Chapter 15: Possessive and Gentle

"Come on babe, its time to make my brother go bankrupt!" Alicia burst inside her room early morning. She gasped when she saw Serenity still huddled up in her bed.

"Serenity! Wake up! Its already 7!" Alicia scolded, tearing away the duvet from the sleeping beauty.

"W-What?" Serenity sat up, groggily and rubbed the back of her little fist over her half asleep eyes. She looked around confused to see a beaming Alicia who was staring at her.

"I swear you are the only girl I have ever met that looks adorable waking up." she gushes.

"I-I don't know what you're on about." Serenity yawned sleepily "Its only..." she looked at the nightstand for the tiny alarm clock "...7...Why are you waking me up this early? Did something happen?" she asked.

"Exactly its 7, you should wake up. Now get your cute ass off the bed and go freshen up! We have a lot to do today. Hurry! Go go go."

Serenity yelped when Alicia pulled her out of the bed and push her inside the washroom. She surely did have the strength of an elephant so early in the morning.

"I have put your dress on the counter, wear it." she heard her yell from the other side of the door.

"What are we doing? " Serenity wondered aloud. They have been sitting on the comfortable window settee as Alicia typed away on her iPad .

"Just a second.....and....done! Now lets start." Alicia squealed, scooting closer to Serenity and showing her the screen. Serenity looked at the screen that showed some cute dresses and then back at Alicia, still confused "W-What is this?"

"Shopping duh! I hate the malls, its exhausting! Online shopping is much better. I am sorry if you actually wanted to go to the boutiques and check it out yourself but this is the only option for now. The Vitalis' have limited control in Dublin and I don't think Alessandro will fancy us going out."

"N-No, its alright. I don't mind online shopping. I-Its just that I've never done it before." Serenity looked away, embarrassed.

Alicia's eyes softened "That's fine, there is a first time for everything. Come let me show you how it is done."

"This is too much, Alicia. Its not like I am gonna wear all of them. Lets just stop it here."

"Oh Don't be such a spoil sport. Its not everyday that my dear old fratello hand over his precious platinum card." Alicia rolled her eyes.

"B-But I already feel bad for taking advantage of his kindness." Serenity pouted.

Alicia choked "What the- Kindness? Seriously?!? Alessandro and kindness don't fit in a sentence, sweetheart. That's absurd!"

"Why?" she inquired innocently.

"Because He is a Vitali. The under boss of one of the most notorious crime family in world. Kindness comes with a prize and the prize is hefty in my world. Serenity" Alicia explained like she was talking to a child.

Serenity frowned, "But t-that doesn't make sense."

"Ugh! You are too gullible for your own good!" Alicia groaned, throwing her head back.

"Knock! Knock! May I come in?"

Both the girls turned to the voice "You're already in, Simone!" Alicia grimaced.

"Oops! Thank you." Simone entered, closing the door behind him "I believe we haven't been formally introduced yet. My name is Simone Riccardo Vitali, the hottest Vitali ever to exist. Signorina O'Sullivan" he bend down, bringing Serenity's hand to his lips chivalrously.

Serenity blushed "H-Hi! I am Serenity. Nice to meet you."

"Smetti di flirtare con lei se vuoi la testa sulla spalla." Alicia muttered under her breath

"grazie per le tue informazioni indesiderate. I am honored." Simone equally sassed back.

"What are you guys talking about?" Serenity asked quietly.

"Oh nothing you should worry yourself about, bambino."Simone smiled at her "Have you girls packed by the way?"

Serenity stared at Alicia confused.

"Yeah, all done." Alicia's mood visibly went down 180 degree. She turned to Serenity "We are leaving for Denver this evening. It was a rush decision. I got informed last night and by then you were sound asleep so I had no heart to wake you up. Don't worry, whatever we bought today is addressed to our Denver units. Your wardrobe will be ready by the time we get there."

" Wh-What? We are leaving ! Alicia." Serenity panicked, quickly watching the two in complete confusion "What is going on? Why are we leaving Dublin? Did something happened? What about my family? We can't leave Ireland. I will be all alone there. What will happen to me?"

"Relax, Serenity. Nothing's gonna happen to you. I am already frustrated with all these rush verdicts. It will be better if you get into your head that you belong to Alessandro Vitali now. You go where he goes. No question asked. You should've thought of it before you threw that stupid towel in. Now just bear the consequences."

Serenity gaped, a pang of hurt crossed over her heart. Although there were undeniable reality in Alicia's words but it did hurt that she was seen less of a human and more of a commodity that could be brought and tossed around. She looked away, blinking back the tears.

