His Bambina

Chapter 5

Their eyes burn through my fragile walls, waiting for my opinion in the matter. When did it get so hot in here?
"I – I think if my father trusts him enough to provide protection for all of us, then we should give him a chance. He has been nothing but nice to us so far, right?"
"Yeah but his men treat us like trash." Amelia mumbles her words under her breath, but I still catch them.
"Wait what?" Before she can answer we're cut off by loud laughter and talking coming our way. I recognize Vincenzo's brother in the group of about six people, and my heart skips a beat as Vincenzo's figure emerges from the back of the crew. They're all in gym shots and tee shirts. Honestly it's the most casual I've seen him and his men so far. My eyes trail over his tattoos that are spread across his muscles arms. They shine with sweat and I don't think I've ever found something so attractive before. His black t-shirt hugs his body like a second skin and My eye catches the skull tattoo above his knee. I wonder how it'd look up close.
Amelia scoffs and rolls off her seat. Joseph and Nicolas follow her actions and clean up their bowls. After they're washed and put away, Nicolas comes to stay by me as the other two leave.
His hand rests at the small of my back and he leans down to whisper in my ear, "Do you want to come with us? We might go shopping for better breakfast supplies later."
Do I want to go with them? It feels like I haven't spent time with them at all, even if it has only been a day. I contemplate the thought but as I look up at the steel gaze towards Nicolas and I, I know what my answer should be, "No, I'll be fine. I might rest for a bit more, it took me a while to fall asleep."
I'm lying straight through my teeth, and the look of sadness in Nicolas's eyes makes me feel even more guilty about it. "Well if you have trouble sleeping again you can always come talk to Amelia or me. You do know that, right?"
"Yes, I know, thank you." He smiles at me and kisses the top of my head. He walks away but Vincenzo is near, and they end up bumping shoulders. Nicolas rolls his eyes and keeps walking. He's wise enough to know not to start a fight with the boss and our host. Vincenzo, however, doesn't even flinch as his eyes are set on me, and I can sense the fury in them making me shrink in my chair.
I gulp down my fear as he steadily makes his way towards me. I stand up and finish up my breakfast. The soft clapping of the heels on his running shoes sound like a noise that should come from a scary movie, yet I'm not even sure why. Why does his gaze scare me so? Why do I feel dread rolling through my back as he comes close to me?
"Aria..." His voice is cold and calm, and it strikes more nervousness through my mind.
I spare him no glace, though, and take my plate to the sink. "Vincenzo."
He follows me slowly and lowers his voice in order to not disturb the guests in the kitchen with us, "We need to talk."
I turn on the sink without a word and proceed to clean my dishes. Suddenly his strong hand grips my little ones swiftly, putting all of my movements to a halt. He leans into my ear, "Now."
He pulls me away from the sink and leads me back upstairs to his room. Once we get to his room and pushes me into the seat at his desk, "I am not happy with you right now. And it's your first day."
His laugh is sharp, sarcastic, and bitter making me feel consumed in fear. Why am I so afraid to disappoint him? This a glimpse of new side of Vincenzo that I haven't seen yet. The one that demanded respect from all. Why does the tension radiating off of him make me want to sink into another world and hide away, which is something I haven't done in a long time.

Vincenzo's POV
The sight of that boy so close to my Aria made my blood boil. Maybe I was wrong to move so fast with her. Maybe her heart already belongs to another. Maybe she isn't cut out for my lifestyle.
No, I can't think like that. She agreed to be mine in all aspects of the word. Now, I'm going to show her what that means.
She breaks the silence first, "I – I don't understand why-"
"What don't you understand, Aria? You broke so many rules."
She stands up to challenge me, but I don't miss how her knees shake, "That's not fair! I don't even know what the rules are."
"And yet you still managed to break so many before I even had the chance to enlighten you on the subject! Sit down Aria." She stomps her foot and sits back in her seat, "You want to know which rules you broke? Fine, how about you improperly greeting me this morning, not looking at me while we spoke to each other, ignoring me, not obeying me when I told you to come and talk. Oh, and you may not have known all of my rules yet, but I made it very clear that I do not share. And now you dare to raise your voice at me? Over my knee."
She shakes and I can see the sadness in her eyes as they water, "But- I- it not fair..." The tone in her voice is no longer angry, but sad and... little.
I try to calm my voice, "As my little you must obey means my rules. Over my knee Aria."
"I'm not yours!" She stomps her foot making my jaw clench. She's going to be a handful, "I agreed to test this out, but don't go assuming things. Besides even if I were 'y-yours' you can't expect me to follow rules you haven't even given to me yet."
Without another word she rushes out leaving me speechless. When was the last time I let someone speak to me like that? But she's right, I overreacted. Just seeing that boy touch her sent me over the edge.
I'm not used to not being able to have what I want. But if I keep fueling up, I'm never going to be given the chance to be with her.

