The tears of laughter appeared in my eyes while I held my stomach with my arms to make it stop as my laughter was like those motors in vehicles that make annoying noises.

Yet, when I looked up at that person standing before me with my tiny half-closed eyes because of the laugh, I got amused by that scene.

That bossy monster was leaning on the kitchen table a little which was right in front of me, his arms folded up to his chest while giving me an unreadable expression yet it seemed like he was...enjoying it?

Suddenly, all my laughter vanished and I stopped right at that moment. Not because I was scared to see him like that but I was amused by why he didn't get irritated by me like always.

I straightened myself and cleared my throat to make myself normal. When I was about to ask him about his sudden change of reaction, a hand came in my direction and touched my forehead.

He was touching my forehead with one hand while holding my back with his other one so that he wouldn't push me with the pressure.

Even though I knew what he was trying to figure out, I still asked him, not in words but by narrowing my eyes at him while shrugging as a question.

He looked down at me to meet my eyes level and then after a few moments of gazing at me, he backed off.

He lightly cleared his throat before responding to me, "You don't have any fever?" it was more like a question itself to him.

"What did I say earlier? My immune system is good at its work." I felt proud of my health.

After being soaked up in that heavy rain, anyone could fall sick by getting a fever or cold, but I got nothing. Yet. I don't trust the turn my immune system will take later.

"Are you...having any pain in your legs?" He asked softly after a lot of hesitation.

I was stilled by the affection I got in his voice and when I looked at him I saw it from his eyes too.

I simply shook my head and replied, "You know, someone has trained me earlier by giving me a task to complete the long rounds of ground, which was quite of help to me to complete this one."

"That's why I always tell you to listen to your boss, which is me." He said immediately after I finished.

Now that I was noticing him, it seemed he released a sigh of relief. His face relaxed at my reply.

"Were you worried about me?" I asked curiously but it came out like a whisper.

He lowered his head down. I thought of leaving that question and didn't ask him again. A shyness filled me in for asking a question like that, that too to him.

"Are you hungry?" His voice unexpectedly came in a calm tone with an unexpected question.

He was asking me if I was hungry. I was amused by that.

It seemed that he noticed my reaction, because, at the very next moment, he stepped towards me and stopped right before me, leaving no space between us.

An unwelcome gasp left my lips and I froze at my place even though I was sitting on the kitchen counter.

I did not break eye contact with him like if I did he would probably...

"Hunger...? That's what you feel inside your stomach when you don't eat for a long time?" He interrupted me from my thoughts while leaning into me by resting both of his hands by the side of me on the counter and asked. More like he said that with sarcasm.

Then I remembered the time when I explained to him what a pizza is like as a circular food with triangular cutting shapes. So, it meant he was sending my words back to me by mimicking me. But I wasn't being sarcastic at that time when I said that.

I looked up at him and he smirked. It was the same smirk I had gotten from him the moment we met for the first time. At that time it felt like a warning to me but now it felt different.

"Seriously?" I chuckled at him.

His smirk got bigger and then it finally turned into a bright smile. A smile felt like the brightest star in the sky.

His eyes met mine and suddenly, I felt something else rather than hate in it.

"I am serious right now. You must be hungry because you skipped dinner." He said.

"Yeah...I am. Very much." I replied to him.

He backed off from me and I used that time to collect myself altogether by breathing in and out. I didn't realise that I was stopping my breath under his appearance.

After a few moments, his phone started ringing which was in his pocket. He took out the phone from his pocket and looked at the screen, after looking at the screen for some time when the phone disconnected itself, he put it back in his pocket.

"May I ask who it was?" I asked him after I noticed his sudden change of reaction.

His eyebrows furrowed but still, he had no expression on his face.

"Not anyone important. So, tell me what you want to eat." He asked.

"Are you going to order for me?" I asked, covering my happy shock. I turned my face a little away from his sight and covered it with my hair and then I grinned while doing a happy dance internally.

Just tell him that you want to eat pizza.

Tell him! This is the only chance for you to meet with your love. Speak up!

Don't waste any time, Alora, and tell him before he could change his mind. My thoughts ordered me to say that to him.

As I turned my face to look at him and opened my mouth to reply to him, something fresh arrived in my mouth.

I looked down and saw that it was a carrot. He pushed a carrot in my mouth.

"A carrot?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Your dinner." He simply said while lightly shrugging his shoulders with no hints of fun on his face.