"Alicia, Apologize! that was uncalled for.'' Simone told her in a stern voice.

Alicia shot up from her seat with a hard look matching Simone's expression "No, I will not! She needs to understand how this world works. She can't keep questioning such things unless she wants to get killed."

"You're making mountains out of mole hills. She only asked a few innocent questions, in fact anyone in her place would do the same. How could she follow everything blindly. She is a human and she needs to know what is happening in her life. You are taking out Ath- her frustrations on her."

"Whatever." Alicia stormed out of the room, banging the door harshly on the way.

Serenity couldn't hold her tears at bay any longer "I-Is she really mad at me? Did I really annoy her too much? S-Should I go and apologize instead? She is my only friend here. What will I do?"

"No, Serenity" Simone sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alicia doesn't like Denver much. She hates the reason why we have to shift there. She will come back to you once she calms down. Trust me."

She sniffled, wiping her tears "M-May I ask why?"

"Actually-"

The door opened suddenly and Alessandro entered. Simone stilled in his place, his face paled. His head quickly shot towards Serenity and her red eyes and took a step back unconsciously. He was officially dead. He cursed under his breath and swore to himself if by any chance Alessandro kills him, he would come back to haunt Alicia's stinky ass.

"Why the fuck was she crying, Simone?" Alessandro said in a dangerously low voice.

Serenity looked unsure between the two. Simone looked like he would flee for his life if he could and Alessandro with maddening rage that could burst out any minute.

Before anyone could react, Alessandro punched him square in the jaw and pinned him up against the wall, chocking his neck. Even if they were almost the same height, Alessandro had indefinite strength that Simone's feet were barely touching the floor.

Serenity let out a small scream, trembling in fear. She shakily rushed to the scene and tried to pry Alessandro's hand off Simone's neck. It only made him angrier and he tightened his hold.

"Please...you will kill him. Please he is turning blue." she cried, tugging at his arm.

"I ask why she was crying, bastard!" Alessandro roared.

"leav- Denver- missing-er- family!" Simone managed croaked out with difficulty.

Alessandro threw him on the ground and kicked him at his stomach. Simone doubled over, wheezing in pain.

"Then the fuck you did not call me that instant! What the fuck were you waiting for? See how pale and tired she looks. This is your fucking fault! Figlio di puttana!."

Alessandro was about to deliver another kick when Serenity quickly jumped in between them.

"No, please. He didn't do anything. Don't hurt him!" she pleaded with teary eyes.

"Cazzo!" Alessandro hissed and turn away angrily. He ran a hand over his tousled hair and exhaled deeply. Serenity flinched when he looked at her sharply and grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to his toned chest.

"Leave" he ordered.

She stared at him, confused. How was she supposed to leave when he had imprisoned her in his hold? But it immediately cleared away when Simone shuffled onto his feet and walked out, closing the door behind him.

" Do you have any idea what you do to me, love?" Alessandro groaned.

He buried his face in the mist of her hair that was laying gently on her shoulder. Her soft soothing scent calmed him down. He could feel her breath hitched and her body go stilled in his embrace. She shuddered when he breathe out on her delicate milky skin.

"N-No?" she replied meekly at his previous question.

So innocent

Alessandro almost smiled. She was indeed a breath of fresh air in his dark world.

"Calm down, love. I can feel your heart hammering... I will never hurt you intentionally. Your tears brought out the worst temper in me. I apologize I shouldn't have lose my control in front of you. I can't promise but I will try to keep you away from that side of me."

He pulled away and looked at her. Serenity fidgeted, biting down on her lips. A flush of crimson rose on her cheeks at his intense stare. She nodded her head.

"I f-forgive you but please don't hurt Simone anymore."

Alessandro clenched his jaws but nevertheless agreed.

***

"What you did was so wrong, Alicia and you know it. Now suck up your ego and go mend your mistakes. Serenity didn't deserve it."

"Antonio is right and thank me stronza. If I had told Alessandro it was you who made her cry, you could have said 'goodbye' to your already black-listed freedom. Ouch! my jaw hurts!" Simone winched as Alicia pressed the ice pack harder on his almost dislocated jaw.

"Why do we have to shift back to Denver? That bitch still has her claws out on my brother. Couldn't she just let go of him. I really hate, detest, abominate, despise, loathe those Springtons. Who the fuck is she to order Alessandro to come back?" Alicia grounded murderously.

Antonio shake his head, "I don't get why you hate Athena Springton that much. Is it because she is the only girl that can counter attack your pitiful pranks?"

