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-Mia-

I avoided him for the rest of the day and sobered up after a while.

I walking around the buildings in circles, pondering when I realised I was stupid. I picked a fight with him for no reason and should of went to the hospital.

I didn't even know what gave me the urge to drink. People drink all the time and somehow it helps their problems, so how come when I drank, it didn't work?

I made a fool out of myself and should of listened and just went to the damn hospital like he offered. He was being nice in a way and trying to get me help but I was being stubborn and rude.

We weren't together and had a right to go fool around with whoever we wanted. I was being jealous and ridiculous. I figured that out when Val found out. She was pissed at me.

"You did what?"

I sighed and bit my lip. Her arms were folded and she paced around the room angrily. "Let me get this straight, Mia. You got yourself drunk for no good reason, refused his kind offer to take you to the hospital and yelled at him for getting on with his life?"

"Yeah," I said, casually and hoping she wouldn't yell.

She groaned, sitting beside me frowning. "Mia. Why are you jealous?"

I shrugged, "ask my brain."

Valentina gave me a serious look, "Mia, this isn't funny. You were mad at him for not leaving you alone and now you're mad at him for getting on with his life, even if that means sleeping around with other women? That's not fair."

"Him cheating wasn't fair."

"I know," Val said in a more kinder tone. "But he knows and has apologised. It may not be enough now but at least he's 'moving on'. Isn't that what you wanted?"

I sighed, shaking my head sadly. "I don't know what I want." My voice was shaky and I was nervous for some reason. I didn't know what I wanted.

I loved Vincenzo still, and I guess it still hurt that he was moving on even when I practically told him to.

"You need to figure it out," Valentina said, studying my face. "Soon, because if you still like him and you tell him weeks later, he may have already moved on fully and not want to go back with you. You're kind of leading him on, Mia. You guys are going backwards and forwards. One day, you're not happy with him and the next, you're cuddling and kissing him like old times. It's not okay - for either of you. We keep having these kinds of conversations and they're ridiculous."

I placed my head in my hands, sighing. She was right. "I have three months left," I mumbled, not wanting to cry. "I don't think I can do them. I really don't want to see him."

Valentina placed her hand on my back, kindly. "You want to leave?" A traitor tear slipped out. "I don't know. I don't know how I feel about anything anymore."

"Mia. ."

"Can I be alone?" I asked, tears slipping out my eyes. "Yeah, sure," she said quietly before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. As soon as she did that, I let out a loud sob and curled up into a ball on my bed.

I cried myself to sleep, like I did for the last couple of days and woke up with puffy eyes. I was embarrassed by what I had done and almost scared - no nervous to see Vincenzo again.

I got myself ready and walked into Vincenzo's house wearing makeup and keeping my head high. I didn't want to feel upset.

Closing the door behind me, I turned to see a familiar looking face grinning at me. "Maria!" I exclaimed, pulling her into a short warm hug before moving away. She smiled widely, "Mia, it's great to see you!"

Maria was Leonardo's wife who lived away. Like I mentioned previously, they had two kids and weren't involved in the mafia anymore. Maria was beautiful and had short brown hair and blue eyes that shined brightly. She was kind and we had met briefly before when I was introduced to Vincenzo's family. Maria was a lovely person to be around.

"It's good to see you too - oh, my gosh, how far along are you?" I asked kindly, glancing down at her large bulging stomach. Maria smiled and placed her hand on top of her bump, "eight months." My eyes widened and I smiled brightly, "That's great! Shouldn't you be resting? What are you doing here?"

"Leonardo needed to come because Vincenzo needed him for something. You can never fully leave the mafia," she sighed, her smile fading. I was curious but it didn't look like Maria knew what the 'something' was. Whatever it was, it must of been serious because Vincenzo was never the type to ask for help unless he really needed something.

"I came with him because I didn't want him to miss our baby's birth," Maria explained, smiling again. "The kids are staying with my mum until we get back. What are you doing here? Why are you in a maid's outfit. .unless. ." She gave me a playful look and my eyes widened.

"No, no!" I said quickly, blushing as she chuckled. "I'm working here for a while, cleaning."

Maria frowned, "cleaning? Why would Vincenzo make you clean? Aren't you guys back together?" I smiled sadly, shaking my head.

Maybe he didn't tell her.

"No," I replied, sadly. "We never went back together."

