La Vita Dolce

Gianni raised himself up on one elbow and gazed down at Natasha as she slept. The light of morning was pouring through the slanted blinds and he could hear others stirring in the house. Her dark hair fanned against the pillow. Her face was turned slightly to him and passive in sleep though a hint of a smile curved upon her full lips. Her dark lashes fanned against her cheeks. She clutched the sheet modestly to her breast.

Gianni absently trailed his fingers through her hair, smiling faintly. His gaze drifted downward, he carefully laid the palm of his hand against her stomach and felt the desire to protect sweeping over him.

He watched her sleep and felt a restlessness stirring in him. He glanced around at their surroundings before returning his attentions to her. This was no good, hiding away, knowing full well that Luca would find them eventually. And waiting around for that to happen was not going to work for him. He had to meet this thing head on. He couldn't just wait for Luca to come to them. Gianni needed to confront him and the further away from Natasha and his child that confrontation occurred the better.

Gianni slid from the bed, careful not to wake her. He pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and padded from the room. First things first.

Natasha slept heavily. She was exhausted physically and emotionally. Her sleep was deep and dreamless. She was happy. The past few days had been filled with dread and wondering about being pregnant and how Gianni would take the news. But his happiness over the news had soothed her fears and she found herself looking forward to starting a family. If only it weren't for the dark shadow of Luca Angiolini lingering over them.

The sound of the bedroom door opening woke her. Her eyes drifted open.

"Morning, beautiful." Gianni was entering the room, a tray of food.

Natasha sat up in bed grinning at him, holding the sheet to cover her breasts. He leaned over and planted a lingering kiss upon her lips as he set the tray down over her lap.

Natasha looked down in the tray in something akin to shock. The tray carried a stack of pancakes, bacon, half a grapefruit, orange juice and a glass of milk. She lifted her incredulous gaze to Gianni who grinned at her.

"Babe--" she began.

He shook his head. "Sorry, Bella. No coffee. I don't think it's good for the baby."

Natasha's brows lifted. "Actually I was referring to the forklift that's going to be necessary for all this food. Who's going to eat all this?"

He grinned and looked sheepish as ran his hand through his dark hair brushing it off his forehead. He shrugged his shoulders. "I might have gone a little overboard."

Natasha smiled and sank her fork into the stack of pancakes before lifting her fork to her mouth.

Gianni watched as Natasha's eyes drifted closed and her lips curved upwards in a satisfied smile. "Mmm" she moaned. She gazed at him with renewed interest. "And you cook too."

He took up her teasing tone. "Yes, I am the perfect man....all the more reason for you to marry me."

Natasha smiled at him brightly and laughed before sinking her fork once more into the stack of pancakes.

Gianni closed his hand around hers holding the fork, stilling her movements. "Bella..."

She lifted her gaze to his to take in the serious and intent expression on his face.

"I was being serious, bella." His silvery gaze had darkened to slate. "Marry me."

She was looking at him warily as she tugged her hand loose, shaking her head. She forked another bite and slid it into her mouth, still shaking her head, not meeting his gaze.

He felt his chest tightening. "Natasha..." he ventured.

She shook her head vehemently and shoveled another bite into her mouth. As she was reaching for another bite he grasped her hand, stopping her. The fork clattered to the plate. Yet still she averted her gaze. She felt Gianni's fingertips slide tenderly under her chin to lift her stricken gaze to his. Natasha felt her heart sink in her chest. He was smiling at her but there was an uncertainty in his gaze that she had not yet seen before. That she was the cause made her heart twinge. She swallowed thickly as tears welled in her eyes. Her voice came out hoarse. "This is not hat I wanted."

She watched surprise and hurt flicker in his gaze. He dropped his hand from her face and release her hand. He lowered his gaze to tray between them. She could almost feel him withdrawing from her. His mouth tightened and pursed as he drew a hand through his hair. His voice was soft. "I see." He rose only to have her hand shoot out and grasp his wrist.

"Gianni, stop please. Just listen." Her eyes pleaded with him.

He sat on he edge of the bed, his hands clasped between his knees though he still averted his gaze.

Natasha studied his profile as she set aside the tray. She rose onto her knees, still keeping the sheet against her body. She scooted closer to him and sifted her fingers through his hair but his expression remained distant and stoic.

