Chapter Eighteen

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Sorry for taking so long and being the worst at updating, I don't function well without structure and I've been binge watching Netflix shows :(

I slept in my old room that night in my own bed because Stefano got a call and had to leave halfway through dinner. I slept surprisingly well and didn't wake up until Stefano busted into my room at seven in the morning. The door slammed against the wall, making a loud noise.

"Alaya, wake up." He said.

I sat up quickly, alarmed. "I'm up, what's wrong? What's happening?" I asked frantically as Stefano walked into my closet.

"Get dressed, quickly." He said, coming out of the closet and throwing clothes onto the bed.

I got up and started changing, too confused to care that he was openly staring. It took me a second to realize that something bad might have happened and that we had to leave before anything else could happen. "Stefano, is everything okay? Are we under attack?"

He looked at me impatiently as I finished putting on the clothes he'd all but thrown at me. "Follow me."

He walked out the door and I hurried after him. "We're leaving? Where are we going?" I asked, following him down the stairs.

I was certain we were leaving because he seemed to be in such a big rush, but he surprised me by turning down a hallway. Now I was wondering what he'd dragged me out of bed for this early in the morning. He opened a door to a room I'd never been in and gestured for me to go inside.

I walked in and before I could process anything, he slammed the door shut behind me and I heard it lock. "Hey!" I yelled, slamming my hand against the door. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Buongiorno." Someone said from behind me. I turned around and found a man standing next to a table with two chairs. He had sandy blond hair and he looked rather lanky. The thing that surprised me the most was that he wasn't wearing a suit, he was wearing jeans and a shirt. The man smiled, holding his hand out to me in greeting. "Mi chiamo Emilio. Sono qui per insegnarti Italiano."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I don't speak Italian." I was very confused now.

"I know." He said with another smile. This guy was way too happy to be awake this morning. "My name is Emilio. Mr. Colombo hired me to teach you Italian."

"Motherfucker!" I cursed. "Excuse me for a moment." I said with a fake smile. I turned around and started pounding on the door. "Let me out, you bastard! I'm not learning your stupid language!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Miss, but he told me he wouldn't let us out until you could hold a small conversation in Italian." Emilio said timidly.

I turned around and glared at him. "I don't want to learn Italian. I want to go back to sleep."

"Miss, I don't think either of us really has a choice in the matter. Mr. Colombo seemed pretty adamant about you learning." For the first time, I noticed that Emilio looked nervous and his smile looked forced.

I sighed and sat down at the table. "He threatened you didn't he?" I asked as Emilio sat down across from me.

"He hired me because I have the best ratings on Yelp! and-"

"Cut the crap, what'd he threaten to do if I didn't learn anything."

Emilio pressed his lips together. "He'd rip off my finger nails."

I sighed again. I couldn't let this guy lose his finger nails because I was being petty and stubborn. "Okay, I'll let you teach me on one condition."

"What's the condition, Miss?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, two conditions. One, stop calling me Miss, my name is Alaya."

He nodded. "Okay, Alaya."

"Two, you have to teach me how to tell him to go fuck himself." I said firmly.

Emilio's eyes widened. "I don't want him to be upset with me for-"

"It's fine." I cut him off. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything to you." I assured him.

He smiled a genuine smile this time. "Okay, cominciamo."

(Let's start.)

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Oh, so you do want to learn Italian." Emilio joked, making me laugh.

Emilio was a very easy going guy. I found out he was twenty five and he grew up in New York and earned to speak Italian because it was his mother's native tongue. I also found out that Stefano was actually paying him to teach me, the threat to rip his finger nails off was just extra incentive.

He started out by teaching my very basic phrases like how to introduce myself or to tell someone that it was nice to meet them. I learned pronouns and colors along with some other questions and phrases. He was basically teaching me how to have small talk in Italian. He even taught me how to say I don't know and to say that I speak English.

It wasn't until my stomach started growling that I started to wonder how much time had passed. "Emilio, what time is it?"

"Che ore sono? Sono le dodici e mezza." He said in Italian. "It's 12:30."

