Rose

"Ro?"

"Mmm. . ?"

"What's my name?"

My fingers gripped the sheets, my toes curled, my legs tingling, my head buried into the pillow as I bit my lip, holding back from moaning out loud.

". .Cristiano. . Rossi."

"If I call you baby. . .what do you call
me?"

Breathless, my lower body felt numb. I bit into the pillow, panting quietly. The sheets were tangled between us, it was so toasty in bed. I was sweating, holding back from moaning his name. I couldn't think properly, I was too distracted by what his fingers were doing to me in my underwear.

"You know. ."

My voice was strained, desperate, breathless. I softly let out a moan, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"I wanna hear you say it, baby."

"Cris. . ." I moaned, my voice muffled in the pillow. I squeezed my eyes closed, my climax coming.

"Say it, Ro."

I shakily let out a breath before burying my head into the pillow again as I moaned as quietly as I could, just he finished pleasuring me.

He lifted his fingers out of my black, lace underwear as I buried my head into the pillow, trying to regain my strength.

I heard him lick his fingers and I exhaled loudly before finally turning and facing him, our eyes locked.

"I'm not gonna say it," I told him, panting quietly. I swallowed roughly, licking my lips. He chuckled and I rolled my eyes. "We're not kinky."

"Isn't it a bit too late for that?"

I rolled my eyes as he chortled, leaning down and pecking my lips, moving my hair away from my face. He stroked it as we gazed into each other's eyes.

"My girl," he whispered, chuckling in disbelief. His sexy hazel eyes twinkled, hypnotising me. I licked my lips, looking back up into his eyes.

"I told you I'd think about it."

"Ro, stop playing hard to get," he softly whined as a smile formed on my face. "You know what you want."

I pulled him close and pecked his lips, caressing his cheek. "I need to go and get my roots done," I said, his eyes dropping down to my cleavage as I stretched a little. "Then I'll be back later, ready for the fight."

"You won't miss it?"

I shook my head, smiling at him. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Now, let me go, handsome, I don't wanna miss my appointment."

He groaned, burying his head in my cleavage. I chuckled, my fingers running through his soft hair. "Let me go, Cris." He kissed my breast softly, sighing.

"Say the word."

"What word?"

"You know it."

I groaned, beginning to push and wriggle around under his grasp. "Let me go!" I tried to pry his muscular arms off me but they wouldn't budge. I rolled my eyes, pushing and pushing him.

"Cristiano!"

"Say it, Rose!"

"Hell no, now let me go!"

"Say it."

"No."

"Say it."

"Get off, Cris! No."

"Say it."

"Let me - no!"

"Come on, Rose, you don't wanna miss your appointment, now do you?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake! Da-"

He looked at me, a wide smirk on his arrogant face. I rolled my eyes, huffing in annoyance.

"I actually wanted you to say-"