"Aww, Mia," Maria pulled me into a hug, being careful of her stomach. "He shouldn't of cheated on you." I sighed and bit my lip as she pulled away, squeezing my shoulder gently before letting go. "Stay strong." I nodded, blinking back my tears.

She smiled again, "you look beautiful by the way." I thanked her, dabbing the corner of my eyes and she gazed at me sympathetically. "How are you doing?"

I shrugged, "as good as it gets."

"Mia. ." She started but I shook my head, "I'm fine, Maria, don't worry. Where's Leo?" I asked, changing the subject but she didn't seem to notice. "He's in a meeting at the moment with Vincenzo. He should be coming out soon," Maria responded, glancing behind me.

"You know Vincenzo named a dog after him?" I chuckled along with Maria who said, "seriously? Who's dog is it?"

"Ariana and Alex's," I replied, kindly as she continued to chuckle.

"Maria - hey, Mia, how are you?" Leonardo came in with Vincenzo beside him, talking in his phone in Italian.

Leonardo was the same height as his brother - maybe a little taller and was handsome, like the rest of the Rossi brothers.

Not as handsome as Vincenzo. .

He had dark hair and a beard, and was also muscular. We had met briefly before and Leonardo seemed to be a nice person, although at times he was more serious than his other brothers. At first, I found him scary but he wasn't - Leonardo was a playful person.

"I'm fine," I said with a smile as he hugged me before standing beside Maria and giving her a kiss on her cheek.

He was about to say something else until Vincenzo ended his call and said to me, "Mia, can you come with me for a second," Vincenzo asked, his hazel eyes gazing into mine. I nodded and followed him away from the living room and into the kitchen.

Closing the door behind me, I started by saying, "I'm sorry for being drunk on the job and yelling at you, it was stupid and-"

"It's alright," he said with a smile as he leaned against the counter. "It's healing anyway." I bit my lip as he continued, "we have loads of memories together, right?"

"Yeah. ." I replied, softly.

"Some were great. .and some. .weren't so great, but the point is: we were happy and I screwed that all up. What if I take you out later? Just a day together to forget all the crazy shít that's happened between us."

"Vince. ."

"Just me and you. No one else. A day together - no distractions and by the end, if you still don't want to give us another go then," he sighed as if he didn't want to say the next few words. "I'll give you the rest of the money for the next three months and you can leave and never see me again."

I thought for a moment. Would it be so bad just for one day?

"Okay," I replied, with a small smile. "I'll do it."

What's the worst that could happen?

I bursted out laughing, juice flying out of my mouth as I spluttered. I fell on my back, my eyes closed as I laughed hard. "Oh my goodness!" I chuckled as I sat back up and wiped my mouth, grabbing a tissue and dabbing the wet patch on the blanket. "I'm so sorry," I said, still chuckling as he grinned.

"It's alright," Vincenzo replied, a warm smile on his face as he gazed at me.

We were having a small picnic on a short meadow, the sun beaming on us and the sky brightly shining. It was beautiful and Vincenzo seemed to remember that I wasn't the type to go out to restaurants. I liked to have a casual surrounding - nothing too fancy.

He picked up a napkin and moved it to me face but I moved my head away. "Relax," he said with a grin as he wiped my cheek. I smiled, moving the basket away and laying on my back, cloud gazing.

I was having fun. We were laughing and talking and not feeling awkward for once. It felt good and I didn't think about him cheating, or the mafia or Bianca - or any other change in our lives. It was just me and him.

He laid beside me, holding my hand. "Look!" I exclaimed, using my other hand to point at the sky. "It's a shape of a butterfly!" I said, watching in awe. I loved cloud watching - it was fun and something that always seemed to relax me.

"I can see a girl, with long hair and a perfect shaped body," Vincenzo said, with a smile on his face as he watched the clouds slowly move. I looked across the sky. What the hell was he talking about?

"Where?" I asked, confused.

"You can't see her?" Vincenzo asked, without looking at me. "She's beautiful! Vibrant golden eyes, flawless skin. How can you not see this beauty?"

I finally caught on, turning to my side and looking at him although he wasn't looking at me. "Clouds don't have colours," I said quietly as he turned, facing me. He pulled a strand of hair behind my ear. "I can see her clearly. She looks so hot."

I couldn't help but smile as he rummaged around in the basket and pulled out a mirror before handing it to me. "Can you see her now?"

