The Mobster's Princess

Welcome Home, Rose

Rose's crying face wasn't something he could forget, every time it popped up in his head he also thought of Aria. Rose had been a big part of Aria's life, he was the reason why they weren't on speaking terms anymore. It was an honor to know that his siblings had his back, but the guilt was eating at him now. He pushed away from his desk, leaving Max hanging in his update about the numbers. His exclusive club with pricy girls was doing great, however, at this moment he couldn't care less about the big numbers they were bringing in by selling sex. He needed to see Rose, the nagging feeling was pushing him to extreme thoughts which involved her jumping in front of a moving truck or cutting her wrists in her tub. The possibilities were endless and also disturbing. He needed to see with his own eyes that Rose Hart was unscathed after his teasing. Promising her hell wasn't something which he could deliver on, he realized that now because of the intense guilt that boiled within him.

"Where the hell are you going, brother?"

Any other day he'd be sharing a laugh with Max about how on point his questioning was, but he couldn't care less about his surroundings right now. Instead, Rafael stormed out of his office without a word, heading toward the elevator. He was vaguely aware of the footsteps which followed after him.

"Rafe!"

He pushed the button to the elevator, looking offended when Max suddenly grabbed his arm and tried to force his attention to him.

"We're not finished talking and you're acting like a crazy person right now, Rafe." Max released his arm and sighed tiredly, "Crazier than you've been behaving the last couple of weeks. I mean outrageous sex dates aren't exactly the definition of someone losing their minds, but it isn't you-"

"Stop talking right now." Rafael told him, "I'm going to see Rose."

"Y-You what?" Max stuttered.

He stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to the garage, "I'm going to see Rose, so for today you and Seb need to figure things out on your own."

"Okay."

He never heard Max sound that confused. The last thing he saw before the elevator doors closed was a frown marred on his brother's face while he looked like he needed a drink or two. Rafael grabbed his phone and scrolled down his contact list to Rose's name. He had the urge to call her, but in the end, he couldn't make the effort to actually swipe the name to make the call. He pocketed his phone and more or less dashed to his car when the elevator arrived at his floor.

***

Rafael sat in his car for about fifteen minutes to give himself a mental pep talk. He was a fucking grown-up dealing with life-threatening people, but he couldn't make himself see his future wife because he couldn't handle her tears. He was a pussy if Sebastiano found out he'd mock him relentlessly.
Taking a deep breath Rafael got out of the car and headed straight to Rose's apartment, knowing if he had time to think about it he'd get out without looking back. Even if he didn't like it Rose Hart was going to become his wife, he didn't have it in him to sleep with his eyes open for the rest of his life because he felt threatened the woman might stab him in his sleep.
Standing before the closed door Rafael raised his hand and wanted to knock, but stepped back, shocked when the door suddenly ripped open right in front of him. The person ripping the door open in a rush looked like they were about to get a heart attack.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He apologized quickly.

She pressed a hand against her chest and let out a big sigh of relief, "No, it's not your fault. I was just in a rush." She explained making big hand gestures while she tried to get her point across, "Ice cream emergencies and all." She then pulled herself together and eyed him up and down, "And who are you exactly and what are you doing here?" She placed a hand on her hip, making it obviously clear to him how curvy and undeniably hot this woman was, "Are you one of Rose's expensive lawyers?" She lowered her voice, "Is she in deep?"