40

40
ARIA
"Since when do you keep these in your car?" I asked Sandro, taking the disinfectant wipes from him to clean my hands.
He opened the glove compartment, taking out a small bottle of hand lotion. It was another brand that I loved. I peeked over, my jaw practically dropping when I saw that it was stacked with everything I needed and used. Sanitary products, a brush and comb, perfume, hand sanitizer, a closed package of my favourite lip balm, gum—everything.
I looked at Sandro, my eyes softening when I saw that he was avoiding my gaze.
"Sandro..." I murmured.
"You're always in my car so I thought why not just make it easier for you..." he answered, and I grinned. I reached over, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him in for a deep and tight hug. He circled his arms around my waist, holding me close to him as he buried his face in my hair.
I love this man so much.
"That is the sweetest, and most considerate thing anyone has ever done for me," I whispered, taking his wrist to place a kiss on the back of his fingers. "You're the best."
Sandro chuckled, watching me pepper kisses all over his hands. "You're making me feel like a princess,"
I interlaced our fingers and clasped my hand around his neck, giving him a kiss on the lips. "Thank you, Alessandro."
"You're welcome, bellissima," he said, a soft smile on his lips and a gentle glow in his eyes. I returned to my seat and proceeded to freshen up—attempting to fix myself before stepping into the mansion that was Carlo's home.
Luckily and fortunately, Sandro hadn't left any marks on my skin.
We were parked outside after Sandro had successfully gotten us to our destination. The cars out front were an arrangement of sleek sports vehicles—ranging from everything to Lamborghinis to Mustangs. I felt out of place, highly intimidated but knowing that I had Sandro by my side made me feel a million times better.
Carlo was so excited when he invited us that it was impossible to say no, despite how nervous I felt.
Sandro looked at the watch on his wrist, "We're a little late but that's fine. You ready?"
I nodded, smoothing my dress. "Yes,"
I stayed in my seat when Sandro exited the car, knowing that he'll try to fight me if I opened my own door. The perfect gentleman—even after I told him that it wasn't necessary. I stepped out, my heel meeting the gravel and Sandro took my hand in his.
My legs were still wobbly when I straightened out but it wasn't too bad and I quickly regained my composure. Hand in hand, Sandro and I walked to the massive home.

