Budapest, Hungary

~Brie~

“Yes Steven. I'll be back before you can say sushi.”

“Sushi,” he said.

I chuckled.

“Take care of yourself, okay?”

“Of course, I'll take care of myself.”

“Don't cause any trouble.”

“I'll try.”

“Don't skip your meals, okay?”

“What are you, my mother?” I scoffed.

He laughed.

“Beware of Aiden Corleone. Don't fall too in love with him.”

I smiled sadly.

“Don't worry. That ship sank a long time ago. I know where I stand now.”

“Oh Brie...” he sighed.

I was in the car with Aiden and was on the phone with Steven. Aiden was driving too fast and looked very upset. I didn't understand him. His mood easily shifted from being so gentle to an asshole.

“Hey I had a dream Julio and I got married.”

“Married?” I grinned.

“Yep.”

I chuckled.

“That is a nice dream, Steven,” I told him. “Don't worry, soon your dream will come true.”

“I hope. He's a keeper.”

I smiled.

“Okay I gotta go now. We're going on a date.”

“Sure. Call me when you get back?”

“You got it” he replied.

I could feel his excitement.

“Love you, Brie.”

“I know... and I love you too Ste—”

Aiden suddenly stopped the car and my phone fell out of my hand and landed on the car floor. My eyes snapped to his face.

“What happened?” I asked.

He just looked at me, didn't say anything, and turned on the radio.

My goodness. He was trying to kill me now?

I picked up my phone. Steven was still there.

“Hey are you okay?” he asked when I apologized for the interruption.

“Yeah, yeah” I replied. “Just text me when you get back okay?”

“I will. Bye.”

“Bye,” I muttered.

For the first few moments of the car ride, things went smoothly. The music on the radio stayed loud and neither of us said a word to each other. Around the thirty minutes mark, we arrived at the gate of a beautiful stone house. The architectural design was a combination of classic and modern.

“Is this Ian's house?” I asked.

When I didn't get a reply, I looked at him.

“Aiden, is this Ian's house?”

“No” he firmly replied, then steered the car to the driveway.

“Who's house is this?”

Again, he didn't answer.

“Why are we here if it's not Ian's house?”

He still didn't answer. Was he giving me the silent treatment? I scoffed angrily. It was already late and he had dragged me to this place and was giving me no explanations. Aiden turned off the radio.

“We'll be seeing Ian Forbes tomorrow morning. It's already late so we'll be staying here” he said.

“Whose house? Yours?”

He stared at me.

“Yes.”

Of course. He just happened to have a house here... in Budapest... ready to be stayed in.

“I think I'd prefer to stay at a hotel tonight. I don't want to be anywhere with you. This is already too much for me. I don't need to stay in the same house with you. I'm only doing this for Cynthia.”

“Stay in a hotel if you want from tomorrow. But tonight, it's here with me.”

My eyes moved to his face. Here with him? Did he think this was some sort of honeymoon?

I rolled my eyes and exhaled heavily as he scoffed nastily.

“Don't worry, I'll stay out of your hair. Just minimize the phone calls.”

He looked irritated.

What is wrong with him?

Why bring me along when it seemed like I only upset him constantly?

The car finally stopped in front of the house and Aiden went out immediately. I followed him and climbed out of the car abruptly. His face went sour when he saw me already outside.

Wait!

Did he want to do the gentleman's act and open the door for me?

The irritated look on his face grew and he opened the trunk of the car and very easily lifted our luggage out. I followed him inside the building. The house was beautiful... both inside and out. My eyes roamed every corner. It was decorated nicely and the designs were fabulous. Not over the top, not below expectations. It was just perfect.

“This is a nice house,” I said to break the silence.

My eyes roamed the furniture, curtains, frames, paintings, figurines, and other ornaments.

"Of course. It's my house” Aiden finally said.

I scoffed.

“A 'thank you' wouldn't have killed you, Aiden” I stated.

He frowned at me.

“Are you here to teach me manners you very visibly don't have enough of or you're here to do your job?”

Unbelievable.

I slowly nodded and grabbed the handle of my luggage.

“Why wait until tomorrow?” I asked, stepping back from the foyer.

He slowly turned to me.

“I'll go to a hotel right now.”

He scowled.

