Roswell Fanatics

Title: Be My Escape
Rating: ADULT
Author: IceQueen
Couples: Mainly M/l some M/M
Disclaimer: Don't own them just borrowing and having fun.


Summary: Liz needs to get away from her husband who is abusive. In a desperate attempt she flees to Italy where she meets someone who just might be her escape(i know it sucks but give me a chance?? LOL)


** There is strong violence in the first few chapters, just a warning.**

A/N: THANK YOU to Lizard_queen once again. If it wasn't for her i would have never written this much less posted. Thanks to crashdown_51 for the awesome banner. I am not fluent in Italian so sorry for any Italian speakers out there if i butchered the language



~~ Prolouge~~

“ Your leaving? Perchè (why)?” he watched her pick up some of her things and stuff them into a bag.

“ It’s not safe. I-I have to go. I’m sorry.” tears spilling from her eyes as she gathered her things

“ Non ci credo ( I don‘t believe it). Please just stop and look at me innamorato (sweetheart).” He grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him

“ Please just let me go. I have to go. I never meant to hurt you. Trust me it’s better this way. I don’t want to get you involved. I have to go before he gets here.” She was desperately trying to get away from him before it was too late

He crashed his lips on her. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave into him. Realizing that she didn’t have much time she pulled away.

“ I love you but I have to leave you, I’m sorry.” She kissed his lips softly and took off the ring that he had given her placing it on the dresser before she ran out of the house into the night not knowing where she was headed but knowing that she needed to get away far away for his safety.


~~Chapter 1~~
2 years earlier

Liz parker was the happiest she’s ever been in her life. She had just come home from the most perfect date. She met the most wonderful man. He was caring, good looking and was interested in the same things she was. She didn’t care about the rumors she heard about him.

Rumors that he was the leader or an international drug ring. To her he was a successful business man. They had met at an art gallery and Liz thought he was perfect. He was so charming. He said all the right things and they hit it off right away.

They had been dating on and off for the past month and things were getting really serious really fast. She couldn’t help herself. She was even thinking of moving in with him. It was his suggestion. She talked to her best friend since grade school about it and she thought Liz was crazy.

Maria didn’t like Jackson at all. She thought there was something off about him.

“ Liz you can’t move in with him. You barely know him.” Maria was sitting in her office on Park Ave.

“ I know that I’ve only known him a month but I’m falling for him. He’s not like anyone that I met before. I don’t know Maria I really like him.” Liz said looking out her bedroom window.

“ I don’t like it Liz. Something is not right.” Maria said pinching the bridge of her nose

“ Maria can’t you be happy for me?” Liz said with a sigh

“ I’m just letting you know that things are moving too fast.”

“ I know that but I can’t help what I feel. I think he’s the one.” Liz said bracing herself for the wrath of Maria

“ Whoa slow down girl. You barely know this guy. What happened to the sensible Liz that I know. The one that over analyzes everything? This guy has some force on you or something. Do you even consider his reputation?” She asked

“ None of those things are true. I mean I would have noticed if he was a drug lord don’t you think?” Liz was packing on over night bag to take to Jackson’s house

“ Yeah well maybe he’s just good at hiding it. I mean I really don’t think that he gets all his money from his business. I mean he lives in one of the priciest neighborhoods in New Jersey.

“ Maria just please be happy for me.” Liz was pleading

“ Alright I’ll try but I still don’t like it. When am I going to see you again. It’s been two weeks since we’ve hung out?”

“ I know I’m sorry. How about we go out tomorrow night. I’ll meet you in the city for drinks.” Liz said hoping that would cheer her up

“ Alright meet me at my office around 6.” Maria was getting ready to leave work

“ Ok I’ll see you then.” Liz hung up

Liz finished packing her overnight bag and headed out to Upper Saddle River where Jackson lived. He had a 6 bedroom house in a very exclusive neighborhood. Very different from her 1 bedroom in Wayne.

She parked her 1999 Honda civic next to his 2004 Porsche Cayenne and laughed to herself. Who would have thought that Liz Parker would ever get a man that drove a Porsche.

“ Hey baby.” He opened the door and kissed her on the cheek.

“ Hi.” She made her way inside

“ I see that your not dressed.” He eyed her outfit

“ Where are we going? I thought we were staying in tonight.” She said

“ I told you last week Elizabeth. We are going to Jimmy’s Bronx Café.” He said raising his voice

“ I’m sorry. I’ll just run home and get something.” She said heading to the door

“ We don’t have time for you to go all the way back. Let’s just stop at a store and get you something new.” He said giving her a slight smile

And just like that they were on their way to get her a new dress. He was never shy about spending money. It made Liz uncomfortable at first but he told her that he liked to live life as if it was his last day.

“ You can’t take it with you.” He said

If only she knew the real reason he spent money like he had a tree in the backyard.

The evening went off with no further problems. He was a little annoyed at first that she wasn’t dressed but he quickly got over it when they entered the club and he saw how many people had their eyes on Liz. Most men would feel uncomfortable or even jealous but he loved it. He loved that he had something that others longed for. He knew that no one would dare mess with what was his. As far as he was concerned Liz belonged to him until he decided otherwise.

Liz moved in with him that week. Maria was disappointed and let Liz know about it but Liz assured her that she was doing the right thing. She didn’t tell Maria about the rules or about the fact that she had put in her resignation at her job at Jackson’s request.

Liz had worked her butt off to put herself through college and it paid off when she landed her dream job. She was the director of marketing for a large firm in New York City. The job paid well and she got to be close to Maria.

Liz tried to put up a fight about leaving her job but Jackson made a good case as far as she was concerned. He told her that he wanted to come home to her very night. He told her that he wanted to take care of her and that as long as she was with him she didn’t have to work. He told her that he would provide her with whatever she needed and wanted.

Liz found this extremely romantic. She didn’t dare tell Maria, she would think it was cave man-ish. Liz longed for someone to take care of her and Jackson seemed to fit the bill. She gave in and put gave her two weeks notice. Jackson was extremely happy. Liz was glad that he was happy. Keeping him happy was a must.

About two weeks after she moved in with him Jackson surprised her one day with a brand new Range Rover.

“ Jackson you didn’t have to do this.” Liz said eyeing the car. It was her favorite car in the world. He knew this.

“Look in the glove compartment.” He said handing her the keys to the car
“ What is it?” She said before stepping in the car

“ Just look.” He told her

She got in the car and opened the glove compartment. She saw a small black box and picked it up with shaking hands.

“ Jackson what is it?” She said with a smile on her face

He laughed. “ Will you just open it?”

She opened the box to reveal a 4 carat emerald cut diamond ring with two baguettes on either side. The band had diamonds all around.

“ Do you like it?” He asked making his was to her side of the car

“I love it. But why?” She asked looking up at his piercing blue eyes.

“ I want to marry you. Liz would you be my wife?” He asked getting down on one knee.

“ Yes.” She threw herself into his arms

They were married 4 months later in a small ceremony with mostly his friends and business associates. Liz’s only family was Michael and he refused to come to the wedding. Maria, his girlfriend tried to convince him but he refused. Liz was very upset but tried not to show it, she didn’t want Jackson to start asking questions. She simply told him that Michael couldn’t get away from where he was.

Maria couldn’t believe that Liz was actually marrying this guy that she barely knew. All night she kept noticing how Jackson was keeping Liz close to his side. To anyone else this would have looked like a sweet gesture but not to Maria. She felt like he was being possessive over her. She also wasn’t convinced that all the men here in their custom made suits were business associates of the legal kind. Maria kept the fake smile plastered on her face until Liz and Jackson left to go on their honey moon.


Their honeymoon was perfect. They went to Jamaica and stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Montego Bay. They spent the day laying on the beach and their nights making love. Jackson had told Liz of his wishes to have lots of kids. Liz didn’t want to tell him of her fear of having children. She didn’t think she was ready. She didn’t dare tell him that she was on birth control either.

After two weeks in Jamaica they came back home and settled into a routine. Liz would wake up and make breakfast for Jackson and see him off to work. She spent most of her day laying out by the pool or going shopping. Jackson had hired a housekeeper so Liz didn’t have to do the housework. This left her with much spare time on her hands. Maria was busy at work and she didn’t have any other friends.

She was in the front planting some flowers when she saw someone moving into the house next door. She didn’t pay attention to him but he walked over to her

“ Hi I’m Tony. I just moved in.” He said shaking her hand

“ Hi I’m Liz. Welcome to the neighborhood.” She said standing up

“ So how long have you lived here?” He asked

“ Oh um in this house only a few months but I grew up close to here.” She said looking around to see if she saw Jackson coming

“ Are you ok? You keep looking around.” He asked

“ Yeah I’m fine. I uh have to get back inside. Nice to meet you.” She said getting her things and quickly going back inside

She knew that if Jackson saw her talking to him he would not be happy. She had been witness to his temper before and didn’t want to make him upset.

