ALESSANDRO

How badly I wanted to kiss her.

How fucking badly.

Self-control, and patience was virtue I struggled to possess. And when it came to Aria, it was hard to hold myself back. But fuck, I had to. I had to. Looking at her, standing there...her pretty face and her freckled cheeks and her soft brown skin and her dark curly hair. Dammit. She's driving me insane and she didn't even know it.

I knew it wouldn't be long before all willpower went flying out the window.

Just as I reached her, my mind was changed in a blink of an eye. The last thing I wanted to do was make her any more uncomfortable than what I already had. Our first time meeting was not ideal and I went ahead and fucked it up even further. I, somehow, had to redeem myself.

"Here," I set cash down on the table. "Food will be here any second," I said, resorting to an excuse I thought of in a split second.

She's so beautiful.

"No, it's fine. Just-"

"Aria," I sighed, "Please."

She looked up at me, and it was innocent but I had to stop myself from audibly groaning. Stop looking at me like that, I wanted to say but I tightened my lips together instead.

Then, she nodded and a smile spread across her face and my fist automatically clenched at my side. It was a genuine smile. One that showed on her eyes.

I rubbed the pad of my thumb across my fingertips, something that I always did to calm down. All she did was stand there and I had unholy thoughts running through my mind.

Stop it.

"Thank you," she said, and the grin could be heard in her voice. I made a mental note – feed her to see her smile. There was no longer fear in her eyes, and I don't think she realised how much I relished in it.

I completely forgot that I had an emergency to tend to.

My mood darkened immediately, knowing I was missing the opportunity to share a meal with her.  Stupid fucking emergencies. Always getting in the way of everything. The thought of leaving Aria alone had me scowling, not just in disappointment but also worry.

There was a weak lock on her door.

Something that could easily be picked. And she lived alone. Besides that, I wasn't making things easier by not being able to stay away from her.

The second I laid my eyes on her....I knew what I wanted.

"I'll see you, soon. Enjoy, bellissima," I said over my shoulder, making my way out.

"Bye, Sandro."

If I wasn't mistaken, she sounded a bit down. The thought had me excited for no reason. Did she actually want to spend time with me? Was I imagining things? I probably was. I stepped out, shutting the door behind me and it was barely a second before I heard the lock click into place. I smirked. Good girl.

I walked to my parked car, right at the back of Aria's complex. Doing what I did, and knowing what I did, being discreet was of utmost importance. And I had a really hard fucking time being discreet. My exhale was heavy as I sat in the driver's seat.

God, I wanted to kiss her so badly. Her lips looked so soft and...

"Get a grip on yourself," I murmured, frowning at no one but myself in the rear-view mirror.  My phone rang, just as I reversed out the parking. I answered, keeping one hand on the steering wheel and continued driving to the warehouse. It wasn't too far from Aria's place.

"Yes."

"Boss...we have another problem," Carlo, my right hand man, said almost immediately.

"The fuck is it now again?"

"A brick has gone missing. Camera footage shows it our cousin, Joseph. What do you want me to do?" He asked, and he sounded just about ready to follow my command.

"A brick? Is he stupid or what?" I asked, in disbelief that one of our men would steal from us. "Deal with it however you deem fit. We can't risk having such petty theft among us, especially from our own family." I said, pushing further on the accelerator and flying through the cars on the free-way.

The amount of shit I had to deal with would drive anyone insane.

"On it."

I hung up, throwing my phone on the passenger's seat.

A brick of cocaine was about a kilogram, pure and uncut. One of it was someone's salary for the entire year, and it wasn't taken lightly when anyone tried to steal. Carlo was probably going to break both his kneecaps.

Joseph was making enough money to do whatever he wanted – so there must have been an underlying issue that needed to be found out and fixed.

When I arrived at the warehouse, the large silver garage door automatically rolled up with the familiar creaking and groaning noise. We had cameras surrounding the area, but my men knew not to open to just anyone. They recognised the usual flick of my headlights.

This was where all the shit happened.

I parked, exiting the car. The warehouse was spacious, filled with rows and rows of cars and trucks. From the outside, it looked abandoned and run-down. But on the inside, we had the best equipment in the city.

Everyone immediately straightened out, and with a nod of my head they returned to what they were doing. Being the boss had its downsides, but it sure had its perks. On one side, I had men listening to police radars. And on the other side, I had men sliding underneath cars stacking cash or narcotics in preparation to cross the border.

I let out a sharp whistle, and my Rottweiler came running instantly. His tail wagged happily, and I laughed as I got down on my knees to scratch behind his ears. He yapped and barked and couldn't sit still.

"Who's a good boy?" I cooed, massaging his neck with both hands. Trigger was the equivalent of a kid in our family, adored and loved by everyone and especially by me. That was my baby. And everyone knew if they upset him, they upset me.

He sat down on his butt, tilting his head as he looked up at me. With one last pat on his head, I stood up and walked to the basement, knowing there was another man in need of an intrusive interrogation.

I cracked my knuckles, ready to release the tension that Aria had unknowingly given me.

Trigger quietly followed behind me.

• • •

Next chapter coming in an hour or so because this was kind of short <3