35| injure

                                    

                                          
•Matteo Rossi•
            In the very few years that I have been the boss, I have not had a situation as stressful as this 'La Prossima Generazione' situation.
           We spent all day yesterday trying to figure out who the hell they are and got basically nowhere. But we are going to have to take a break because tomorrow, I am flying to Spain for a meeting with Alvaro. I am going to be there for a few days, then flying to Rio de Janeiro because my friend, and leader of the Brazilian Cartel, Thiago Esteban, asked for a meeting.  
            Which means I will be away from Aria for a little over a week. That is the longest we have been away from each other since we began dating. She's like the peace, quiet, and happiness I need when I get home from working, so not having her with me for over a week will be difficult but we have our phones even if it's not enough. 
            I haven't even told her yet, and right now she's still asleep in my arms. I don't want to wake her up but she told me to wake her at 5:30 because she said she needs to work out before work. I might as well work out with her so I don't have to do it later alone.
           Just as I reach for my phone to check for the time, her phone goes off with an alarm, the time flashing across the screen. She basically flinches up, then sits up in bed. 
           After a good morning conversation and kiss, I ask her, "Why did you ask me to wake you up if you had an alarm anyway?"
            "Because I knew you would be awake, but I also knew you would feel bad for waking me up." She shrugs, getting off of the bed and heading towards the closet. She is so right about that and it's genuinely weird how easily she is able to read me now.
           I get up as well and make my way into the bathroom. When she is done in the closet, I go in there to change and she goes into the bathroom. When I walk out of the closet, I see the bed made and she is standing there waiting for me. 
           She hands me two rubber bands and asks me, "Can you braid my hair, please?". I smile, nod, then place a kiss on her forehead. I turn her around, then put her hair into two dutch braids. It was fairly easy but she has very long and thick hair so it took me about five minutes each braid. 
            When I finish, she thanks and kisses me, then we head downstairs to my home gym. I don't think I've ever brought her here, I don't even know if she knows about it, but she's finding out now. The gym isn't in the basement but it also isn't on the first floor. The basement is lower than this and most of it is my garage with my cars that has the exit to the front of the estate. But this in between thing has the gym, which has multiple rooms. 
           Lia Emma had a room with just sports mats because she used to do a sport in school that required tumbling so we had that room put in for her to use. Then there is the room with only machines for leg days, same for arms, and some other random rooms that I don't use much but the guards on the property as well as the workers in the other buildings on the property use them whenever they want. There's another entrance for this floor so they don't come in through the house. 
            When we do get to the gym, we stretch, and that is how I learned that my girlfriend can do every split and was a stunt and sideline cheerleader in high school. I also learned what that was because I had never heard of it.
           She showed me videos of her being put in the air, doing all these tricks, and being thrown. Even a few where she fell. Then there was the videos where she was the one doing the throwing. Then she actually did some of those tricks. I just don't know how she didn't literally break a bone. 
           She talks about it so happily. She very clearly loved it a lot. I took her to the mat room so she could continue to do the tricks safely if she really wanted to. She seemed so excited it was adorable. I love that about her. When she speaks about something she loves, the way her face lights up. The way her eyes have that little sparkle and the way her little dimples show. She has one obvious one on her left cheek but one that is lower and slightly shallower on her right cheek. 
           She is the type of person that she walks into a room with a smile and everyone automatically likes her. She's just such a positive person that has suffered so much. She deserved a better life than the one she got, better parents than the ones that treat her like they do. She is a treasure, but her parents treated her like a trophy. They wanted her but once they got her, they didn't care to take good care of her. She needs to be treated like a treasure. You work hard to get it and work even harder to keep it. She needs to be cherished. She makes me so fucking happy, I want to give her all of that. She deserves it all. 
           I like days when she's all I think about, and days when she's off of work because then I can spend more time with her. 
           I check in on her after a while of working out, and find her still doing tricks. To end off, she does one where she bends backwards and kicks her legs back to land in the splits. 
           "Melodia," I call for her when she gets up. She turns over to me, smiling. "We have to go now, sweetheart. Are you done?" I ask her.
           She nods and out of breath she answers, "Yes, let's go,". She picks up her water bottle and starts gulping her water down. When she is done, she lets out the tiniest almost involuntarily burp. She whispers a small "Excuse me.", but I thought it was funny. 
           I grew up with Alessandro who fucking shoves his food down his mouth, basically swallows it whole just to eat fast. He eats and burps like a freaking animal as if it's nothing. It's funny only because I get to watch him get scolded by mamma and Sofia while Vittoria is sitting on his lap laughing as if he was a clown. Which he basically is. 
           I look down at Aria, laughing, and say, "That was the sexiest shit I've ever heard,". She smacks my arm and starts laughing with me. We keep talking and laughing all the way to the first floor. 
           When we get there, I wrap one arm completely around her and lift her off the floor so her feet can't touch the floor and then run upstairs. When we get to my room, we go into the shower together.