Alessandro |18+|

03

ARIA

I stumbled back, nearly falling over as the door was pushed by someone unfamiliar. Strong. Stranger.

Warning sirens were blaring, but they weren't louder than the pounding of my heart. I was about to have a full blown panic attack, right there in the centre of my apartment.

When the person on the other side finally revealed themselves, I was not prepared. At all. He walked into my apartment, shutting the door with his foot as I stared in pure horror.

"Bellissima," he murmured. Who? "You should really lock your doors."

"Close your mouth," the man from the previous night instructed, and I automatically lifted my jaw because I was unaware that it was hanging in the first place. That's how shocked I was.

The audacity of him, the fucking nerve. He was there, in all his glory standing tall with a black suit covering his big ass body. Had he followed me home?

"What the fuck..." I whispered, unable to find my voice because of how I absolutely couldn't comprehend the situation.

Eventually I did.

"What the fuck," I repeated, my voice harder as I stepped away from him.

He had the gall to laugh.

"You love that word," he commented, eyes scanning my apartment. Not even paying attention to me. I don't think he realised how fucked up it was that he just entered my home without permission. I was definitely more stunned than afraid.

Then, he lifted his jacket to put his hand in his pants pocket, showing me the silver gun on his waist. I could tell that it was his way of silently warning me.

My eyes darted to the closed door, and he caught me looking.

"Not a good idea," he said, almost smirking. The dent on his cheek was childlike, seemingly out of place on a man with a body like his.

Close up, with light pouring in from my windows, I could see his face much clearer. It fucked with me that he was so good looking, and also very much capable of killing me.

I stayed quiet, silently controlling my breathing. I was prone to hyperventilating, even when the situation begged me not to. It was just one of those things I had to think about really hard in order to maintain the tiniest bit of control.

"You were at the restaurant, and now you're in my apartment. This is normal to you? I don't even know-"

"My name is Alessandro. Sandro, if you want. There. You know me," he said cheekily, bending down to look at my picture frames on the shelf.

Alessandro.

The accent came through heavier when he said his name, and I swallowed hard as I silently watched him. It sounded so good coming from him, and I hated myself for even finding it the least bit enticing.

"Sandro-" I was still very much flabbergasted.

"Aria." He nodded his head, almost as if he was acknowledging me for the first time.

"Why are you in my apartment?" God, I sounded like I was asking to be killed.

This time, he took the gun from his waist and gently laid it down on the small glass table. I never took my eyes off it. Far too intimidated to do anything besides watch him walk around my apartment as if he owned the place. I clenched my jaw, starting to feel more annoyed than scared.

"You do know you have no right to be here, right?" My voice was shaking, even though I was trying my best to control it.

Sandro looked at me, and then as if he was realising how truly afraid I was, he sighed. He shrugged the suit jacket off his shoulders, sliding it down his arms before draping it over the wooden chair.