*A few months after the epilogue*
Lara's Pov
"I don't want to." I groan and put my head under my pillow.
"Come on Lara." Jax says pulling her leg.
"No." She says grabbing onto the headboard.
"You know you need to." Jax says and I sigh and sit up.
"Brush your teeth and get dressed and meet me in the gym in ten minutes the latest." He says looking at his watch.
"If you don't meet me down there I will drag you down there." He says and I roll my eyes. "Whatever." I say.
I climb out of my bed and head for the bathroom where I wash my face and brush my teeth.
I then change into some leggings and a crop top. Jax has now officially become my gym personal trainer and don't get me wrong, just because he's my husband does not mean he goes easy or nice.
This is why I prefer coming to Brazil without Jax. When we're in New York he is pretty much the same. He doesn't come to Brazil with me all that often, we spend a lot of time in New York which isn't fair.
We argued about it recently, that's why he's here now.
I walk into the gym as Jax was typing on his phone. "Finally, I thought I was actually going to have to come and drag you out of bed." He says and I scoff and grab a bottle of water.
We stretch and Jax has me follow his routine, which is really hard for me to follow. I think he forgets I'm not over 6ft and didn't start working out the second I came out of the womb.
Jax turns his back and I literally roll onto the floor.
"What are you doing?" He asks and I throw an arm over my eyes. "Finding the will to live." I admit and he scoffs.
"Get up." He says standing over me.
"Aren't we done?" I ask checking the time.
"I guess." He shrugs and takes a sip of water.
"Get up." He says and I shake my head. I don't think I can.
"You're gonna have to carry me upstairs and leave me there." I say and he leans down, picks me up and throws me over a shoulder.
He takes me up to our room and instead of him putting me on my bed, he takes me into the bathroom. He puts the shower on and pulls my crop top and leggings off.
"That was awful." I admit and he scoffs. "That was easy." He says and I un-clasp my bra. "Maybe for you, look at the size difference." I say and he looks down at me. "You look wonderful. Now. Let's get in shall we?" He asks taking off his clothes.
****
I slide on a green dress that comes to just above the knee. I pick out a tie for Jax that's the same colour as my dress.
I don't put my heels on yet but I do put my jewellery on.
I do my hair and makeup and leave the bed for Jax to make.
I head from my room into Toby's conjoined room.
I open the door and find him asleep cuddled up in a ball.
I make my way over to him and begin to wake him up.
When he wakes up he climbs into my arms straight away and then we head into Alannah's room.
Alannah was sat on her iPad already.
"Manha." She smiles at me. "Manhã baby, desça as escadas para o café da manhã." I say and she nods. She climbs out of bed and begins to make it.
Alannah is actually learning two languages. She already knows English and bits of Portuguese but she wanted to learn Italian for Jax too as well as wanting to be fluent in Portuguese.
I leave Alannah's room with Toby in my arms and head for Theo's.
Theo was also asleep as I went into his room.
After waking him up he takes my hand and I lead him downstairs.
Theo is very quiet and shy in the mornings until he's had something to eat that is.
Once we get into the dinning room, Jax and Alannah were already there. They were talking in Italian and I had no idea what they were saying.
I take my normal seat at the top of the table, Jax beside me and then Alannah next to him, Theo on the other side of me and Toby on my lap.
"Morning boys." Jax says and they say it back.
Everyone begins to help them self to the food that our chef makes for us.
"Mommy, I miss Luca." Toby sighs as he takes a bite of his cereal. "If you're good, daddy might let you FaceTime him after school." I say and we both look over at Jax who's sipping his coffee.
"Yeah." Jax nods. "If you're good." Jax emphasised and I just roll my eyes. "Okay." Toby nods and continues eating.
After breakfast, I send Alannah and Theo upstairs to get ready for school.
The maids begin to clean up whilst Jax, Toby and I leave the dinning room.
Jax takes Toby from me and puts him down.