There were so many kitchen utensils to use on him. The forks could be helpful when I tape him on the wall and attack him with those forks just like an arrow.

Don't kill him. Not right now.

My subconscious told me to hold onto my revenge of insults later as he was going to give me food.

I sighed out my irritation and looked back at him with a broad smile. Then I said, "Monster...please don't play with me right now because I am starving!"

The last words were probably coming out of me like shouting. It's not my fault. He was just making it hard for me.

He sighed and shook his head as if I was the one who was irritating him.

"I am going to cook. So, tell me what you want to eat." He said in a calm tone.

I thought he was going to order. But he was going to cook–wait–did I hear that right?

"Cook? You? I mean...you know how to cook, right? Or did the enthusiasm for cooking suddenly awaken you from somewhere?" I asked, making sure he knew how to cook before letting him stand in front of the gas stove.

Otherwise, the next day I will be scolded for the explosion and that too from the one who will do the explosion.

I shrugged my shoulders by looking away from him and when I turned back at him he stared at me boringly.

"All I am saying is that you are the boss, it's my duty to protect you from every danger whether it is an explosion from cooking or anything else." I gave him a nervous chuckle.

After that, I saw the unthinkable. The scene I never imagined seeing while I just roasted him.

He was smiling, no...he was laughing. Openly.

His laughter echoed in the entire kitchen and it literally felt like music to my ears. I don't know why but I was being different around his appearance. Even though we were always arguing, fighting and all, it felt great to be around him. His presence made me think that I was safe if he was with me.

What is it that I was hiding from myself?

What is it that I couldn't understand?

My heart was giving me all the hints but still, I didn't know what to realize.

Maybe it was just an emotion of thankfulness. Thankful to him for letting me feel safe here, away from my Uncle's prison. Thankful for accepting my jokes and not being angry about it. Thankful for asking me if I was hungry, for wanting to cook only for me whether it was midnight. Thankful to him for teaching me to stand up for myself just like my Dad did.

All the way, I was thankful to God, for giving me the amazing time of my life which I had never expected before to happen any day.

"I can make pizza. For you." His voice interrupted me, taking my attention towards him.

After a few moments of silence while I was taking myself back from my thankful thoughts, "Pizza?" I repeated the word to confirm if I heard him right.

He nodded but now his face had no sign of emotions on it.

He was an expert in hiding his emotions, and feelings too.

We were sitting beside each other on the chair while I was enjoying my love, he was staring at me.

After finishing the whole pizza, from which I have only given one slice to Enzo, I was all full. He told me he didn't like pizza that much and it hurt me knowing that my love was not being loved by the mafia.

"I am truly sorry, love. But there is no need to worry, I will always love you and will always be by your side no matter how many times I have to unfollow the restrictions only for you." I said, looking emotionally at the empty plate where the last slice of pizza was there a minute ago and now it was in my stomach.

I glanced at him and he sighed while combing his hair with his fingers.

"Wow! How do you do that? The emotional act?" He asked, narrowing his eyes on me, showing as if he was genuinely asking me. No. He was trying to make fun of me.

"God gifted me this talent." I simply answered.

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief at my reply before saying, "Well, you broke your relationship with your pizza."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. You first finished it and after that, you gave vows and promises. So basically, you betrayed the pizza."

"No, I didn't. I respected it by eating all of it and showed that even if you people don't like my love, I will always love it."

A tiny shape of pout had left my lips.

"Whatever. Clean your face." He said, looking away.

I think I messed up with my face while taking big bites. I looked around the table but didn't find any tissue to wipe my mouth with.

Then I saw that Enzo was putting his shirt sleeves to his elbow. I thought of a mischief to do.

The next moment, I leaned into his side to put my face on top of his shirt's layer and rubbed my face left and right to wipe it.

When I was satisfied with my face as it got cleaned and glanced at him to see his reaction, I saw it.

Okay, I knew that I could just wash my face to clean that mess but as we were still enemies, I couldn't just miss any chance to beat him no matter in what way.

"What is the use of building such a big house, such big rooms if there is not even a tissue in the kitchen?" I complained while releasing some tsk tsk sounds and then sighed.

I looked at him for any kind of irritation in his face but found him dumb.

So, instead of apologizing, I gave him a bright smile and said, "Thank you for the pizza. Good night."

I patted on his head and came out of the kitchen leaving a shocked Enzo. I think he just got traumatized now.

*****