ELENORA

I move in front of Mostro. "You're not touching him."

The one who appears to be the leader, side-eyes the men who are with him and begins laughing; they join in. The door behind us opens as the men who were chasing us are piling out of the door now, too.

"You don't give the orders around here, bitch." The leader lifts his hand holding a gun, aiming it at me.

"No? You're obviously someone's bitch though." I keep my eyes steady on him and then look at the rest of the men, trying to see what my chances are, it doesn't look good.

The very real possibility that I'm going to die crosses my mind, but I push the cold fear away. "There's something about you that screams you like to take it up the ass." I cock my head to the side as I look at him. "Yeah, it's the way you stand, got fucked by your daddy before you came here, right?"

One of the men next to him snorts and he turns his head to glare at him before he shoots him. His body crumbles to the ground.

Okay, that was unexpected.

Stay calm, Nora.

The leader gives a subtle nod with his chin and the men who came out of the storage facility move in on us. I shove them back, but then I'm backhanded. They begin to drag Mostro away, while they pull me in the opposite direction. "Let me go!"

The sound of several tires squealing makes everyone stop and then bullets start flying again. I foot stomp the man holding me, then junk punch him before kneeing him.

I run towards the men who are dragging Mostro and launch myself on the back of the one holding him and start punching his head and his back. He drops Mostro and begins grabbing at me, to get me off of his back.

Mostro leans up against the building and shoots at him causing him to fall and I jump off of him. I check his back and feel a gun under his coat jacket and pull it out. "Get out of here, Nora." Mostro grimaces in pain, breathing heavy.

"I'm not leaving you."

Two more men come towards us and I aim and shoot. Mostro aims on our other side and shoots down another guy.

"We need to move, we're in the middle of the crossfire. Do you see Rico?" He pushes himself up more against the building. His pant leg is soaked with blood. I vaguely remember some basic tips Jackie has shared with me and I pull at his belt, undoing it.

"What the fuck?"

"I'm making a tourniquet; you're losing too much blood. Get your head out of the gutter!" I pull at his belt and then wrap it around his thigh. "This might hurt." Not knowing if that's true or not, I cinch the belt around his leg; he groans, following it with a caravan of swear words that would make my mom pass out.

I guess it does hurt.

"Elenora!" Rico's voice breaks through the loud gunfire; I turn to see him running towards us. He's flanked by several men, as they aim and shoot their guns at the other men that come at them and then they begin fighting.

Rico moves quickly, it's like watching an action movie in person. He's obviously had some training as I watch him fight fluidly with each kick and punch. He deflects the hits and attacks coming at him expertly.

My attention is pulled away from Rico when something hard is pressed against the side of my head, followed by the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. "Get up or your friend gets a bullet in his head."

My heart is pounding in my ears. Rico is still fighting with his men to make their way to us, but he's not going to get to us in time.

I slowly stand and the gun in my hands is ripped away from me. Another couple of guys move in and grab Mostro pulling him to stand; they take his gun as well before they begin punching him. "Stop it!" I yell and move towards him, but I'm held back by my hair.

"Gallo!"

Rico's voice grabs our attention. Gallo, that's the name of the family threatening and attacking my father.

His rough hands turn me and place me in front of him. Rico's gun and his mens' guns are aimed towards me. "You touch her, you die." Rico's furious dark eyes are something I will never forget.

Gallo chuckles. "Slight change of plans, Federico. Borelli knew this was coming anyway, right?" He laughs. "It's time to pay the piper."

"She has nothing to do with her father's mistakes."

"Tell someone who gives a shit," Gallo retorts. "The way I see it." He turns to talk next to me as he pulls at my hair; I hiss from the pain but stop when the cold metal of the gun presses under my chin. "What better way to make someone pay than taking what they love most in the world. And we won't stop until we take every single person in his damn family. We thought the youngest one would be the easiest but she's guarded the most heavily."

"You're making a mistake, Gallo." Rico moves closer but Gallo steps behind me, using my body as a shield.

"Nah, bro, you are if you and your men don't lower your weapons. You have nothing to do with this, walk away before you regret it."

"She's mine." Rico's eyes flame as he stares down Gallo who's backing us further away.

But Gallo stops. "She's yours? As in yours-yours?" He shifts his eyes to me then back at Rico. "Well, that makes things interesting doesn't it?" He chuckles and then moves his hand around my throat, squeezing hard and my hands reach to get him to let go.