Toby grabs my hand and I raise an eyebrow at Jax. "He can walk." He says and I pick Toby back up. "I'm aware, I taught him." I say holding Toby close to me for a hug.
"You should let him walk." Jax says as we head back upstairs. "I'm pretty sure I still recall you carry Alannah around and she's nearly nine." I say and he shrugs. "She a princess, I'll do whatever she asks of me." He says and I just laugh.
Toby pulls at the front of my dress and I look down at him. "Hi." I smile and he tries to pull my dress down.
"No, no more." I say and he pouts. "It's mine now." I say putting my spare arms over my boobs.
"He wants milk?" Jax asks and I nod and put Toby down.
He wraps his arms around my legs and I just smile down at him.
"It's totally normal, it's like a comfort thing for babies. You remember that Alannah's old stuffed bear that Theo was obsessed with and couldn't go anywhere without. When he was upset it instantly calmed him down, it's like that but it's totally normal don't worry. He's of going to get it." I say and Jax just nods.
"I can get him ready if you want?" Jax asks and I nod. "Sure, I wanted to go talk to Alannah." I say and kiss Toby before Jax takes Toby's hand and leads him to his room.
I feel like Jax feels guilty sometimes.
I spend a lot more time with the kids then he does and he was always so worried this would happen. Whenever we spoke about kids, he would worry that he wouldn't be around much and would turn into his father.
He doesn't come to Brazil with me that often any more either, he spends most his time in New York and even then he's mostly at the warehouse.
It's not his fault, we both have busy lives but sometimes it feels like he only really tries with Alannah.
It's great that he does because that's what I was so worried about when I got pregnant, that Alannah would feel like an outsider, but that's not the case.
I knock on Alannah's door before entering. She's sat on her iPad, fully dressed and hair brushed ready for the day.
"Você vai estar em casa quando terminarmos a escola?" Alannah asks and I sit beside her.
"Eu não sei, você quer que eu seja?" I say checking my phone calendar. "Eu posso mudar algumas coisas e voltar para casa por um tempo depois da escola." I add.
"Wait, you spoke to fast. What did you say?" Alannah asks and I smile.
"I'll be home." I say kissing her cheek.
"Where's Toby?" She asks. "Dad's getting him ready." I say and her eyes widen. "I know, it's a disaster." I say and she laughs.
"I think he's homesick." Alannah says putting her iPad down.
"You think?" I ask and she nods.
"He doesn't seem to like it here that much. I do, I see him more when he's here." She says and I smile.
"I was thinking this weekend we can go out. Get some new outfits, some food, especially ice cream." I say and her eyes widen. "Really?" She asks and I nod. "Absolutely." I say and she smiles.
****
2 kids in school later, well technically school. They're home schooled because it's so much easier with all the travelling all the time. Then Toby is with the nanny.
Jax and I are in my home office which he uses when we're both here together.
"When's your first meeting?" He asks sitting on my chair. "11." I answer.
"Do you like it here?" I ask suddenly. "Of course." He says making room so I can sit on the desk in front of him.
Once I sit down he moves closer to me.
"Really? It kind of feels like you don't want to be here." I say and he clasps my hand in his. "I want to be wherever you are." He squeezes my hand.
"Jax." I sigh and he watches me.
"What is it then?" I ask and he looks around the office.
"You're going to think I'm crazy." He admits and I shrug. "Already do." I say and he scoffs.
"The atmosphere here, it isn't the same." He says glancing round the office. "Obviously. What's wrong with it?" I ask and he sighs.
"At home." He pauses. "Back in New York." He corrects. "That house was always us, a bit of Gio but that house was us." He says and I nod.
"But here." He runs a hand over his face.
"When I first came here, I had to watch you with Carter. You would hold hands, climb into his bed you loved him. It just feels wrong that I'm in his office, doing work for a completely different mafia, married to the girl he loved whilst our kids run around the garden." He admits.
