimes felt alone at home. It would have been nice to have someone else to hang out with beside myself." I shrug and he nods.

Based on what Rome told me before I know Elijah had a really hard past, so I know not to bring anything up about that.

When he doesn't say anything else and simply goes back to looking at his drink, I turn towards the direction of James.

The amazing smell of the soup was getting stronger and I swiftly got off the stool, taking quick steps to be beside him.

"How much longer?" I whine and he laughs,

"Not too long, another few minutes or so."

"That's too long."

"It's not long at all, stop complaining."

My eyes narrowed at him and he gave me a sweet smile of innocence.

I watch as James tastes the soup again and gives a satisfied nod which probably means It tastes better than before.

"Done?" I question and he rolls his eyes.

"You're very impatient, princess."

"I'm hungry."

His eyes turned lighter when he looked back at me. Oh yeah, I forgot he knew about my troubles with eating.

I shiver when I remember the time when he told me 100 reasons to eat.

After another long minute James turns off the stove and puts down the spoon.

"All done, you can stop your whining now."

Grumbling under my breath, I quickly go to the cabinets to find a bowl.

And of course they're on the top shelf so I can't reach.

I turn to ask James for help but I freeze when I see Elijah coming to stand next to me.

He reaches up and grabs two bowls, holding one out in front of him towards me.

"Thank you," I smile, taking it from him.

"What about me you stronzo?" I hear James complain.

(Asshole.)

Elijah grits his teeth before responding gruffly, "Prendi la tua fottuta ciotola, non sono qui per servirti."

(Get your own fucking bowl, I'm not here to serve you.)

James mouth is slightly agape as we both walk towards the pot.

"No! You're so rude, you don't get to have any." James scolds and Elijah scowls.

"Princess can, though." He winks at me and I giggle as he takes my bowl, filling it up with soup.

"Thanks." I chirp, making my way back to my seat while Elijah just stays in place.

James opens his mouth again, most likely to keep taunting Elijah but then snaps it shut when he speaks before him.

"Sto seriamente pensando di ucciderti nel sonno e di gettarti in un fiume." The fist that doesn't have the bowl in hand clenches.

(I'm seriously considering murdering you in your sleep and tossing you into a river.)

James swallows before moving out of the way and walking towards the cabinets.

Whatever he just said to James worked.

I look down and then realize I never even grabbed a spoon. I get distracted too easily.

Sighing, I move to get up but hands wrap around my shoulders and a chest presses into my back.

Already knowing who it is based on the cologne, I tilt my head up and am met with Rome's pretty face looking down at me.

He smirks and leans down to kiss my forehead.

"Going to eat with your hands?" Amusement is clear in his tone and I shrug.

"I forgot it."

He shakes his head, his messy hair falling a bit over his eyes before straightening up and striding over towards his two friends.

"Vi racconterò le novità più avanti." Rome says to them and they both nod.

(I'll tell you both the news later.)

5 minutes later we're all sitting at the table digging into our meals. Surprisingly James' cooking is super good, this soup is amazing.

Rome's hand moves to rest on my thigh as we eat and a blush stays on my face for the remainder of the meal.

He also leans in to whisper a few 'I love you's' and of course I said it back.

I love him so much.

Once the kitchen is clean and the dishes are washed my eyes begin to droop. For some reason I'm exhausted.

Rome of course notices. My man notices everything.

"Why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed, hm? I'll be up in a bit." He smooths down my hair because It looks pretty wild right now.

I nod and decide to call my parents once I go up.

Rome kisses me briefly before pushing me playfully towards the stairs.

Biting my lip, his eyes snap down towards the action. I'm already racing up the steps before he can get to me.

I hear him let out a curse and I inwardly laugh.

Quickly doing my routine which consists of brushing my hair, washing my face, brushing my teeth, and anything else, I get snuggled up in Rome's bed.

I basically live in his room now instead of mine.

Grabbing my phone from the bedside table where it was charging, I unlock it and swipe to my contacts.

Pressing on mama's name, I lift the phone to my ear and wait as it rings.

"Arya, how are you doing?" Mama asks once she picks up and I smile.

"I'm doing good mama, I just finished dinner and now I'm getting ready for bed."

"Have you been stud-" She cuts herself off but I knew what she was going to say.

Have you been studying? Is what she wanted to ask.

"How was your day?" Mama says instead and relief fills me.

"It was good, the day went by pretty quickly and nothing much happened."

Well, not much besides Rome touching-

I cut off my thoughts, my cheeks heating up. Bad time to think about that Arya!

"I'm glad, are you excited for your birthday? It's coming up soon."

I'm super excited, It's in a little over a week now.

"Yeah mama, I am."

We continue to talk a little bit and she asks me multiple times if Rome is treating me right which I respond with yes.

Papa comes on the phone as well to greet me and ask about my day.

"Well kiddo, we'll see you soon. I love you." Papa says and my heart warms.

"I love you too, papa."

There's a bit of shuffling on the other line before I hear mama clear her throat.

"Alright, well I'll call you soon, okay? I love you, Arya."

Mama hasn't told me she loved me in a long time and finally hearing it makes me grow all warm inside.

"I love you too, mama."

We hang up and I'm about to place my phone down and snuggle under the covers, but a text from Izzy pops up on my screen.

Curiously opening it, what I read makes my blood run cold.

Izzy: Call me ASAP! I know what happened to Trevor when he disappeared and you might not be safe around Rome!