2| Trenchcoats

Chapter 2

Alessio

When I leave our apartment, the stark winter wind hits me, completely erasing the warmth from Alice's hot body I had on my skin not thirty minutes ago. Every day, I contemplate calling Leo and quitting so I can laze around the house all day watching Alice walk around nude.

I keep my hands in my pocket as I walk to my car. "Charlie, come on with having to get into the car. It's cold outside." His tail wags the closer we get to the car. He's excited, and I think he knows where we are going. He enjoys the office more than I do for the sheer number of treats everyone gets him.

I let out a deep breath, letting out a thick fog into the air. It sure is cold out, but I can't help but laugh due to my clothing choice. I'm only wearing my suit. My coat and scarf are in the car, but I know I'll never put them on unless Alice physically hands them to me.

I can hear Alice in the back of my head.

Alessio, you idiot, wear a coat!

It's so cold outside. What if you get a cold?

I'm not going to take care of you if you get sick. It would be your fault.

She would yell that at me, and I would begrudgingly do as I was told even though I do not get sick. I haven't been sick in over twenty years.

I open the back door, and Charlie quickly jumps in right after. I reach into my backseat and wrap myself in the scarf she brought me. The cashmere scarf brings me some comfort from the frigid winter.

She brought it for me among many other things for Christmas. Only a few people in the world have gotten me Christmas presents, and I can say with full confidence that hers was the first time I was close to tears when I saw them. She brought so many gifts, enough to fill our apartment-all of which had my name on them.

It put my three presents to shame. So much, I brought out the women's department the next day.

She said that I never got to experience a Christmas I deserved as a child, so she gave it to me.

Her presents were of things I wanted as a child up to now. There was a train I told her about that I wanted as a child there in passing. A bike I wanted a twelve stood under the tree with a bow on top with winter clothes sprawled in various boxes.

She made the gifts I brought for her look like a joke compared to the ones she got me.

I appreciate every single thing she got me because I never felt so loved when she wrapped this scarf around me.

I start the car and turn the heat on for Charlie, who is now in the passenger seat. I usually let the windows down for him to stick his head out, but it's too cold for either of us for that. I drive through traffic, letting the sounds of a bustling New York and Charlie's heavy panting fill the car.

I arrive at the office, with Charlie in toe. I receive a few looks from the security, which I readily ignore. They don't bother to check my team or me for weapons and such for reasons that Leo has not disclosed to me. It's probably due to a hefty check or a threat I wouldn't put either past him.

I keep Charlie tight on his leash as we get onto the elevator. His tail wags with the anticipation of the door opening. And as soon as the door opens, I let him go. I hear the screams of Damien a few seconds later, and I let out a low laugh.

It looks like Charlie found Damien.

Damien is Charlie's favorite around the office, and the love is not at all mutual.

I walk into the office that is filled with vigor compared to what it was three years ago. Three years ago, I only had ten agents, and now it's thirty. Thirty, somewhat trained and competent people ready to kill for large amounts of money.

"Alessio!" He shouts, which I ignore. "Alessio! Please, for the love of God, get him away from me." I turn the corner and see Damian standing on top of his desk with Charlie wagging his tail in front of him.

"Damien," I sigh. "Please for the love of God. Get down from your desk."

"I will unless you get that damn demon away from me. Why would Alice let you take him here."

"Charlie," I merely say. Charlie leaves from Damien's side and comes straight to me. "Damien, you are a trained assassin. Why in the hell does this dog scare you so much?"

"Because he's fucking huge."

"Oh my God. Charlie," Odella squeals. One moment he here next to me, and then Charlie is by her side. She gets to her knees and accepts all the kisses and love Damien didn't seem to want.

"Odella, how are you not afraid of him? He's huge! He could bite you."

"Charlie would never bite me? Will, you Charlie?" She says in between kisses. "You wanna stay in my office, boy? Do you? Do you? Alessio, can he stay with me today?"

"Sure, thing. I have to make some calls and send some people out for Tara anyways."

"Oh, um. Did you get my text?"

I open my phone to Odella and I messages. I click my tongue as I read it.

Leo is here

"No, I did not. Is he still here?"

She merely nods her head, and I head for my office. Leo sits on my couch with a small child on his lap, staring at a small screen. The child on his lap is like a mirror image of himself. The difference is his hair is a tad lighter and he doesn't have the intimidating demeanor that Leo possesses.

He's a bit too young and unaware of his surroundings to be Dante and is too young to be the newborn that is on Alice's phone. I know this is Leo's second child. His other two must be in Italy with their mother. "Oh, look, Dino. Daddy's friend has finally arrived." The small child merely looks up at me and goes back to the phone in his hands.

"I'm sorry. I got tied up this morning." I take a seat behind my desk filled with paperwork.

"Is being tied up a code for Alice?" My lips turn flat. "You know, friend. I never fathomed the possibility that you two would ever meet or end up together. It's strange wouldn't you say. My childhood friend, and you together. Tell me? Is Jace and Brooklyn invited to the wedding if you ever decide to pop the question?" My eyebrow twitches from their names. "Probably not. Alice hates Jace, and the feeling is mutual. And she doesn't quite know Brooklyn enough to just invite her."

"Did you come here to just berate me with a sick fantasy that you came up with?"

He ignores my statement. "Tell me, Alessio, does Alice still not know who you are? What you do for a living? Or does she seriously think this is a paper company? Because she doesn't know about my family. Her grandfather saw to that."

