Kara's POV:

I took out my phone and called Hannah to let her know of the change in plans for the night.

"Hello?" Hannah said, sounding like she had just woken up.

"Hannah, change of plans for tonight. Alessandro's mother invited Brooke and I to have dinner at their place."

"What? So you're ditching me again," she groaned into the phone.

"I mean you could come with..." I thought out loud. That'll be good too. The focus won't be on Brooke and I entirely.

"I'll ask Alessandro to confirm, hang on for a second."

Still on the phone with her, I brisk walked back to his office, this time knocking politely on the door and not barging in like a mad woman. Once I heard him say "come in", I opened the door slightly and peaked my head in. I covered the speakers of my phone so that Hannah's nonsensical mumbling couldn't be heard.

"Kara?" He looked up from his laptop, "You seem to be in my office more often than your own. What can I do for you?"

He chuckled to himself.

"Um..would it be alright if Hannah joined us for dinner?"

"Yes of course, it's fine. Dante will be there as well anyways. I'll let my mother know." He replied instantly, smiling back at me.

"Thank you." I beamed before closing the doors softly behind me, allowing him to do his work in peace. He was a busy man after all.

As I walked back to my office, I placed the phone back on my ear.

"Hello? Hannah? Are you still there?"

All I heard was snoring in the background. Crikey, this woman. Not wanting to scream into my phone with other colleagues around, my legs moved faster towards the direction of my office. Once I was out of earshot, I screamed Hannah's name into the phone. With a few bangs and curses in the background, I chuckled, imagining a very unamused Hannah being rudely awoken from her slumber.

"What chica?!" she screamed back, finally clearly awake.

"He said it's fine for you to come too. Come by the office around 5.30pm with Brooke and we'll go together."

"Okay. 5.30pm, gotcha."

"By the way, Dante will be there too." I rushed out.

"WH-" That was all I heard before I hung up on her, not letting her get out of the situation. One for all and all for one. I chuckled to myself before getting back into work mode. With a determined mindset, I was ready to take on the piles of reports to review on my desk. It was going to be an extra long afternoon alright. I can feel it in my bones.

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Come on Kara, this is the last page of the last report, you can do this. I repeated to myself as I tapped my fingers against my head, itching to tear my roots out. I have been sitting at this desk for the last five hours. All I can say is that my butt is a hundred percent num, my back is broken and my shoulders feel like mount Everest is sitting on top of them.

As I began reviewing the last page of the report, I rolled my neck around and rubbed my sore shoulders. A knock sounded on my door.

"Come in." I said without looking up from the page.

Once the person had entered the room, I said, "what can I do for you?", as I looked up, unwillingly tearing my eyes from the page. I had one last page. Did someone really have to interrupt me right now?

"Leave with me to go for dinner," Alessandro replied in a gruff teasing tone as he leant against the wall.

I looked to the right, checking the time from the clock on the wall. Oh damn, time went by so fast. I didn't even know the sun had almost set.

"Oh yes, give me five minutes. I have one last page to get through," I pleaded. He nodded his head, walking further into my office and making himself at home.

I glued my eyes back onto the report, tapping the pen against the table as I read through and corrected the mistakes. I grabbed a post-it from my drawer, writing down a couple extra notes for them to take note of and adjust. I was very meticulous when it came to work like this. I never liked to do it half-arsed.

Once the last sentence of the report was finally analysed, I did a mini victory dance in my head and gave myself an internal pat on my back for all the hard work I had done for the day. It is the little things you do for yourself that counts. I heaved a loud sigh of relief as I stacked up the reports back into a neat pile and paged Russo to notify the respective groups to collect them the next day.

"You done?" Alessandro asked.

"Yup. Let me grab my stuff and we can go," I said as I gathered my belongings and shoved them into my bag.

"Hannah and Brooke should be waiting in the lobby for us." I added.

Once I had everything I needed, Alessandro and I headed towards the door. He grabbed my coat for me and held it out for me to shrug on.

"Thank you." I mumbled as a smile graced my face. It was the little things he did that no one would usually notice that hit me straight to the heart. Simple yet sweet.

