•Matteo Rossi•
It has now been a few weeks since Aria and I have officially begun dating and she "officially" met my family as she does not like to count the first two times. My family is so obsessed with her, they want to have her over for dinner every single night. She accepts of course, and her, my siblings, and my parents all get along so well. They all love her.
They want me to invite her to a ball we have coming up, not a mafia thing, it is strictly business that I have to attend as CEO of the official Rossi company. Since it is not mafia, I can take her with the knowledge that nothing will happen.
Although today, we are going to have brunch with my parents at my estate. Most likely in the main backyard of the house since there is construction going on in other parts of the estate.
But right now, I am in a meeting with my brother, Alvaro, a few of his business associates, as well as a few of mine.
Just as we are wrapping everything up, Alessandro asks Alvaro if he like like to stay for a drink. I have no problem with this, of course, although I do have a problem with the teasing that starts as soon as the first drink is taken.
"Did you know he smiles now?" Alessandro asks Alvaro jokingly as they both stare at me with glee.
I get it, just a few months ago I said I would never have a girlfriend, I would never catch feelings, I would never get married, and now I am dating Aria. They think it is so fucking funny but they were once in my position as well, swearing they would never like anyone and then a few months later, it seems like they have found the one. I guess now I am the last one in line to be made fun of and pay the price for making fun of the rest when it happened to them.
I am just glad Alvaro's cousin, Rafael could not be here. He can actually say shit because he still doesn't have a girlfriend. And I know he would say shit because he is Alessandro's best friend. He's a known man whore but honestly who am I to judge? I was not exactly a virgin before I met Aria.
"I did not know his face was capable." Alvaro jokes, placing his cigar between his lips and inhaling once more. I roll my eyes at them both and continue as I am, taking a sip of my whiskey.
Alessandro is staring at me, his eyes squinted as if he is trying to look for something specific on my face. He reaches out to poke it but I quickly slap his hand away, making him stick his tongue out at me as he pulls it away I glare at them and try to ignore them but they continue speaking about me.
"And what is her name? Tell me about her." Alvaro requests. As much as I would love to talk about Aria for hour and hours on end, not being able to stop, it is not with them I would talk about her with. I would talk about her with mamma or papà, someone who would tell me how lucky I am to have found her, and how great it is that I did. Because I would always agree with that.
But not these dumbasses, who would spend all of their time making fun of me, and talking about how I am not emotionless anymore.
I can still be emotionless towards them. Just because I have a girlfriend now does not mean that I will be soft with everyone. Why would I be kind to anyone but her?
"Her name is Aria and I will not sit here and tell you about my girlfriend just to be ridiculed by you two asshats who refuse to calm down simply because I have am dating someone now." I told them sternly and they both looked at me annoyed.
"So do you talk to her like this? Or is it just us?" Aless asks jokingly, making me want to slap him. I would want someone to murder me if I ever spoke to my sweet melodia that way.
I glare at him, making him look away, avoiding my gaze. "Oh come on, Matteo." Alvaro starts, grabbing my attention away from my brother. "I understand the soft spot thing, I really do. Everyone is annoying as hell, except for her. But you cannot be that much of an ass." he complains.
"Yes I can. And I will be. I do not like being ridiculed for something that you guys have also gone through. That is called hypocrisy." I scold them, they both roll their eyes and then look at each other. It is like they are having a conversation just by making eye contact.
"Why do you say 'gone through' as if it is a bad thing? Like it is so traumatic. Like 'oh no I found the woman I want to marry and build a family with'". Aless mocks jokingly, then takes a sip of his drink. The look on his face as he brings the glass to his lips is one of annoyance, although I know it is jokingly. Aless does not get annoyed, he is the annoying one.
Alvaro sighs, pulling the cigar away from his lips and letting out a puff of smoke. "You did not need to put it in so many words. It is called the love of your life. Say it. El amor de tu vida." he says in Spanish, making Alessandro roll his eyes. (The love of your life)
"No, no. I speak Italiano. Not that Spain bullshit." he jokes, and I roll my eyes. As if they are not basically the exact same thing. Originated from the same language and probably the most similar languages out of most of them.
"Mira, no empieces conmigo. Porque ese acento ridículo que tenéis no te apoya, pendejo. The only bullshit here is that you cannot even learn a third language that is so similar to you native language." Alvaro insults Alessandro. I am just glad that the focus is off of me since they cannot focus on one thing for two seconds. Now their focus is on this stupid argument that they are having. (Look, do not start with me. Because that ridiculous accent that you have does not support you, stupid.)
