Everything stopped when his eyes met mine.

Thousands of unspoken words exchanged through our eyes as whirlwind of emotions swirled in me. It made my heart pound in my chest so hard and I feared it would crack open just for him. These feelings and sensations were so overwhelming that I couldn't describe. I could only see him, feel his eyes rake all over my body, taking in every inch of my clothing he had bought for tonight.

My chest began to heave rapidly. He wasn't doing anything to me. No touches that made me shiver. No sweet, passionate kisses that made me wanted and desired. He was just staring at me with his pair of eyes - which only had eyes for me.

I waved shyly to the man in silver mask. I had seen him in suits and ties countless times but tonight is a different occasion and damn, Leonardo Agostini sure knows how to pull it off. The man in navy blue suit spared a glance at me, tapped Leo's shoulders and said something to him. His attention went back to the man, mouth still open in surprise. I giggled.

I stood where I was, patiently waiting for him to finish talking, in fact, he wasn't talking at all. By the looks of his half covered face and for the first time ever since I met him, Leonardo is not being able to concentrate. His eyes kept flickering to me while I kept sipping my lemonade casually, never taking my eyes off him.

Gosh... that man looks so tempting, so mouthwatering. His jet black hair combed and jelled properly made my fingers itch in yearning. I just want to walk over there, grab a handful of his hair and mess it up while our lips are joined in a never ending fireworks. Just like his brother, he was wearing a similar black suit with white shirt underneath it.

My mind went into frenzy mode when he began to walk in my direction. Oh, dear. In a blink of an eye, his face was only inches apart, the world around us vanished.

I touched his jaw to see if this specimen in front of my eyes was real or not. Oh, he is real. Standing in front of me after a long wait to be with each other tonight.

"Hi." I murmured, caressing it sensually.

Once again, his eyes roamed from my head to toe, then they remained fixed on mine, pure admiration, fascination and something which I didn't want to point out yet evident on them.

"Hi." He breathed out.

"Your tie is not proper," I mumbled. "But it matches with your mask."

He exhaled shakily. "And it matches with yours too. They're same and you... you are wearing that lip thing."

"Lipstick," I corrected with a smile. "Along with lip liner and lip gloss."

He came dangerously close to my face till our foreheads touched and our heavy breaths mixed with each other. "You have no idea how badly I want to do things to that lip of yours."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"Time. Place. Moment."

"Will it be long?" I asked breathlessly.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Time. Place. Moment."

I chuckled. "Just don't stall it, okay?"

He touched my cheek as if I were a fragile porcelain doll. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

And that's how, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time tonight, my face became red like a tomato. I was waiting to hear a compliment from him all this time.

"T-Thank you," I stammered, my gaze drifting to his tie. "I feel beautiful too. Will you do something about your tie?"

"No. I plan on leaving as it is." He smirked.

"That does sound like a pretty awesome plan but not tonight. Here, hold this and let me fix your tie." I handed him lemonade and he finished it in one go, making my jaw drop south. "Hey! I was drinking that."

"I felt thirsty when I saw you. I needed that more than you."

I was still mentally sulking for my lemonade while I was making his tie proper. I did saw that people were looking at us, but I also saw that none of us really cared about it.

"There," I smiled and placed my hand on his chest. "It looks good now."

"It does. Can I get you another glass of lemonade then or perhaps a low alcohol content grape wine?"

My stomach bubbled in excitement only by hearing the name of lemonade. Only a few sips and I already have developed a liking to it. "You can, only if you get one for yourself too and I go with you."

He leaned to my ear and whispered. "I do not plan on leaving your side or getting you out of my sight."

"Now that is a plan which can be implemented tonight." I grinned and actually felt like a powerful, complete woman when he wrapped his arm around my waist as we began to walk out of the dining room slash buffet room, ignoring everybody's shocked stares. Get used to it already, people!

"How long have you been together signore Agostini, signorina?" A man whose name I had never bothered to learn asked me. We were back in the dance room where people finally began to ask questions, congratulate Leo, talk about business or family affairs or any topic they could think of. As soon as we entered, I wanted to jump into that bar, but we have been stuck in countless conversations where this man in one of them.

"Erm, a year. Give or take."

It's always the same. They ask who I am, I say intern and a student (and change the topic of they ask my name. Leo found out that I don't remember my name and made fun of me), they ask about my family relations, I say things about my fake deceased super-rich great uncle and in rehab parents, they ask how I met my date, Leonardo answers that and wishes them to enjoy the night and we leave, both of us annoyed by their questions about us and our private life.

"That's good to hear," The man smiled with a glint in his eyes. "I'll be looking forward to receive an invite to your engagement party."

