Third person POV.

"~I see trees of green~" The kitchen was filled with aroma of the tomatoes and cheese. Ava was making pasta for lunch, just as her daughter wanted. She was moving her shoulders and back in waves as though a mermaid in the sea. And Maria was chuckling as she sat on the kitchen counter next to the vegetables. "~red roses too~" Maria sang along with her mother smiling.

"~I see them bloom for me and you~" Maria loved the song and would often ask Ava to sing it for her. "~And I think to myself~" Ava said as she looked at Maria with fake seriousness as she pointed the tong in her hand at her daughter. And she waved and swirled towards her. "~what a wonderful world~" Ava leaned and touched her nose with Maria before kissing her on the cheek. Maria squealed with happiness at that.

"Seeing you like this, does make the world wonderful." The deep voice made Ava flinch as always. "It's ready!" Ava exclaimed, ignoring Salvatore completely and was bringing the dish filled with pasta and meatballs and cheese over to the table. Salvatore stood quietly on a side with a box in his hand. Ava's back stiffened at his presence and he noticed it, he always did. A sad smile spread at his features and he greeted them.

"Welcome home, Doc! Do you like Madagascar and pasta?" Salvatore turned his attention to the child and went to her, smiling. "Love them." She tilted her head as he neared, her cheek was up towards him. He bent down and kissed her there. A slight pec. Salvatore was getting used to all the loving Maria demanded from both of them.

"Oh! Mom had kissed me there just now!" She exclaimed in excitement yet had a sliver of shyness. Which was natural around a handsome man like Salvatore Agosti. "Perfect then." He leaned down yet again and kissed her once more. He stood back up with his eyes glued to Ava. "Can I have lunch with you guys?" It has been few weeks since they started living in Salvatore Agosti's house. And he always made sure to take a break from his busy schedule to be there at home at the times their meals.

He would leave immediately after eating because he was not supposed to be home at all at day time, according to his schedule. But he needed to see Ava to recharge from all that tiredness. And Maria made his heart peaceful. Even in this short time he has been attached to her and she with him. "It's your house, Mr Agosti. You can do as you please." She always seem to have a sour mood around him.

At first she would take her meal away and eat in her room, leaving Maria in his and Aunties care. Even though Agosti was trying his hardest to come all the way home to see her. He was going to work earlier just to have see her at lunch. Maria complaint about her mother not being at the table so Ava eventually returned and started having meals with them. But her mood remain sour. As though she was trying to guard herself from Agosti.

And a man as sly as Salvatore had noticed it since the beginning. "I'm sorry for troubling you." She looked away at Salvatore's soft voice. Quietly she placed 3 plates and put some pasta in them. "Oh I've bought pineapple cake. I've heard someone loves pineapples." He looked at Ava across the table and she averted her gaze.

Salvatore rolled his sleeves up and started eating. "I love your cooking so much that I was thinking it's not so bad that Louise is on leave." He took a bite and closed his eyes at the rich flavours.

"In fact, I wish his vocation would be extended. So I could eat your food some more." Ava was helping Maria and wiping her face and putting some more meatball in her plate. "I remembered you being an extremely silent person." Ava stated in an emotionless voice.

He tilted his head to a side and looked at her with soft eyes. As though asking, seriously? In front of Maria? Ava gritted her teeth in annoyence. He was using Maria to his fill. Though he cares for her too, anyone could tell. After having lunch Aunty served cake for them and took some herself and left for her home, as Ava told her too.

Ava couldn't help but enjoy the cake which was as delicious as it looked if not more. One of the best she had in a while. "Is the cake alright? I asked them to give the best they had." Salvatore asked innocently, yet he already knew how much she liked it from her expressions and the fact that she actually took another piece did not go unnoticed under his radar.

"Maria? What do we say?" Ava asked her daughter. "Thank you!" Salvatore smiled at her and nodded. After everything was washed and cleaned and Maria was tucked in for a nap, she went out in the garden believing that Salvatore must have left a while ago. She sat on the stair of the porch towards the garden, wearing a shawl around her shoulders, because it was getting a little chilly now.

"How could I talk much around the people I didn't trust?" A deep voice sounded behind her and she flinched. Agosti. He didn't leave. She thought to herself.

He observed her sitting there like a sculpture of a Goddess. He remembered watching the videos on the camera Avery had given him. How Ava was dancing around the room with the wedding dress clutched to her chest. How her eyes literally sparked with excitement and love and hope. How she smiled and blushed away. How she loved. That was a person in love at that time. Right now, a sculpture was sitting in front of him. A very magnificent sculpture, that makes you stops in your track and stare. But the sad part was, that it used to be a human once. A loving, smiling human. A regret and grief clutched his heart.

Once she realized that he was replying to her statement back at lunch, she replied without looking back. "Well you don't have a reason to trust us now either." He walked closer and sat beside her, with a comfortable distance between them.

"I can't help but do so. You're just so lovely." He said looking at her while she looked ahead and the garden. He looked at her brown curls waving with the wind as she closed her eyes. She looked so peaceful. She indeed was a dove to his war. She brought peace to him everyday without knowing it.

He could be in the worst situations out there, but when he picture her face in his mind all those things seemed easy to face. "I've never touched a woman for over 10 years." She looked back at him at that and when her eyes met his, he sucked in a breath. Her brown eyes meant so much to him now.

All the things he believed to be senseless stuff, like stories of people giving up everything and anything for one person. Tales of kingdoms falling with no regrets by people in love. It all made sense to him now, nothing seemed more logical than what they did.

"But you.." She was about to point out everything she saw and believed about him. And he didn't want to be reminded about it and be more ashamed of himself. So he cut her off, "I tricked you." He continued as he noticed the confusion in her eyes. "I couldn't bear to have you near me. You were so young and we had so much age difference between us. How could I let us be something?" His voice held sorrow along with his eyes.

