- 6 5 -

"So what did you really want to talk about?" I asked when the man walking beside me smirked faintly.

"I came to see the place I owned was being run well. And to see the girl my son is so infatuated with." He said and I stopped in my tracks with a slight frown.

Ignoring his remark, I smiled as politely as I could and shrugged.

"Are you satisfied with the college then?" I asked and saw his brief nod.

"It's being run well. Tell me." He walked towards me, stopping a few feet away and scanned me with his cold brown eyes.

"Do you love my son as much as he loves you?" He asked and I felt my breath hitch in my throat.

"I-I'm sorry?" I asked stuttering when he smirked.

"Never mind that. How did last night's meeting go with whoever it was you all were meeting with?" He asked when I cocked my head to a side.

"The meeting?"

"Yes. You were the sniper, correct?"

"How do you know that?" I squinted my eyes at him and heard his breathy chuckle.

"The meeting was at my son's house, who is currently the don of the Italian Mafia. And I, am his father, and the previous don. Why wouldn't I know?" He stated matter of factly and I nodded slowly.

"Yes, of course. I'm not sure how it went though since I wasn't exactly in it?" I stated confused and saw him nod.

"Of course. Although I heard there were some... misunderstandings?" He asked curiously, making me frown.

"Who is Igor Malev to you, child?" He asked and I froze in place, glancing around nervously.

"Someone in my past I do not wish to discuss." I said after clearing my throat.

"Right. You know, I think I know why my son might be so infatuated with you." He said as we started walking once again and I turned to him.

"Both of you have had quite the... troublesome... past. Am I wrong?" He raised a brow at me when I shrugged.

"Both of you seemed to have faced a tragedy with your mothers at a very young age. Although I assume yours was much, much worse, seeming as you were kept alive as 'mercy'." He said nonchalantly and I felt my blood freeze at his words.

"How do you know about my mother?" I asked hesitant, and a little cautious too.

This man definitely knew a lot more than he was letting on.

"Everyone knows about your mother and what happened with you. It's no secret." He stated as we continued to walk forward.

"What happened to Roman's mother, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked a little hesitantly when he sighed.

"She was killed when he was eleven." He said and I nodded, pursing my lips as my heart ached for him, so much.

"I'm sorry." I muttered and heard his breathy chuckle.

"It's in the past. All of it is in the past, isn't it?" He turned to me slightly and I nodded.

"I believe my son will be looking for you, yes?" He said and I looked at him confused.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"You ran away from him, didn't you? He's here, in this college. I suggest you make a run for it before he finds you because he wasn't exactly in the best mood in the morning, and I'm assuming that has something to do with you." He said and I froze, looking around hastily.

Shit, he's here?

"I-I need to go." I stuttered and saw his grin.

"Of course. Mercy, they say, makes the world a little less cruel and a little more just. Let's see what it does to you." He said lowly and I felt a shudder run down my spine at his words as I watched him walk away.

Something about his words felt so familiar and eerie it made my heart beat faster as I looked around, fear settling in my bones as I walked inside, rubbing up and down my arms.

Why did he say that?

I swallowed the uneasy feeling in the back of my throat just as I looked up from the floor and froze in my tracks when I saw a familiar head of wavy black hair walking towards me.

My eyes widened as I looked at the fury in his features and without thinking, I took a few steps forward but then remembered why he was so angry.

Shit shit shit.

Quickly turning around, I ran the other way, dodging people in the hallways just as someone pulled me back into a corner.

I was about to scream but a hand covered my mouth and as a reflex, I jerked my knee up but the man caught it effortlessly.

Shit, this guy's a professional.

Using my other hand, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it, making him spin and pinned him to the wall in front of me, his hands restrained behind him and his back to me.

"Shit, Heather, it's me, Enzo!" He said muffled when my eyes widened and I instantly let go of the guy.

"Enzo? What are you doing here?" I asked confused as he huffed and winced while rubbing his wrist.

"God, you have a good hold." He muttered before looking me up and down.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You've got a furious mob boss on your tail!" He exclaimed.

"Shit." I muttered, peeking out the corner.

"Enzo, you have to help me, I can't-... I can't see him, not right now." I said in a hurry as he looked at me surprised.

"What did you even do to him? The guy nearly killed all of us this morning." He said as I bit my lip.

"Please, Enzo, I don't have time, but it's nothing too serious, just matters of the heart." I said hesitantly and saw realization cross his features.