Sighing she sat back on her haunches. She tried to order her words and her thoughts carefully. "I didn't want it to happen this way. I don't want you to ask me to marry you out of obligation, because it's the right thing to do or because it's out of obligation. It's not that I don't want to marry you. That's not it at all. It's just that I wish things had turned out...differently"

"You regret this child?" His voice was low.

"No!" her voice rose an octave. "No." She pressed a hand against her midsection. "This is the most amazing thing to happen to me. And that it's your child...I couldn't be happier. But I love you too much to trap you that way."

Natasha watched the tension drain from his body even as she felt herself weighed down with the weight of her admission.

Silently shaking his head he closed his hands around her waist to lift her onto his lap that she was straddling his lap, the sheet twisting around her and between their bodies.

He looped his arms around her wait while looking intently into her face. Tears shimmered in her eyes.

He brushed his lips softly over hers. He held her face in his hands, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks. A smile softened his face as he drank in her features admiring the honey brown of her skin. "So beautiful, bella, and so completely mistaken right now."

Her eyelids twitched and tears trembled on her thick lashes. The only sound she could manage was, "huh?"

Gianni's smile broadened. "I want to marry you. This child...yours and mine...is amazing and wonderful. You've made me a father and I couldn't imagine anything that could make me happier." He paused, "except that if you would be my wife."

She hicupped with the effort of holding back sobs.

"I knew from the moment that I saw you in that airport," he chuckled, "your stuff scattered all over the floor and your scrambling after it...I knew you were exactly the woman for me. And if you weren't pregnant now....I'd want you to have my child in time. I would still be wanting you for my wife now."

A so broke free and her shoulders slumped forward as she wept. Her chin dropped forward to her chest.

Gianni kissed the top of her dark head. "What do you say, bella?"

She sobbed harder, placing her palm against his chest. She nodded vigorously and lifted her head. "Okay," she hiccupped.

Gianni laughed. "Okay?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," she said swallowing her sobs and meeting his gaze. She smiled, "Definitely yes."

Grinning and growling in triumph, Gianni rolled her over onto the bed as she shrieked in surprise and laughed through her tears. He kissed her brow, her eye lids, her cheeks, the tip of her nose, finally to luxuriate in the sweetness of her lips.

The sheet had slipped from her body and her breasts were pressed fully against his chest. His lips trailed over her throat and down to the valley between her breasts before his tongue flicked against her hardened nipples. She arched against him burying her hands in his hair.

His lifted his head to gaze into her face. The tenderness in his eyes was nearly her undoing. His tone was frank. "You make me unbelievably happy." He lowered his mouth to cover hers once more. She sighed against his lips and wound her arms around his neck.

The sound of a scream and the shatter of glass parted them. Gianni jerked upright and looked down into her face, an unfamiliar emotion flickering over his visage as he gazed down into her wide eyed expression, fear.

"Stay, bella, please," he rasped as he wrenched himself from her and flew from the room slamming the door behind him.

Natasha scrambled to her feet clutching the sheet around her. She had no intention of staying put. She threw open the door and raced out into the landing, all the while the sound of shattering glass filled the house.

Natasha stood on the landing looking out over the den, her mouth dropping open as terror slashed through her belly. The expanse of floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors off the kitchen on to the deck had been reduced to shards of glass which littered the ground as far as the den. There were strangers in the cabin, men dressed in black cargoes tucked into comabt boots. They wore Kevlar and carried semi-automatics. Their faces were obscured by ski masks.

One man had Lacey cornered in the kitchen as she wrenched open cupboards hurling dishes and anything she could get her hands on at him as he tried to fend off the flying objects. She looked incredibly angry as she hurled china, looking more enraged than frightened. Allowing the man within reach, she snatched up a heave cast iron skillet and swung with all her might at his head. He fell and disappeared behind the counter. Morgan was being tracked around the island by a man as she eyed him warily, trying to keep the island between them. He lunged only for Morgan to skirt away out of his grasp and around the corner once more.

