~ Gabriella's POV ~

"Adrian you need to tell me something, you never tell me anything."

"That's because it doesn't concern you Gabriella. Now please leave I have an important meeting-"

"It does concern me so, no I will not leave. I will be staying for your meeting unless you tell me what's going on." I narrowed my eyes at Adrian as I crossed my arms, refusing move from my place in front of his desk.

I heard Angelo laugh behind me as he watched this all unfold while Adrian just shook his head, mumbling something to himself under his breath before he stood up.

"We had an idea about who could help us figure it out-"

"We? We? You mean me. I had the idea, you just sat there." I turned to look at Angelo who was now standing next to me, also glaring at Adrian.

"Angelo had an idea. This person is supposed to be coming right now, so it's probably not a good idea that you're here-"

"The bitch is here Adrian." All three of us turned to look at Carlotta who was standing in the doorway. I watched as she stepped aside to allow us to see the brunette standing behind her with an amused smile on her very very red lips.

"Really Carlotta? We used to be bestfriends." The woman came into Adrian's office, her steps causing a small echo in the room from her high heels.

"That was before you were involved in a scheme that ended with my sister being killed by your ex." My eyes widened at Carlotta's words as she glared at the woman who just rolled her eyes in response. "I saved Adrian, show some gratitude."

When she said this she finally looked around the rest of the room, her eyes scanning over Angelo, Adrian and then me. Her eyes lingered on me for a moment before she turned her attention back to Adrian.

"You called?" She rose her perfectly plucked brow at him, waiting for him to reply.

"I need your help." When Adrian said this she looked at him in amusement as she walked further into the room. "You want me to help you get Matteo out of prison. I don't know Adrian, what's in it for me?"

So she already knew what this was about.

"Money, I'll pay you whatever you want." Every time Adrian spoke he used a cold tone, keeping all the emotion he was feeling out of his exchange with her. She nodded her head as she began to look around the room again until her eyes finally landed on me again.

"Who are you?" Her words didn't come out in a rude tone, just in a curious one. I gave her a small smile as I spoke. "Gabriella."

She still just gave me a blank stare until Adrian spoke.

"She's Matteo's girlfriend. Matteo's girlfriend who shouldn't be here right now." He said the first part to her before he turned to give me a pointed look as he said the second half of the sentence.

"No, I told you Adrian, I'm not leaving until I know what you're up to." Adrian's pointed look soon turned into a glare but before he could say whatever mean comment was in his head, the woman next to me started laughing.

"Oh I like you. I'm Antonia by the way." When she said her name my eyes widened a little and I took a step away from her as soon as I realised who she was.

I mean I guess the fact she just admitted to the fact she killed that guy Dante, should have been enough for me to figure it out but sometimes I'm slow.

Antonia was Adrian's ex fiancée, she was the reason Adrian cheated on Jordan before their wedding, she tried to hurt Leo by working with Dante, she wanted to take Adrian away from his family, she killed Dante and then Mia was killed.

Pfft, if anyone ever tells me I don't listen again.

When she saw the expression on my face she just laughed again. "So you know who I am? Brilliant."

"So are you going to help us?" This time it was Angelo who spoke, clearly having had enough of this conversation.

"Maybe." Antonia shrugged her shoulders as she leaned against the chair in the middle of Adrian's office, clearly enjoying the suspense she was causing.

"Listen, I'm sure you're just as busy as the rest of us so we don't really have time for you to beat around the bush. Personally, I have no clue how you could help Matteo since they never tell me anything, but are you going to help or not?"

By the end of my little rant, everyone in the room was staring at me with mixed expressions.

"So I'll just be over here." I pointed to the couch across the room and quickly went and sat down before anyone could say anything although I did hear Angelo laugh quietly to himself behind me.

"Antonia, Matteo's trial starts on Monday, so I have three days to find something to help him. I don't have time to mess around."

Maybe she actually felt sorry for Adrian when he spoke in such a dejected tone because she let out a sigh, nodding her head.

"Fine, I'll help you. But, you owe me a lot of money Adrian. I'm not doing this for free."

"I'll give you whatever you want. I just need to get my brother back."

After that conversation finished, hours passed while Antonia went through almost every single organised crime leader anyone could think of to determine whether they might have held a grudge against Adrian and if they had the resources to pull something like this off.

Don't ask me why I was still there because then you would be the same as Carlotta, her mom and Adrian.

The only welcoming people were Jordan who refused allow Antonia near her children or herself and Angelo who found my presence amusing. Mostly because it annoyed Adrian.

A couple of hours later Adrian and Angelo were busy going through lists of names when Antonia came and sat next to me on the couch where I was still sitting in Adrian's office.

"So, you're with Matteo?" I nodded my head in response to her question, although I did really want to comment on how obvious that was. That was the only reason I was here.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Officially? Around eight months."

My answer caused her to frown at me as she tilted her head to the side. "Really? Wow, that's a long time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I frowned at her in confusion at her shocked tone causing her to shake her head.

"Oh, nothing. Well, it's just in the mafia they don't really have girlfriends. If you like someone you marry them, that's how it's always worked. That's why Adrian married Jordan almost straight away. It's a tradition - especially in this family."

