CHAPTER 25 - BAD FEELINGS

Alina POV:

I look to Romeo for a second and he shakes his head. "Put your fucking gun down!" He shouts at the man aiming at me and he lowers it.

"Romeo, why the fuck would you let someone shoot me!" The injured man shouts at Romeo and Romeo looks annoyed and I'm standing in utter shock, gun by my side.

"Romeo, what the hell is going on?" I ask annoyed, he clearly knows the men.

"Baby, meet Angel De Luca, my cousin whom you shot, good aim by the way and his best friend Daniel Rodriguez," Romeo says looking utterly pissed.

"Cousin, I'm bleeding out here," Angel says holding his leg, to which Romeo kicks it and Angel swears at him.

"It's not even that bad, stop being a baby, it's practically a flesh wound," Romeo says rolling his eyes. Daniel is laughing and is sitting at the kitchen island. I hand Romeo his gun. "What the fuck are you doing here and fucking sneaking into my house? You're supposed to be in Italy! Who is taking care of the imports!" Romeo shouts.

"I got into some trouble, needed to get out of Italy fast, I asked your dad to look after stuff while I figure out what to do. He was pissed but said I was your problem," Angel says clutching his leg and shrugging.

Daniel sighs and finally speaks. "Romeo, he owes some money to some rival gang, gambling debt, some deal gone wrong too, they came to Italy looking for him. I can't keep bailing his ass out, I have a business to run, he's lucky I had some stuff to do here in New York, or I would have left his ass in Italy."

"Who is after you this time?" Romeo asks.

"The French, deal gone wrong and money went missing," Angel says.

"Angel, fanculo! I can't keep doing this, all your fucking life, I'm cleaning up your problems, if it's not me it's Daniel, if he can, but because I am the fucking Mafia, you think you can do whatever you damn well please! I won't always be there to get you out of this shit. Daniel, thank you for bringing his sorry ass," Romeo says fuming, and he grabs the house phone and calls Leo to get a doctor out to deal with Angel's leg. "I will deal with this shit in the morning, I swear its the last time, I will call Francois in the morning and sort this shit out, but if this ever happens again, you're on your own." Romeo says running his hand through his hair.

Daniel finally helps Angel up and I get a good look at Angel, he's quite handsome, he looks a lot like Romeo and Luc, except he has brown eyes and longer brown hair and he is slightly shorter, he's quite handsome, seems to run in the family, but I get a real player vibe from him. "Clean up that blood, I'm going to bed," I say utterly annoyed and walk to the fridge to get a bottle of water, and walk back up to the bedroom.

As I walk out Angel speaks, "damn cousin, that fine piece of ass has you trained," I hear Angel say as he laughs, and I hear him moan, Romeo must have punched him.

I stop and walk back to Romeo taking the gun I used to shoot Angel's leg, "I wasn't speaking to Romeo, and the next bullet will be in your balls, I'm too tired for this shit," I say throwing the gun on the counter as Romeo shrugs and I head back to the bedroom.

"Fuck," I hear Angel say and Daniel laughs as security rushes in and Romeo tells them what to do and the doctor will be there soon, and to escort Angel and Daniel to the guest bedrooms far away from us and to watch Angel.

Romeo joins me in the bedroom, and I down some water and curl up into a ball, I'm so tired. I feel his arms around me. "I'm so sorry baby, Angel is a bit of mess, he's a loose cannon, always has been." Romeo says and I turn to face him.

"Why?" I ask.

"His parents were killed when he was six, right in front of him, his mother was six months pregnant, my uncle Stefano, my father's brother and his wife Elena. It was bad deals and Stefano got involved with the Mexican cartel. My father took Angel in and he was raised with us, he's two years younger than me, but he was always a problem, kind of the black sheep, the way Angel sees it at least. Angel was always getting into trouble and Daniel was always around, Daniel grew up but Angel didn't. Women, gambling, drinking, drugs and messing up legit businesses dad put him in charge of trying to pull him straight. His parents left him money but he blew it. I took care of him as best I could but Angel never listened, eventually I got sick of it and when I took over I left him behind, I had no choice, I send him money and make sure he's taken care of and gave him a job when he said he was done with all that. I see the bad habits are back." Romeo says looking so tired and utterly disappointed in Angel.

"Well, speak to him tomorrow, hopefully he will listen to you this time. We all have fucked up things happen and I'm sorry for his mother and her baby, but Angel needs to grow up. You don't need this baby, you have enough to worry about," I say trying to help.

"This is why I love you so much. You understand, I will take him back to Italy with us," Romeo says smiling at me. I kiss him and we cuddle and fall fast asleep.

The next morning, it's just after seven thirty and I see Romeo is already out of bed. I brush my teeth and pull on a robe and head down to the kitchen. I see all the men having coffee in this lounge area and Daniel is cooking breakfast. I grab some coffee and give him a small smile which he returns. "I'm Alina, Romeo's girlfriend, I'm sorry I never introduced myself," I say reaching for his hand.

"It's lovely to meet you, I'm Daniel as you already know. I'm sorry for last night, Angel is something else," Daniel says and I nod and say its ok. I make my way to the boys. Dario, Luciano, Leo, Tino, Angel and Romeo, all seated, dressed and ready for the day.

