3 weeks.

It's been 3 weeks since the kidnapping.

I haven't seen Amélie for 3 weeks now.

She hasn't come out of her room. She hasn't uttered a word to anyone. She hasn't eaten. She hasn't slept. And these are the things I've heard. She has specifically asked not to see me. But all I want to do is hold her, and apologise, and kiss her and tell her the truth.

I want to get down on my knees and beg her for forgiveness. I fucked up tremendously. But I need her to know why I said what I said. The thing is, the night she had been taken, I had gotten a phone call from an unknown number. I answered the call and it turned out to be Vincent and bitch-boy Beaumont. They said that they were the ones who have Amélie and I heard someone screaming in pain and shouting in the background. I assumed that person to be Amélie because they had told me it was her. In order for them to leave her alone, I had to convince them that Amélie meant nothing to me. With every word that I spoke, flashes of Amélie being stabbed in the club and drugged came up in my mind, which added to the inner turmoil I was feeling. At that point, our hackers tried everything he they could, but everything kept coming up as a dead end. With all of that pressure piled onto me, I had to make what I was saying believable, otherwise they'd never believe me.

It burnt my heart to a big pile of ash, having to say such revolting things about the woman I love most in this world.

You see, the thing is, I know that I love Amélie, but I have yet to say it aloud. I've never been loved romantically before and nor have I lived anyone romantically before, but I just know that what Amélie and I have is irreplaceable. I just can't seem to admit it to the world. I guess I'm just-

A knock on my office door interrupts my thoughts "Entra in [Come in]." I tell the person.

Of all the people that are currently in this house, I never expected her to be in here "Hey.. can I talk to you for a sec?" She asks.

I nod as motion for her to sit in the chairs in front of my desk. She sits down and we just coexist for a couple of minutes in complete silence, until I decide to break it, as I see a look of worry cross her face "What's wrong Liyana?" I ask.

"Why haven't you checked up on Amélie?" She states rather than asking, as she becomes slightly angry.

"Well, I have. Just not personally. I have ordered for all of the people working here to give me minute-to-minute updates of what Amélie is doing and how she's doing." I tell her, quickly becoming defensive.

"Do men have to be told what to do?" She mutters, before raising her voice back to a normal level "Why don't you physically go and check up on her to see if she's getting better, with your own eyes?" She says in a 'duh' tone as if it's the most obvious thing in the world "I mean, it's been 3 weeks and she's locked herself away in her room."

"She specifically requested that I don't go near her. I'm trying to respect her decision!" I begin to raise my voice, slightly feeling attacked.

"Well maybe she wants to see if you'll genuinely care enough to go and beg for forgiveness!" She snaps back at me with the same tone "Why are you so afraid of going to check up on her?" She says, softer this time.

"Because it's my fault!" I explode "It's my fault that the love of my life, has locked herself away from the world because she's dealing with the backlash of me - a fucking mafia leader for God's sake - not being able to make a decision to call in for backup soon enough." I seethe out as her as my chest heaves. "It's bad enough that I couldn't protect her whilst she was a couple of meters away from me, but when she was out of my grasp completely, God knows what they could have done to her. There's nothing I can do to make her forgive me. Hell, I wouldn't forgive me if I was her. I'm a shitty husband and an even worse lover." I finish, sadly as I slump back into my office chair.

Liyana just sits there in silence, staring at me in utter shock. Her mouth opens as if she wants to speak, but she decides against it as she slams her mouth shut. "You owe me. Big time." She worries her bottom lip between her teeth as if she's trying to bite back a smile "You- you love my cousin. YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH MY COUSIN! FINALLY!" She begins to scream at the top of her lungs excitedly.

This brings attention to my office and Amara barges in through the door "HE LOVES HER! I KNEW IT!" She begins to jump up and down with Liyana.

"Okay! Okay! Shut the fuck up and help a guy out, would you?" I shush them.

They settle down and eagerly begin shooting ideas out at me. I take note of every single last one. When they leave, I begin writing what I need for the gift.

When I finish that, I get up and make my way to Amélie's room. When I get to her door, I contemplate wether or not I should actually do this, but I decide that I shouldn't wimp out of this.

So, I knock on the door 3 times and wait for a response, however I don't get one. Just as I'm about to knock again, the sound of the door lock, unlocking echoes through the hallway. A small smile lights up my face but I tamper down my small victory because I've still got to have a conversation with her.

I take a deep breath and open the door slowly. Entering the room, I see Amélie siting on the windowsill as she stares absentmindedly out of the window. She has her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs and her cheek is pressed against her knees, facing the window.