The moment I realised what she meant I couldn't stop the scoff that left my mouth as I looked away from her, looking ahead at the floor instead.

"I didn't mean to upset you Gabriella. I'm sure Matteo does like you, he's probably just unsure about marriage, or he doesn't like the family tradition."

I nodded my head as she spoke before I turned to look at her again. "You really are a bitch."

The second those words came out of my mouth she dropped her nice girl facade and gave me a sickly sweet smile. "I'm just doing you a favour. The last thing a girl like you needs to do is try and get herself involved in things she'll never understand. Maybe Matteo won't say it, but someone needs to. You will never be like us, you will never fit in."

"You know nothing about my relationship with Matteo."

"No? You said it yourself to me earlier Gabriella, they don't tell you anything. Do you really think Adrian isn't telling Matteo everything that goes on out here? Matteo already knows about all of this. You are the only one who didn't, because you're not cut out for this life."

I looked away from her again as she stared at me with her intimidating brown eyes. Anyone who saw the way she was dressed along with the confidence and natural air of dominance that she carried would be intimidated by her.

Especially considering I looked like absolute crap with my messy bun and bags under my eyes.

"Just face it Gabriella, it's the truth. I saw it the moment I stepped in here while you were trying to stand up to Adrian. It's pathetic - you don't have what it takes. Why are you even still here? No one wants or needs you here."

The whole time she spoke I tried my best to keep my emotions under control until she let out a small chuckle at the end of her sentence. The second she started laughing I felt the tears prick my eyes as I stood up, picking up my purse and my phone and leaving the room without looking back.

I heard both Adrian and Angelo stop speaking when I suddenly got up and left but I didn't bother to wait and hear if they were going to say anything.

I didn't let any of the tears fall until I reached the safety and security of my car. The second I closed the door the tears started rolling down my cheeks as I struggled to control my cries.

"In the mafia they don't really have girlfriends."

"He's probably just unsure about marriage."

"You'll never fit in."

"No one needs or wants you here."

She was right. I could already see it in the way Matteo's mom hated me, Carlotta hated me and Adrian just tolerated me. When he was here Matteo never told me anything to do with the mafia and I was never told anything about his trial.

I was just an inconvenience to his family, someone that was attached Matteo and they had to put up with me because of their love for him.

But I loved him too. Didn't that count for anything? I loved him more than I ever thought I could love someone else, every single thing about him was perfect to me. But I must have been less than perfect to him if he couldn't marry me; if he couldn't even tell me that marriage was the tradition in his family.

If he couldn't tell me that marriage was something his preferred over a relationship, he clearly didn't think I was worth marrying.

So what happens when I finally tell him? Now he's stuck with me forever, even if I was just something he had on the side for a while, someone who he never planned on marrying. He's got no choice now.

I took a deep breath after a few minutes trying to calm my sobs enough so that I could drive safely. When I was finally calm I turned on the car and started driving back to Matteo's house.

Was it even my house? I know he asked me to stay, but he asked me to stay while he wasn't there. That's not the same thing as being there and living with him.

I must have been in my own little world because before I knew it I'd pulled up next to Matteo's black Maserati and I got out the car going to the front door. It took me a moment to finally fish out my house keys from my purse before I unlocked the front door, opening it as I did.

The moment I opened the front door I heard a crash coming from inside the house causing me to stop instantly. I listened carefully with one foot inside the house as I waited for another sound to come but it was just completely silent.

It was probably Mr Skittles, he's always up to something.

After a moment of waiting I stepped inside fully and closed the door behind me, cautiously looking around as I took off my shoes. I put my keys down before I made my way into the living room in search for Mr Skittles when I noticed the door was shut.

But I always leave it open so that Mr Skittles can roam around during the day.

I slowly stepped towards the door, turning the knob as I pushed it open. The second it opened I was hit with a draft as I stepped into the cold room. The first thing I noticed was the window which was completely smashed leaving glass everywhere. After that I noticed the muddy footprints which started from the window and went around the room until they began to fade.

I turned around, looking into the hallway behind me before I turned back to the living room which was completely trashed. Just as I was about to take another step into the living room, another crash came from the kitchen.

The sound caused me to jump before I quickly turned around, facing the hallway. Probably very stupidly, I slowly made my way towards the kitchen, my eyes focused intently on the door ahead of me. The sound of shuffling continued inside as I reached for the handle but before I could grab it, the door swung open itself.

My eyes widened when I saw a masked man standing in front of me, he was actually pretty much towering over me. His blue eyes locked with mine for a moment when he stilled before he suddenly pushed me to the side.

I let out a yelp from the forceful push as I first hit the wall before I fell to the floor. I let out a groan as I looked up, watching his figure walk away from me out of my view. Moments later I heard another crash which sounded like a window smashing and then there was just silence.

First I just lay there for a moment trying to get over the initial shock of what just happened before I pushed myself up off the floor. I used the wall to support myself as struggled to stand up and then using all my strength I slowly made my way into the kitchen.

