POV: Angelo

As I walk over to the table my eyes land upon the figure of a familiar brunette, sat opposite my father.

My breath catches in my throat and my pulse skyrockets.

Other than the encounter at that cafe, I hadn't seen her in 7 years.
She was the reason I left in the first place.

It was stupid of me to think I could avoid her forever, in fact a small part of me always knew we'd meet again.

Seeing her yesterday caused all the memories to come flooding back.

She changed me. I'm not the same man I was before.

I was a stone cold killer when I met her, and now I'm even more ruthless. My name alone makes the devil shudder.

In these past 7 years I have committed sins so harsh, even I question myself. The darkness buried within me all surfaced when I left, and for a period of time I didn't know how I would survive.

I spent the last year recovering from the trauma of recent experience and I finally decided to return home for good.

It was only supposed to be a visit for business, but being back with my family has made me realise I want to stay. And if Aletta is here, so be it.

I can never forgive myself for what I did to her.

I'm not the only one who has changed though.

Yesterday, I identified a new found confidence in her aura. The way she spoke, so harshly, she's not a kid anymore. The way she dismissed me yesterday made me realise she's not the person I knew before.

I snap out of the trance I'm in and approach the table.

"Sorry I'm late." I announce, taking a seat besides Dima.

"Nice to see you bro." I say while giving him a pat on the shoulder.

Me and Dima have become closer than I could have ever imagined. It was tough when we first met, considering the circumstances, but he reached out to me often, visiting me as soon as he tracked me down.

We spoke often and soon enough became best friends.

I guess it's true what they say, twins are inseparable.

Despite us being complete opposites, we get along so well. And it's great being an uncle too!

Dimas two kids, Laura and Christian are great. Laura is such a diva and Christian is exactly like his father. I love being the cool uncle. Never would I have thought I would love kids so much, but I guess I do.

I exchange greetings with everyone, except Aletta who refuses to even acknowledge my presence.

Throughout the conversations that I engage in, my eyes constantly flick over to Aletta who chats away with Nicola, Bella and my mother.

She laughs so sweetly at the small jokes every now and then making my heart flutter. Time did her good, her beauty is even more captivating now, somehow.

I can't think that! I need to stop.

Snapping out of it, I look away from her and continue talking.

Soon enough the encounter is over.

"Hey Angelo, you wanna come over? Chris and Laura won't shut up about seeing you." Dima chuckles. Of course I accept and head out to the car park.

I turn the corner and there, leaning against my car, is Aletta.

I walk right over but she doesn't even budge.

I reach her and she straightens her posture and glares at me with those bright emerald eyes of hers.

"What is your problem?" She demands, crossing her arms while continuing the glare.

"Problem?" I ask, confused as to what she means.

"Why were you staring at me the whole time in there?" She seems genuinely cross. I've never seen her angry before.

I don't know how to respond so I remain quiet, simply watching her. She doesn't even flinch.

"What are you doing here Angelo?" She asks bluntly.

"I decided it was time to come home." I reply but that just seems to annoy her.

"Why the sudden change of heart? You couldn't have thought to come back, oh I don't know, 7 years ago?! You left me. Just like that. No explanation, no apology, so nothing. Did I mean nothing to you?" She says while waving her hands about doing hand gestures.

I remain silent. All words stuck in my throat.

"I see you have no capability of explaining yourself, how surprising." She sarcastically laughs.

"You don't get to just waltz back into my life like that you know. Acting as if nothing ever happened. Stay the hell away from me Angelo Santovendito." She finishes and goes to walk away but I grab her arm and force her to turn and face me.

"Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that?" I say, angrily, yet she doesn't even stutter, just gives me a disgusted look.

"Who the hell do you think you are, doing whatever you want whenever you want. You have no right to be angry with me, I did nothing. Goodbye Angelo." She finishes, and releases herself from my grip.

I simply watch her leave not knowing how to respond.

I was right. She has changed. I can't see even a smidge of her old self left.

I pull up outside my parents house and go straight inside.

I'm greeted by two cheery little faces who quickly run up to me and cling to my legs, hugging me.

"Uncle Lolo!!" Laura squeals and little Chris laughs as he clings to me as well.

"Hi chipmunks how are you?" I laugh while looking down at their rosy-cheeked faces.

"Look at my new fire truck!" Chris says while pushing a red toy truck in my face.