This time I squeeze his hand.
"Jax it's fine. He died ages ago, he knew this would happen." I say and tilt his head to look into his eyes.
"He knew I loved you, even if he were alive we'd still be in this situation. It's okay Jax." I say and he sighs.
"Maybe you should take a day off this weekend and spend the day with the boys." I say rubbing his arm.
"They don't love me like they love you." He says and this does gain sympathy from me.
"Why don't you think that?" I ask continuing to rub his back.
"They love you. They want to be around you all the time it's always "mommy this" and "mommy that", I just this morning for example." He pauses.
"I took Toby to get ready and the whole time he would just talk about how mommy is softer or nicer or happier. Why do they hate me?" He asks and I cup his face in my hands.
"They don't hate you, they love you just as much as they love me." I say and he rolls his eyes. "You're just saying that to make me feel better." He says and I shake my head.
"Alannah can't go to bed unless you say goodnight. How many times has she fallen asleep before I got to say goodnight?" I ask and he shrugs.
"Theo. Theo looks up to you. The other day he asked me to pick out an outfit that looked like daddy's. Alannah told him he looked silly and he shrugged and said daddy looks cool so I must do too." I say and he raises an eyebrow.
"Really?" Jax asks and I nod.
"Really."
"Toby asked why you didn't play with him as often as I do. I told him you were busy and he said he wishes you would spend more time with him." I say and Jax squeezes his eyes closed.
"Do something fun with the boys this weekend when I take Alannah out. They love you Jax and I know your busy, we're in the same boat. But when you're here, you have the ability to be flexible. Wake the kids up, help them with their homework, play with them and don't be afraid to tell them off when they're doing something wrong." I say and he nods.
I hug hun tightly when there was a knock on the office door.
"Come in!" I yell.
One of the nannies stand awkwardly by the door.
"Everything okay?" I ask and she nods.
"Toby wanted to see you before you left for work, I was just coming to ask before I brought him in." She asks and I nod. "Sure, bring him in." I smile and pull back from the hug with Jax.
Toby ran to our desk and Jax picked him up and put him on his lap.
"Daddy." He smiles. I smile at Jax and hold one of his hands.
"And mommy!" Toby continues.
"Hi baby." I kiss his nose and he giggles.
"Actually, you can both take the day off." Jax says to the nannies stood by the door.
"I'll spend time with my kids today." Jax nods, they both thank him and leave.
I watch Jax as he talks to Toby. Toby doesn't talk as often or with many words yet and when he does it's hard to make out sometimes.
I slide off of the desk and grab my phone.
"Where's mommy?" Toby asks Jax and my heart hurts. God I hate leaving them.
"She's there." Jax says pointing at me.
"I'm here baby, I gotta go." I say and he pouts. "I love you." I say kissing his nose.
I kiss Jax's temple then wave at Toby as I leave my office and head to the warehouse.
****
"Eu sei, sinto muito." I apologise whilst on FaceTime to Alannah.
"It's okay." She sighs and my heart breaks.
"How was school?" I ask as she sets her iPad down and puts her hair up. "It was alright." She shrugs.
"Will you be home for dinner?" She asks and I nod.
"I promise." I say and she smiles.
"Senhora Deputada Fernandez, está na hora." Mario says. I nod and turn back to my phone.
"Love you narna, I'll see you at dinner." I say and end the call after she says it back.
I follow Mario out to my car where he drives us to my office.
****
My phone wouldn't stop going off for the entirety of the meeting.
"Do you need to get that?"Â He asks.
I check my phone. "It's my husband. If it's that important he'll call Gabriel as well." I say gesturing to my right hand who's beside me. "Or he'll call the head of my security." I say gesturing to Mario who was stood by the office door.
I'm meeting with the head of the Mexican mafia. He's not very happy with Colombia, the same way I'm not happy with Costa Rica.
