A N D R E A 

True to his word Lorenzo had let me accompany him to the gym every morning for the last week, however, I didn't think he was teaching me anything worthwhile. For most of last week, I'd been doing cardio, while he would finish his morning workout. Though I had to admit, watching him, especially the way his taught muscles would strain with the routine, sweat dripping off him, was a sight for sore eyes. There wasn't much else we were doing lately, I would watch him workout while rushing through my routine, and then we go back to the penthouse, and have breakfast with the twins, until finally, he would leave, only coming back late at night.

I was getting angsty to do more, but after what had happened, I hadn't wanted to poke the bear, but as it seemed, I would eventually have to be the one to potentially ruin this twisted truce between us.

Lorenzo's eyes met mine through the mirror as he was doing a pullup, and the fact that I'd been staring openly at him was quite evident. My cheeks heated when he arched his brow, and I blurted the first thing that came to my mind.

"I didn't mean this when I said I wanted you to train me."

Lorenzo grunted before doing two pull-ups and letting his feet touch the ground. He reached for his towel, wiped his face, and all this time my eyes had zeroed in on his ripped stomach, and the way it glistened with sweat. I suddenly found myself parched and ran my tongue over my lips just as Lorenzo threw the towel on his gym bag, his silky strands matted on his face.

"And what did you mean?"

"I meant self-defense or something like that,"

Lorenzo tsked, "Something like that?"

I nodded, swallowing as he took one menacing step towards me, "How do you suppose you'll be good at combat with a shit stamina?"

My eyes narrowed, "I don't."

Lorenzo threw his head back, laughing, his shoulders shaking with the force of his laughter. It was the first time I'd seen him laugh, so freely, and playfully, and that too because of me. Despite my annoyance with what he'd said, I found my lips stretching into a smile, but hell, the unrestrained joy on his face was addicting. Lorenzo straightened, coughing to stop his laughing fit before meeting my gaze again, "Do you see yourself after climbing one flight of stairs?"

"That's irrelevant,"

Lorenzo shook his head before composing himself, and reaching for his water bottle, "You can't fight anyone if you get tired after barely moving your limbs, so yes, you'll be doing cardio for a bit, and then we can talk about fighting." He finished saying just as he uncapped the bottle, and brought it to his lips.

"It's not fair, you know."

"On the contrary, it is perfectly reasonable, Andrea." He put the bottle back in his bag, followed by his towel, and zipped it up, "Now if you're done, should we go?"

Exhaling, I started walking towards the elevator with Lorenzo behind me, his fingers tapping away on his phone's screen, back into his little bubble once again, making me wonder if I'd ever be welcomed into it.

*

Alessandro had to go out today, and Lorenzo was still screening babysitters for Riccardo and Tori, so that left me alone with them for the night. Milan was probably somewhere in the penthouse, but he usually kept his distance, and I could understand his distrust. He probably thought I would make a run for it, given half the chance. I'd taken Riccardo and Tori to their room, sitting on their playing mat with them, their toys surrounding us. Lately, their babbles were sounding more like words, but so far neither of them had said their first words, and Tori was already imitating Lorenzo's texting by tapping on one of her toys. Since then he'd made a point of avoiding using his phone altogether in front of the twins, but as of right now, Tori was trying to rip the ears of her teddy bear before getting frustrated and throwing it away,

"Vittoria, no, sweetheart, we don't throw stuff like this," 

She turned her head toward me, pouting, and the little devil knew she was too adorable when she made that face, "no missy," I leaned forward and touched her button nose softly, and she closed her eyes, a small smile on her face, "why don't you go and bring him here?" I pointed at the teddy bear she'd just thrown away, and she looked between me and the bear before crawling toward it.

Meanwhile, Riccardo had managed to stand with the support of their tiny bookshelf and was trying to pull a storybook out. I made my way to him, before sitting down next to him, "Do you want to read it?"

He babbled excitedly, and I reached for the book, "Why don't you let me try getting it?" Realizing that there wasn't a tantrum coming, I took the book, and leaned against the bookshelf, pointing at my lap for Riccardo. He fell back to his knees before crawling to me and climbing on my thigh.

Vittoria also crawled with her teddy bear and took a seat on my other thigh. I opened the book, making sure both of them could see it, and started telling them the story, going into more detail about the pictures each one of them would point at. My heart was always so full whenever I was with my babies, and feeling overwhelmed with emotion, I leaned down and brushed my lips against their heads before going for their cheeks, making them giggle. Riccardo blew raspberries, while Vittoria tried her hand reaching for my hair, huffing in frustration when she couldn't reach the bun on top of my head.

Oh, yes, that was another lesson I'd learned. Leaving my hair down around both of them was asking for trouble, so I'd just been putting my hair in a messy bun on top of my head because two days ago, Vittoria had even figured her way around a ponytail.

Ever the growing bookworm like his father, Riccardo tried to turn to the next page while I'd been kissing Vittoria, and I moved my hand from the page, letting him turn it, and this time before I could point at the picture of a duck for him, he was already reaching forward towards the picture, his tiny palms covering the picture altogether. I laughed before racking my brain for another story to tell them, and while I'd been immersed in my lame storytelling, I hadn't noticed that Alex had come into the room.