"From how she likes to argue and fight, she seems to like it rough, yes? She'll fit right in with the others; even though you may have broken her in, I still get to have the pleasure of making sure." He presses his nose against my hair and inhales.

My blood runs cold and my eyes find Rico. I don't know if it's desperation, fear or the flight or fight response, but I'm not going to go down without a fight even if it means I die.

I shift and throw an elbow back, hitting him in the throat. Gallo coughs, exhaling loudly, doubling over. I throw a kick at his groin and he sinks to his knees, wheezing. I grab him by the hair and punch him.

Bullets start zipping around me again. I turn to run but Gallo grabs on to my leg causing me to fall. He starts pulling at my leg and I flip on my back and aim a kick at his face; I connect the first time, but he catches the second kick.

"You're going to wish you didn't do that, puttana." He snarls at me, punching my face before holding onto my wrists, pinning my arms down with his knees. (whore)

"Rico!" Another punch.

Gallo laughs, before he backhands me. "He ain't coming for you, sweetheart."

"Rico!"

Gallo smiles down at me before I watch as his eyes widen.

Rico stands above us holding Gallo by the hair. "I told you, Gallo; You touch her, you die." Gallo's eyes are frozen wide after a gun goes off; blood oozes out of the corner of his mouth.

Rico shoves him to the side and grabs me, pulling me onto my feet. He barks out orders in Italian to his men. I search for Mostro but I don't see him as Rico drags me behind him before I get a chance to yell out for him. He picks me up, throwing me into an SUV.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He yells before he shouts at his driver to go and we peel out of the back alley. "Why didn't you run like Mostro told you?"

"I...Is Mostro...did they....is he dead?"

"Forget about him! Don't you realize what could have happened to you?" He keeps yelling at me. If his phone hadn't started ringing I'm sure he would have kept at it, but whoever called him is now on the receiving end of Federico's rage.

I notice we are back at Luca's hotel, instead of the penthouse suite when we pull into the underground garage. Rico's manhandling of me continues as he drags me out of the car. I'm finding it hard to breathe, but he doesn't seem to notice or care and I struggle to keep myself upright, so I lean up against the car, trying to remember how to breathe.

He's yelling, at not only the driver but the other men in or around the SUV. He then drags me behind him while I stumble over my own feet; he pulls me up to get in the elevator.

My eyes move over my reflection in the elevator and I'm shocked to see my face, hair and clothes covered in blood. The whites of my eyes stand out. I shift my eyes to Rico; he's on his phone furiously texting. My shoulders are moving indicating how hard I'm breathing; a part of me wants to yell at him to look at me, to notice me.

To hold me.

However, my poor me feelings come to an abrupt halt when the elevator door opens and the first thing I see is one of his men on the floor of the hallway with a bullet in his head. Rico pulls his gun out and tells me to move behind him. But he has to yank me behind him because I'm frozen in place realizing this nightmare isn't over.

He sends off a text before he points his gun out ahead of us. "Stay close." I hold on to his suit as he takes a step forward, but once his gun and hand cross the threshold of the elevator door he grunts as something comes down on his arm and he drops his gun.

He shoves me back and I trip over the body on the floor. Rico is fighting with an armed attacker but there are actually two of them, viciously coming at Rico, but he's relentlessly fighting back.

I scramble to my feet as the fight moves closer to me. "The stairs!" Rico shouts and I look around, searching for the stairwell door; trying to remember where it is.

When I see it, I sprint towards. I turn back as I reach it and see one of the attackers is now wielding a knife slashing at Rico, but he dodges and moves out of the way. He has no choice but to use his arm as a shield to block the knife as he fights off the other guy.

"Go!" Rico yells at me and I push through the door and start making my way down. I look up when the door bursts open and see one of the attackers coming after me. I start rushing down the stairs, but miss one and end up tumbling down until I hit the landing of the next floor. I force myself to my feet to keep going, ignoring the pain from hitting my head, and my shoulders, back and knees.

I scream as the echoes of bullets being fired in the stairwell surround me, but I keep running. As I reach the garage floor, I push on the door, but it won't open. I look over my shoulder and the guy is flying down the stairs.

A sob of terror erupts from me since the door still won't open but I realize in my panic state I should be pulling the door open not pushing it and just as I start to pull it, the attacker slams into me and keeps me from leaving.

I yell, fighting to get him off of me, but he wraps his arms around me to keep me from hitting him. I try to use my feet to push off of the wall to get some leverage, but he throws me down. I scramble to get up but he grabs me again and throws me against the wall. Spots paint my vision. "Rico." I call out hoping he comes for me again.

