I ran.

My lungs on fire, legs heavy with pain and the harsh sound of my breathing  escaping from my lips, forming a cloud of smoke and hitting my face.

I ran faster.

So close. So, so close to being in home.

Everything almost went according to what Adrian had said. We packed, I argued with those men about my nonexistent loan of money, which in the end Adrian had to pay for it because these people are, to be honest, whining four year olds who did not get their favorite toy – minus their real threats of selling my kidney, lungs, liver, eyes and all sorts of organs to an infamous black market to pay my impending debt with interest –  and throw tantrums till they get what they want. Half hungover, half drunk and half tired of all the drama in my life, I went to sleep while Adrian took the spare bedroom.

Next morning, I left America for good.

On the bright side, I enjoyed the luxuries of a private plane for the first time without hiding in a bathroom for almost thirteen hours. I kept throwing suspicious looks to Adrian who was busy working in his laptop and very much obvious to everything around him. At times or two, our gazes would meet and he would smile as if he were the most honest and innocent man in the whole damn world. But I know he isn't. Behind that charming smile of his, there is a big, fat liar who is an expert in hiding and lying smoothly, just like his brother. If what I guess is right, which I believe it is and I will confirm this by only one man, then I can easily get Adrian the papers he needs. Maybe I will burn it all and give him ashes in a nice box with Hello Kitty gift wrapper. Who knows? Till then, I enjoyed amazing meals with a treatment of a seven star hotel, hours of beauty sleep and watching cute puppy videos on YouTube.

We landed in an airfield of Trento from which, I kid you not, I found three cars waiting for our arrival. I thought everything would go perfectly on time and I would freely go straight inside the gates of the Agostini house, chatting and catching up with the men who came to pick us. No hassles. No tardiness. But when you have a city full of heavy snow and a big holiday coming around, you are bound to drive slow and be stuck in traffic. Not to forget that people here are actually preparing for a carnival festival which will last an entire week. A two hour drive turned into four hours and counting more drive. My patience broke when we stopped in an end of a closed road. From there, people asked us to take the long route and apologised for the inconvenience. How jolly of them!

I knew my way from the route which we were originally going, though it was only once. Another thirty or forty minute drive and I would see the mansion. So I did what I always do; I ran. Ignoring the shouts and protests of everybody I was with in the car along with curious gazes of the common folk, I ran past the preparing carnival crowd and I have been running ever since.

So close. So close. So, so close.

My body ached and I felt weak. I was empty handed, but my heart and mind was filled with determination to get my man back.

Funny thing about how much I wanted to run away from him the last time I found myself in a situation like this.

I took a turn and stopped in my track when I saw a glimpse of the Agostini house. Surrounded by nothing except trees and vast open grounds covered in thick white sheet of snow. It was dark already. Street lamps lit everywhere, a thin already shoveled from snow empty road ahead of my path and snow falling everywhere. I was in awe by the beauty of it. An absolute serene silence had enveloped around me.

I have been living here all these years!? This isn't hell. This is heaven on earth!

I was seeing the mansion from outside at night for the first time and I was in love it.

I kept admiring the scenery until I saw a man at the far end from where I am currently standing. I couldn't recognise him from afar but I knew that it must be one of the guards.

I grinned devilishly as a plan formed in my head.

I hid behind one of the trees and arranged my appearance by removing snow from my long hair and shoulder then taking a few deep breaths to calm myself.

I strode across the path casually, whistling and twirling a strand of my hair till I stood behind the guard.

With a huge bright smile on my face, I tapped his shoulder. He turned around and his eyes widened in recognition. Well, well, look what we have here. It's the man who handcuffed me all those months ago.

"Hi! Permission to get inside this place for good, set your stupid, a-hole of a drunkard boss straight and live happily ever after with him?"

In a flash, I had a gun was pointed on my head.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? After everything we have been through, this is how you treat an old acquaintance of yours?"

"Donna, stai zitta!" He barked.

"Tsk. Tsk. It must have been tough. I heard that he's making everybody's life a living hell with his drunk acts. He's in there, right?" I pointed to the closed gate beside us. It had a huge letter 'A' in the middle.