Jackson was pulling up to the driveway when he spotted the new neighbor. He saw that he had a vintage car in the driveway and decided to stop and say hello.

“ Hi there I’m Jackson. I guess you just moved in.” Jackson shook his hand

“ Hi I’m Tony just moved in today. You live next door?” Tony asked pointing to Jackson’s house

“ Yeah.” He said

“ Oh so your wife must be Liz then. I met her earlier.” Tony said

“ Yeah that’s her.” Jackson was trying to contain his anger.

“ Well I better be going. I’ll see you around I guess.” Jackson made a quick exit.

“ Liz?” He called as he took off his jacket and put his briefcase down.

Liz was trying to hurry up and get changed. She was running late and Jackson didn’t like her to look a mess when he got home.

“ One second.” She called from the bedroom

“ Hi.” She came down the stairs as fast as she could

“ Hi.” He said shortly

“ What’s wrong?” She asked

He slapped her across the face.

TBC?????? So what do you guys think?

WOW thank you guys for the Feed Back Now to answer some Feedback:

Mmcherron: You'll have to wait and see who was in the first part. I'm sure it's not hard to figure out

Crashdown_51: You and your questions. LOL Liz, Max, Michael, Maria and Isabelle will be in this but it's mostly about Max and Liz. You'll have to wait a little bit for Max to really come into the story and Jackson will be dealt with, eventually. No your not annoying. Thank you for reading!!!!

Thank you to everyone else who left a comment:
lizard_queen
RASaero611
purpleant
True Destiny 666
marteloise
Emz80m
Martine
Frenchkiss70
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dragon's princess-YAY you registered!!!!
DestinyDreamer
Dreamersworld

~~Chapter 2~~

*** WARNING :Physical Abuse***
“ Do you think I’m stupid?” He asked

“ What are you talking about? What did I do?” She was trying to remember what she forgot. Dinner was ready, she was dressed, the maid did all the cleaning. She didn’t know what was wrong

“ Are you trying to make me look stupid. Sleeping with our new neighbor.” He was screaming

“ I’m not sleeping with anyone.” She shouted back at him. Big mistake

“ Don’t fucking raise your voice at me!” He struck her again across the face.

She was holding her eye. It felt like it was going to pop out it hurt so much

“ I’m sorry.” She whispered

“ Don’t you I’m sorry me. I don’t want you to leave this house you hear me!” He said looking straight into her eyes

“ But….” Was all she could get out before he backhanded her across the mouth making her lip bleed.

“ You know I hate it when you talk back.” He said before making his was upstairs

That was the first time that he hit her. He apologized over and over that night. He blamed it on loving her so much and his jealousy took over. He actually made her feel bad for him. Month’s went by without further incident until he started to question her about becoming pregnant.

“ Liz why don’t you go and see the doctor. I mean it’s been months and nothing. I just want to make sure everything is ok.” Jackson was getting dressed for work.

“ It just takes time that’s all. I’m sure nothing is wrong.” She said trying to sound convincing

“ Just please go for me.” He gave her a pack on the cheek.

How could he be so sweet one minute and a complete monster the next? If Liz wasn’t sure about having kids before she sure didn’t want them now after seeing his temper.

“ Ok I’ll make an appointment.” She said giving in

“ Thank you. Make sure you tell me when it is. I want to go with you.”

Shit she was busted. How the hell was she going to get out of this one.

“ Oh uh you don’t have to honey. it’s ok.” She said nervously

“ I want to. It’s no problem at all.”

Liz was in panic mode. If he went with her and she told the doctor that she wasn’t on birth control wouldn’t he know? She couldn’t risk Jackson knowing that she’s been on birth control this whole time. She called Maria freaked out.

“ Maria what am I going to do? If he find’s out he’s going to be so mad.” Liz was crying

“ Liz relax. I’m sure that he won’t be that upset. Just explain to him that you are scared.” Maria had no idea who Jackson really was. She didn’t know that if Liz told him he would go crazy. Liz couldn’t tell Maria about that side of her husband

“ Ok Maria yeah your right. I’m sorry to bother you.” Liz said getting herself together


Jackson came home that afternoon and asked Liz about the doctors appointment. Liz tried to put if off but promised that she would make an appointment for as soon as possible. She hoped that he would understand her fears about children. The appointment was for Friday afternoon and Jackson was excited. Liz was nauseous the whole day.

Friday afternoon rolled around and Jackson came to pick up Liz. The whole ride there Liz was quiet. Her hands were sweaty and she felt like she was going to throw up.

“ Are you ok?” Jackson asked

“ Yeah I’m fine. Just nervous.” She said giving him a smile

“ We’re here.” He got out of the car and came around to get her

They sat in the waiting room and Liz leafed through a magazine. Her stomach was in knots.

“ Elizabeth Cayne?” The nurse called

Jackson and Liz stood up and followed the nurse.

“ The doctor will be right in.” The nurse closed the door and left them waiting

“ What’s wrong. You look on edge.” Jackson asked concerned

“ Nothing just nerves I guess.” She said looking down at her hands

The doctor walked in and began her examination. When they left Liz was in tears and Jackson was fuming.

The ride back was quiet. Liz was silently crying and Jackson wouldn’t even look at her. Liz knew that he was pissed and was scared of what he would do to her.

They made it to the house and Liz ran upstairs. Jackson stayed in the living room thinking about what he just heard.

“ How could she lie to me?” He thought to himself

He was getting more and more angry by the second and headed upstairs. He opened the door to the bedroom and saw Liz laying in a fetal position in the middle of their king sized bed. She was sobbing and had a tissue in her hand.

She heard him come in and tried to quiet herself. She wanted him to think that she was asleep but it was too late. He was standing over her staring straight into her eyes. His blue eyes never looked so cold and terrifying to her before. He had a look of pure rage in his eyes. They were in a sort of staring match for a while. She was the first to break contact.

“ I’m sorry.” She whispered looking away from him

“ Your sorry?” He let out a laugh

“ You’ve been lying to me for months and all you can say is sorry!” He was pacing the room running his hands through his hair

“ I was scared Jackson.” She said sitting up on the bed

“ I don’t give a shit about what you felt. You know that I wanted this. No one lies to me you hear me? NO ONE!” He marched towards the bed and slapped her across the face.

Liz almost fell off the bed the force was that great. She stared up at him in shock. She shouldn’t have been though since this is not the first time he has hit her.

He pulled her off the bed and shook her violently as he began to yell

“ YOU FUCKING BITCH! WHO DO YOU THING YOU ARE LYING TO ME!” Over and over she shook her.

“ Stop it your hurting me.” She cried

“ Oh this is nothing. Your going to learn not to ever lie to me again.” He let go of her and pushed her on the bed again.

He walked over to her closet and started to grab her clothes and make a pile in the middle of the room.

“ What are you doing?” She asked

“ Shut up! Don’t talk to me.” He said still adding to the pile

He took most of her clothes and put them in bags. He took them downstairs. Liz was too afraid to follow him. She sat on the bed and waited. Her face felt like it was on fire. She wanted to go to the bathroom and splash water on her face but was to scared to move. A few minutes later she heard him coming back upstairs

“ You want to act like a lying bitch then I’m going to treat you like one.” He said

“ I don’t understand.” She said tears falling down her face

“ All those clothes that I got you, well there gone now. You are not to leave this house for anything. I’m going to get someone to stay here to make sure that you listen to me this time. You are not to call anyone especially Maria. You don’t do anything unless I know about it in advance. Oh yeah and one more thing.” He pulled her off the bed and was inches from her face now.

“ You WILL become pregnant.” He spat at her.

He walked out of the room and left Liz there crying her heart out.

“ What have I done?” She said to herself.

“ Oh God and Maria. What is she going to think?” Liz thought

~~

The next day as Jackson promised there was someone to baby sit Liz. Jackson had sent over his cousin Gabe. Liz felt like a prisoner in her own home. Every room she went into Gabe was there. He didn’t talk to her which made it worse. Not that they would have much to talk about anyway. She was sure that Jackson had told him everything.

