Arya's POV -

The morning consisted of my normal routine. As I got ready and then started eating breakfast, Rome had my lunch waiting on the counter.

James and Elijah were both here too conversing in their Italian language so as usual, I had no idea what they were saying.

But I've gotten used to it by now.

Elijah has recovered quite well and is back to boxing with Rome. Apparently James took Rome's place before but now It's Rome again.

I'm not sure why he wants to fight when he was just recently shot.

"Are you guys going to Italy, too?" I suddenly ask James and Elijah after gulping down the rest of my juice.

"Hell yeah we are, princess." James winks and I beam.

"Are you staying with us?"

"No," Rome gruffs out, "Possono stare da qualche altra parte."

(They can stay somewhere else.)

"What? You don't want to be roommates, capo?" James questions and Rome glares at him.

I watch as Elijah comes over to the stools and sits in the one next to me. Normally he'd sit as far away as possible but this change makes me smile at him.

His eyes trail over to me and then his eyebrow raises, most likely wondering why I'm just staring at him.

"You sat next to me." I say excitedly but he just looks unamused.

"How's the wound?" I try and he sighs before straightening his shoulders.

"It's fine, healed enough."

"You didn't give it much time to heal." I counter and he grunts but doesn't say anything more.

A thought pops into mind about the Russians suddenly.

"Are the Russians still a threat?" I ask, looking towards Rome and his eyes soften down at me.

"Not necessarily. With Ivan gone the Russians will eventually fall. Yes they're currently still around but their numbers will weaken as time goes on."

Nodding, I nibble on my lip before I ask another question.

"Will there be another leader?"

"Only time will tell." James cuts in before Rome can answer.

"Ivan had been in charge for years," Elijah says, flickering his grey eyes to me briefly. "It'd be difficult to find someone new which is most likely why it won't happen."

"But since you were the one who killed him," I say to Rome, "Wouldn't that put a bigger target on your back?"

He walks over to me and presses a kiss to my head, I close my eyes when he pulls me into his chest.

"It does put a target on me, but we have enough protection. The Russians have already become weaker as it is, they wouldn't make any risks in loosing more of their men by trying an attack."

"Our men are already hunting down the rest of those pathetic bastardi's anyways." James shrugs.

(Bastards.)

Sighing, I'm about to get up to grab my backpack but Rome cups my face, tilting it up to look at him.

"Don't worry, okay? They will never hurt you again, comprendere?"

(Understand?)

When I don't answer he taps his finger on my cheek. "Understand, baby?"

"Yes, I understand." I say back and he nods, pressing a kiss to my forehead before releasing me.

James and Elijah watch in silence as I grab my bag and place the lunch Rome made me inside.

Rome takes my hand and grabs his keys from the table, leading me out the door.

"Arya!"

I turn at the sound of Izzy and see her with a wide smile, jogging a bit over to me through the school halls.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." She says breathlessly once she reaches me and I give her a tight lipped smile.

"Yeah It's been a bit, hasn't it? How are you feeling?" I ask and she shrugs.

"Better now, there's still some aches but I should be back to normal soon."

I simply nod and then her eyes take on a questioning look.

"You said you had something to tell me in person? What was it?"

Freezing, I look at the time on my phone and shake my head,

"We're going to need more then 5 minutes to talk. How about at lunch?"

"Sure." She says back but then she turns a bit nervous.

"How's- um Elijah? Is he recovering well?"

Luckily he is.

"Yeah."

The bell rings before anything else between us can be said.

"See you at lunch then?" She asks and I give her a smile. She waves and walks off while I'm still left uneasy about the conversation to come.

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Currently I'm in film and I have 5 minutes left before the bell rings for lunch.

5 minutes to prepare what to say.

I have no idea what to say.

'I need space.'

'Do you realize the extent of what you did?'

'You could have gotten so many people killed including yourself!'

Sighing, I chew on my bottom lip as I flick my eyes over to the clock, watching the seconds tick by painfully slow.

I try to pay attention to the strange movie we're watching but It's hard. I haven't been watching it at all.

Picking my phone out of my pocket I shoot Rome a quick text,

Me: About to have the talk with Izzy...

Rome ;) It'll be okay, just tell her how you feel.

Me: Wish me luck.

