~ Jordan's POV ~

The room was silent, the two brothers standing in the middle both with murderous looks on their faces. I made sure to keep my eyes on Adrian, I had no idea what would happen if I looked at Matteo, I'd probably have a panic attack or something, I hadn't forgotten the emotions and feelings of absolute fear I had when he attacked me in the dark in my own home. Something I never wanted to experience ever again.

"Get out Matteo. Now. I told you not to show your face anywhere near this family." I heard him let out an amused chuckle in response. "Like I said, it's my dad's birthday, I'm staying." Adrian shook his head and suddenly pulled out his gun aiming it at his brother. Instantly both of his parents stood to their feet. "Adrian rislasciarlo ora!" (Adrian drop it now.)

The sound of his father's booming voice caused Mia and his mom to jump slightly, eventually Adrian lowered his gun but kept it tightly in his hand.

"Someone get him out of here before I kill him!" Adrian was absolutely furious, I had never seen him this angry before. I was just as scared as his parents were but not for Matteo, I didn't want Adrian to have to live with the guilt of killing his own brother, no matter how much of a jerk Matteo was.

"Adrian calm down...please." At the sound of my voice Adrian's breathing increased and he just became even angrier. "Adrian please, let's just talk about this. Matteo is your brother." Mia had tears in her eyes as she tried to plead with Adrian who was seething staring at his brother completely ignoring everyone.

"He's not my brother. He's dead to me." Adrian's father stood between the two of his sons with confusion and anger in his eyes.
"Stop acting like a pair of idiots. Whatever happened, we discuss it, there is never violence in this house Adrian. Do I make myself clear?" The ex-mafia boss who was also known as the most powerful man in Italy at one point spoke with so much authority causing Adrian to reluctantly put his gun away and come and sit next to me.

"Are you okay?" I nodded and took his outstretched hand, he rested our joint hands on my leg whilst everyone else took a seat apart from Adrian's dad.

"Do you want to explain to me what your issue is Adrian?" Adrian tightened his grip on my hand and kept his head down refusing to answer his father. "Matteo?" I bit my lip growing more and more unrestful in this situation.

"Adrian thinks I hurt Jordan, what he doesn't know is that she came onto me, all I did was push her away and she happened to fall and break her ankle." My eyes flashed to Matteo's who was already staring at me. I just stared back at him in complete shock, unable to form any sentences.

"Jordan is that true?" Adrian's father, Dominico's voice was stern when he spoke to me. I tried to respond but nothing coherent came out of my mouth as I looked at the disgusted expressions on Adrian's parents' faces."I...he-"

"I knew you were a whore." I turned to Carlotta who was now standing next to Matteo with a viscous glare directed at me. "Shut up Carlotta it's not true. He's lying." Adrian stood up and mumbled something to Mia but I couldn't make out what he said. He pulled me up off the couch and helped me with my crutches.

"Believe what you want, just don't forget he's in the mafia, he's just as ruthless as I am and you are dad." I followed behind Adrian towards the exit, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I was completely overwhelmed by the situation, I didn't even expect Matteo to turn up never mind make up a lie like that infront of Adrian's whole family.

"Adrian stop." My husband stopped in his tracks at the sound of his mother's strained voice. "What are you saying?" Adrian turned around to face his mom with a blank expression. "What do you think?" I could tell Paola didn't want to ask the question but she did.

"Did he hurt Jordan?" Adrian let out a humourless chuckle and stepped towards the door. "He did more than just 'hurt' her mom." I followed Adrian out of the silent room all eyes on us, he stopped in the entrance hall and sighed running a hand over his face. "Jordan.."

I shook my head at him. "Can we go please? I just need to get away for a bit." Adrian nodded silently and made his way out the front door, picking up my handbag which was by the front door. I don't even remember how that got there.

We ended up driving for about ten minutes through the roads of Sicily, both of us lost in our own thoughts. Eventually Adrian stopped the car half way up a high cliff. I looked at the view in front of us, the clear blue ocean went on for miles connecting with the white sand beach below us. There were grey rocky mountains in the distance creating a slight shadow over the water.

"You okay?" I glanced over at Adrian who was staring at me with concern. I shook my head silently and continued to stare at the picturesque view. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Adrian. You didn't know he was going to be here, or say any of that stuff. It's okay." I had remained surprisingly calm so far, I expected myself to breakdown as soon as we got out of the tense and heated living room. "All of this is my fault, I should have killed him straight away."

"No Adrian, don't think about killing him. Promise me you won't do it, you won't be able to deal with the consequences, even if you claim to be cold hearted." Adrian shook his head and sighed but eventually gave in.

"I won't kill him but that doesn't mean I won't hurt him if he gets anywhere near you again." I gave Adrian a small smile before looking out the window. "So Jordan what do you want to do now?" His voice seemed a lot less angry and tense when he spoke to me. "I can't really do much on crutches can I?"

