I’m laying down on Moretti’s legs, as he runs his hands softly through my curly hair. I take a deep breath in and close my eyes. I could live like this forever.
For some reason, as soon as I arrived here in Italy, I didn’t care about how my hair looked. I didn’t care that I could freely show off how curly it is. I didn’t have to put a bunch of product in so it would stay straight and neat.
As cheesy as this sounds, I am just myself here. I didn’t have to impress anyone. I didn’t have anyone to impress, really. It wasn’t like my pack back in Ohio. Where I would constantly feel self conscious and self aware.
Now that I really ponder on it, I tried to look and act different back home to please people. People like Kyle. I constantly was worried that he wouldn’t like me if I didn’t look right. But with Moretti it’s all different. A good different.
“Li.” He says softly.
A small smile creeps it’s way onto my face. I was really getting used to him called me ‘Li.’ It gave me a butterfly feeling in my stomach.
I hum back in response, still basking in the cozy feeling of his fingers softly petting my hair.
“Do you want to go around Italy with me?” He asks. “We can go wherever you want to go. I just want you to be comfortable here.”
I turn my body so that I could look up at him. His eyes expressed such a soft emotion that I didn’t know, but already loved.
“How close are we to the Colosseum?”
———
“And here we have the hypogeum. All the walls in this floor used to not be here, and they would host mock ship battles in this area. They could clear out 1,120,000 gallons of water in around an hour to later host other activities like the famous gladiator fights…” the guide drones on to our tourist group.
Moretti wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into him. He leans down and whispers in my ear.
“How about we go get some food or look around at other things?” He offers.
The guide to our group has been talking about this area of the colosseum for at least ten minutes now. We get the point. I was bored.
I nodded and began to walk out with Moretti. We do stop to look at a few cool things that had to do with this Roman attraction.
“Stay right here, I’ll be right back.” Moretti stops me in front of a giant stone with Latin writing engraved in it.
“How long will you be away?” I ask.
“Only like five minutes. I’m just going to buy you something that caught my eye earlier.” He explains.
I nod and he quickly kisses the top of my head before walking a few feet away.
I begin to read something about the engraved stone until my wrist is grabbed.
“He-” I turn around, ready to throw hands, but stop when I see who exactly I was face to face with.
Elizabeth‘s unusual brown eyes met mine. Hand still on my wrist, she pulled me away from my spot and down into a hallway. I’m not sure why I didn’t struggle, but I’m assuming it’s because I want answers.
We stop in a dimly lit place.
“What do you want?” I finally speak.
“I want you to be careful with your mate.” She blankly states.
I scoff. “Give me a reason.”
She just narrows her eyes. “I will. Not now though.”
What does she mean by that?
“Who the hell even are you?” I incredulously ask.
“My name is Elizabeth. But I’m assuming we already established that. I’m a…colleague of Moretti’s.”
“Colleague? Elaborate.” I raise an eyebrow.
“Later. I don’t have much time to speak with you about those things yet,” she dismisses.
“I just need to tell you that your mate is not who you think he is. He has lied to you about something you deem important, just so he could have you. Whatever you do, do not mark him. Stay clear.” Elizabeth says, like shes giving me an important warning.
“And why should I believe a random stranger over my mate?” I cross my arms.
“I’ve known Moretti for…years, per say. Trust me, you don’t know him at all.”
Why does that sound like a threat?
“Listen lady, I don’t care if you have known him for ‘years‘. This man that we are talking about is my mate. My love. You don’t know him like I do. You don’t get to tell me what to do with my relationship with him, and you certainly do not get to think that you can interfere with our relationship. So, please do us a favor, and leave us all alone.” I turn around to leave, and just as I was almost out of earshot, I hear her again.
“Just trust me on this. If you rashly mark him, you will regret it.”
I turn around to snap back at her, but she was gone.
Where did she go?
“Li?” I hear Moretti call.
I sigh, almost disappointed that I couldn’t have the last word, and go back to the stone.
“There you are. Where’d you go?” He looks at me, concerned.
I shrug. “The bathroom. I was bored looking at a stone.”
He chuckles, but something tells me that he doesn’t believe my lie. Honestly, I wouldn’t either. I suck at lying.
He takes a step closer to me, and leans down, his mouth close to my ear. “Next time, tell me where you’re going. I don’t want anyone harming you.”
He bites my earlobe gently, and I gasp at the action. He pulls away.
“I hope I make myself clear.” He subtly warns me.
I snort. “I can take care of myself.”
He looks at me with a guarded stare, but doesn’t respond back to my sassy comment. I suppose he knows I’m all bark and no bite at this point.
I look down and see a tiny gift bag in his hands. I nod to it. “What’s that?”
He snaps out of his guarded emotions, and looks down at the bag. “Something for you.”
“For me?” I smile.
He nods and reaches into the bag, pulling out a small black box.
My eyes widen.
I swear, if he thinks-
“Don’t worry, this isn’t a marriage proposal or anything. I know what you’re thinking.” He lightly tells me.
I take a sigh of relief. Thank goddess.
He flips open the top of the box, a bronze band glimmered back at me.
“The bronze came from the statues and decorations all over this place back when it was new. I just knew that it would be something you would like.”
My jaw slowly drops. As simple as this ring is, it’s worth hundreds of thousands. I look at the ring, and back up to Moretti.
“I figured it could be a promise ring. That I promise to be by your side, always. No matter what.” My takes the ring out of the box and holds it out. “May I put it on?” He offers out his free hand.
I nod, clearly at a loss for words, and held out my hand.
He slips the ring on my finger, and I quickly lean up to kiss him, Elizabeth’s warning in the back of my mind.
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