Gianni was trading blows with two men who were trying to back him towards a corner but he moved quickly, keeping them off balance with quick jabs and dodges. Colin was rolling across the den floor locked in a struggle. Colin was flipped onto his back The man above him had drawn a wicked looking blade, trying to force it down towards Colin's chest as Colin's muscles strained to keep the knife at bay.

Crying out Natasha raced back toward the bedroom, not realizing that she had drawn the attention of one of the men who started for the stairs. "Natasha!" she heard Gianni shout.

Entering the bedroom she dropped the sheet and shrugged into her short silk robe, tying it hurriedly around her waist with trembling fingers and slipped into her converse sneakers. She yanked open the beaureau flinging its contents to the floor until her fingers closed around the heavy metal of Gianni's gun.

She flipped the safety and raced back onto the landing only to run headlong into a tall male body. The man was huge, dwarfing her. He grabbed her shoulder in a crushing grip and lifted her off her feet. He was smiling beneath the mask. "Gotcha," he growled.

Natasha kicked out as hard as she could catching him between the legs. He let out a grunt and dropped her to her feet as he bent over, cupping his manhood. Natasha stumbled slightly but recoved quickly. He was still bent over as she cocked her leg and kicked him hard, catching him in the shoulder and sending him tumbing down the stairs where he lay writhing.

Gianni glanced up at her only to be caught off guard and take a blow to his jaw and was knocked against the wall where he shook his head to clear it and raised his fists once more.

Natasha tore down the stairs, leaping over the fallen man only to feel his hand close around her ankle. She fell hard onto her hands and knees, the gun skittering away from her. The broken glass tore at her palms as he dragged her backwards. She twisted her body and kicked out at him, catching him full in the face. He lay still upon his back.

Natasha stumbled to her feet, snatching up the gun as she did so. She scanned the cabin, torn. Lacey was still holding her own in the kitchen, wielding the skillet like a baseball bat against the man currently trying to grab a hold of her. The man pursuing Morgan had lunged across the island and was dragging her kicking and screaming over the marble countertop. Gianni was still holding his own, his gaze angry and predatory. Colin was beneath the man weilding the knife. Every muscle straining to keep the blade's tip from his chest. Natash raced to him, flipping the gun in her hand as she went, taking hold of the barrel.

Swining the gun like a tennis racket she caught the assailent across the temple as Colin threw him off. The man crumpled to lay facedown on the carpet.

Colin rose to his feet and opened his mouth to speak only to be cut off by the sound of Morgan's scream. Morgan was wrapped up in one man's grasp tight around her waist but she lunged forward, finger outstretched and snatched a knife from the knife block in on the kitchen counter. With a cry she drew the blade across the man's forearm. With a curse he flung Morgan against island. The knife flew from her hand as the hit the counter hard and fell to her knees. He stood over her and reached down to grab her arm and pulled her to her feet only to draw back his hand and strike her against the face. Morgan fell heavily onto her hands and knees.

"No!" Natasha and Colin shouted in unision as the man snatched a blade from the same knife block and gazed down at Morgan speculatively who was still struggling to lift herself from the ground, her red locks obscuring her face. Colin started for her, as the man drew back his arm to plunge the blade. He would be too late.

Natasha sidestepped Colin's form and raised the gun. The gun report filled the room and she squeezed the trigger again and again. The man danced like some grotesque marrionette as the bullets struck his chest. He flew onto his back to claw at the Kevlar vest. One of the bullets had gone through into his side. Blood was pulling on the ground beneath him.

Colin pulled Morgan to her feet, supporting her with an arm around her waist. The cabin had gone still and silent following the gun reports. The men in black had straightened, their gaze intent on her. Natasha's gaze switched between them warily, breathing hard. From the corner of her eyes she watched a man start for her and she swung the gun in his direction.

"Hold!" a voice reverberated through the cabin. The man froze and Natasha swung the gun towards the voice. Her stomach filled with heavy dread.

Luca Angiolini entered the cabin, his boots crunching on the broken glass. Two men flanked him on each side, their guns raised. He wore black cowboy boots beneath black jeans that hugged his muscular thighs. He wore a closely fitted black t-shirt which emphasized the hard planes of his chest. He had cultivated a closely cropped dark beard and his dark hair fell over his brow.

His gun was trained on her, a smirk twisted his lips. "Nice shot, little one." His eyes turned cold and his voice hardened, "now drop the fucking gun."