My phone goes off with a text message from Aria, so I automatically go to pick it up. It is her asking me what time I will pick her up for brunch with my parents. I respond right away with the time and turn my attention back to my brother and friend in this dumb argument.
But when I look back up from my phone, they both have theirs pointed at me and they take pictures. "What the hell are you guys doing?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Look at the smile. Aww." Aless coos, turning his phone around so I can see. It is a picture of me looking at my phone with a smile. So wide that you can see my dimples. "I am sending these to Lia so she can send them to Aria." he says as if it is threatening. She has pictures of me sleeping, I think that is the most embarrassing it can get. Also, she loves my smile. She has told me that about a million times.
"Go ahead. I thought the whole argument started because you were mad that I smile at her and not you. She is used to my smile." I argue and he huffs, putting his phone down on the table before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning down in his seat, almost frowning.
He sighs. "You take the fun out of everything." he complains and I roll my eyes. "I am going to crash todays brunch date." he threatens, smiling stupidly at me.
I put a hand up and smack the back of his head. "Now that is too far. This brunch date is between me, Aria, mamma, and papà. I will beat your ass if you go." I say and he pulls the same moves as he did before.
"And when will I get to meet her?" Alvaro asks.
"I am asking her to attend the Pierre Ball in Avignon in 2 weeks. I do not know if she will be able to go because of work, but if she can then she will be there." I reply and he nods.
We continue talking for a while before Alvaro asks me, "If you are so obsessed with her then why have you not asked her to quit her job yet and just move in with you? Is that not what we usually do?" It sounds quite sexist, I know, but it is simply tradition in the world that we grew up in. Relationships move extremely quickly.
I know that if Aria would have been also from the mafia, we would have been married already. It moves way quicker because I am don. Also because of this, due to our wealth, we never have our wives or girlfriends in normal jobs, or any job at all. They stay home, hang out with friends, and do whatever they like while we handle everything financially.
Although since I am the leader, a lot of the time I can do my job from home, I just prefer to go to the offices and go to meetings, since I prefer everything to be right and thorough.
It sounds extremely traditional and it is, but that is just the way it has always been. Most of the girlfriends and wives enjoy it, a life where they are taken care of, they do not have to do much, they have a husband who is usually there, although I have heard that a lot of relationships are horrible. They do not actually love each other and they just stay together for money and sex. Or because they have children.
It's so stupid, which is another reason I did not want to be in an arranged marriage, there is nothing else to life from business, so I do not want to come home from work and see my wife and it it someone who I am forced to be with also because of business. That I do not actually love her but am forced to pretend to for the sake of having someone pretty at my side to take pictures with.
I want something where I can come home and I see my wife and I don't think about business, I don't think about guns, or the mafia, or anything, all I can think of is how lucky I am to have her, think of our story and how we met, and how much I adore her. And I want it with Aria. I know I am rushing it, I know I am but that is simply the way I was raised to believe it would go. So I don't mention it to her because I know it is too fast for her, I will go at her pace until she is ready. I am so ready to take care of her for the rest of her life, but I know that is too fast for her.
"Yes it is what we usually do. But she is not mafia." I explain to Alvaro hesitantly, curious to see his reaction.
"She what?" Alvaro asks surprised.
"She was not born into the mafia. I met her at Vita Mia. It has not been very long since we started dating, and I think she thinks we went too fast so if I just spring this all on her, this tradition, these thoughts of moving so fast, I am afraid she will freak out and leave and I am not trying to have that happen. I am moving at her pace." I explain, going more in depth with it this time. He respects my explanation and nods, before moving on with the conversation.
A while passes, and I leave to go pick up Aria. But not without them teasing me some more about my relationship. They can make fun of me all they want, it is not going to change anything.
I drive to her apartment and walk upstairs, going to her actual apartment door to get her. When I knock on the door, Laura opens it. Her expression is careless as she simply looks at me for a second then looks away, shouting into the apartment, "Aria! Your asshole is here!" she walks away, leaving me at the door.
Laura doesn't hate me. She just doesn't know me well, and I will admit, it is my fault. We do not talk much, and she is constantly saying to me that I am too quiet, that I need to talk more, that I need to stop looking so gloomy all the time. I do not know how to talk to her though. She reminds me of Aless so much, and with Aless I can argue to entertain myself, but Laura is my girlfriends sister, if I start an argument with her, it will be different than when I start one with my brother.
I think she genuinely thinks I am an ass, which I would rather she didn't think that, but at the same time she probably is joking. Or at least that is what I hope.
