It seemed to Angela, like Adrianno had split personalities. One day, he would be cool, he would be angry but calm and that was scary and yet another day he could be gentle, and seem like he cared, even just the smallest bit. It was confusing.

After that night last week when they had ordered take out and sat eating in the living room, Adrianno had been very closed up. He would rarely be there, come home late with different women, and not even eat the food she had made and left there for him. It was just like when she had first come here and although at the start, she was glad he wasn't around much, she didn't feel the same anymore.

Her thoughts went back to that night, they had talked, laughed, and shared a bit more about themselves. Well, she had shared a bit more about herself. Adrianno didn't say much about his mystery of a life. Her curiosity had grown stronger as the days went on. Where the hell would he disappear to all day and at weird times at night? Was he a business man? Sure, he did dress the part but she didn't think so. Maybe, she thought, he could be a lawyer? Maybe he worked in stocks? She snorted at the thought but she was still left wondering a hell of a lot about this man.

Just then, Angela heard the key in the lock and the door opening behind her. She turned her head slightly to look around her shoulder at Adrianno, who was dressed perfectly in a dark suit, overcoat and gloves and a scarf. He glanced at her and then went about doing something else. This was the earliest he had been home the past few days.

"Hi." She called quietly as he strode past her towards the kitchen. Adrianno's mind was somewhere else, somewhere where he wasn't supposed to be thinking about her. He threw his jacket over one of the stools at the breakfast bar and gripped the edge of the counter. He huffed out a breath and stared out the window at the falling snow.

Angela moved her head forward, to look into the kitchen that was to her left. He had his back to her as he inhaled and exhaled loudly. She was curious, maybe he was stressed? She walked quietly into the kitchen to get a drink and eyed him subtly to investigate further.

"Your dinner is in the oven." She said, grabbing the water from the fridge and walking around him to the cabinet. He still didn't budge.

"Are you okay?" she asked again, she knew she was pestering but she just wanted to know now. Angela looked at him before opening the cupboard door and reaching up to get a glass. She got upon her tiptoes to get one but could not reach. Damn my shortness and these high shelves, she thought to herself. Adrianno had still managed to stay in the same spot, he hadn't even turned his head to look at her but he knew she was having trouble reaching whatever it was that was in that press over there. In the corner of his eye, he could just see her beginning to climb up onto the countertop to grab a glass and that was when he was done ignoring her.

"Do you want to fall like you did last time?" he asked in annoyance. He turned to find her kneeling on the marble counters, her arm extended. She froze and turned to look at him. He could've laughed at her if it weren't for his terrible mood. He just strode quickly over and snatched a glass down, placing it loudly down on the bright marble beside her. She had turned over and was sitting now, her legs swinging off of the counter.

"So you can talk now?" Angela asked, rather bravely if you asked her. She watched carefully, still only sneaking glances at him. He was standing almost in front of her now and she was nearly at eye level with him. Her eyes trailed over his appearance, drinking everything in again. This happened a lot lately, every time she would see him actually. He turned to face her completely and bent over, putting his arm out quickly to close the cupboard door a few inches from her face.

She instantly flinched and covered her face with her hands, feeling like she was curling up into a ball to protect herself. It was then, when she removed her hands from her face and opened her eyes to meet a concerned looking Adrianno, that she knew she had messed up. She just couldn't help being ready to defend herself. Well, she hadn't been very good at defending herself with him, she just knew when to duck, when to try to avoid his fists coming into contact with her face.

Adrianno was speechless. Yes, he did want many people to be afraid of him, but not her. He had done a lot of very bad things, that were unmistakably immoral too, but he would never hit a woman. At first, he felt angered by her defensiveness.

"What did you think I was going to do?" his voice was loud but sounded strangled slightly as it came up his throat. She detected annoyance and jumped down quickly from the counter to run off. She was more frightened now, her shakiness was only getting worse as the seconds ticked by.

"Wait, please." He grabbed her wrist loosely, but it was enough to make her stop walking and turned around. He noticed the tears forming in her eyes and she cursed herself for being so soft. He wanted to make it better, whatever the hell happened in the kitchen, he certainly wanted to find out.

"Mhm?" she squeaked out, trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout." He said gently, still holding her wrist, feeling her soft pale skin.

