"I swear I couldn't love you more than I do right now. And yet I know I will tomorrow.

   ~Leo Christopher~

Mia

I have thought, quite often, that I've almost seen it all, heard the worst, and lived through the most horrifying episode of my life.

I was wrong. I had a bad premonition that I would see plenty and hear worse than my mind could possibly fathom.

Sitting beside Rom in that big conference room, looking at a man who was a priest, one who was meant to protect others, especially the vulnerable defend rape and admit albeit grudgingly to paying for sexual favors from minors was the ugliest thing I've ever heard. It was nauseous.

How perverted was that?

How can a priest stand before God and his congregation, knowing he was as depraved as this?

He looked pitiful with his shoulder slumped, his flair body seemingly tired, his eyes shining with tears.

"Your tears mean you know what you do is wrong." Devonni had said. His voice wasn't as hard and unforgiving as Bruno's and Rom.

There was a moment I thought Romano was going to kill him.

His eyes had been hard, empty, and vicious. It's one look I wish never to be a recipient of.

I didn't feel sorry for the priest when they bullied him mercilessly, not when he cried or when he said sorry over and over again, or when he got so angry and started telling the guys how sin is the same, and they were as sinners as he was.

Bruno was right, Mario was a twisted son of a bitch and deserved death.

Rom was right as well when he said if the scorching fire Father Jose talked about when they were growing up was real, then that's where he belonged.

Crisis averted, life spared, I thought as I walked with Rom from the office with my handheld in his. Bruno walked in front of us and the other two behind us.

The place was still fully lit, different cars parked in the open space, men standing on every corner. The area almost resembled an army base without armored vehicles.

Bruno stopped for a minute or so to talk to one of them. The guy must have said something funny because Bruno laughed out loud, then gave the guy a tap on the shoulder before turning to go round to the driver's side of the black Land Rover parked beside him.

I noticed the body of the guy Rom shot had been disposed of. No one would have known that less than an hour ago, a murder had occurred. But I will never forget it. One minute the guy was embracing Rom, and the next thing I knew was watching the man I loved kill another. I wouldn't be human if it didn't bother me.

"Get in, Bella mia, " Rom's voice sounded contrite as if he was sorry about something and was apologizing for it. I wasn't sure whether it was for killing or for putting me in a dangerous position. Whichever it was, the latter didn't need an apology; I loved almost everything about today, and the former shouldn't be to me.

I looked into his brown eyes before I got into the car, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but I couldn't. His face was closed up for me. His thoughts were his, and mine were ours. I wish I knew how to read him even a little. Why was it so easy for Bruno to do it, but I couldn't?

I knew it was ridiculously unreasonable to be jealous of him, considering they've known each for almost two decades, but I was.

I wanted to be his confidant, but I also knew I couldn't pick and choose one side of him, not love some of his parts, but love him as he was, regardless of who he was.

"Buckle up, Bella mia, you're in for another ride of a lifetime," he said as he slid on the seat next to me.

I wasn't sure what that meant, but I was glad we were finally getting out of here.

The place was symbolic and intimidating.

It screamed of power, wealth, and organized crime.

The minute we drove through the gates, l let out a breath I wasn't sure I was holding." You okay?" I nodded, touching the back of his hand lightly to reassure him though I couldn't voice the words; I was indeed okay.

The minute we got out of the compound, I understood what Rom meant when he said I was in for another ride of a lifetime.

Bruno drove like a professional driver who needed a warning letter not to drive like one on normal roads. He drove without caring about other motorists; he cut in traffic without an apology, drove through short cuts that Romano said he didn't know about, but I loved every second it. It was the adrenaline, I guess. I felt like l was leaving my troubles behind in every mile we covered.

Was it wrong for me to enjoy that moment knowing what I just learned?

Because I loved every second Bruno drove, and every second I sat next to Romano through that drive.

I love you, I thought.  I love you, I thought again, knowing there would never come a time I did not love this man. 

A few minutes later, Bruno pulled over the helipad. We were halfway home. I couldn't wait to eat; I was famished. The day's event had taken a toll on me.

"We are almost home." My man echoed my thoughts.

"Thank god, I'm dying of hunger. " I jumped off the car, placing my hand on his.

"That makes the two of us, Bella."

"Call her, Mia." Bruno smiled mockingly, his green eyes flashing in delight.

"No can do, Amico."

He ran off to the helicopter, leaving us behind as we walked hand in hand. But before we got in, Rom slid his arms around me, drawing me closer into his arms. I turned up my face to receive his kiss, sliding my arms around his neck, feeling his lips moving on mine. He kissed me like it was our first kiss. Like he hadn't seen me in a long time. Like he was apologizing, or in love with me. I loved every emotion that kiss evoked.

As I stood in Rom's arms, I realized why we had some time to kill; we were waiting for Devonni and Matteo; otherwise, Bruno, as Rom said later, would have bodily forced us in.

I learned a lot about Bruno and Rom's relationship during that short period of feeling fear and watching that unfolding confrontation.

It was the way he rushed over to help when he heard Rom was in danger, the way he stood over me like a commanding officer ordering me to drink up brandy.

I liked him.