"Don't even, you cocky ass!"

~~~

In the salon, my thick hair was darkened to a deeper red.

I smiled in the mirror as I combed my silky hair, examining every strand.

Red was my favourite colour. I always wanted to dye my hair as I wanted a bold look, to stand out and prove to the world that I was strong, powerful and nothing could hold me down.

I thanked the woman who did my hair after paying, before slipping my coat and getting ready to leave.

However a familiar, desperate voice caught my attention.

"Please, auntie, I just need a place to stay tonight then we'll be out of your way-"

"Hell no. Get out of here with your brat. I see why your parents don't want you home."

"Okay, my daughter is not a brat, so don't call her that - she did nothing wrong. As for my parents-"

"I told your stupid ass to leave him and now look at you. Just go, and don't want you in my salon ever again, you're nothing but a whore."

"You know what? Fine! I don't need your fucking help anyway!"

"Don't you cuss in my salon, tramp!"

The door slammed and I quickly grabbed my bag, rushing out of the salon.

I didn't see her but I recognised her voice and I knew. I expected her to already be gone as I left the salon however as soon as I stepped out, there she was against the wall, her head in her hands.

She didn't see me and she slid down the brick wall, groaning in frustration.

"Tori."

Her head snapped up and her teary, bright blue eyes met mine. "Rose," she softly said, her widened eyes filled with surprise. She gasped, standing with a child in her arms.

"W-What are you doing here?"

I gave her a small smile. "Getting my roots done."

Then we looked at each other and she squeezed her eyes closed, her face crumpling. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her and the baby in her arms, sighing softly.

"What happened, Tori?" I gently asked, closing my eyes as my heart ached for her.

"It's such a long story, Rose. Everything's so messed up a-and I don't know what to do!" She shakily told me, her voice cracking as she tried her hardest not to burst into tears.

"Come on," I said, pulling away and meeting her eyes. "You can tell me on the way."

Silence filled the car as I drove for the first few minutes. I couldn't help but glance over at Tori who was holding her sleeping baby, staring out in the window emotionlessly.

I wanted to comfort her, help her but I didn't know how. I didn't want to pressure her into talking so I left it and waited until she was ready.

"Things were good for me and Rick at the start. I thought that he had changed and you were wrong. But then one morning, Riley and I had an argument," she began, her voice wavering a little as she stared out the window, swallowing hard. She blinked away the tears in her eyes and continued, "we just had sex and he yelled at me for not being on the pill."

I stopped at a red light, my eyes flickering over to her. Sighing, she went on as the light went green, "then he stormed off and left after arguing about who should be using protection. Thank the Lord I'm not pregnant," she whispered at the end, sighing in relief as she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them once more, gazing out.

"Then he came back in the night, drunk and angry about some kind of deal that went wrong. I yelled at him because I thought he was done with illegal stuff and because he wasn't taking his pills, then we argued some more and he hit me after I threatened to leave."

Tori licked her lips, swallowing and pausing for a moment. I stayed silent, letting her take her time. "Then he started hitting his head against the wall."

At the red light, I looked at her in shock, a strange look on my face. She glanced over and noticed my face, quickly saying, "he's got PTSD." In realisation, my eyebrows raised in surprise. I looked away, back on the road.

"I think that's what made me feel guilty and stay with him because. .he has mental health problems and. . .I'm the only person who's helped him through it."

"So, I felt bad and comforted him and helped him calm down. I started apologising even though none of it was my fault. . .right?"

"Right," I answered, giving her a firm, bold look. She nodded, exhaling slowly as if I had assured her.

"Then I helped him sober up and we went to bed. He apologised in the morning and all that crappy love stuff and I forgave him, as usual. Then for the next week, we kept arguing because he kept coming home late, drunk and smelling of sex. One day, I couldn't take it anymore and while he was with the baby, I just went out with some friends for fun. I didn't tell him so when I got back, he was pissed. So pissed that he started throwing stuff at me and. . .that's when things went worse."

"He got angry at every little thing I did and criticised me. He hit me and said I was a terrible mom and that I was a slut and so much more," Tori explained, a traitor tear rolling down her cheek as she tried not to cry. She sniffed, wiping it away swiftly before quickly wrapping her arms around her baby. "Once it was really bad and I-I ran in the bathroom and he kept hitting my head against the sink and choking me in the bath," she tearfully croaked, wiping her eyes as more tears came.

"Then on the final day," Tori quavered, shivering a little which made me tense up. "I was breastfeeding and I forgot to buy his stupid drink." She paused for a moment, looking down at the baby she held to her chest, the child's head buried in her neck.

"He said he'd never hurt a hair on his daughter and I knew he wouldn't because he loves her more than me, I can see it. But that day, it was all a lie. I didn't want him to hurt me so I didn't put the baby down and I was crying so she was crying, a-and he didn't like all the noise so he hit her so she'd stop. Then he grabbed her and threw her on the bed before hitting me. He got the belt and - " she stopped again, rubbing her hand through her hair as she exhaled loudly.

"When I finally managed to run away," Tori started, her voice so thick with hurt. "I thought it would be over. But it's not. No matter where I go, he'll find me, Rose, and I don't know what to do. I was gonna try and find you."

I looked over at her in surprise. "Why?" I softly asked, "why did you think of me?"

She looked over at me and replied, "I hate to say this but you know Cristiano Rossi and I thought-"