"I bet you don't even need them anymore you're just scared to hurt your ankle." He switched the engine on and turned to me. "I'm not scared, I'm just careful." Adrian nodded with a small smirk on his face. "Of course you are."

"I am!" I glared at him causing him to chuckle then he became a little more serious. "Okay, let's go to the beach, you can test your ankle and if it hurts I won't pressure you to walk without your crutches again, you can wait until you're ready."

"But..." I let out a sigh and nodded, I was worried it would hurt but I wasn't about to let him call me scared. "Fine but if it hurts you owe me." He chuckled and nodded as he started driving. "I'll do or get you whatever you want tesoro."

Adrian helped me out of the car then suddenly picked me up bridal style. "Put me down!" He ignored me and started walking towards the shore. He stopped next to the water and smiled at me before gently putting me down on the sand, I made sure not to touch my casted foot on the sand and used Adrian's arm to balance.

"Just put it down. It won't hurt." I bit my lip and shook my head. "No. I'm scared, you win, now take me back to the car." The sea breeze picked up around me causing my long hair to blow in the wind. Adrian took my free hand and held it tightly. "Just do it Jordan, trust me it won't hurt. I'm here, if it hurts I'll pick you up okay?" I looked into his sincere brown eyes and reluctantly put my foot down on the sand.

I closed my eyes waiting for the sharp pain to shoot up through my ankle, but nothing happened. I slowly opened my eyes to see Adrian smiling down at me. "See, you're fine." I held onto his hand giving him my own wide smile.

"You can say thank you now Jordan." I rolled my eyes at his arrogance but thanked him anyway. "Thank you." Neither of us spoke after this and we both stared at each other, only the sound of the waves crashing against the shore could be heard. Adrian started leaning in but I shook my head and placed my hand on his chest. "No Adrian."

I knew I'd upset him as soon as I stopped him but I wasn't ready to do anything with him again. Not after the way everything ended last time on our honeymoon. He looked away from me, I awkwardly stood there until he let go of my hand. When he looked at me again his face was back to the same cold guarded expression he had when I first met him.

"Let's go." He started walking away from me leaving me standing on the beach watching him, it felt like deja vu from our honeymoon except this time I was watching him walk away instead of the other way round. I started following him slowly, trying to get used to walking on my healing ankle, although the sand was soft it was still uneven and difficult to walk on. By the time I got to the car Adrian was already in the drivers seat waiting.

I got in next to him and he sped off, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. The engine revved loudly as Adrian drove fast through all the twisty roads, like he was trying to get back to the house as fast as possible. "Adrian.." I watched anxiously as he weaved in and out of the traffic, going faster whenever he had the chance.

"Adrian slow down." Instead of listening to me he got faster, his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, his jaw was clenched with anger as he drove. I felt my heart pound in my chest at his reckless driving, tears burned my eyes as we sped through the narrow roads way over the speed limit. "Adrian stop!"

Eventually he started to slow down but he didn't stop he just drove at a lower speed which was still too fast for me but better than before. In half the time we stopped outside the house, Adrian stopped the car and stayed sitting in the drivers seat,we sat enveloped in silence, neither of us saying a word.

Adrian finally turned towards me, the same guarded emotionless expression on his face. "Stay with Mia, don't leave her side. I'll deal with this once and for all." He got out the car before I could even respond, I followed suit and made my way back into his parents house. We had been gone for just over an hour but nothing had changed when we got back. Everyone was still in the living room and the room was tense.

"Mia, show Jordan around the house." Adrian stuck his head in the door to call his sister. She quickly came out and gave me a nervous smile. "Non lasciarla sola Mia, resta con lei." (Don't leave her alone Mia. Just stay with her.) Adrian told her what to do before going into the living room without sparing me a glance.

I turned to Mia who was already staring at me, I gave her an uncomfortable smile whilst she just stared at me. Finally she spoke whilst we began walking through the house. I was busy looking at the extravagant decor inside, admiring the great attention to detail in all the furnishings and aspects of the house. "Oh Jordan, you've caused so much drama...I love it! The only drama we ever have is when Carlotta brings her bitch of a friend Antonia with her to events or things." My eyes widened at the mention of Antonia's name and I turned to Mia who was staring forward absentmindedly. "What?"

"Huh?" She gave me a confused look. "Antonia?" Mia nodded slowly showing she was confused in my sudden interest. "Yeah..Carlotta's friend." I stopped walking and frowned. "Wait..Carlotta and Antonia are friends?"

"I just said that didn't I?" I was caught off guard by Mia's harsh tone, the sweet side you first see when you meet her disguises the fact that she's still related to a family of Mafia leaders. I almost forgot that. "S-sorry.." She just stared at me, she didn't seem angry or anything but her passive expression just made it scarier in my opinion. Suddenly she smiled and grabbed my hand. "Let's go."

