"I really don't know what to do with her Mike? She won't talk to be, she won't touch me, she doesn't want to be around me. I just want to know what the hell is going on in her mind. She's afraid, terrified of something and I don't know what the fuck it is. I need to know, I'm worried about her."

"I'm sure she'll come around some time Adriano." Mike replied, trying to make his brother feel better but it was no good.

"It's been a week Mike." That was correct: it had been a full week since that night in Adriano's restaurant when Angela started freaking out. He continued to try and comfort her that night but she kept pulling away, never saying a word. And sometimes during the week, she would try to pretend she was okay but it was no good. She was too shaken up and Derek hadn't even seen her. To say Adriano was worried about her was an understatement; he needed her to tell him what was wrong. He wanted to make it better, no matter what it was.

"Hey you remember you told me about her ex?" Mike's question made Adriano's head shot up to look directly at him, for he knew his younger brother was holding back right now. He looked uncomfortable; he was fidgeting, avoiding eye contact with Adriano.

"Yeah?"Adriano urged him to go on.

"Well I just thought of something but maybe it's a little silly you know. Never mind, forget I said anything-"

"You have to tell me now, even if what you say isn't true. I need something."

"Well..." Mike had a grim expression on his face and was hesitating. "I think something bad happened to her, maybe with him or someone else- I don't know. We were out getting dinner last week after seeing her friend, I told you she was acting a little weird. And I put my hand up to call a waiter for the bill-"

"Mike spit it out already." Adriano just needed to know what the point of this story was now.

"She flinched; she almost jumped out of her seat when I raised my hand, like I was about to hit her or somethin'." Adriano didn't know what to think about what Mike had just told me. After a couple of seconds he had a spark of a memory, one he had almost forgotten. Adriano remembered the night Angela had been trying to close the cupboard door afterward. He put his hand out quickly, she had been sitting on the counter and she flinched, like he was going to hit her. The exact same thing had happened with Mike and it left Adriano with a feeling of uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.

"What's that mean?" Adriano said, sounding quite unsure. He didn't want to have to say it himself, so got Mike to speak instead.

"It means she probably wasn't treated very nicely before, whether it was her ex or not." Mike trailed off, sounding very concerned. He too felt nervous about the whole thing.

Adriano couldn't stop thinking about it, about, her and how she was feeling at that moment. And without even noticing, he thought his whole way through the day and was soon making his way home again to see her.

Angela was chopping up vegetables, getting the dinner ready for her and Adriano. She didn't hear him opening or closing the door behind him. She didn't even hear him walking up towards her as she stood at the kitchen counter. Adriano walked hesitantly behind her.

"Hey." He said gently causing her to leap up in surprise. She immediately turned, holding the knife out to use as a weapon against whoever it was she thought could be behind her. She heart was racing, she gasped loudly but soon her breathing steadied and the room fell into an uncomfortable tension as Adriano's eyes bore into hers. He didn't know what to say, too shocked to even know what to think for a couple of seconds. His eyes were wide but Angela had tried to play down her actions now.

"You scared me." She said meekly, not able to look him in the eye. She chose to focus her eyes on the shoulder of his suit jacket instead. The knife felt heavy in her hand now and because Adriano had still yet to even move from his spot, she turned around and began chopping again. It was too quiet for Angela so she began humming to herself to try and calm her nerves. These past few days had been tough for her, all she could think about was the terrifying thoughts of Derek and how he had haunted her past. It was hard to pretend everything was okay when her thoughts made her want to ground to just swallow her up.

Adriano moved slowly around the room, trying to figure out how to address what he was thinking. He finally picked a spot behind the breakfast bar, to her left. She could feel his eyes on her but didn't turn away from what she was doing.

"What did he do to you?" Adriano's voice cracked out in a low yet gentle tone. She knew exactly who he was, but how did Adriano know?He couldn't help but talk about this now, he needed her to feel okay again, he needed to help her. She stopped chopping for a moment, still not looking at him but only at the vegetables in front of her. It was in that moment, as soon as the words had left Adriano's mouth, that she knew he knew or had some inkling as to why she was acting strange lately. It was like Adriano had finally figured it all out in the car on the way home and if his suspicions weren't correct, he would need to think of something else but right now he was almost sure that what he and Mike had been talking about must be true.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said tensely, and went back to chopping. Angela had left no room for any more conversation on the topic but Adriano continued.

"Angie, I need you to tell me. Please, I just want to make sure you're okay-"

"No! I told you already I don't know what you mean." Angela said between gritted teeth, tears poking their way through and coming into her vision. She senses him walking closer to her but didn't look up, she just couldn't look at him. She was shocked, didn't know what to say or how to lie her way out of this conversation. How had he figured it out? How did he know about Derek? She didn't know why but she felt angry, furious. He was supposed to be a part of her past and not wander into her present. She wanted the memories and thoughts to just disappear, and they never would now if Adriano knew about everything that happened months ago.

"Please Angela, just tell me. You can tell me anything piccola." He began to put his hands gently on her shoulders but she shrugged him off quickly and turned to walk away but he took her hand gently to try and stop her. She snatched her hand back and turned her head over her shoulder to look at him.

"Just leave me alone." She began walking off now but his booming voice stopped her.

"That's what I have been doing and it's not working! You won't let me touch you, you won't talk to me, you haven't said more than two words to me in a fucking week Angela. All I want to know is what the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted across the living room to her. He was frustrated as hell and needed everything to go back to normal soon.

