Chapter Twelve

بالأرض ولدتك أمك بالتأني تُدْرَكُ الفُرَصُ

With care do you realise your opportunities

Rose

Sighing, I take a look at my back through the mirror before slowly taking off the large cotton pad—realising that the scar won't fade. As I take a closer look, I somehow start to see myself as a warrior. For once in my life, I don't end up hating on scars that appear on my body.

''You're going to stay there for a long time,'' I mutter under my breath, throwing the cotton pad in the dustbin and fixing my messy dirty blonde hair; wanting to make them look like they're well taken care of.

I step out of the bathroom to only come face to face with Elia; as he stands there, crossing his arms before eyeing my face—making me close the door slowly, ''That wasn't nice, you got me all hyped up.'' He says, shrugging.

Light chuckles escape my lips, ''You should learn to control your emotions better,'' I reply, with a smirk plastered on my face.

To my surprise, he takes a few steps closer towards me but I stay still, not wanting to show that I'm quite curious of what he might be thinking in his head, ''I should learn to show them better.'' He answers, his voice low and assuring.

We both just stare into each other's eyes—not really knowing what to do or say next. I don't have the courage to look anywhere else but his eyes; afraid if he might take it the wrong way. Elia doesn't seem to mind much that we're standing very close and there's this some sort of tension between us.

Whenever I'm with him, it makes me feel like a new person. I forget who I used to be. I can't help that even though he might show slight affections, I still feel like he's treating me with care. I'm supposed to not trust men, I'm supposed to not trust anyone but with him, I immediately feel everything.

My breathing hitches as soon as he leans in, almost brushing our noses, ''You should.'' I mutter, making him look into my eyes once more before touching his lips with mine.

He stays still, waiting for me to respond but I'm too busy handling my own emotions. It feels like there's a whole zoo inside me and I can't stop thinking if I might kiss him wrong and the attraction would disappear.

''Am I doing it right?'' He asks, leaning deeper before completely kissing me.

Within seconds, I am slowly wrapping my arms around his neck, kissing him back with the same pace. Our lips move in sync without even a slight care about the world—we just know how much we want each other and if we end up holding ourselves back, we might drift away or the attraction will end up getting strong; making it impossible for either of us to step back.

He pulls my body closer towards his by the waist; tilting his head to the side, making it easier for us to kiss. The kiss is somehow different from the ones we shared previously, this time, we're more demanding yet it doesn't show anything but want. Perhaps need.

I start to feel one of his hand slipping to the back of my body before turning around and pressing my back against the wall. Then, his lips travel down to the side of my neck, sending tingles all over my body; making me pull his body closer for support.

Elia runs his hand down to my thigh, lifting the dress up slightly, making me raise my leg up. In an instant, he pulls my body up before wrapping my legs around his waist—without breaking the kiss.

My heart continues to beat fast but I ignore it by only focusing on our kiss. From a sweet innocent kiss, it starts to turn out sinful and neither of us really care about it anyway. We start to enjoy each other's touch and it seems like we don't intend on stopping unless one of us starts to pull away.

''Wait,'' He breathes out on my neck, pecking my jawline, ''If we go any further, I can't stop.''

I open my eyes, controlling my breaths after realising how I'm breathing hard from the kiss. As my hands are on his shoulders, I try to think straight—thinking of how I should respond or react. Should we stop or should we continue? The same questions keep on repeating in my head.

When he finds me deep in my own thoughts, he starts to lift his head and turn to look at me—our faces close to each other that with one more movement, we might end up kissing again. I know, he's trying to respect me and my choices but I can't seem to define my choice at the moment.

He clenches his jaw, glancing for a few seconds at my lips before looking into my eyes once more. Screw it, I thought to myself as I start to cup onto his face, pressing my lips against his. Without me realising, I feel my back being pressed against the soft mattress and Elia is currently hovering on top of me.

Both of his hands are on the side of my face as he supports his own weight with his elbows; preventing his body from completely falling on top of mine. My hands are currently pulling onto his shirt, trying to get it off without any intention on breaking the kiss but the kiss got interrupted for a few seconds for the shirt to be taken off.

Elia stops, looking straight into my eyes after eyeing my whole face, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand; making me lost in a world of my own. Then, he leans in once more, pecking me on the lips before trailing kisses down my neck. I feel the whole tingling sensation starts to appear; a sensation that I've never felt before with all honesty.

I pull onto the ends of his hair, earning a low groan from him.

Opening my eyes slowly, I start to see the sunlight shining through the glass window, making me cover my face and turn to the other side but only to come face to face with a sleeping Elia. My lips curve up into a small smile; eyeing his whole face as I look down and see that he has his arm wrapped around my waist.

The only material that's covering our body is the comforter and nothing else.

I lean closer towards him, pressing my thumb onto his cheek; making sure that he's in a deep sleep. Slowly, I start to lift his arm away and pick up my dress from the ground before putting it on. Then, I step out of the bedroom, walking straight towards the living room—cupping my own cheeks from heating up.

My face continues to heat up as I keep on remembering what happened yesterday between Elia and I. We both were caught up in lust but for some reason, we wanted that to happen—even though yes, we've known each other for a few weeks, it doesn't feel that short.