"Look we aren't doing anything wrong, Colombia won't do anything unless I tell them too and at the moment I haven't told them to do anything." I say and he shrugs.
"We want Colombia." He says and I scoff. "We'll un- fucking- lucky." I roll my eyes.
Colombia is mine and I will get it to him over my dead body.
"The people in Costa Rica are waiting for my word." He says and I raise an eyebrow. "You don't think Colombia are waiting for mine?" I ask and suddenly Gabriel's phone rings.
"Husband?" Sergio asks and I turn to Gabriel who nods and shows me his phone.
"What?" I ask answering Gabriel's phone.
"What the fuck are you doing? Why aren't you answering my fucking calls?" He asks and I scoff.
"I know you aren't talking to me like that." I say and he sighs.
"Lara, I've gotta go." He says and I gesture for Gabriel to continue as I step outside.
"What's going on, I'm in the middle of a meeting. Where the hell are you going?" I ask listening to him fumbling around.
"Italy. Something about Albania. Look I got the nannies. The kids are okay but after your meeting you need to get here so I can leave. I can't leave them here on their own with the nannies, they're gonna be upset if I leave in an unusual way." He says and I nod.
"Okay fine but I don't know how long I'm gonna be. Sergio is being a dick." I sigh.
"Mexican mafia?" He asks.
"Yep." I sigh.
"Do you need me to come over there?" He asks.
"I've got it handled. I just had to leave Gabriel in there alone so I need to get back in there." I say.
"Okay, be careful." He says and I quickly end the call before heading back inside.
"Let's wrap this up shall we." I say sitting back in my seat opposite Sergio.
"We're not giving you Colombia. It's mine. We gave you Costa Rica over 15 years ago so stop being difficult and leave. Otherwise I will take Costa Rica off of you and you'll be left with less." I shrug.
"So you can leave now and head back to Mexico with Costa Rica. Or you can kick up a fuss about Colombia and I'll take Costa Rica from you." I shrug.
"It's up to you." I say and sink my chair.
After a few minutes Sergio gets up and heads for the door.
"Women are so stubborn." He says to me and I nod. "I'm glad you think so. It really makes me so happy when I put a misogynistic man in his place." I smile and get Jose to show him out.
"What did he say when I left?" I ask Gabriel as I grab my bag and phone and head out of the office.
"Not a lot. Just tried to torment me." He says and I roll my eyes. "Great." I smile and follow Mario to my car.
"You should head to the warehouse, check everything's okay over there. I need to head home, I'm gonna call Carlos." I say and he nods.
I get in the car and text Jax to tell him I'm on my way home.
I make sure Jose follows Sergio to his plane and watches him get in it before I call Carlos.
"Linda Lara, o que posso fazer por você? He asks and I laugh and speak back in Portuguese to him.
"I just left my meeting with Sergio. He left without much of a fight so still be on edge, but I don't think he will attack. Let Costa Rica attack first if they do, once they do kill them all and take Costa Rica back okay?" I ask and he agrees to do so.
I get home and as soon as I open the front door everyone heads in my direction, meaning Jax and the kids.
"Mario is waiting." I say and he nods. He leans down and kisses me.
"I love you." He says against my lips and I nod.
"I love you too. Be safe." I say and he nods.
"I'm making a pit stop in New York for Matteo and hopefully Rocco. I'll leave Gio in charge at New York but Rocco is doing everything not to come. He doesn't want to leave Rosie by herself." He says and I raise an eyebrow.
"Why doesn't she stay with Amara and Gio?" I ask.
"That's what I said." He sighs. He kisses my forehead again.
"I've gotta go." He smiles and waves to the kids and we all wait at the door and watch him leave.
Once Jax was gone I take them inside and to the play room.
"Mommy." Theo says and I kneel beside him.
"Where's daddy gone?" He asks.
"He's gone to Italy, he'll be back soon don't worry." I smile.
