Chapter Nineteen

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Stefano had asked me out an official date and continued on with his life, but I was freaking out. He hadn't even given me a whole day's warning, he just gave me a few hours to figure out what I should wear. I wanted to ask Diana, but I felt weird doing so given that she sometimes gave me the vibe that she kind of liked Stefano herself. I loved her to death and I'd never admit it to her, but her and Stefano having a past made me slightly uncomfortable.

I threw open my closet door and went through my clothes. I had a lot of different options, but I also had no idea what kind of restaurant he was taking me to. I decided the best thing I could do was go downstairs and ask him.

I knocked on Stefano's office door softly before cracking it open and poking my head in. He glanced up from his desk. "Alaya, what can I do for you?"

I entered the room and closed the door behind me. "I don't know what to wear and I was overthinking it so I decided to just come down and ask you." I said in a rush.

He raised an eyebrow and his lips quirked up. "You interrupted me to ask me what you should wear tonight?"

I felt my cheeks heat up. "Well, yeah..."

"We're going to a nice restaurant and then a casino where I have to meet with some people. Wear a nice dress."

"A dress? Okay, I can do that." I nodded slowly.

"Good. I'll see you later, I have some work to finish before tonight." He dismissed me.

Time passed a lot faster than I would have liked and, before I knew it, I was rushing to get ready. I'd started to curl my hair and then flat ironed it, changing my mind halfway through. I was struggling with my makeup when Stefano snuck up on me.

"You're not ready yet?" He asked as he walked in, making me jump.

"Shit, you scared me!" I gasped, pressing a hand to my heart. "Do you always sneak up on people like you're about to kill them?"

"I'm sorry." He said with a chuckle as he looked me up and down. "You look beautiful, stop stressing yourself out."

I looked at him through the mirror with a pout. "I can't get my makeup right."

Stefano smiled and gently turned me to face him. "Let me do it."

"What?"

Stefano reached around me and grabbed a makeup wipe. I only watched in shock as he wiped the makeup clean from my face. He tossed the wipe into the trash and picked up a wand of mascara.

"Look up." He ordered. I obeyed and he swiped some mascara onto my lashes. Then he applied a coat of lipgloss onto my lips. "There. You look perfect. Now we have to go, I don't want to be late to our reservation." I stared after him wordlessly as he left the bathroom.

I turned around and looked at my reflection, surprised by the simplicity, yet appeal the makeup gave my face. I trailed out of the bathroom just as he was straightening his tie. "Where did you learn to put on makeup?" I asked in astonishment.

"I used to watch my mother do her makeup." He explained nonchalantly. "I think you look more beautiful without it though."

I blushed and turned away. "Let's get going." I mumbled, pulling my heels on.

Stefano sat in the back with me while the driver drove through New York until we reached a restaurant that was familiar to me. "Giulia's." I read. "I've been here before with your mom."

"Right, I forgot you two are best friends." He said sarcastically.

"At least she likes me." I laughed.

Stefano ushered me inside and greeted the hostess warmly, as if they were friends. I trailed behind the two as they talked animatedly in Italian. Admittedly, I was a little nervous about this whole date. While the dynamic of our relationship had evolved a lot in the last few weeks, I still wasn't sure if this was going to last. In my experience, it wasn't difficult for Stefano to flip the switch.

"You look concerned." Stefano said as we sat down.

"I'm just thinking to myself." I admitted.

"What were you thinking?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and picked up a menu. "I was just wondering how long this was going to last." Admittedly, I was being a little bold, but I wanted to know.

"However long you want this to last. I won't be the one to walk away from this." He said.

"I don't think I want to walk away." I admitted.

He nodded his head. "Good."

"Great, now that that's out of the way..." I trailed off.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly and, surprisingly, Stefano was capable of making jokes. We were both in good moods when we left for the casino where he had to meet someone.

"This shouldn't take too long and then we go home." He said as we walked into the casino and sat at a table in what appeared to be a private section.

