Arya's POV -

Both of my parents stare at me, not an ounce of emotion showing on their faces.

Did they hear me?

I open my mouth to ask but then they start laughing. Both of them. Like that's the funniest thing I've ever said to them. Oh gosh, they don't believe me.

"That's funny dear, really." Mama says, still chucking and I'm about to say something again but papa beats me to it.

"The mafia? How did you come up with that one?"

Facepalming, I run my hand down my face and nervously bite my lip.

"I'm not kidding." I say seriously and when they get a good look at my face they stop smiling.

"What?!" Mama exclaims.

"Rome's in the Italian mafia. So are Elijah and James." I continue to just rip the bandaid off.

"Remember when you guys were um...taken a few months ago and then you were just released like nothing ever happened?"

Still speechless, mama nods slowly with a skeptic look on her face.

"That was one of Rome's enemies, the Russians." Why can't I stop talking? I'm making it worse.

"That's not funny Arya. Stop joking around." Papa says sternly and I play with my fingers.

"I'm being serious, but I promise he's a good man. All three of them are. They'd never hurt any of us."

More silence follows and I feel sweat forming on the back of my neck.

"Say something please? Anything?" I whisper and mama blinks.

"So this whole time you knew he was in the mafia but didn't say anything?" Her voice is calm so I have no idea how she's really feeling.

"Y-Yes but I just didn't know how to tell you guys. I was terrified of your reactions."

Their eyes soften as I move to sit down, staring at the floor.

"I love both of you so much and I don't want to damage our relationship again. The idea of Rome being in the mafia scared me at first, but I knew he'd never hurt me. He won't ever hurt me, he won't ever hurt you guys, and he'll never hurt anyone innocent, I can tell you that. Please just give him a chance, you can even talk to him about it."

I feel my voice wavering towards the end and I blink my eyes rapidly since they were tearing up. My eyes widen a tad when papa wraps his arms around me into a bone crushing hug.

"Alright, I'll give him a chance." He says and I smile widely, hugging him back and whispering a quiet thank you. Peering at mama whose staring at the two of us, she looks at the ceiling for a moment before smiling at me.

Moving out of papa's arms, I give mama a large hug .

"We want to talk to Rome and hear everything. About the mafia and anything that was kept a secret." I nod at her and pull away.

"I promise you can talk to him." I assure them.

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10 minutes later Rome is alone in his office with both my parents, talking.

My heart is beating erratically and I can't calm myself down. At least my parents didn't totally flip out and start screaming.

Now I'm sitting alone at the kitchen table nervously biting on my nails as I stare at the direction of Rome's office door. James, Elijah, and Cassidy are in the living room watching some show on the TV. I'm glad they're bonding.

Bouncing my knee at the island stool, I place my chin on the cool countertop and sigh.

"Hey Arya, why are you sitting here by yourself? What's wrong?" Cassidy comes up behind me, sitting in the stool next to me. My eyes widen when I look at her. Shoot.

"Oh um Rome is talking with my parents in his office right now." I say and her eyebrows raise.

"Really? About what? And why is it making you so nervous?"

I feel bad for keeping her in the dark but she just met all of them. I don't need to scare her off yet.

"I don't know, I guess I just want my parents to like Rome since he's my everything. But I'm not really sure what they're talking about in there."

"That makes sense, I'm sure everything will be fine. Do you want to come sit in the living room?"

Smiling I nod and get up from the stool, following behind her. Elijah and James are on one couch and Cassidy sits on the other, patting the spot next to her.

"How nice of you to join us." James smirks as I sit and I laugh.

"Sorry, Rome is talking with my parents right now." James eyes fill with understanding and Elijah spares me a quick glance, tilting his head the slightest bit.

"What are you guys watching?"

"Some criminal show." James replies and I roll my eyes.

"You're both always watching something criminal related."

"It's interesting," He says and I hum, then smile lightly seeing Cassidy glancing towards an oblivious Elijah.

Almost 30 minutes into watching the show three figures walk into the living room. I shoot up from the couch and give Rome a hopeful look. His face is relaxed and calm which is a good sign. He walks over to me and wraps an arm around my shoulder. With wide eyes I stare at my parents, my heart pounding furiously.