My eyes went wide as saucers. "Enjoy your night, signore. There's food in the other room."

Then I pulled Leo away and ignored every person till we were seated on the barstool.

"Who the hell are these people?!" I whispered.

The Agostini son was still in haze with everything that just happened. "Huh, che cosa?"

"Hey!" I snapped my fingers in front of his face.

He blinked rapidly and gave me a loop sided grin. "Si, Amy?"

"Are you okay?" I asked in concern.

"I'm fine. Let's get you a lemonade." He got up from the barstool, looked around then sat again, his eyes diluted in confusion. "I just realised that we are already at the bar. When did we reach here?"

"I have no idea." I muttered.

"Me too." He grinned and ordered our drinks.

"It feels weird," I said lowly so that it could only be audible to him and took a sip. "To see and meet new people even though it's only for tonight."

"I find it quite boring."

"And I find it amusing."

I jumped in shock when I heard Adrian's voice from beside. "Jesus Christ, where did you come from?"

"I walked." He deadpanned. "It's nice to see this place so lively. I have never seen it like this before."

"What are you doing here, fratello? You are supposed to be a good host and attend people."

"I came here to give a quick rest to my legs. No thanks to you because you left me alone to attend people in the dining room." Then he faced me."Padre has been a little cranky ever since you came to Leo and whisked him off his feet."

"Speaking of your father, where is he? I haven't seen him yet." I asked. "He played a cheap trick to keep me away from capo."

"He's outside. Want me to call him?"

"Adrian, shut the fuck up."

"August-mini, have some class. You're the man of the night. It's your party." I pouted.

"Actually, you both happen to be the couple of the night. Everybody is talking about you and how good you guys look together." Adrian scoffed. "They are going after me now. Saying I should settle down and then they would shove their daughters and nieces to me. How classic of them."

"I... I... W-We are not exactly... not a..." Events of this morning hit me like an iceberg in the middle of nowhere and suddenly, I was not feeling so good. Leonardo noticed.

"Are you all right?" He asked with a frown on his face.

Does he even care? Pretending that I never said anything to him, never opened up my heart to him and ran away, leaving me devasted. I felt crying again. I will not cry over a man. I will not make a scene. I will NOT cry over a man.

"You came here alone, Adrian? No date with you tonight?" I asked, ignoring his brother. I could feel his eyes, boring deep into my back.

"Er, no." Adrian said awkwardly, noticing the tension. "Been too busy in these past couple of months. Decided to take some time off alone tonight."

"It's okay. There are plenty of fishes in the sea."

"But be careful," The man in silver mask warned from behind me. "Some might give you diseases or leave you poisoned."

"Or some might run away as soon as they see a net." I retorted, shooting him a glare.

His jaw clenched as soon as he realised my double meaning. "Or might run into it then later realise their mistake."

"Are we talking about actual fishes now?"

Mistake? My eyes brimmed up with tears. He thinks everything between us was a mistake? My heart was getting stabbed by thousands of knives. This is exactly what happens when I get my hopes up high, involve too much of my time and heart to someone whom I once hated to my core.

I exhaled heavily, keeping my glass of lemonade on the table and watched people dancing on the floor.

"Come on, Amy. Let's dance."

Adrian grabbed my hand but his brother stopped him.

"What are you doing, Adrian?"

"Taking her to dance. Duh."

"You will not take her to dance because I was about to ask her."

"Good. I asked her first so I'll take her."

"But she is my date!"

"But she is my date," He mimicked in a childish voice. "I don't care. I brought her here first so I'll take her to dance."

"I asked her out so I'll take her."

"She came downstairs with me and not you. I should be the first one to dance with her."

Leonardo groaned. "Because I told you to bring her downstairs!"

"I am going to pretend that I don't exist here." I muttered to myself and watched them quarrel like children.

"I was the one gave her this dress."

"I was the one who told the designer to design a new dress and I bought it!"

"She met me first before she landed on your mighty ass. I get to have her first dance."

"I don't care. I already told her that I'll take her to dance long back so that is what I am going to do." Leo grabbed my other hand but I pulled back from his touch as if it burned me.

I will take her to dance. I will show off her real beauty to the entire world.

My whole world came crashing down when I saw his eyes. I saw myself, teary eyed and broken hearted.

"Amelia..."

I sniffed. "I-I'd like to dance with Adrian first. You cut in later, if you really want to."

We got on the floor where Adrian got me adjusted to the position, begged me not to step on his foot and we began to dance.

"Your mask is doing a very good thing by hiding your tears." He said after a moment of silence.

