39

ARIA

Sir, you don't even know me.

It dawned on me that this man didn't even know me. He might have done whatever stalking and knew whatever he did - but he had no reason to be my protector. Maybe I'm looking too deep into things. Again. As hot as he was, as unbelievably fucking tempting as he was, the circumstances were bold red flags and I was not about to do that to myself. The confusion made me groan in frustration.

A passer-by scowled at me, looking at me as if I was mad but at that point, I did not care. I stopped myself from yelling at him to mind his own goddamn business. Feeling overwhelmed, I all but stomped home.

My mind was whirling, his words playing over and over like a broken record. Nobody on this earth will fuck with you.

I forgot about everything when my lower back began to ache, and I was reminded of how desperately I needed to get into my own place.

When I reached my complex, it was only around 3pm. Way too early for bed but I didn't care. It was never too early to sleep. As soon as the door closed behind me, I was pulling my phone out to call Tammy, ignoring the missed calls from the diner's landline. I just needed to be left alone. I just wanted a moment of peace. She answered almost immediately, shocking me. She always let her phone nearly reach voicemail before picking up.

"Aria. Hey," she greeted, and I could hear the background of her office.

"Hey, are you okay? You answered a little too quickly," I said jokingly, sinking down on the couch like a sack of potatoes. Laying the fuck down was my absolute favourite thing in the world.

"Yes, I was just about to call you," she said, and her voice sounded worried. I frowned.

"You were?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"Aria...I heard about the diner. The incident with Alessandro Galanti. He-"

That made me sit up straight.

"That happened like twenty minutes ago. How did you..." I trailed off, narrowing my eyes at nothing.

There was a long pause. And I heard her shuffle around until the background noise disappeared entirely. Her next words were inaudible whispers.

"How am I supposed to hear you? Talk louder." I said, lazily holding the phone to my ear.

"Fine," she breathed. "You better not tell anyone. I swear to God."

"Tammy!"

"Shut up. Okay, listen. I've been dying to tell you. I don't even know if I'm supposed to but fuck it. You know my boyfriend? Elijah? He's part of this...group, I guess. I don't know what's it called but Alessandro is the boss. And they are dangerous," she emphasised the last word, and honestly, I wasn't surprised.

"You're right. You're not supposed to tell me."

"Aria!"

"I'm kidding. I kind of already knew," I said. "We didn't exactly meet in the nicest way." I remembered the gun to my neck, his hand on my mouth and the look in his eyes. It was something I'd never forgot and ironically, I didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Wait, what? Elijah didn't mention that. He did mention that Alessandro was about to kill for you after that man...you know. Aria, these men...they're dangerous but they're also really- fuck, I gotta go. My boss is calling me." They're really what?! She hung up before I could utter the words, and I stared at the phone in disbelief.

They're really what?!

The suspense almost killed me.

"For fucks sake, Tammy." I said in annoyance, rubbing a hand over my face.

I realised that the unknown man with Alessandro was Elijah. I hadn't met him, but Tammy had spoken about him a handful of times. My first guess – the very first time I saw Sandro in that alley– was the Mafia. And Tammy had just confirmed that for me without knowing.

I looked down at my body, seeing that I was still in my work uniform. Deciding to take a shower as an attempt to wash away the stress and worries of the day, I stripped out of my clothes. They scattered all over, and I was too mentally exhausted to pay attention to it.

However, the shower did nothing to ease the turmoil in my brain but at least my tensed shoulders relaxed. I tried to think about nothing, but that didn't work. After my shower, I, thankfully, started to feel a lot more comfortable.

I dried myself off, and dressed in my usual home attire. My body begged me to lay down on the couch and that's exactly what I did. I draped a soft blanket off and clutched a pillow in my arms. Ignoring my growling tummy, I fell into a deep bliss.

•••

There was a faint banging noise in the background. It gradually grew louder as sleep escaped me and I realised that someone was knocking on my front door. Who the fuck?

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with my fist, and slowly sat up. The blanket slid off me, and I moved it to the side when I got on my feet. Blinking hard, I tried to adjust my eyes to the now darkened living room. No avail. So, I switched the lights on as the hurried knocking continued.