"Amore, good morning, I hope you got enough sleep", Romeo says pulling me to his lap and gives me a kiss.

"Morning baby, yeah a bit, I'm still tired, going into the office a bit later this morning," I say a bit tiredly. Romeo strokes my back, and glances at Angel who is gawking at me. I can't help but feel creeped out, Romeo shoots him a glare and he just smiles a cocky smile.

"If you want another blue eye, I suggest you fucking stop looking at my girl, or I could just let her shoot you again," Romeo spits at him and Angel mutters under his breath as the men all laugh at him. I shake my head and Daniel calls us to the kitchen for breakfast.

I get out the shower and Romeo is putting his guns in his holsters. "Lina, I'm going to tie up some loose ends before we leave tomorrow morning. I will pick you up at hotel when I'm finished with business," Romeo says as he comes over to give me a long passionate kiss.

"Sure baby, I will miss you today," I say a bit downhearted.

"I will miss you too bella," he replies and gives me one last kiss and he's out the door. I can't believe I'm going to meet his family. It's such a huge deal, I decide not to dwell on it and get ready for work, I slip on a red shift dress, black belt and black stiletto heels with a black three quarter blazer. I wear my hair down in loose long curls and wear red lipstick and natural make up. I grab my purse phone and keys and I'm ready, Tino is waiting for me, since Dario is driving the boys and Daniel went to work.

I arrive at the hotel and it's already off to a shaky start, we have some big celebrity staying here and the press is all over. It's going to be one hell of a day. I make my way to my office with two guards and they station themselves outside. Mari is informing me of meetings and some things that need to be taken care of. I don't know why but I think back to Angel, I just get this weird feeling from him, something that is setting my alarm bells off. Romeo seems neither here nor there with him. "Alina, your appointment at one will be here soon," Mari says and she looks at me frowning. "What's got you so upset?" She asks concerned.

"Not upset, just uneasy I guess. Romeo's cousin came by early hours of this morning, he's kind of a loose cannon and gets himself into trouble. I don't know why but I just get this weird feeling when I'm around him, uneasy. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it." I answer feeling a bit scattered.

"If you feel that way, mention it to Romeo, you are not the type to feel like this over nothing, I have known you a long time and I have never really heard you ever say that about someone," Mari says truthfully.

I nod, "I will speak to Romeo if something happens, I'm probably just over thinking, anyway let's get to the meeting," I say forcing a smile and Mari nods, as we walk I get a text from Romeo.

Bella, I won't be

able to make it to pick

you up, Tino will be there

at six to collect you.

Love you, see you at home. R

I sigh looking at the message and hit reply.

That's ok my love, I

will see you then. Have

a few meetings today, super

busy myself. I miss you.

Love you too baby, L

I put my phone on vibrate and enter the conference room ready to start the meeting with our new potential suppliers, and sponsors for a few concerts coming up. It's been a long day and Tino picked up Mari and me, and we dropped her off before getting some Chinese take out and coming home. I walk inside and the house is quiet, I remember Romeo saying he is keeping guards outside and in the basement security office now that I'm living here. I make my way to the fridge and pull out a bottle of wine and pour the red satin liquid into the glass and I hear my phone beep and take it from the counter where I placed it.

Be home in about

forty minutes, stuck

traffic, I can't wait to

see you baby, I miss you.

Love you bella - R

I smile at the message, and I hear a noise, and look around, I don't see anything and I hit reply.

I'm going to have a bath,

got chinese, come find

me when u get here....

I missed you all day. - L

I kick my heels off and make my way to the bathroom with my glass of red and the bottle. I turn on the tap in bathtub and have a look out the bedroom window to see guards all over outside and I close the drapes. I put the lights low, strip, put my hair up and get into the warm bubble bath, playing some soft Nina Simone and unwind sipping my wine. It's heaven. I close my eyes and let the soothing heat relax me. Another noise, jolts me, and I open my eyes but nothing looks a amiss as I peer into the bedroom from the bath. I'm just being paranoid, relax Alina.

I get out of the bath and dry off feeling a bit uneasy but pushing it to the back of my mind. I don't bother with pyjamas and slip on my white silk robe and let my hair down, giving it a shake and I check the time. Romeo is running late, I turn up the music a bit now playing some Andrea Bocelli, humming along as I put on some body lotion sitting at my vanity bending to reach my legs. I come back up and I see someone in the mirror, it all happens so fast, I'm grabbed by my throat and pulled up the slammed onto the ground hitting the back of my head, feeling slightly dizzy.

My vision is slightly blurry, as I try to fight off my attacker, I scratch and claw, hitting and kicking and screaming as loud as I can, but the volume is already too loud on the music, when he strikes me hard in the face and I groan in pain. "No please don't do this! I will give you anything you want, let me go!" I scream.

I finally get a good look at my attacker, and my heart drops. "No! No! Please, it can't be!" I scream, and I call for Romeo. "Romeo! Romeo, please help me!" I cry and he hits me repeatedly.

"Oh sì, sono io, è tempo che Romeo paghi!" He says and I pale as he reaches for my nightgown holding my arms above my head, but he stops and instead continues to beat me.

(Oh yes it is me, it's time for Romeo to pay!)

All I can think is - God, Romeo, please help me, he's going to kill me!