“I said you can go tomorrow!”

“And I want to leave now!” I exclaimed back.

That got his scowl to disappear and be replaced with a regretful expression.

“Breanna...”

“I'm tired of this Aiden” I stopped him.

He lowered his eyes.

“I'm sorry.”

I shook my head.

“Aren't you always?”

He looked back up at me.

“Look, it's late. Just stay here. I'll get you a good hotel tomorrow...”

“No, I wanna go now” I insisted.

He sighed deeply.

“Fine. Let me just change and drop you...”

“I have a map” I stopped him again. “I can find my way around just fine.”

Then he frowned.

“Have it your way then” he said. “But I need you to be here at seven am sharp. We need to go see Ian and I will not tolerate any lateness from you.”

I nodded.

“Yes, Mr. Corleone.”

Something changed in his eyes with the way his name came out of my mouth. I didn't wait for him to start with his bipolar shit. I just turned around and left.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

~Aiden~

The meeting in the morning went great. Ian was thrilled to see Breanna. He'd given me another chance with his investment but he didn't want to talk about signing any documents until he was sure. Of what? I had no idea. The day ended quicker than expected and Breanna and I parted ways.

I placed an order for some Chinese food from one of my favorite restaurants. I showered and changed into a Polo t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I was sitting in the living room, watching the news when the doorbell rang.

I glanced at the clock.

“So soon?” I muttered.

I straightened my T-shirt before going to the door to open it. But when I opened the door, however, it wasn't the usual dark-haired delivery girl that stood at my doorstep. Instead, it was my favorite blonde-haired woman with her arms laden with binders.

“Evening Mr. Corleone,” she said, softly.

“Ms. Nolan” I replied.

Why was she here?

“May I come in?”

I blinked.

“Err... yes, yes. Please come in” I stammered a bit. “Can I help you with those?”

“No, that's fine, I've got it,” she said, shaking her head.

I stepped aside, letting her walk into the entryway. She stood a few feet away from me, waiting for further instructions. I closed the door and led her into the living area.

“I can't get over how beautiful this place is,” she muttered.

“Thank you,” I said this time, grinning sheepishly.

When she looked around a little more, she quickly turned to look at me.

“I'm sorry. Am I early?”

I chuckled softly.

“I wasn't expecting you so... no. You're right on time.”

She arched a brow.

“You asked me to bring these files to you.”

I did?

I knew I did. I just didn't have time to come up with an answer for the 'why'.

“Yes. You can put those down on this table.”

She followed me over to the coffee table and carefully placed all the binders in a corner.

“Can I get you a drink?” I offered, already moving over to the bar so she'd have a hard time refusing.

Breanna shook her head.

“No, thank you. I just had dinner with Xenia.”

“How about a soda?” I asked with a smile.

She nibbled her lower lip for a while before nodding.

“Sure. Thank you.”

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a soda and a platter of snacks and went back into the living room. I handed Breanna the soda and put the platter down on the table, before taking a seat myself.

“Thank you for coming with me, Breanna,” I told her.

She snapped her head in my direction.

“You didn't exactly give me any other options,” she said. “And I'm doing this for Cynthia.”

I nodded.

“Are those yours?” she asked, nodding to a shelf of trophies on the bookshelf behind the couch.

“Yeah,” I let my words trail off, as she got up to go over to look at them.

I walked over to her, standing behind her, reading the plaques over her shoulder. There were awards that I had won for business and entrepreneurship over the years.

“Congratulations on Entrepreneur of the Year,” she said.

That was in 2015.

I smiled.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, what's this? Excellence in piano study?” she turned her head to me, with a playful smile on
her face.

She nodded to the piano that sat in the corner of the room.

“Then I guess that's not just for decoration.”

I chuckled as I perched myself on the backrest of the couch.

“I guess not. And I can't lie. I haven't played in a while,” I confessed.

She turned her body to face me.

“That's a shame. Judging by the numerous awards that you do have, you must be extremely good at it.”

I shrugged and looked around.

“Ice skating?” she asked as she picked up one trophy. “Ballet?!” she cried in surprise as she lifted another.

“Those belong to Iris.”

She chuckled and put them back.

“Wait, you played basketball in college?” she asked, pointing to a trophy in the back.