Aria walks out of her room, seeing her sister in the hallway, she flips her off, then sets her eyes on me. What seems to be a constant thing now, is that she wears dresses or skirts usually and today is no different. She is wearing a little white flowy dress, she has two strands of hair pinned back, and she is wearing some white heels. She smiles widely at me and when she reaches me, leans up to place a kiss on my cheek.
"Hi melodia," I say, wrapping my arms around her. Her heels make her at least 4 inches taller so I don't have to lean down as much when I do it. Aria does not want to admit that she is below average height. I think she is, Laura thinks she is, Allegra disagrees with us because her and Aria are the same height. But Aria is 5 foot 3 inches, we had a full group conversation about this the other day, and apparently the average female European height is 5 foot 6 inches.
She does not like even hearing about it, she refuses to believe she is below average height. So after that discussion, we just all let her think that she is completely just average height. But the moment she can't reach anything in her cupboards, all I hear is her calling my name.
She goes back into the apartment to grab her purse off of the counter, then comes back to me. "Alright, let's go." she says.
However, before we could leave, her sister comes to the door to see her off. She stands at the door, looking us both up and down. "Aria you have changed your style so much recently." She points out to Aria, making her look down at her outfit, then look back up at Laura, her brows furrowed and her lips basically in a frown. Noticing her sisters reaction, Laura freaked out, "No, no. It's good. You added colors. It looks good." she explains, making Aria smile. "And Matteo, make sure to return my sister." Those were her final words before she slammed the door.
I take Aria's hand in mine and lead her to the building elevator, then when we get downstairs, to my car.
"I like this dress, melodia." I tell her, playing with the fabric of the end of the dress, then resting my hand on her thigh.
"I have had to go shopping like twenty billion times since we started dating." she says jokingly, but I also know she is being serious. Her, Lia, and Sofia go shopping together often. Usually every weekend, sometimes in the afternoon when Aria gets out of work. Aria usually doesn't buy much, sometimes only a dress or two, a new necklace maybe.
I chuckle, then say to her, "Yes, I know, Lia tells me all about it. But why is that, melodia?"
She sighs. "I only really had work clothes. You know, eventually I am going to run out of cute clothes to wear. And money. I am only an Interpol agent, not a millionaire." she says, a small smile tugging at her lips.
She says and thinks that she is not a millionaire but she basically is. Way more than a millionaire, actually. In my mind, what's mine is hers, so anything she asks of me, if I have it, it's hers. But seeing how she is, with always wanting to take care of herself, not wanting to rely on anyone, I doubt it will only take her a month to understand that. It will take way longer.
"You can never run out of money as long as you are with me, melodia." I said smugly, winking at her quickly before turning back to the road. I heard her chuckle before she smacked my arm.
After she was done laughing, she sighed. "Feeling arrogant today?" she asked jokingly.
"Not arrogant, sweetheart. Just factual." I replied, grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. And this is how I know she's not staying for the money, like someone warned me she would. She hates using my money and she hates when I buy her things she doesn't need.
She squeezes my hand a bit, "Yes but that is your money, not mine." her reply has me laughing, which elicits more confusion, and another explanation from her. "You know I don't like wasting other people's money." she says firmly.
"If it makes you happy, melodia, then it is not wasting, it is spending. And anything that is mine is yours. If I have it and you ask for it, it's yours." I tell her, pressing another kiss to the back of her hand. She gets flustered at my words and curls into her seat more, her finger on her other hand tapping against her leg that I wasn't touching. "Don't get all shy on me now." I teased.
We were at a red light so I looked over, her cheeks had a pink hue and she was smiling slightly. "I'm not." she said softly, but I gave her a look. I knew she was, we both did. But these were the kinds of things she had trouble admitting. She liked acting like the things I said to her didn't get to her, like she had no emotion, like she could not feel lovey things, like every time someone was kind to her, she was not so very overjoyed and happy. "Okay maybe a little." she finally admitted, and I knew she did not want to.
I chuckled, placing a final kiss on her hand and pressing on the gas once the light turned green.
When we arrived, mamma and papà were already waiting for us in the backyard of the house. The backyard is beautiful, with a pool, some pretty decorations that mamma has brought here over the years and had the maids put up, a view of the garden that is constantly being taken care of. The construction going on near was not very visible, so it looks okay.