****
At bed time, all the kids head upstairs. Alannah goes into her room and so does Theo.
I take Toby into the bathroom to give him a bath.
"Daddy?" He asks and I glance at my phone, I still haven't heard from him.
"He'll call tomorrow." I say and he sighs and just plays with the water.
Once Toby was done I sit him on his bed whilst grabbing his pyjamas.
Instead he runs to my room and tries to climb onto my bed.
I change him into his pyjamas and put him on my bed.
I put him in the middle and lay with him just rubbing his belly till he falls to sleep.
Once Toby is asleep I check in on Theo.
I give him a bath and then kiss him a goodnight.
I head into Alannah's room. She's sat on the edge of her bed, trying to do her hair.
"Can I?" I ask and she nods.
She sits in between my legs whilst I braid her wet hair.
"Are we still going to do something this weekend?" She asks once I finish her hair. "It depends if dad is back." I say and she frowns.
Jax and I have spent her whole life spoiling Alannah with things like toys, clothes and anything she could possibly need.
But only one of us spoils her in attention.
And it isn't me.
My fear was this and I hate myself for letting it come true.
"If he's not back I suppose I can leave the boys with the nannies for a few hours." I say and she smiles.
I put my arms out and she hugs me.
"Alannah I'm so sorry." I whisper.
"You haven't don't anything wrong." She says and I nod.
"I miss you." I say and she hugs me tighter.
"I miss you too." She says.
She climbs into bed and so I tuck her in. I kiss her forehead, turn out the light and then turn on her night light.
"I love you, goodnight." I whisper.
"I love you too. Night night." She whispers back before rolling into her side.
****
I spend my night in my office, I don't even realise the time. 3am.
Jax still hasn't text or called.
It's about an 11hr flight so he should be landing shortly.
I head upstairs when I start hearing whimpering.
I get to the top corridor and grab a gun from behind a painting, Jax's habit.
I always leave my gun hidden in my office to avoid accidents, but right now I'm worried.
I check the bullets before sticking my ear to Alannah's door. Nothing.
I check Theo's room, nothing.
My room. Where Toby is.
I put my head to the door where I hear hushed voices.
I head into Toby's room and put my ear against the door.
"Shut up!" Gabriel whisper shouts. I open Toby's door and head into my room. Toby is on the bed crying whilst Santos holds a knife to his throat.
Gabriel immediately stops and makes eye contact with me.
"What a wonderful surprise." I say rolling my eyes. "Get off of my son." I say to Santos.
"He's your future heir." I say and so Santos does.
"Santos." Gabriel bites.
"Que porra você está fazendo?" I ask.
"O reinado de Rodriguez-Fernandez deveria ter terminado com Carter." He says and I roll my eyes. "Maybe." I say.
"Mommy." Toby cries but doesn't try to move. He just holds his arm.
"Step away from my son Santos." I say and so Santos does.
"Baby close your eyes." I say and so he does. I aim my gun at Gabriel and so he does the same. I rip a knife off, that's strapped to my thigh and throw it at his head. I'm not waking my kids up just to kill him.
He goes to shoot his gun but Santos rips it out of his hands.
"Shoot me and I swear to god Santos, not only me but my husband as well will make your life a living hell." I say and he drops the gun.
"Are you gonna hurt me?" He asks as I pull out my phone.
"What did you do to my son?" I ask and he holds his hands out in defence as I call Mario.
Santos stays with his arms up as I sit beside Toby.
"What did he do baby?" I ask and he opens his eyes.
"My arm." He cries and so I move him onto my lap and keep his head in my chest so he doesn't see the dead body on the floor.
"Tudo certo?" Mario answers.
"Não. Eu preciso que você venha e verifique minha casa. Estou levando meus filhos para uma casa segura. Eu explico assim que você chegar aqui. Traga José e Fernando." I reply.
I end the call and pick Toby up but hold his head in the crook of my neck.