"Grazie. Wait let me see if I remember how to say it." I said, thinking for a moment. "Ho fame? Is that how you say I'm hungry?" I asked.

"Si, molto buono!" He said with a smile. "You remember how to say go fuck yourself?"

(Very good!)

"Of course, it's the only important thing I learned!" I joked.

"Then you're ready." Emilio said confidently. He pulled his phone out and sent Stefano a quick text. "He's coming down."

A few minutes later, Stefano unlocked the door and walked into the room. "Alaya, come stai?"

(How are you?)

"Sto bene, e tu?" I answered with a glare.

(I'm good, and you?)

His lips twitched in amusement. "Ah, allora parli Italiano adesso?"

(Oh, so you speak Italian now?)

I had no idea what he just said to me and I looked to Emilio in confusion. Emilio gave me a smile and a nod, urging me to keep going.

"Sto..." I started, trying to remember the phrase. "Sto imparando l'italiano. Io parlo inglese."

(I am learning Italian. I speak English.)

Stefano looked more than amused and it was pissing me off, but I kept my cool. "Veramente?" He asked.

(Really?)

"Il mio colore preferito e il viola." I said smoothly. I had to practice that one for fifteen minutes before getting it right.

(My favorite color is purple.)

Stefano raised an eyebrow. "Come e rilevante?" He asked, but I still had no idea what he was saying.

(How is that relevant?)

"Tanto piacere." I deadpanned.

(It's nice to meet you.)

"Okay, you seemed to have learned something. You can pick up where you left off next week." Stefano said, dismissing Emilio, who gladly left the room.

"What? Next week?" I asked.

"You will meet with Emilio once a week until your Italian is satisfactory." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"No." I refused. "No fucking way, I'm not getting up that early once a week." If he thought I was going to let him drag me out of bed that early again without a fight, he had another thing coming for him.

"You don't have a choice." Stefano said.

I glared at him. "Vanffanculo, Stefano. Ho fame."

(Go fuck yourself, Stefano. I'm hungry.)

The look on his face was priceless and he didn't look like he knew what to say. Satisfied, I turned and walked out the room. I made a bee line towards the kitchen because my stomach was growling and I hadn't eaten anything today thanks to the impromptu Italian lesson.

The kitchen staff greeted me when I walked in and offered me a sandwich. I thanked them and went into the dining room to eat, where I found Diana sitting in front of a bowl of cereal. She looked like she'd just woken up.

"Good morning, babe." She said with a smile.

"Actually, it's the afternoon now." I grumbled, sitting next to her with my sandwich.

"It's morning for me, I just woke up." She laughed.

"You didn't have to get up for work today?" I asked. She normally got up around nine to start working during the week.

"Nope." She said. "It's Saturday, my day off."

"It's Saturday?" I asked in exasperation. "That son of a bitch woke me up at seven on a Saturday? That's got to be some kind of crime!"

"That wouldn't be the worst crime he's committed." Diana joked. "Why'd he wake you up so early?"

I took a bite of my sandwich before answering her. "He wants me to learn Italian, so he locked me in a room with a tutor and didn't let me come out until I 'd learned something."

"Wait, that's kind of sweet of him." Diana said.

I gave her a look. "How is dragging me out of bed at seven in the morning sweet?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, not that part. He wants you to learn his language. I think it's sweet of him to get you a tutor."

"No. He's evil." I grumbled, taking another bite.

"Stefano or the tutor?"

"Stefano. Emilio's nice. He taught me how to tell Stefano to go fuck himself in Italian."

"He what?" Diana asked with a laugh.

"You heard me. So when he let me out of the room, I told him to go fuck himself."

"How'd he react?" She asked, still laughing.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Beats me. I walked out and got myself a sandwich."

"Remind me never to wake you up early, it puts you in a bad mood."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You better never wake me up early." I shoved the rest of the sandwich into my mouth. "I'm going to go take a nap."

"Have fun." Diana called after me, still laughing, as I left the room.

I made my way up the stairs, eager to go back to bed. I was tired and I definitely hadn't gotten enough sleep last night. I was annoyed, however, to fid Stefano sitting on my bed when I walked into my room.