"They haven't spilled yet. I do not wish to ruin my make up." I mumbled.

"I can clearly imagine the ways of torture my brother is thinking of doing to me," He chuckled. "I can survive them all."

"That's good to hear."

He looked over my shoulder. "He keeps staring at you."

"Then let him."

"Since we are finally alone, let's have a chat and get through one song, shall we?"

"Sounds great."

"The words you are speaking are getting shorter and shorter in number. I don't want a monosyllable for my next answer."

"Really?" I asked. He gave a look and I smiled sheepishly when I realised what I just did.

He gave me a slow spin as it was my first time. "There's that smile I wanted to see ever since I joined you guys. At first, I thought I was interrupting something important which made you go all gloomy and shit then I realised my brother is an ass and we both agree on it."

"It's not your fault." I said.

"I know. And I also know that I am always the one who stabs, punches and smacks some sense to my little brother."

I laughed and it felt good. "What did you this time? Stab him again?"

"Nothing." He answered. "For the first time, I didn't do anything. Leo just realised it on his own."

"And what did he realise?"

"A mistake and a very silly one." He chuckled. "His expression was priceless."

"Will I ever know?" I asked desperately.

He shook his head. "It's not my thing to tell. You do know that I like you, right? Not in the other way because if I did, my brother would have my head."

"I know." I nodded. "You said it after I beat the crap out of you."

"And you know nobody can ever replace your famiglia. Nobody can be a substitute or anything and that includes me, right?"

"Yes." I murmured, feeling nostalgic about my family.

"I can never replace your so-called blonde haired elder brother because I am blonde too." He joked which made me laugh again. "I may have forced my brother into realising things by very harsh physical means so that he could be the man he is now because I had to or else you wouldn't have lived to see this night."

"Am I supposed to thank you?"

"No. But you can promise me a few things, no matter how absurd they sound."

"I can do that."

He sighed loudly and leaned to my ear. "Can I ask you a something?" I nodded in response. "What do you love about my brother?"

My eyes popped out of their sockets and everything in me began to somersault. "I-I... I d-don't..."

He smirked. "Don't worry. I won't tell anybody. I'm very good with secrets."

"It became everything from nothing, Adrian," I confessed. "I don't know how and when but it just did."

"Always keep your mind clear and make your decisions wisely. Make sure you know what you are getting into and what the outcomes will be," He advised. "Not now. Not tonight. But in the distant future. I have heard of people making wrong decisions and live in regret for the rest of their lives. I do not wish to see the same for you and my brother."

"W-What?"

"Promise me." He demanded.

"I promise." I blurted without any hesitation.

With one hand joined with mine up in the air, he twirled me and we came back to our original position. "Super proud that my brother got someone who can actually kick some ass if provoked badly. Speaking from my personal experience."

I rolled my eyes. "You deserved it."

"I deserve much worse than that." He groaned, shaking his head. "Let's not talk about that now. I'm not done with you yet."

"What's next?" I asked.

"Trust... Trust your instincts. Do what you think is right and speak up if you think it is not right. Never. Ever. Give up. No matter what the situation is and no matter how defeated or alone you feel. Think fast. Survive first, act later. We are no ordinary people who spend their weekends out watching movies with their loved ones or go shopping. You might see things, horrible things, but always remember who we are and what we do for a living."

"That sounds very promising, signore." I said sarcastically and we stopped dancing in the middle of the floor.

"No mercy. No mistakes." Adrian said seriously. "Never forget that if you ever see any one of us doing something terrible, something which you are not meant for your eyes to see. Especially when it comes to my brother. Promise me that."

"As much as you are scaring me right now, I promise." I smiled weakly. "So this was a pep talk or something which involves 'don't-you-dare-hurt-my-little-Leo-or-else-I-will-have-your-head-for-dinner-lunch-or-breakfast'."

He laughed heartily. "No. This was just a heads up and I will be doing that kind of pep talk with my brother... who is standing right behind you."

At the exact same moment, I felt a familiar hand on my bare back which sent shivers running down my spine.

"My turn." He declared like a man with power, scratch that, he is a man with power.

"Of course." Adrian grinned devilishly. "Thank you for not stepping on my shoes, Amy. But you can surely step on his shoes or maybe stamp on them purposefully? I don't mind at all!"

"Adrian, go drink your apple juice." He ordered like a mother ordering her child to drink milk.

He was still facing my back even after Adrian was gone from my sight, patiently waiting for me to turn around and when he ran out of patience, he made me face him. Not to his surprise, my eyes were fixed on the floor.

Just like dancing with Adrian, I kept my one hand on his shoulder while he grabbed my waist, a little bit tighter than Adrian's grip, and our other hand entwined then we began to move slowly.