He didn't reply me and started whispering to his walkie talkie attached to his shoulder.

"No. No!" I shook my finger in front of his eyes and made an innocent, puppy face. "Don't inform him. You'll ruin my surprise and I really want to press the door bell like a good person. So how about you put your weapon down like an obedient man and open the gate for me, hmm?"

Hesitation was clear on his face but he did not lower his gun. I, on the other hand, did not stop smiling at him and I was ignoring the fact that I am held at gunpoint again for the... which time is this now? I really need to make a mental count again.

Two more guards came by and stopped when they saw me. Two more guns were pointed at my head.

Fifteen... sixteen... no. I had already crossed twenty five. Leonardo shot me at which count? Was it twenty eight or twenty nine? I should start counting after that.

"Boys, will you stop this formality exchange and open the gate? I'm kinda running out of patience here." I muttered, annoyed by their blank faces.

From a far distance, I heard Adrian shout something in Italian which made the guards put their weapons down. What the... was he following me? I thought everybody took the long route and will arrive after another hour. We watched him jog in a slow pace to us till he was in our normal hearing range.

"Ciao, Amy. You left us half way." He panted and bend slightly to catch his breath. "I don't think I will be working out for the next two days."

"Good for you." I smiled sickly sweetly then batted my eyelashes to our men in uniform. "So can I go in now?"

"Err... I-I do apologize, signorina." One of the guards said in a very heavy accent. "We are only doing our jobs."

"Oh! Don't mind me now." I gave a side look to my favorite guard and leaned closer to his ear. "You and I, we'll have a nice chat soon after everything is over." In the darkness, I saw him blush as I gave him a wink.

"Open the gate but do not inform anybody about our arrival yet." Adrian ordered and the guards nodded.

Our boots squashed in snow as Adrian and I stood in front of the door.

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Adrian gestured around us and took a few keys out. "You want me to unlock the door?"

I thought for a moment then. "Nah. I want to press the bell." I didn't listen to Adrian's protest and simply pressed the doorbell. A loud sound echoed in the silent night and we waited.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven...

....

Thirty one. Thirty two. Thirty three. Thirty four. Thirty five...

....

Fifty nine. Sixty. Sixty one. Sixty two. Sixty three. Sixty four. Sixty five. Sixty six...

....

Eighty eight. Eight nine. Ninety...

"Everybody is taking their own time, aren't they?" 

"Nobody presses the doorbell, Amelia. Not even a pizza delivery boy. Unless it's a potential threat who has killed our guards outside."

My eyes widened. "Oh."

"Right now, everybody inside must be preparing their arms and ammunition, ordering women to run back to their rooms and stay hidden, checking cameras in which I am very much visible, but they won't believe it because you are half hidden and think that I am held in your captive and alerted capo and padre about this. Give them a few more minutes. Padre will probably be ready in his office with his favorite rifle and for Leo..." He sighed dramatically. "I can't say exactly much. I'm not sure if he is currently sober and aggressive, ready to kill or drunk and melancholic like a broken hearted lover, ready to hit your head with a bottle."

"All because I pressed a doorbell?"

"Exactly."

"Damn." I breathed in and pressed the doorbell again.

"Amy!" He warned. "This is serious."

I kept pressing it again and again till I got frustrated with no response from the inside and banged the enormous door with my fist.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR, YOU MANIACS! BEFORE I ACTUALLY BECOME A REAL THREAT!"

An eerie silence passed between us and then with a faint creak, an unfamiliar head popped out and eyed Adrian in suspicion. He did not notice me standing beside him.

"È arrivato prima di quanto ci aspettassimo, signor Agostini. Va tutto bene?"

You came early than... what? I swear I really ought to take some Italian classes.

I groaned loudly and barged into the main hall where I found exact twenty men aiming their guns at me. When they saw me and recognised me, they lowered it instantly.

"Er, signorina Jones. What a pleasant surprise." Antonio laughed nervously. "I think we had a false alarm. Is that right, signore Agostini?"