I let out a loud groan. "What do you want? I want to wake a nap." I whined, not really caring about whether or not he might be upset right now.

To my surprise, he smiled at me, amused. "Did you get something to eat?" He asked.

"I had a sandwich." I admitted, taking off my pants and climbing under the covers, not caring that he was still sitting on the other side of the bed.

"You're in a bad mood." He chuckled.

"Yeah you woke me up early and then locked me in a room with a stranger." I grumbled, closing my eyes. "You're in an unusually good mood. You haven't threatened me at all yet today."

"I got some good work done today and business is going well." He explained. "And I have you." He said softly.

I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. "I make you happy?"

"Si, tu mi rendi felice." Stefano said. "Can I take a nap with you?"

(Yes, you make me happy.)

"Only if you promise not to wake me up that early ever again."

Stefano pulled the covers over himself and wrapped an arm around me. "I'll tell Emilio to come a little later next week. I promise."

"Good." I said, laying my head on his chest and closing my eyes.

When I woke up a few hours later, Stefano was still asleep. I guess he had needed to take a nap more than I did. I was careful not to make any noise as I got up so I wouldn't wake him. I didn't need him to get startled and choke me out or anything.

I slipped on a pair of shorts and quietly shut the door behind me. I went down the stairs and made my way out the back door to the yard. I wanted to sit outside and get some fresh air. I was surprised to find Luca outside, talking on the phone.

"Hey, Luca." I greeted him.

He looked surprised to see me. "I'll call you back." I said into the phone, ending the call.

"You're a traitor, you know." I said.

His eyes bugged out. "What did you just say?" He asked, his face pale.

"Relax." I laughed. "I'm not mad that you didn't come to my rescue yesterday when I was getting dragged down into the basement. I should've known you'd pick Stefano over me." I joked.

Luca stared at me for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. "You're funny, Alaya. You know that?"

"I've been told that on a few separate occasions, yes."

"You're okay after yesterday, though? You still have all your body parts?" Luca asked.

"Yes, I'm fine and I'm not missing and toes. But I do miss running with you." I admitted.

"You can start running with me again if you want." He offered.

"I'd like that." I smiled.

Luca went back inside and I sat outside for a half hour by myself before Stefano found me.

"There you are." Stefano said in relief. His dress shirt was wrinkled and he hair was disheveled. He must've just woken up. I couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Were you really worried? I couldn't have gone far even if I had wanted to." I joked. This place always had tight security. No one would've let me near the gate if I had tried. They were all too scared of Stefano to be the one to let me get away.

"Yes, but I wouldn't put it past my mother to come steal you again." He sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest.

"I won't disappear again."

"Good." He said. "You're in a better mood now."

I laughed. "Yeah, that's what happens when I sleep. Why on earth did you think seven in the morning on a Saturday was the perfect time to start teaching me Italian?"

Stefano chuckled. "I don't know, that's just the time I booked Emilio for."

"Not to mention your scared that man half to death, I walked in there and he looked so nervous. You don't have to threaten everyone to get what you want."

Stefano frowned. "I don't threaten everyone."

I raised an eyebrow. "Stefano, yes you do. You even threaten Luca."

"I don't threaten my mother." He said.

I laughed. "Good, I'm glad you don't."

He pursed his lips. "Maybe I do threaten everyone." He said more to himself than to me. He shook his head before changing the subject. "I came out here to ask you something."

"What?"

"I have to go meet with someone at a club and I want you to come with me. We can go to dinner first." He said smoothly.

"Are you actually asking or do I not have a choice?" I asked.

"It's up to you, but I'd like you to come with me." He admitted.

I smiled. "I'd love to come."

Stefano took me by surprise by taking my chin in his hands and kissing me. I didn't really know what had changed in him but he seemed like a completely different person than the angry one I was so used to and I like it. I could get used to this.

I didn't edit this because I wanted to give you guys a chapter since it took me forever to find the motivation to write it. The end of the book is almost completely written so I just have to write a few more chapters and then it's smooth sailing from there.

Don't forget to vote and comment!

-Emma🎶

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