Natasha was finding it hard to breath. The her hand trembled holding the gun but she did not waver from the target of the center of his chest. She shook her head silently.

His brows drew together. He had obviously thought she would just drop the gun. "I swear to God, I'll blow your pretty little head off, little one...if your don't drop the gun."

Natasha flinched but did not lower the gun.

Luca tilted his head to the side scrutinizing her. She had more balls than he'd thought. "No?" In a move faster than her eyes could follow,his hand shot out and he wrenched Morgan from Colin's grasp. Colin moved to stop him but the semi-automatic one of Luca's men pressed to his chest halted him.

Luca wrapped an arm around Morgan's throat and holding her in front of his body. Morgan tugged as his grip, sobbing but he was immobile. His gaze was hard as he gazed at Natasha and he smoothly pressed the barrel of the gun to Morgan's temple. "And what about her? What if I decide to blow her pretty little head off?" He then trained his gun on Colin, and then Lacey, and finally Gianni being restrained in turn. "I offer a trade, little one." He drawled. "Your life for theirs. But hold onto that gun and all of you will die, make no mistake."

Natasha let out a sob and the gun fell from her hand. She sank to her knees on the carpet. Luca smiled in triumph. He nodded to one of his men who came forward, his gun trained on Natasha. He kicked the gun out of her reach, and taking her arm in a bruising grip. Luca shoved Morgan at one of his men as Natasha was shoved forward into his arms.

"No!" Gianni shouted, fighting against the two men who held him back by the arms.

Natasha's breath whooshed out of her as she collided with the solid wall of Luca's chest. His arms came around her and crushed her against him, the hard metal of the gun he still carried digging into her back. With the other hand he reached grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back. He grinned down into her upturned tearstained face. "Hello, bella," he growled. "Missed me, have you?"

"Luca!" Gianni was snarling, tugging at the men who restrained him who were struggling with all their strength to hold him back. "Luca, you fucking coward let her go!"

Luca's gaze roved over his brother dispassionately only to return his gaze to Natasha's face and trembling lips. He smiled thinly. "I think not."

He raised his voice to make sure that Gianni could hear his worlds. His hardened gaze met Gianni's. "I was going to allow her an almost peaceful death before, brother. But now I think I'm going to take your woman over and over again until she is broken. And then I'm going to give her to my men until they have had done with her and she wishes for death."

Gianni's knees almost buckled at his brother's words and then roared in fury, straining against his captors as he watched as Luca lowered his lips to Natasha's with a crushing brutality. His teeth grazed her lip and she tasted blood. The roughness of his beard tore at her skin. She whimpered and pushed against his chest but he did not relent. She felt the gun against her ass and she stood stalk still, trembling with fear. His hand slipped intside the robe and his fingers squeezed her breast to the point of pain. She cried out in pain and humiliation against his assaulting mouth.

He drew back leisurely, gazing at her swollen lips in satisfaction. His voice lowered "There will be time enough for that later."

He lifted his gaze and addressed Gianni, Colin and Lacey in turn. "Follow us and I'll kill them both."

Natasha's gaze widened and she glanced at Morgan being held in one man's grasp. "Both?" she cried. "You promised to let her go!"

Luca grinned cruelly. "Ah but my dear, if I had know that I just needed to threaten a life to keep you pliant I would have decided to kill someone long ago. She's coming to make sure you don't cause any trouble." He gripped her jaw in his fingers. "Fuck with me and I'll kill her while you watch."

Morgan whimpered.

"Understood?" Luca smirked.

Natasha nodded wide-eyed and wordless.

Luca grinned ferally. "Get them out of here." He motioned to one of his men and Natasha found herself lifted unceremoniously and flung over a shoulder. The blood rushed to her head as she was carried from the house, the sounds of Colin's and Gianni's shouts following them and Morgan's nearer screams echoing in her head. The trunk of an suv was opened and both she and Morgan were both set down to sit, their legs dangling above the gravel.

A man in a ski mask brought forth a roll of duct tape and quickly bound their wrists behind their backs and taped their ankles together before placing a strip over their mouths as well. They were then shoved without pretense into the space of the trunk and the door slammed behind them.