"Fuck. You rejected him, didn't you?" He said and ran a hand across his face.

"I didn't reject him, I just ran away when he said he loved me." I murmured and saw his mouth fall open.

"He said he loved you? Roman fucking Angelo said he loved you?" He asked flabbergasted and I nodded slowly.

"Good god, what have you done to the man? I need details, but for now, you have to leave, like, stat." He said and peeked around the corner before nodding to himself.

"Go, I buy you time. Use the back." He said and I nodded.

"Thanks Enzo, I owe you one."

"Yeah, yeah. Now run along before your boyfriend kills me." He muttered.

I quickly made a run for it, using the back doors and got one too many curious looks from the smokers at the back as I kept my head low and headed for my car.

"Thea?" I heard Alex's voice and sighed in relief as he came into view just as I opened the car door.

"I need to go home, like, now." I said in a hurry and practically pulled him inside with me.

"Why? What's wrong? Did someone hurt you?" He asked worriedly, scanning me for any injuries.

"No, Roman's here." I said and heard his heavy sigh as he nodded.

"Right." He said in a clipped tone and told the driver to take us home.

"Did your meeting go okay?" I asked and saw his brief nod.

"It did, until Ferruccio Angelo show up. I swear the guy's creepier than that clown from It." He muttered and I chuckled a bit.

"Yeah... I met him too." I said as he turned his head to face me.

"When?"

"Today, he wanted to look around and uh-... I saw him once before too... somewhere." I said and hid the fact that I saw him at Roman's place.

That would not end well.

"Did he say anything?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Just a few random things but he-... He knows how mom died, Alex. And why I was left alive." I said, gulping as Alex's worried eyes snapped to mine.

"I'll talk to Anton." He murmured lowly, instantly whipping out his phone while I looked out the window at the scenery passing by.

On reaching home, I went straight to my room and Alex left to talk to Anton.

I pretty much wasted the rest of the day, other than working a bit on my missed assignments, I watched movies and binged watched a show with Zephyr and Zarina.

"I warned you didn't I?" Anton remarked once I was sitting in front of him and rolled my eyes.

"You warned me about something else, this, is something completely different." I said when he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Heather, darling, I don't know what to tell you at this point. The man is so obsessed with you it even creeps me out." He said and Ivan released a breathy chuckle from behind me.

"Tell me about it." He muttered and I shot him a glare.

"I just need some time to figure everything out. I'm not ready for all... that." I released a shaky breath and saw Anton nod.

"Alright then. I have a few meetings to take care of. You should go to bed, you have college tomorrow, correct?" He asked and I nodded and looked at Ivan.

"Since Anton has taken back over the Russian Bratva, what does that make you then? His lapdog?" I asked in all seriousness when he glared at me and Anton chuckled.

"I'm his second in command, thank you very much. And besides, I never really took over, just pretended I did, since he wasn't actually dead." He gestured to Anton.

Oh, right.

"Right, of course. Anyhow, I'll be heading to bed. See you later, lapdog." I waved at Ivan who scowled and I laughed at his expression as I left the office and walked back to my room.

It wasn't long before I found myself lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling before my eyes closed from the day's exhaustion.

* * *

"So he tells you that he loves you and you don't say anything back and when he falls asleep, you slip out, undetected, and practically leave him?" Jane asks me and I nod.

"Yep, that's pretty much it." I say and pop a fry in my mouth when she whistles.

"You've got the Italian Don wrapped around your fingers, girl." She says and I shrug.

"I'm scared, honestly. This was not what I expected him to say. I was expecting more along the lines of, 'I like you a lot, more than you know', not exactly 'I love you'." I say dejectedly and hear her sigh.

"Heather... You really, really need to let go of the past. I don't think Roman's anything like that Russian bastard. Do you?" She asked and I frowned.

"No, Roman's different." I say and watch her small smile.

"See, even you agree that he's different. And I know that you just don't like him at this point, Thea." She says and I nod.

"I knew that I was falling for him. But I'm not ready to-..." I trail off, groaning and bang my head on the cafeteria table.

"I know. You don't have to say it back. Say it when you mean it. For now, I think you owe him an explanation, and an apology." She said sternly and I nodded.

"I know. God, I feel like shit." I mutter.

"How long have you avoided him for now?" She asks when I sigh heavily.

"Nearly two weeks." I mumble.