I slowly yet cautiously approach her after I close the door behind me "Hi mia belleza." I say softly. When I get no response, I take a step closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. At my touch, her whole body goes rigid, so I quickly retrieve my hand.

She turns to me with a blank face but her eyes tell a different story. They're red, puffy and have bags underneath them. Her cheeks are sunken in and she looks a little pale "I'm not here to hurt you, I promise. I just- I want to explain why I said what I said." I look at her and she offers no response.

I start to get nervous so I begin pacing up and down the room as I explain to her why I said those horrible things. Then I explain why I ever agreed to join in the first place "When they approached me, at the time, we weren't together. You had just stolen yet another one of my biggest shipments and I was pissed. They used this against me when they asked wether I wanted to join them or not. However they didn't specify wether they would physically or mentally hurt you, and when I saw you at the ball, something inside me changed. Something inside me healed. It was almost as if my body knew that you made me complete. I had every intention of leaving the deal and eliminating the whole plan, but when I tried they said that they had people watching you 24/7 and that you'd be shot dead, effective immediately. I never anticipated for you to get stabbed, I never anticipated for you to get kidnapped and I never anticipated to fall in love with the woman I once hated for making my life harder by stealing my shipments. So, I'm really fucking sorry mia belleza. You're my everything, and I know you hate me, but please, please at least talk to someone about what's going on inside your head. I don't want you to be alone. I want-." I'm cut off when Amélie suddenly gets up and makes her way towards me.

Her eyes have glasses over and she has a faraway look in her eyes. She stops right in front of me, and just as I think she'll push me away, and tell me she hates me, she slowly lifts her arms and wraps the them around me torso. I let out a huge relieved sigh and hug her to me, even tighter. I shove my face into the crook of her neck and leave 3 kisses there. "I'm sorry. I'm so so so sorry mia belleza." I whisper. I don't even realise I'm crying, but when Amélie pulls away, I let out a whimper as more tears run down my face, she looks at me and gently wipes my tears and leaves 3 kisses on each tear track on my cheeks.

I wrap my arms around her waist and hold her close to me. I can't bear to let her go ever again. "I love you, please forgive me. I didn't mean to- I'm so sorry. Forgive me, mia belleza. I'd do anything for you. I'll love you forever." I whisper to her as one of the hands that I have around her waist crawls up to the back of her head as I cradle it.

I don't even realise that Amélie is crying until I hear the sniffles coming from her, I quickly pull away and wipe her tears "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything. I'll shut up from now on. Did I hug you too tight? Did I say something mean? I'm sorry." I say in sheer panic that I done something wrong, yet again as I pepper kisses all over her face.

She shakes her head, but looks deeply into my eyes with a ghost of a smile on her face "I don't forgive you yet. But you're getting there." She whispers to me.

At her compromise, my face lights up and my heart begins beating again. I grab her face and smash our lips together. Our kiss is not only an apology but a chance. A chance for me to redeem myself. A chance at showing Amélie that I truly love her. A chance at feeling alive again. Our kiss makes me feels as though I'm floating; as though I'm on cloud 9 and nobody can bring me down.

When we pull away we don't say anything as we look into each other's eyes "It's your birthday is in 3 days." I state randomly.

She averts her eyes and whispers "I don't really feel like celebrating." And she comes out of my hold and walks back to the windowsill staring outside "it's not been the same since my 16th."

I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her torso "I know it hasn't baby, but would you be okay with something small? It would be special." I whisper in her ear as I leave 3 kisses on her cheek.

Instead of going rigid at my touch, this time Amélie relaxes in my hold. I sigh at the small step we've made and my heart feels slightly lighter.

She shrugs her shoulders and whispers "maybe." I nod at this and build up the courage to ask her something.

"Mél?" I say, to which she hums in acknowledgment "Do you want to talk about it?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yes." She chokes out "But if I ugly-cry, you have to act like you never saw it." She lets out a watery chuckle.

I eagerly nod, but then abruptly stop nodding "You could never be ugly. Even if you tried, mia belleza." I say as I leave 3 kisses on her jaw.

She turns around in my hold and takes a deep breath in. To ease her worry, I bring my face closer to hers until our foreheads are connected and our noses are rubbing against one another's "If you're comfortable with telling me, you can. But I just want you to know that I'll love you forever and I'm here for you, whenever you need me." I whisper to her.

She nods and whispers "I know Rome."

My heart flutters at the nickname but one thing that I've realised is that of all the things she has said, I love you isn't one of them.

I just hope it isn't too late to prove my love to her.

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