Angela woke up with an aching body, she moved around and opened her eyes. After looking around the room and realising she was in bed with Adriano, she grew confused. She groaned at the pain of moving which made Adriano shoot up in bed and turn to look at her, concern laced in his expression.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked her as she moved around gingerly, trying to get up out of bed.

"I need the bathroom." She croaked out. Adriano rushed to her side of the bed to hold her arm gently and help her up out of bed. Angela noticed the room was dark and wondered how long she had been asleep.

After Adriano found her and Franco called for help, the family's doctor arrived and they brought her home for rest. She was badly bruised but she would just need a lot of time to heal. She had been for what felt like forever.

"What time is it?" she asked through gritted teeth, trying to bear the pain she was feeling all over her body.

Adriano reached his hand out and turned on her lamp on the bedside table before looking at the clock beside it.

"Just after twelve." He said gently to her, walking her to the bathroom. She walked in and closed the door over but didn't shut it. Once Angela was finished and was washing her hands, Adriano opened the door and walked in, the bright light burning his eyes for a moment. He found her looking in the mirror at herself, froze, the tap still running. She shook quietly but didn't have the energy to burst into tears.

Her face was worse than she had thought it ever would be. One eye was black with a dark bruise, her cheek and lips swollen. She had a cut on her bottom lip and the back of her head was beginning to pound. Adriano could hear her take in a breath sharply when her eyes travelled down to her neck, which was covered in bruised from Derek's hands. She moved her hands slowly to her neck to touch it, her hand hovering over the dark blue blotches upon her white skin.

"Angie..." his voice trailed off. He took a few steps towards her slowly and stood in front of her. He looked down at her, into her big grey pools of tears forming.

Angela shook her head and closed her eyes, unable to look at him for a minute. What happened with Derek had felt like a dream, but it was in fact a cruel reality. Her face was void of emotion when she opened her eyes again. Tears fell silently from her eyes and she noticed Adriano had never looked like he was in this much pain, not even when she had found he had been stabbed by Adamo.

Adriano gently lifted his hand and placed it on her other cheek as she tilted her head to look all the way up at him. He closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them and saw her face again, a single tear fell from his cheek. He couldn't bear to see her like this, in this much pain and mental turmoil. She began crying louder, unable to speak.

"Shh, it's all over now." He carefully put his arms around her and held her close. "You don't never have to think about him again."

"D-did you kill him? Is he gone?" she asked, looking up into his eyes. He nodded slowly, his eyes didn't leave hers. "Okay." She whispered, trying to come to terms with the news. Angela's gaze dropped to his neck as she lifted her hand up and reached his shoulder.

"I shouldn't have done it in front of you. You shouldn't have had to witness something like that, I'm sorry Angela." His voice was hard and filled with punishment for himself only.

He gulped and looked away. He was feeling guilty, although Derek had gotten what he deserved, Angela shouldn't have been there when it happened. She knew what he done for a living, she knew he had killed before and the thought of that made her stomach flip.

But Angela didn't know how to feel, she was relieved that Derek was finally gone and didn't know how to take the news that Adriano had shot him. It was confusing and difficult for her to process it. Angela knew Adriano was beating himself up about what he had done but he was left with no choice but to shoot in front of her. If he didn't, she didn't know where she would be.

"Thank you Adriano, for everything you've done for me." She placed a soft kiss on his cheek before taking his big hand in hers. "Let's go back to bed." She tugged at his hand but he stopped her and gently scooped her up in his arms before carrying her back into their room and placing her gently on her side of the bed.

Adriano put the covers over her and got into bed beside her. Her gingerly turned over to face him and could see the worry clearly visible on his face. Thoughts about everything that had happened began to brew in his head. He quickly got up again and went outside for a moment. Adriano returned with tablets and a glass of water for her.

"You need to take these, Doctor Baxton gave them to me for pain."

She nodded and took the glass of water in her hands. After taking the tablets, Adriano took the glass of water and put it on the bedside table before turning off the light and getting into bed again. He turned to face her and kissed her on the lips.

"Is the pain bad?" he asked quietly. She wanted to tell him the truth that everywhere was hurting her but she just shook her head and attempted a smile.

"No."

"I can tell you're lying, I know it's bad..."

"I'm used to it." She said more to herself than Adriano but his eyes shot up to hers. He said nothing for a minute or two, unable to speak.

"I'll never hurt you like that." He wanted to hold her tight but he feared he might hurt her. She was delicate and he was afraid that at this moment, her body as frail and battered as ever, he could break her. She nodded but she was already half asleep.

She closed her eyes then and drifted off to sleep. Although Angela had helped him tackle his sleeping problem when she arrived some months ago, tonight would be a sleepless night for Adriano. He stayed up all night worrying about her and trying to make a decision he didn't want to make. The longer she stayed here, the more damaged she would be. Adriano wasn't good for her, he didn't deserve someone like Angela. And after everything that had happened and was still happening in his familia- New York wasn't the place for Angela. She would have to go but unfortunately it was where he had to stay.

Adriano took a long time to tell her this, because jut after what happened with Derek was not the time to tell her. That time was about her getting better and healing both mentally and physically. During that period Adriano rarely went to work. He spent every moment he could with Angela, making her feel comfortable and helping her with anything she needed. They would go out, or stay in. He would cook and she would eat. He would nurture and take care of her be at her beck and call even if she tried to reassure him what felt like a million times that she was okay.