My words came to a halt when I noticed her, her phone out as she recorded me with the twins.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry, you looked so cute to pass the opportunity!"

She passed me her phone, the video she'd just captured playing, and while I'd been telling my story, both Rick and Tori's eyes widened as they tried to look at me, and the picture, before they babbled again, and when I tried to turn the page again, both of them shook their head no, before pointing to two completely different pages, and that was when I'd noticed Alex, and she'd stopped filming.

"It is cute, can you send it to me?"

"Already did." She nodded before taking a seat across from me, poking her tongue at the twins who giggled and pushed their legs up with joy, "Also I'm sorry for barging in, I tried calling but I can see why you don't have your phone on you,"

"Oh no, you know I love having you here."

"Of course, I'm excellent company," We laughed in unison, and the twins laughed too before Tori crawled off my lap, and made her way to Alex. She held up her hands for Alex, who took them, making her stand up.

"Look who's happy to see auntie Alex!"

Meanwhile, Riccardo moved closer to me, he was still shy and often took a few minutes after meeting people he wasn't seeing every second of every day.

Alex and I played with the twins for a bit before putting them to bed and leaving their room. I took the baby monitor with me and sat with her in the living room.

"All okay?"

Alex shook her head, "Uh.. yes?"

"You don't sound sure."

"It's nothing big, just Creed. He's..." Alex exhaled before leaning back on the couch, closing her eyes for a second.

"You don't have to talk about it," I smiled, reaching for her hand and squeezing it.

"Yeah, it's... just complicated." She toyed with her engagement ring, avoiding meeting my gaze, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say it was guilt-burdening her, but I'd learned better than to fill the silence with words.

"You know what? I" clapped my hands together, "let's watch something."

At that, she straightened, "And what will we watch?"

"Anything you want," I said, pulling her up and taking her to the home theatre.

"Even The Originals?"

"Alex, they die at the end!" I protested.

"That's the fun of it."

"You're a masochist," I shoved her playfully, and she only laughed as we settled on the couch in front of the screen, and I opened up Netflix before selecting The Originals.

"We forgot snacks," I paused the show, eyeing Alex, and she stood up before walking to the other corner of the room.

"I think Renzo kept some stuff here. Let me check." Alex opened a cabinet, exclaiming in relief when she found a packet of chips.

She dropped that on the couch between us and followed suit, settling on the couch, and I hit play. At least this way, I could help her forget about her problems. Even if it was only for a little while...

*

After weeks of letting me do the bare minimum, Lorenzo finally let me spar with him, and I couldn't say I wasn't nervous. We were standing in the middle of the fighting mat, and he'd just explained the basics to me, and I'd taken my stance following what he'd been saying.

Lorenzo stood right in front of me, "Put your hands on my shoulder,"

"Wh-what?" My nerves were starting to get the better of me, and seemingly, he noticed and took my wrists in his hands before putting my palms on his shoulder.

"Use this to keep yourself steady and jerk your knee up," My eyes widened as I hesitated, unsure.

"You won't hurt me, Andrea."

I knew I wouldn't land a blow, not today at least, but still, I didn't want to.

"Andrea."

I pushed my knee up, trying to do what he asked, and he blocked my knee with his thigh so I couldn't do any damage. Lorenzo barely grunted while a dull pain spread through my knee.

"Again. And harder this time."

I jerked my knee up again, hitting his thigh. He nodded, but still, there was no grimace from him, while my knee was positively broken right now.

"This will do for now." Lorenzo nodded before taking a step away, my hands dropping away from him, "now make a fist."

I fisted my hands, and Lorenzo leaned forward, "Not like this. You'll break your thumb." He grabbed my hand, fixed it for me, and tightened my fist. He touched it to the spot he wanted me to hit, and despite myself, I felt shivers passing through my spine as my blood whooshed in my ears.

"Hit me here, and stop hesitating, Andrea."

I punched him, and he tightened his muscles, barely even flinching. "Again."

I rammed my fist into his stomach again, and this time his mouth tightened, though I wasn't sure why.

"I'm sorry,"

"Don't."

"Now try again, and mean it this time."

I couldn't help the scowl on my face, and I leaned back, trying to gain momentum. I twisted my hips towards him and rammed my fist into his stomach. I could barely make out his reaction as I stumbled from the force, but before I could land face-first on the mat, Lorenzo's hands wrapped around my shoulders, steadying me. Here I was, barely holding my own, and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Easy." His warm breath fanned my face as my chest pressed up against his straining muscles. My mouth dried as I nodded shakily, still holding him.

He continued to teach me a few other moves before taking a few steps away from me, "Now I'll attack you, and you need to defend yourself."

I nodded, trying to breathe through my nose. I didn't know what had my nerves so charged, his proximity or the high-adrenaline stuff he had me doing.

"And Andrea?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't hold back. You can't hurt me."

