Arya's POV -

Rome places a comforting hand on my lower back, gently guiding me towards the table. Rome and I sit next to each other while Izzy sits across, her body tense.

He places his hand on my thigh, squeezing a bit for comfort. I place my drink on the table and wait for Izzy to start.

We stare at one another in silence, blocking out any of the chatter from the other customers.

"I know you're extremely angry at me." Izzy starts, meeting my eyes and I find myself wanting to break our gaze or I may start crying.

"And I know you don't trust me anymore. But I want to fix both of those things. I want us to be super close again. Best friends again." She whispers the last part and I shrink in my shoulders.

"It takes time, Izzy." I say and she nods.

"I know it does and I don't expect you to forgive me today. I just want to get this all off of my chest."

I wait for her to continue while Rome doesn't say a word to interrupt what she's about to say but I can see that he has a small scowl on his handsome face.

"I know I've said sorry too many times to count but I'm going to say it again. I'm sorry for everything. For the lying, for breaking our trust, and also about the whole Trevor thing and messages. I should have never listened to Ivan and believed Rome could take care of it."

My head fills with confusion. I forgot about Trevor. What ever happened to him?

Curiously looking at Rome, he meets my eye and raises a brow.

"What ever happened to Trevor?"

I can tell he's trying to hold back a smirk and I don't know why.

"Morto." He mutters under his breath but then uses a finger to push my head back towards Izzy.

(Dead.)

"I just want things to go back to how they were." Izzy admits.

"But It's not that easy."

"And that's what sucks." She mumbles, dropping her shoulders and leaning back in the chair.

Taking a sip of my drink I think about her words. Izzy has tried really hard to earn my forgiveness even though we haven't really seen each other.

"What if another threat ever comes up?" Rome speaks for the first time and both me and Izzy are surprised that he did.

"W-What?"

"If you ever get threatened by someone else? Are you going to listen to them? Lie again? Put everyone in danger again?" His tone is almost mocking and I gape at him.

"Rome..." I say warningly but the look on his face stops me from saying anything else. I can see it in his gaze. He's worried. Worried Izzy will betray us again. Worried she'll hurt me again.

"I would tell you, I would." She says firmly, her eyes hardening. "I know what I did was wrong, everything about it. I'd never betray your trust again."

We're left in silence once more and I give Izzy a small little smile, once which she slowly returns. Her eyes are full of promise and determination to never break our bond again.

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After an extremely long week of studying and taking exams, It's finally over. It's officially Christmas break!

My math exam was for sure the hardest since it has always been the subject I struggled the most in. I was a little scared to know my results on it but I worked through it.

I giggle as Rome tosses me on his bed, pressing multiple kisses to my face.

"Since we leave tomorrow we should go shopping to find you some warmer clothes. It'll be colder in Italy." He says before pressing a kiss to my nose.

"Okay," I nod and he interlaces our fingers, tugging me to my feet.

"I'm so excited to go! I never travel." I wiggle my hips happily and he wraps his arms around my waist, tugging me closer to him.

"I'm going to take you around the world, sweetheart."

"Let's go to the mall!"

And that's how we found ourselves driving to one of the indoor malls.

"I am so excited for this shopping trip." A voice chimes in from the back seat and I give a smile in the mirror to James. He complained how he had nothing to do and wanted to join. He had a hard time convincing Rome to let him tag along but eventually he gave in.

Rome sighs from the drivers seat. "Dovrei lasciarlo in Italia."

(I should leave him in Italy.)

"That is disrespectful! Arya, he said he's gonna leave me in Italy." James practically whines and I raise my eyebrows, trailing my eyes over to Rome who doesn't look bothered in the slightest.

"Don't worry James," I say softly. "I'll make sure you don't get left in Italy."

"Thanks, princess." He winks, pushing some of his blonde hair away from his face.

"Your hair is getting longer." I point out, noticing the way it keeps falling in front of his eyes.

"I need a fucking haircut." He admits and I frown slightly at his language.

Once we're parked Rome helps me out of the car and grabs my hand.

"How cold will it be in Italy?" I wonder.

"Fucking freezing." James answers.

"We're going to get you some sweaters, long sleeves, jackets, gloves, and other things you may need. Having layers is a good idea." Rome tells me ignoring James' comment and I grin.

"I have some warm clothes already, though." I gesture to myself and then realize I'm actually wearing one of Rome's hoodies.

"Well...well not right now." I mumble and while Rome presses a kiss to my hand James snickers from slightly behind us.

"You know you two are sometimes so gross it makes me want to throw up but also hug you both."

"Shut up," Rome sneers before walking in the direction of a store, our hands still clasped together.

An hour and a half later there's multiple bags in both James and Rome's hands filled with clothing for me. I felt kind of bad and tried to tell Rome I didn't need that much but he didn't listen to anything I said, picking out any clothing that seemed warm and comfy.

James picked out a few things for himself and showed them to Rome and I, seeing if we liked the clothes as well.

While I liked what he picked out Rome just stood next to me without answering. James definitely expected him not to answer because his eyes stayed on me.

Multiple people gave us wide eyed looks, definitely because of the two men at my sides. They probably know who they are because everyone kept their distance from us.