"Very much." Adrian said amusedly from behind.

I gripped my hair in frustration when I didn't see him anywhere. "Where is he?"

"Um, who?"

I shot him a glare. "You know who I am talking about! Your stupid asshole boss!"

"I apologize." Antonio bowed his head slightly. "Capo will be downstairs any minute now. Would you like to have some refreshments?"

These.... These maniacs of that son of son of a bitch! They are acting as if nothing had ever happened here publicly.

"Actually, yes." I smiled sardonically. "Send a word to one of the housekeepers here, preferably a mute one. Long blonde hair and doe eyes. Tell her personally that I am back and I wish to see her now."

I wouldn't want my baby Rylie to miss the show, right?

"Well, um, now? Maybe you could have a seat—"

"I said, now."

He dashed out of my sight.

I removed my sweater and muffler then hung it in the hanger nearby. People were slowly returning back to their normal selves. One of them had gone to the big, bad retired Agostini boss to inform him of the false alarm.

I waited.

He didn't come.

I waited more.

Still no sign of him.

I sighed in exhaustion, my gaze fixed on the empty stairs. "Is he even coming?"

"I have no idea. Why don't you go up?" Adrian suggested.

"No. He has to come down."

A couple of minutes later, I finally saw shadow in the upstairs corridor and heavy footsteps.

"All right, this little pimp better be a good use of my time or else..." My breath hitched when I heard his rough, accented and slight slurry voice descending down.

Apparently, nobody told him about the false alarm.

I looked up. Our eyes met.

And the gun in his hand fell with a thud.

Who is this man and what has he done to my Leo?

My chest constricted. Here he was, standing right above the stairs, only a few metres apart from me after being away for thousands of miles from each other, and I felt—

"Am... Amy?"

—angry. Steam coming out from ears anger. Sure I felt relieved and happy to see him after two weeks and devasted to see him looking like a godforsaken caveman in suit with huge bags under his eyes and long beard than what he originally maintains, unkempt hair and tired look on his face, but he was responsible for everything that has happened between us. Him and his father.

"Amy, is-is that really you?" He slurred.

How pathetic. He showed up drunk. I wonder what would have happened if it were really a threat ringing the doorbell instead of me.

I took a step. "Yeah. It's me."

His eyes widened when he heard me and hesitantly, he took a step back. "No. It cannot be you. I... I... threw you away. I have to be dreaming again."

Again? Suddenly I felt a very teeny tiny bit of pity for him and as quickly as it came, it went away.

My throat clenched as I spoke. "You are not dreaming, August-mini. Come down the stairs and I'll prove it to you."

A strangled noise escaped from him and he shook his head. "You always call me that. I am dreaming."

What has he done to himself? "Leo," I licked my lips and took another step ahead. "I came back... for you. Stop saying that you're dreaming because you are not. Just come down and you can see it for yourself."

"I threw you out in the cold." A flash of pain crossed his face and he covered it quickly. "I said things to you. Bad things. To keep you safe. I gave what you always wanted. You cannot come back for me."

"Just come down the stairs." I whispered softly, almost inaudibly, giving him a pleading look. "I heard you have been drinking a lot, capo. And that's not good. Come down, I'll help you sober up and then we can talk. Like mature people." Which is something we should have done long back.

He remained awfully silent for a long time and never took his eyes off me. So did I.

Then he asked, slurring. "Amy, is that really you?"

"Yeah. It's me." I smiled weakly. Please come down. Please talk to me. Please let's go through this together. "Why don't you come down?"

"Will you not vanish if I try to poke your nose?"

I chuckled, tears brimming up. "No, you idiot. Though I find it really annoying."

"It is you." He gasped, wide eyed and came running down the stairs like an energetic, happy child. Eagerly, I watched him take the last step and open his arms for me. I ran to him and punched him square on the jaw.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" I screamed at him. I threw another punch at him and he stumbled back, groaning in pain. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

Everybody around us gasped in shock while Adrian howled, clapping in joy. "Woohoo! You go and beat the shit out of him, Amy! Give him a taste of what I have already tasted and also throw another punch in my name. Get out of my way, people! I have to get the best seat here."