"Who is it?" I asked, my voice groggy and laced with exhaustion. I could only picture how swollen my face must have looked.

There was a couple seconds of silence before a man's voice reached my ears.

"Sandro."

Of course it was.

"Go away," I shouted, almost tripping over my shoes.

"Open this fucking door, Aria. I just want to make sure you're okay. That's all." He sounded genuinely concerned, and also two seconds away from trampling the door down.

I grit my teeth, balling my fists at my sides. Was this man ever going to leave me alone? "That's all?" I asked, biting down on my lip thoughtfully.

"That's all." A moment went by, and right before I could even open my mouth to speak, he said, "I promise, bellissima."

I have a death wish.

"Okay," I said hesitantly, before making the impulsive decision of unlocking the door and allowing Sandro into my home. My home. It wasn't our first time being alone together, especially in the privacy of these four walls, but the moment my eyes were laid on him, I could tell that this time there was something particularly strange about it.

He looked different.

Instead of his usual suit, he wore grey sweats and a white t-shirt. His arms were visible, toned and big and covered in tattoos that were previously hidden. It sneaked up from the back of his hands, over his forearm and bicep and disappeared underneath the white material, ending behind his ear. His hair was messier.

I had my own fair share of tattoos but his...his were on a whole other level.

I gulped. How dare he look that good?

Still, I managed to glare at him. And he was glaring back. It was nearly enough for me to have my head bowing in submission, but I held my ground. The tension was thick, and it almost suffocated me. With a sigh, he was the first one to back down.

"I'm sorry if I upset you," Sandro mumbled, and it almost knocked the wind out of me. My jaw dropped, utterly taken aback.

I moved closer as I spoke. "Sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly."

He side-eyed me, keeping himself occupied by the array of picture frames that seemed to absorb him once again. Eventually, a look of defeat bloomed on his face and he turned his entire body to me. Sandro was a tall person, paired with his build and the way he carried himself, it didn't seem to intimidate me as it did before.

"You're really going to let me repeat it?" His question was serious but there was a playful smile on his lips. He was amused by me.

I didn't answer. My arms crossed, but before I could look away from him, he was quick to grab my chin and redirect my gaze to his own. His touch was warm, a bit too familiar but all too gentle. He didn't want to hurt me, he just wanted me to witness his apology.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you," he repeated, a gleam in his eyes as he looked down at me. Sandro was tall, and my neck strained to withhold the eye-contact he sought from me. His apology was soft, and although I didn't know him, it appeared to be heart-felt.

Gone was the man gunning someone down in the middle of a dark alley.

My arms relaxed, falling to my sides before I heaved a sigh. "You have nothing to apologise for. I should actually...thank you."

"Thank me? For what?" My statement seemed to surprise him. There was sincere confusion on his face as if he had forgotten he had kind of saved me from a touchy creep. His delivery was a bit...violent but the message was loud and clear.

"I mean...you were the only one who-"

"You have nothing to thank me for. Okay?" He looked at me expectantly and all I could do was nod. He let go of my chin, leaving the skin feeling icier than before.

"Okay."

"So," he stepped forward, and I didn't fail to notice the small tilt of his lips. "Are we good?" He dropped his head to my height, leaning down and when I looked at the ground, he dropped it even lower to look up at me. My grin was unstoppable. Fuck. I could tell that eye-contact meant a lot to him.

"Aria, are we good?" He asked again, and I had no choice but to raise my head to put his poor back out of misery.

"Fine," I huffed. "We're good but don't irritate me," I warned, pointing a finger at him. Just a few days ago I would have been afraid that my finger would be chopped off but all Sandro did was laugh out loud. It eased the tension in the room significantly.

"I'll try my best," he said, a cheeky smile adorning his full lips. It was wholesome but shouldn't have had my heart leaping the way it did.

What's the word for being attracted to someone you shouldn't be attracted to?

The silence in the room was disturbed by his voice. "You hungry?"

I am definitely attracted to him.