"Loving you had consequences, consequences I didn't even know existed until I met you."
Aria DeLuca, a powerful, confident young woman, is the daughter of the wealthiest man in Italy. When her dad told her she was going to spend a month in Dubai, s...
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present day
"Rome, come on! Enzo is going to kill us if we aren't back before lunch!" My voice is raised to get my point across. Me and my brother, Romeo, decided to take a walk to our mother's grave before our traditional Sunday lunch. Enzo loves these and hates when we're late; he's a bit of a perfectionist, if you must.
Sunday lunches are a tradition in Italy, and as a family, me, Romeo, and Enzo have always enjoyed spending time together. Our father never attends, and I'd rather keep it that way. Business is his top priority.
Romeo is currently trying to coax the florist into giving him a discount on the flowers. I stood from afar with a huge grin on my face. As much as I love him, I would not partake in such activities.
"Per favore signora! Forse potremmo abbassare il prezzo a sei euro?" Please ma'am! Maybe we could lower the price to six euros? He pleaded, but the lady shook her head again and stuck her hand out, waiting for the money. She would not budge. I sighed as I trudged over to the stall, took twelve euros out of my leather black purse, and handed the florist the money. We were rich, for goodness sake! The guy couldn't handle twelve euros?
"Grazie signora, buona giornata." Thank you, madam. Have a good day. I stretched a smile over my face, abruptly grabbed Romeo's elbow, and started to walk away. He was the definition of a man-child.
"Ri, what the hell!" He whisper shouts; we were still within hearing range of said florist, and even I won't lie, the woman was scary as shit. Today is not the day to risk my life. I'm surprised Romeo was able to start begging in the first place.
"Romeo, we are fucking rich. It seriously does not matter how much we pay for flowers." I argue back before he has a chance to finish his sentence. Okay, maybe twelve euros was an abomination to pay for flowers, but that's not my point right now.
He rolls his eyes and yanks his arm out of my grip, being careful not to hit the flowers as he does so. You'd be surprised by how much sass this man could wield.
My thoughts were quickly interrupted when I realised something. "Why the fuck are we whispering? She doesn't know how to speak English." My eyebrows furrow together, and my brother mirrors my actions before his confusion clears up.
"Truthfully, Ri? I have no idea." He chuckles slightly and wraps his free arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer. As I snake my arm around his waist, I can feel his body warmth radiating, and I shiver against the cool January air. Most people are surprised when I say that Italy can actually get pretty chilly in the winter—not cold enough for it to snow per se. But it is cold enough to make you want to snuggle under the covers with the fire roasting in the background.
I'm not usually one to be so affectionate with people, but my brothers are a huge exception, along with my best friend, Isa, of course.
We walk side by side in a comfortable silence. There's usually not much to say when we are visiting our mother's grave, we've made our peace. We've let her go.
⛧°。 ⋆༺♱༻⋆。 °⛧
After a couple of minutes of walking, we arrive at the graveyard, and the silence is disturbing. I hate how quiet it gets here; it's the only time I think I despise being drowned by the serenity.
The closer we walked towards my mama's grave, the louder the melody got. Steeling a quick glance at Romeo, he has a wide grin stretched across his face, and I look over to whatever his eyes are seemingly fixated on. My bestest friend, Isabella, was at our mama's grave, humming while planting some flowers beside her tombstone.
My grin matches Romeo's as I quicken my walk, eager to spend some time with Isa. She lives on her own now; her own mama is deceased, and her father is out of the picture, so me, Enzo, and Romeo are her closest thing to a family. My mama was like her own mama, which is why she comes to visit her grave every now and then.
Isa looks up when I approach her and pulls me into a tight embrace. "Hey, amore mio! stai bene?" Hey, my love! Are you okay? I nod into her shoulder and pull away slightly, looking at her face and making sure she's also okay. Unlike my best friend, my love language is not one of affection; it's more along the lines of reassuring glances and physical touch. So, she knows whenever I give her my looks, I'm making sure she's just as okay as me.
We break apart, and I turn around to Romeo, who looks like he could be in love. Like deeply in love. My eyebrows scrunched together, but I let it go and took the flowers off him, removing the parchment that was used to keep hold of the bunch, and I set them down carefully beside her grave. My fist curled into a ball which crinkled the vellum.
"Ciao mamma, spero che tu stia bene. ci manchi tantissimo" Hey mama, I hope you're doing okay. We miss you dearly. My voice has a hushed tone, one that is too quiet for the audience behind me to hear, and I'm content keeping it that way. As my eyes shut gently, a tepid breeze flows through my loose hair without effort. A shiver ran up the base of my spine, stopping at the very top of my back. It felt like electricity was surging through my blood. It was phenomenal.
Unfortunately, my train of thoughts came to a halt as my brother's voice struck up. He hesitates before asking, "Hey, Ria? How about we head back so Enzo doesn't murder us? Isa said she's going to join us." His voice is soft as he talks to me; the sound soothes my mind, and I slowly flutter my eyes open. I sigh steadily as I turn my body around, facing my two best friends.
"Sì, andiamo, ok?" Yes, let's get going, shall we? I replied, linking my arms with Isa's and leaning my head gently onto her shoulder, careful not to put too much of my weight on her.
The question we're all waiting to ask slips out. "We're late to lunch, aren't we?" My voice remains calm and soft.
"Definitely" "Oh, 100%," Romeo and Isa reply at the same time.
"Perfetto, proprio quello di cui abbiamo bisogno." Perfect, just what we need. I reply in a sarcastic tone and start silently praying. We are all going to die once we step into that house. Isa included.
