What did she want? What could a girl, who had everything, possibly want? That was the question.

"Guys," Bambina spoke with her mouth full, "you can go, he's not going to hurt me."

Everyone in the room began to filter out, leaving the two alone.

"You're not going to hurt me right?" She stared directly into his eyes.

"Have I ever?" To that, Bambina shrugged and put her sandwich down, no longer wanting to eat it.

It was silent, with none of them knowing what to say as the unfinished sandwich sat in front of them.

"Let's address the elephant in the room." Bambina proceeded to point at a small elephant painting on the fridge with a comical smile on her face as she began to laugh heartily at her own joke, lightly slapping her large stomach because she couldn't reach her thigh.

The tips of Marcello's mouth twitched up.

"Anyways, I'm pregnant, as you can probably tell, but you are not going to take my babies from me." She pointed a finger at him, "And if you try, I will raise hell." Bambina scowled.

"I don't want to take the babies away from you, I just want you." Marcello made his way towards her and she didn't stop him, "Bambina, I need you in my life. I made a mistake with even allowing that woman near me, and it will never happen again."

"I need you too," she paused, "but it's not that simple." Bambina sat down on a chair and placed her hands in her hair in frustration.

"It is that simple, I need you, and you need me. What's the problem?" It was Marcello's turn to scowl, and Bambina noticed a small white scar under his left eye.

"I have a mafia that I have to take care of, and so do you - " She was interrupted by Marcello.

"Just join them together, and we can both lead them!"

"Marcello," his name rolled off of her tongue like honey, "our mafias are different, yours solely focuses on drugs, but in addition to that, mine is situated in many different mafias undercover. Your mafia is giant, whereas mine is small so that I can know each and every member personally, I know their loyalties, and I earn their loyalty. It's just not possible for us to join together."

"We can work it out! Please, I love you!" Marcello pleaded, his hard persona flying out the window as he begged the small woman.

Damn those hormones, Bambina looked up to the ceiling, jaw clenched as tears threatened to fall all over again. Her throat blocked as she suppressed the cries, her cheeks burning, and her ears aching.

Her heart thumped loudly in her ears, as her stomach tingled. She tried to push all of her feelings deep down, but her raging hormones wouldn't allow it.

Tears began to slowly trail its way down her red cheeks, her lips sealed shut to prevent the choked sob that would sound.

As Marcello saw the shining tears, all he wanted to do was bring her into his arms and wipe the tears away.

"I love you, Marcello," his heart skipped a beat, "but we can't do this. These babies are my number one priority now."

"And they need a father!" Marcello spluttered desperately.

"I grew up oblivious to the mafia life, and I want that for my children, I want to be able to give them a choice, not force them into it out of a feeling of obligation and duty," Bambina started.

"I can do that!"

"Marcello, I -" Bambina sighed, shaking her head and rubbing her temples.

"Donna, Armando has requested your presence." One of her men ducked into the room, head bowed in respect.

Marcello couldn't help but notice Bambina's lips part in surprise, brows rising as she began to smile. Her elation only made him angrier as he stood wondering who the hell Armando was.

"Has he? Hope I haven't done anything naughty." She laughed lightly, wiping the tears off of her face as she hopped off of the seat, "Brady, show Marcello and his men out, we can reschedule."

Bambina ignored the voice inside her head that implored her to stay with Marcello and work out all their problems, but she remained steadfast as she continued to walk away, her heart hurting more and more with every step she took away from him.

She just reunited with him again, so why would she leave?

Armando was like a second father to her, he was her mentor and was one of the people who helped her adjust into her new role as Donna. Likewise, Armando saw her as a daughter, his own had passed away in a car crash that claimed his wife's life as well.

He was in his late 30's, with silver hair already. His face consisting of a beard that complemented his ice-blue eyes, he had many crows feet at the corners of his eyes as he smiled a lot, despite all of the loss that he had experienced.

Brady watched Marcello skittishly, his steps fast and uneasy as he led Marcello to where his men stood, and then to the front door, where he shuffled nervously as Marcello sent him glares just for the fun of it - also because he was beyond annoyed at the events of the day.

The sun had set and there was an uncomfortable chill in the air as Marcello and his two men walked to the black SUV's.

He could hardly believe that he wasn't putting up more of a fight, but they would meet again, he would make sure of it.

"Estelle!" Armando smiled widely as the pregnant woman entered the office.

"Armando," she returned the smile and kissed his cheeks, "how are you old man?"

"Do you really want to know? You haven't come to see me in ages." The old man frowned.

"I saw you a few days ago!" She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I could've died in my sleep during that time!" He protested as he sat beside Bambina.

"You're 39, I doubt that you'll die in your sleep." Bambina smiled in amusement and he scowled.

"Still," he muttered pettily.

"Fine then, I'm sorry Armando."

"You're forgiven." He grinned cheekily.

"So why did you specifically request my presence instead of just visiting and surprising me?" Bambina placed her clasped hands on top of her belly.

"I can't just request your presence? Perhaps I want you to live a long life, so I refrain from giving you a heart attack." Bambina gave him a look and he sighed, all humour leaving his face.

It was silent for a while before he opened his mouth to speak again, "We need to talk about Marcello."

Authors note

I know I hate me too but thank you guys for putting up with me and my lack of dedication.

I'm just going to use this note to promote my other book because I'm really proud of it, and it's almost finished (wow right?), I'm surprised too.

Make sure you check it out.

I love you guys, you all mean so much to me!

p e r s e p h o n e

a retelling of the tale of persephone and hades

---

"she wore silk dresses and flower crowns, she was soft and she was loved
and then she was stolen, this is the story they tell,

they don't speak of her rages, where she would pull rain from the clouds
and the flowers turned black beneath her feet,

they don't speak of how she laughed when icarus fell from the sky in golden plume

they do not speak of how she grew flowers because she liked watching them fade and die
and they do not speak of how she pounded at the gates of hell until they opened

and how she let the pomegranate juice drip from her smiling lips
and how even hades trembles under her gaze"