As if on cue the bell rings and the students around start packing their things. I do so as well before throwing my bag over my shoulder and taking my time to walk out of the theater.

The lunchroom is a little bit of a walk away from the theater so I'm not surprised to see Izzy sitting there already.

I'm about to walk in her direction but a soft tug on my arm stops me. I turn and see Cassidy standing in front of me.

"Oh, hey Cassidy. What do you need?"

"Hey, I just have something to ask and then I'll be on my way."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Did we have any homework in math yesterday?" She asks with a painful expression on her face, probably praying there wasn't.

I chuckle, "Only if you didn't finish those 20 questions we got assigned, otherwise no."

She blows out a breath of relief and runs a hand through her hair, "Thank goodness."

"At least we don't have math today." I smile and she nods.

"Well thanks, I'm glad one of us pays attention in school. Anyways we should hang out sometime this week."

"Sure, how about the weekend?"

"That works, what day?"

"I have to go visit my parents some time over the weekend, so I'll text you."

"You don't live with your parents?" Her eyes widen and I shake my head.

"Who do you live with?"

"My boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" Disbelief is in her tone and I can't help but laugh.

"Yeah I do."

"You don't look like the type to have a boyfriend. You always seem so quiet."

Cassidy would freak if she found out that my boyfriend was actually an Italian don.

"Arya, hurry up!" I hear Izzy call from behind me.

"Sorry my friend's waiting, I'll text you!" I promise and she gives me a thumbs up before turning and walking in a different direction.

Sitting down at the lunch table, Izzy looks at me.

"Who was that?"

"She's in my math class, she was asking about the homework."

"Oh."

Izzy must have been fine with the silence because neither of us had said much after that.

Taking a deep breath I glanced over at her before speaking.

"So about what I wanted to say earlier,"

"Right, what is it? Good news I hope?" She turns to me and I swallow thickly.

I'm not sure if this is the best conversation to have in school but we're already here.

"Izzy remember about all that stuff with Ivan?"

Her body tenses up at the mention of his name and she places down the sandwich she was about to take a bite into.

"Yeah what about him?"

"It's just that-" I cut myself off and tried to figure out how to word this. I didn't want to sound mean or rude, but this is just what I've been thinking for a little while now.

"Izzy just by that call to Ivan you put so many people in danger..." I started softly and she shrunk in her seat.

"I know I did, but you know Ivan threatened-"

"Yes but you also knew about Rome being in the mafia. He could have easily protected you if you told him, or even me and I could have told him. But you continued to tell Ivan about our whereabouts. Why?"

We stared at each other in silence for several long pauses and I could see the conflict in her eyes.

"I was just so scared, Arya. I didn't know what to do. I knew Ivan was definitely capable of doing whatever he wanted and taking action in those threats he made. I know I should have told you guys but I just...couldn't."

"And for that reason you could have gotten any of us killed. Yourself as well." I gestured towards her chest and she brought a palm up to rub it, trying to soothe the pain still present.

"There were so many innocent people in that restaurant too, did you think about that?"

Silence was followed.

Sighing I gripped the edge of the table, "Izzy, Elijah was in critical condition for days. The doctor said his condition got worse and he flatlined once."

She gasps at my words, eyes wide. "B-But he's fine now, right?"

"That's not the point!" I raise my voice and she cowers back. I feel a little bad but my angry emotions are getting the best of me.

"What if he wasn't fine? What if he died? What if you died? What if Ivan kidnapped me again? What if Rome never showed up? What would happen then? What do you think Ivan would do to you if his plan worked? Do you really think he would just let you go after everything?"

She looked at loss for words, opening and closing her mouth but nothing would come out.

"Do you even feel guilty?" I whisper and her once wide eyes narrow.

"Of course I feel guilty! I never meant for any of this to happen! I didn't want anyone hurt."

"I think I just need some space for right now."

"What?" Her voice cracks and I close my eyes.

"You had told Ivan our whereabouts for who knows how long, and...I just." My next words were seriously going to hurt us both.

"I don't trust you anymore."

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Our conversation haunted me for the rest of the day and I tried not to tear up during the remainder of my classes.

Rome texted me how the talk went but I didn't answer. I don't think I could without starting to bawl my eyes out.

