Mariella grew up in the foster care system, abused every day until she found solace in the most unexpected form; Mateo, the son of an Italian mob leader.
Fate brought the two together, but when it tears them apart, how is she supposed to cope? Espe...
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Mariella's POV
Mateo had finally planned our date. Internally, I was freaking out. I hadn't been on a date in a couple of years. After that asshole Jason who liked to put his hands on me, along with shorter relationships and failed dates, I gave up. I was set on growing old by myself, with only the twins to keep me company. Thank god that had changed.
I was completely oblivious on what to wear due to Mateo's lack of sharing any details whatsoever of the date. What if I overdressed? Knowing my luck we'd show up and I'd end up sitting through a picnic in a ballgown.
I had it narrowed down to a small black dress that Mateo bought me and a more flowy pastel sundress. Deciding on the black dress, it would probably match Teo's usual black attire, I slipped it on over my lacy underwear.
My hair was freshly washed, and luckily for me it had dried slightly wavy. Teo had decided that it was important for me to learn self defense-I didn't object-and my arms were far too sore to style my hair in any way.
A knock pounded on the bathroom door, "Bambina?"
I sighed, rushing over to the door, swinging it open. I hoped he liked what I chose.
He looked up from his phone to me, his face immediately hardening. It felt like I was being examined by a doctor as his eyes roamed my figure. A smile appeared on his lips, showing off his beautifully straight teeth. They were the kind of white you could only achieve by fantastic genetics. No amount of whitening could ever reach the perfect color.
"You are beautiful, as always," he followed his words up with a long peck to the top of my head.
"Thank you," I said shyly with a grin on my face. He never failed to make me blush like a middle schooler.
"Are you re-" his phone ringing cut us off. I could tell it was Jamal by the ringtone. He mouthed sorry to me, turning and walking back into the room, plopping himself down on the bed. It was obvious he didn't exactly want me hearing what they were talking about. He never did, afraid it would scare me.
I decided to put on some lip gloss last minute while he finished up his phone call. "Shit!" I heard him whisper-yell, the thud of something being thrown against the wall following shortly after.
I poked my head out of the door, raising an eyebrow. It was more of an attempt though, really. He could raise one at a time, though my talent was not quite as advanced. They both raised in question.
He sighed disappointedly, looking up at me with sorry eyes.
"I'm sorry, baby I-" he breathed out, puffing his cheeks, "I have to go to the warehouse. There's something urgent."
My face dropped immediately. We were finally going to go out, just us, and it had been ruined. "Oh."
He got up off the bed, moving to stand in front of me and planting his hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look at him.