"Gabriel broke his arm. He told me to hold a knife to his throat so he wouldn't move." Santos admits.
"Change language." I say sternly.
"Don't you have a daughter?" I ask in Portuguese and he nods. "Weren't you supposed to be guarding my house tonight?" I ask and he nods again.
"He made me. He told me that there was gonna be an attack tonight. He said it was best if I came in and protected you." He says and I roll my eyes.
"When he broke Toby's arm, I knew something was wrong." He says and I take him downstairs and lead him outside whilst pointing a gun to him.
I get outside and a bunch of men run over to us.
"Leve-o para a cela. Eu vou lidar com ele outro dia." I say and they take him away from me.
I immediately call Marco once they're gone.
"What's wrong?" He asks once he picks up.
"Is it alright if we stay at your place tonight? It's just me and the kids." I ask.
"Of course." He says and I take a breath of relief.
"Can you call a doctor to meet us there. We should be about half hour." I say.
"Is everything okay?" He asks. "I'll explain once I get there." I say and end the call.
I head back into the house and up to Alannah's room first.
I turn on the light and she turns to me with squinted eyes.
"Get up narna, we're going to Marco's." I say and she sits up quickly. "Grab your emergency bag." I say and she nods. She quickly puts on her shoes and grabs her bag and slides her iPad in her bag.
She grabs my hand and we head into Theo's room.
"Mommy?" He asks and I nod. "We're going to Marco's baby." I say grabbing his iPad. He grabs his bag and then I hand him his iPad.
I grab Toby's bag and then lead the kids downstairs and out to the car.
I put Toby in and be very careful of him arm.
"You're gonna be okay baby I promise." I say and kiss his nose.
After strapping both Toby and Theo in I make sure Alannah is sat in the front before shutting the doors.
I turn to Mario who was stood by the car.
I explain everything that happened and the ask him to get Fernando to get the body out and clean it up. I then ask him to check a bunch of the men for loyalty to Gabriel.
Once I get in the car I turn to Alannah.
"What's wrong with Toby?" She asks and I glance at him through the window. "Broken arm." I say and she nods.
"How?" She asks.
"He was asleep." I say and she raises an eyebrow. I know she's curious as to what's going on.
"You don't have to worry about anything." I say and hold her hand the whole way to Marco's house.
We get there and he was stood at the door waiting for us.
Alannah and Theo both rush over to hug him. I pick Toby up and he starts crying even more.
"I'm sorry." I apologise walking over to the door.
"Hi sweetheart." Marco smiles and takes us all in.
"You two should head on upstairs to bed." I say to Alannah and Theo.
"I'll be up soon." I say and they nod.
Once they're upstairs Marco takes me through to the living room, where the doctor was.
I sit Toby with the doctor and then watch the doctor examine and bandage Toby up.
I switch to Portuguese to tell Marco about the snake that is Gabriel.
Toby runs over to me when he's done and so I pick him up.
"Look." He says showing me his red bandage.
"Wow." I say and he nods at how cool it is.
My phone rings and so I quickly check it.
Jax.
"I watched the camera's, where did you go?" He asks. At least I don't have to re tell the story.
"We're at Marco's. Is everything okay over there?" I ask.
"I'll explain when I come back. I'll see you in 11 hours." He says and my eyebrow rises.
"What?" I ask.
"Everything's fine, I'm coming home. I'll be back by dinner time." He says and my eyes widen.
"How's Toby?" He asks.
"Broken arm." I say and he sighs.
"Is he still awake?" Jax asks.
"Yeah." I say and hand Toby the phone so he can talk to Jax.
"Go get some sleep Lara." Marco says and I thank him before heading upstairs to the guest room I've stayed in before. I put Toby down as he talks to Jax and I go and check on Alannah and Theo.
They're in the room Alannah sleeps in when she stays here. They're both fast asleep, facing each other.
I tuck them in before returning to Toby.