“Nah. I just stole it to show athletic prowess,” I said, sarcastically.

She threw her head back and laughed and I realized at that moment, that I was never going to get her out of my heart no matter how hard I tried. She was wearing a light blue polka-dot dress and a pair of wedge heels.

Her hair was held out of her face with a light blue clip that matched her dress. She walked past the piano and towards the glass panes.

“The view from the apartment is amazing,” she said. “You can see the twinkling lights from buildings and the planes. And when you looked down, you can see people on the street and the blinking of lights from all the vehicles on the road. Reminds me of New York.”

“It is loud though” I chipped in.

“Yeah,” she dragged. “But you can see almost the whole city from up there so it's worth it.”

I made a face.

“Wait, I thought you were staying at a hotel.”

She turned away from the window.

“I was. But Xenia didn't like it so she forcefully upgraded me to a penthouse apartment this afternoon.”

I nodded.

“I see.”

She looked away again.

“Breanna?” I called, slowly joining her by the window.

She turned.

“Look, I'm truly very sorry for how I act sometimes.”

She nodded.

“I'm sure you are,” she said and turned away again.

“Breanna...” I said softly taking her hand.

Her head snapped back to my face and then she glanced at her hand in mine.

“I mean it. I'm sorry” I whispered.

She just stared at me. I squeezed her hand and that got her to blink and move a bit further from me, our hands still intact.

“You don't have to take it, Breanna. You can fire back.”

“It's okay, Mr. Corleone. You were angry and I understand. We all have our bad days” she finished with a light chuckle.

I looked at her. Did she not believe me? Or she was tired of me?

I opened my mouth to reply, but the doorbell rang, cutting me off. Breanna quickly let go of my hand and moved away from me.

“I should get going now, Mr. Corleone. I need to get back and call my son” she announced, already walking to the entryway.

She opened the door and smiled at the delivery girl.

“Have a goodnight, Mr. Corleone.”

And she walked away, not waiting to hear my reply.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

~Brie~

“You went bungee jumping? Without me?!” I asked, a bit hurt.

“Oh c'mon, Brie. Don't be like that” Steven chuckled. “You're not the outdoorsy type.”

“So? You don't treat the people you love like that Steven” I accused. “You waited for me to not be available before deciding to go bungee jumping. Shame on you.”

He chuckled.

“How's your boss? Have your feelings for him gone poof?”.

“You're enjoying this aren't you, Steven?”

“Yes,” he admitted.

I rolled my eyes.

“How's it like being along with him twenty-four-seven?”

I shrugged and checked my nails.

“It's only Tuesday so... I don't know.”

“You don't know? Girl! Get your acts together!”

“What acts? I am done being played, okay? There's nothing for me with Aiden, Steven. I'm serious” I sighed.

Just then I spotted him and my eyes widened. Did he hear that?

Oh, God.

With a scowl on his face, he entered his home office.

“Um... Steven? I gotta go. I'll call you in the evening.”

I quickly hung up and sat up.

Did he hear that?

Just then the telephone rang. He never called through it. He'd just stand at the entrance of his home office, smile and signal me over if he needed something. It rang continuously before I picked it up.

“Hello, Mr. Corl—” I was cut off by Aiden's voice.

“Come into my office right now” he ordered, giving me no room to answer.

I got up, straightened my blouse, and moved toward his home office. We worked together from his home. I knocked and entered slowly and carefully.

“You called for me, sir?” I asked nervously.

“I need you to redo this paperwork” he stated, dropping the pen he was holding from his hand to the table.

“Again?” I asked.

“Did I stutter?”

He was angrier than usual.

“But I've done it four times already... just today.”

“And I'm still not happy with your work so do it again.”

“But I—”

“You seem to have a lot of free time on your hands to be making personal phone calls so do it again.”

“I'm on my lunch break.”

“And instead of eating, you'd prefer to chat all afternoon with your little boyfriend.”

We were coming back to this?

“Do it again” he ordered and dropped the file on his desk.

I picked it up and flipped through it.

“Could you please at least point out where I had it wrong this time?”

“I didn't for the last four, why would I for this one?” he snapped.

I frowned.

“Get it done,” he said and got up from his chair.

“No!” I refused, slamming the file back onto his desk.