She wanted to call Maria so badly. She knew that Maria would worry if Liz didn’t call her for a few days and she didn’t want her to come to the house. Maria didn’t know what Jackson did to Liz. She quickly got an idea and told Gabe that she was going to the bathroom. She went to her closet quickly and grabbed her Palm Pilot. She could send Maria an e-mail telling her that she was going away for a week that way she wouldn’t worry. She found the Palm Pilot and closed the door to the bathroom. She sent Maria an E-mail telling her that she was going to Las Vegas for the week. She said it was Jackson’s idea. She told her that she would call her when she got back.

“ I hope she doesn’t call the house.” Liz thought to herself.



Maria came back from lunch and logged on the check her e-mail. She noticed that there was one from Liz thought that was strange.

“ Why didn’t she just call me?” She thought

She opened the e-mail and saw that Liz was going away to Vegas.

“ I’ll just call her later.” She said closing the e-mail and getting back to work.


Mean while Liz was anxiously awaiting Jackson’s arrival from work. She was now a prisoner in her own home. As expected he got a daily briefing from his cousin on everything she did. He even told him what she ate that day. The first night he got home Liz was in the bedroom laying down. She had lost track of time and hadn’t fixed dinner yet. Jackson barged in the room and walked over to the bed.

Liz was awakened by the crash of the door. She bolted out of the bed and looked over at the clock.

“ Oh shit!” She thought as she looked into his cold eyes

“ Are you sick?” He asked

“ What? Um no.” She said in a small voice

“ They why the fuck isn’t my dinner ready and why the hell aren’t you dressed properly?” He asked shaking her

“ I’m sorry. I fell asleep. I- I lost track of time. It won’t happen again.” She said trying to break free of his grasp

“ Oh I know it won’t” He swing his hand around and slapped her so hard she fell to the ground. She hit her head on the nightstand on the way down and was knocked out momentarily

Liz wished that she could get away from him. He wish came true a few weeks later, or so she thought.

Maria did end up calling Liz that same day and Jackson picked up and told her that she was busy and would have to call her back. He had no intention of telling Liz about the call.

Jackson had told Liz that he was going away on business for a few days. He told her that Gabe would be staying at the house so she shouldn’t do anything stupid.

The night that he left she waited for Gabe to fall asleep and made her escape. She went to a motel not wanting to worry Maria.

The next morning Liz had planned to leave New Jersey for good. She opened the door and saw Gabe there.

“ Gabe! I was on my way home.” She said nervously

“ Let’s go.” He grabbed her by the arm and ushered her to the car.

“ Are you going to tell Jackson?” She had tears in her eyes thinking of the consequences.

Gabe didn’t say anything to whole ride back. When they got in the house he pulled out his cell and walked outside.

Liz was a nervous wreck. She knew that he was calling Jackson to tell him what she had done.

“ He’s going to kill me.” She thought

Gabe came back in with a grin on his face.

“ Oh shit.” She thought. “ He definitely told him”

Jackson came home a day early. As soon as Liz heard him come in she began to panic, she didn’t know what to expect. He made his way upstairs and walked in the bedroom.

“ Your back early.” She said tying to see what kind of mood he was in

“ Yeah got finished early.” He said putting his suitcase on the bed

“ He seems ok.” Liz thought

“ Are you hungry? I didn’t expect you home or I would have cooked.” She said unpacking his bag

“ No I’m fine I got something to eat before I got home. Thanks though.” He gave her a smile

Liz was starting to relax. He didn’t seem mad at all to her. Maybe Gabe didn’t tell him.

That night Liz was asleep and Jackson got out of bed. He went downstairs to make some calls. Liz felt that he had woken up and got out of bed to see where he went. She reached the top of the stairs when she heard him on the phone.

“ I want you to take care of everything as soon as possible. We are going to be leaving in two days. Sell everything and put it in the account I told you about.”

“ Who was he talking to?” She thought

He hung up the phone and walked to the kitchen Liz decided to come down stairs and act like she was getting a drink.

“ Hey who was on the phone?” She asked casually

“ What? Oh no one. Were you spying on me?” He looked at her annoyed

“ No I just heard someone talking so I assumed you were on the phone.” She walked backwards trying to distance herself from him

Jackson looked at her and walked up to their room. Never uttering a word to her.

The next morning she awoke to find Jackson already gone. She went downstairs and didn’t see Gabe there.

“ Gabe” She called out walking to the backyard to see if he was there

“ That’s strange.” She said when no one answered her. A blue envelope caught her eye on the kitchen table. She opened it to reveal two one way plane tickets to Jamaica with her and Jackson’s names on them. There was also directions to what she thought was a house and some phone numbers. She decided to find out what this was about and called one of the numbers. A woman answered.

“ Hello?” She said

“ Hello this is Elizabeth Cayne.” Before she could finish the woman told her that the house was already for their arrival. Liz tried to get as much information she could without sounding like she didn’t know anything. She found out that the house was stocked for the next few moths and that the woman was under the impression that they were moving to Jamaica.

When he hung up the phone she knew that she had to get out of there or she would never see Michael or Maria again.

She walked through the whole house and realized that she was alone.

“ All alone.” She thought to herself. She ran upstairs and threw some of her things into a bag. All she needed to do was get into the city then she could go anywhere from there. She packed what she would fit into a small bag and went to the safe that was in the closet. She opened the safe and took out all of the money that Jackson had there. She grabbed her passport and headed down to the garage.

She made it to the city in record time. Checking her rearview mirror every so often thinking that someone was following her. She parked her car in the lot and went up to Maria’s office. She didn’t call to say she was on her way in case he had the phone tapped or something.

“ Liz? What are you doing here?” Maria was surprised to see her

“ Hey, can you get out of here now. I need to talk to you?” Liz asked closing the door to her office

“Umm I guess so. What’s up? Is something wrong?” Maria put some paperwork that she was working on away and shut down her computer

“ Lynn can you cancel all my meetings for the rest of the day? I’m going to be leaving for the day. Just please reschedule them for me.” She told her secretary as they walked to the elevator

“ Liz please tell me what is going on. I’m freaking out here.”

“ I’ll tell you as soon as we get to your apartment. I’m going to need your help.” Liz left her car in the parking lot and they took Maria’s car back to her place.

TBC??????

Thank you guys for the Feedback. It's nice to hear your guy's thoughts on Jackson. This next part isn't too bad as far as Jackson.

~~Chapter 3~~

When they reached the apartment Liz made sure that the door was securely locked. The whole way there she kept looking back to see if she was being followed. Maria noticed but didn’t say anything.

“ Liz there a doorman downstairs, no one is going to come here without me knowing about it.” Maria placed her hands on Liz’s shoulders and sat her down on the couch.

“ Would you please tell me what the hell is going on now?”

“ Ok I left Jackson. He doesn’t know where I am but Maria I need to get away from him. I can’t live like this anymore.” Tears were running down her face

“ What happened? What did he do?” Maria handed her a box of tissues

Liz began to explain everything to her. The hell that she lived in with Jackson and how he kept her locked up in the house.

“ Oh Liz I’m sorry. I didn’t know. You should have left him sooner.” Maria’s heart went out to Liz

“ I couldn’t Maria. He always had someone around. I couldn’t leave. I just feel so stupid. I should have known, all the signs were there but I ignored them.

“ How could you have known? What signs?” Maria didn’t know what she was talking about

“ Just little things. They way he was so obsessive over things. If one thing was out of place he would freak. I just thought he was really neat. Then he slapped me. God I should have left him then but he apologized and I fell for it. It started out with a slap then he grew more violent until he was punching me. Liz was pacing in front of the sofa now mad at herself for letting it go this far.

“Where are you going to go?” Maria asked

“ I don’t know. I have 10,000 in cash.” Liz sat down again trying to formulate a plan

“ Well I say you start over. Move out west somewhere. Some place where no one knows you and most of all no one knows him” She pulled out a map and placed it on the coffee table

“I’m so sorry to drag you into this. I just didn’t know where else to go.” Liz felt the tears threatening to fall

“ Shh don’t worry about it. I’m not scared of him.” Maria rubbed her shoulder

They looked at the map for a while and realized that it wasn’t helping.

“ Hey what about Michael?” Maria asked

“ What about him. I’m not telling him what’s going on. He hates Jackson as it is. I don’t want him coming over here and doing something stupid.” Liz remembered that Michael refused to come to her wedding when she told him. He knew that Jackson was no good and refused to take part in the celebration

“ Maria he tried to warn me. My own brother and I didn’t want to listen to him” She began crying again. Crying for letting him come between her and her brother. Michael and her were so close until she told him that she was getting married to Jackson. She hadn’t talked to him in months. They only information she got about him was from Maria. He and Maria had been dating for years now and recently it became long distance but she knew that he loved her more then anything and Maria loved him too.