"Little boss," Carlo greeted with a smile on his face, holding onto the door that he had just opened. Little boss. I started to accept the nickname. He had a glass of champagne in his hand when he opened his arms.
I smiled at him, giving him a short and brief hug. "Happy birthday, Carlo."
"Grazie," he said, a grin on his lips. Sandro hugged him too, wishing him a happy birthday in Italian.
They spoke for a while in the language I couldn't understand and I took the opportunity to look around the foyer.
There were so many fucking people, and they all reeked of wealth. A group of men were chatting, tall and broad with their hands wrapped around a glass. Every single one of them had a gun strapped to their waist.
Sandro protectively draped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side as he continued speaking to Carlo. He was having a conversation, but he wanted me to know that he hadn't forgotten about me.
"Do you want a drink?" Sandro asked, looking down at me. I nodded. Carlo gestured for us to follow him, leading us to a bar that had every single drink imaginable on the shelves.
I ordered my usual, and Sandro chose to stay sober for the night.
"Dominic. Yurik. Come meet Alessandro's girlfriend," Carlo suddenly said, calling over two men who had similar features.
They were both tatted, tall and dressed in a suit made for their bodies. Except one had short white hair, and the other was a brunette. The minute they spoke, their accents were heavy and deep—Russian.
I didn't know which one was which until Sandro greeted the brunette and called him Dominic.
"Aria, this is Dominic, and his brother Yurik. The amount of times these guys have saved my ass—"
I chuckled, stretching my hand out to shake Dominic's hand. "Is that true?"
He grinned, "Yes but he's not mentioning how often he had to save my ass, too. Especially this one," he pointed to his brother.
"Do not start with me, Domo," Yurik murmured, narrowing his eyes.
Yurik stepped forward, giving me a hug instead of a handshake.
"Beautiful," he said, a grin on his lips. I smiled at the compliment and that's when the bartender slid me my drink. So far, I had only seen a few women.
I set my purse on the counter, "Please tell me that one of you have a girlfriend that I can talk to."
Dominic chuckled, "I fucking wish."
Yurik shook his head, "I'm gay."
Carlo glared at me. "Why would you ask that?"
"Sensitive topic?" I asked.
Sandro nodded, "Very sensitive topic. He's been looking for a girlfriend for ages,"
"Why are we exposing me like this..." Carlo trailed off, and we all looked at him to see his head in the direction of a pretty girl.
Carlo seemed to be in awe-struck and he swallowed hard before speaking again, "Alessandro, that's her. I can't believe she came," he said softly, his eyes fixated on her.
"The one you like?" Sandro asked but he was loud and the girl looked at us. A smile lit up on her face, and Carlo just about fainted on the spot. She called him over and Carlo didn't say anything else to anybody as he set his empty glass down and made his way to her.
It was as if he was completely enchanted by her. It was cute.
"You did that on purpose," I muttered, but Carlo didn't even seem to care.
Sandro smiled, "Of course I did. He would have stood here without saying anything,"
"We have to get going," Dominic said, looking down at his phone. He showed the screen to Yurik, whose eyes widened momentarily before he frowned.
"Everything okay?" Sandro asked, tracing circles on my hips as I sipped on my drink.
"Yeah," Dominic said, giving Sandro a pat on his shoulder.
He said something in Russian, directed at Sandro and I was confused until Sandro responded back in fluent Russian. My mouth fell open—I had no idea that Sandro spoke the language. I was impressed.
Dominic and Yurik bid their goodbyes, giving me one last glance before making their way to the exit.
"Since when do you speak Russian?" I asked Sandro, surprised that I was just learning this information about him. He grabbed my waist, smiling down at me.
"I lived there for two years," he said.
"That's where you met them?"
"Yes."
"Nice," I murmured, nodding my head as I played with my straw. Just as I was about to take another sip, somebody tapped me on my shoulder.
I turned around, my eyes landing on Tammy who had a beautiful smile on her face. I gasped, shoving my glass into Sandro's already awaiting hand.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her to me in a tight hug and she chuckled in my ear.
"Okay, okay. I get it, you missed me," she said, but I could hear the smile in her voice. It was such a relief to see her in person, and judging from the radiant grin on her face—I could tell that she was doing a lot better.
There was a man next to her, and I recognised him as Elijah. He gave me a nonchalant wave, and I did the same.
I pulled away. "When did you get back?"
"Today. For Carlo's birthday. Where is he anyway? We can't find him," she said, looking around the house filled with guests.
"He disappeared a few minutes ago," I answered.
They were probably busy in one of the rooms.
"Can we talk?" she asked, taking my hand in hers. "In private."
"Yes," I said. I turned to Sandro and he bent down so I could give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back soon."
Tammy and I found a secluded lounge area where we sat down and proceeded to talk about everything. We spoke about that night in the club—the guy who broke into my apartment and how Elijah took care of him.
She was convinced that I held some sort of resentment to her but I assured her that I wasn't mad, and that whatever happened was far from her fault. She smiled when she spoke about Elijah, and I smiled too because it made me happy to see her happy. At the end of our conversation, we decided to forget about it and continue with the party. It was, after all, Carlo's night and we needed to celebrate it with him.

"Did you enjoy your night, bellissima?" Sandro asked, reversing out of the driveway. We were finally heading home, around two in the morning in spite of saying we were only going to stay for an hour or so.
"Yes, I did." I said, yawning and I used my fist to cover it up. Sandro let his hand rest on my thigh, giving me a comforting squeeze and I smiled tiredly.
I was exhausted—and I realised that I wasn't used to conversing with that amount of people. It drained me, and I was ready to lay in bed with Sandro in complete silence.
I was admiring his profile when he looked at the rear view mirror—doing a double take. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the mirror for a while. He made a turn and I scowled in confusion, seeing him go off route. He gazed into the mirror again, and I could visibly see the realisation hit him.
"Aria, get down," he demanded, and I slid down the seat with no hesitation.
"What's going o—" I was cut off by the sound of a bullet hitting the back window.