For once, I feel what it's like to be loved by someone. Not with emotions but by the way he was treating me. The way he kiss, the way he touch and the way he hold, everything feels like there's more than just lust. Probably it's just my own mind playing with me but I can't stop thinking about it.

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear but my eyes widen as soon as I feel Elia wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my shoulder—making me feel my body goes ice cold immediately. Shit, I thought.

He starts to pull away but only to twirl me around before earning a chuckle from me. I catch a glimpse of his dimple as we're once again in each other's embrace, not really knowing how to start a conversation after everything that has happened last night.

As I press the side of my face on his chest, I feel him playing with the tips of my hair before snuggling me close. Then, I start to pull away, wanting to get rid the redness on my cheeks, ''Are you blushing?'' I hear him ask so I quickly shake my head, turning around.

''No.'' I reply.

''You weren't blushing last night,'' He mutters, making me curse under my breath; wanting to escape this awkwardness between us.

I turn around, facing him. Then, I start to realise that he's shirtless with only his pants hanging low on his waist, earning a smirk from him, ''I don't know if anyone has ever told you,'' He says, leaning in and tucking strands of hair behind my ear, ''But you are a very beautiful woman, tesoro. Honestly, I don't even think that anyone has to tell you, you should know.'' With a peck on the cheek, he walks straight towards the bathroom; closing the door, leaving me standing here by myself.

Right now, we're currently sitting in front of each other while eating lunch. Both of us just keep quiet, not really having anything to say. I manage to catch Elia glancing towards my direction for a few times but I let it slip by only focusing on my meal—not even lifting my head once.

After that little compliment he gave me, we didn't really speak much. Elia was busy handling his weapons and keeping them safe in his backpack then we were off to eat lunch. He also told me that we're flying back to California in a few hours—because he has something to settle as soon as we land. The only reason why we're in Milan is because he wanted to see the man who he had stabbed earlier yesterday.

I immediately drop my glass to the ground as soon as I hear a gunshot near us. Everyone starts to let out screams while other run towards the other side but this is a public area, for god's sake. My eyes widen when I turn around to see someone pointing a gun directly towards my direction—with one pull, that bullet would pass through my brains.

With a yelp, I quickly bow down after getting pulled by Elia. He pulls me out of the way as we continue to run towards the other side; getting as far as possible from the mens with guns. As we reach inside the café, he continues to pull me under we're both behind the counter—taking cover.

''This will never end, I know that.'' I mutter, earning a smirk from Elia as he takes out his gun from his backpack.

Elia aims for one of the men and as soon as he gets his target, he quickly pulls the trigger—hearing the sound of one man falling onto the ground, ''How can the police not be here?'' I ask, looking up at him as he focuses on getting more targets.

There are probably around five men out there from what I saw previously.

''They will be here, in five.'' He replies, shooting but his targets miss so he quickly hide behind the counter once more, ''When I get him, I will fucking kill him, I swear to god.'' He says, taking the empty ammo out.

He grabs onto my hand after placing his backpack on his shoulder as we run quickly towards the back; escaping through the back door. Once we're out of the restaurant, we start running down the road, not even glancing at what's behind because we know that they are following us. They might catch us soon if we don't get out of here.

I stop running as soon as I see Elia stopping right next to a car. I furrow my eyebrows at him, ''What are you doing?'' I ask, seeing him eyeing the car. Then, he elbows the window, breaking it into pieces.

''Get in.'' He says, unlocking the car.

Once we're inside, I see him looking at the ignition, smiling because he sees the keys there—how stupid is the person that left his car here? I thought to myself. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why we lock our cars and take the keys with us because we don't want people like Elia; to break in and start stealing the car.

''So we're stealing someone's car now?'' I raise an eyebrow at him, putting my head down as I see the familiar men.

He looks down at me for a few seconds, ''No, we're just borrowing.'' He says, quickly starting the engine and driving the car towards the other road as he keeps on honking, making sure that people get out of the way, ''Italians,'' He mutters before groaning.

I roll my eyes at the irony.

My eyes widen as soon as I see a truck stopping in front of us, making me hold onto the seat, preparing myself for the impact but Elia turns the steering wheel, making the car slide sideways, hitting his side instead. He groans as his arm hits the door but he quickly open mine, ''Get out, now.'' He says, making me get out of the car in a hurry.

I look at him with worry all over my face, ''Come on.'' I say, trying to pull him out of the car but he groans loudly—from some sort of pain.

My eyes wander around on his body before stopping at his leg, seeing that his leg is stuck and his arm bleeding due to the crash. He tries to get his leg out but as soon as we start to hear gunshots again, we start to panic. Elia turns to look at me, ''Get out of here, Rose.'' He says, earning a confused look from me.

''No, come on. I'm getting you out first.'' I try to pull him but he stops me from doing so.

''Get out of here, now! Go, now!'' He shouts, making me hesitate, ''Rose, please, go!'' He says, this time almost sounding as if he's pleading. I stare at him for a few seconds before running down the other road—avoiding myself from getting shot again.

I keep on running down the road, getting as far as I can. Without a care in the world, I push through the crowd, getting away from them. Then, I realise that I'm standing in the middle of the city before looking around; not knowing where else to go.

Before I can continue on running, I hear the sound of an explosion; making me turn behind with only one person on my mind, Elia.