𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚

Twenty-One

RICO

I stare at the ground as my jack-ass of an uncle talks about money and fighting.

"Rico, you better not back out of this boy. You are the only source of money I can get and if you even think about quitting or backing out of this, you will regret it."

My mind drifts off again as I think about my amore. My Bella. The images of her wrist and the blood doesn't leave my mind. I look down at my ripped shirt and I see traces of blood on it. Her blood.

I feel a lump in my throat and when I feel a nudge on the shoulder, then do I look up.

"You hear me boy? Why is your shirt all ripped up? Was it with that whore you were with earlier?" Whore?

"What did you just call her?" I step towards him and watch him gulp as he steps back. Usually, I never go up against him, not because I'm afraid but just don't want to be put in all the drama that comes with him.

But when I hear what he just called the one girl that has somehow made me actually feel something, a switch flips in my mind.

"I... Don't talk back to me." He stutters and I scowl at him.

"What. Did. You. Just. Call. Her." I look down at the bastard and feel anger bubble inside of me.

"What? That whore?"

That's when I flip.

I punch his very much punchable face into the wall beside us and I watch as he falls to the ground. "Di-Did you j-just hit me?!" He shouts with anger in his eyes.

I run my hand through my hair and sigh. My knuckles burning from the impact.

I look down at him on the ground and smirk.

I bend down to his level and whisper. "I usually don't threaten people but I'm making you an exception. You call her a whore one more fucking time and I will end your career. I will end you."

I watch his eyes fill with fear. I know how much his career means to him and I'm the only thing letting him keep it.

I stand back up and stretch. "Now, if you don't mind, I have somewhere very important I have to be at the moment."

I step over him and make my way out the door, feeling the relief of hitting him.

On my way home, nervousness eats me up. I will have to face Bella and we will have to talk about everything that has happened. I have run my hands through my hair probably a thousand times throughout the car ride.

I grab all my stuff and make my way into the apartment. I mutter things to say under my breath. "It's fine, you don't have to worry, I'm here for you now. No no no, don't say that." I groan and rub my eyes with my hands.

As soon as I open the door, the smell of fresh food hits me straight in the gut. Food? I set all my stuff down and walk into the kitchen.

I see both my sisters, Nonna, and my amore all laughing and cooking. What the fuck?

"Oh hey, bro!" Quinn waves at me and everyone goes quiet as they turn toward me. Bethy (Elizabeth) looks annoyed at the sight of me and my Nonna smiles at me. They all seem normal, except for the one girl I'm looking at.

Bella stares down at the mixing bowl, not daring to look at me. I see that she now has a long sleeve shirt on with my sweatpants.

Cute.

"What are you all doing here?" I walk in more but before I can reach Bella, my annoying sister talks.

"Nu-uh! Do not walk in here with those disgusting shoes of yours and you stink!" I honestly don't know how Bethy was put with us as she doesn't have any of the same traits.

"I can do what I want. This is my apartment. Bella, we need to talk."

She finally looks up from the bowl and glances over at me. My heart breaks when I see the pained expression on her face.

I walk up to her and put my hand on the small of her back before leading us into my bedroom. I close and lock the door behind me, just in case someone tries to come in.

When I walk over to her, she stares at her fluffy socks she is wearing.

"Bella..."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry I followed you a-and everything." Her words pain me and I pull her over to me so she can sit on my lap.

"Mi Amore, you have nothing to apologize for. I should have never hid this from you. I only did it because I knew of your past and I knew that me doing this would... Remind you."

She nods as she looks down at her hands. "It does... Remind me." She sniffs and I sigh. Fuck.

I lift my hand and grab her chin lightly, guiding her head up so she looks at me. "I will do all in my power to make you believe that I am nothing like him." I stare at her with determination in my eyes.

I look down at her shirt and see her long sleeves.

"Pull up your sleeve," I whisper and she hesitates but reaches down to roll it up.

MENTIONS OF SH

My face scrunches up as I see the lines and scars from past cuts, the new ones now have bandages on them. "How long has this been going for?" I look up at her and she shrugs.

"Years, I think."

I lift her wrist and bring my lips towards it, kissing each line up as far as the sleeve goes. "Then that just means I will have to remind you of how much you are worth to me for years to come." I kiss the last line and look up at her face.

She looks at me with a spark in her eye and I look down at her lips. She looks at mine. I wonder what it would feel like to kiss them. No stop. Maybe just a peck. That's all.

"Mi Amore, can I-?"

"Yes."

And before I can attach our lips, she smashes hers against mine.
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So... That just happened