~ Gabriella's POV ~

I can't believe I told him I love him.

Of course I stand by it, I just never thought I would say it. I've never been in love before, so I've never felt what it feels like.

But when he said, I just said what felt right.

He ended up staying with me during the night since it was already pretty late when we finished our conversation and then our make out session after which wasn't really planned.

But hey, it was fun.

"Shut up!" I turned around to face Matteo when I heard him let out a pained yelp behind me. He narrowed his eyes at me as I whisper yelled at him, while he hopped up and down on one foot. "That freaking hurt."

"I don't care, shut up." This time he glared at me as we continued down the second set of stairs quietly - well as quiet as we could manage.

By the time we reached the bottom floor, Matteo was still glaring at me and leaned against the wall while he reached down to rub his foot. "Gab-"

"Shh!" Matteo rolled his eyes at me before he stood up properly and put his hands on my shoulders before he spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Relax. They're in the kitchen." I shook my head at him, glancing down the hallway towards the kitchen where my whole family were sitting having breakfast.

The one day they decide to act like a family is the day I have to sneak Matteo out my room.

"My sister has ears like an eagle."

"Hawk." I rose an eye brow at Matteo, stepping away from him as I did.

"What did you call me?"

Matteo chuckled at my question while shaking his head in amusement. "I wasn't calling you a hawk, the saying is 'ears like a hawk'."

"Oh." Once again Matteo just laughed before he started walking to the front door. It seemed like we were so close to getting him out before my family heard him. He was literally right there.

Until I realised one thing.

"You left your shoes here?" Once again my words came out in a whisper shout causing Matteo to look at me weirdly. "Where else did you want me to put them?"

"Idiot. Now they all know you're still here. Oh God, they're going to think that we-"

"Gabby? Is that you?" I closed my eyes in annoyance when I heard my sister call my name. By the tone she used I could tell she found this situation amusing.

"I'll be there in a second!" When I responded to her, I heard the sound of chairs moving before both my brother and sister emerged from the kitchen. My sister had an amused smile on her face while my brother narrowed his eyes at Matteo.

"You spent the whole night with my sister?" Giovanni stopped in front of Matteo who was clearly also trying not to show how amused he was by the situation.

I was the only one who was absolutely mortified.

I know nothing happened between Matteo and I, but the fact he got to my house at 6pm and is now leaving at 10am looks very bad. Probably even worse to my parents.

"Relax Gio, nothing happened." Matteo shook his head in amusement, patting Gio on the shoulder as he opened the door, taking my hand in his as he turned back to look at my brother again. "I'll see you at the gym later?"

Gio nodded his head before Matteo stepped outside, pulling me out of the house with him and away from my siblings.

"I can't believe you found that funny."

"Oh come on, it was funny." We came to a stop by his car and Matteo turned to face me, pulling me into him. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I have work, it's Saturday."

"After that?" I shrugged my shoulders in response while I was busy admiring his perfectly sculpted chest under his T-shirt. The sunlight was just hitting it perfectly.

Wow, sometimes I get so distracted by the weirdest things.

"Okay I'll pick you up at 7 then."

"What for?" He gave me a small smirk as he leaned closer to me.
"Our second date."

With that he gave me a quick kiss before stepping away from me. I watched him get into his car before I went back into my house as he drove away.

The second I set foot into the house my sister came running out of the living room. "That was so cute! You have to tell me everything, come on."

I didn't even get a chance to comprehend the fact she'd just watched that whole encounter outside before she grabbed my hand and dragged me inside the living room.

~ Matteo's POV ~

"You're late."

"I don't give a damn." Adrian narrowed his eyes at me as I shut the door to his office behind me, taking a seat next to Angelo who seemed like he was asleep. I stared him for a second as he sat there with his head thrown back against the couch, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open.

A small smirk tugged at my lips as I took my gun out from where it was tucked into my pants and held the cold tip to his temple.

"Give me your money bitch."

Even though I only whispered into his ear he still jumped at the sound, hitting the gun out of my hand as he sat up to look at me with an alarmed expression.

That's what happens when you grow up in the mafia, you become an extremely light sleeper. Leo calls them 'spidey senses'.

I couldn't help but laugh as he looked around the room for a second studying his surroundings before he turned to face me.

"You're a freaking jerk."

"No, I'm a freaking funny jerk." Angelo just shook his head as he took a deep breath while Adrian just let out a chuckle. At least he wasn't in a bad mood anymore.

"Why are you so tired?" I poked his cheek when his eyes started to close again causing him to swat my hand away. "I haven't been getting much sleep with two kids now."