****
We're all hanging out by/in Marco's pool when Jax walks out into the garden. The kids climb out and run over to hug him.
The Alannah and Theo get back in the pool, whilst Toby goes back to the iPad on his lounger.
Jax leans down to me and kisses me.
"Hi." I say looking up at him.
"Come cuddle?" He asks and so I climb out of the pool head over to the sun lounger. I lie down as he takes his suit jacket off and comes and lies on top of me. He holds me tightly against him.
"God I'm so tired." He says against my neck.
"Go to bed." I say and he groans.
I run my hands through his hair and he nuzzles his head into my neck.
"What happened?" I ask.
"Dad text me telling me that Albania were being a pain in the ass and kept trying to send boats over to steal shipments. When I got there I found out dad got his phone replaced days ago so whoever text me was playing around." He tells me.
"How pissed is Rocco." I ask and Jax laughs. "You don't even wanna go there." He says and squeezes me.
Jax eventually falls asleep in my arms and I look over at Toby.
"Daddy is a big baby." He says and I laugh.
He is.
Author's Note:
Okay that is actually the end now. I have really missed writing about them recently so that's why I wrote the extra chapters but this is the last one.
I was actually thinking of making this into a series.
We started off with Jax and Lara. I want to write about Gio and Amara which will deal with their infertility. I do want to write about Matteo and Rocco too.
Rocco and Rosie's book is out now. It's called 'Safety Agreement'.
Amara and Gio's book is out now. It's called 'The Harsh Life'.
The prologues can be found below. Also make sure to check trigger warning before you read.
Prologue of Safety Agreement: Set when Rocco and Rosie were 11. In Rocco's POV.
I get off of the bus first and wait for Rosie to follow behind me. I put my hand out for her, which she takes and jumps off of the bus.
The bus leaves and we take the small walk to our houses, hand in hand.
"Rocco?" She asks and I turn to look at her. "Yeah?" I ask and she stops and looks down at some daisies on the grass.
Rosie and I have been friends since we were 7. I found Rosie sat on her lawn, by the roses- kind of ironic really- upset about her parents. I sat with her, told her I didn't have a mom and she told me that her father punched her mother in the eye.
From that day we became inseparable.
I don't know how or even why.
I just knew I wandered down to her house every single day and we became best friends.
"Will you tell me the story?" Rosie asks. She only asks when something is wrong.
We sit down on the path and she starts picking the daisies.
"In a few years, when we're older, you and I are gonna run far far away." I say and she crosses her legs as she starts to thread the daisies through each other.
"We're gonna live in a little house, by a beach." I say and she quickly turns to me. "Not in Italy." She says and I nod. "Not in Italy." I confirm.
"Just us." I say and she turns back to the the flowers. "Just us." She says back to me.
"Rosie and Rocco." She ties the daisy chain around my wrist.
I think that day she knew something would happen to her. Her disappearance is something that haunts me.
Rosie was the most superstitious person I'd met at 7. She believed in anything and everything. Aliens? Real. Mermaids? Real. Love? Real.
I walked Rosie home that day. She hugged a little tighter for a little longer and turned back to the house.
"See you Rocco." She smiles and walks up to her house. I didn't recognise the car in the drive and I wish I remembered more about it.
She didn't meet me by the bus stop the next morning so I assumed she was sick. I knocked her door and there was no answer.
The day after that the exact same thing happened.
On the third day of not hearing a peep from Rosie I waited on her porch till her dads car pulled in.
He got out of the car, rolling his eyes at me.
A women who wasn't Rosie's mom got out of the passenger seat and they headed towards the front door.
He walked past me and so I ran up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Get off of me kid." He says pulling his arms back. "Where's Rosie?" I ask and he scrunches up his face.
"Who the hell is Rosie?" He asks and puts his arm around the women's waist and heading inside the house. I was left stunned on the porch.
I knew my father had to have had something to do with her disappearance.
