Mafia Princess

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Twilight...not mine (sigh).

Chapter Seventy-Nine

True to her word, Bella called a piano tuner who arrived by lunchtime the following day. After a few hours, the piano was at least in tune with itself. The tuner said that he'd be back in a week to try and get it closer to being in tune with the rest of the world. Any major changes would cause the strings to break, the soundboard to crack or the piano to not function properly. I sat down at it, at Bella's insistence, to check how it sounded.

It was still a half step flat. But, at least it was closer than it was before.

I spent until dinner at the piano, just playing through songs that were in my memory. It calmed me and I knew it turned Bella on. Or it made her calm. I don't know. She was sitting next to me, idly running her fingers along my leg as I played. It felt normal.

It felt nice.

We fell into bed that night and cuddled some more. I relished in the closeness, intimacy we were building but the voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to run away. I shouldn't hurt her. My heart reveled in the relationship I was building with Bella. I was normally one to think with my head, not my heart.

Rose called me cerebral.

I guess I am.

But, my head wasn't going to tell me what to do now. I wanted my heart to guide me.

The next day, Bella wanted to go into town. I wanted to stay at the villa, noodling on the piano. Bella, however, looked like she was getting cabin fever and we went into Sorrento. We wandered around the city, shopping at the local fresh markets. Bella picked up some fresh vegetables and cheese for dinner tonight. She wanted to make veggie lasagna. She picked up the food and as we were walking back to the car, I saw a music store.

"Can we stop in there?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, arching a brow. "What do you need?"

"I'd like to pick up some new music and some staff paper," I said, giving her a nervous smile. She beamed and we walked into the store. There were guitars all around the walls, along with mandolins, some violins and a handful of drums. I wandered toward the back where I saw sheet music. I picked up a book of Romantic favorites and a book of Beethoven Sonatas. The last thing I grabbed was a spiral of staff paper. I carried my musical loot, but my eyes were drawn to an acoustic guitar. It was a black-bodied guitar.

"You want to try?" asked the shop keeper. "It's a beautiful guitar." He took my books, placing them on the counter, and guided me toward the guitar. I sat down on a stool and he handed me the instrument. It was an amazing fit for my hands. "It's probably not in tune, but try it out."

I strummed the strings and it was pretty bad. I quickly tuned it and began gently picking at the strings. "Wow," Bella breathed. "Is there anything you're bad at?"

"Don't ask me to sing," I snickered.

"You want the guitar?" the shopkeeper asked.

"I don't know," I said. "How much is it?"

He grabbed the tag from the stand it was in. "€1200."

"Then, no," I snorted. "It's a beautiful guitar, but I can't afford that. Thank you for letting me try it."

"No problem," he said as he took the guitar back. "If you do get the money, it'll be here for you."

"Thanks," I replied, reaching into my pocket to pull out my wallet. I paid for the books. Carrying the bags with the books and food, Bella and I strolled to the car. We loaded up the purchases into the trunk before getting inside. Bella was smiling. "Whatever you're thinking, don't."

"Who said I'm thinking about anything?" she asked arching a brow.

"You have that mischievous look in your eyes, Bella. I know you," I smirked. She just kissed me and didn't reply. "Little One, it's not worth it."

"We probably should get home before the cheese goes bad," she said airily, starting the car.

"Bella," I growled in warning. She just grinned knowingly, backing out of the spot. I pursed my lips, wishing I hadn't even looked at the guitar now. Bella, more than likely, was figure out a way to get it for me and I didn't want her to spend money unnecessarily on me.

However, I knew it was fruitless to even try to stop her. Bella was more stubborn than me and once she set her mind on something, she went for it full force. With a sigh, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to probably get a new guitar.

And this is a bad thing?

A/N: I couldn't resist...the piano? Picture of the guitar is on my blog, along with the recipe for veggie lasagna. It's nummy. Link for my blog is on my profile. Also find me on Facebook and twitter. Leave me some!

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