"I have one too!" Laura squeals while running over and picking up the same truck but pink.

"That's so cool! I'm just going to go say hello to your mummy and daddy and I'll come play with you after." I say to them before I head into the kitchen.

Dima and Nicola are sat opposite my parents talking and I head on over.

We catch up on everything I've missed in just over a year since I've seen them.

Soon enough Chris and Laura run in and drag me out to come play with them.
We sit on the carpet and play with their toy trucks for a while until they become tired.

They eat dinner at about 6 and we watch a film after. Honestly, the kids are great, but watching moana with a 4 year old and a 5 year old who know the words to every single song is not exactly my favourite pass time.

As the film finishes I carry them both upstairs and tuck each one into bed. Dima and Nicola join me in saying good night and after Dima and I head downstairs as Nicola reads them each a bedtime story.

I leave at about 10 and drive over to my house. It feels so weird coming back to my old house. The moment I step though the door flashbacks begin to hit me.

I remember movie nights with Alex and Bella, the laughter and relaxation of the three of us being together.

Then I remember the accident, me being concussed, losing my memories temporarily, Alex getting shot and having to assist in operating on him.

Both good and bad memories come flooding back, but even with the negativity it still feels good to be home.

It looks exactly the same as I left it, and it even smells of the same fabreeze Valeriya used to use.

I seat myself on the couch when my phone begins to ring.

It's Bella. I pick up.

"Hello." I say and she doesn't hesitate before speaking.

"Have you heard from Alex?" She questions and I reply no, confused.

"Ugh great. Well tonight he told Elenor about the whole mafia scenario, ya know? And she completely freaked out apparently. I haven't heard from him since he called to tell me this, I'm really worried. Aletta and I are going to go to his, do you know where else he might be?"

"No I don't, but I'll help you look, I'll meet you at his, text me the address." I say and hang up the phone.

I grab my keys and jump in the car.

He's an adult now, he can take care of himself, but Bella won't calm down unless she finds him.

If finding him gives her peace of mind, I'll do all I can to help.

I pull up besides Bella who is on the phone currently. I wait for her to get off the phone before approaching her.

In the meantime I can see a slender figure sat on the wall looking down at her phone, also waiting for Bella to finish.

She looks up from her phone and our eyes connect for a moment before she looks away and walks towards the car.

Bella hangs up the phone so she calls out to her, "I'll go talk to Ellie, you look for Alex." and Bella nods her head in agreement.

She gets into her car and drives off, but not before giving me the most deadly glare I've ever seen.

I tear my gaze away from the distancing car and look at Bella.

She says nothing, just shrugs and walks over to my car and climbs into the passenger seat.

I drive off and she tells me where to go.

While we're on our way driving around, we begin talking.

"Are you and Aletta still close? I remember during high school you were inseparable." I say calmly, masking the fact that as her name rolls of my tongue
My pulse quickens.

"Of course, she's my best friend. You know, she's really changed since you left. She's not the same little girl you knew." She says while looking at me.

"I know." Is all I say and she continues.

"When you left, it affected us all. But it affected her in a completely different way. The way she looked at you. How she acted around you. Whenever she was with you, she lit up. You were her first love, Angelo. She gave you a part of her soul and you crushed it when you left. That sweet innocent girl from 7 years ago is gone, therefore this time you can't just toy around with her."

Bella's little speech makes guilt full my gut.

"I know." Is all i reply with again. After all how do I reply to that?

"But do you? If you did, you wouldn't be staring at her every chance you get. I saw you the other day at brunch. And just now, you were watching her that whole time, weren't you? I adore you Angelo but Aletta is my best friend too. Stay away from her before you break her completely." She warns me as we pull up besides a park where a man is sat on a bench.

We approach the bench, soon realising it's Alex. But I can't let go of what Bella said.

How can I keep my distance when she keeps appearing wherever I go?

********************************************
Author note:Hey there!

Okay so I've really been motivated to write over these past days and I've had a creative flow which is why I keep updating lol.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Announcement:
I've pretty much planned out this story right up to the end and I'm predicting between 5-10 chapters until the end.

But fear not for I am already planning a spin off/ continuation of this story! (That is of course if you want me too?)

Hopefully this creative flow continues, lol.
I'll see you in the next chapter then!

Don't forget to comment and vote!

Byeeee :))