"Tesoro!" Papà greeted Aria excitedly, as did mamma. They both stood to hug her, which she accepted happily. In the past few weeks, I had grown to know just how much Aria appreciated my mamma and papà, she did not like opening up about why her parents were so horrible, or what they did, but I knew they had done something. I just want to know how someone could have traumatized her to the point where receiving love from a parental figure is strange for her. She did not enjoy it or even understand it much in the beginning, but now they are very close.
Papà shook my hand and mamma hugged me before we all sat down together.
Over an hour later, we had eaten, talked, the maids had taken the plates, and now we were just sitting here doing nothing. Mamma is leaned back on a chair with her feet propped up on papà's legs while Aria is resting her body against me, my arm wrapped around her.
However, as always, something had to interrupt the peace. The door that leads into the house opens and I look behind to see a guard standing there. "Capo, c'è una situazione nell'ufficio della signorina Cappola." he says, his breathing quick as if he ran over here. (Boss, there is a situation in Miss Cappola's office.)
Aria backs off of me a bit, allowing me to turn towards him more. "Alessandro è disponibile per affrontarlo?" I ask him. (Is Alessandro available to deal with it.)
I know him and Alvaro were just going to stay there after the meeting to talk. He was not going to go home just yet.
"È lui che mi ha chiesto di venire a prenderti." he says, making me annoyed. I know I spend most nights with Aria, but not even an hour and a half during the day to myself without them needing me?
(He is the one that asked me to come get you.)
I stand up, papà following after me. "Okay then." I sigh. I look over to Aria, her expression shows her tired and upset, "I will get someone to drive you home, and I will text you as soon as I can, sì?" I ask. She nods, her lips still in small pout. I kissed the pout quickly which made her smile, so papà and I walked away with the man. "Qual è il problema?" I ask him. (What is the problem?)
He sighs, "La Prossima Generazione.", and that is all he says before we continue walking.
When we get to Allegra's office, she is typing so fast on her keyboard, she is shaking. Alessandro is there talking to another worker frantically, though he is typing as well. Allegra looks at me, and she looks like she is about to cry.
"Capo, I swear I am doing everything I can. But I swear whoever this is, they're really good." She says, her face and voice are both panicked as she continues typing.
The screen is black, and only once on every screen is written "La Prossima Generazione". In regular font, and it's not the only thing visible on each screen. At the bottom, it seems as if the screen is glitching. There is a small box of a bunch of words, moving at the same pace Allegra is typing at.
"Allegra, it's okay. But what is going on?" I ask her, sitting in the chair next to hers.
"Someone hacked the servers! My servers, the ones that I, myself monitor and helped set up. I constantly restart and update. How could this have happened?" She squealed.
I don't know how to deal with people when they are in this state. Freaked out, upset, sad. It seemed something like Alessandro could do better than I could.
A few minutes pass, and at the same time, they all stop typing, lean back on their seats, letting out a long sigh. Allegra lets out a shaky breath, so I give Alessandro a look. He looks back at me, confused and questioning. I point at Allegra who looks like she is about to cry and he nods.
"Wait.." she sighs. I turn back to her as I was about to leave. "Lock up the Pecora building," she demands, going back to typing.
"Why do our buildings have such ridiculous names?" Alessandro mutters to himself, although hardly anyone is paying attention to him.
I look back at Allegra, "Why?" I ask her. She continues typing as if she did not hear me, but after a few seconds of waiting, she is finally able to respond.
"The hack came from there." she replies. I walk out of that room and over next door, opening one of the panels on the wall, I press the red button which is labeled 'Pecora'. Now no one will be able to exit or enter that building until I clear them.
When I get back to the room, Alessandro and papà are speaking to a bunch of guards, giving them instructions. Papà looks over to me, "Go spend time with Aria, figlio. I have this covered." he demands.
"What? No, papà. It's okay, go home with mamma. This is my job now, I should be the one to handle it. And you are barely getting better.." I respond, not wanting him to have to deal with this. He had already retired, it should not be his job anymore.
He shakes his head, "You go. Show her that she means more to you than your work. We can handle this. Besides, it has been a while since I have done something like this, it's hard not to miss it." he says with a smile, clasping my shoulder. I register his words and nod softly, leaving the room, and the work to them. I just hope they can do it. And theoretically, this shouldn't even be my job, it would be for my head of security, but I like doing things myself.
I go back to the house, to the backyard, but don't find Aria or mamma. I check the kitchen, the living room, but still nothing.
Finally, I go to the gardens, and find them sitting there, talking and laughing. Meanwhile, I was about to have a fucking heart attack thinking someone had taken them while papà and I were gone.
