My eyes burn with unshed tears, learning the fate of my old neighbor and my best friends' dad.

Uncle Timo keeps his eyes on me as he speaks again. "Frank left a letter, letting authorities know that he had relatives in Italy that would take care of Enzo, and he was sent to live with his Uncle, Cristian Romano.

Some are aware, The Romanos and Bracco's are the founders of the prominent mafia family in Italy, Fratellanza (Brotherhood). We broke away when my great-grandfather moved to the States in the early 1900s. But we've always maintained a good work relationship, which is why Frank worked for my father before I took over.

Cristian took over the Fratellanza at the age of twenty after his father passed away and is the current Don of the organization.

He took Enzo into his care, but in doing so, trained him as an elite assassin for the Fratellanza. As a result, Enzo completed his first mission or kill at only 13 years old."

I can't keep the tears in as I think of Enzo, losing both his parents brutally, so quickly. Then instead of receiving support, love, or help to cope, he was trained to kill, to murder. JP pulls the stool I'm sitting on closer to him and holds me as I cry quietly into his chest.

"Charmaine, cara, he's not the same person you once knew." Uncle Timo says quietly. I look up at him, and I shake my head disagreeing, but he continues.

"Doing what he does for a living, and to do it in the manner he does—he's known to be extremely violent, brutal, in his killings with both men and women, Charmaine. That changes you; he's not the same."

"No, Uncle. He is. I know he is. He could have hurt me, killed me even, but he didn't."

"Char..." JP tries to cut in.

I get up quickly. "No." I shake my head at all of them. "I know what you're all thinking. But Enzo wouldn't hurt me. He didn't recognize me at first—at the library when he attacked me—yes, that's true, but that's because I had colored my hair and don't go by my real name."

"What? Charmaine's not your real name?" Joey asks, completely confused. I roll my eyes at him.

"Not now, Joey," Tony states, irritated, and Joey clamps his mouth shut but still looks at me with his eyebrows creased.

"Stella," I say, looking at Joey. "My real name is Stella, and Enzo only calls me Stella."

"Cara mia," Uncle Timo grabs my attention. "I'm not saying Enzo is a bad person, necessarily; however, what he did and experienced molded him at a young age to think differently. So you need to be careful around him; you don't know what could set him off."

He looks at me thoughtfully before he adds, "I need you to see what he knows about last night, was he part of the gunman's crew. The video shows he shot the gunman as he pushed you out of the way, which I'm grateful to him. However, I'm assuming he kept the mask on to conceal his identity from those he works with, so it appeared as if one of our men killed the gunman."

"You mean she's still allowed to see him?" JP asks incredulously, and someone sucks in air at his question before I can.

"What do you mean allowed, John Paul?" I ask, enraged.

"Bad move, Romeo," Santino comments quietly, sipping his coffee; JP glares over at him.

"I think I'm old enough to decide for myself, who I will or will not be around, John Paul," I state, glaring at him.

"That's not what I meant, Char," JP reaches out for my hand, but I turn away.

"Yes, it is! You told me the other day that I was naive for believing he had nothing to do with Pop's or Shorty's murders. And the truth is, the person who killed them or at least was part of it was here, in this house, the whole fucking time!

For months leading up to their murders AND even afterward. Rubbing shoulders, with Uncle Timo, Tony, Tobias, and even you JP! Everyone! Before you question my judgment, maybe you should all take a look at yourselves!" I yell.

I storm out of the kitchen, with my blood boiling.

They can question my choices but won't do the same for theirs? Ha!

Why do men always think they know everything? I yank the door open to the gym and walk towards the bin, where I keep my sparring gloves.

I start throwing punches at the punching bag, throwing all my frustrations into each hit. But I also focus on the hurt and sadness I feel for Enzo and start kicking the bag as well.

"Well, I see your technique is no better than when I left."

I look over and see Santino standing at the door, his arms folded over his chest. He starts walking over to me, but I turn back to keep punching.