Things were back to normal again, it had been over a month since the Derek incident. Mike was still in the hospital but was recovering perfectly. Angela had gone to visit him a lot on her own and with Adriano. He was moving back into his apartment in just a couple of days but was still under care. Angela went out with Trisha and saw Maria and the kids a lot, things had seemed to die down a little with Adamo or so Angela had thought.

She had just got back from lunch with Maria and was surprised to find Adriano sitting on the couch, a grim look on his face. He was waiting anxiously for her return because he didn't want to do what he was going to do. Angela's expression had dropped instantly because of the mood in the room. Adriano had his hands gripped together and gulped when she shut the door and walked towards him.

"Adriano? What's wrong?" she tried to keep the panic out of her voice but she had a feeling this was serious.

"Nothing's wrong Angela, I just-" He hesitated and avoided eye contact with her. "Just sit down for a minute." He said quietly.

She quickly sat down a little bit away from him and turned to look at him on the sofa. The silence that filled the room was too much for her, her stomach began to do flips and churn uncontrollably.

"Angela, New York isn't where you should be right now."

"What do you mean Adriano?" she couldn't understand what he was getting at yet.

"I mean that... After everything that's happened here, you can't have good memories. You never wanted to come back here, you told me that yourself. I forced you here and as much as I regret it, it is how we came to know each other. You don't have to stay here anymore."

"But I want to stay here, you're here. Where else would I go?"

"Back to Miami." As soon as the words left his lips, his chest began to ache. Looking at her and feeling the tension in the room made him feel worse. "You can't stay here anymore, you need a new start- away from New York, away from the mafia and all of the bad things I've brought into your life because of it. You can't even leave the apartment without guards anymore, do you want that forever?"

"You know I can't go back there Adriano, not after the way I acted-"

"Your family has forgiven you. I contacted them; they want you to go home too. I told them I was a friend of yours."

"Don't you want me here?" tears well in her eyes as she spoke.

"Of course I do, that's why I've kept you here all along. I've been selfish, and look what it's brought you: Adamo, Alesandro and Derek. It's all my fault and for that I want to make things better for you. They won't get better here, you have to go back home."

"But this could be my home now, things could get better here- with you." She took book his hands and had moved closer to him. She was desperately looking into his eyes but he couldn't give in.

"It's all been my fault." He said quietly, shaking his head. He was unable to forgive himself. Angela deserved someone better. "I've done so many bad things, you don't deserve anything that's happened."

"It's not your fault, even if it was I would forgive you. Please Adriano-" she squeezed his hands she was holding, causing him to look her in the eye. "I need you, just like you needed me. Remember?"

"No- you're a strong person. You should never have to depend on someone like me. Even if you forgave me, I don't think I could forgive myself. Your stuff is packed and ready to go, the guards will be here soon to bring you to the airport. Two are going to go with you and stay with you for a while, your mother and father don't know anything about my life. You can tell them about Derek if you want or tell them as much as you're comfortable with but of course you'll have to leave out what I done."

Angela couldn't believe what was going, she didn't want his words to be real but they were. Although the thought of going back to Miami, back to be reunited with her family was something she had dreamed of, she didn't want to give up Adriano. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Please..." she begged him but the two turned their heads when they heard a knock on the door.

"Boss, are you ready?" A guard from behind the door called before opening the door. He made his way with another man to grab the bags Adriano had put Angela's things in.

"Give us a minute." Adriano mumbled.

"We'll be waiting outside."

"Adriano, please- I don't want to leave you." She gripped his hand tight.

"This will be good for you Angie, please understand." He got up from the sofa and she followed him as he walked towards the door. She trailed behind him, a part of her hoping he would change his mind in these couple of seconds.

"But I love you." She whispered, her confession something she couldn't keep in anymore. This probably wasn't the best time to tell him but that was her reason. Her reason for not being able to understand, for not wanting to go, for needing him. He looked away quickly, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. He had hoped she wouldn't say those words for fear he wouldn't be able to lie about how he felt too. Her words were met with a silence and an avoidance of eye contact, leaving her completely heartbroken. She decided it was time to leave and reached for the door handle.

"And I love you." He urged quickly before she opened the door to leave.

He grabbed her waist and tiled her head to look up at him. Adriano leaned down closer to her face, looking right into her beautiful grey orbs. He kissed her on the lips and the placed both hands on either side of her face before speaking quietly to her. She sensed the pain in his eyes as he searched her.

"I love you too Angie, but this is the way it has to be."

THE END....

JUST KIDDING GUYS😂😂😂😂, the end is definitely not yet. There is a hell of a lot more to come! Sorry about the wait and thank you for reading. When I am done writing this story I will be posting a new romance fiction that hopefully you will all like, please check it out when it's published.

Autumn xo

"Sometimes romance isn't about picnics and flowers. Sometimes love isn't about major dramatics or complete sacrifice. Sometimes cute isn't about six-packs or god-like features. Sometimes all of these things mean nothing, once you're with a person who understands, supports and likes you for you. Sometimes things are normal and extraordinary at the same time. Sometimes love is easy.I'm Tia, and my sometimes was Cody.This is our story."