So I confronted him and he shut me down. Said he never even knew who Rosie was.
I knew he was lying because he invited her around on multiple occasions and would watch her like a hawk every time.
Rosie is where it all started. I knew my dad was selfish, but when he took Rosie away I knew that would be the most selfish thing he did.
Spending everyday together for four years, it brings you close and even though we were young I knew I loved Rosie. I was 7 and telling her all the ways I would save her, if we could just get a bit older.
****
Prologue of The harsh life: Giovanni- then
She's asleep.
I pull my jeans and sweater back on. I glance back at this girl, I didn't even get her name.
Oh well.
But she is the prettiest girl I've ever laid eyes on.
Merry Christmas I guess.
I step out of the hotel room and look from side to side to check if anyone saw me leave this room.
I head downstairs to the lobby.
When I get down there Matteo is pacing.
Fuck! I was supposed to be looking for Amara. Whoops.
"Did you find her?" Matteo asks and I shake my head.
"Oh my God, she always comes to this hotel when they argue. Fuck sake." He starts pacing again but starts ringing someone on his phone.
"Finally!" He shouts.
"Where are you? Gio and I have been looking for you." He sits down on a sofa.
I haven't been looking for anyone. I started looking for Amara in a bar and then well this girl. She was beautiful and oh my god, she was the best lay I've ever had. I don't think I'll get over how good she was.
She took me to her hotel room and gave me head in the elevator. It was the best.
"Alright, we're in the lobby, hurry up. No I won't take you home if you don't want to go there. You can stay at mine. Yes. Hurry." He slips his phone back in his pocket and I just sigh and lean against the wall.
When the elevator pings Matteo stands up and heads over to it.
"You look rough." Matteo says and I turn to see who he's talking to.
"I was busy." Someone says.
My eyes widen as I see her. The girl that I just slept with.
"Fuck sake Amara, there's some things you can keep from me." Matteo cringes.
"Let's go. Gio I've got to drop Amara off before I can take you back, is that okay?" Matteo asks.
I stare at Amara. When did she grow up? Oh my god. I can't believe I slept with her.
"Giovanni, it's nice to see you. What's it been? Four years?" Amara asks with a huge grin.
"I think." My mind is completely blank. Jax's little cousin. MATTEO'S LITTLE TWIN SISTER. Fuck I'm in trouble.
Amara hugs me and leans up to my ear.
"A kiss goodbye would of sufficed." She whispers.
"How do you know I didn't?" I offer.
"I pretend to be asleep when I want people to leave." She taps my back as she pulls back from the hug.
She struts infront of Matteo and I out to Matteo's car.
All that's left is the sound of her heels against the tile floor and a ringing in my ears.
"Are you sure that's your sister?" I ask Matteo.
Amara was a quiet kid. Now she's strutting around a hotel after arguing with her parents till they were blue in the face.
"Yep." Matteo sighs. "I've got my hands full with her." He pushes open the gold hotel door.
Amara is leant against the front of Matteo's car flirting with some guy. He's hanging onto every word she says.
Amara takes the guys pen and writes on the inside of his hand. She hands him back his pen with a smirk on her face.
She leans up and places a kiss to his lips.
"Oh for fuck sake!" Matteo shouts. "Ehi! Scendi da mia sorella!" He shouts at them.
Amara pulls back and runs a finger over her lips. She smiles and walks over to the car door.
Before she can open it the guy she just kissed follows her and opens the door for her.
"Grazie." She smiles and slides into the car. "Chiamami." She shuts the car door and I watch him step back from the car.
I get into the front seat as Matteo gets into the drivers seat.
"Did you actually give him your number?" I ask and she laughs.
"No." She looks out the window with a grin. "I gave him Matteo's. I don't have my number memorized. The only number I have memorized is Matteo's." She smiles.
"Are you kidding me? Again! This isn't funny you need to stop!" Matteo sighs.