I bit my lip, wiping my hands on my shorts, while he tilted his chin, eyeing me with cold calculation. I knew he was sizing me up, and I also knew he wasn't going to take it easy on me. That knowledge didn't help the tightening of my muscles when he grabbed me. I tried jerking my knee up, but he blocked it just as fast as he hooked his legs behind mine until he fell on the mat on top of me. Lorenzo stopped his fall with his forearms, kneeling between my legs as his heated gaze remained pinned on me.

"Andrea..."

I blinked, clearing my mind of the haze as I tried pushing my palm up to hit his nose, but Lorenzo blocked that by shifting his weight to one forearm and pinning my arms above my head.

"You should have dodged me when I first came for you. Now you're stuck, and your attacker will have all the power, and I don't need to tell you that not all of them will come for your life."

"How? You need one of your arms to keep you steady. How will you get any weapons?"

"I can get them, but that'll sprain your wrist at best and break it at worst, and I don't want to do that."

"Oh..."

"Yes, oh."

For a moment, neither of us spoke anything, and it was almost like the air became charged with a frenzy of static as the thread between us stretched tighter. My skin prickled with awareness as my fingers trembled with the need to touch him. Since then, Lorenzo had loosened his hold on my wrists, and he didn't stop me when I freed one of my hands and brushed it against his chest. Right above his heart. The molten silvers in his gaze were chased away by the deep blues of the oceans, leaving me with black butterflies fluttering in the pit of my stomach as I lost my voice by simply looking at him.

Lorenzo's eyes danced between my lips and eyes, and just when I thought he would lean in to kiss me, he whispered, "Let's go again,"

I opened my mouth to speak, but I could hardly breathe, let alone string some words together. I hadn't expected the bite of longing to wreck my heart even when his lips were mere inches away from me. For a second, when he leaned in, the ghost of his lips whispering against mine, I thought he'd surrendered, and my nails dug deeper into his chest, probably marking him.

He inhaled, before turning his head towards my ear, "I think you should spar with Alessandro in the future. This won't work out."

I mindlessly nodded as he pushed himself off me and offered me his hand to help me stand up as we went again, but I didn't think I was focused on learning self-defense anymore.

After we'd finished the workout, we went back to the penthouse, and I couldn't stop my eyes from seeking him out, even though he was barely paying any attention to me. The elevator had barely opened when Riccardo crawled towards Lorenzo, his diaper-clad bum moving in the most adorable of ways. Lorenzo crouched before catching Riccardo in his arms and holding him above his head, making him screech with joy.

He only noticed me when Lorenzo held Riccardo on his arm, and then he stretched his tiny arms towards me, flailing in his father's hold. "Now you see Mama?" I said just as I took him in my arms, peppering his face with kisses.

By the time Riccardo finished squealing, an old woman had walked in with Vittoria in her arms, whose own eyes had lit up at the sight of her father, and if she could, she would jump out of the sitter's arm to Lorenzo's.

"Sorry, Mr. Santini, he was too quick," Maria said just as Lorenzo nodded, taking Vittoria from her and pressing his lips against her cheek.

Maria was a kind woman in her early fifties and had been godsent with the kids. She was also nice company some days when Lorenzo wasn't home. Lorenzo had hired her a week ago after she came highly recommended by one of his Underbosses. And so far, she'd lived upto the expectations so there were no complains from me.

After we finished having breakfast, Lorenzo's phone pinged and he excused himself to take the call, rushing into the shower right after. Unable to shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, I left the twins with Maria and rushed after Lorenzo. I waited for him to come out of the shower, and I rubbed my palms on my shorts when he came out as I approached him.

"What's wrong?"

"Need to head to Boston." He reached for his charcoal suit and white shirt, quickly getting dressed before brushing his hair and spraying his cologne. Only then did he face me, "Alessio thinks he knows where Carlo is hiding."

My heart sank to my stomach, "What if–" I swallowed the lump in my throat, "What if it's a trap?"

Lorenzo leaned forward, brushing a stray strand of hair away from my face, "Are you worrying for me, mia cara?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because I've had a lot of practice in cheating death."

I scoffed, "That's reassuring."

"I'll be back later today," Lorenzo whispered before turning around to leave.

I didn't miss how he hadn't addressed a single one of my fears about him getting hurt, and that thought was enough to shake me.

* * *

Soooo... thoughts? Any theories?

I know this update was a little later than usual, but with all the uni stuff, I've barely had time to write, but I am hoping to figure out an update schedule soon!

Thank you for reading. Please vote and comment if you're enjoying the book!

Another one of the authors I absolutely adore is vayavaitsis Her mafia books are not to be missed!! The Morelli Mafia Series are exceptionally written and I'd say the perfect mafia books in terms of all the torture scenes, plus the addition of humor to it is so perfectly done, these books are the best of all worlds. In terms of romance, action and the highly creative dick names🤣🤣
On top of that Vaya's one of the most kindest people I know on here, she goes out of her way for everyone, and she is truly a queen in all senses! I absolutely love her and the books! Plus the paperbacks of the first two books in Morelli Mafia Series are on Amazon for you to buy(others are coming soon!) So if you fall in love with The Stallion(no it's not a horse😉), which I can bet you will! you can have him on your bookshelf with you! How awesome is that?

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