"That's convenient," I panted after reaching the top of the staircase. Angelo went up them with ease, making me look like a freaking fat kid. I wasn't though, just in really bad shape.

The elevator was broken.

"I hope this isn't a reoccurring thing," I struggled to catch my breath and the apartment was still at the very end of the long ass hallway. God, take me now. "Carry me please," I fell forward into Angelo's chiseled chest.

"You can't walk a couple more feet? Would it really kill you?"

I nodded and looked up at him with the cutest puppy dog eyes I could muster up, "Pwease."

The look he gave me was equally as adorable as I'm sure my eyes were. He grabbed my backpack full of clothes, slung it over his shoulder and then scooped me up into his arms.

I am a princess.

Princess Chloe of the Italian Mafia Men.

As we neared the end of the long hallway, a couple stepped out of their apartment just a door down from where ours was located. Well, now I've seen the neighbors. I've never had those before, at least not ones so close.

I thought we were going to be able to make it successfully into the apartment without having to make conversation with these people. I was sorely mistaken.

The guy came up to us. In the words of Angelo, he looked like a prude. But then again, also according to Angelo, those are my kind of people. He wore a dark blue sweater over a white button up shirt, and khaki pants. His girlfriend or wife or whoever she was was dressed pretty much the same way just with her shiny black hair in a messy bun. They were young, probably around Angelo's age.

"Howdy neighbors," the guy greeted. Yep, he was definitely something else, "You must be the new couple Benny was telling us about. You're married, right?" As if to him living together and not being married was a crime.

Angelo and I both looked at each other before switching back to the awkward couple. Was I really going to have to pretend like I was married to him for the rest of my freaking life?! "Yeah," I answered. "We are."

"You look really familiar," the girl said. Uh oh. "Have I seen you on tv?"

Probably on the news recently, but, "No. I don't do tv."

She looked as if she didn't believe me, but luckily her dude friend changed the subject, "I'm Smith and this is my wife Eleanor." God, even their names were painfully boring. "We're the Johnson's."

"Chloe," I said in return, "And the hubby would be Angelo. We're the..." What the hell was his last name?

"D'Amico. We're the D'Amico's," Angelo seemed less than interested in this whole ordeal and he was definitely not even trying to hide it. Rude.

I've heard that name before though. Wasn't it the name of the mafia Family? One of them at least.

"Oh. Is that Italian?" Smith asked.

"Very," I answered. "He's super Italian. Sometimes it gets really annoying."

"Hey, criceto. Watch it."

"Criceto?" Eleanor asked, butchering the word way worse than I ever could and that was saying something 'cause the language was truly not meant to roll off my tongue, "What does that mean?"

"Hamster," I clarified, "He thought I was gonna think it was cute but honestly it's a little-"

Angelo sighed, "Degrading, yes we know, amore mia. Plot twist though, you secretly love it. You're just too embarrassed to take what could actually be a compliment."

I tried to wiggle out of his arms, realizing that I was only making myself look even more pathetic by having him carry me. He would not let me down though, so I gave up, "Well," Smith said, seeming slightly awkward, "We gotta go. It's church Sunday. It was nice meeting you two," he grabbed Eleanor's hand and pulled her down the hallway before we could even say anything in response.

What a weirdo.

"Do they seem really odd to you? Or is it just me?" I asked Angelo as he walked the remaining ten feet to our apartment.

"Nope. Before he even starting talking I knew he was going to be a puritano," he said while setting me down before looking for the key to the door.

I thought about the word for a minute before realizing it sounded an awful like Puritan. Thinking the definition made sense, I just left it at that without asking him to clarify. "You should put it on a key chain so you don't freaking lose it," I said as he unlocked the door. I was the first to walk into the freezing cold apartment. Oh wow, I think it was colder in here than it was outside which was saying something because it looked like it was going to snow outside.

"Kinda cold, eh criceto?" He motioned towards me, more specifically at my chest, his eyes wandering from my eyes down to my solid black long sleeve shirt. I don't think he was looking at the shirt though.

There was a mirror on the wall, so I turned to face it just to see what he was talking about even though I had a strong feeling I already knew. "Oh ha ha. How do you say pig in Italian?" I folded my arms over my chest so that he couldn't stare at my embarrassment anymore. It really was nippy in here.

"Maiale, but I wouldn't say it if I were you."

"Whatever." For once I let him have this and stayed silent. Briefly. Very briefly. "I want the master bedroom."

He scoffed, "The hell you do, criceto, but I'm sorry you can't have it because I already called it."

"That's really not fair-"

"I totally think it is. You've gotten a lot from me in the past month," he took my backpack off his shoulder and dropped it in front of me, without a doubt trying to make a point. I had gotten a whole new wardrobe, most of which was still sitting outside in the car, "The least you can do for me is let me have the bedroom without putting up a pointless fight. And I'm sure the other room isn't even bad."

"Then why can't you-"

He cut me off by pressing his index finger to my lips, "No pointless fights," he reiterated in a whisper.

Fine.

+

+

+

I hadn't realized how lonely sleeping in a room by myself was until now. And there was pretty much nothing I could do to lull the feeling either since Angelo pulled a dick move and brought the tv from the living room into his room.

I could even hear him watching it now. Or maybe he wasn't even watching it. Maybe he was asleep and the poor tv wasn't being used anymore.

I needed it.

I got out of bed, instantly regretting it as soon as my feet touched the cold hardwood floor. It send a cold shiver up my spine and my whole body shuddered.

I tip-toed out of my room and across the apartment to Angelo's room. I cracked the door open, popping my head in first before walking in.

Angelo was passed out, or at least it looked like he was. He laid on his stomach with one arm under the pillow and another one out to the side, the white top sheet hung low at his hips revealing to me that he was shirtless. So incredibly shirtless.

Those back muscles though.

I crept into the room, closing the door quietly behind me, silently praying that this place was new enough so that the doors didn't creak. I sat on the ottoman at the edge of the bed, directly in front of the tv. The channel was turned to Comedy Central and some comedian was doing a stand up.

I watched for a little while, soon bursting out into a fit of giggles at one of his jokes. A noise came from the bed behind me, as if Angelo had shot up or something. I turned around to see that he was staring wide eyed at me, I had woken him up. "Chloe? What are you doing? Go to bed," sleepiness consumed his voice and he laid back down.

"I can't sleep and I'm cold," I crawled up the bed and got under the big white blanket, keeping myself a safe distance away from Angelo. "I have insomnia and it's winter, remember?"

I was wearing a flannel pajama set and still I stood no match against the low temperatures. It seemed a lot warmer in here though for some reason.

Angelo groaned and shot off the bed, leaving the room in a matter of seconds. What was his major malfunction? And how the holy hell could he not be wearing a shirt and walk around like it wasn't freezing in here?

He came back a minute later with a glass of water and something else in his hand. He got back onto the bed, handed the water to me and dropped a tiny pill into the palm of my hand, "It'll knock you out, I promise."

I examined the small pink pill in my hand, "What is this?" I asked.

"Would you just shut up and take it?"

"No! What if it's poisonous?"

"Oh my God, I will shove it down your throat, Chloe!" He scowled, "If I was gonna kill you, trust me, you would've been really dead by now."

Without breaking eye contact with him, I popped the pill into my mouth and took a sip of water, "Wait, what if it's a date rape pill?"

He laid back down, turning his back away from me, "Oh, I wouldn't need to use a pill on you, gattina."