"Ciao, Giovanni." Stefano stood to shake a man's hand. I turned around to get a look at him and almost did a double take. I was positive that I knew this man. He was the one who had threatened my brother and me and he worked for Francesco. I spun back around in my chair so he wouldn't recognize me.

I listened as they spoke in Italian but I couldn't understand what they were saying. After a few moments, Gio left and Stefano sat back down. "That was Giovanni, he's selling this casino. He went to take care of something, but he's sending someone to take us to the back to his office." Stefano explained.

"Stefano, I know him." I said frantically as soon as he stopped talking.

He gave me a questioning look. "You know him? How?"

"Stefano, he works for Francesco. He was the one who was threatening my brother. He was the one who took me to Francesco." I said quietly. I glanced back to where Giovanni had disappeared, but I couldn't see him anymore. I looked back at Stefano, but his face was void of any emotion.

"You're certain?" He asked evenly.

"Yes, I'm positive." I was starting to freak out and I felt trapped. I had a bad feeling about all of this as I looked around the room. There were a lot less people in here than when we had first walked in.

Stefano took my hand, snapping my attention back to him. "Alaya, I need you to stay calm. This is a trap, but we have to make them believe that we think everything is alright. I don't think he recognized you so we have the upper hand. I need you to trust me and to do everything that I say. Do you understand?" He asked, squeezing my hand lightly.

I nodded slowly. "Okay. I trust you."

It was right then that someone else approached our table. "Mr. Colombo, I'm here to escort you to the back to sign some papers and discuss the arrangement."

Stefano nodded at the man and stood up. I watched him calmly button his suit before offering me his hand and helping me up. We followed the man through a door and down a hallway. He opened a door to a room and gestured for us to go inside.

"Giovanni will be with you shortly." The man said, closing the door and leaving us alone.

I looked to Stefano with wide eyes. "What now?"

"Wait, I'm thinking." He said, scanning the room. There wasn't much in here. There was a desk with some papers on it, a chair, a painting on the wall and a closet door. "In here." He said, opening the closet. It was cramped but we managed to both fit.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I hissed when my hips accidentally brushed against his. "Are you just always horny?"

"When you're near me? Yes, always." He joked.

I turned to face him, but whatever snarky remark I was going to throw at him died in my throat when the door to the room opened.

"When they open that door, close your eyes." He said quietly as the footsteps came closer to the closet.

"What? No, why?" I protested.

"I don't want you to see this."

"I can't protect myself with my eyes close!" I hissed.

"That's what I'm here for. Now close your eyes." Without another word, the door burst open and he started shooting, taking the men in the room by surprise.

They didn't stand a chance against him and before anyone else had time to realize what had happened, Stefano had put bullets in all four of the men. Despite what he'd said to me, my eyes were wide open, taking in the scene before me. Everywhere I looked, there was blood. I watched as one of the men struggled to breath, holding a hand over his bleeding chest. Crimson liquid oozed between his fingers, slowly draining the life from his body.

"I thought I told you to close your eyes. Don't look." He said in annoyance before putting a bullet in the man's head. Immediately, his body slumped lifelessly and all I could do was stare in horror.

My gaze shifted from the dead man to Stefano, who was watching me closely, his cold eyes calculating. "You should've listened to me. I told you not to look."

"You killed them." I mumbled in shock.

"Si, and they were going to do much worse to you. Dai, we have to leave in case more of them show up." He brought his free hand up to the small of my back, gently guiding me out of the room, his right hand still holding the gun out steadily in front of us.

He took the lead, putting me behind him as a precaution. I followed closely behind him, my hands shaking. The man in front of me was not the man I knew. The man I knew had the capacity to care, even if it was only a little. The man in front of me was a stranger. He was remorseless, deadly. He was a weapon.

The way he held the gun in his hand scared me. He didn't hold it like it was a weapon, he held it as if it was an extension of his own body. Another two men turned down the corridor and Stefano sentenced them to a quick death. I had to fight a wave of nausea as we stepped over their bleeding, lifeless bodies.