"Why did I even want to come again? I should have just stayed at the house." James says and both Rome and I groan because he's been complaining for the past 30 minutes.

"Are we almost done?" He questions and I look at Rome because he's the one whose been picking all the stores we go into.

Rome looks over the bags him and James are holding before down at me.

"Is there anywhere you want to go?" He tilts his head slightly and I want to coo over the action. It gets me every time.

"Not really but I am quite hungry." I shrug and James cheers, stating he's starving also.

We decide on some pizza place inside the mall. James orders an entire large pizza for himself with so many different toppings while Rome and I share a cheese one.

James managed to finish every slice except two of them.

"I'll take it to go, thanks." James winks at the waiter and the woman blushes, turning to get a to-go box and taking the card Rome handed over for the bill.

"Are you saving it for yourself?" I ask after finishing the last bite of my pizza.

He shakes his head, giving another wink to the waiter when she hands him the box and gives the credit card back to Rome.

"I'll give them to Elijah if he wants em." He shrugs, placing the slices inside and I bite my lip to contain my smile. These men all care about each other so much even though they don't always show it.

James closes the box and then trails his eyes back to the woman serving another table. Rome drapes his arm over the back of my chair and grabs his glass of water.

"You think she's cute?" James turns to me at my words.

"Hmm, ha un bel corpo, questo è certo." He says something in Italian.

(She's got a nice body, that's for sure.)

"Perché non smetti di guardare come un brivido?" Rome rolls his eyes and then stands, fixing the collar of his jacket.

(Why don't you stop staring like a creep?)

"Come on, let's get back home so we can start packing." Rome holds his hand out for me which I take. James follows behind us, giving one last look at the woman.

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I fold another long sleeve and pack it inside the suitcase Rome gave me since I didn't have one with me.

Reaching for one of the hoodies, I begin to roll it into a burrito shape. I learned that saves room in your suitcase but I'm not sure if It's true or not.

Rome is currently packing in his room and stated he'd come help me afterwards but I decided to start anyways.

Italy is going to be fun. I've never travelled anywhere so this is completely new to me.

But I get to travel with the man I'll love forever. The one I want to spend the rest of my life with.

He's everything I could have ever asked for and more.

A soft knock on the door cuts me out of my daydream and I give a lazy smile over to Rome whose watching me with amusement.

"In your own world for a second there, huh baby?" He teases and I nod since there's no point in denying it.

"What are we going to be doing in Italy?" I ask once he comes to kneel beside me, helping me fold the remaining clothes.

"Well of course we're going to be like tourists since you've never been. I'll show you around."

Yay!

"I told you about my cousin, right?"

"Yeah, are we still staying at a hotel?"

"Sì, we'll be visiting my cousin while we're there. His name is Matteo and his wife is Giana. They also have a 5 year old son named Gavino."

"Cute! I'm so excited to meet them."

"They'll love you." He assures, placing a few of my shirts inside the suitcase.

"When did they get married?"

"About 6 years ago. It was an arranged marriage."

"Arranged? Like they were forced?" My eyes go wide and Rome smiles at my expression, exposing those dimples I love.

"I suppose but luckily those two don't call it forced because they fell in love rather quickly and soon had their son afterwards."

"Wow." I say, my mouth parting slightly. I could never imagine being forced into a marriage.

Marriage itself seems like a whole new world.

However images of Rome and I married soon paint my mind leaving me blushing red.

"Why were they forced? Are they part of the mafia?"

"Mm, in some ways." Rome nods, "They used to be a lot more involved but now that they have their son they've backed off from it."

"Although you can never really escape the mafia once you're in it." His green eyes meet mine when he says those words.

For some reason that last sentence seems like It's directed towards me. Like I still have a choice before...marriage happens.

Licking my lips, I fold the last pair of pants and place them inside the suitcase.

"Well good thing I love every part of you, whether it has to do with the mafia or not." I finish, standing up and dusting off my shirt.

He looks a little shocked at my words as he gazes up at me from his kneeled position, like he couldn't believe I just said that.

An emotion passes through him that I rarely see. Vulnerability.

I cup his face in my hands, tracing my fingers over his strong cheekbones.

"I'd gladly deal with the threats and everything about the mafia as long as I get to stay with you." He relaxes at my confession and stands, pulling me into him.

We wrap our arms around each other and I immediately find comfort in his hold.

Rome presses his face into my hair and mutters a few things I can't understand. But I can only hope It's something good.

"Non vedo l'ora di sposarti."

(I can't wait to marry you.)

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The next morning we had started to pack up one of the SUV's with all of our luggage at around 10 AM.

I watched as Elijah and James reorganized the trunk while Rome talked with one of their drivers.

Grant came to stand beside me. "Excited?" He playfully nudged me with my elbow.

"I'm so excited for this, I just don't want to have to deal with the airport and all the security."

"Airport and security?" Grant snorts. "You won't be dealing with that."

"What? Isn't that how you get to a plane?"

Grant looks like he's trying to hold in a laugh as I look at him with furrowed brows.

"Yes typically that's how you get to a plane but Rome has his own private jet you'll be going on."

"Private jet?!?"