All I did was laugh at his reason knowing it would piss him off even more. I did feel sorry for him, but it was funnier watching him get annoyed.

"That's enough. Matteo this is an important meeting, sort yourself out." Adrian sent me a pointed look when I poked Angelo again causing me to roll my eyes.

I watched as he came and took a seat across from us, letting out a sigh before he finally spoke. He was really dragging this suspense out. He refused to tell me what this was about when he started bombarding my phone with calls and texts earlier this morning which is why I had to leave Gabby's house so quickly.

"Remember what Fabio said a few months ago? About there being some changes higher up the government?" I nodded my head in response as my mind went back to that time when Adrian dragged me with him to go and see Fabio who was our main point of contact in the government.

"He was right. Almost everyone we usually pay off has been indicted with corruption charges."

My eyes widened at his words as Angelo sat up properly next to me as Adrian continued to explain.

"There were a few new people coming to work within the government and they found out about all the corruption going on. Anyone who was thought to be involved has been fired and maybe also charged with corruption too."

"That means we have no contacts." Adrian nodded his head at my comment, a frown forming on his face. "It could cause us a lot of problems. For now Fabio is still there and he's doing his best to keep any leads away from us. But if our names come up..."

"We'll be investigated." Angelo finished Adrian's sentence before I added a last part too. "Even if it's not corruption charges, they'll find a way to charge us for something."

It fell silent for a moment as Angelo and I digested the information that Adrian was telling us before my brother spoke again.

"Fabio said that they're eventually going to form a formal case on all this, and so they'll assign it to a prosecutor. Being able to get one of us charged and put in prison would be a damn career highlight for one of them. They won't stop until they do it."

"Adrian don't worry about that. Look, we have a heads up, we can stay under the radar for the next few months and keep our names clean. We'll cover up as much as we can and if we do somehow end up involved, at least we'll be prepared." Both Adrian and I looked over at Angelo as he tried to reassure us that it would be okay, but he couldn't see into the future. He couldn't be sure we would be safe.

"I'll keep an eye on the situation but you're right. We'll get started on that. Matteo, for anything that could be classed a crime you need to take our names out of it. Put a few more guys in between us and the guy we usually talk to. If we make the chains longer there's less chance the cops will find their way back to us."

"That's almost everything Adrian. Every freaking thing we do is classed as a crime."

"Well I suggest you get on with it then." I rolled my eyes at his words as he stood up and went back over to his desk, indicating that the conversation was over.

Both Angelo and I left his office after that, neither of us saying anything as I left him and went to my office.

I ended up spending the rest of the day doing what Adrian said and the next day too. I was so lost in the work I was doing, trying to make sure that every single transaction we've made in the last few months and anything up coming or present looked as legal as possible with as many names involved as I could.

By the time it reached 7pm the next day I was exhausted. And I completely forgot about my plans with Gabby until she called me. Answering my phone without checking who it was I mumbled a 'hello' as I read through another document full of figures and names.

This stuff was starting to hurt my eyes.

"Matteo? Where are you? I've been waiting for ages." When I heard her voice it took me a second to realise what she was saying before I let out a curse word, throwing the pen that I was holding onto the desk.

"Gabby I'm so sorry. I lost track of time I've been so busy with all this work that Adrian's got me doing. I'll be there in ten minutes, I promise."

She fell silent for a moment before she spoke again.

"If your busy it's okay, we can just do it another time." Honestly I hated myself for being the cause of the disappointment in her voice. "No, it's fine. Don't worry."

"But you sound really stressed out Matteo, I don't want to make it worse."

I let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand over my face as she spoke. I wanted this to be perfect, I was going to plan it all properly and take her somewhere that she would love. When I didn't respond she spoke again.

"When will you be home? I'll come over and make you some food, we don't need to go out today."

I definitely didn't deserve her.

"I'll be home at 8pm, but I'll text you before I leave here."

"Okay baby." With that she hung up and I let out a frustrated sigh, throwing my phone down on my desk.

I ended up getting back home before she got there and I quickly changed out of my suit into sweats and a T-shirt. I was busy on the phone to Adrian updating him about the work I was doing when the doorbell rang.

Opening the door I gave her a smile, stepping aside so that she could come inside while I spoke to Adrian. Of course he was still in one of his moods so I had to control my anger too as best as I could. The last thing I needed was to argue with him over the phone with Gabriella in the house.

I followed Gabby into the kitchen, watching as she started looking through my fridge to find some ingredients for dinner while Adrian continued to swear and shout about something or another. Thankfully he hung up after a few more minutes.