I just wanted this to end. I wanted to go home. In this moment, I wanted to be anywhere but here. I'd take the abuse of my aunt and uncle over this carnage. I didn't even realize I was crying until my vision blurred to the point where I couldn't see. I blinked the tears from my eyes and wiped them from my cheeks, but they kept coming. My breathing became more erratic and desperate, as if there was an immense weight pressing down on my chest.

"Alaya." Stefano's voiced sounded like it was far away, as if I was hearing it from underwater. "Alaya, you need to pull yourself together."

I stumbled as the room started to spin, my panic attack going into full gear. "Gesu cristo." He cursed, grabbing my legs and throwing me over his shoulder. I felt his body tense as more gun shots rang out. I had a very sudden realization that this might be how I died: thrown over the shoulder of the man I was doomed to love, in the middle of a bloodbath.

Suddenly, his grip loosened on me as we lurched to the side, thrown by an invisible force. My ears rang as I struggled to get up. "Stefano..." I cried out in fear.

Smoke and ash filled the room and I coughed violently, my lungs begging for oxygen. I couldn't see him, I couldn't see anything except the destruction happening all around me. I jumped when a pair of arms wrapped around me, lifting me off the ground.

"They set off a bomb. We have to go, there could be more." Stefano yelled, carrying me towards the exit.

We burst through a door and the cool night breeze greeted us, the serenity of the night mocking us and the chaos we just left behind. By some miracle, a sleek, black car pulled up by the curb. Stefano wasted no time in wrenching the door open and putting me in the car, scooting in next to me. Before the door even closed, the driver was pulling away from the curb and speeding down the street.

Stefano whipped out his cell phone and started making phone calls, all of them brief and in Italian. He sounded livid and I watched his jaw clench and unclench in anger. When his angry eyes met mine, I couldn't seem to look away. His eyes searched my face before flicking down to my body.

"Cazzo, Alaya, you're hurt!" He said angrily.

I looked down, surprised to see the front of my dress torn and stained red. Before I could say anything, his hands were lifting the hem of my dress, examining me. I looked down and immediately felt relieved that the scratches on my stomach were all superficial.

"It doesn't hurt." I whispered, closing my eyes and focusing on my breathing.

"You're in shock." He stated gently, or at least as gentle as he could get.

I moved his hands aside, pushing my dress back down. "I'm okay, really. It's just a few scratches."

"I'm sorry you got hurt. I'm sorry you had to see that." He asked quietly.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push the images from my mind. I felt a wave of nausea rush over me. "I'm okay."

"Thank you for saying something about Giovanni. Things would've been a lot worse for both of us if you hadn't told me."

I nodded, keeping my eyes shut. Images of Stefano shooting down those men flashed through my head. "I'm okay." I repeated.

"Alaya, look at me." He gently turned my face towards him and I opened my eyes. "You're crying."

Before he could do or say anything else, I threw my arms around him and let out a sob. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his lap, running his fingers through my hair. I held on to him like my life depended on it because, a few minutes ago, it had.

I had always known the truth about Stefano and the nature of what he did, but I had never seen him like that until tonight. The only times I'd ever seen him upset was when he was mad at me and he had a soft spot for me. Watching him kill half a dozen men without flinching was terrifying, but I also understood that if he hadn't killed them, they would've killed us.

"Shh, non pinagere. I've got you." He whispered.

(Don't cry.)

"I'm sorry for freezing up." I sniffled.

He ran a hand through my hair. "It's alright, it's over and we got out."

We sat in silence for a few minutes while I sorted through my thoughts, still processing everything that had just happened. "Thank you for the dinner." I mumbled, still clutching his suit in my hands.

"As far as dates go, that one was pretty bad, no?" He joked.

I gave him a weak smile. "It was nice until Giovanni tried to kill us."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

I nodded, tucking my head back under his chin. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

His arms tightened around me. "Always." He said. "You don't even have to ask."


Sorry if some parts of these feel kind of rush, I got excited and wanted to update lol. Don't forget to vote if you liked this and please comment and let me know what you think! Your comments mean the world to me.

-Emma🎶

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net