The Date

I spent most of the day with Alessi in bed. We talked, cuddled, and watched movies. It's crazy to think how well my life is going right now. I feel a little guilty being so happy without Ady, but I know that this is what she would have wanted.

I make my way downstairs looking for Dria. I want to ask her to help me get ready for my date tonight. I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat just thinking about it. She isn't anywhere inside, so I head out the door spotting her in the pool.

"Hey! Come swim. Pleaseeeee."

I walk closer to her laughing at how childish she looks right now. She's in the deep end in an inner tube clutching her hands together and giving me puppy dogs eyes.

"I can for a bit. Let me go get changed first. But I came to ask you if you could help me get ready for a date?"

She waggles her eyebrows at me.

"Ooohhhh a date? I would love to. When are y'all going?"

"I think we are leaving about 6"

Her eyes widen and her mouth drops.

"6 tonight???"

I nod my head at her confused as she jumps out of the pool. She runs by me grabbing my arm and drags me back in and up the stairs.

"Emilia, what are you thinking?? We barely have 3 hours to get you ready!!"

I laugh at her. That's obviously plenty of time to get ready. She turns around and glares at me before dragging her into her room.

The next three hours are full of Dria tugging on my hair and slapping makeup on my face. My eyes feel so heavy from all the makeup even though she insists that she barely put any on.

I just realized that I have nothing to wear tonight. I only packed some jeans and blouses besides my sweats and shorts.

"Dria, I have absolutely nothing to wear."

"I've seen how you dress. No way am I letting you go on a date with anything that comes out of your suitcase."

She makes a disgusted face causing me to laugh. My clothes aren't that bad. She's so dramatic. I watch her as she heads into her closet before coming out with a very small black dress.

"You're either going to have to get me some pants with that or find the remaining fabric of that dress."

She gives me a glare shutting me up. She shoves the dress into my hands before pushing me into the closet. I slip out of my comfy clothes being extra careful not to mess up my hair.

The dress fits surprisingly well. It hugs my every curve and somehow flatters my flat chest. I step out of the closet and hear Dria squealing.

"You look stunning!! Oh my gosh, Em!!"

I give her a questioning look earning yet another glare from her. She sure does give me a lot of those. I feel her grab my hand dragging me in front of her full length mirror. She wasn't lying though. I've never looked this good in my life. My short hair has been styled with extra waves so that it frames my face perfectly. She didn't go overboard on the makeup like she promised. My face has a natural glow and she opted for a gold shimmery eye shadow making my green eyes pop. My eyelashes are nearly doubled in length causing them to hit the tops of cheekbones with I blink. The black dress stops mid thigh not leaving much to the imagination. She paired it with short black heels, thankfully. They won't be too hard to walk in, but still look as elegant as ever.

I quickly pull Dria into a hug shocking her. She gets over shock soon though, since her arms wrap around me just as tightly.

"Thank you so much. I really am blessed to have another sister like you."

I feel my eyes well up with tears so I quickly blink them away. I don't think I can sit still for another few hours for her to fix my makeup. I pull back from the hug to see that Dria didn't care about her own makeup. Tears fall freely down her face and she has the biggest grin.

"Em, you're the best. I'm so glad you're here."

We are pulled out of our moment when someone knocks on the door.

Dria squeals as she drags me to the middle of the room.

"What are you doing?"

"Stay right there and don't move."

I watch as she leaves me standing to open the door. She opens the door dramatically and gestures towards me with her hands as if to say 'ta-da'. Vince chuckles at the scene in front of him causing Dria to pout.

"Vince! You were supposed to be Alessi."

"Sorry. I've come to escort Emilia to the car."

He pauses to look over at me smiling widely. He nods his head like an approving older brother.

"You look beautiful, Em."

I smile back at him. Since I've been here, Vince has really become like an older brother to me. I can't believe Italy brought me a second family.

I link arms with Vince and let him lead me downstairs and out the back door. I look up at Vince with a questioning look. I thought he would be taking me to a car to meet Alessi. He chuckles at me.

"He is such a romantic. Just you wait."

We continue walking towards my favorite garden. We walk into the garden heading for the gazebo in the middle past my favorite bench. I gasp as I take in the beautiful view in front of me. There are fairy lights hanging from the roof illuminating the rose petals that form a path. In the middle of the gazebo, there is a table set for two with a long white tablecloth and bouquet of flowers.

"Do you like it, my Rose?"

I quickly turn my head to the side to see that Vince is gone replaced with Alessi. He looks as handsome as always in an all black suit that shows off his broad shoulders and muscular arms. My eyes make their way to his face to see him smirking down at me.

"You like this view too?"

I feel my cheeks heat up realizing I was ogling him.

"So arrogant."

I shake my head at him as I make my way up the steps of the gazebo. He comes around me and pulls my chair out. I smile up at him as I take my seat.

Everything is perfect. I have never seen anything quite like this and it makes my heart skip a beat knowing that he did all of this for me.

"You look beautiful, Rose."

I feel myself shiver as I always do when he uses that name for me. He smirks at me before filling our wine glasses. I watch as he lifts the silver lids off our plates. My mouth waters at the pasta in front of me.

"I had the chefs prepare the best. I hope you like it."

I immediately dig in knowing it will taste as good as it looks. I'm not disappointed. His chefs definitely know how to cook.

"Alessi, this is perfect. Thank you."

It really is. I know that this will be the best night of my life.

As our date continues, we talk about anything and everything making me feel like we picked back up where we left off four years ago. Our meals are completely finished as well as the cheesecakes for dessert. I feel like this is a good time to ask about my parents and to figure out what we should do about them going forward.

"You always tell me that my parents are fine when I ask, but I need more details than that."

He gives me a knowing look before replying.

"You're right. I'm sorry. They know you are in Italy with a friend and that this trip is really helping you. I'm still waiting for your decision on how to deal with all of this though."

I nod my head at him. I've been thinking a lot about this and I know that I can't fake my death.

"I really can't let them think that I'm dead, Alessi. What if we told them that I plan on moving here? They could come and visit and see that I'm okay."

"We will see. I have other things to talk about with you tonight. We will discuss your parents later okay?"

He waits for me to nod before he continues.

"Dria is needing to go back to her house. She lives a few hours away. It's closer to her fashion industry and she has been gone too long."

I nod my head again letting him know that I'm following him. I know all about Dria and her fashion industry. It's one of his mafia's fronts since they make way too much money for one business to legally get away with.

"Also, I have to leave for two weeks on business. I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to. I hate leaving you."

His eyes are full of worry as he looks at me.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine here. Take care of your business and please be safe."

He gets up from his chair and walks over to me. Leaning down, he gives me a loving kiss.

"You mean the world to me, Emilia."

He brings my hand to his lips as he leads me back to the house.

That night we sleep in the same bed holding each other close. I don't know how I've lived without him.