The man pulls me up and I groan as he lifts me over his shoulder, but then I hear Rico's voice. "Let her go." The sound of a gun being cocked resonates in the stairwell and the attacker turns around to face Rico; he drops me and I hit the floor hard.

I slowly sit up and huddle in a corner. The attacker makes a grab at Rico's gun, and they begin fighting but the gun clatters away from them.

Blood is dripping down the side of Rico's left temple, his arm and from his nose. But he moves nonstop against the attacker who's starting to gas out against Rico's vigorous pace.

They end up grappling on the cement floor and at one point the attacker makes a move towards me again, but I back up against the corner out of his reach. Rico crawls over him and puts him in a chokehold, hooking his legs over the man's waist. The man reaches out blindly for anything he could use against Rico.

I cover my ears to stop hearing the sounds he's making. The man's body is shaking and twitching now. I close my eyes not wanting to see the image anymore and then the garage door opens.

Rico's voice filters in my mind. "She needs to be looked over, take her to the hospital but call Pia to have her meet you there. I have to deal with the damn security and find out how the fuck they made it in. They got Reggie and Tommy."

"Damn it." I recognize Domani's voice. "Mostro is in surgery; lost a lot of blood. But if it wasn't for the tourniquet Elenora did, he would have lost his leg or worse. She's full of surprises isn't she?"

"You have no idea. Listen, if you finish before I do, take her to my hotel," Rico instructs as I'm lifted into someone's arms. I flinch and begin fighting to get away.

"Elenora, it's me, Domani. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm taking you to a hospital." His quiet voice assures me.

_________________

"Okay, Ms. Borelli, that should be it, I'm sorry for what you've been through," The female officer tells me. "I'll let you get dressed. We will be in contact as the investigation continues."

Domani briefed me on what to tell the cops about the Gallo's making threats and then followed through with an attempt to take me today. It doesn't make sense why he felt the need to tell me that, considering that's exactly what happened.

I slip on my pants, then push my hands through the sleeves of the sweater, when I hear a knock at the door. "Come in." I lift the sweater over my head and hiss at the pain I feel from the movements.

"I should have gotten there sooner." Rico's fingers touch different parts of my back.

The never ending tears keep falling, but at least I'm not shaking anymore as I pull the sweater down the rest of the way. "Getting there earlier, might have not changed anything, Rico."

He gently wipes the tears from my face.

"You saved me." I walk into his arms, hugging him. I close my eyes wishing I could unsee the images from today, knowing they will forever be burned in my mind.

I take a deep breath of Rico's scent, feeling comforted in his arms, but I pull away, reminding myself not to get carried away. But as I look into his dark eyes, I can't help myself as I lean in wanting to kiss him, when I know I shouldn't. He returns the kiss, taking his time as he moves his lips over mine.

"Oh! Excuse us." Ma's voice reaches my ears and I pull away from Rico.

"Daaammn, Nora, you would never know you were fighting for your life a few hours ago when you're in here getting it on with Rico suave." Luna grins at us.

My mom pinches her arm and Luna squeals in pain, rubbing at her arm to relieve the sting.

"Well, we've got all the paperwork squared away, cara mia." My father walks in and takes in everyone's faces. "Did I miss something?" (my dear)

"No." Everyone answers collectively and my dad squints his eyes at us.

"All right, let's head home. Nora, you're coming with us. I'll set up a meeting on Monday to break the contract with the Landlord or at least see what it takes to do a buyout."

"No, papa, I'm not coming home. And I don't want you to do anything regarding my lease with the apartment."

Shock and worry come across his face before he glances at my mom, who looks worried as well. "You are not going back to your apartment alone, Nora."

"Papa, I'm not going to live in constant fear. And I don't need you taking my choices away either."

"Coming home with us doesn't take your freedom away or your choices. It's to keep you safe."

I scoff. "Safe?" I look around the room, shaking my head. "Who's going to keep me safe when nonno blames me for this, too? You? Ma?" I focus on my mom, and her eyes fill with tears. "I haven't felt safe since he moved in and I hated being there this past summer. I only felt okay when he left for Italy."

I wipe my eyes. "I'll call Clara. She'll let me stay with her until things settle down."

Rico walks up next to me. "It's late, and you don't need to bother Clara. You'll stay with me. We talked about it happening before all this anyway." I squeeze my eyes, muttering under my breath.