"Beh, (Well) come on. Let's see what you got, principessa." He puts on gloves and hands me headgear to put on. "Where's yours?"

"I won't need it." He smiles smugly at me, and I grit my teeth as I mutter under my breath about being surrounded by a bunch of cocky sons of bitches, before I put in the mouthguard.

He nods his head towards the matted area and walks toward the center of it. He turns towards me and gets into a fighting stance. He beckons me with his hand to start, reminding me of Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. "Let's go."

"You're no Keanu."

"You're right... I'm better." Santino winks at me.

My dad's voice comes to my mind; what I lack in size, I make up in speed and attack first. We circle each other before I move in, and I fake a high punch but hit his stomach and side with a combination, and he grunts when I make contact.

We continue circling each other. Then he comes at me with a speed that's almost debilitating, but I dodge his hits, barely.

I'm vaguely aware; we are no longer alone.

I don't know who is in the room with us, but several voices are now in the gym; I switch my stance to southpaw.

Santino grins. "Trying to confuse me, Bella?" I shrug in response as we continue to circle each other.

I decide to use the go-to move that I use on JP and launch myself on him and climb up over his shoulder using my momentum to swing myself, pulling him down to the mat, but he gets out of my hold and stands up quickly.

"Bene, (Good) I like that move. Too bad you couldn't hold onto it." He mocks me, and I hear some chuckles; I growl in annoyance.

"Come on, now. Stop playing around and try to do some real damage." Santino antagonizes me. He fakes a punch and goes in to pull my arm back, but I throw my other elbow back, connecting with his stomach.

I then throw my fist back, connecting with his face with a satisfying smack. He groans at the impact but sweeps my legs, and I fall back hard on the mat. I hear several people respond with a chorus of "Oooh's."

Santino comes over me, but I move quickly out of his grasp before he pins me in a hold, and he blocks a kick I throw at his head.

I throw a cross and a jab, and he doesn't see it coming as I hit his throat, causing him to choke and gasp. I throw another combination of hits at him and connect with his face, but he dodges the last punch and throws me onto the mat, falling on top of me, the weight of his body crushing mine, causing the air to leave my lungs.

He maneuvers quickly over me and puts me in an umbar hold, and pulls my arm back. I tap as soon as I feel the pressure on my elbow, and he lets go immediately. I lay there panting, and he holds his hand out to me, but I swat it away.

"Don't be a poor sport, Cucciola." He pulls me up to stand, and I look around and see the room is full of some of the men, along with my Uncle, Tony, Joey, and JP. I pull my headgear off and take out my mouthguard.

I unstrap my gloves as Santino starts talking to me. "I will say, I like that you use your size to your advantage and you're quick for the most part, but you need to be more efficient with your punches.

You attack first, which is good, but you get distracted by overthinking your countermoves based on what's thrown at you. We'll work on it." He punches my shoulder lightly before putting his arm around my shoulders, walking me towards my Uncle.

"She's grown fiery since I've last seen her," Santino says as we reach the others.

Uncle Timo smiles. "That she is, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

JP hands me a water bottle, and I take it, muttering a quiet. "Thank you."

Uncle Timo holds his hand out to me, and I take it as he puts his arm around me, pulling me away from everyone. We walk out of the gym toward the main floor of the house. "I want to apologize, I'm sorry. You are right; you are old enough to know if Enzo is trustworthy.

If you feel he is, then I will say no more, just please be careful." I nod my head in response. "Also, don't be so hard on JP. He cares for you and doesn't want to see you get hurt." I sigh, knowing he's right. He hugs me before I excuse myself to get showered.

As I step out of the shower, I dry off quickly, lather on lotion, and slip on my underwear before putting my robe back.

When I step out of the bathroom, I see JP is sitting in the chair in the corner and stands when he sees me.

He winces from standing up too quickly, and I walk over to him and hug him. I take a deep breath, his scent filling my senses and relaxes me.

"I'm sorry." We both say.