"AFTER EVERYTHING!" Punch. "AFTER EVERYTHING WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH TOGETHER!" Another punch."THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT ME! LIKE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH AND KICK ME OUT!?" I kneed him in his shin and slapped him. I didn't regret it. "DID YOU FORGET WHO I AM, HUH?"

"N-No." He spat and coughed. "Of course not."

I didn't believe his lying ass and kept throwing hard punches at him till my knuckles hurt, screamed continuous profanities at him while Leonardo took it all in without any complains.

Adrian, on the other hand, cheered.

My knuckles were bleeding and so was his lip. I felt so tired but I did not stop. I have to put him back to his senses. I yanked his collar down to my height till his bruised black eye met my angry ones. "Why?" I cried, panting and gasping for air. "Why did you do this us?"

"I-It was for your own good. To k-k-keep you safe." He grunted, repeating his old words.

My nose flared in anger. He still haven't come to his senses.

"DO."

Punch!

"NOT."

Punch!

"LIE."

Slap!

"TO."

Punch!

"ME."

I grabbed his hair harshly and made him face me. His face was almost bruised, but I knew that a couple of ice packs and bed rest for a day or two would put him back on his feet. "Tell me," I panted. "Why did you kick me out?"

"Because I got tired of you." He lied.

With full force, I kicked him where sun doesn't shine and he groaned, clutching his anatomy region and muttering a long string of curses.

"Don't lie to me, Leonardo. I know you are not like that. At least not anymore. Enough of playing around." I gritted. "I do believe that you are perfectly sober now, right?"

He groaned again in response.

I looked around the hall and saw everybody, stunned. With a perfect, front seat view, I saw Adrian sitting in a chair, his arms over his head, and having a very evil smirk.

I copied his expression. "Told you I'll set him straight, didn't I?"

"I just need popcorn and a nice, steaming cup of coffee." He then looked somewhere else and winked. "You think you beautiful ladies can arrange that?"

I followed his line of sight and sighed in relief when I saw Rylie along with Carina and three other women, staring at us in pure, utter shock.

"Hey, Ry!" I waved cheerfully and winced slightly, my palms aching. "I hope you had your food in time and missed me a lot! I'll talk to you later because as you can see, I'm busy." I motioned to their groaning, grunting and cursing in pain boss.

Poor girl must think that I have gone insane.

I let out a heavy sigh and ran my fingers through my hair then kneeled in front him. Gently, I held his face while being careful with his bruises.

"Leo." I murmured.

He breathed deeply but didn't listen to me.

"Leo, look at me."

His eyes fluttered open and it broke me to see him full of regret.

"No more lying." I whispered. "Why did you do it? I wanna know it."

"I d-deserved it. Every single bit of it." He gruffed.

I bit back a smile. "Yeah, you did."

"The last time you beat the crap out of someone like this, I realised that you were precious. Too precious to let go."

"I'm still here, you know?" Adrian snapped. "No offence, Amy. But it still hurts like shit."

"I'd like to call this as, Amelia Jones, violent-when-provoked-badly." I pressed his forming bruise as a punishment and he winced. "And yet you let go of me."

"Hmm. I did." Slowly, his hand reached out and his rough palm ran on my face. His touch created too many sensations and I sighed softly. He was taking his own time and I was fine being patient with it now.

Then, out of nowhere, he poked my nose with his forefinger.

He did it again.

My eyes narrowed.

He pressed it three more times.

"It is really you. You did not vanish like last night."

I wasn't here last night. But I kept my mouth shut about this.

"You... You think you can get up?" 

He nodded wordlessly and tried to get up. Instead, he received help from two men only to stand on his feet and sit on the stairs.

"Ice pack." I said to a woman whose name I forgot. "Frozen peas. Anything to help him. Please."

She nodded and quickly grabbed other woman's hand then walked into kitchen's adjoining corridor.

"And a coffee too!" Adrian shouted.

