*Caterina*
I woke up with a start, looking around and trying to figure out where the hell I was. After a few seconds, my brain managed to catch up to my situation and I rembered that I was at the safehouse. I hated the room that had been designated as mine. It was small and cramped, and the walls were painted a shade of drab gray that I could only associate with prisons.
Elio hadn’t co back the night before, so I had spent the night tossing and turning, worrying over whether or not he was safe and wondering about what was happening.
I rolled out of bed and pulled my robe over my pajamas so that I could grab so breakfast from the kitchen. I needed sothing to eat before I could bother with getting dressed or thinking too deeply about where the fuck Elio might be. It made nervous that he hadn’t even texted an update.
It turned out I didn’t have to wonder any longer. Elio was in the kitchen already eating breakfast with my mother. A little spark of irritation started to light within , until he looked up from his eggs and broke into a huge grin.
That grin would be the death of . It left weak at the knees and desperate to rush over to him and do whatever he wanted. Thankfully, I was able to maintain a bit of self-respect in front of my mom by walking over and dropping a small kiss on his cheek.
“Where were you last night?” I asked, trying not to sound accusatory. After the stress of yesterday, I had really wanted the comfort of sleeping in his arms.
“I got back late and didn’t want to wake you. I was out with Alessandro and his n well into the night.”
He reached up and took my hand, bringing it to his mouth for a quick kiss.
It felt strange to be so open in front of my mom, but I loved that we could finally be a normal couple... well, as normal as two people currently hiding out in a safe house from a power-hungry mafia wannabe could be.
“What are you up to today?” he asked, still holding onto my hand.
“I need to get ready for the sester. I thought I’d ask Anna if she wanted to go grab textbooks at the campus bookstore and then show around campus.”
I glanced toward my mom, hoping she’d be pleased to hear that I was checking out the campus. I knew she cared deeply about my education and wanted to ensure that I kept going.
“I’d really prefer it if you just stay here until we get everything under control,” he said, his eyes pleading with not to turn this into a fight.
I wasn’t going to turn it into a fight. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to hide out in this safehouse for the rest of my life.
“School doesn’t stop just because my life has beco completely batshit insane,” I said, keeping my voice calm.
“Sweetheart, I really would prefer you to stay here too,” my mom chid in.
I had to actively fight the urge to roll my eyes disrespectfully. That was the old , I reminded myself. I was an adult now and I could make my own choices, but nobody would trust to make them if I acted like a brat, although I did feel deeply betrayed that she had taken his side over mine.
“I get that, Mom, but I need sothing normal to do today. If I just stay here twiddling my thumbs, I’m going to lose it. I’ll be perfectly safe going to campus with Anna. You can even track on my phone if that would make you feel better.”
“Wait, she can track your phone?” Elio asked. “I want to track your phone.”
“Absolutely not,” I said, walking away to grab a bowl of cereal.
I loved the man, but nothing good would co of him watching my every move. I heard my mom chuckle behind .
The rest of our al was spent in charged silence.I could tell that both my mom and Elio were damn near biting their tongues off to keep from telling what they thought I should do. I appreciated that they had finally learned their lesson and stopped trying to force to go along with whatever they wanted. I had to make my own decisions in life. I could not give up the freedom that I had finally gained when I moved to New York, it would only make want to run away again.
What Elio and I had was special and real, but if we wanted this to work, he had to trust .
“Alright, I’ve got to go get so writing done,” my mom said before standing up and heading back to the room that she’d claid for herself. “Please be safe, Caterina.”
Mom left the room, and it was just Elio and sitting across from each other, both knowing exactly what the other was thinking but refusing to acknowledge it. The tension in the air was stifling.
After a few more silent monts, he finally said, “I just want to keep you safe.” His voice was strained with emotion.
“I know it, and I really appreciate that, but you have to trust . I can keep myself safe. And I’ll call you if anything weird happens. Hell, I’ll even text you every half hour just so you know I’m doing okay.”