"SHUT UP! She cannot-"

"Oh please- Remember the summer, three years back and then the Easter of last year. You couldn't even get under her skin. The only girl you have ever lost to is Springton-"

Alicia hurled a solid ice pack on his face, luckily Antonio dodged it.

"Careful, you might be the biggest prankster here but I own the IT branch. I can dig up your dirty little secrets and expose it to Padre."

"You wouldn't dare!" Alicia yelled, horrified.

"Now I believe we have an understanding, do not get physical with me!" Antonio warned.

"Fine!" she rolled her eyes.

" Don't divert the topic. Where were we?" Simone spoke with a wince.

"I get it, I will apologize soon. I do feel bad for lashing out that way. Poor Serenity." Alicia sighed

Simone and Antonio agreed.

"And be extra careful, do not upset Serenity in front of Alessandro. You can take this as a proof." Simone pointed at his battered face "I thought I saw the Alessandro from 7 years ago. It was terrifying dude."

Alicia stiffened " D-Does that mean his m-monsters are breaking out again?"

Antonio immediately sat up straight "Alicia. Don't speak such things! Of course they aren't. Zia Lavinia said they won't anymore as long as he takes his prescriptions. I will personally see to it. Relax!"

"A-And besides that, Serenity is here. I am sure she can handle him. She must mean a lot more to Alessandro if he is into her this much." Simone tried to reasoned out.

" But Alessandro cares about Athena Springton too but she could never tame him." Alicia argued.

Antonio shook his head, "What they have is different. I heard sometime back that Alessandro and Athena goes way back in the past. Everyone knows they are platonic and have a weird different connection that no body knows about. Yes, the rumor exist that they are secretly together but I don't believe it. I once tried hacking into the Springton's Intel and the information there, is a mess and puzzling. Nothing makes sense and everything was bottled up as though they are hiding one of the deepest secret of man kind."

Alicia scoffed, not hiding her displeasure at the details, "Of course, I tell you that bitch is as shady as hell. She is crazy. I hope she doesn't meet Serenity. Who knows what she would do at the poor innocent girl."

"L.M.A.O sadly you both are enrolled at Connors' Private institute of Education and Athena goes there." Antonio chuckled.

Alicia looked at him, horrified "What the fuck! How could they! This is so not done. I cannot stand 5 seconds looking at that bitch's face. How in the fucking world am I suppose to go there. I am gonna tell Padre to change schools."

"No can do sorella. Did you forget CPIE is under the Connors' protection and is one of the most secured institution in America? We are allies. Padre and Alessandro being a notable alumni in all fields. Surely it will be an insult if you decide to break the tradition. And don't tell me you're actually scared of Ms Springton now." Antonio instigated.

Alicia grounded her words "I am not! Just wait and watch. It was just that I am concerned for Serenity."

Simone chuckled, "Oh you don't have to, Alessandro is doing a far better job."

"Whatever..." she flipped the both of them off and stormed out of the room.

***

Serenity flushed crimson as Alessandro forced her to stand on the height bar after they finish weighing. He stood in front of her as he marked down the scale and it was here she realized how much he towers over her. Her head reached his chest only. She wondered if she eat bamboos for lunch. She pouted, jutting out her bottom lips. She don't like that she looked like a midget in front of him.

They were currently in one of the private gyms in the villa. Serenity was amazed to see all different equipment just for a person to stay fit. Back in the island, the local gym was poorly furnished with a few weights and one treadmill that hasn't worked for ages. She fondly remembered the zumba sessions in the early morning on the large playground of the village. Those were her favorite part of the day.

"161" Alessandro read out loud forcing her back to reality.

"Huh?" she asked, dumbfounded.

He looked down at her with a small smile "You're 161 cm tall, love."

"Oh!" Serenity nodded shyly " I haven't grown up a cm in the last four months." she mumbled quietly to herself.

" 102 pounds and 161 cm. That is not good. You are slightly underweight. We need to add you up a few pounds."

"No." she protested childishly, "I will get fat. I can't-"

Alessandro turned to her with a look that dared her to defy him. Serenity looked down like a kid getting scolded.

" Health comes first, everything later. You will have all your meals with me from now on. Is that clear?"

She mumbled a 'yes' softly.

"Good girl"

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I am so sorry for the late update, I had some technical problem with my laptop so i couldn't give you the chapter yesterday.

How was it?

Good?

Bad?

Or just meh...?

Its almost midnight and I am tired as hell. My exam's over and I seriously mess up my sleeping schedule. I need to get back in my track.

Do VOTE< COMMENT AND SHARE! (for faster updates lol)

Until then,

Adios.

Stella_Cadante