I gazed down at my wounded knuckles and took in a deep breath. "Capo?"

He was staring into space and hummed.

"I want answers. Honest answers, Leonardo." Our eyes met again and it was then I realised that he won't stall or lie to me anymore. "What happened in that office?"

He touched his lip with his thumb and winced. "I came back early to take you out that evening. I had it all planned. A simple coffee and your favorite blueberry torta then..." He exchanged a look with his brother and shook his head in resentment. "Never mind. But I had to talk to him about his nose poking business in my life and about my..."

I nodded in understanding, wondering how beautiful that evening would have gone if he hadn't threw me away.

"We talked like civilised men at first. That's how it always is between us so I went a bit personal later. I actually called him Papa, just like he does occasionally except I did after twenty years." He cocked his head to his brother and scoffed. "Thought he would get a hint about things I wanted to talk about but he lashed out. Said I had no right to call him that so I back answered. One thing led to another and he clearly declared I won't get the answers I want. Consider her dead, he said."

I did hear the way they argued with each other. I wasn't exactly present there but I could clearly imagine.

An ice pack was given to him and he pressed it on his face. Adrian got his coffee and I got some cotton for my wounded knuckles.

I really beat the crap out of a grown man again.

"Leo, what made you act like that to me? Why did you kick me out?" I asked seriously.

His jaw ticked as he stood up, this time not allowing anybody to help him and rotated his shoulder. "Since I was not going to get any desired answer related to that matter, I moved on to next. You. I told him not to interfere in our lives and enjoy his retirement. He didn't listen. He never does. He said that you were just a distraction and asked how long I was going to use you, just like he did to her. I lost it. When nothing worked, I resolved to my last option. Giving him the same fate. But he... he..."

"Threatened you? Blackmailed you? Go on. I want to know it all."

"He showed me some papers instead." Leonardo shot a cold, hard glare to his elder brother. "Papers which I thought were supposed to be in my possesion."

"Don't look at him like that." I snapped. "It's not his fault. If it wasn't him, I wouldn't be standing here today."

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Everything I planned, backfired. I ordered him to hand me those papers, he didn't. Used all sorts of accusation charges on him, anything that I could make up and threaten him yet he didn't listen. Of course, he would not listen. Those papers would always be in his possesion."

"What kind of papers were they, boss?" I asked sweetly. "Do tell. I'm dying to know."

He hesitated, then said. "Property papers."

Sternly, I crossed my arms. "What kind of property?"

"Not the legal kind."

I nodded profoundly. "I see. And by any chance, this property you are talking about, is it a land or a house or something like that where you do your not the legal kind of things?"

"No." He gritted.

"Then what kind of property?" I thought aloud, mocking him internally which he has already realised. "Properties are usually a huge house, apartment or a land. Maybe smaller things like a bed or a cupboard which you bought and use it for your personal reasons but it's mostly non living things. Isn't that right, my dear?"

"Si." He answered.

"Sorry buddy, but I don't understand your language very properly." I deadpanned. "So why don't you say a yes or a no for my convenience now, hmm? I'm sure you understand what 'yes' means. Everybody does. It's a universal language."

His jaw clenched. "Yes."

I clapped my hand. "Perfect! Now as we were speaking about this certain property, you still haven't said what exact kind of property papers your dear old daddy, who is sitting upstairs, warming his pathetic ass on his chair, showed you. Those papers which were supposed to be in your possesion."

"I..."

"Why don't we start with the basics?" I smiled. "Since you are clearly showing no signs of cooperation with me. So this property which you speak about, is it a living thing or a non living thing?" He opened his mouth to answer but I stopped him. "No. No. Don't you dare ask me what a living and a non living thing is. You are a graduated, high class working business man."

"I know what it is, signorina Jones." He hissed.

"It's Miss Jones for you. I don't understand a single Italian endearment or greeting or whatsoever!" I shouted.

He shut himself right up.

"Now please answer me this in forms of yes and no." I said formally. "This property you told us about, is it a non living thing?"

"No."

"So it's an actual breathing being."

"Yes."