"You're moving in together?" Ma questions in shock. "Arrangement or not, you barely know each other. You and Leo were friends before you became more and look at what happened with that!"

"He is not Leo!" I admonish her, but then face Rico. "And I already told you no, too, Rico." His piercing dark eyes glower back at me, before he moves towards the window in the room, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"But..."

He turns to look at me, waiting for me to continue. "I did promise, I would stay while this blows over."

His eyes soften as we keep staring at each other, but then my father clears his throat. He walks up to me and kisses my forehead before wrapping me up in a hug. "I'm sorry, Elenora, for what happened, but I'm mostly sorry for not protecting you like a father should. I love you, dolcezza." (sweetheart)

"I love you, too, papà." I kiss his cheek.

My sisters each say goodbye with a hug and then my mom walks up to me. "Ti amo mia ragazza forte." ( I love you my strong girl)

"I love you, mamma." She kisses my face before she hugs me tight. She pulls away and looks over at Rico and walks over to pull him into a hug, too.

She cups his face as she steps back. "I'm sorry, Rico. I didn't mean to sound...bitchy." She leans in whispering the last part and I have a hard time hiding the smile one my face.

Rico chuckles. "You are the furthest thing from bitchy, Teresa."

"I just want Elenora to be careful and safe."

"I'll keep her safe. You have my word." Rico kisses her hand.

My mom winks at me as she walks by me on her way out.

I sigh after the door closes. "She likes you. She tried to like Leo, but she never did. Maya never liked him either. And they both seem to be under your spell."

"And yet, my bewitching ways do not seem to work all that well with you." He walks up to me, taking both my hands in his, smiling.

"On a scale of one to ten, how awful do I look? Ten being the worst."

He lifts his hand, brushing my hair away from my face and exhales as he looks at me. "I'd say a solid...zero."

"Zero wasn't an option."

"You're beautiful Elenora and these bruises and marks don't define your beauty." He puts his arms around my shoulders. "Come on, let's go."

______________________

I walk out of the bathroom in the hotel in a pair of Rico's shorts and T-shirt; pajamas were another thing that was not included in the new wardrobe he had delivered this morning.

I place my phone on the nightstand after setting my alarm, since I need to get up and head back to the apartment to get some of my backup camera equipment for a job tomorrow.

Rico walks in with a glass of water. "Medicine; it'll feel worse tomorrow." He holds his hand out and I take the pain medicine and then the water. He sits down next to me on the bed. "I have to do some work, but I'll be back later."

"Work? It's nearly midnight," I state in surprise.

"Ciccio will be with you while I'm out. Try to get some rest." He kisses my head before he stands and I try to fight the sense of worry and maybe even jealousy, wondering if he's meeting up with one of his fuck bunnies.

"No, rush. I'll be fine." I set the glass down on the nightstand a little harder than I intended.

"Are you mad?"

"No." I pull the covers back and get in, turning away from him. " Could you sleep on the couch? I want to be alone tonight."

"If that's what you want."

"Yep. Goodnight." My throat gets tight and I struggle to not lose control. It's been a fucking long and horrific day. But the fact that he'd rather be doing something else than staying near me after what happened is hurting more than I want to admit.

Listen to yourself, Nora. He doesn't owe you anything. You're not even dating, dummy.

"Goodnight, Elenora." The bedroom door shuts and then I let the tears fall.

I wake up gasping and breathing heavily, calling out for Rico—my heart is racing after reliving what happened in a nightmare, but then I remember I told him to sleep somewhere else.

I scream when a hand touches my arm. "Shh, it's me," Rico says in the dark. He pulls me down, bringing me close and I cling to him, crying. "Shh, it was just a bad dream, patatina." (little potato)

His warm hands reach under the shirt I'm wearing and he begins to rub my back in a soothing motion, being careful to not add too much pressure because of the bruising. I focus on his heart beating under me and settle down.

When I wake up again, it's morning. The sun's not bright and it seems like it's going to be a slightly overcast day. I glance down and Rico is laying over me, now, like he was the other morning, except his head is on my stomach this time.

He's a cuddler.

I trace the tattoo on his shoulder before running my fingers through his hair again. He stirs and turns his face towards me, but he's still sleeping. I brush his hair back off of his forehead and study his face.

He's handsome even while sleeping. I trace his ears and then I notice they were pierced at one point. I wonder why he doesn't wear earrings anymore.

His mouth curves into a smile even though his eyes are still closed. "Are you mad I completely ignored your request?" His voice is raspy from sleep.

