Chapter Twenty Two: The Day of The Gala Pt. 1

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Armani's POV

I jerked up immediately out of my sleep as if my unconscious body sensed the emptiness of the bed on its own

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I jerked up immediately out of my sleep as if my unconscious body sensed the emptiness of the bed on its own. Slowly, I tried to gather my bearings as I rubbed my eyes and smeared the drool off to the side of my mouth. Once my eyes were able to focus, I noticed that the spot Antonio was laying in before I passed out was empty, and nothing but wrinkled sheets as evidence of him being there.

I frowned and sat up immediately. As if, he sensed I had woken up, he burst through the door with a tray of food. I took in his appearance of low-hanging, heather grey joggers and a short sleeve black compression shirt that adhered to his every muscle. His brown hair was slicked to his forehead with sweat as its glue. Every inch of his skin that was visible glistened in the light provided by the now-open door.

He walked towards me with a smirk and laid the tray in my lap, before planting a soft kiss onto my lips. The handsome fellow slipped his sneakers off before he snuggled up next to me in the bed.

"Good morning, Tesoro," his rich Italian accent invaded the silence of the room.

I could barely alleviate some of my focus to the tray of delicious food before me because I was so focused on him. Considering his body was covered in sweat, he still smelled surprisingly very good. I allowed his cologne to mix with the scent of fresh perspiration to invade my nose.

"Did you sleep well, love?" He spoke softly while smoothing some of my frizzy curls down--I totally forgot to put my bonnet on last night.

"I slept like a log in the river," I joked while taking in the sight of him.

For looking like someone who probably just ran 4 miles, he looked so good. His usually gelled hair turned to slightly wavy bits of hair that were perfectly tousled every which way. I wished he allowed his hair to be gel free more. But, most importantly I stared into his brown embers that held so much passion. It's as if his eyes conveyed the words that were left unsaid. He was beautiful and I wished I could sit in his presence all day. We didn't even have to talk, but to know he was just there with me was enough.

Strangely enough, I've been spending a lot of time with him, considering he's a man with a business career built into the mafia. I'm sure that time was to cease soon. I tend to forget what he does because he makes sure that I don't remember. I, mean who would believe that such a sweet, caring man was in the mafia? I guess stereotypes are harmful and false.

"Alright, stop staring at me. I need you to eat up before they get here" He spoke as he picked up a piece of strawberry jam-covered toast and placed it into my mouth.

I try to put away my worries about the future and just focus on the now--the present, not the future or the past. It was hard for me to do that. I finally turn my attention to the tray in front of me filled with some of the breakfast food I've taken a liking to. The plate had a mouth-watering vegetable omelet that was just waiting for my fork to dive into it, freshly chopped strawberries, and a sliced-up avocado.

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