“ Liz he’s your brother no matter what. I’m sure he will help you out if you just talk to him.” Maria handed her the phone so she could call Michael. He had been in Rome Italy showing his art at a gallery.

“ Maria I can’t go to Italy.” Liz put the phone down on the table.

“ Why not? What better place to go then to Italy. There is no way that he will find you there. He doesn’t know that Michael is there are there would be no reason for you to go there as far as he knows. It’s prefect Liz.” Maria reasoned with her

“ Maria I don’t know. It’s just that Michael was so mad at me and…” She was biting her bottom lip trying to hold back the tears. Jackson had ruined her relationship with the little family that she had left.

“ Look just call him. I’m sure he will be happy to hear from you. Plus you could keep and eye on him for me too.” Maria laughed

“ Alright I’ll call. What time is it over there anyway?” Liz was trying to figure out the time difference.

“ Well it’s about 10AM here so it would be 4PM there. Perfect time to call him. He just got one of the world cell phones so you can call him on his cell.” Maria handed her the number and the phone again

“ Maria wait. What am I going to say to him? I need to think first.”

“ Ugh do I have to do everything for you? Look just tell him that you want to get away for a while and want to try to patch things up with him, that is if you don’t want to tell him the truth over the phone.” Maria knew that Liz would want to do that.

“ Yeah I guess that could work.” Liz picked up the phone and dialed while Maria went to the kitchen to get a drink.

“ Hey baby.” Michael answered thinking it was Maria

“ Michael?”

“ Liz? Is that you?” Michael was on his way home and had to pull over when he heard his sisters voice

“ Yeah it’s me. How are you?” She was nervous.

“ I’m good. What’s up? Not to sound rude but why are you calling?” He wondered

“ Well I wanted to come visit you.” She was picking at the nail polish on her toes

“ You do? When?” This was a shock to him

“ Umm tomorrow” She hoped he would say yes

“ Wow this is unexpected. Umm actually I’m going to be in Florence for most of the day tomorrow but if you let me know what time your getting here I can have someone pick you up.” He pulled back on the road

“ Ok well let me get all the info and call you back.” She was relived he said yes

“ Ok sure. I’ll wait for you to call then. Liz?”

“ Yeah?”

“ I’m glad that you called. It was really nice hearing from you and I can’t wait to see you.”

“ I’m glad I called too. I’ll talk to you in a bit. I love you.”

“ Love you too. Let me talk to Maria a sec.”

Liz handed Maria the phone and went online to book her ticket

“ Hey babe.” She sat on the sofa

“ Hey. What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

“ Yeah everything is fine. Why?”

“ Nothing just that I haven’t talked to Liz in so long. I felt that something was wrong. Maybe it’s nothing. Anyways I miss you.” He said hoping that he would be able to see her soon

“ Me too. Don’t worry about Liz she’s fine. When do you think you will be able to come home?” She hadn’t seen him in 3 months

“ I don’t know babe. I’m going to Florence tomorrow so I might have to send Massimilio to pick Liz up.” Maria has a huge smile on her face. She had met Massimilio or Max for short and he was your typical Italian hottie. Olive skin, jet black hair and the sexiest accent she ever heard. Michael was less then pleased when Maria voiced her observations to him when they first met. They quickly become friends and Max was involved with someone at the time anyway. Max had become a good friend of Michael’s over the past few months. Max was an art curator and oversaw what paintings would be shown at the gallery and became Michel’s personal tour guide in Italy. Michael was also there for Max when he and his long time girlfriend split. Max got so drunk that night and passed out on Michaels couch.

“ How is he doing anyway?” Maria was worried about him after the break up but knew that he had no trouble getting woman. When they went out to a club on her last night there he had women all over him but Max just politely brushed them off. He wasn’t looking for a one night stand.

“ He’s doing good. He’s better now.”

“ Good. So we’ll call you in a bit with the details then. I love you, I miss you.” She said sadly wondering when she would see him again

“ Me too angel. I’ll see you soon though I promise.” He missed her so much. This was the longest they had ever been apart.

“ Alright did you find anything?” Maria got up and walked to her home office where Liz was looking for flights

“ Um yeah looks like there is a flight that gets in about 12 in the afternoon their time.” She clicked on next to purchase her ticket.

“ So your booking a one way only.” Maria sat next to her

“ Yeah I don’t know when I’ll be coming back. It’s better this way I think.” She was going to put it on her card but thought twice about it

“ Maria? Do you think that I could put in on your card? I don’t want Jackson to see it on the statement when it comes to the house.” She felt bad for asking but had no choice

“ Sure it’s no problem. Let me go get my purse.” Mara got her wallet and handed Liz her credit card

“ I’m sorry Maria.” She said as she took the card and typed in the numbers on the screen

“ It’s fine Liz. Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you came to me for help.” She pulled Liz into a hug

“ Well looks like we are going to have to do some shopping since you didn’t bring much with you.”

“ Maria you always think that shopping solves everything. I can’t go shopping now.” That was the last thing on Liz’s mind at this point but she did need some stuff.

“ Come on. Don’t try to fight me on this. I always win.” She winked at her and gabbed her purse ready to leave

They spent the afternoon buying the essentials for Liz and stopped to have lunch.

“ Wow Liz just like old times. A sleepover!” Maria jumped on the bed sending the bags on the floor

“ Your crazy. Help me pack this stuff would you.” Liz was picking up the bags from the floor. They got her all packed and decided to watch a movie before heading to bed.

~~

“Alright so Max will meet you at the airport and call me the minute you land ok.” Maria was trying to hold back her tears. She was happy that she was finally getting away from Jackson but was sad to have her so far away.

“ Thank you for everything Maria. I’ll call you.” Liz walked through security and waved goodbye to Maria

The flight was long but Liz slept most of the way. 10 hours later she was in Rome. She got off the plane and made her way to baggage claim.

Maria had given a brief description of Max, very brief. She basically said he was tall dark and handsome which didn’t help since it seemed like every man she saw fit that description. She stood waiting for her luggage to come down the belt. She tied a piece of pink ribbon on the handle so she could identify it as soon as she saw it. Once she got her bag she started to walk towards the door when she saw a man holding a sign that read Elizabeth Parker.

“ Wow was Maria right.” She thought. He was tall dark and handsome. He was wearing a pair of white linen pants with a royal blue shirt. He had on a pair of sunglasses. Liz noticed the many women that were checking him out as they walked by him.

She took in a deep breath and walked towards him.

“ Hello you must be Max. I’m Liz.” She extended her hand to shake his he however took her hand and kissed it.

“ Welcome to l'Italia.” He said in his thick accent.

Liz wanted to die. He was even more gorgeous up close. Max grabbed her luggage and they walked to his car.

“ So how long will you be staying?” He asked as he loaded her bags into the car. Liz was mesmerized by him. She watched the way his hair kept getting in his eyes and the was his butt looked in his pants.

“ What? Oh umm I’m not sure yet.” She managed to get out hoping that he didn’t catch her checking him out

“ Well I hope you stay long enough to see all the beauty of Roma.” He opened the car door for her and held out his hand for her to get in

“ Is this guy for real?” She thought. She placed her hand in his and felt how soft his hands were.

“So Michael will be back tonight so I will take you to his apartment.”

“ Thank you. How long have you known Michael?” She was looking out the window taking in all the sites

“ Since a week after he came here. He is a very good friend of mine now.” Max turned to her and smiled

“ He’s told me so much about you. He is very excited that you are coming.”

“ I can’t wait to see him. It’s been a long time.” She said sadly remembering why they hadn’t spoken in such a long time

“ So you are married no?” He was glad that he had met Michael and was practicing his English again.

“ Um yes I am but we are separated now.” She lied but didn’t know what else to say

“Spiacente, I’m sorry. It is such a sad thing when love ends.” He was thinking of his break up still fresh in his mind

“ It’s ok.” She mustered up a smile

They made it back to Michael’s apartment and walked up the three flight of stairs. The apartment was very….Michael. The furniture was all black with chrome tables and black and white pictures everywhere. It was very modern looking. Liz laughed.

“ What are you laughing at?” He looked puzzled

“ Nothing it’s just that no matter where Michael lives his apartment looks the same. Black furniture and chrome tables.” She pointed out her observations

“ Yeah Michael does have peculiar taste but I like it.” He set down her bags.

“ Come I will show you to the guest room.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and showed her to the bedroom.

Surprisingly this room was not very Michael at all. There was a queen sized mahogany bed with a gold and maroon bedspread. The walls were painted a light beige color and there were various pieces of artwork on the walls.

