Friends are God's way of apologizing for your family.

~Dr. Wayne W. Dyer~

                                       Romano

I wasn't lying when I said I was jealous, I was so full of it I couldn't see straight. 

The fact that another man had seen her naked held her in his arms kissed her, and worse, he had been the first inside of her. These facts light a fire inside my soul; the smoke foaming around my heart and the hatred I felt was both unreasonable and hypocritical. 

She was right; it was her virginity to do as she wished. The reasonable apart of me understood that, but the man in me who had craved her for the last three years wanted to find that man, skin him alive and burn his dead body into ashes. 

Entering the bedroom in a clean suit, I found her standing by the window. She looked serene but lost in thought, a breeze whipping her hair around the shoulders. The site of her was mesmerizing, the beauty she represented was more than what the audience saw when she walked the runway;  it was the strength in her backbone, the fierceness in her eyes, the courage she must possess to choose a career on the limelight knowing Stefano existed. 

I made a promise right then that I will always protect her. If anything were to happen to her, I would go on a rampage, and the amount of wreckage on my path will be indescribable.

"Are you ready for breakfast, Bella mia?" I asked, coming to stand beside her. I could tell something was bothering by the smile she threw at me. I took her by the shoulders, slowly turning her to me. She smiled again, this time she allowed a little life in her eyes, but I wasn't fooled, something was bothering her. 

"Tell me what's bothering you?" She shook her head, a movement that appeared to be too much for her. Pulling her in my arms, my chin settling on top of her head, I breathed in her scent, in her wholesomeness, and if there was a God, I wanted to thank him for her. 

Come on, baby, I know you're hungry, let's go." 

"You're my friend, right?" She asked, choking down a sob. This was one sad girl, but I vowed to make her happy. 

"I will always be your friend, Bella mia," I promised, pulling her with me as we walked to breakfast together. 

                      Mia

The breakfast table was not what I expected. It wasn't even close to what I had imagined.  The woman I saw in pulse laughing was standing by the table with her hands full. One hand was holding what seemed to be a freshly baked bread, the smell of it hitting my nostril so fast I could feel my mouth watering.  

I wanted to know who she was in Romano's life, but I was scared to ask. Men like him had more than one woman; they probably had a Harlem

She must have heard out footsteps because she lifted her head and looked straight at me first. 

"Oh my God! you're Mia Bella," The woman said. She placed the pastries she was holding before she ran and stood directly in front of me. She had one of those few hospitality traits that I had met over the years. 

"My name is Sophie,"  she told me, taking both my hands in hers, chuckling as she pulled me over to one side of the breakfast table. "I hope you're hungry," the way she said it, you would have thought the food was cooked for my honor. I liked her immediately, she had a giving heart, yet I still didn't want her to be one of his women. I wanted to be his only woman. 

Romano chortled, sitting opposite me. Somewhat I had temporarily forgotten, he was there. I lifted my eyes to him, and our eyes crushed. 

"I wonder at how your mind works," he said. A mocking smile on his face. He had done it again, read my mind.  I blushed, looking away. 

I choose to ignore him and instead focused on Sophie. 

"He made you cry, didn't he?" She threw a scathing look on Rom. A look, while ferocious, spoke of how much comfortable they were with each other. 

"Why would you assume it was me?" The fake outrage in his voice was comical and endearing. The gentle look he gave her was almost strange on his face. He had never looked at me like that. From him, I only got lusty looks and anger, or maybe I was just letting envy win. 

"Men are always at fault. And from a woman's point of view, she wasn't crying because her pretty dress can't fit her anymore..."She was silent for a while, "You know what I mean?" He knew what she meant; I could see it on his face as he filled a cup of coffee. He remembered what I had said in a bout of anger.

"Eat up, Mia," Sophie said, pushing the freshly baked bread at me. I took a piece of it, filling my cup of coffee before adding a lot of cream in it. 

"Jesus, whatever you're doing to that perfectly brewed coffee is a travesty," said a new voice. He was as tall as Romano, but he had the most striking green eyes I had ever seen, and at that moment,  they were fixed on mine, a smile flirting on his mouth. 

"Piccola is right; you're beautiful" The cat must have got my tongue because I could barely speak. The man had a presence; the suit he wore looked wrinkled,  which meant he was just getting home. He smelled of tobacco and whiskey, but that did not disguise the fact that he was a good looking man.

I assumed Piccola was an endearment for Sophie. The men had a habit of giving their women endearments, and once again, I thought wrong. Sophie wasn't Romano's.  

I liked how they interacted with each other, how Bruno shoved Rom's hand away from picking a piece of bread, or  Bruno's chortle when Rom said he smelled like he spent the whole night sinning. 

"There is no such thing as sin," He said. "It's called living." He said, moving his eyes to me. "I would never make you cry" The twinkle in his eyes deceivingly showing a side of him that wasn't entirely who he was.

"Let's not resurrect the dueling culture," Romano stated dangerously. But the green-eyed man just continued smiling at me, totally ignoring him. 

"Well, considering it is fought at damn, I yield. I'm not a fan of dawn. I'm sorry, Bella." I laughed at the way he raised his hands on the air in surrender, and so did Sophie.  He took a piece of bread, eating the entire piece without taking a sip of coffee. 

"This is Bruno" Sophie's voice still carried some remnant of laughter as a new man came sauntering in the room. 

Jesus Christ, how many of these were there?

This one had a face that most women reacted to, a beautiful face yet hard. He was dark suit as well, his hair was a little wavy, but he had the coldest eyes I had ever seen but soft when they looked at Sophie. 

I was wrong again. Sophie wasn't Bruno's either. She was his. I thought as I watched him kiss her temple. 

"This is Mia Bella" 

He had his entire focus on me. I got a feeling he was evaluating me or my motives. God knew I had none other than Romano. 

"My name is Raphael," He said, sitting down next to Sophie. 

"Welcome to the Family Mia" He gave me a split smile before transferring his focus back to Sophie. 

Welcome to the family...He said. Those words felt odd but in a good way. I have had an experience with family, and there was nothing to write home about it. But to belong in a family that included Romano would be a dream I never had.