Aria's POV
I wipe away the few tears I let escape, and try to push down my emotions. I'm not sure why his disappointment and anger affected me so much. I shouldn't care about his opinions. And the fact that he acted that way frustrates me to no end.
Me: Have you guys left yet?
Aria texts back almost instantly.
Dummy 1: Not yet! Can't find anything to wear! X(
She texts me terrible directions to her room, and miraculously I find it. I steal some clothes she's thrown out of her bag that she's ruled out of her options, wanting to dress more casual when we go out.
She finally finds something to wear, and we leave to meet Nico and Jonathan outside.
"Where are you going?" I jump from the boom of his voice. Vincenzo scans me up and down slowly, taking in my short shorts and brown button up I've tied into a crop top.
Amelia scoffs, "Um I didn't know we weren't allowed to leave the premises your highness." I cringe at her attitude as Vincenzo clenches his jaw. C'mon Aria, grow a spine.
"No please, be my guest. I hope you get to see how beautiful Italy is. Bernardo will drive you."
The dirty blonde man next to him, who I assume is Bernardo looks at him shocked. He doesn't seem pleased with being volunteered to accompany us, but doesn't dare argue.
"Thanks but we don't need a babysitter," I give him a forced smile and try to walk off, but he stops me.
"I promised your father we'd take care of you, so Bernardo here will be sure to see to that."
Amelia looks at me and rolls her eyes. The look she gives me tells me it's not worth the fight.
"Fine, but we're planning on shopping all day." With that we walk out not bothering to wait for Vincenzo's errund boy.

When Amelia said we were going to shop all day she meant it. The boys were tired after the first two hours. I was tired after the next 3. But Italy was truly beautiful. Not as beautiful as home, of course, but very close.
The whole time we enjoyed ourselves, trying to ignore the dirty look Bernardo would send our way throughout the day. But it was a nice day nonetheless.
By the time we get back, Nico carries our bags to Amelia's room so we can sort them later. My feet are sore, but my body is warm and buzzing from the two glasses of wine Amelia bought me.
As I reach for my doorknob Vincenzo's voice breaks the silence, "How was your evening?"
I smile and take off my shoes, "It was good. Italy was fun to explore."
"Good," he smiles down at me and I take in his attire. He's got nothing but a pair of grey sweats on making my legs shake a bit. His chest and arms are littered with tattoos I can't quite make out from across the halls, but I force my eyes away from his tempting body as he walks towards me.
"Did you eat?" His voice is quiet and gentle, making me feel even more sleepy.
"Yes, we did. Thank you."
"Where did you go?"
My brain is a bit fuzzy, but I try to make myself remember the name, "It was a pasta place. Vitorrios?"
"Ah, yes. Vittorrio's," the way the word rolls of his tongue sounds so much better than the way I butchered it, "that's probably the next best restaurant in the city."
"What's the first?" I ask him, genuinely curious because this place was amazing.
His hand reaches out, brushing a strand of my hair away from my eyes, "Maybe I can take you sometime?"
A blush creeps up my neck at the proximity of us, "Yeah... maybe I'll let you."
I give him a teasing smile, but his smile seems happy at my response. We stand there for a bit, making me feel a certain type of way.
Finally he steps back, "Get some sleep Aria. I'll see you in the morning."
He heads back to his room and it takes me a while to mumble out a 'goodnight'.