As expected the kitchen was exactly the same as the living room, it was just trashed. There was food everywhere, a few plates and glasses were smashed and the sink was overflowing. The first thing I did was go over to the sink to turn it off before it completely flooded the room.

I let out a sigh as I rubbed my lower back trying to reduce the ache from my fall as I looked around the kitchen like it would help me to decide what to do.

Common sense would be to call Adrian and tell him someone broke into the house. But have I ever had common sense?

No.

So I called Giovanni. A few days after Matteo asked me to be his girlfriend I finally asked him whether Giovanni knew about the mafia and the answer was yes. I wasn't even angry though, for some reason I didn't care at the time. Maybe it was because we were in his bed and my mind was too focused on other things.

Anyway, about half an hour later my brother finally turned up at the house. The first thing he did was give me a hug before he went around to have a look at all the damage.

"Do you know who it was?"

Of course I knew who it was, I'd recognise those blue eyes anywhere.

I shook my head as I carried on scrubbing the white carpet in the living room trying to get the mud stains out of it. "No, he was wearing a mask."

"Please tell me you saw that from afar..." I shook my head again at this as I continued scrubbing. "Nope, it was up close."

The room fell silent for a moment before Gio spoke again. "Did you get hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Gio, please just stop asking me questions and help me clean up. It's already really late and I'm exhausted." My brother shook his head as he came over to me, standing in front of me as I scrubbed the carpet.

"I can tell, you look exhausted Gabby, and you've been crying. What's wrong?" I let out a frustrated sigh as I put the cloth in the bowl of water before I looked at him. "Someone broke into my boyfriend's house who's currently in prison. That's what's wrong."

When I used a pretty harsh tone stating the clear and obvious facts to him, he let out a sigh and nodded. "Fine, I'll go and clean the kitchen."

I probably should have been a little nicer to him, but honestly I had a migraine, I was still in pain from when I fell over and all I wanted to do when I came home was cry over what Antonia said.

Now I have this to cry over too.

It took Giovanni and I a couple of hours to finish cleaning up the house and in this time he also boarded up the two smashed windows. The plan was to get them fixed the next day. I don't understand why Dean couldn't have just gone out through the same window he came in from.

Why breaks two windows? And, he didn't even take anything. He just trashed two rooms.

By the time we were finished and Gio went home it was almost 1am, which meant I felt like a zombie. I probably looked like one too. Once I'd taken a shower I put one of Matteo's shirts on like I did every day and then pretty much crawled into his bed.

The second I was in the comfort of his bed and his scent was wrapped around me, a few tears leaked out of my eyes. My mind went over the events of the day and the number of things in my head that were causing my emotions to go crazy as my hand went to my stomach.

"At least I have you."

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

Two days later

"Why did you leave like that the other day?"

I shook my head at Adrian's question as I continued to feed Caterina her favourite yogurt. She could eat it herself but I was meant to be taking care of her for an hour while Jordan took Mario and Leo to the park and I didn't feel like having to give her a bath when she got herself covered in yogurt.

"I was just tired." I avoided his gaze as he leaned against the counter in the kitchen watching me feed his daughter.

"Don't lie to me Gabriella. What did she say to you?"

"Nothing that I didn't already know." I glanced over at him as he gave me a frown but thankfully before he could ask me what I meant, his phone started ringing taking his attention away from this conversation.

I turned my attention back to Caterina, feeding her the strawberry yogurt as she mumbled away about something between bites.

"Matteo, hey." My eyes suddenly snapped over to Adrian when he said Matteo's name, but he was already looking straight at me.

"How do you even get yourself into stuff like this? Aren't you already under enough pressure with the trial?" As he became more engrossed into the conversation he was having with Matteo about someone, he finally looked away from me.

I heard Adrian talk to Matteo for the next few minutes about whatever trouble Matteo had gotten himself into in prison. That's one thing he never talks to me about - his problems with other inmates. He just never replies if I ask him questions about it but I know they exist, I did see the bruises the first time I went to visit him.

It's probably just something else he thinks I don't need to know.

The conversation continued for a while until Adrian hung up the phone and it fell silent again.

"What was that about?" He glanced up from his phone at me before he shook his head and looked back at his phone. "It doesn't matter."

"Why won't you tell me anything Adrian? Matteo is my boyfriend-"

"Gabriella it has nothing to do with you. I'll get Matteo out, why can't you just wait quietly and stop asking questions?"

When I just stared back at Adrian without saying anything he just shook his head again and left the kitchen. The only reason I didn't say anything was because I was scared I would just burst out crying again if I opened my mouth.

Every single day that this went on I just felt like I was closer to the edge of giving up. Being surrounded by so many people who wanted nothing to do with me hardly gave me the motivation and courage to keep going. But I couldn't give up on Matteo, he was the only thing on my mind, I needed him at home with me.

He needed to know.

His trial started tomorrow, I just needed to hold on until he was back. I knew in my heart that he would be back.

I let out a sigh before turning my attention back to Caterina who was just staring at me with a smile. When she saw I was looking at her again she opened her arms, giving me a wider smile.

"Hug?"

I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as I put the yogurt pot down and lifted her up from her chair into my lap as I hugged