“Excuse me?”

“No!” I repeated.

He frowned back at me.

“I am sick and tired of your nasty mood swings. Who exactly do you think you are to treat me like that huh?!”

“Your boss!”

“Then don't be unreasonable Mr. Corleone!”

He frowned harder and I crossed my arms angrily over my chest.

“Screw you!”

He scoffed.

“Like you've been screwing Steven?”

“Oh, God!” I groaned. “What do you care huh?! What is your problem?”

“What is your problem?!” he screamed at me.

I jumped back.

“Do you have any idea what it feels like to be like this huh?! You make me so happy and angry, all at the same time! Do you see what you're doing to me?! The photos, the presentation file, that's not who I am. I don't sabotage or ruin people's work! But you! You made me do all those things! You!”

He was inches away from me, so I took several steps back... just in case.

“It's Steven this, and Steven that, that's all I've been hearing since this trip began. And you can't even tell how mad it makes me feel that you're looking at another man when I have these strong feelings... all for you! Only for you!”

Wait what?!

“So if anyone is being unreasonable, it's you, Breanna. You” he ended with annoyance thick in his tone.

Hold on!

“Mr. Corl—”

“Aiden. Call me Aiden” and this was not a request.

He stepped closer to me and I moved back. He scoffed nastily.

“There's nothing for you with Aiden, right? That's what you were telling Steven Ryker, wasn't it?”

I looked away.

“Breanna... did you not listen to a word I just said?”

“What do you want, Aiden?” I asked. “This isn't how an employee acts with their boss.”

“But I can't help it, okay? Believe me, I've tried!” he was raising his voice. “You're not exactly easy to get out of my head.”

“And you're not exactly easy to get close to, Aiden” I countered.

He looked at me.

“What do you want? For me to call you by your first name and not to be so distant?” I asked. “I try, Aiden. But every time, I feel like it's okay to not ignore my feelings for you, you snap and ruin everything and I'm tired of—”

He quickly closed the distance between us and I stepped back again. But he didn't stop there and still came close until I hit the wall. Then he put his arms aside of my head, caging me.

“Aiden...” I whispered. “I can't do this again” I finally said, looking straight up into his eyes.

“Why not? Huh? Tell me why?”

He dipped his head and I turned my face, giving him a view of my neck instead. Aiden leaned in and inhaled deeply, sending chills down my spine and setting fire between my legs.

“Aiden...”

“Tell me you don't want this, Breanna. Tell me.”

I swallowed. Did he think this was easy for me? Did he think this was a joke? I clenched my fists, still looking away from him, and spoke up.

“I don't want this if you're just going to keep switching up on me like that.”

His arms immediately left the wall and he stepped away from him.

“Because of Steven?” he asked, a different tone in set.

Why did he keep bringing Steven up every damn time?

“Because you have feelings for that little boy instead of me? You're picking him over me?!”

“Why would I pick Steven or anyone else over you, Aiden?!” I snapped. “For goodness sake he's gay!”

And like that, I could see Aiden's anger and whatever it was he had going on, disappear.

“I'm right here Aiden! Practical begging you every damn time we're in a room together to love me!” I exclaimed. “I'm not desperate okay? But you... you make me feel like this and I can't take any more of this nasty attitude of yours!”

“So you like me?” he whispered.

I frowned.

“Like?” I questioned. “What is this, kindergarten?”

He leaned his head back.

“I have equally... if not more feelings for you, Aiden. And it is not a teenage crush.”

His face broke into an adorable smile... much like Roman's and it hit me that I had a son who was waiting for me to come back home and he didn't the only stable parent in his life to be catching feelings and confessing them to her boss.

“Breanna...”

I held my hand up and stopped him.

“Please don't say my name” I whispered, embarrassed beyond belief.

I was thrilled Aiden had feelings for me too, but I couldn't take any more of these mood swings. There was a no-dating policy in the company and I couldn't put myself in a position where I'd do anything to hurt Roman.

“Bre—”

“I'm taking the rest of the day off” I announced.

“Wait, Breanna...”

“Don't stop me, Aiden” I said firmly.

Now I was the one messing things up before he could.

“If you want this redone, you do it yourself” I gestured to the file and walked out of his office.

Thank you for reading! ✨