He hung his head, and I could tell that he’d given up on trying to convince to stay. I finished up my al and ran to my room to get dressed before he could change his mind.
While I was dressing, I texted Anna to ask if she wanted to et up. Luckily, she was available. I was sure that Elio would not want to go alone.
Elio ca into my room just as I was about to leave. There was a hungry look in his eyes that sent a thrill straight to my heart.
“I missed you last night,” he said, his voice gravelly. “I had hoped to spend the morning in here with you.”
I responded by wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss. I had missed him more than made sense to . I had tossed and turned all night, unable to get to sleep without his strong arms wrapped around . I didn’t understand how it was possible that I was already so addicted to sleeping with him.
“I missed you too. I promise I’ll be back soon,” I said as I pulled away from the kiss.
He let go, but his facial expression told how he really felt.
As I pulled up to Anna’s apartnt building, I let myself forget about everything that was going on and focus only on the excitent of starting at a new school. I had always been a sucker for new beginnings, and this was no exception. The fact that Anna and I would finally get to go to the sa school only made it better.
She bounced out to my car without a care in the world. It was strange to rember that not everyone’s world had been rocked the past few days. So people were just living their normal lives, free from mafia bullshit.
I decided that I wasn’t going to tell her the details about what was going on. Not only did she deserve to keep living her life naive of the dangers that lurked, but I also knew that she would be much safer if she didn’t know anything. Fuck, suddenly it made complete sense why my mom and Elio had kept so much from .
“Hey, girl!” she exclaid as she got into the car. “Tell what’s going on! How was your trip with Elio?”
“It was amazing, honestly,” I told her, happy to be able to gush about it without having to dredge up the mory of what had happened when we got back.
“I’m so glad, I want to hear all about it, every detail!”
We drove the rest of the way to campus with babbling about everything we had done on our trip. It was cathartic to be able to talk it over with her. I hadn’t realized just how much I was missing being able to be a normal person with a normal life until I got to be normal with Anna. It gave even more incentive to want to keep her out of everything.
After I finished talking about the trip, Anna asked, “So what ever ended up happening with the other stuff?”
It was obvious what ‘other stuff’ she was referring to, but I had no desire for her to know anything.
Without even thinking about it, I lied. “It turns out Alessandro is just here on regular business. I guess there’s a business rival he has who is resorting to illegal thods to compete with him, so he’s had to deal with that.”
She looked at with confusion, no doubt wondering why I didn’t ntion the mafia connections, but I wasn’t going to bring it up. She might vaguely know that my family had mafia ties now, but she didn’t need to know the details. Luckily for , she accepted my lie easily after her initial confusion, and the conversation quickly moved on.
We spent the rest of the morning exploring the campus, with Anna showing her favorite places to study... and to procrastinate on studying. I couldn’t wait for the sester to start. It was going to be amazing.
We were walking toward an old fountain that had so sort of tradition involving one of the fraternities.
“So apparently, they have to get in and dunk their heads, then tear off their shirts and yell out so kind of secret phrase. I don’t know. They keep it kind of mysterious. I’ve heard they only do it at 3:19 in the morning, and it always has to be at that exact ti,” Anna was explaining.
“That sounds ridiculous,” I laughed.
“Yeah, most fraternities are pretty ridiculous, I’ve noticed.”
We chuckled together and stared at the fountain, appreciating the beauty of it and imagining the absurdity of it being filled with a bunch of half-naked n. If they all looked like Elio, it would probably be kind of nice to see, but knowing what the average frat guy looked like, I suspected it wasn’t nearly as fun.
Just as I was about to turn around, I caught a glance of the one man I had hoped never to see again. My heart began to pound, and I reached out to clutch Anna’s arm. She glanced over at to see why I had grabbed her, then turned to see what I was looking at. As soon as she noticed, her face paled.
Paul was walking directly toward us.
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