AMORE

Challenge accepted

Bella had told Jasmine and Ali about what had happened. She didn't know that Diego had a hand in it too and that was something Diego was thankful for. He didn't want to be mixed with the war between Lorenzo and Bella. He had seen their explosion before five years ago and didn't want to witness it ever again. He had seen the aftermath for Lorenzo and going on a killing spree again wasn't ideal.

Jasmine and Ali had consoled Bella and told her to not feel guilty. According to Ali, Adam and Bella were never officially dating. "They haven't even been on a proper date!" he had expressed to Jasmine as they sat on the bed, confused as hell. Jasmine had surprisingly agreed even though she understood Bella. She knew that Bella felt bad for Adam, she did too. She had known Adam for her whole life, they had been neighbors when they were younger. When Jasmines family had disowned her after learning about her dancing, Adam had provided her with a house with the money he made from boxing. He had even introduced her to Khalid.

It was the next day now and Bella had successfully ignored Lorenzo. It was safe to say that she was mad at him. She would kill him if he crossed her path, she told herself. She woke up early and went to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone minus Lorenzo. However, she wasn't successful when she saw the sight of sore eyes; Lorenzo was sitting on a chair as he gulped down water. He was shirtless and the lack of sleep was evident on his face. It seemed as if he hadn't slept for days. Bella ignored him totally as she moved gracefully in the kitchen, in her red sundress. Lorenzo looked at her intently and smiled as he realized that she was ignoring him. He didn't feel bad for what he had done. In fact, he was quite proud. If Bella actually cared about him like she said she did, she would be too, he thought to himself.

"Are you still mad?" he asked her, standing up from his chair and walking over to her. Just when he was about to wrap his arms around her, she slapped it away. She looked up at him with disappointed and hurt and turned away from him to continue with her cooking. Lorenzos heart clenched at the sight, but he gulped down the uneasy feeling. "I was doing you a favor" he spoke again, holding on to her wrist. Bella turned around when she heard him say that and looked at with disbelief; "A favor? A fucking favor?" she asked, pushing at his chest.

"Don't cuss at me Bella" he seethed towards her, but she rolled her eyes at him. "I am not like one of your whores who will do what you order. I will fucking cuss when I feel like cussing" she spat at him before pushing him again. He didn't budge one bit, but became angrier at her disrespect towards him. After having everyone fear him for their life, he didn't like her talking him down like that.

"You are one of my whores Bella" he whispered to her, grabbing her wrist again to stop her from pushing him away. He regretted the words immediately when they left his mouth, but he didn't show it. He didn't mean what he said, but he was angry. Bella stopped abruptly; her cheeks flushed red from the anger she was feeling. Her chest rose up and down quickly as her body started to scream for her to slap him. She would have done that too if he didn't hold on to her wrist so tightly.

"People don't go around and shout that they fucked a whore, Moretti. Especially when they didn't" she told him as she lowered her voice. They were inches apart and his gaze was set on her lips.

"It seems to me, like you are madder that Adam knows rather than me making you cum all night long" he answered her, to which she pulled her wrists from his grasp. She pushed at his chest as she heard him laugh from behind. She wanted to puke from the bad aura she was getting from him.

"I actually hate you Lorenzo" she whispered to him as she smiled sadly. "For me to even think for a second that you actually cared about me and saw me as a human and not an object you own" she chuckled sadly as she looked away from him. Lorenzo who wanted to inflict her pain, picked up on what she said and shook his head.

"I did care for you, Bella. I did see you as a human. Fuck, I only saw you" Lorenzo whispered, as he tugged her closer to his chest. Her hands automatically went to his bare chest, that was now decorated with beautiful tattoos and scares. He didn't look ashamed of them, at all. Bella shivered at his touch, trying to show him that she didn't like it. However, she was lying. She enjoyed his touch more than she actually should have. She looked down so her eyes couldn't tell him the secrets they held. That didn't sit well with Lorenzo, who cupped her chin and tilted her face up so he could look at her. His fingers traced her beautiful and smooth skin, to which she closed her eyes. "But you obviously didn't appreciate that. So now you can be one of my whores. I will fuck you instead of making love to you. I will give you pleasure so alike pain, that even you will start second guess the feeling"

Bella opened her eyes and shrugged away his fingertips. She smiled at him, making his heart skip a beat. Surprisingly, she nodded. "Well, then let the game begin Moretti. I will inflict you the same amount of pain, but in my own way" She challenged him.

Lorenzo took his time on observing how her light eyes flirted with his, even though she was basically asking for trouble. He saw as she shuddered at his touch and gasped when he traced her curves that he had memorized down to each little detail. Her body and soul wanted him, but her mind was stubborn. Lorenzo was stubborn too. He did still love her; he had never stopped. However, the five years had changed the man infront of Bella. This man seeked revenge and hurt. He wanted to watch her break and shatter for him, just like he had done for her. He wanted to see if the feeling he was feeling towards her, was mutual. Bella wanted the same, because to her knowledge, Lorenzo had only told her that he loved her after she had left him. Did he just do that so she would come back? She wanted him to tell her that he loved her, but the new Lorenzo would never do that. Not until she would break infront of him.

"Is that a challenge, Amore?" he whispered in her ear as he snuggled his face into her neck, breathing in her delicious scent. Still Strawberries, he thought to himself and smiled lightly. Bella wanted to moan out loud, just at the sound of him calling her that word again. She had researched it when she had been in Iran and missed him. Love. It meant love.

Bella nodded before hugging him a last time before they both would fall in the darkness of war against each other. Lorenzo hugged her back with the same intensity and even hoisted her up so she could put her legs around his waist.

"Challenge accepted" he whispered to her, feeling her stiffen in his embrace.