"And how did you feel during this time? You've had ample time to think about it. What did you feel? What did you think?" She asked moving closer to me while I played with the ring on my finger.

"I missed him. So much." I sigh, staring into the distance and see her nod.

"And I know I shouldn't have run off like that, he didn't deserve it. Which is why I need to apologize to him." I said and see her satisfied smile.

"See, that's progress." She pointed out.

"Yeah but, when and how do I talk to him?" I asked and Jane was about to say something but Chase came running up to us, effectively cutting her off.

"Heather, you're need in the lawn, like, ASAP. Your man is beating the shit outta someone." He said breathless and I frowned.

"What? Who?"

"The Italian dude, tall, scary, rich?" He described and my brows shot up as I looked at Jane.

"I guess you talk now." She said and both of them practically dragged me towards the lawn where a lot of people had gathered, whispering to each other and looking at something.

"Move, bitches!" Jane yelled, making way for me to pass as I pushed my way in and nearly stumbled towards the center of attention, gasping at the sight in front of me.

"Don't you ever talk, let alone think of my girl again or I'll kill you with my bare hands." He said lowly to the person he was punching and I knew that the boy was going to die if I din't stop him.

"Stop!" I yelled, tried to call out to him.

"Roman, please, stop!" I pleaded and without thinking, tried to pull him back towards me.

"Rome, please, it's me, Heather." I whispered and he suddenly stopped, his head whipping around to look at me.

His eyes widened a fraction before he let go of the guy and grabbed my face in his hands, crashing his lips onto mine without thinking.

I held onto his wrists, kissing him back before I had to push him away because we were in public and everyone was now gawking at us.

"Calm down, it's me." I framed his face with both my hands, looking into his beautiful, emerald green eyes which swirled with rage and adoration at the same time.

I briefly glanced at the boy whom he was punching and saw a few people taking him away, probably to get him to the hospital before I looked back at Roman.

"You're hurt." I whispered, lightly touching his cheek which had a cut across it and then his busted lip and the cut on the side of his forehead.

"Come with me." I said and grabbed his hand, pulling him with me towards the nurse's office. On entering, I looked around for the nurse but she wasn't there so I grabbed the first aid kit myself.

"Sit." I pushed him down onto a chair and stood between his legs, taking out the necessary things while his hands found my waist.

I cleaned up his wounds and put some medicine on them and then bandaged the cuts neatly.

Lightly pressing at the edges of the bandage so it would stick, I looked at my handiwork with a satisfied expression before glancing at his busted knuckles and took his hand.

"Why were you hitting him?" I asked while cleaning his knuckles with antiseptic wipes.

"They were talking about you." He muttered, his deep voice making me relax when I looked at him, but found his eyes already on me.

"What about me?" I asked but he shook his head.

"Things only I can do with you. To you." He said firmly and I sighed.

So possessive.

"You left." He muttered after a while and I froze, my movements halting when I gulped and nodded slowly.

"I left." I admitted slowly, not looking up into his eyes but I felt his grip on my waist with his other hand tighten.

"Why?" He asked and I shrugged.

"I don't really know myself. Guess you could say I was scared." I whispered, finishing up on his hand and let go of it, slightly pulling away but he pulled me closer to him.

"Sit." He demanded, pulling me into his lap so that I was straddling him.

"Now explain." He said, brushing his thumb over my cheekbones.

"I'm scared to-... love." I gulped, playing with his hair and shrugged.

"I'm just broken that way." I said softly.

"You're not broken baby." He told me and I chuckled humorlessly, my eyes stinging with unshed tears.

"I'll never be able to love you back the same way you do." I said, my voice cracking when he offered me a small smile.

"I don't fucking care. I want you, and you only. You're it for me, Heather. I don't want or need anyone else." He said, cupping my cheek as I leaned into his touch.

"Why?" I asked softly when he smiled, leaning forward and placing his lips on mine.

He kissed me sweetly, pouring out all the emotion into the kiss before pulling away and resting his forehead against mine.

"Because you make me feel. You make me want to be a better fucking man, for you. You make me want to love, but only you." He whispered and my heart warmed at his words when I nodded.

"You won't leave again?" He asked me, his voice slightly pleading when I smiled softly and shook my head,

"I won't leave again. I'm sorry." I said softly and loved the way his eyes lit up and a smile graced his beautiful face, revealing his dimples as well.

"It's okay baby, I love you." He whispered, nuzzling his face in my neck when I sighed.

Maybe one day, I might too.