Once I put my phone down I went over to Gabby who seemed deep in thought as she stared at the packet of chicken in front her.
"How hungry are you Matteo? Will this be enough for you or shall I make-"

"Look at me." When I said this she turned her to head to look at me with a confused frown before pointing at the chicken. "But the chicken-"

"I don't care about the chicken." She still seemed confused as she turned properly to face me. "Why not?"

All I did was smile at her before I leaned down to kiss her. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before I pulled away. "I love you."

"I love you too baby." She gave me a cute smile before a serious expression over replaced it

"But really, is this chicken enough?"

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"You want to stay with me tonight?"

Silence.

"Gabby?"

Nothing.

"Gab-"

"I think I'm ready."

Once she said this she sat up from where she was resting her head on my shoulder. She turned her head to look at me, a small frown on her face as she took in the confusion on mine.

"Ready for what?" I could tell my cluelessness frustrated her when she let out a sigh, turning to face me properly on the couch.

"I'm ready to...you know..." She made some weird kind of gesture between the two of us and for a second I was just confused as hell until I finally realised what she meant.

"Ohhh...are you sure? Gabby we can wait, there's no pressure-"

"I'm sure, I'm ready - I don't want to wait. There's only one person I want to do it with and that's you." She probably forced the small smile that she gave me as she stared at me, trying to gauge my reaction.

"If you think I'm going to argue with you, you're crazy. I've been waiting for this moment for four months."

"What do you mean?"

"Since we met I haven't been with anyone else." My words came out casually while she just stared at me wide eyed. "But I thought you were the type to always be-"

"I was, before I met you. Ever since then I couldn't bring myself to go near anyone else." Even though it didn't bother me to tell her this (probably because I'd told her my deepest secrets so this was nothing in comparison) she seemed completely shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I rose an eyebrow at her in amusement.

"What was I supposed to say? 'I know we're just friends but I think I'm falling in love with you so I won't be sleeping with anyone else for the foreseeable future'?"

All she did was roll her eyes at my comment before shuffling closer to me on the couch. I watched her as she wrapped her arms around me, resting her forehead on my shoulder. "I love you Matteo."

"I love you too Gab Gab." When she lifted her head to glare at me for the use of the nickname I pressed my lips to hers, turning my body so that I could pull her closer against me. The kiss quickly became heated as she moved onto my lap and my hands went around her waist.

"Let's go upstairs." She mumbled against my lips before she kissed me again stopping me from being able to say anything else. She didn't have to tell me twice though. She held onto me as I stood up, carrying her upstairs to my bedroom.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

~ Gabriella's POV ~

The more I started to wake up, the more I became aware of the pain in my lower region, reminding me of the events of last night.

The way his hands caressed my body, the places where his lips touched. How gentle, caring and thoughtful he was the whole time. He made it absolutely perfect.

He made it worth waiting so long for.

"Are you okay?" I turned my head to see Matteo already looking at me with a small frown on his face. I nodded my head before I responded to him. "Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, you were deep in thought. I thought maybe you regretted last night-"

"I don't. It was perfect." I gave him a small smile as the frown on his face disappeared when I reassured him I definitely didn't regret it.

I could tell he'd been awake a lot longer than I had, he seemed alert and awake and he didn't have the husky morning voice that he usually had when he just woke up. The voice I loved so much.

"Good. Gabby, I know we were supposed to go on a date yesterday and I had a whole speech planned for this, but it can't really wait so I'm just going to say it now, but I've never done this before. Not properly."

While he spoke I turned over to face him, taking in his nervous expression.

"Ever since we met I knew there was something special about you, I couldn't take my eyes off you at the salon, I couldn't stop thinking about - even now you're always on my mind. Over the past few months I've fallen so hard for you and one day I definitely intend to make you more than this, but for now I'll just settle for this. So, Gabriella will you be my girlfriend?"

His words lingered in the air for a moment as I just continued to stare at him, the only thing running through my mind was how in the world did I ever managed to find someone so perfect?

I never thought I would find someone like him, I thought it was only in the movies or just the really lucky people who could find someone like him. Someone who they knew they were totally in love with - the good and the bad, someone who they could put their entire trust in. Someone who could make them feel like the most special and loved person alive.

But I did.

Somehow I did and there was no way I was ever going to let him go.

"Of course I will."

Finally!

The next chapter will have a time skip and there might be a few after that.

If you thought this was good (thank you hehe) the story is just getting started 😉

I've read a lot of mafia books on wattpad but I've genuinely never read anything with the direction that I have in my head for this book. I'm so excited 🤩