Bella's POV:
It took all of my will power and energy to walk down that massive driveway.
The entire time I was questioning my sanity and the moment I decided this would be a great idea.
"Fucking fuck!" I growled as I stepped on a rock, hopping on my foot as I held the other.
I heard a reeve of a powerful engine race over before it pulled over next to me, the sound of the door opened and closed a moment later.
When I heard the sound of footfalls rushing in my direction I slammed my eyes closed and prayed to the almighty to give me patience, and strength not to do anything rash or stupid.
I didn't have to hear his voice to know who it was.
His mere presence demanded attention, which wasn't something I was about to give him.
Not while I was angry.
"Are you alright, principessa?"
I scoffed, "I was until I saw your face. What do you want, fottuto stronzo?" I asked, mumbling the last part to myself, as I tried to take a step away from him only to wince in pain as I stepped on another rock. "Ah! God!" I gasped.
Before I could protest, he had me in his arms in a princess carry, and on the passenger's seat of the car.
"Put me down you neanderthal!" I growled, before gasping in pain as his hand squeezed my exposed thigh.
"Stay still, you might have cut yourself on that rock." He murmured as he gently wrapped his hand around my ankle before lifting it up to inspect it.
"What in the hell are you doing?!" I gasped, trying to pull down the skirt of the dress so I wouldn't flash him.
"It's a small puncture, no rock fragments left inside it." He muttered to himself.
'How in the hell would he know that?' I thought, frowning at him.
"Okay? Are you done?..." I asked, pulling my foot from his grasp. "I do need to make my way back to the hotel and by the looks of it, it's quite a walk …" I grumbled, moving my foot away from his hand.
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before mumbling fast Italian under his breath.
"Yes." He replied quietly, a moment later, as he stood up to his towering height.
"Great, so that means I can go, right?" I inquired, enjoying watching his jaw tick.
"I'm going to take you to your hotel. Then we're grabbing everything you brought, then we're going somewhere to talk alone." He said.
"Why would I go anywhere with you?" I asked, frowning.
"Because we obviously have a lot of shit that's happening around us. And we obviously need to talk about it." He replied.
"Well, I don't want to talk right now." I retorted.
He looked up and took a deep breath, before mumbling something in Italian.
"Look, we need to talk. In order for my plan to work, we have to be able to communicate well with each other and trust each other. " He said as he helped me sit down right in the seat before shutting the door.
I scoffed, rolling my eyes at the look he was giving me before pulling the seatbelt on. "Trust you?" I mumbled to myself.
I watched as he went around the corner of the car, reaching into the back seat, before sliding into the driver's seat. "Jackass." I mumbled to myself.
I could feel his gaze, as I sat there looking out the window frowning.
"Here. You dropped this last night, and one of my brothers found it and gave it to me." He replied as he shut the door and dropped my clutch onto my lap.
"Is everything in there?" I asked, unzipping the bag and checking to find my cell phone, wallet and room card in there exactly where I left them.
"Should be..." He replied shortly, as he finished driving out of the massive driveway.
Once I was satisfied, I zipped the bag back up and before leaning my head back onto the headrest.
We drove in silence for the most part, until fifteen minutes into the drive.
"I wanted to apologize…" He began before I shook my head.
"What for?" I asked, shortly, accidentally cutting him off.
"For not telling you that my family wanted to meet you, and for allowing you to be interrogated like that… my younger sister, and pretty much everyone else in my family practically tore me a new one for doing that." He explained.
I frowned, so he had done it intentionally? Boy, this dude just gets better and better , doesn't he?
"Right, so I suppose I am just supposed to just be okay with that half-assed apology?" I mumbled, as I turned to look out the window.
"No. I mean it. I do. It wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. I just thought that if you met my family, well, you could maybe get an idea of why I am the way I am." He replied.
I rolled my eyes at him.
"I wasn't uncomfortable… at least not until the end. I meant what I said last night. I'm here to find my dad's family, and the reason he and my mom left here." I replied, looking away.
He hummed in response before sighing, "How long ago did your parents pass away?" He asked me, gently.
"My dad died a — a few weeks ago, and my m-mom died when I was three." I replied, staring blankly out the windshield.