“ Ok what happened here?” She looked around to room to find more non Michael things

“ Oh this was my sister Isabella’s work. She begged Michael to let her decorate this room. She is very persuasive.” He laughed

“ Well thank her for me. I love this room.”

“ I will. Well if you are ok I will be going.” He watched her begin to unpack and didn’t want to leave her alone but didn’t want to intrude

“ Yes I’m fine. Thank you for picking me up. I’m glad that my brother has such a good friend here. I guess I’ll be seeing you around then.” She walked towards him to see him out of the house

“ Yes I’m sure we will. Goodbye.”

Liz walked around the apartment carefully studying all of Michael’s pictures. She hadn’t seen any of his work in over a year and was proud of how well he was doing. Ever since they were kids he liked taking pictures and painting. He would always sneak pictures of Liz when she was doing trivial things like sitting on a bench or reading a book.

Michael was always the protective big brother to Liz. He never picked on her when they were younger even though some of her friend’s brothers did. She was always glad for that. She knew that it was going to be hard when she finally tells Michael the truth about her marriage. She had to tell him eventually Michael had the gift of knowing when she was lying about something. Liz hated that. She was dreading having to look him in the eye and try to lie to him but she didn’t want to tell him right away. He had an important show coming up and didn’t want to distract him.

She looked at the clock and decided to see if there was anything to eat. Typical Michael there was nothing but an apple and some soda. Liz sighed and decided to go look for a café or something. She heard that there were a lot of those in Europe.

She ventured outside and was taken back by the beauty of Rome. She had never been to Europe and it was beautiful to her. Very different then New Jersey. There were tons of people walking around taking pictures. She saw people in a park playing chess. She eventually found a café and sat down.

“Ciao. Gradite un menu?” A young woman asked her

“ Uhh Menu? Yes please.” Liz realized that she would have to learn some Italian if she was going to be here for a while.

“ I’m sorry you don’t speak Italian?” The woman realized

“ No I don’t. It’s ok though.” she took the menu and looked it over while the woman went and got her some coffee

When her food arrived she ate in silence looking out the window at the picturesque town she was in. If someone would have asked her last week if she would ever go to Europe she would have laughed. She never dreamed of coming here. Suddenly she forgot that she needed to call Maria and quickly finished her food to head back

She made it back in half and hour due to her getting lost a few times. She went to the phone and dialed Maria’s cell number.

“ Well it’s about time. I was getting worried.” Maria answered

“ Sorry I decided to get a bite to eat first.” Liz sat on the sofa and surprisingly found it comfortable

“ So your flight was good. Everything go Ok?”

“ Yeah everything is fine. Maria it’s so beautiful here. You have to come visit soon.”

“ Yeah it is beautiful. So what did you think of Max?”

“ Maria please. The last thing I need right now is another man. I will say that you were dead on though. He is tall dark and handsome. Very polite too.” Liz laughed

“ Well good. I know your not looking for anything right now. I was just teasing you. Anyway I’m glad that you make it ok. What time is Michael due back?”

“ Umm in about 2 hours or so I guess.” She twirled her hair around her finger

“ So are you going to tell him right away?” Maria asked knowing that Liz wasn’t

“ Maria you know I’m not. He has the big showing coming up so I’ll wait until after that. He doesn’t need the headache right now.”

“ Well I don’t know how your going to pull off lying to him but good luck. Call me if you need anything and try to relax Liz everything is going to be fine. I have to run to a meeting.”

“ Ok Maria. Thanks again, for everything. Bye.”

“ Bye.” Maria hung up and leaned back n her chair. She was glad that Liz got away from the maniac and prayed that everything would go well when she told Michael. Knowing the way he is so protective over her he’s going to flip out. At least he was half way around the world. Still Maria had a feeling that things weren’t going to go over smoothly, not by a long shot.

~~

Michael inserted his key into the keyhole and stood frozen for a minute. He heard the soft sounds of Dido coming from his stereo and a smile crept up on his face. He was so happy when he heard that Liz was coming home but felt that something was wrong in the pit of his stomach. He knew his sister and could tell that something was wrong. He had decided not to be his typical self and drag it out of her. He was going to let her come to him…or try at least.

He turned the key and walked into the apartment. Liz heard the door opening and ran towards it

“ Michael!.” She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly

“ Hey Lizzy. It’s good to see you.” He closed his eyes and smiled. He really was glad to see her

“ You look great Michael. Italy agrees with you.” She pinched his cheek

“ Thanks. You look….Good too.” There was a hesitation in his voice because she didn’t look good. She looked tired to him but he was going to try not to bug her about it so he lied.

“ Thanks. So I’ve been looking at your pictures, Michael they are beautiful. I love them.” She sat on the couch and motioned for him to sit next to her.

“ Thank you. There’s something about this place. It brings something out of me, I don’t know I can’t explain it.” He was blushing

“ I can tell. Your work is great I can’t wait to see more.” She smiled at him and caught him studying her face

“ What?” She asked feeling self conscious

“ Nothing I-It’s just good to see you that’s all.”

“ Uh huh.” She knew he was looking for something in her face

“ So how was your trip? Did Max arrive on time?” He got up to get something to drink

“ It was long but good and yes he was waiting for me when I got there.” She joined him in the kitchen

“ Yeah he is a dependably guy. A very good friend of mine.” He took a sip of soda.

“ That’s great, I’m so happy for you.” She smiled and walked over to the fridge

“ Uh Michael? I think your going to have to do some food shopping if I’m going to stay here with you.” She had the refrigerator door opened showing him that there was nothing in it.

“ Yeah I guess I do don’t I. Sorry about that it’s just that I haven’t really been here too much lately with meeting with buyers and preparing for the show.” He gave her a smirk

“ It’s ok. I understand.”

They spent the rest of the evening catching up on each others lives. Liz lied and told him that everything was fine with her and Jackson but kept details very vague. She told him that she just wanted to take a vacation and that Jackson couldn’t so she decided to come see him.

“ Well I’m going to turn in. I have to be at the gallery early tomorrow to go over some things.” Michael kissed her on the cheek and went to bed.

Liz felt tired as well from her long flight and all and turned in just after he did.

~~

Liz woke up to the sound of laugher in the living room. She rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. It was 9AM. She groaned and got out of bed. She quickly tied her robe around her waist and brushed her teeth. Not bothering to brush her hair she walked out into the living room.

“ Good Morning.” Michael said when he saw her

“ Morning.” She said stretching her arms above her head and yawning

“ Buona mattina.” Max said with a smile. He hair was a mess but she looked cute to him

“ Morning.” She suddenly realized that she wasn’t dressed properly and that her hair was a mess.

“ How embarrassing.” She thought

“ Max brought over some coffee and pastries. Would you like some?” Michael opened the box to reveal the most delicious looking pastries to Liz or maybe she was just starving

“ Thank you. I guess you’ve known Michael long enough to know that he never has any food.” They all laughed

“ So what are you up to today?” Michael asked sad that he had to work.

“ Oh I don’t know. I think I’ll just hang out here.” Liz sat on the love seat and sipped her coffee.

“ I’m sorry that I have to work Liz. “ Michael apologized.

“ It’s ok. I’ll be fine.”

“ Wait a second. Max why don’t you show Liz around this afternoon. You’re usually done pretty early.” Michael suggested

“ Oh no that’s ok. I can manage by myself.” Liz didn’t want a babysitter

Max was torn between wanting to get to know her and looking out for his own heart. He didn’t want to get involved with anyone right now but felt slightly drawn to Liz.

“ Max what do you say? Do you think you can make time?” Michael asked

“ Well, I have plans, spiacente” Max said feeling bad for lying
(sorry)

“ Oh well that’s too bad. Maybe another time then.” Michael said and grabbed his briefcase.

“ I left some money on the table incase you want to go shopping. I promise to go food shopping when I get home. You have my cell number in case of anything.” He gave her a smile and walked out. Max stayed back for a minute

“ I am very sorry Elizabeth, Maybe another time I can show you around.” He felt like he needed to apologize to her personally

“ It’s not a problem. I would like that very much.” Where the hell did that come from? She blushed and closed the door.


Liz wandered around Rome that afternoon falling more and more in love with Italy.

~~

Jackson came storming into the house.

“ Liz!” He yelled having not seen her car he couldn’t believe that she would dare leave.

“ Liz where the hell is your car?” He was stomping up the stairs ready to lay into her when he saw her but all he saw was an empty room

“ Gabe?” He called . He should have been here by now

“ What the fuck?” He thought wondering where the hell she was. He also wondered where they hell Gabe was. He had to leave early and Gabe promised him he was on his way. Liz shouldn’t have been alone for more then 5 minutes.

