Duchess Trilogy: Book 1: Mafia

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Date

Brie's POV

Six months later...

There have been some days that lasted longer than usual, but one thing I was mostly focused on was getting my degree in education. I enrolled as Aubrie Adelaide, using my previous name so that my name wouldn't be traced to where we were hiding. It felt nice to be having my former name again.

The online classes seemed to be a breeze, and I was completing a lot of them at an alarming pace. In the six months, I've had so much free time that I flew through the pre-courses that I will soon have my associate's degree! Everyone was so proud of my accomplishments.

There were times that Ryan and Janja were hot on Carmine's trail and left to go find him, but they always came to a dead end on it all. Now, with the winter season passed, it's pretty quiet with the other families as everyone is away spending time with family. John and Vittorio have been working endlessly, helping out with other connections, too. Tony and Frank did a fairly good job as inside men trying to get the scoop on everyone.

The guys would try to meet on random nights in case we or the boys were being followed. It was best to come at a surprise notice. So, it was often hard to get a moment alone with Ryan. But I let it go as we want to find Carmine for my safety and find the other girls that are held hostage. Plus, I wanted to focus on my education.

One night, Ryan came into my office room as I was working on an essay. It surprised me because he said earlier that morning he needed to leave to take care of some errands. I wasn't expecting him back until later in the night.

"Working hard, huh?" He says, then comes around the desk, kissing me on the side of my head and wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"As usual, just working on another essay," I say, letting out a sigh, feeling slightly defeated in the essay that I was working on.

He then turns the chair around to have me look back at him. His posture seemed a little different, and I looked at him slightly concerned.

"Is everything alright?" I ask him.

"Of course, I just wanted to take you out tonight. I know that I've been busy lately, and so have you. So, I figured tonight would be a great night to just spend time together and enjoy one another's company. Just the two of us." He says, smiling back at me. "Hell, I don't even think we had a date before since we've been dating."

I smiled happily. "Oh, a first date, you say? I guess I better get on my best dress." I say with a grin.

He leans in to kiss me softly and then whispers in my ear. "I'll wait for you. Meet me downstairs when you are ready."

We both left the room together, hand in hand. As we approached our room, I walked in and noticed a beautiful green dress on the bedspread, along with some jewelry. I turn to see Ryan still there.

"Janja helped me out by picking what you would like." He says, slightly embarrassed as he rubs the back of his neck, leaning by the door.

"I love it! I'll meet you downstairs." I say to him. He smiles and then shuts the door, leaving me alone in the room to change. I changed in a quick haste in case something was to come up and ruin our night. I tried adjusting my hair to keep it down, showing off the big curls. But suddenly, the words echoed in my head when I heard Carmine's voice:

"You do look beautiful in that dress, Miss Brie..."

I felt goosebumps form along my whole body, and I looked around the room to make sure I was hearing things. I shrugged the thought of Carmine out of my mind, as I wanted it to be all about Ryan and me. I admired myself in the mirror, walked out, and went down the stairs to meet up with Ryan. As I walked down the stairs, I noticed that he quickly changed as well into a very nice brown suit. He looked so nice that it made me smile. He catches my glance and smiles back at me, not looking away from my glance.