My brows furrowed in a fake pretend confusion. "Do you own a zoo? With all that animals and birds and stuff which you own?"

He looked at me as if I had grown two heads. "No. Of course not."

"It has to be a zoo. You love animals. You clearly look like one right now."

I heard a choke of laughter from his elder brother.

"It's not a fucking zoo!" Leonardo snapped. "And stop laughing, Adrian!"

"So it's not a zoo." I said coolly. "And whatever he showed to you in his possesion made you throw me out in the cold. So it must be related to me. A girl."

I heard gasps of realisation from women as they finally understood what kind of property I am describing here.

I thought I would see shame in his eyes but there was none. He had a blank look on his face. "He still owns them. Every single one of them and it also includes you. Remember I told you about how father is one of the rare, important men in that area? He still is. He was supposed to hand me over everything. Including the part how it all works and add my name. He didn't do anything on purpose."

"You still haven't explained why you kicked me out. You had hurt me, Leo. You'd hurt me really bad." I bit my inner cheeks. "What made you ruin everything we had together?"

"I made a mistake." He gruffly answered. "I told him about my certain future plans related to you and gave him a last warning to not to meddle in our lives. He didn't like it. So he... uhh, he said some things, things which a father or any man shouldn't say about any woman, especially my woman. He gave me an ultimatum. Blackmail would be the exact word for that kind of situation."

I waited patiently for him to continue as he grabbed another ice pack and pressed it on his face.

"Either I get rid of my distraction by kicking her out of my life or else he..." He gulped, exchanging side looks from everybody present here.

"He what?" I asked. "Go on. Why did you stop?"

"Can we, er, talk about this privately? Just the two of us."

"No." I answered firmly, my eyes shooting imaginary daggers to him. "Nobody is going anywhere. You humiliated me in front of everybody and you didn't listen to me, begging and crying to talk privately, to sort this out together without you behaving like a jerk. So I want you to say this in front of everybody too. I wanna finish this here and now!"

A scowl formed in his face and he nodded slowly. "Fine. As you wish."

"Or else what then? What was he going to do?"

"He'll send you to the other side."

I heard something crash on the wooden floor. It sounded like a cup breaking and accompanied by lots of curses about torturing a certain bastard for months by twisting something, cutting it open and stuffing something inside it then repeating it all over again.

"Other side?" I asked, confused. "What's on the other side? Leo, you want to say something, stop saying it in circles."

"Prostitution."

Loud gasps and curses echoed. My ears began to rang. I waited for the shock or fear to strike me but it didn't. I felt absolutely nothing except betrayal.

I could see his lips moving, saying words I couldn't hear. My legs moved on their own and once again, my fist collided his face.

The hall went silent again.

"You had no right," My voice void of any emotion and slowly it got higher. "No right to take any irrational decisions which involved me. I am a woman of my own and I certainly don't belong to anybody!" I kept hitting his chest. "I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS! SAYING THIS SINCE DAY ONE!"

Papers or no papers, he could have told me about this. It's all his fault.

"I hate you. You hear me? I hate you!" I cried and ruffled my hair in frustration. "You could have talk to me! We could have handled this together but you ruined everything!"

"Amy... enough." He groaned in pain.

I punched his jaw again. "You didn't even let me say that I love you too, dammit! God, I hate you so much!"

"W-What?" He grabbed my arm and looked at me, wide eyed and shocked. "What did you say again?"

"What are you staring at, huh?" I let out a frustrated sigh and ran my fingers through my hair, finally calming myself down. "This isn't how things work between two people, Leo. We have problem. We talk. We sort it out together without making any rash decisions. We lost two weeks together because you acted on your own and made me pay the price. You fell into your father's blackmail, threw me away, shut your own brother out of your life and dumped your job to him then easily succumbed to alcohol. This isn't you. I don't know who you are. The man I fell in love with is not here. Either you bring him back or I'm taking the earliest flight back to my shitty job as a cashier in McDonald's."

And probably regret my decision then cry in despair while drinking cheap beer for the rest of my life.