“ I leave her alone for 5 minutes and she runs away? No one leaves me!” He grabbed his jacket and rushed to his car.

He called Gabe on his cell phone.

“ Where the fuck are you?” He screamed as soon as Gabe answered.

“ Sorry man I got a flat and I didn’t have a spare.” Gabe knew that Jackson was going to be pissed

“ Well thanks to you Liz is gone! Get your ass here now. You have exactly 10 minutes, I don’t care how far away you are.” He slammed the phone down.

9 minutes later Gabe was at the house.

“ Since you fucked up it’s your responsibility to find her. I don’t care how you do it but I want her back in the house by the end of the day.” He knew Gabe would follow orders.

It was nearing 8PM and Jackson had not heard for Gabe. He called him and asked him to come to the house.

“ Well?” Jackson asked when Gabe came in

“ I looked but I can’t find her. I don’t even know where she would have gone.” Gabe admitted

Jackson ran his hands over his face. He was getting really frustrated.

“ Look she has a brother, some kind of artist or something. His name is Michael. Try and track him down. Maybe she went to see him or called him. You got it?”

“ Yeah I got it.” Gabe didn’t know where the hell to start looking but decided the place would be to head into the city.

The next day:

“ Well did you find him?” Jackson asked as soon as Gabe came in the door.

“ Sorry it’s kind of hard to talk to these artsy people you know. I don’t exactly look like I’m into that.” He took a seat next to him

“ Well you better think of something. You let this happen, you better fix it.” Jackson took a sip of his brandy

Jackson sat, thinking that no one had ever left him and he didn’t want anyone to find out about this. He had a reputation to uphold. He thought back to the wedding trying to think of anyone she would have run to.

“ Hey do you remember Liz’s long time friend? What was her name? The one that came to the wedding?” He asked

“ Oh the blonde right?” Jackson nodded

“ Damn I think it was Maria.” Gabe couldn’t remember all he remembered about her was that she brushed him off when he tried to hit on her

“ Shit I should have paid attention when she introduced us.” He was racking his brain trying to remember her last name. Trying to remember anything that would help him

“ Did she live here on in the city?” He asked as Gabe shrugged his shoulders

“ Fuck!” He slammed his glass on the table

“ Hey chill man. We’ll find her.”

“ Yeah you better find her.” He threatened

“ Maybe someone at her old job will know where she is. She might have kept in touch with one of them?” Gabe suggested

“ Yeah maybe. I’ll check it out tomorrow.” He got up to show Gabe out.

“ I’ll pick you up at 9. Be ready.” He said as he walked out the door


I hope it's not too confusing with the translations . Let me know if you guys totally hate it . I thought it would be better to write them in since some of the meanings won't be so obvious.

Wow the Feed back is great guys. Thank you soo much!

Behrlyliz wrote:And I love the way that you're writing this story. I wouldn't change a thing.

Thank you

lizard_queen wrote:The chick was obviously stupid to give him up. I mean seriously, throw away a chance with that body? Uh uh. We already know that he finds himself drawn to Liz, so why not go that little bit further and just kiss her already? No? Too soon?

I agree the body is HOT! And yeah it is too soon. LOL but nice try

Martine wrote:found that Max was a little timorous, after all Michael just asked him to show her around, not to get involved in something else. Apparently, Liz seems to threat Max's heart, and he's scared.

You will find a little later why Max is the way he is with Liz

Begonia9508 wrote:started to read it and Italy appealed to me.... what can I say... it's my mother birth's country and I love it!

I totally love Italy too! Never been but i'm like obsessed with it. LOL

Mmcherron wrote:wonder what his ex did to him. It seems like he doesn't want to trust females. I hope he will see that Liz is the same way. Maybe they can help each other learn to trust and love again

I wonder what his Ex did Hummmm.. You will find out soon enough. Maybe they can help each other. We shall see.

Thanks to:
Emz80m
Dreamersworld
purpleant
Frenchkiss70
cornflakegirl
LovinGuerin2much--Thanks for the bumps.
force
Blink1lit
dragon's princess
Alien614
Natz

~~Chapter 4~~

Jackson was going through Liz’s things hoping to find some clue as to where she went. He thought for a minute that she might have been kidnapped but put that out of his mind when there was no ransom note and nothing was missing from the house.

He saw her cell phone and was going through her address book. He found a listing under Ria and decided to call it.

After the third ring it went to voicemail.

“ Damn it!” He threw that phone across the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and decided to do a reverse lookup on her number.

“ Fuck, not listed anywhere.” He said after searching several sites

He entered the area code and prefix and the number came up as being a cell phone.

“ Damn it. I wonder if Gabe would know how to search for it.” He closed the phone and decided to wait till tomorrow.

The next morning he got to Gabe’s house at 9 sharp. He brought the cell phone with him hoping that Gabe would be able to help.

“ You ready?” He asked when Gabe opened the door

“ Yeah let’s go.” He grabbed his jacket and got in the car

They made it to Liz’s old office and asked the receptionist if she remembered Liz. She was new there so she didn’t He asked if there was anyone else he could talk to playing the part of a distraught husband.

“ Oh you poor thing. Let me see if I can find someone for you.” Her heart when out to him

“ Thank you. I would really appreciate that.” He gave a fake smile

A few minutes later a tall man mid 30’s came out to the receptionist area.

“ Hello I’m James. How can I help you gentlemen.” He extended his hand to them

“ Hell I’m Jackson and this is Gabe. I was wondering if we could talk privately.”

“ Of course. Step into my office.” The two men followed behind James

“ Please have a seat. How can I help you?”

“ Well My wife, Liz used to work here and she’s missing. I was wondering if you knew where she might have gone?” Jackson asked annoyed that they pointed him to a man to help with the situation. He asked if anyone remembered Liz and a man comes out. This is exactly why he wanted her to quit.

“ I’m sorry to hear that. Unfortunately I haven’t spoken to Liz since she handed in her resignation. I’m sorry.”

Jackson was pissed. He felt his face getting hot and was about ready to pound the information out of this guy. He managed to calm down and stood up to shake James’ hand.

“ Oh just one more thing. Do you happen to know about a friend of hers named Maria?” Jackson hoped that his guy had something that would help him

“ Maria? No I’m sorry. I hope you find her.” James saw them out of his office.

He sat in his chair and called Maria’s office number.

“ Maria DeLuca please. This is James Adams.”

“ James Hi. How are you?” Maria answered cheerfully

“ I’m good Maria. And you?” He tried to make chit chat

“ Good. So what’s up?” she asked wondering why he had called. They haven’t spoken in months

“ Well I had someone drop by today and I wanted to ask you about it. It was a man named Jackson and another one called Gabe. They were looking for Liz. One of them claimed to be her husband.” James knew Liz for over 5 years and couldn’t believe that she would marry someone like Jackson. He just didn’t seem like her type and something told him to be cautious around him

“ Really? Well unfortunately that is her husband. What did he say?” Maria was getting nervous

“ He just said that he was looking for her and then he asked if I knew you.”

“ What did you say?” Maria was freaking out

“ Well I told him the truth.” Maria was about to pass out

“ I told him that I hadn’t seen Liz since she resigned and then I lied and told him that I didn’t know you.” Close call

“ Thank you James. I won’t get into the details but Liz left him and well let’s just say that he wasn’t the worlds best husband. Please let me know if he comes by again.” She was trying to calm down more

“ I will. Is Liz ok?” He was concerned

“ Yeah she’s fine now. Thank you again James.” She hung up

Maria sat at her desk and thought about weather or not she should call Liz to tell her.

“ No use in worrying her.” She decided and turned her attention back to work.

Jackson walked out of the office annoyed that the lead was a dead end. He was no closer to finding Liz and was starting to grow impatient

“ Hey I got a cell phone number that I need you to trace for me.”

“ You know I can’t trace cell phone numbers. It’s impossible to get that information.” Gabe said

“ I’m tired of your excuses! Can’t you do anything?” Jackson slammed his fists on the railing. They were taking the ferry to Long Island where Jackson had a business meeting. He pulled out the phone to give it to Gabe when it slipped out of Gabe’s hand and fell into the river below.

“ You fucking idiot. I could kill you right now. What the hell is wrong with you anyways!” Jackson grabbed Gabe by his coat collar.

“ Sorry man.” Was all Gabe could say

“ Sorry! I ought to throw you in so you can find the fucking phone!” He pushed him closer to the edge of the railing

“ Relax man.” Gabe was scared out of his mind. He know that Jackson wouldn’t think twice about really throwing him over.