He held the door open for me as I headed out, locking up after me. We headed down the escalator as I texted Hannah that we were on our way down and would meet them in a minute or two. The elevator dinged as the doors open. We walked out and our legs were immediately bombarded with small arms as they wrapped around our legs, clinging on tightly.

"Hi mummy, hi Alessy," Brooke beamed with a great big smile on her face.

"Hi little one, how was your day?" I replied, bending down to her height to give her a big hug and a buck load of kisses as she giggled away.

"Very good mummy," she replied.

"Hello piccolo," Alessandro greeted. Brooke strained her head up as she looked up to Alessandro, raising her hands up towards him.

When he finally got the message, he hoisted her in the air, swinging her around a couple times as they laughed together. Alessandro blew raspberries into her neck as she twisted around, trying to get away from his attacks. While Alessandro was playing around with Brooke, I linked my hand in Hannah's as we whisked each other away into the night. I mean the car waiting for us.

As we drove out of the city area, we headed into the richer side of town. You know the area where you wished you stayed but knew that you'll never make it there. As we drove along the streets, I looked out the window, flabbergasted by the large and extravagant mansions in front of me. I peered back in the car and saw Hannah and Brooke in the same predicament as myself, totally in awe of the view.

The car came to a stop outside golden gates as the driver rolled down his windscreen for the security guard to see. They nodded at each other as he buzzed us in. The moment the gates were opened, my jaw hit the ground. If you thought I was impressed by the houses before, this is a whole new level.

The mansion in front of me was twice, no, maybe three times the size of the previous ones. The framework of the house was spectacular. Truly magnificent. Once we reached the main door, Alessandro stepped out of the car and held the door open for us as the three of us hopped out of the car.

Brooke was clearly awe-struck as she whipped her head around multiple times, her eyes bulging out of its sockets.

"Little one, you okay there?" I asked, slightly concerned by her silence. It wasn't normal for Brooke to be so quiet for so long.

She snapped out of her dazed state and nodded her head. Brooke grabbed my hand and Hannah's, swinging them from side to side.

"Ladies, shall we?" Alessandro asked. I almost forgot he was there. Oops.

We nodded our heads as he led the way. The front door was opened by one of their housekeepers. We handed our coats to them, thanking them politely as we continued to follow Alessandro.

"Madre, siamo qui," Alessandro said as it echoed throughout the house. (mum, we're here)

"In cucina figlio." (In the kitchen son)

We walked towards the voice, assuming we were going to the dinning room or the kitchen. I assumed that this household would have professional chefs cooking their meals, however, the only person I saw cooking up a storm was his mother. Wow, she's amazing.

Once she saw our figures, she dusted her hands from the flour and wiped it against the apron she was wearing.

"Mum, you remember Kara. This is her best friend, Hannah, and her daughter, Brooke," Alessandro introduced as she gave us hugs. She was the sweetest woman ever. Plus, she smelled like fresh baked cookies.

"Oh my, you're a sweet little cupcake aren't you," Alessandro's mum said as she bent down to Brooke's height, smoothing out her pig tails.

"Hi," Brooke greeted shyly, hiding behind my legs.

"Why don't you and I check up on the cookies I've just baked in the oven," his mum suggested to Brooke. Brooke's shyness immediately diminished as she jumped up and down in delight, her mouth salivating in anticipation.

"Madre, ho intenzione di fare loro un giro della casa," Alessandro said as he held my hand in his, pulling me in the direction. (Mum, I'm going to give them a tour of the house)

"Figlio, torno tra 20 minuti." (Son be back in 15 minutes)

"Sì." (yup)

"Oh, e papà si unisce a noi?" (Oh, and is dad joining us?)

"No, si sta incontrando con alcuni dei suoi amici." She replied to which Alessandro nodded in reply. (No, he's meeting up with some of his friends.)

"Hannah, you coming?" Alessandro asked.

"Nah, I'm going to stay with Brooke," Hannah said, "I can't deprive myself of cookies."

We nodded back at her as I was dragged away from the kitchen. Alessandro led the way as he showed me the living room, dinning room, games room, movie room and vast number of bedrooms they had. It was insane that this place even existed. Finally we headed out to the backyard. Actually, it seemed more like a forest.