After I told her I didn't trust her, I gathered my things and walked away without another word. The painful expression on her face made me almost stop in my tracks and go back but I knew I had to be strong.

Izzy has made a lot of mistakes in the past month and I had no idea what to do besides give myself time to think.

Approaching Rome's car after school, I'm guessing he could sense my dull mood because he opened my door for me without speaking before going to his side.

Nothing was said to each other on the way back home and I tried to keep my emotions at bay until I was alone.

I didn't want to seem like a cry baby in front of Rome. I've cried enough times while he was in the same room.

Getting out of the car once he parked, I could sense his eyes on me as I walked to the door with him trailing behind me.

Walking inside when he unlocked it, I walked straight to the stairs and to my room.

Closing and locking the door quietly, that's when I let out the tears.

Pushing my head into the pillow to try and ease the noises of my crying without suffocating myself, the tears ran freely as I clenched the pillow tightly in my hands.

Sobs escaped me and they were loud despite my face being muffled, but I knew someone heard because there was a light knock at my door.

I guessed it was Rome since he was the only one who saw how upset I was.

Lifting my head from the pillow, I trailed my eyes over the tear marks before glancing at the door.

"Is that you Rome?" I sniffled and there was silence on the other end.

"It's not Rome." A gruff voice responded that sent me into slight shock.

It sounded like...

"Elijah?"

Weakly getting up with my legs wobbling a bit, I opened the door and peered up at the tall man in front of me.

Elijah looked down at me with an unreadable expression on his face. His brown hair slightly covered his eyes so I couldn't pinpoint what he was feeling. I usually wouldn't be able to anyways.

"Why are you crying?" He asked and that's all it took for more tears to fall freely.

His expression went from blank to slightly uneasy, probably not knowing what to do with an emotional girl like me.

He didn't say anything as I wiped at my cheeks with my hands, trying to get rid of the tears.

I watched with confusion as he turned towards the direction of the bathroom and walked inside.

5 seconds later he came back out with multiple tissues in his hand.

Handing them over to me, I whispered a quiet 'thank you' and wiped at my nose and cheeks.

Once my face was somewhat clean, I realized he was still waiting for me to answer his question.

"O-Oh, I talked with Izzy about the...the whole Ivan situation."

His expression didn't change so I continued.

"I told her that I needed space. I just, I don't trust her that much anymore but-but It's so hard because she's my best friend."

His brows raised a bit which most likely meant he was thinking over my words.

He put one of his hands in his pocket as he shifted his stance.

"I don't know this girl but based on how much she's hurt you I think space is the best option."

Raising my eyes up to meet his again, I sniffled and wiped my nose once more.

Nodding, I cleared my throat. "I think so too."

"How did you know I was crying?" I questioned.

"I was about to go downstairs and I heard you."

I knew that pillow didn't do much to help.

Taking a deep breath I walked back into my room and threw out the tissues in the trash can.

"Thank you, Elijah." Standing back in front of him I gave him a little smile.

He must have heard the slight waver in my voice because he removed his hand from his pocket and ran a hand through his hair. His next actions shocked me.

Taking a step closer, his arms slowly wrapped around me, pulling me into a hug.

His small action would be enough to send me bursting into hysterics again but I kept my crying at bay.

My mouth parted as my own arms went to hug him back. Elijah always seemed to want to stay far away from me so this gesture had a large grin appearing on my face.

After the small hug he pulled away. His body was slightly tense as he spoke.

"I'll go get Rome." Turning on his heel he took quick strides away from me while I was still left in awe.

"Well I didn't think that was possible." James snorted and I let out a small scream.

"James!" I clutched my chest, wildly looking at the man leaning against the wall casually. "How long have you been there?"

"Oh I just got here and saw a brief second of you two hugging. Sembra che si stia finalmente riscaldando."

(Looks like he's finally warming up.)

Taking more deep breaths I straightened up.

"He's never attempted to...to."

"Show that he truly cares?" James finishes my sentence and I nod. Sure there's been small little moments but nothing like this.

"Elijah has always had a difficult time with that." James tells me and I look back to him.

"Trust me, he sees you like a little sister he wants to protect. Just like I do." He gives me a warm smile, his blue eyes bright and I feel heat painting my cheeks. Not because I have a crush on either of them. But because they're like the older siblings I've never had before.