They see me walk in and smile, waving me over to them. I sit next to Aria, joining in on conversation. "What are you doing?" I ask them.
Just then, papà walks back in. "We've handled it." he says, and I nod at him as he comes to sit next to mamma. I can tell by the look on his face that the situation is not entirely handled, but decide to let it pass. It will be fully dealt with later, I tell myself.
"We were a little bored, so we are googling you, Matteo." Mamma says, laughing a bit with Aria.
My eyebrows furrowed. "What?" I ask, absolutely dumbfounded.
"Look at these pictures I found." Aria squeals, laughing, while showing me a paparazzi picture from when I was maybe 15 years old. Over a decade ago already. The article linked under the picture was referencing my status as heir apparent.
I looked so weird, my hair was such a light brown it was almost brunette. My hair now is so dark it's pretty much black. I looked so unemotional in the picture, I almost looked like I had been trained to make that face my entire life. It was weird.
"Ew, put that away." I joked, laughing at the old picture of myself and pushing Aria's phone away. "You were an FBI agent before Interpol, sì?" I ask her.
She nods, "Mhm. Why?" she asks me.
"Let's see what comes up when we search you up." I say, already typing her name on my phone, adding the words 'FBI agent' to my search as well.
She practically jumps up from where she was seated, "Oh please no." she squeals, trying to cover my phone screen. "Those pictures go back like three years, it's so bad." she says, but I doubt that. I grab her hand and intertwine our fingers so she can't move them and press the search button.
A bunch of articles, pictures, and even videos pop up on my screen. Of crimes she had been involved in solving. From serial killers to rapists to simple robbers. Videos of her being interviewed by different newspapers, news channels, pictures of her and a group of agents escorting criminals in handcuffs through a crowd.
No smile on any of the pictures or videos I find. I hear from Laura that she does not like her job, and obviously she probably would not be smiling in those circumstances, but seriously, I get worried if she is spending most of her life in an environment that she does not enjoy. I don't want that for her, ever.
I scroll through articles as she continues to look at old pictures of me. Then there is one article I find that was so many years ago, it could not have been from when she was an agent. But it was titled 'Local: Girl found raped in her own home; Man almost kills his daughters rapist'.
Reluctantly opening the article, there is a picture, and even with her face blurred out a bit, it is so easy to see that it is Aria. Scrolling down, I see the man's name, the one who apparently almost killed a rapist, and his name is Leonardo Marino. Marino. Aria's same last name.
My mind is everywhere, confused. Angry. How could anyone do this to her? Why? I somewhat already knew, because of what she had told me a few weeks prior, but knowing there were articles about it, other people knew her business, without her consent most likely. It angered me, a lot.
Without thinking, I flip my phone around, so Aria can see the screen, blurting out, "What is this?" I did not want to do it, and if I had given myself a second to think, I wouldn't have done it. I wanted answers, but I did not want to rush them, or force them out of her.
What makes me regret it more is the look of shock with combined sadness on her face. "How.." a sigh followed "..how did you find that?" was her full question. She looked so confused, upset, like she wanted to cry. And I felt like it had been my fault. Why did I have to show her the fucking article?
I turn the phone back around, turning it off quickly. "No, I'm sorry." I begin. "You don't have to say anything." I tell her. She shakes her head, telling me no, feeling like she does have to say something.
"I think I'm ready." she says, her eyes glossing over. "I don't know." she sighs, the breath shaky, not fully ready, the air in her lungs not being able to fully escape due to her panicked state.
"What is it?" mamma asks concerned.
"Nothing, mamma." I reply quickly, not wanting Aria to feel pressured, or uncomfortable, especially around me or my parents.
"No, Matteo. It's fine. I trust them." Aria says, her voice as stern as possible, aside from the wavering sound.
"Melodia.." I start, but she stops me with a simple look. One telling me to trust her when she tells me that it really is fine.
"What is it?" Papà asks this time, but softly, making sure his voice is heard but not loud, or intimidating.
Aria looks at all of us, her eyes wide, full of tears. And she begins speaking with a shaky voice.
•••••
it's been a while 😣😣
and it'll probably be another while before i update again bc it's finals week. either that or my final week. might actually cry if i don't get above a 90 on all of them.
anyways bye bye
~ elle 🌸
YOU ARE READING
Good Cop Gone Bad ~ Rewritten
RomanceAn FBI agent who gets an opportunity to move to Italy to be an agent there. Of course she takes it right away. The job she loves in the country she loves most in the world. The place that she loves. The place that she considers home. With her loving...
