The corner of Piero's mouth lifted when his Sophia's bright yellow dress captured the sunlight and tossed it around like confetti. Her lips were painted a bright red and her make up was flawless in the mid-morning light. Her dark hair was in a side ponytail with a few tendrils hanging on either side of her face.
His chest tightened when she slid into his embrace. He released air he didn't know he was holding and his shoulders fell. She belonged in his arms. The world wasn't right when she wasn't there. She pulled away enough to find his eyes. Hers were glowing as she gazed up at him. He stroked her jaw and tipped her face up so he could more easily kiss her tempting mouth.
When their lips parted the corners of her lips pulled up and she stroked a delicate hand along the side of his face. She pulled away and they took each other's hand and started walking. She smiled up toward the sun.
"I know I've been more challenging to get a hold of but I've been making really good developments with real estate and investments not to mention I've got the founding families in on a good percentage from selling refined crude oil. Your dad seems less icey than normal. That's promising."
"Don't think I could imagine what that looks like."
He stopped walking and had her face him. "You won't have to imagine soon."
"Piero..."
"Just give me six more months. Six months and he'll see that I can take care of you."
"Piero I don't need any man to take care of me." She looked around wearily which made him do the same. He frowned scanning the PIazza. Did she see something. "Let's get married now, right here."
He finally looked away from her enough to realize where they had stopped. The large looming stone structure of the church set behind her with it's stone steps leading up to the door. His frown deepened as he found her pretty face again.
"Elope?"
She shrugged. "Why not."
"Why not? Because that's not you. That's not what you want. I know you Sophia. You want your family there, the white dress, the doves, the flowers, the bridesmaids, the fancy dinner, the event, the show, most importantly you want your brother, father, and mother there. I can give you that just give me six months mi amore'."
"I'm tired of living for them. If they don't support, they aren't my family. They're aren't the family i want."
The frustration started building inside him. "Amore' I've worked for the past three and a half years to get to this place. To finally be worthy for you. I know you want this, us. I do to, but I want to do it right."
"What's more right than us together. Marry me today and let's get out of here. Let's just leave Italy settle somewhere else."
He pulled away from her, taken aback confused. "RUn away?"
"No, move away."
"You want me to run away. Sophia--"
"You don't owe them anything. It was not you. It was your father--"
"In the eyes of the families, I am my father. I carry his legacy. I carry his burdens. I've paid off his debts. I've built a system to make money. I've finally earned a seat back at that table. I'm not sworn in yet, but that's the next step."
"You said you did all of that for me. Is that true or did you do it for your own ego?"
He frowned, letting his arms fall away from her. "Do the two have to be mutually exclusive? You are my muse. You gave me the strength to take on what felt like an impossible task and my bloodline, our children deserve to have a better start than I did. We were founding families. For generations we served and just like that it was taken away. My inheritance their inheritance was taken and I'm working to restore that. Isn't that what you want?"
She looked over his shoulder briefly a look of panic in her eyes. He looked behind him, but saw nothing out of the ordinary just some children chasing pigeons, a couple walking with a stroller, people drinking a cappuccino at the coffee shop on the corner. "Sophia is there something wrong?"
She shook her head and looked down at her feet. "Piero." She took his hands and looked into his eyes. She held them for an extended period of time. "I know this means a lot to you, but you and our family means the most to me." She placed one of his hands on her flat stomach. His brain short circuited as he tried to grab hold of what she said, what she was implying, what he still needed to do, all the things he wanted for her, for the two of them. His dazed face fell to look at his hand over her abdomen. When he looked back up at her his eyes were moist and her perfect image blurred behind the tears that collected there.
"Sophia." It was a whisper that he wasn't sure she even heard as the wind could have very well wisped it away. When his tears finally fell down his face clearing his vision a bit, he saw her eyes moist too.
"Let's not wait any longer. Let's do what we should have done three years ago."
He swallowed his hand still on her stomach as the possibility of having a child with the woman he loved to the core could mean. He nodded words caught behind his restricted throat. "Not here. Not like this though. Something small. Give me two weeks to get something together. Can you do that? Can you give me two weeks?"
She nodded. "Okay." He grabbed her up in his arms and spun her around his chest filled with joy, light and full of electrical currents zinging around inside him. When he set her back on her feet he claimed her lips. "I have to go now. I will see you soon." He kissed her again and walked her to the car that dropped her off. She got in and he closed the door, turned and walked back across the piazza. Soon they wouldn't have to have secret meetings fifteen minutes here ten minutes there. They could just be together freely. Every morning he woke up and every night when he--
He struggled pushing his body up off the pavers. His ears were ringing, his mind confused. He coughed and looked around to find the Piazza in chaos. He frowned looking around the space and his chest squeezed together when he saw the smoking car on fire twenty feet from the spot he put Sophia inside of it. Sophia and their baby.
He struggled to his feet feeling pain in his body but caring less about that. Sirens rang through the air, but that didn't stop him from charging toward the burning vehicle.
Before he could reach the car it exploded again sending him flying backwards. He tried, but he couldn't get up there was something in his leg. The world slowly faded but the only thing on his mind was his Sophia and his son. Had he lost them?
|:|A/N|:|
A little walk down memory lane for Piero to give a little insight into who he is.
VOTE/COMMENT/FOLLOW me on Insta.
-ALEX
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Smoke & Gun (+18) (COMPLETE)
Romance|:| She remembered her last interaction with Piero Albano. He was on his knees before her and she pressed the gun against his forehead . He said the words that she dared to repeat. "Well, what are you waiting for?" |:| Piero had plans to kill her b...