My heart fluttered when I saw something tugging his lip. Is that a smile? "McDonald's? Tsk. Tsk. You could have done better, Amy."

"That is exactly what I said!" Adrian laughed. "You think we can get a discount in your name there, Amelia?"

"Enough, both of you." I shushed, shooting glares to the brothers. "We are not done yet." I motioned my hand between Leo and I. "You are a highly irresponsible, shitty faced idiot. I came back not because I love you, but because you owe me answers and you still do. I came back to set you and your father straight because I am so sick and tired of the lies brewing in this place, keeping me and the other women here in the dark only because your mo—" I stopped abruptly when I realised that I was about to spill out something which I hadn't confirm yet.

As usual, I saw a blank expression morphed on his face.

"It wasn't easy to come back, Leonardo." I shuddered slightly, remembering everything that has happened in a span of three days and shook away all those images from my brain. "I was tempted... so tempted... to leave everything, to go back where I came from and lead my life as if you never happened, surrendering to that temptation and let you suffer, but I'm not like that. Heartless and cruel."

I took a few steps ahead till he was within my reach and ran my fingers on his arm.

They say love is blind, but nobody said that love will make your smelling sense blind. I wanted to go more close to him yet I didn't. He actually stinks.

"No more lies." I mumbled, looking straight into his slightly dilated pupils. "And stop drinking. It's bad for health."

He nodded like an obedient child.

"I love you, August-mini. Okay? Like a lot. But right now, you are still a stinking, caveman jerk to me and I hate you."

"There..." He cleared his throat. "There might be a time, accidentally not purposely, you might catch me do things, bad things which are not meant for your innocent eyes to see. Will you still love me after that?"

I saw the doubt clear in his eyes and I nodded without any hesitation. "I don't exactly like it but I'll always support you. Unless some cop presses the door bell to arrest you and your brother. I'll act dumb about your illegal business, watch both of you sentence to prison for life and then I'll run away with your money overnight."

He suppressed a smile. "Sounds like you have it all planned."

"I'd like to be ready for the future. I thought you would know it already."

"And what if I don't come back home one day? What if, one day, I leave for work and later that day you recieve a news of multiple bullets or stabs and that I died on spot? I don't exactly have a nine to five job with Sunday's off and no life. Will you still love me after that?"

I sniffed. "Is that what you think of us? Because I don't. I think of you, me, together, having something amazing and that's it."

"Then how about starting that something amazing by marrying me?"

I stared at him, stunned. Marriage? Me? Did I hear him correctly? The seriousness of his face gave me my answer. My heart was beating wildly and my mouth parted open slightly but no words came out.

Yes. I love him. In a short time, he took me by soul, mind and body. I can't see anybody else other than him in my life... but marriage? Joining together in matrimony? Never in a million years I thought I would see myself in a position like this. I felt... happy. Complete. Like I had conquer the entire world and there was no bound to my happiness.

Yes. I love him and I do see myself spending my life with him. But this isn't the right time. Marriage. Yes. Now. No. We have too much in our plate right now.

"A-Are... Are you sure?" I asked cautiously. "You know, we can talk, like really talk about this privately. There's no rush about this thing... this marriage thing."

The word itself sent me shivers. Good ones, to be exact. Like a promise to a new future.

He nodded earnestly. "Of course. Privately."

I released a breath of relief.

"Is there anything else left to..." Bombard? Shoot? Strike? Throw straight on my face? "... say?"

He shook his head. "I believe not. What about you?"

"I'm talking to your father."

"The fuck you will!"

"The hell you will!" Adrian shouted.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not asking your permission, idiot. I'm telling you."

"And if I find you having three bullets in your head and his rifle hot, I will kill him with my bare hands and as tempting as it sounds, I don't want it to end for him easily."

"Well then, that's too bad for you." I cooed. "I'll end it by a few words. Don't worry, he won't hurt me and if he does, I'll knock some senses to him too. Easy peasy."

We held a staring competition, then he finally asked in a hush whisper. "How long?"

"Thirty minutes. Shower. Get rid of this caveman look then meet me upstairs."

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