"Amelia, look at me."

"No thanks. I'm fine without seeing your shitty face."

"Amelia, please."

"That doesn't work on me anymore, mister."

"Amore..."

I shot him a glare. "Don't call me that. I hate it when you call me by some Italian nickname which I don't understand. I feel like you're making fun of me."

"At least I got you to look at my shitty face."

"You ran away." I choked on my sob and took deep breaths to calm myself.

His eyes softened. "I owe you an apology."

"I don't need it." I gritted. "Forget I ever said anything and give me some time alone to forget about it. We just woke up, talked and you left for work. End of story."

"I do not want to forget it nor I want you to forget about it." He said softly.

My eyes narrowed slightly when I felt his palm slowly sweating up.

"Then what do you want now, huh?" I snapped. "You have everything. Power, money, me dancing with you in a dress with a handful of people and the rest are here to celebrate your success."

His face remained blank. "You are upset. You have the full right to be upset."

I laughed bitterly. "Upset? I'm raging mad at you, signore Agostini."

"Then you have the full right to be mad."

I scoffed and bit back the tears which were threatening to spill on my face. "Is this a joke to you? For days I thought you were making fun of me by calling me that every night and morning and when I searched up the meaning, gather up courage to say something about it, you do this nonsense act."

"I made a mistake..." He trailed off and sighed deeply. "I realised it later."

"So running to Adrian's bedroom was suddenly more important than saying something to me?" I asked in disbelief.

"It is not like that, Amelia." He groaned. "I find it as an embarrassing mistake."

"What did you do then? Peed on your pajamas?"

"Of course not!"

"What can be more embarrassing than that?" I asked in confusion.

"I... I..." He cleared his throat, "I got so excited that I ran straight to Adrian's bedroom to tell him and, well um, kind of realised it later that I left you without any answer or thank you."

I stared at him blankly, trying to process his words.

Leonardo sighed loudly, seeing my blank expression. "In short, I got too excited that I left you unanswered and I left my phone too. I had to break into your room to get it while you were showering and I apologize for that. I am sorry."

I stared at him in disbelief when his words finally registered in me. What the hell? All that useless tears over him because he got too excited to tell Adrian and forgot about me?

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I shouted. Lots of heads turned in our direction and I laughed nervously when I saw where we currently are. "Sorry! He told me a joke and I didn't like it. Never mind. Go on with what you guys were doing. There's free food in the other room!"

Why can't I just dig a hole, crawl in it and die of embarrassment?

"It is the truth. I am not proud of myself for what I had done." Leonardo said, his eyes roaming at the people who were around us.

"That's right. You should be ashamed." I scolded.

"And I am ashamed." He pouted like a child.

I cringed. "Don't make that face especially when it's half hidden. You look horrible."

"I apologise for my actions earlier this morning, little girl. I hope you forgive me so that we can start this night with fresh minds and new perspectives."

"Umm... I'll think about it." I mumbled. "You left me in a very bad position and made me feel insecure all day. I didn't like it. Don't you ever do that to me again."

"I won't." He promised.

"That's good to hear." I smiled. "Now tell me what you told Adrian."

"Mi scusi?" He blurted in shock.

"I wish to know why telling something to your brother seemed so important that you couldn't wait."

"It was nothing. Just another little brother to elder brother talk." He lied.

"Adrian said you were shouting like a mad man while he was showering." I deadpanned. "Do. Not. Lie. To. Me."

He groaned and gave me a twirl. "It was really nothing. I was just excited and happy. Not a big deal."

"You never said why. You keep saying you were excited but you won't tell me why." I mumbled sadly. "Was it something related to your work?"

"No! It wasn't. I was just happy to tell him that..."

"That what?" I asked breathlessly.

He brought his face really close to mine. "That I finally got the woman of my dreams to-"

His eyes widened slightly when he looked over my shoulder, his grip around my waist tightened in a very protective manner. From his shoulder, I saw Adrian near the bar, his gaze fixed on us, stunned.

"Mi scusi?"

Shit. That voice. I thought Adrian said that he is outside, at the main halls.

Very slowly, with a fake smile, I turned around and my entire world collapsed, my steps faltered when I saw a man with exact same hazel eyes and red mask, but it was very different from what Adrian was wearing.

My nightmares and memories of being tied up in a chair, screaming and crying in a room full of people came back as quick flashbacks and I felt scared of the man in front of my eyes because he was there, simply watching me.

"You..." I whimpered.

Leonardo's father gave me a cruel smile with a sardonic glint in his eyes. "Can I have a dance with you, donna?"

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