"No, it's fine, it was my fault." She found herself saying, it was a line she used a lot with her ex-boyfriend at the time when they used to go out except Adrianno's response was not like his at all.

"Your fault? I shouldn't have ignored you, I shouldn't have gotten mad. I shouldn't have raised my voice. I apologize." He took her tiny hand in both of his and raised it closer to him. Her eyes widened slightly and he stopped. What was he doing anyway? He released her hand quickly, like her touch burned him and stood to look at her. She just nodded slowly and left him not knowing what to do again. He took a step towards her only for her to take one back. Although he apologized, she was still weary.

"Don't be afraid of me, please. Everyone else is." Adrianno spoke gently, she could sense slight pain in his voice and he gulped loudly. Silence filled the room again but she nodded her head and looked up into his dark eyes. She gave him a weak smile which he mirrored.

Angela thought Adrianno looked like he needed a hug, and stopped fighting the urge too when she wrapped her arms gently around him. It was awkward for the two because of the height difference but he accepted it and smiled to himself when she squeezed him tighter before letting him go. Adrianno wasn't usually a fan of hugs, until now.

"Let's go out to eat, Mike can come along too." He said persuasively.

"But your dinner-"

"As much as I love your food Angela, tonight we're going out."

"You like my food?" she asked him, the delight evident in her tone.

"Of course."

"But why haven't you been eating it then?" she frowned, talking more to herself than Adrianno.

"I'm sorry for being such a dick lately, I've been- preoccupied." She didn't speak, only smiled at him and went to grab her coat to go. Angela didn't own many clothes, the ones she had were old and worn, including the thin summer coat she was putting her arms through now. She felt self-conscious under his stare.

"It's pretty cold out there, would you like to borrow a coat?" he asked her thoughtfully.

"Um, yes please." She said shyly, he motioned for her to follow him as he made his way to his bedroom. It was sparkling clean just like the last time she had been in here, except she hadn't noticed the door to the left of the ensuite which she soon found out was a large closet.

Adrianno picked out a dark The North Face jacket and handed it to her. It was heavier than she expected. She held it out in front of her, sizing it up. Of course, she knew it would be way too big on her from the start, it was Adrianno's jacket after all.

"It's the smallest I have." He said, trying to stop the grin from forming at the look on her face.

"It's fine, thank you." She smiled and put it on. Her arms had disappeared into the sleeves, the heavy and thick fabric weighed her down. It felt like Adrianno had put weights in the pockets, she thought. Once she squirmed her arms through the sleeves and found her hands, she zipped up the coat, the bottom of it hitting off of her knees. Angela looked down at herself and her head quickly shot back up at the sound of Adrianno's chuckling. She liked it when he laughed. She looked in a mirror nearby and began to join in. The coat looked like it had swallowed her up but it was warm and comfortable on her.

"I look ridiculous." She said between laughs.

"I know." He chuckled and sighed. "Let's go." He had calmed down and held his elbow up for her to loop her arm in his. Once they were linked, they locked up and left the apartment. It wasn't until they were standing close beside each other, that Adrianno had time to think about what he was doing. He looked at her but she was in a world of her own, humming a familiar classical piano tune to herself. Her hair was falling down her back, her lips in a natural slight pout; he noticed how pink they were against her pale and delicate skin.

Just then, she turned her head and caught him looking at her. Her big eyes blinked up at him, her long lashes fanned out and curled at the end. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he refrained from doing anything like it. He had to peel his eyes away from her and put them back on his phone to check his message from Mike. Adrianno hoped he would join them, he felt some tension between both him and Angela and Mike would be perfect to break it.

The drive was short and quiet. Adrianno had decided to go to some diner a few minutes away from them. He wasn't in the mood for somewhere more formal.

"Over here!" Mike called from the other side of the restaurant and waved his arms vigorously at the pair. As soon as Mike caught sight of Angela, he burst into knee-slapping laughter. She shrugged off her coat and sat opposite him in the booth, moving over when to make room when Adrianno sat beside her. "You look like a turtle hiding in his shell, Shortcake." He joked and Angela giggled.

During dinner, Mike told them all about his day and the three chatted for a while. Angela couldn't help but notice how cheerful he was. He talked a lot tonight, his smile reached his eyes, and he even joked. She didn't know the man, but she knew enough to be surprised by his unusual behaviour.

But just as she thought it was nice to see him like this, his phone rang and as soon as he looked at the screen, his expression darkened.