I looked at myself in the mirror for a moment, realising that my eyes were sparkling in the sun. I didn't think I had flawless skin but he seemed to think so. I put the mirror away and smiled at him. "I see her," I said quietly before sitting up beside him.

We watched the clouds a little longer before packing the picnic up and going back to the car. He placed the basket in the boot and I asked, "are we going back?" He shook his head with a grin, "there's more planned."

We ended up in a bowling alley eating pizza after a while. "I still can't believe you beat me," Vincenzo said as I smirked, "too easy." He rolled his eyes as I went to pick up another pizza which he snatched from me and took a bite out of.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, watching as my pizza was eaten. He shrugged, licking around it, "want it back?" I rolled my eyes and grabbed a different one, taking a bite out of it.

I glanced at his arm, realising something I hadn't seen before. "You got another tattoo?"

Vincenzo had lots of tattoos. Some on his back, his arms, his ankles and wrists and his chest. He had a few on his neck too. His body wasn't covered in tattoos, they were spaced out and didn't make him look weird. They made him look ten times more hotter. He didn't have an excessive amount of them as it seemed.

The new tattoo was a quote in Italian in fancy writing along his arm with dark patterns surrounding the area.

I gazed at it, my hand on his arm as I skimmed across the patterns curiously. "Yeah," Vincenzo replied quietly as I watched. "What does it mean?" I asked, my fingers outlining the patterns and swirls instinctively.

"Its just a quote that my father used to say."

I tensed up at the sound of his father. Vincenzo's father was a horrible despicable man who abused his family for years. He would constantly abuse Vincenzo's mother and even more when she tried to defend her children from him. It didn't always work and when she passed out, Alfonso Rossi would abuse his children.

Vincenzo had a sister. He told me that she was beautiful and kind and the funniest person he had ever met. Her name was Liliana and she was the youngest out of the Rossi siblings.

Once, Alfonso had beat the boys so much that they couldn't move. Due to that, they couldn't protect their only sister. She was only seven when she was attacked. That night, she ran away and hadn't been found since. Vincenzo never talked about her - it hurt too much that even him - a rich and powerful man couldn't find his sister. He gave up a few years ago.

The man was evil and almost beat Vincenzo's mother to death. Vincenzo saved his mother by killing his father - decapitating him. He burned the body in front of the whole mafia, and that was when Leonardo became the boss.

"I don't want to talk about it. ." Vincenzo said, looking away as I moved my hand away. I knew he was thinking of his sister. "I'm sorry," I said quietly but he didn't reply. Instead, he exhaled loudly saying, "I need a cigarette."

"N-"

"I know, I know," he told me, "cigarettes are bad for you and kill your lungs. I'm trying to give up." I smiled, "so you have been listening."

"I could listen to your voice over and over again everyday."

"I'm going to use the restroom," Vincenzo said, before standing and going to the bathroom. I placed the empty cardboard that the pizza was once in in the bin before going back to sit down.

I was about to pull out my phone when a voice came behind me. "Hey, angel, did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?"

Oh, great.

I turned to face a blonde guy with blue eyes and a goatee. I raised an eyebrow, "no, it didn't. I'm taken so piss off." I usually did say to guys that I was dating someone when really I wasn't mostly because I didn't want to date them. "Oh, come on!" He slurred, "you're with that guy? You could do so much better!"

"It's none of your business, now leave me alone," I said, about to turn again when he touched my arm which I yanked away. "Don't touch me!"

"Come on, baby, we can go behind the back. No one will notice," he slurred, smirking as I rolled my eyes.

"Listen here, pric-"

"What's going on here?" Vincenzo came out the bathroom, his face hard as he stood next to me, his arm around my waist. "V-"

"What are you doing with my girl?" Vincenzo asked in a cold tone.

He called me 'his girl'.

Calm down, Mia!

"Vince, let's just go," I said in a quiet tone, wanting to leave the situation badly.

"She wants to go with me, big guy, leave her alone," the blondie said, coming closer to Vincenzo.

"I think not," Vincenzo snapped, his eyes narrowed, "so why don't you go to whatever hell hole you came from, punk?"

"V. .lets just g-"

"Punk? Who you calling punk, asshole?"

"You." Then he punched him and the fighting began.

"Vincenzo, stop!" I screamed as he continued to beat the life out of the drunken guy. A crowd gathered around us but I didn't care, I had to stop him.