The awkward silence and tension that filled that car could have been cut with a fucking butter knife.
As we began to drive on a curved road, he suddenly shifted the car, and slowed it to a stop.
"What are we doing here?" I asked, frowning as I turned to look out the window.
The sight was beautiful, it overlooked a vineyard, green showing as far as the eye can see.
"I want to talk to you. I figured this is the best place we could speak alone without anyone interrupting us." He replied before reaching over to the dashboard.
"I'm not getting out of the car." I replied firmly.
"Who said anything about getting out?" He asked as he pressed the button and the roof of the car slowly whirred and disappeared.
Oh great, sun roof. Awesome way to get a sunburn.
He smirked at me, obviously enjoying my annoyance before he sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.
He opened his mouth and closed it a few times before groaning and hitting the steering wheel.
"What?" I asked, raising a brow at him, only for him to frown and look away.
"What's got you at a loss for words?" I asked him, amused.
He shook his head, closing his eyes., and leaning his head back onto the head rest.
"Why is it so damn difficult for me to talk to you?" He groaned.
I shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know. Maybe you're attracted to me?" I teased, with a snort and eye roll.
'Bella you are treading on dangerous waters here! Change the subject! Now!' My subconscious cautioned.
"That's definitely a possibility." He replied still chuckling.
"Better not be." I mumbled with an eye roll.
"No, I mean it. You are breathtakingly beautiful, sassy, witty, and a spit fire, and that's just naming things off the top of my head. The way I see it, any man would be lucky to have you." He said, smirking before giving me a gentle smile.
"I can't agree with you... Man, guys have told me I'm too honest, and sarcastic... There's no way you can think that." I replied softly.
"What would you say if I told you that I am?" He asked, giving me a tentative smile.
"Then I'd say, you can't handle a woman like me. No man can, that's why I never went out with any guys back home." I replied with a nonchalant shrug.
"Oh, principessa, I can definitely handle you. All you need is to give me a chance." He replied, smirking widely at me.
I smirked at his words before shaking my head and looking away, "Nah, I hardly know you…" I pointed out, before sighing and changing the subject to a less dangerous one.
"So, what did you want to tell me before? When you were struggling so much to speak to me?" I asked.
Feeling as if what he needed to tell me was weighing heavily on him.
"I— I wanted to apologize to you. For everything that's happened since we met. I also want to ask you for another chance, to get to know me and my family… we're not bad people. We're just a little too exuberant sometimes." He promised.
I stared at him shocked, "So, what we'd be like friends or something?" I surmised.
"Exactly. We'd be friends." He agreed, though he didn't seem to like the idea.
I didn't understand. Did he want to be friends or not? Or was he hinting at wanting to be more?
Damn this is one of the times I wish I had Alice with me, so she could explain what was happening.
I bit my lip, thinking about what he said for a moment.
We needed each other, him for whatever he was doing and me to help find my family, and if we were going to be working together, I guess we needed to be on a somewhat friendly note.
Hm. I guess, friends it is.
"Alright. Well, I guess I can give you a second chance and we can be friends." I conceded.
He smiled and began to say something before I held up a hand to silence him.
"But I'm warning you now, if we're going to be friends I need you to be honest with me. I need to be able to trust you. If we can't trust each other, there's no point in even trying to be friends." I told him.
He looked at me for a moment, all playfulness leaving his eyes, before sighing and nodding.
"I think we need to continue this conversation in a safe location." He finally said.
"What's going on, Edward?" I asked him, frowning at his sudden change of mood.
"Let's go. I promise we'll talk about it soon." He said as he pressed the button, and adjusted the seat again before speeding off again.
What the hell is going on? and why the sudden change of emotions?
Author's Note:
I hope you've all been enjoying this story.
Yes, as someone pointed out in the comments, I am not at 100% of my health right now. I get migraines most days, but when I don't have them I WRITE. ALot.
Anway, this may be the last update I can do, until probably Monday, sadly, for personal reasons.
So, I hope you enjoy it. If I can I'll try to update tomorrow before I leave but who know if I'll get the chance.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. Stay safe, and make good choices until next time!