"I have to take this." He said, almost gritting his teeth in anger. Both Mike and Angela didn't speak until they heard the door of the diner shutting behind him as he went outside to speak on the phone. She wondered what was wrong.

"He's very stressed at the moment." Mike said, as if reading her mind.

"Oh." was all she could say, disappointed that Adrianno's mood had changed yet again.

"With work and stuff." He added.

"What does he work as? Do you two work together?" she perked up, wanting to find out answers. She was genuinely interested in where he went all day.

"Er... Yes, it's kind of like a family business." Mike rushed his words, fixing his tie. He ate another forkful of his food, avoiding her eyes for a moment. He seemed like he didn't want to elaborate so she stirred the subject towards something else that she wanted to know more about.

"So you two are brothers, have you any more siblings in the family?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink. Mike's expression was grim; he pursed his lips and looked down at the table for a moment before faking a small smile.

"Adrianno's my brother, he always will be, no matter what." Mike said, and meant it, completely. "But we aren't blood related, in case you haven't well- noticed, we both look completely different." He laughed and gave her a sad smile. Although she had guessed they weren't probably related, she still didn't know how. "I lived on the streets since I was little, I don't remember the woman that had me. I was wandering around on the streets one night alone when our father found me and brought me home. I was five when the Moretti family accepted me as their own. If it wasn't for my father, I don't know where I would be now." Mike gulped and Angela reached out and put her hand over his on the table, trying to smile. She thought it was a sad story to tell at the straight but she was glad everything worked out in the end for Mike.

"Thank you for sharing, I know it may have been hard to do. I'm sorry for asking too many questions." She apologized.

"It's fine Shortcake, don't worry about it. You can ask away."

"So it's just you and Adrianno? No more brothers or sisters?" she asked.

"Well, we have a big family. Most people wouldn't be as close to their extended family as we are but we would almost regard our cousins as brothers and sisters." Mike hesitated. "It's just Adrianno and I now." He muttered under his breath. She couldn't help but pick out an important word in the sentence: Now. She wondered what he had meant by that but didn't ask anything else.

"We have to go." Adrianno's voice boomed, making Angela jump slightly. She hadn't noticed him walking back into the diner, he was standing in front of the table now. His eyes zeroed in on their hands and he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy but shook it off, he had other things to worry about at the moment. Angela noticed this and how he had furrowed his brows; she released her hand from Mike's and got the jacket she had worn there. This time when she put it on, Adrianno didn't laugh, he didn't even look at her.

Mike's eyes went between the pair and his smile had dropped. His older brother could be so rude sometimes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, standing up now and rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Adamo, that's what's fucking happened." He said bluntly, speaking in a hushed tone so no one around could hear him but Angela had still picked up what he said. She noticed how Mike had paled slightly at the mention of this man Adamo. They rushed out of the diner, but not before paying the bill first and then said quick goodbyes.

Adrianno drove quickly down the roads, turning the corners sharply, jolting Angela in the car. Once they were at his apartment, he hurried up to the top floor with her and slammed the door shut, letting out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked angry, and frustrated, but she didn't know how to help.

"Is everything okay Adrianno?" she placed a hand gently on his arm but he didn't look at her, he still had his eyes closed.

"Everything's fine Angela, I just need you to promise to just-just stay here okay? I'll be home in a couple of hours, you should get some sleep." He had tried his best not to take his anger out on her this time but he needed to go, quickly. He couldn't have Adamo pulling another stunt on him again, he turned up at the club where they usually had meetings, demanding to speak to Adrianno right now. This had happened before, he was probably drunk again, but this time he had mentioned Angela. Although Adamo had only saw her once, he remembered her.

"Okay." She said quietly but she was worried, what the hell was going on? He sensed her concern and spoke to her again.

"Listen Angela," he took her face gently in his, going down to her eye level and looking straight into her beautiful doe-eyes. "Don't worry about anything at all, just go to bed now and I'll be here in the morning." His eyes were almost hypnotic, it felt like he was searching through her soul. She just nodded weakly and then he let her go, striding quickly to the door and closing it on his way out.

Adrianno was right, she did need the sleep but that was something she wouldn't be getting tonight, she knew she worried thoughts would keep her awake until at least the early hours of the morning.

*****

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A. Summers xo