"There's nothing wrong with me?" she narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance, she knew she was blatantly denying what she knew was the truth: she had been acting strange but she couldn't help it. She woke up every morning thinking it would be different and today would be the say that things would go back to normal but it hadn't yet. "I don't know what you're trying to say Adriano-"

"Don't give me that crap! I know there's something wrong. Do you expect me to believe all of that 'there's nothing wrong' bullshit Angela? What the hell do you take me for?" He stayed in his spot across the room from her, noticing her she grew angrier at his every word. He knew he shouldn't have been shouting, he didn't want to scare her, he wanted to be gentle and caring but his quick temper had gotten the better of him and now it was beginning to look like the start of a shouting match.

"Can't you tell I don't want to talk about it? Christ Adriano!" Angela shouted back but she should've known better. She should've remained calm and talked about this with Adriano. Angela threw her eyes up to the ceiling as tears began to form in them. She turned her back on him and began walking to her room but soon enough she could hear his footsteps.

"Angela-"

"Leave me alone." Her voice cracked as she kept on walking to her room, closing her door tight as soon as she entered. Adriano froze in his spot and let out a short, frustrated sigh. He raked his fingers through his hair, pacing up and down. His mind was full with unanswered questions and regret.

He wished he hadn't just jumped straight into his ideas about Angela's past but he couldn't help it. It was clear and should have been from the start, the topic was something she didn't want to discuss and that left him needing to know more. It had upset her and although he wished it didn't have that effect on her, he was not sorry he had brought it up because he needed to know about her past soon. She couldn't keep going on the way she was, he wanted her to be relaxed again and for things to go back to normal. Sooner or later, Adriano would get answers and he would be able to help Angela.

Angela stayed in her room that night. She heard him leaving a few minutes after their disagreement. He hadn't returned before she went to bed, her thoughts taking over, not helping her sleep in any way. She wished she hadn't have shouted, she wished she had just talked to Adriano. Maybe that would have left her with a different outcome but it didn't matter now.

She finally drifted off to a light sleep in the early hours of the morning but soon after, Adriano had come tumbling in and woke her up. He slammed the door shut and stumbled into the kitchen, not even making it to the sink before he fell on the ground.

Angela heard him groaning in pain once she walked out through the living room to the kitchen. She yawned loudly and then looked down at him, too tired to even have an opinion on his drunken state. He wasn't as drunk as he had been the last time she helped him to bed, he seemed to still have some sense left in him. He laughed a little and opened his eyes once he sensed her kneeling down beside him.

"Angie." He whispered. "Is that you?"

"Let's go Adriano. Time for bed." She said without any emotion at all in her voice. Her goal was the get him to bed as soon as possible but he obviously had other plans that night.

"No no no." he shook his head lightly and looked up at her. "Wait a while. I need to talk to you."

"We can talk in the morning-"

"Shh." He placed a finger over her lips and then took her hand, caressing her soft skin and making her shiver in delight at the contact. "Let me talk for a while- Come here." He yanked her so that she was lying beside him now on the kitchen floor and put his arms around her. "I'm sorry about earlier." He mumbled breathlessly.

"No, I am. I shouldn't have shouted at you." She sighed, not bothering to fight with him about going to bed yet, she felt too exhausted.

"I shouted first, I didn't mean to I just-I know you're not okay. I've been worried about you piccola." Angela's eyes began to tear up but she swallowed them back and rested her head on his chest.

"I know you have." Angela played with his shirt as she spoke. A silence fell upon them and the only thing that could be heard was their even breaths. She looked at his chest rising and falling and thought he might be asleep but then he spoke.

"I miss this." He said but his words confused her. He played with her hair and held her closer now.

"This?" Angela whispered back.

"Us talking, being so close. It's felt like weeks. I know you need time to tell me what's the matter, but I hate seeing you look so scared and I hate the fact that I don't know what it is to even make you feel better. Can you promise me that you'll tell me one day?" it broke her heart to hear him so concerned about her. Although she knew her mood was having an effect on Adriano over the last couple of days, now, she really felt terrible because of it.

"I will." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Do you remember the last time I came home to you like this?" she felt his chest vibrating in a small chuckle. "I know I shouldn't drink, you shouldn't have to look after me like this." It was clear to Angela that not only was he quiet and cuddly when drunk, but he had now added a new trait: Wisdom. "Things are so different now. I didn't know then..."

"Know what?" she was puzzled.

"How special you are. You're so different to anyone I've ever met Angie. You're my little Tesoro, forever." His words made her melt inside but she wished he wasn't only saying all of this because he was drunk.

"Oh stop now." She patted his chest now and snuggled closer but he continued.

"I know you don't believe me but it's the truth. I swear to god Angie. You're so kind hearted and selfless and so perfect. You amaze me."

"Amaze you?" Angela chuckled at his words.

"Of course you do. You're just so-so... good." He finally thought of the word he was looking for. "For no reason, no evilness behind it, it's just who you are. You haven't got a bad bone in your body."

"Okay Adriano, time to stop now-"

"And you staying here, just for me? You haven't changed me, but you've made me back into a sliver of the person I used to be. You've helped me and I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Adriano you're so drunk right now." Angela yawned loudly again into his chest, he lifted her gently on top of him so she could lie on him and not on the cold, hard floor.

"Maybe a little." He confessed. Angela was already drifting off to sleep by his little speech a moment ago. His voice was smooth and velvety, and it put her to sleep as he rambled on in her ear.

And as the two fell asleep together, both not thinking of anything else but the other, Angela felt safe now, safe in his embrace, safe with his arms surrounding her. She felt at ease, the first time since last week when all of her past began to catch up with her. She had reached a decision, just a couple of seconds before her body shut down to sleep.

She would tell him everything in the morning.

***********

I want to dedicate this chapter to someone who has helped me a tonne with Italian translations on Wattpad. MaddalenaRigotti, thank you! Hope you liked this chapter guys,

A. Summers xo