I knew who Endrizzi was the moment he walked into that garden.

He was tall, but not as tall as Edward. Had short blonde hair slicked back, and a large, yet thin, scar on the right side of his face. He had a thin, statuesque woman with unnaturally platinum blonde hair hanging off his arm.

She looked to be a lot younger than him. I could see curiosity as she looked around wide-eyed as they slowly made their way towards their table.

I tensed as he suddenly looked over at me, a lecherous look spread on his face as he leered at me. My hand slinked slowly on the table and slowly wrapped around the steak knife that was placed next to the pretty dining set. Edward wrapped an arm around me, and slowly pulled the knife out of my hand, placing it back on the table.

"Not here, amore." He whispered, before kissing my temple, causing Endrizzi's nasty smile to drop from his face.

It looked like a loving embrace to others, but he was straining to keep me in my seat, and at his side.

I wanted so badly to end this, to cut this at the roots, but that would be starting a war, and that isn't something anyone wanted to do.

So, I took a deep, steady breath and nodded once, before turning my attention towards the bride and her family.

The bride was practically radiating as she stood there hugging her fiancee to his side. Family surrounded her as she spoke to one of them with an excited smile.

For a brief second, I allowed myself to wonder what that might feel like, but I shook the feeling off and refocused on the task at hand. I slowly reached out, taking the glass of lemonade and bringing it up to my lips, keeping it there as I eyed Edward.

"What? What is it?" He asked me quietly.

I kept my glass in front of my lips, tilting it slightly before I sighed, "Endrizzi is here to make a statement, look at how he is holding that woman." I murmured, before taking a small sip, before setting the glass down on the table.

He lifted a brow and tilted his head to the side as he subtly looked over at him, tensing as he watched.

I felt repulsion as I watched as Endrizzi kept a restraining hand on her, no matter where he moved, she moved with him. Her curious expression was now replaced blank of all emotion, blue eyes dull.

"That is his wife, Claudia Montalvo. She along with the Montalvo family has always refused to get involved with any form of crime. Until Claudia was suddenly engaged to be married to Endrizzi. No good has come out of that union. It is clear he only treats her like his arm candy, a - how do you say? Ah, yes, trophy wife." He told me quietly.

I hummed as I took the glass and took another sip, "So, why is she still with this bastard? Why not get a divorce?" I asked him quietly.

He sighed, "Because it's not that simple here, vita mia. Once you are married, in front of God, in front of the famiglia, divorce is no longer an option. There is only ever one way to leave it, is in a box." He replied, quietly.

I nodded, as he suddenly stood up, and offered me his hand. "Where are we going?" I asked, confused.

He smiled at me, "To dance. We need to pretend that nothing is wrong. Normal, loving." He quietly tells me, with a thicker accent.

I roll my eyes at him, before placing my hand in his, and standing up.

He spun me slowly onto the makeshift dancefloor and placed his hand on my waist pulling me closer as he did.

Our eyes connected as he led me around the dancefloor, smiling down at me. "You know, you're quite beautiful when you smile like that." He notes, amused.

"I'm known to surprise people every now and then." I dryly replied.

He chuckled lowly, shaking his head as he continued to spin us.

The rest of the event was rather uneventful. A few speeches were given in broken English with mixed Italian.

Once it was over, Edward and I slowly made our way out, and headed to straight to the SUV.

Without another word, Garrett got into the driver's seat. I took a deep breath, before turning to look out the window, and allowing my mind to process what was happening.

"Amore, you doin' okay?" He asked me.

I blinked, taking a deep breath, as I reached a shaking hand over to grab his, "You made me a promise, are you going to back out or are we going to talk?" I asked him.

A small smile spread on his full lips as he shook his head, "Not here, dolcezza. We'll talk once we get back to the safe house." He told me, as he gave my hand a light squeeze as we both turned to look out the windshield.

"Where are we going to go?" I asked him, quietly.

He shrugged, "It's a surprise, principessa. You'll see when we get there." He promised, as he nodded his head at Garrett.

Sometime later, I found myself sitting in a private jet, flying to an unknown location with Rose, Heidi, Sienna, Alice, and Esme, and even their mother Elizabeth was sitting next to me as the men sat in the back speaking in quick Italian.

"An idea of where we are going?" Alice asked us quietly.

Sienna smirked, "Of course, but my brother told me that I wasn't allowed to say a word. So, you are shit out of luck until we land." She told us.

"Sienna." Elizabeth chastised, halfheartedly, causing her to smile innocently at her. "Behave." She told her.

Alice sighed and began bouncing slightly in her seat. "I hate not knowing." She grumbled.

I made a noise in the back of my throat, as I turned the page of the book Sienna handed me, saying that I'd thank her later with a wink.

Alice and Rose began discussing a few things that were occurring back home, while I felt myself flush and look up, wide-eyed at Sienna. "Dio mio!" I gasped as I snapped the book closed.

Sienna choked on her wine and began coughing violently as Esme sighed and smacked her back gently.

"Non mi hai dato un romanzo scadente da leggere davanti a tutti." I choked as Heidi leaned over and smirked at me. (You did not give me a trashy novel to read in front of everyone.)

"Tranquillo, non è niente di male. Questo è solo l'inizio. Continua a leggere." She told me amused. (Relax, it's nothing bad. That is only the beginning. Keep reading.)

I snapped the book shut and almost threw it at her head, only to have Heidi snatch the book from my hold and began reading. "Oh, I remember this one. This one is sweet, the guy loses his memory and she helps him regain it, in a delicious way. You should finish it." She told me after she paged through a few of the pages of the book.

"Word of advice. Buy a Kindle. Pay for the Kindle app, you'll thank me later." Esme told us causing Heidi and Sienna to laugh.

"More advice here. Get him to read with you. You'll thank me later." Heidi told me winking.

"O-kay, this is so embarrassing," I mumbled covering my face, as they laughed at me.

"Definitely listen to them," Rose told me quietly.

"Shut up, you." I grumbled, keeping my hand in front of my face as I heard them all laugh.

When we arrived, Edward immediately came to my side and slid his hand into mine. "Do I want to know what all that was?" He asked me quietly.

"You do not." I replied as I made my way to one of the waiting SUVs and got in.

"Thought so." He replied, flatly, as he slid in next to me.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone,

Thank you for reading this story, and following it. I'm sorry it's taken so long to update.

I hope you all enjoyed this... until next time.