I chuckle into his chest as he leans down, nuzzling my neck. His stubble tickles me but not in a way to make me laugh.

"I didn't mean to make you upset; I feel like that's all I do, lately."

I shake my head. "My temper gets the best of me, too, JP. I love that you have always look out for me, but I need you to trust me when it comes to Enzo. Please." He nods against my neck.

I lean back, and he looks down at me as I reach up on my toes to kiss him. He returns my kiss, but then pulls away so abruptly; I almost fall forward by how fast he moved away.

I watch as he walks towards my door, confused for a second, as I think he's leaving, but he locks the door and walks back to me.

He pulls the knot on my robe and pushes it off my shoulders. He takes in my matching bra and panties, and his eyes darken. His uninjured arm wraps around me and he pulls me towards him, holding me flush against him as he kisses me hungrily, and I return the kiss just as eagerly.

He walks us back to my bed, and I break the kiss so he doesn't attempt to lift me with his injured arm. I climb onto the bed, and he climbs over me. He leans on his good arm and kisses me slowly, the way I love.

A moan escapes my mouth as he leaves open mouth, wet kisses down my neck, and focuses on my breasts. His long, deft fingers move under my bra straps, sliding them off my shoulders, and he massages my breasts gently before taking turns putting them in his mouth. Then, as he makes his way down my stomach, he stands up. "Move to the edge of the bed, baby."

I do as he says, so my legs dangle off of the bed. JP leans over, pulling my panties off, and then he kneels and guides me even closer to the edge of the bed; he lifts one of my legs over his shoulder and starts nipping and kissing my knee, working his way to my inner thigh.

I start panting in anticipation as his fingers reach for me, and he starts rubbing me in a slow circle and a wave of pleasure courses through me. I gasp when his skilled tongue is on me, sending me into a state of ecstasy. He sucks on my clit and then grazes his teeth over it, and I moan out his name.

I realize I'm loud, but at that moment, I don't care if anyone hears how he's making me feel. He hums in pleasure into me, and I grip onto his hair and when his tongue is inside of me.

I can feel the build-up coming to a peak; my legs clench around him, as the wave crashes over me, and I let go, letting the orgasm run its course through me. His tongue continues to lap at me while my legs shake as I'm still coming down from the high.

My head is hazy, but I sit up and pull his face towards mine, kissing him, tasting myself on his lips. I stand and turn us around as I undo his pants and tug them down, followed by his boxer briefs taking his hard dick in my hand, stroking him. Again, I push him down to sit, and this time I kneel in front of him and take him into my mouth.

He groans as I move my mouth rhythmically over him. I press my tongue on his tip and taste the salty fluid coming through, and he moans in response.

I swirl my tongue over him, and I pull off, deciding to try something different and move his long length aside as I lick and suck his balls. I push his legs apart more as I suck on one of his balls before putting it in my mouth.

He groans, jerking as I move to the other, doing the same. I move my tongue back over his length, licking and tasting him before I put him all in my mouth again and begin sucking at the tip and start picking up the pace.

I can see his muscles tensing, and I know he's close. I hum, and I know that does it for him to lose control as I taste the salty, tangy, almost sweet flavor shooting in my mouth. I sit over him, straddling him, and he groans when he feels me sitting over him.

"Fuck, I want to be inside of you." He says in his sexy low voice.

I feel excited at the feeling of him under me, no barrier between us, so close to what we haven't explored yet. I kiss him slowly, and he holds me, moving his hands over my breasts.

I moan quietly into him and press myself over him, but he groans and holds me with his good arm tightly, keeping me from moving. "Sorry, baby, it's sensitive."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know." I start to get off.

"No, not yet. I just want to enjoy having you on me like this. God, I want you so much." He kisses my neck and shoulder, and I shudder as his stubble grazes my skin.

"I want you too, JP," I say breathlessly.

"A few more days," He mutters repeatedly. I smile, hearing him, and wonder if this week will drag on, knowing we both are counting down the days until his stitches come out.

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