"You're still 14 year older than me." She said which made him wince. "Don't say that out loud!" He exclaimed in a rough whisper. He put his forehead on his knees and folded his arms around his head, as though hiding away. Ava noticed that his ears had turned red. How cute! She wanted to chuckle but decided to just let a smile slip. Salvatore turned his head slightly and peeked at Ava from over his arms and when he noticed she was smiling down at him he smiled too. His smile reached his eye and his eyes became tiny.

"It doesn't make a difference now, does it?" After few minutes of silence he asked from under his cover of arms. "What?" She asked, not sure what he was talking about. "Me not sleeping around." He looked back at her again, from above his arm. She was silent for a while, deciding whether to be honest of to lie. Then she decided to choose the truth. "It does." She said as her cheeks turned red and she turned ahead again looking at the garden. The ice seemed to have melted a bit which made Salvatore relieved and hopeful at the same time.

He loved her eyes on him and he wanted them back. So he thought of telling her something that would grab her attention back again.

"Can I tell you something dirty?" Her eyes snapped back at him at his question. She just gave a slight nod after a while. "What I do as a doctor, made me kind of useless where it counts." Her eyes widened slightly as it dawned upon her what he was talking about.

"But after meeting you again. It doesn't seem quite useless anymore. You were the medicine, I suppose." Her eyes were still wide open and she snapped her head back ahead, away from him. Salvatore noticed her cheeks changing color and even her neck turned red. He turned his forehead to his knees again and smiled with happines and hope in the protection of his arms. Hidden away.

But Ava noticed his red ears and neck too, in a quick glance. "You shouldn't say anything in the first place, if it makes you this embarrassed afterwords." She said in a soft voice with light humour in it. He just murmured an apology.

Then a comfortable silence fell between them for few long minutes and it was just... peaceful. Then she said, "It was good." He asked her what she meant and she explained further. "The cake." He grinned at that and just nodded, because he already knew she liked it. His sharp eyes were always at her observing her from every corner.

Suddenly the blush and the smile wiped out of Salvatore's expressions and his eyes became cold. To answer Ava's confusion, he straightened up and pulled Ava behind him. In an instance the bubble of comfort they were in was snapped. He pulled out a gun from his pocket, which Ava didn't notice till now. He scanned the perimeter with a predatory gaze. His posture at alert and his grey eyes seemed like ice yet they looked like it would burn anything to ashes at contact.

"Get inside, Ava. Something is not right." The seriousness in his voice made Ava obey him instinctively. How soft and fluffy he was around her made her forget for a moment just how brutal and scary he was to other people. And she felt something lit up in her chest at the revelation that he was soft just to them. His shoulder had not properly healed and Ava was worried about him, even though she didn't want to admit it. But his voice left no room for arguments and she ran inside.

After a while Salvatore came inside with anger burning in his eyes. "Xavier! Where is Xavier?" His voice boomed and Ava had a flashback to the night he was angry. At her. He was told that Xavier was not there and then the person in charge came forward. "Is this the best you could do?! Who was on duty around that wall?" He went to his office with the person and the door closed behind them. She sat in the lounge and didn't know what he was saying because rooms were sound proof.

But he was so angry a while ago. Would he hurt her or Maria now? She was so deep in her thought but was snapped out of it when Maria's soft body touched on her side. "Mom will I go to school tomorrow?" She was still sleepy but she somehow found Ava and was now snuggling on her side. "Baby.." before she could say much Salvatore stepped out if his office with the person following right behind him, but soon he went away. He looked like he was scolded bad. Ava noticed.

Salvatore saw them and the anger vanished from his face yet Ava was unsure about him being near. He walked towards them and pulled Maria out of the couch and held her. Ava's eyes screamed in terror, expecting the worst, which made Salvatore sad deep down but he knew he could not blame her. Maria had her cheek on his shoulder and she was still drowsy. "What is this sleepy soldier asking?" He asked Ava as he petted Maria on the head.

"Her school.." Ava was not sure how to put it, but Salvatore understood her. "Of course, she will study! I have arranged the best teachers already. They will come here and teach her 5 days a week." He stated which made Ava relaxed a little, knowing that he cared. "But can I afford them?" She was working from home as a consultant other legal works. She asked calculating her bank balance.

"I would take care if everything. All you need to do is stay." That annoyed her and she could not accept more favours from him. "I can take care of my daughter's needs. I don't think I can afford the best. But I know pretty good teachers that I can call. So please cancel..." She was interrupted by Salvatore's sad yet offended voice.

He made sure that Maria was asleep in his arms, then he said, "What I intend our future to be like, will make me responsible for Maria in every way. So please let me make arrangements since now." His meaning gradually dawned upon Ava and it left her speechless. "What you intend will never happen! It's my choice to make." She was about to bare her teeth to him, if he dared to go against her but he was a smart man.

"Of course it is." He stated. "Alright, we will do what you want." He said after signing in resignation. He knew it was too early for him to get his intentions known. But he wanted her to have no doubt over his intentions about their future but if he did tell her now that he wanted her to be his wife again and have a family with him, she was probably gonna run away leaving him behind. He did not want that to happen though he was willing to persue her to the end of the world. She felt so many emotions at that. So many that she could not face them all, not yet. So she decided to ignore that.

"What happened out there?" She asked and he took the hint that she was not ready for the conversation and respected her wishes. He told her about the situation, how he sensed some rustling behind a wall and it turned out someone was attempting to spy on them or worst. They checked the CCTV footage and it was confirmed. So they were doubling the security.

She felt scared but his possesiveness and seriousness over their security made her relaxed to some extent. She decided to focus on the present and see how things went from that point on.

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Him: Showing his shy side.

Me: