Earlier that day

Cora had just gotten home after leaving Dimitri's house, which she left not so happy but then it wasn't as bad as the other times she had left there in tears.

She hoped the whole place would be quiet judging from the fact that they were setting an ambush of some sort for Dimitri, but to her surprise it wasn't.

The whole place looked busy as usual, but Enzo's car was nowhere to be seen and so was her sister.

She quickly used the opportunity to go down and check on Ivan, at least she could use his company now, and she was still trying to come to terms with how she was gonna tell him that his cousin was here in Rome, planning a rescue mission

But to her utter surprise, the basement was.... Empty, even the guards left to guard the place were missing.

At first she panicked, what if they'd killed him. Did she make a mistake by stopping Dimitri from coming? If anything happens to Ivan, Dimitri will not take it lightly.

"Positive thoughts Cora, he's not dead, maybes they just moved him" she tried to reassure herself and also steady her breathing.

She had to find out where they took him to, and to do that she had to put her acting skills to a test.

Time to act like her sister She adjusted herself and went back upstairs

She spent a good minute behind the walls preparing herself and giving herself a pep talk, it couldn't be that hard right? She did it for almost six months with Dimitri, she could do it for just a few minutes with Enzo's men

After a good while, she decided it was time to walk out and have that talk with them.

The first two people she found on the couch in the living room, immediately bowed their head in respect, okay this is going well, they already think she's Cara

She awkwardly gave them a Curt nod top before clearing her throat.

"You there, where's...." She paused a while gaining the attention of the man with dirty blonde hair, she contemplated if it was okay to call Enzo by his name or simply to refer to him as her husband, the men in front of her were already looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to complete her sentence "where's my husband"? She tried not to stutter.

They both exchanged looks before looking back at her "He went out Donna" the one with the dirty blonde replied her and she straightened her back

Okay that was a close call, no more slip ups Cora

"The prisoner, where is he"? She asked finding her voice much firmer this time.

They exchanged yet again another look of uncertainty, wondering why their Donna would be here questioning them.

"I asked you both a question"? She raised her voice a bit, wincing in her own head how loud she sounded, this was not her at all, the earlier she get this over with, the better

"Uhh.. we don't know Donna, the boss took him a few hours ago, didn't say where" the dirty blonde answered for both men At least she knows he's not dead yet.

She gave them a nod before walking back upstairs, the info she got wasn't much but it's enough to let her know that Ivan is still alive, Enzo just changed his location, probably because he knows Dimitri is coming for him.

Present Time

He didn't know if he should sit or stand for what he just heard. He was looking at her but his thinking had spiralled out of control.

This new information that Cora shared just put his whole plan out of balance How was he gonna save Ivan now if he didn't even know where he is, or if he even is alive

He was taking longer than necessary on this and he didn't like it one bit, and worse, Enzo was onto him

His eyes slowly set on her sitting and deep in thought just as he is, he was putting her at risk, a whole lot of risks

If Enzo is catching up to him, it wouldn't take long for him to find out that Cora is working with him, that is if he doesn't already know and is playing them both.

"Cora" he muttered catching her attention, she looked up at him "you should leave"

She was taken aback by his sudden request or probably command

"I should leave? Seriously, what's that supposed to mean anyway"? She asked obviously frustrated from this whole situation.

He kissed his teeth bracing himself for what he was about to say to her

"You shouldn't come here to meet me anymore" he said slowly and she nodded

"Okay then, a new meeting place, where"? She asked oblivious to the worry etched on his face

"Nowhere" he sighed out pausing for a bit "we won't be meeting anymore, it's too dangerous, I'm going to get him out on my own, you've done enough" he said all in one breath

She didn't say anything and he just kept looking at her, waiting for her to say something or even show reaction but nothing.

Instead she just gets up "You're obviously stressed from what I just told you, so I'm gonna go home and tomorrow I'll be back and we'll talk about getting him out" she said making for the door but his voice stopped her

"This isn't a joke, it's too risky to keep meeting like this, we're putting a stop to it" he muttered out

"No we're not" she snapped turning around to look at him "you don't get to do that, you don't get to show up and change everything and the all of a sudden you want to just cut me off because you think it's too dangerous" she almost growled out at him, he seemed a bit taken aback but not surprised, he expected this from her

"Cora I can't risk Enzo finding out you're working with me, it's too dangerous" he repeated and she scoffed

"You should have thought of that before coming to meet me in the first place, it's too late Dimitri, I'm in it now and until we get Ivan out, you can't get rid of me that easy" she snapped at him

"God you're so stubborn" he snapped and she matched his energy with a hard glare

"And you're so insufferable, I'm your only shot at finding out where they took him and you just want to cut me off like that because you feel like it" she almost yell "okay tell me this, with me out of the picture, how do you plan on getting the new location where Ivan is"? She asks looking straight at him

He opens his mouth and closes it, before thinking hard then trying to speak again but nothing comes

"I thought as much, I'm going home Dimitri, I'll be here in the morning and we can start a new plan, one which very much involves me" she said turning around and walking out

He watched her leave, if he didn't know better, he would never have guessed she had this much sass in her.

He may have seen a part of it during the six months she was with him, but not to this point. This new her he was seeing was nothing like the Naive girl he thought she was.

Not withstanding, she was still innocent tho, and very much too nice for this world. He was still going to try and talk her out of putting herself in danger just to help Ivan, he understands she's only helping him because Ivan did the same for her when he took her, but she wasn't alone now She was carrying another life inside of her, she would be putting not just hers but her baby's life in danger.

________________________________________

As promised she showed up early the next day. She didn't seem grumpy or moody today.

"I don't want to argue about this with you again this morning, one it's too early and two, I thought we already agreed that whether you like it or not, I'm in this deep just as much as you are" she said glaring at him.

He sighed and ran his hands through his face, scratching his stubble a bit. She was being too difficult and it was starting to get on his nerves

"And I thought I already made it clear that it's too fucking dangerous for you" he muttered and she scoffed.

"That's for me to decide and not you, I think you've done that far too much for me don't you agree"? She asked "and stop being overly caring, that's not who you are Dimitri, or maybe that's not the part of you I know" she muttered the last part to herself

She hated this pointless argument they always have, it always left her with migraine and stupid headaches.

He would never win this, not with her being so hellbent on involving herself in this at all cost

"Cora, if something happens to you Ivan is going to kill me, look I may not be the best person but I can tell my cousin cares for you a lot and I can't let anything happen to you, he's never going to forgive me" he said gently, shocking her.

This will be the first time she's hearing him so soft, gentle and maybe even vulnerable. He could see the gears turning in her head, he meant everything he said.

He knows just how much Ivan cares for her, hell he punched him because of her. Deep down he knows his cousin is in love with her and wouldn't appreciate if Dimitri put her in harms way, so he had to really persuade her to just drop it.

Okay guysss I love how the book is turning out.

It's going to get interesting I promise