Ashley felt a hand snake itself around her waist. A warm breath on her neck was all it took for her to realize who it was. She smiled and turned around. Leaning up, she pecked him on the lips. She held his arm with one hand and books in the other. "Good morning."

Dante grinned a her, one that made her feel as if the sun was shining on her back. "Good morning to you too." He grabbed her books out of her hand and intertwined his hand with hers. "How are you this fine morning."

"Good until you showed up." she teased, giving him a sly grin. They walked down the hall, towards her first class of the morning.

"I'm hurt, Ash. I thought you loved me." Dante exclaimed dramatically.

She rolled her eyes at him and punched his shoulder. "Who me? Love you? No thanks. I'd rather spend my love on dogs. At least they're loyal."

"Hey! I'm loyal." Dante stopped walked and pulled her closer to him. "Do you want me to show you how loyal I am?" he asked with a suggestive smirk.

Ashley huffed and pushed him away. She grabbed her books out of his hands and continued to walk. "Have your brain ever done any thinking or has it all been just your d*ck?"

"My brain thinks all of the time. It thinks mostly of you." he pulled her arm and turned her around. He smiled lovingly at her. "It thinks of how beautiful you are and how lucky I am to be able to call you my girlfriend."

Ashley blushed and looked down at the ground. She pushed him gently. "Three months and you're still as cheesy as ever."

"You love my cheesiness." Dante grinned and pecked her cheeks. He looked up and frowned. "We're at your class."

Ashley pulled away from him and sighed. "Finally. I can escape you. Your presence makes me want to shoot myself."

Dante scowled. "Hey."

Ashley laughed and kissed him. "I'll see you after class." she muttered against his lips. She pulled away from him and winked before opening the door. Walking in, Ashley had a big smile on her lips, one that would not fade for the rest of the day.

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"Do you and Mayla want to sit with the boys and I today?" Dante asked her as she walked out of the classroom. He instantly grabbed her books and linked his hand with hers. "They want to meet the girl who had been able to tame me."

Ashley scoffed and pushed him. "Nobody could tame you even if they tried." She then became silent, looking ahead at all of the students walking out of their classrooms. Her steps became slower and slower.

"Hey what's wrong?" Dante asked, stopping her. He turned her around and looked at her with worry in his eyes.

She shook her head and smiled weakly at him. "Nothing." she said before resuming their walk. "I'll sit with you today. Mayla has to go meet up with her boyfriend anyways."

"Come on, there's something wrong. You know you can tell me anything." Dante said softly, squeezing her hand gently.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." she reassured him. She sent him a quick smile and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It's not nothing if you look that stressed out."

"Drop it Dante. I don't want to talk about it." Ashley snapped. She pulled her hand away from him and walked into the cafeteria. She walked over to Dante's table without him and sat down, crossing her arm over her chest.

"Well who is this sexy lady I see?" one of the guys at the table leaned over and smirked at her. "Hello there sexy thing, what's your name? You can call me later." he said adding in a wink at the end.

Ashley looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "Not interested is my name." she said coldly, leaning back against her seat.

"That's what you get for trying to hit on my girlfriend, Nick." Ashley heard Dante say before he placed himself on the seat next to her. He put his arm over her shoulder as if showing that she is his.

Ashley rolled her eyes at his possessiveness. "Calm down will you." She muttered to him, seeing the glare that he directed towards Nick.

"Sorry, man." Nick replied, scratching the back of his head. "I didn't know that she's your girl." He turned back to Ashley and smiled at her, holding out his hand. "The name's Nick."

Ashley smiled him and shook his head. "Ashley." She elbowed Dante. "I'm this loser's girlfriend as he said earlier." She turned to the guy sitting next to Nick. "Hi."

He smiled at her. "Hi. My name's Thomas."

She smiled back at him. Already, she knew she was going to get along well with these boys. They just sent off the vibe that they were good people and did not seem to be looking for trouble. She turned to Dante and smiled at him.

Everything seems to be going just perfectly.

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Ashley grabbed the first black dress that she could find and threw it over herself. She pushed the dress down, groaning when she saw how much the dress emphasized her belly. She sighed and grabbed a pair of flats out and put her feet through them.

She looked into the mirror and smiled at her appearance. She got to admit that the dress did some justice. Grabbing a red lipstick, she applied it on her lips and smacked them together. Feeling satisfied, she walked out of her bedroom door with one hand on her stomach.

Laughter and chatters could be heard down from the kitchen. It was pretty loud seeing that there is more than thirty people currently in her house. It's going to be a long night with them asking her father questions about the company and her about her pregnancy.

She sighed and walked down the stairs, holding tightly onto the banister to prevent any slips. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she sighed in relief and walked into the dining room with a smile on her lips.