"Over there, we have the stables," Alessandro stated as we headed in that direction.

"Stables? You have horses here?" I said, completely shocked. Who in the world has horses in their backyard. It's insane.

"Yea, my mum loves horses so I made sure to build one when we got this place. Come, I'll introduce you to some of them."

We walked into the stables and was greeted by the stable boys who manned the place. They nodded to us in respect, moving along to complete their duties. Alessandro and I walked along the hay covered floor and towards the individual sections.

"This is my horse, Midnight," he said as he opened the latch, leading me into the stable.

In front of me stood the most majestic creature. The horse was clearly well taken care of; it's jet black mane was combed to perfection and it was clearly happy to see Alessandro as it neighed loudly, trodding over to us.

"Hello Midnight," he cooed as he petted the area in between its eyes, stroking up and down. I stood back in amazement, admiring the sight before me. Wow he was such a sweetheart. A man with his horse. Ooo, bless my eyes.

Alessandro gestured me over as I shuffled towards him carefully. I have never been so up close to a horse before, who knows if it'll hate me and kick me into oblivion. As I got closer, the horse snorted, making me jump in fright.

"Relax," he said, putting his hand on the small of my back, holding me in place, "he can sense your fear."

He held my hand in his, moving it closer to the head of the horse. My eyes darted about, slightly nervous because of this new experience. However, once my hand was in contact of the soft, silk hairs, all that pent up anxiety dissipated into the air.

"Wow," I whispered to myself. I continued petting the horse, occasionally giving it treats as it neighed happily, enjoying our presence. Alessandro and I stayed in that position the whole time, my body basically engulfed by his huge frame, back hugging me in fact.

His face snuggled into the crook of my neck, giving it a small kiss as I shivered in surprise. I stood still, not knowing how to react or what to do. All my mind was doing right now was running all over my head, working on overdrive.

"He usually doesn't like most people." Alessandro stated.

"I must not be like most people then. Smart horse." I teased, giving Midnight a kiss.

"You sure aren't."

We stayed by the stable for a little while before Alessandro mentioned we had to get back for dinner. I felt so light and relaxed by the time dinner came around as we walked back hand in hand to the main house.

As we approached the dinner table, Brooke was already all settled into her chair with Hannah and Dante by her sides.

"Oh hey fratello," Dante greeted enthusiastically, "e la signora speciale del fratello." (and brother's special lady."

"What?" I said as Alessandro grunted.

"Oh nothing, hi Kara." Dante said cheekily.

Alessandro and I seated ourselves opposite the others while the dishes were being served. His mother sat at the head of the table, encouraging everyone to dig in and enjoy. She had prepared homemade pasta for us with three different sauces; the classic tomato based, Alfredo cream based and pesto. The aroma of the dishes in front of us were divine as we helped ourselves to the food, moaning in delight.

"This is beyond delicious Rosa," Hannah raved, helping herself to a second plate.

"I'm glad you like it dear."

"Oh my bambina, you have sauce all over your face. Come, let's get you washed up." Rosa said to Brooke as her mouth and hands was covered in red. (baby)

"Don't worry Rosa, I can wash her up," I offered, getting up from my seat.

"Nonsense dear. It's my pleasure. It's been ages since we're had a little baby in our household. You sit down and enjoy dinner."

With her words being final, I backed down, sitting back on my chair. I twirled the pasta onto my fork, taking another delicious bite of heaven. I moaned in satisfaction. Who knew food could be this divine?

"I don't think I like the fact that pasta is getting such a reaction out of you," Alessandro whispered into my ear huskily, making me choke into a coughing fit.

My cheeks turned beet red as I slapped his thigh under the table, glaring daggers at his smug face. The nerve of him.

"Chica, you alright there?" Hannah asked.

"Yup yup I'm fine," I reassured her.

Just as I was about to hit Alessandro's thigh again with my fist, he grabbed my hand in his, unravelling my fist and linked my hand in his. His thumb caressing the back of my hand, rubbing up and down softly. He winked cheekily at me, giving me his million dollar smile that could win over any girl within a ten mile radius.

"You aren't off the hook yet." I said in between coughs, loud enough for only him to hear.

*****

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