James must notice how tense it is in the room so he stands up and clears his throat.

"I'm gonna go wash the dishes. Elijah and Cassidy why don't you come along!" He smiles and grabs both of their arms so he's in between them. I don't think James realized Rome already washed them.

Elijah's face morphs into one of annoyance and I purse my lips together to keep myself from laughing. Cassidy must understand what he's trying to do and simply lets him drag her to the kitchen.

"Rome, do you mind if we talk with Arya alone?"

His green eyes flit to mine and with a look of reassurance he walks out of the room.

Now It's just the three of us here and I wait for my parents to say what they're thinking. I'm assuming Rome told them all there is to know.

I watch as mama walks over to me, giving me a little smile while grabbing my hand and guiding me to the couch. Okay, that's also a good sign. Papa moves to stand beside me.

"That was...a lot to take in. I didn't believe the whole Russian situation until Rome started explaining it." She says and I look down at the floor. When I look back up mama and papa are staring at each other, silent communication passing through them.

Mama sighs and grips onto my hand tighter.

"I want you to be happy, Arya. We both do and we're not going to force you to stay away from him...no matter how dangerous he is." Her voice is slightly tense as she says that but I can understand why.

"Are you one hundred percent sure about being with him? There's nothing forceful going on between you two? He doesn't hurt you?"

"He'd never hurt me, mama." I tell her. "I know you're both worried but I promise he takes care of me. I love him and he loves me. If there was anything forceful about our relationship I wouldn't be with him."

"Rome told us the Russians situation is a sensitive topic. Did that Ivan man ever hurt you?" Papa asks and I bite the inside of my cheek. He really did tell them everything.

Well he did hold me at gunpoint. A few bruises here and there. Too soon, Arya.

"There were a few incidents." I admit and mama's breath hitches. "But I promise I'm fine, Ivan is gone and won't ever be coming back."

Papa sits on the other side of me and they both hug me tightly. With my body shaking slightly, I do my best to hug them back. They're okay with me still being with Rome.

"If he's making you happy then I have no problems with him." Papa says and I feel my eyes tearing up slightly. But It's not from sadness.

"Really?"

"Yes, the mafia seems like a scary world but I believe he won't ever do anything to harm you."

"I agree," Mama says, "But if things ever get to be too much, we want you to talk to us."

Holding onto them tighter, I smile and promise to tell them. I can't believe we didn't have any arguments.

I can't believe everything turned out alright.

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Jumping into Rome's arms once Cassidy and my parents leave, his eyes widen slightly but he catches me with ease, wrapping my legs around his waist in the process.

Pressing a bunch of kisses all over his face, his grip on my thighs tighten and he makes a sound of approval in the back of his throat.

"What's got you so excited, hm?" His pretty voice asks after I press a kiss to his lips.

"All of this." I say and he raises a brow at me.

"How tonight turned out, how all of this has turned out."

"That's cute princess. Truly I'm touched." James presses a hand to his chest while walking up next to Rome, inhaling deeply. I giggle and Rome mutters something under his breath, pressing a kiss to my forehead and then gently placing me back on my feet.

"I can't believe there were no fights or anything. They're actually okay with me still being with you."

"Come se potessero impedirmi di stare con te." Rome lightly scoffs and I narrow my eyes at what just came out of his mouth. Although I don't know what he said.

(As if they could stop me from being with you.)

"What was that?"

"Don't worry about it, darling." He gives me a grin and I shake my head.

"Oh look, there's lover boy." James smirks at Elijah who clenches his jaw at him while approaching us.

"What the fuck did you just call me?"

James looks slightly hesitant to continue teasing Elijah, but then he repeats what he said in a mocking tone.

"I said oh look! There's lover-" He's cut off as he screams when Elijah tackles him to the floor. As the two wrestle I beam up at Rome who watches the two with amusement before shifting his eyes to me.

Rome takes my hand and guides me to the stairs as James screams for help.

"Fuck! Cristo, save me!" He wails when he gets shoved back down, Elijah pinning him to the ground before standing above him with a glare, but I can see the small glint in his eyes.

(Christ.)

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The rest of break was flying by quick and today was New Years. Rome said that he wanted to take me somewhere tonight and I was currently getting dressed.