Everything instantly became quiet when she walked in. She could feel everybody's stares on her. Smiling, she greeted them. "Good evening." she chirped cheerfully. She walked over to Antonio and kissed his cheek. "Good evening papa."

Antonio gave her an incredulous look as if not knowing who she was. "Good evening piccola?" he said somewhat questioning.

Ashley giggled. She looked around the table and spotted him sitting next to her father's worker, Rafael. She sent a quick smile to Rafael who beamed at her before sending a glare to Dante. She moved over to Samuel and sat down next to him.

"Someone looks different." Samuel stated, smiling proudly at her.

Ashley shrugged her shoulders. She turned to Mayla and winked at her. "I can't let him affect me anymore, Samuel." she whispered to him. She turned back to everyone else. "Is there something wrong?" she asked innocently.

They all shook their head. Elena smiled at her and stood up. She walked over to Ashley and placed her hand on her shoulders. "Some of you may not know her, but this is Ashley, Antonio's daughter."

Ashley smiled at them and stood up. "Hello, it is nice to meet all of you. Please enjoy your night here." She raised her glass of water and smiled.

They followed after her and clanked their glass against one another. Ashley sat back down and leaned into Samuel. "Why aren't you sitting with Mayla?"

"If I did, you'd be sitting next to either Frankie or Dante." Samuel responded, cutting up a piece of his steak.

"What's wrong with Frankie?" Ashley asked, raising her eyebrows up at him.

Samuel nudged his head towards Frankie's direction.

Ashley turned and saw Frankie playing the knife game. She cringed when she saw how dangerously close the knife got to his fingers. "Good point." she said, picking up her fork. She looked down at her dinner and grinned. Steak. Her favorite.

"How far along are you, dear?" a voice spoke up.

She inwardly groaned. Her steak would just have to wait for a little bit longer. She looked up and smiled at the wife of one of the shareholders. "Seven months ma'am."

The woman beamed happily. "Oh how wonderful. Your husband and you must be so happy to finally have a child running around the house."

Ashley felt a pang in her chest hearing that word.

No longer is she pregnant with two babies but only one. She looked down at her stomach. A tear slipped down her face and she hastily wiped it away.

She looked back up at them woman and smiled sadly. "Thank you ma'am but the father isn't in the picture."

She felt his stare on her but made no motion of acknowledging it. Ashley saw a flash of disgust flash through the woman's eyes.

"A child out of wedlock?" she asked with a hint of abhorrence.

Ashley raised her eyebrows up at her. "Does it matter, ma'am. What matters is that I love my child no matter when, where, or how it had been conceived."

The woman opened her mouth to respond but closed it as a maid walked into the room. "What do you want, maid?" The woman snapped at her.

The maid ignored the woman and looked at Antonio. "Excuse me, sir. But there is a man here, wanting to see Ashley."

Ashley stood up and gave her a questioning look. "Who?"

"Another one of her men probably?" Dante muttered lowly under his breath but Ashley heard it loud and clear.

The chair squeaked under the tiled floor. Ashley turned and saw Samuel's face red with anger, clenching his fist. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to Samuel. "You want to repeat that Hastings?"

"Samuel don't," Ashley warned him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "It's not worth it." she muttered to him. She turned to the maid and smiled at her. "Please, invite him in."

She looked back at Samuel and gave him a look. Samuel glared back at her and then at Dante before huffing and taking his seat again. He grabbed his fork and stabbed the steak murderously all while giving Dante his best glare.

Ashley rolled her eyes and moved away from the table. She looked towards the door and froze. "Alessio." she muttered, staring straight at the man who seemed to always send her heart into overdrive. "What are you doing here?"

He held out a journal and raised his eyebrows up at her. She looked at it closely and realized what it was. "Is this yours?"

Ashley nodded her head and instantly snatched it out of his hand.

"Who is that man?" someone whispered.

She turned around and saw everyone looking at her with shock in their eyes. Her eyes widened as she had forgotten that they were standing in the middle of the room. She grabbed Alessio's hand and dragged him out of the dining room area.

She pulled him out into the backyard and held the journal up. She smiled at him. "Thank you for this." She placed it back down and looked at it, seeing a few of the pages slightly out. "Did you?" she asked with fear.

"No. I didn't." Alessio answered her. He placed a finger under her chin and pulled her head up. "Reading that journal would be an invasion of your privacy. I respect you too much to do that to you." He muttered, before shoving his hand into his pockets.

Ashley took a step back and studied him. He wasn't in his scrubs but in black jeans and a white t-shirt. It was a look that she could never see Alessio in but yet he pulled it off as well as the scrubs. She bit down on her bottom lip and blamed her hormones for the many dirty thoughts that entered her brain.

"So is this him?"

Ashley and Alessio snapped their head towards the door. Ashley groaned when she saw who it was. "What do you want?" she hissed out.

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