A Date

Adelaide

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He had a boyish grin that was steadily growing by the second. A uncertain feeling in my gut grew alongside his grin as he motioned for me to come beside him with his finger, similar to the way I did so to him, only to threaten to kill him minutes later.

I slid off the stool and walked around the island, curiosity getting the better of me. How much could he possibly pay me?

---

He lowered his head, his hot breathe tickling my ear. Jamie's strong gaze trailed me as I eagerly waited for Romano to tell me what I wanted to hear.

In a low whisper, he told me the amount I would earn each hit.

"100,000 pounds, cavolo. Per kill."

I froze.

100,000 pounds.

That was a fuck ton of money. More money than I ever thought I would see in my lifetime. With that money I could do whatever the fuck I wanted and nobody could tell me otherwise. With that money, I could finally be free. I could finally find my family.

A seed of hope lodged itself in my heart, taking my breath away.

Romano moved his head from my ear and chuckled lightly when he saw my shocked face. I gripped his arm for support as I felt my knees go weak.

Romano placed his hand on my shoulder and lead me back to the stool.

"A life is priceless, is it not? And I am asking you to take them away. No price is too steep." His voice was soft and comforting but my heart was hammering and my head was racing.

I could do it.

I could leave.

Without thinking, I jumped up off of the stool where Romano had just placed me and engulfed him in a hug.

"Thank you."

I murmured into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and placed his chin on the top of my head. His scent was different from Jamie's woody scent. He smelled of freshly cut grass and the late night air.

His embrace was soft and comforting, something that didn't match up with his outward appearance. For a second, I forgot about Jamie, Jaekyung, the people I've killed, MI6 and the fact that I was only wearing his shirt and boxers.

For a fleeting second, I let myself disappear in Romano's strong embrace.

And I smiled.

---

"The Anson twins." Jamie started.

After the slightly embarrassing spectacle that took place in the kitchen, everyone concluded that Romano would make me a bank account. With that, we all excused ourselves from our half-eaten breakfast and ambled our way to the meeting room, ready for the brief of our next targets.

"5 children in between them both. One spouse and the other has multiple girlfriends. Fertile. They are co-owners of an Italian tech company but many have accused them of affiliating themselves with the Italian mafia due to their rapid increase of wealth."

Jamie's eyes flitted over to Romano for a second before he continued his ramblings.

"They will be attending a business function with a wife and girlfriend in tow. Children are going to stay in their US mansion, not tagging along. The best form of action is a sniper gun. The place will be heavily guarded as many notorious criminals will be attending, therefore leading to a pat-down, Ads."

I nodded in agreement. I may be skilled but that doesn't mean that the people patting down potential criminals weren't. Though I still didn't like the idea of handling a gun. It always brought back bad memories. We sat around and debated on the final course of action for the next few hours before I finally gave in to Jamie's first idea.

"All right, we'll continue this discussion later. You can go to lunch now." Romano's voice commanded and I complied, my stomach rumbling from the breakfast I had neglected earlier.

"Adelaide, stay back." He demanded.

Damn, I was really looking forward to a sandwich.

I folded myself back down on the plush leather sofa across from Romano, crossing my legs and leaning back. His gaze was focused on me with his mouth curved slightly downwards. Did I do something to upset him? The room was so quiet that I could hear his heavy breathing and just when I opened my mouth to speak, he cut me off.

"Have you forgotten what I told you the first night you were here?"

I blinked. Huh? I tried my best to recall what happened that night besides my reunion with Jamie, but nothing of much importance came to mind. Unless...

"You're not getting your boxers back," I stated squarely.

Though I hated to admit it, there was something oddly comforting about the boxers shirt he had given me and I wasn't prepared to let them out of my grasp just yet. The corner of his lip quirked up for a split second before being smothered by his serious expression that I had now grown quite used to throughout the past few weeks.

"No this isn't about the boxers. I have grown to like the image of you wearing my clothes, porro." His gaze drifted down to my lips before settling back to my eyes.

"This is about your late-night escapades with dear old Jamie."

Oh.

"I thought I made it clear the first night you arrived here that it is unprofessional to have relations with anybody employed here. Anybody but me, of course."

His lips quirked up into a smug smirk and I frowned in response. Did the fact that I slept beside Jamie piss him off so much?

"I didn't take you as the possessive type, Mr Acerbi." I teased, leaning forward.

His gaze darkened and his grin faltered for a second before he regained his composure.

"Oh, le cose che ti farei se fossimo stati più privati, stella mia." He rushed out in one breath. I paused, trying to replay what he said in my head before I forgot it. My eyebrows furrowed as I racked my brain for the right words. What did he say?

(Translation: oh, the things I would do to you if we were somewhere more private, my star.)

He let out a deep chuckle.

"Let me take you out for dinner, piccola patata."

What?

Here I thought Romano was just toying with me alongside the possibility that I might warm his bed for one night before he fucked me over, no pun intended. But no, he wanted to take me out for dinner.

I didn't trust it. Was this a way for me to take down my defences? For him to worm his way into my heart before breaking it into a million pieces just how Jamie did?

"Dinner?"

"Yes, dinner. Tonight. Wear something fancy." His voice left no room for argument as he stood and strode out of the room, leaving me behind with an open mouth, widened eyes and no way to protest his proposal.

Dinner it is, then.

I scurried back up to my room and flung open the closet doors. I couldn't stop butterflies from flitting around my stomach, begging me to admit that I was excited. My mind was racing as I perused the multitude of dresses that hung there, my hunger long forgotten. Was this a date?

A date.

I hadn't been on a date since... since when? My last date must've been with Jamie, over a year ago by now.

Had it been that long?

My eyes landed on a silky black number, that was sheer and stopped mid-thigh. Its fabric was so soft that I thought I would break down crying right there. I felt as if my blood-stained hands weren't worthy of holding something so beautiful.

I carefully moved it from the closet and held it in my arms, simply taking a second to appreciate the craftsmanship. It was stunningly simple.

I hesitantly lay it on top of my bed, not wanting to ruin the beautiful stitching and left my room, ready to hunt down a sandwich

When I stood in front of the dress for a second time, my heart was beating erratically and my palms were profusely sweating. I never got this nervous when I had a knife to someone's throat, so why was I having this kind of reaction now? Why did Romano make me feel this way? I never felt this nervous when I went on dates with Jamie. Sure, I had a few nerves but it felt more like a handful of butterflies and less like I was about to throw up all over the floor.

I slipped into the flowing dress, careful to not ruin it, and turned to enter the bathroom. I felt like a princess and when I looked into the mirror, I saw one staring back at me. I couldn't help but grin.

I had put on a little bit of makeup and brushed my hair, of which I couldn't do much with as it was quite short.

But that didn't matter, I looked beautiful and I knew it.

Satisfied, I made my way downstairs, spotting a very handsome looking Romano sporting a black button-up shirt and dress pants.

His hair was slicked back and I couldn't understand why he had decided to be a mafia boss instead of a model. He looked as if he had come off the front cover of Vogue magazine.

His unwavering gaze didn't leave any of my body untouched as I slowly made my way down the winding staircase. The clacking of my heels on the stairs echoed throughout the room, neither of daring to break the tension that had arisen. At that moment, I was appreciative of the fact that Romano had very few people employed in his mansion.

"I am a very lucky man, fagiolo verde." His gravelly voice stated, locking our eyes together.

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