Shrugging on one of Rome's black hoodies, I throw my hair into a messy high ponytail and check myself in the mirror. His clothes always make me feel so much warmer and comforted.

Once I'm ready I sit on Rome's bed, watching him emerge from his closet with his own hoodie on. He runs a hand through his messy black hair and gives me a lazy smile, closing the distance between us and pressing his lips to mine, laying me flat on my back.

Closing my eyes I wrap my arms around his neck as his lips travel across my jaw and to my chin.

"Ready baby?" He says once he pulls away and I blush under his gaze, taking his hand when he offers it to help pull me up.

"As ready as I'll ever be, even though I'm tired." I take a quick glance at the clock that states It's a little after 11 pm. I just have to make it until 12.

Interlacing our fingers, Rome guides us downstairs and he picks up his keys from the table. He opens up the garage and I get a whiff of the cold air. It's definitely not as cold as Italy was though.

Getting settled in the car, we're soon on the road and I'm left curious as to where we're going.

"I'm guessing you're not gonna tell me where we're headed?" He simply shakes his head and I cross my arms, peering out the window.

Soon I realize we're actually heading away from the city and towards the mountains. My head fills with even more confusion but I don't say anything since I know Rome won't tell me. Are we going on a road trip or something?

25 minutes later we're driving up a pretty large mountain. There's a pathway to take so there must be something up here.

When we get to the top Rome parks the car and helps me out. There's a set of stone stairs so we make our way to it.

Going up the steps we reach a wooden platform. My mouth drops open at the sight. It's a lookout over the entire city.

"Like it?" He asks and guides me to the railing. I wordlessly nod my head and he chuckles, standing behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I don't even register the cold because he provides so much warmth.

The city looks incredibly beautiful with all the lights. We have a perfect view of it along with the dark night sky covered with stars.

I lean back into Rome's embrace and he rests his chin on the top of my head, holding me tighter to him.

"How much time until the fireworks?" I ask and he takes his phone out of his pocket.

"5 minutes."

Humming, I look at the sky and begin to count the stars.

"Where do you think we'll be in a few years?"

"Sposata."

(Married.)

"You know I don't know Italian, tell me in English!" I pout and he chuckles.

"Hm, still together that's for sure."

"I hope so." I mumble and grab one of his large hands, playing with his silver rings. He presses a small kiss to the top of my head.

"You're mine Arya, forever." His possessive side always makes me blush. I've given up on trying to hide it at this point but at least he isn't facing me.

Relaxing at his words, we stand in comfortable silence and wait for the fireworks to show.

"You know, before I met you I didn't think I'd ever have time for a relationship because I was always so hung up on school." I begin and he tightens his arms ever so slightly around me showing he's listening.

"My main focus was always on grades and doing my best, even if I was slowly hurting myself in the process. For example not eating or not getting enough sleep." I recall the multiple times that's happened.

"But you were always there after we met." I continue and he still doesn't say a word, letting me rant out what I've been thinking.

"You've shown me there's so much more to it than just focusing on school my entire life. Yeah It's important but..." I stop midway by a loud sound and an explosion in the sky. The fireworks started.

They continue and I watch in awe, the pretty colors lighting up the sky. It's a new year.

"But?" Rome probes behind me and I turn in his arms. His hands come up to brush away the hairs that fell out of my ponytail.

"I also learned that there's room for more." He watches me with a gentle look in his eyes.

"For adventure."

"For fun."

"For friends."

"For love," I trail off. Without a word he turns me back around and slides his arms back around my waist, his hands resting on the front of the hoodie. We continue to watch the fireworks paint the sky.

He leans down a bit and presses a kiss to my cheek.

"And you, il mio bambina, have taught me how to love."

(My baby.)

"I guess we've both taught each other something then." I tilt my head up to look at him.

He looks down at me and gives me a warm smile.

"I guess we have, sweetheart. And I can't wait to learn more."

Laughing when he turns me around again and lifts me into his arms, I wrap my legs around his waist when he spins us around in a circle before swiftly capturing my lips in a kiss. The fireworks continue when we pull away from each other.

I'm not sure what the future holds for us, but I can't wait to spend it with him.

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Just the epilogue left! I can't believe this story Is just about over, I'm going to cry.