I was panicking, scared. "Vincenzo, you're going to kill him, please stop!" I begged, slapping his back but he wouldn't listen. "Vince, please stop!"

"If you don't stop, I'll leave and you'll never see me again!"

He stopped, breathing heavily as he looked down on the unconscious man. He stood, his fists bleeding as he walked over to me. My breathing heightened as he grabbed my wrist and led me out the bowling alley.

It was dark outside and we were waking to the empty parking when I yelled, "what were you thinking? You were going to kill him!"

He let go of me and stop, facing me. "That was the fućking point!"

"He was drunk!" I continued, "you don't go around assaulting people because they call you names!"

"He was disrespecting me, and you!" Vincenzo snapped back.

I noticed his eyes were bloodshot and I scoffed, "Are you high right now?"
He rolled his eyes, "yes, and it feels fućking good except you keep yelling and ruining it!"

I turned to walk away but he grabbed my arm and pulling me so I faced him. "You would kill a man to save your pride? Your name? What the hell, Vincenzo!"

"Stop it, Mia!" He yelled, angry. "You're not my mother."

"And you're not my body guard or boyfriend!" I screamed back, our voices echoing in the parking lot. "I don't need you to defend me or beat a guy up. I am my own woman!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing. "If you keep doing this - killing people constantly. ." I told him, "you're going to end up like you're father!"

Suddenly, there was a stinging pain in my cheek, I felt tears in my eyes as I fell to the ground.

What had just happened?

I was on the ground, my hand on my cheek as tears streamed down my face.

No. .he didn't. .

"Mia!" He said, coming closer but I shuffled away, causing him to stop. "D-don't come anywhere near me!"

Tears came into his eyes, "I'm sorry. .I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what-"

"I hate you!" I snapped loudly, wiping my eyes and attempting not to cry as a tingling feeling went around my cheek. His eyes widened.

"I hate you so much and I don't want to see you ever again!" I yelled, my bottom lip quivering. "I'm leaving and don't you dare try and follow me or find me!"

"I hate you!" I screamed again, angry bubbling in me. "How dare you touch me like that!"

"I don't want to see you! You are dead to me, Vincenzo! Dead to me! I'd rather die than see you again!"

I was sick of him constantly hurting me, treating me like dirt, walking over me. I was sick of him and I was angry. I didn't want to see him. At that moment I wasn't thinking clearly. I had let the anger take over me and was no longer in my right state of mind. I wasn't going to be with a man who cheated, who lied, who hit me.

"Mi-"

"No!" I yelled, turning around and walking away to God knows where. I wasn't even sure of where I was going but I was going anywhere where he wasn't there. I didn't hear him follow me and I was glad. I didn't - couldn't see him again. I had enough.

There were suddenly three loud bangs, echoing in the night.

I shivered and froze. I knew exactly what they sounded like.

I slowly turned, only to cover my mouth in shock before running towards him, kneeling beside him.

No, no, no!

"Vincenzo!" I cried, my voice shaky. "No, no!" I carefully lifted his head on my lap as his eyes starting to close. "No, Vincenzo!"

There were three bullet wounds on his body. Two in his chest and one in his stomach. He was losing blood quickly and getting weaker and weaker.

Guilt ran through me. I felt disgusted with myself - no longer angry. I didn't mean what I said. I was so blinded by anger that I wasn't controlling my words. I let them get the better of me.

"No!" I cried, tears streamed down my face as he coughed out blood, his beautiful eyes gazing into mine. "I'm going to call for help!" I pulled out my phone, my other hand covering one of his wounds as I tried to stop the blood from coming out.

I placed my phone on the ground, putting it on speaker as I called for the ambulance from the mafia.

I placed my hands over two of the wounds, stopping the blood. The ambulance was on its way.

"M. .Mia. ."

"Don't try to talk, baby. Try to relax," I shakily told him, taking off my jacket and pressing it against the wounds, my hands bloody. "I'm so sorry!" I sobbed as he coughed.

"I love. ." His eyes closed and he exhaled loudly. "No, Vincenzo!" I screamed, shaking him gently but he wouldn't wake up.

What had I done?

___

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Mia didn't actually do anything wrong ('what had I done?'). It's just how she feels because they got into an argument and she said some harsh things and he got shot. .three times. Sorry for any confusion.

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