"No. I'm glad you didn't listen to me. It was nice having you here...really nice."

"Hmm." He turns his head toward my stomach. "I'm glad I didn't listen to you either. I like waking up next to you or on top of you, Elenora." He turns his face to look at me again as he smiles.

"You do?"

He nods. "I sleep better when you're next to me. I usually don't sleep and if I do it's only a few hours at a time."

"Why?"

He shrugs. "After my parents died, I'd have nightmares and I started avoiding sleep at first, but then when I needed to sleep it would never last long. I got used to it and then you came along...I actually sleep-sleep with you. I told you I've never done that with a girl—woman." He grazes my face with the back of his hand.

"Ever?"

"Never."

His fingertips run over my lips. He moves his hand to run up along my arm, leaving goosebumps in their wake; they skim across the shirt, over the dips and curves of my chest. My body reacts—more than it already is and as he softly skims over my nipples, they stand at attention from his touch.

A deep blush comes on my face as he watches my body respond but there isn't anything lewd or suggestive in the way he's caressing me; I'm learning it's just his need to touch, feel and I suppose connect. He lifts his head from my stomach and sits up on his elbows.

"How are you feeling?"

"My face is a little sore, and my neck feels stiff." I start to sit up and I groan from the pain that flares in different parts of my body.

"I'll bring you some medicine." He rolls out of bed and hurries out of the room.

I lean over and pick up my phone, cursing, I must have slept through my alarm. I throw the blankets off my legs and hobble my way over to the closet. I'm surprised when I see not only the clothes that Rico ordered but also some of my clothes and dresses hanging up.

Confused, I walk back to the dressers I know were empty yesterday and see my bras, underwear, socks and pajamas and other clothes filled in each drawer.

If I wasn't pressed for time, I'd hunt Rico down and tear into him. When did he go to the apartment and grab my things?

I head to the bathroom to do my morning routine and am thankful to see my makeup bag in there, too.

I change into a pair of black dress pants and a black turtleneck. The cool weather will help with my choice but mostly I need to cover up the bruising on my arms, legs and neck.

I apply some concealer and make up over the bruises on my cheek and near my lip, too. I do my eyes a little heavier than usual hoping it draws people's attention away from the shadows of the bruises you can still see under the make up.

I typically wear my hair up for photo shoots, but decide to do a simple loose braid to the side. I'm slipping on my low heeled black ankle boots as Rico walks in.

"Hey, sorry it took me so long I was on a call—wait, what are you doing? You should be in bed." He sets the water and medicine down on the vanity dresser.

"I think you know by now, normally I would be chewing your ass out for bringing all my things over without talking to me about it first, but I only have forty-five minutes to get to Soho from here because I slept through my alarm—it'll have to wait."

"I turned off your alarm, you needed to rest."

He has a sheepish smile on his face, but it only makes me angrier. "Rico, I swear if I wasn't in a rush I'd be throwing a monumental fit right now. But I feel like I need to thank you because if my clothes weren't here, there's no way I'd be able to make it on time even though I would have if you didn't turn my damn alarm off."

"You're welcome?" He says it more like a question and I fight the urge to laugh, because I want to stay mad at him.

"Can't you get someone else to fill in for you?"

"It's not like there's a photographer emergency hotline for people to call, Rico. This job was booked months ago."

"What if they ask about the bruising?" His fingers touch my face.

"I'll tell them I was in a car accident." I shrug as I walk back into the closet hoping I find what I'm looking for, not sure where to begin my search, but then it catches my eye.

"Ah ha!" I grab the scarf I was hoping to find and wrap it around my neck for a pop of color. "Oh, crap, my bag— I left everything I needed for the shoot in the storage facility." I check the time on my phone again. "I'm not going to make it!"

"Elenora, relax, are these the bags you need?" Rico walks to the living room and picks up my camera bag and the other bag with the different lenses I use.

I breathe a sigh of relief, walking over and giving him a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"So, I guess there's no need for this monumental fit you're saving for later." He wraps his arms around me, and I chuckle.

"Oh, it'll still happen." I assure him, grabbing the bags from his hands.

I reach up on my toes and kiss his cheek and I realize too little too late what I'm doing. He has a soft smile on his face, while I'm sure mine is bright red.

"Um, thanks...again."

"You're welcome, Elenora." I glance back at him as I reach for the door and he's still watching me with a serious look on his face, but the corner of his mouth lifts slightly before I shut it closed.

***