005. Desserts for the Stressed [1]

Special mass release for the novel's launch, 05/20.

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MIA

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The car still has a scent that reminds me of papa, it's really fucking hard to forget. It's barely been five years, but it still hurts like hell. It hurts like hell.

"Are you okay, Missy?" He asked me worried.

I inhaled deeply, throwing the headphones aside, "Honestly?"

A nod, "Honestly."

"No," I muttered bitterly. "I'm far from okay. I'm overwhelmed."

He smiled softly through the mirror, "How about a gelato?"

Papa always took me to have some ice cream when I was upset, and he knows it. My cheeks burned right away, "I would like that, yes."

Then, he took a turn before the traffic lights turned red, leaving all of my siblings cars stuck behind us, as we sped up through the streets, heading to the little gelato shop that papa loved, fast enough so none of my siblings would see where I went. And I confess, I felt laughter bubbling in my belly.

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I was in the third cookies & cream gelato, when my phone that I had turned back up and front down rang frantically for the 57th damn time. Romeo arched his eyebrows at it, as he ate his lemon gelato with me, "You should at least who is it!"

"It's probably Anya, Leo, or mama," I rolled my shoulders.

"What if it's not?" He tilted his head.

When it kept ringing, I rolled my eyes and picked it up, and almost choked on the gelato when I saw 'Doberman Misha of Libra' glowing on the screen. Gasping, I handed my gelato to him and quickly took the call. "Yes?"

"Mia, where are you? Everyone is freaking out!" He asked calmly.

His deep voice sent shivers down my spine and I felt my cheeks heating up, "I'm in Milan, where else would I be, Misha?"

A sigh came from him, "I had a feeling you would still be in here. Where exactly are you right now? What are you doing?" Is he coming after me?

"I'm having a gelato," I said bluntly and he hung up.

"Do you have a crush on Grigori Mikhail, Missy?" Romeo purred giving me a naughty look, and turned strawberry red.

"Don't say a word about this," I didn't deny neither did I confirm it.

"I would never," he giggled. "Did the Master knew?"

I licked my lips, "He's the only one who knew."

Not even two minutes after that, the familiar black Audi entered the street we were in, in extra super speed, and parked right in front of the gelato shop. Then, Misha came out of the driver's seat in all his glory and beauty and my jaw dropped for a second. In no time he was opening the door, and as his eyes scanned the empty tables, he spotted us at the right corner.

"How did you," I gasped.

"Zio Chris brought me here thrice before, alone. He said it was his favorite gelato shop in Italy, and that it was a secret spot he had only told his favorite person before," he rolled wide shoulders and walked to the table, than took the seat at my right, and Roman quickly bowed to him and left winking at me. "You were his favorite person."

I clenched my jaw, not knowing what to do, what to say, so I just stated at my gelato, and in no time he asked for a Belgium dark chocolate with hazelnut gelato for himself, and I did my best not to grin at it. Seems like his tastes remain the same on that matter. And in two minutes they handed it to him and he turned his blue eyes to me.

"What are you doing here, Misha?" I asked finally meeting his eyes.

"Emma asked me to come get you back," he said, relaxed.

Of course, she did. Because he does everything for her. I looked away from his gaze, "I just needed to breath away from all of them. It's suffocating. The way they keep walking on eggs around me is suffocating. Makes me want to scream and to stay away," sighing, I took a bit more of my gelato. "You get me?"

"I do," of course, he does. "But they were worried for you, Mia."

"They shouldn't. I'm 20 years old, I can take care of myself," I groaned.

"But you are still their little girl," he said matter-of-factly.

Always 'their' and never 'our'. "I'm no little girl, Misha."

"You certainly have the height of one," he joked.

My eyes widened embarrassed and I felt my cheeks burns, then I glared at him, "You don't get to call me short. I'm 1.67m, it's a good height. You are the one who's needlessly tall, because of your paternal and maternal genes, Misha."

"Doesn't change the fact that to me you're a little girl," he grinned.

Of course, he sees me as a child. I'm just 2 years younger, but he sees me like a damn child. This is humiliating. Sighing, I picked my thing and stood up, beyond annoyed, feeling my heart ache. Dio santo, for all I know he could even have an unreciprocated love for Emma, which is a fucking nightmare.

"Fine, Grigori Mikhail, I'll head back," I finished my gelato and threw the cup on the trashcan. "Enjoy your gelato, stepbrother."

Then, I got into my car, fuming with embarrassment and anger, and raw jealousy of Emma and of her relationship with him, and laid down on the back seat, covering my face with my jacket. Doing my fucking best not to cry.

"Missy, what happened?" He asked exasperated, but driving.

"He sees me like a little girl, Romeo," my voice broke. "I'm 20 years old already, but Misha still sees me as a kid. A girl. Ugh, I hate this. I hate this feeling. I don't want to feel it, but every time he pops up, I forget everything, I even forget my name, I can only see him, think of him. It's infuriating, I hate it."