“ Ugh just get away from me. I can’t stand the sight of you right now.” He dropped Gabe and walked away


~~

Isabel, or Bella as she was called Evans was your typical Italian beauty. She had her fathers blonde hair and her mothers dark eyes. She had the body of a supermodel and an attitude to go with it. She was a year older then Max and was extremely over protective of him. She was always looking out for Max even though he didn’t appreciate it. She never approved of any of his girlfriends. No one was good enough for Max and that includes his last girlfriend. Max loved her but learned to just let her say what she wanted to.

Max and Bella’s parents met while her father was studying abroad in Italy. He was the son of a politician and she was on a scholarship. It was that love at first sight thing and even now almost 30 years later they were madly in love with each other and were not afraid to show it around others. Max’s dad was now working with the Italian government while his mother was a part time artist. Mostly freelance. It was something that she always loved and passed it on to Max. Bella also got her talent from her mother.
Bella was a well known interior decorator in Rome and most of Italy. She did some work in New York for a few years but came back to Italy. She loved it here.

Although she was a stunning beauty she was unlucky in love. It was mostly by her account. She was extremely picky and had a 1 year itch. She has never had a relationship that lasted more then a year. She dated all kind of men, rich, poor, young, and older. The problem was that she was looking for what her parents had, love at first sight. She was looking for passion. She wanted to meet someone that she couldn’t live without. Maybe her independence and strong will was a curse. She knew that she didn’t really need anyone but she longed for that feeling as funny as it sounded.

Bella was on her way to surprise Max and meet him for lunch. She hadn’t seen him in over a week and wanted to catch up with him.

“ Good afternoon Miss.” She was greeted when she walked in the gallery

“ Good afternoon can you please tell me where Max Evans is please?”

“ Bella is that you?” Michael heard her

“ Michael how are you? Long time no see.” She hugged him

“ Yeah it has been. What have you been up to?” They walked towards the back where Max was

“ Oh not much. I just got back from New York I had to take care of something but I’m back for good now.”

“ That’s great to hear. I think Max is in his office.” They knocked on the glass door

“ Come in.” He lifted his head when he heard the door open

“ Bella!” He quickly got up and hugged his sister tightly

“ Max How are you?” She stepped back a little to take a better look at him. She was scrutinizing the way he looked looking for bags under his eyes and signs of him being tired.

“ Sono buono voi soltanto sono stato andato alcuni giorni. state dandomi un complesso.” ( I’m fine, you’ve only been gone a few days. Your giving me a complex)

“Aiuto di I can't esso se quei rifiuti li rompessero cuore. I'm che osserva soltanto fuori per voi”
(I can't help it if that trash broke you heart. I'm only looking out for you)

“Uhh hello American in the room.” Michael interjected

“ I’m sorry Michael.” Isabel smiled at him.

“ So Bella what brings you by today?” Max asked

“ Well I wanted to take you out to lunch, to catch up.” Isabel sated as she looked around Max’s office. She was dying to redecorate it but Max wouldn’t let her. It was enough that she did his apartment

“ Catch up? No thanks. Bella I love you but I don’t feel like answering 100 questions on my lunch hour.” Max sat back down ready to dig back into his work.

“ Massimilio Evans you dare you say that about me! I was not planning on asking you 100 questions as you put it! I’m sorry if I care about you and want to know what’s going on in your life. EXCUUUUUSE me!” Bella stormed out of the office leaving Michael and Max speechless

“ Uh you better go after her man.” Michael said trying to hide his laughter

“ Yeah I guess so. We both know how she gets when she’s mad.” He grabbed his jacket and ran after her

“ Bella wait!” He was running after her trying not to hit anyone as he ran past them

“ Just forget it. I’m so sorry to be a bother to you.” She picked up her pace

“ vi arrestereste prego per un minuto? “ He grabbed her arm
( Would you stop for a minute please?)

Bella turned to look at him

“ Look I’m sorry ok. Ever since She left me I’ve been screwed up ok. I just didn’t want to hear another person telling me once again that they knew she was no good.” He looked tired not from running though but emotionally tired

“ I’m sorry too. sono affamato acceso” She pulled him towards a café (I’m starving, come on)

They settled in a small café near the gallery and ordered their food.

“ So how was New York?” Max wanted to talk about anything other then him right now

“ It was fine. The same. I’m over it now thought I just had to finish something up for a client it was no big deal.” She was looking out the window not really there. Max noticed this also

“ What are you thinking about?” He asked

“ What? Oh nothing. So how are things at work?”

“ Isabel please don’t lie to me. Tell me what’s going on. You seem distant. Your not still mad at me are you?”

“ No I’m not mad. I don’t know Max. Do you ever wonder if we could ever find love like Momma and Papa?” She asked him

“ Well, I hope that there is someone out there for me like Momma. Love like theirs is hard to find though.” This was a hard topic for him but he saw how sad she looked

“ I know. I’m just tired of dating and it not leading anywhere. I wish I could find that someone that I can’t live without you know?”

“ Yeah I know exactly what you mean.” They both sat in silence till their food came pondering the topic.

“ So Michael seems to be doing well. I heard he sold a bunch of photos at the last show. He has a lot of talent.” She stated between bites of her salad

“ Yes he does. He’s leaning more towards painting now. That was his first passion.” Max cut into his chicken

“ Well either way he will be great. And with you on board he will do well.” They both laughed

“ Oh I forgot to mention his sister Elizabeth is on town.”

“ I didn’t know he had a sister.” She said

“ She lived in the states, near New York I believe. She just got into town the other day.” He tried not to give too much details about her knowing that Bella would read into it too much

“ Really well that’s nice for Michael. It will be good for him to have some family around. He was so happy when Maria was here.” She smiled remembering how much fun they had that week with Maria

“ Yes he is very happy.” Max decided to end the conversation there Bella was too intuitive when it came to his feelings.

“ So have you visited momma and papa yet?” He asked finishing off his meal

“ No not yet. I just got back yesterday and decided to visit my fratello piccolo first.” She reached over and pinched his cheek.

“ Bella I may be younger then you in years but I’m hardly your little brother.” He smiled

“ You will always be my little brother.” She patted his hand

“ Well let me walk you to your car. I have to head back.” He was blushing

“ Ok. Come by Momma and papas tonight. It will be nice to have us all there.” She hugged him and got into her car.

“ Ok I’ll see you there.” He kissed her on the cheek and waved bye as she drove off.

~~

Liz had been enjoying her time in Italy. She had been there for 2 weeks already and had spent three days with Michael enjoying the sites. She even picked up on a little Italian. When Michael went back to work she had bought some tapes and books and immersed herself into learning the language. She had planned on staying in Italy and was even thinking about looking for a job. The only problem was that Michael kept asking her when she was leaving. It wasn’t that he wanted her to go but he thought that she was still working and that she needed to get back soon. Time was ticking and she knew that she had to tell him soon. She planned to telling him tonight after his big show. She was going to Florence with Max, Michael was already there.

Max. That was another puzzle that she was working on. He seemed to distant around her, like he was guarded or something. He was always polite but whenever they were alone for a minute he would always find an excuse to leave. She was almost sure that he would find a way to get out of going to Florence with her but to her surprise he didn’t. Maybe it was because Michael expressed that he didn’t want her to go alone and Max had to stay behind to finish some work.

She was getting dressed when there was a knock on the door.

“un minuto” She said fastening her earrings on
( Just a minute)

She opened the door to find Max looking like he stepped out of a magazine. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that were slightly faded and a plain white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He smelled like heaven. She realized she must have been staring and asked him to come in.

“ I’m almost ready.” She walked back to her room to finish applying her makeup.

“ You are a learning Italian no?” He asked when he heard what she said when she came to the door

“ Yeah I bought some tapes and books. I don’t really speak it much outside thought. I’m not good enough yet.” She smiled at him while she put on her jacket and grabbed her purse.

“ That sounded ok to me.” He winked at her.

“ They say that the best way to learn is by speaking it but I don’t want to butcher the language.” She laughed

“ Butcher?” He looked at her strangely

“ Yeah butcher like ummm ruin?” She hoped that he understood that

“ Ah.” He laughed realizing what she meant

“ Oh great now your laughing at me?” She faked being hurt

“ Never.” He looked into her eyes letting her know he was serious.

Liz just looked at him and quickly turned away. They walked down to his car and Max held open the door for her. He even held out his hand so she could get in to the SUV.

“ Thank you.” She smiled at him and appreciated the help. She was wearing a skirt and it was hard to get into his Range Rover.

Once she got in Max walked to the other side and pulled out onto the street.

“ I’m so excited. I haven’t seen one of Michael’s shows in so long.”