She showed me around the house, starting with the ground floor; the kitchen, second living room, conservatory, dining room, her father's office (we didn't go inside) and the garden. The garden was amazing, there was an infinity pool looking out at the amazing Sicilian landscape, a hot tub, a dining area and grass area.

She then showed me around upstairs; the room where I would be staying with Adrian which was just as nice as our bedroom at home in Milan. She told me where everyone else was sleeping since only her parents actually lived here. Finally she showed me the third floor where there was a cinema room and a gym with a steam room and sauna.

I think she purposely kept me as far away from the living room where the rest of her family were because when we went back in that direction the sounds of arguing in Italian could be heard clearly. "Maybe you should try and stop them from arguing.." Mia turned to me and the same look from earlier replaced her sweet smile. "I'd rather not. You're welcome to though, I'm sure they'll all be happy to see the girl who's ruined my family's reunion."

I flinched at her cold tone, I watched the blonde walk away from me in the direction of the kitchen, she didn't even look back.

I opened my mouth to say something to her but closed it again deciding against it, who knows what she could do to me whilst Adrian wasn't around, judging by the way Matteo beat me up and the anger evident in Mia's tone, I felt like it could be very dangerous.

I quietly went up to the room where Adrian and I were staying, where earlier they had one of their butlers take our bags up to our room. I sank down onto the huge king sized bed, numerous thoughts going through my head. I didn't belong here, that much was clear.

These are people who 6 months ago I never would have thought to associate myself with, they're rich and stuck up, it's rude to say but it's true, and they're judgmental and intimidating. If I hadn't felt so intimidated and shaken by the events in the living room I would have explained myself what really happened. But I couldn't, I couldn't even bare to be in the same room as Matteo, and the way his parents stared at me in disgust and repulsion just made me feel even worse at the time.

I lay down feeling exhausted by the dramatic events of today, along with the early flight we took from Milan to get here. I must have fallen asleep for at least a couple of hours because when Adrian woke me up it was dark outside.

"Jordan." I groggily sat up whilst rubbing my eyes. "Come and have some dinner." At the mention of food my stomach turned and I shook my head before meeting Adrian's cold eyes. "Adrian I want to go back to Milan." As soon as the words left my mouth Adrian shook his head and walked towards the door. "Don't start Jordan, just come downstairs everyone is waiting."

"No Adrian. I'm not saying you have to come with me, but I'm not staying here. You can come back whenever you want." He stopped with his hand on the door handle then he turned around with a glare. "I've been arguing with my family all day for you, and now you just want to go?"

Adrian let out a dark chuckle and walked towards me. "Do you think I care what you want? You seem to have forgotten who I am tesoro. Now get your ass downstairs before you regret pissing me off even more than I already was."

I felt anger surge through my veins at the way Adrian had spoken to me, I'd had enough of the De Mancuso family for one day. "I think you've forgotten what I said to you the day you forced me to leave my family Adrian. I told you I would never change for you, and I won't. You can't intimidate and threaten me into doing what you want me to do. I'm going back to Milan whether you like it or not."

"Really? And how are you going to get there Jordan? I've got your passport, as soon as you leave this house, assuming you can get out, I'll have you found within minutes. This island is crawling with my men who would do anything I say in a heartbeat. Then, assuming you make it to the airport, you can't get on a plane, they all belong to me. So you're stuck and whether you like it or not, I'll punish you if you EVER speak to me like that again. Do you understand?" I glared at my husband who had done a complete 360 and gone back to the same sadistic, cold hearted mafia leader I had met that day in London; the man I hated with every fibre in my body.

I refused to answer him, I just glared at him refusing to break eye contact. Adrian stepped towards me and wrapped his hand around my neck, his palm was putting pressure on my throat cutting off the oxygen supply to my lungs. "Do you understand me Jordan?" I nodded quickly causing him to let a menacing smirk take over his features. My mind was flooded with images of Matteo's face when he held me in exactly the same position that Adrian had me in now, the person who promised me that Matteo wouldn't hurt me again, did exactly the same thing he did to me that night. He tightened his hand on my throat once more before letting go. I fell backwards onto the bed coughing and spluttering as my eyes watered trying to get oxygen to my lungs.

"I'll just tell them you're sleeping." Adrian spoke with humour laced in his tone as he watched me struggle to breathe, I heard him turn around and leave the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

When the door slammed I felt another crack in my heart form. I thought Adrian and I might have been okay, we weren't perfectly in love but we were at least a bit caring towards each other. But he just showed me he's incapable of caring or loving. He's a mafia boss and a monster, and he fits in perfectly in this family.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please vote and let me know what you think in the comments ❤️