"That he could help," I finished quietly. Tori averted her eyes but I wasn't angry. I licked my lips and smiled saying, "we're going to my place now. Just know that after today, you won't see that bastard again."

We locked eyes and I smiled, looking back over to the road. I parked in the garage, turning off the engine.

I took off my seatbelt and Tori did the same, the child shifting in her arms as she woke up. I hadn't seen her face yet.

"Let me see her," I softly asked, a kind smile on my face. She returned the gesture and kissed her baby's cheek before giving her over to me.

The baby rubbed her eye that had a dark patch over it, that caught my attention, and looked up at me in surprise before yawning and resting her head on my chest, closing her eyes. She was beautiful. Tori chuckled, watching her baby as she smiled.

I shook my head, frowning. "God, this is so messed up. How old is she?"

"Eight months," Tori answered, smiling at her baby sadly.

I smiled as I looked down at her. "She's got nice, curly hair, just like her mama." Tori chuckled, moving her brown hair away from her caramel face. She had toned, glowing biracial skin and her daughter had it too.

"I called her Mira," Tori told me with a sweet smile. "My miracle." Mira's arms went out for her mother and I smiled, handing her over. Tori kissed her daughter, holding her close as she cuddled her.

My phone started ringing just as I was about to reply. I wriggled around and took my phone, Dax's name across the screen.

"He-"

"Rose, where have you been? Jordan was a fucking idiot and got himself food instead of for all of us! Cris went out and he isn't answering his phone, Gage went to see Gen and Jordan is at work. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Um. .cook?" I suggested, a playful smile on my face. I was sure he was rolling his eyes in the silence. I chuckled, "I seriously need to teach you how to cook. Food'll have to come later. I need your help."

"With what?"

"Come to the garage."

I hung up before he could say anything else or protest. I smiled triumphantly, putting my phone away. "So-"

"Wait, who was that?" Tori asked me, sitting up and straightening her posture. She looked utterly confused yet nervous.

"My friend Dax," I replied kindly, "don't worry, he's really nice."

"Dax. ." Tori repeated in astonishment, her eyes widening. "Wait, do you know his surname?"

"Uh. . .no. . ." I slowly answered, realising how I didn't even know my roommate's surname or his full name.

The garage door opened and I got out of the car, shutting the door behind me. Dax walked up, wearing some dark jogger bottoms and a grey short sleeved shirt that showed off his bulging biceps.

"What's up?" He asked, curiously, "it better be serious because I am so hungry, I could die of starvation." I rolled my eyes before glancing over at the car. "My friend Tori needs your help."

He looked at me in confusion as the car door opened as Tori came out.

Dax's eyes automatically widened and he took a step back, a wave of nervousness over his face. I looked at him oddly, wondering why his expression had drastically changed.

Then when my eyes moved over to Tori, I noticed how she looked shocked too.

"Uh. . ." I began, completely confused.

"Tori, is that you? . . .what are you doing here?" Dax breathlessly asked, his eyes expanding as they scanned Tori. "You're supposed to be in New Zealand." I furrowed my eyebrows, looking between the two of them in surprise.

A smile came onto Tori's face as she chuckled lightly, a hint of nervousness in her voice as she responded, "I moved back last year. New Zealand didn't feel like home."

I scratched the back of my neck, leaning against the car as I curiously watched the two of them in amusement.

"You're married," Dax said in slight surprise, biting his bottom lip for a moment before letting it go. ". .and a mother. ."

"No, I'm not married," Tori countered, showing him her bare left finger. She adjusted Mira in her arms and added, "are you guys together?"

Dax and I snorted at the same time. "Hell no," I laughed, as Dax simultaneously chortled, "as if!"

"Am I missing something here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I moved my eyes between the two of them.

"Tori and I used to date in high school," Dax told me, his eyes twinkling as they looked over at Tori who gave him a small smile. "But then she moved away and we never saw each other again."

In realisation, both my eyebrows raised and in surprise, I gave them a 'woah' look. "Cool. .well, Dax," I began brightly, changing the touchy subject. "We need your help." I explained the situation to him which made Dax angry.

"He had no right putting his hands on you," he coldly spat, his hands turning into fists by his sides. "Or your baby." Then he dug out his phone, dialling a number and saying automatically, "find Riley Tucker. You know what to do." Dax casualty hung up before reassuring Tori, "you have nothing to worry about. Trust me, he won't be bothering you again."

"Thank you," Tori gratefully said, blinking away the tears in her eyes. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"It's okay," Dax replied with a kind smile, his eyes twinkling as they gazed into Tori. They were filled with longing love, I could tell. I couldn't help but smile a little, their shy cuteness amusing me.

"Well," I started, grinning. "Dax, you know Tori. I'm sure you'll have no problem helping her out. Now, I need to pee, I've been holding it in for an hour," I told them with a beaming smile, rushing over to the door and leaving the two lovebirds in the garage.

I dashed into the house, bursting for the toilet. Jogging upstairs, I walked past my bedroom, deciding to use the main toilet until I heard a particular sound.

I froze in front of the door, walking closer to hear better.

"Mmm. . .Cris, don't stop, baby. ."

"Just like that. ."

". . .deeper, please, don't stop. ."

"Yes!"

I licked my lips ever so slowly, bitterness in my action. I folded my arms, scoffing to myself quietly. The need to desperately pee had disappeared. I was suddenly furious, angry, disappointed.

My hand hesitated to turn the doorknob but I thought better of it. I had the element of surprise on me and I was going to use it against him.

But in that moment of time, I was pissed.

This mother-

_________

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