I bite my tongue. Alice knows nothing of me and who I really am. I told her bits and pieces of my life. She knows I'm from Italy, and I grew up with nothing on the streets begging and stealing for a warm meal until I was fourteen. In the fantasy I told her, I became a waiter, put myself through school, and ended up in America through smart business choices. But, the reality is quite different.

I did beg and steal until I was fourteen. And instead of a waiter job, I began to kill people. First, it started with ruffing drinks for nearby mercenaries to kidnapping people. Until I turned seventeen, I killed my first person.

Then, Jackson came. And then I met The Boss and then her.

But Alice doesn't know any of that part of my life. And I intend to keep it that way. Not many women like Alice would love a man like me. She's too kind, too smart, too caring to be with a man that kills or now commands them to.

"Leo," I grumble. "Why are you here?"

He chuckles. "I came to check on you and to see Alice, of course." To see Alice? "Oh, don't look at me like that. I was there when she got her first period. My relationship with her does not go hand in hand with yours. Plus, she wants to see Dino." He picks up his son and kisses both his cheeks. "Marzia and I make the cutest kids. I can't wait until we have another one."

"Didn't she just give birth?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Your point? She enjoys being pregnant, and I enjoy getting her pregnant even more. We want a big family-six kids, to be more exact. And I think after three boys, it's time for us to have that little girl."

"I hear girls change who you are. Maybe you'll become a bit more compassionate," I say looking down at Dino.

"Maybe," he smiles. "Are you two gonna tie the knot soon or will you forever have my lovely friend be your girlfriend?"

My lips turn flat, to which Leo only smirks. He knows exactly how my track record is with marriage. His sister-in-law saw to that.

The thought of marriage makes my stomach curl. I wanted to get married once, two times to be exact, and both led to me being utterly alone. I was left at the altar for another man and I can attest that it's one of the worst feelings in the world.

But Alice would never do that.

If I propose, I know she would say yes, and we would be happy. But, I just can't go into a jewelry store without having an image of Brooklyn shoot into my mind.

The image of her running away from me-telling me she was in love with another man. I straighten my back. It's funny, even when I'm in a happy relationship with a woman I'm completely and madly in love with.

She always haunts me.

I gave her so much, sacrificed so much and I- I wasn't enough. She took pity on me, she didn't want to be with me.

I do want to marry Alice. I want to make that commitment to a forever with her more than anything in this world. But I can't...it makes me ill to even try.

"Papa, I have to go to the bathroom," Dino says.

"Sure son, let's get you to the bathroom."

Leo picks up Dino and leads him to the bathroom, leaving me in my thoughts. I stare at the picture of Alice on my desk. She's wearing the yellow dress I first saw her in, what seems like just yesterday. Her smile takes up the entirety of her face. Half her hair is up in a small ponytail, while the rest come down to her neck. She's walking along a beach with her hand extended out to me guiding me to join her.

She loves the beach, it's her sanctuary-where she feels at peace we found out.

She wanted me to go to the beach with her, to bask in the sand in warmth, and to see if she could even after her trauma of being stuck on an island.

It was an idea that I met with apprehension. But she seemed at peace there, there was no panic attack or anything for me to ward her away from there. She listened to the oceans, with Charlie racing around us with his golden mane. They swam, and she showed me how to crack a coconut up with only a rock.

But, that night, when she thought I was asleep, she sat on the balcony with her legs close to her chest and cried. She cried as she looked at the ocean and fell asleep in such a guarded way that reminded me of myself when I was a child. And when I knew she was asleep, I merely picked her up and pulled her close, kissing the bridge of her nose.

Alice, I wish I was there for you earlier. I would have protected you. I would have never put you through the torture that Joseph did. When you told me of the horrors of how you were cast aside. It took me everything in my power to not find his address and business and blow everything to smithereens.

But, the look in her eyes told me everything.

After everything, she still didn't wish him an ounce of harm, no matter how much he hurt her.

And that's why I love her.

Because we cannot hurt the people who hurt us.

I begin my first batch of paperwork. I ignore the ruckus outside between Leo and Dino running through the halls with Charlie behind them. I ignore Damien jumping onto tables and screaming every ten minutes or flirting with Odette who uses Charlie to keep him at bay.

My door swings open. "Leo, I'm almost done-" But I immediately stop talking when I see Alice close the door behind her. There she stands. She goes to my window and begins to close each curtain one by one. She locks the door, and I take a look at her clothes, and I know.

She's wearing nothing but a trenchcoat, and I know what lies under it. She's done this before, and I enjoyed the mid-day delight she would call it. "I missed you," She says at a hush. I try to stand, but she pushes me back onto my chair. She takes off her trenchcoat, and I'm surprised by a new lingerie number.

Her breast, she claims are too small, are pressed up, which makes me gulp with the sight of them. I hold her curvy hips and welcome her weight onto my lap. "You couldn't wait until tonight?"

She leaves a trail of kisses on my neck. "No."

She leaves my lips and stares down at me. Her breathing is uneven, and I know she feels me that's begging to come out of my slacks. "You are truly insatiable, Alice."

Hey everyone! So, this is a Dual-POV story. Hopefully, you guys are enjoying the fluff before I, of course, ruin everything and make you guys cry.

I love Alessio and Alice's relationship so much, and I'm happy that I caved and am finally writing it.

But I would love to know. What you think of everyone? Who is your favorite character so far?

Me...well, Leo has been growing on me as of late, but Damien is truly an icon.

MAKE SURE YOU GUYS VOTE AND COMMENT AND SHARE! IT REALLY HELPS ME OUT!

I hope you all have a super, amazing day, night, evening, and afternoon.

Bye~