“ No? You did not see his shows in New York?” Max asked

“ Well yeah but I missed the last two.” She said regretfully. Jackson didn’t want to go and he wouldn’t allow her to go alone.

“ Well this one will be good. There are going to be a few critics there as well so he should get good reviews.” Max smiled at her. He was proud of his work.

“ So how long have you been in the art business?” She was tying to make small talk

“ Oh about 4 years but I’ve always had an interest in art. My mother was a painter. She still paints a little now.” He had a huge smile on his face. He loved his mother

“ That’s great. I have no talent at all for painting or drawing.” She snorted

“ I used to try and be like Michael but they never came out any good.”

“ Well art is all in how you interpret it. To some they look at a painting and hate it, to another it is the most beautiful thing they have ever seen.”

“ Well it seems like you really love art. Are you a painter or anything?” She asked

“ Me? No. My mothers talents rubbed off on my sister. She’s an interior designer. I have the eye but I can’t draw or paint.”

“ Well like you said it’s all about interpretation right?” They both laughed

“ You have a sister huh?”

“ Yes she is a year older then me. Her name is Isabel but most people call her Bella.”

“ Bella Evans? Has she ever worked in New York?” Liz asked thinking that the name sounded familiar

“ Yes she did. She worked over there for a year or so. She just came back recently.” He said

“ Oh My God! I know her. Well not personally or anything but she did the house of a friend of mine a while back. She is incredible.” Liz gushed


“ Yes she is. She has great talent. I’m glad to have her home.” He smiled at her outburst

“ You two are close then?” Liz asked

“ Oh very much so. She tends to be a little over protective at times but I love her.” He smiled

“ That’s really good. I’m sure she is just looking out for you that’s all.” She was thinking of her and Michael’s relationship and hoping that he wouldn’t be too upset with her when she told him the truth

“ What about you and Michael? You are close no?”

“ Yeah we are, well we were but then..” She didn’t want to finish the sentence

“ Then?” He asked

“ I uh got married and well….They didn’t get along.” She hoped that he wouldn’t ask too many questions about her marriage

“ So will you and your husband try to work things out?”

“ I-I really don’t think so. I think it’s pretty much over. It has been for a while now.” Liz said getting upset thinking about the horror that was her life a few weeks ago

“ I am sorry.” He saw her saddened expression and figured it was because of the end of her marriage.

“ No don’t be. It was over a while ago. I don’t think it was really meant to be. It’s better this way.” Boy was it better this way

“ So tell me about you. What else do you do besides work?” She really didn’t know much about him

“ Well I love to play soccer and play with a group of friends every chance I get. That is all.” He really didn’t have much of a social life now that he thought about it

“ Well do you have a girlfriend? A wife?” She asked knowing that he must have

“ Well no. We uh broke up.” He said sadly

“ Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” She felt embarrassed

“ It’s ok. You didn’t know. I don’t like to talk about it.” He said

“ Oh.”

“Wow that must have been a hard breakup for him” She thought by his somber mood

“isn’t it funny how when you look at things from the outside you see them so much clearer?” He said out of nowhere catching Liz off guard

“ Yeah it is. It’s very true too.” She wanted to hear more about his life

“ Well the whole time I was with Tessa people would tell me that she was no good. I would not listen. And Bella she did not like Tessa. We had many fights about her. I let her come between my family and me.” He was getting angry now thinking of how she almost ruined his relationship with his family. He and Bella would fight all the time about her.

“ Well I’m sure that Bella forgave you. That’s what family does.” She prayed that Michael would

“ Yes she has. She still gives me hard time about it but I deserve it.” He laughed

“ That’s what sisters are for. I used to do that to Michael until he met Maria. She’s great. She’s my best friend.” Liz missed Maria

“ Yes Maria is special. We had a good time when she came to visit. Even Bella had a good time.” He laughed thinking of all the fun they had.

“ I hope she can come up and visit soon.” Liz and Maria had spoken about her coming to visit once Liz told her she would be staying for a while

“ You will not be going back home?” Max wondered

“ Oh um no I don’t think so. I really love it here.”

“ Yes well it is a beautiful place here.” They were about 5 minutes away from the gallery

Once they got there Max left his car with the valet and they walked into the gallery. There were a lot of people already there and Max was quickly mingling with everyone. There were a lot of his colleagues there. Liz scanned the room for Michael and found him in the middle of a large crowd. She decided to leave Max’s side and walked towards Michael.

“ Liz did you just get here?” He kissed her on the cheek. He was happy to see her there.

“ Yes a few minutes ago.” She was looking at some of his work

“ Well look around. I know you haven’t seen my work in a while. I’m going to mix and mingle.” He laughed

She walked around the gallery and was fascinated with every photograph that she saw. They were beautiful. She was so proud of Michael. She also noticed how many people where there. She hadn’t been to one of his shows in a while and was surprised that he drew such a crown in Italy. Her eyes connected with Max’s. She saw him listening to a woman talk while she pointed to a photograph of Michael’s. They both just looked at each other for a minute then Liz quickly turned away.

Max had noticed how attractive she was when he picked her up at the airport but was not in the proper mindset to start anything with anyone. The fact that she was married also weighed on his mind.

It was tonight that he saw her in a different light. He saw her not as Michael’s sister but as a beautiful woman. Her eyes were enchanting and he found himself looking at her every now and then. He loved her expression when she would walk to a new photograph. She looked like she was in awe of everything.

Max was used to being around beautiful woman but something about her intrigued him. He felt that there was more to learn about her and about her past. He had a feeling that she was worried about something. He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind when he remembered how his last relationship ended.

He was not ready to let anyone into his heart. The wounds were still fresh. He still had feelings for her even though she stomped all over his heart. He turned his attention back to the woman that was asking him something about Michael.

They night went off perfectly. Michael had sold many of his photographs. The only thing they were waiting for was the review that would come out in the papers. Michael was so worried about it. He never had such an important critic come to his show and was eyeing him the whole time he was there. The man had no expression that anyone could read. He looked at each photo spending about 2 minutes on each one. Michael didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad.

“ At least he saw all of them.” He said to Liz on the drive back. She had opted to wait for Michael and ride back with him.

“ I’m sure it will be fine. They were all really good Michael.” she encouraged him

“ Well your biased so..” They laughed

“ Yeah I guess I am.” She was getting sleepy and leaned back in the seat.

“ You tired?” He asked when he saw she had her eyes closed

“ Yeah a little. I’ll be ok in a few minutes though.” She wanted to tell him so badly but didn’t know how to begin. She decided to wait for a better time. He was so happy right now and didn’t want to ruin it for him. Hopefully Maria wouldn’t spill the news to him before she had a chance to.

They got back to the house and Liz called Maria.

“ Hey how’s everything?” Maria asked

“ Everything is great. Michael’s show went really well. I’ll let you talk to him he’ll tell you all about it. How are things with you?” She asked trying to change while balancing the phone on her shoulder.

“ Everything is cool. Work is work but it’s cool. Keeping busy. Have you told him yet?” She asked knowing that she didn’t

“ No. Now is not the right time.”

“ Liz you have to tell him. The longer you wait the more mad he is going to be. Just tell him.” Maria reasoned with her

“ I know I know. I’ll tell him soon ok?” She hoped that would get her off her back for now

“ Alright. So how do you like Italy?”

“ I love it! It’s so beautiful here. I’m really glad that I came.” Liz managed to change her pants her shirt was another thing

“ Uh huh and how is Max?” Maria way trying to mess with her

“ Maria please. You know I’m so not looking for anything right now. Besides I don’t think he likes me very much. I don’t know he just seems so guarded or something.”

“ Well anyone would be if they went through what he did but I’m glad your having a good time. Oh have you met Bella yet? Max’s sister?” Maria was thinking that it would be nice for Liz to meet another female

“ No I haven’t. Max mentioned her to me briefly she just got back I think. And why didn’t you tell me that she was Isabella Evans the decorator.”

“ I didn’t think you knew about that kind of stuff. It’s not really a big deal she’s really cool about it. How do you like the room she did for Michael. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“ Yeah it is. So not Michael but I love it. Let me put Michael on for you. I’ll call you later.” She walked out of her room to find Michael watching TV. She handed him the phone and went back to her room to give him privacy.

The following week went by quickly. Liz and Max had seen each other a few times either at the house briefly or when she would stop by and see Michael at the gallery. She still felt like he was being extremely guarded around her. He would say hello to her but they never had an actual conversation. One night he came over to talk to Michael and seemed really upset. Michael was out with a potential buyer and she invited Max in.

“ Max what’s wrong are you ok?” She walked with him over to the sofa and offered him some water. He looked like he was drinking heavily

“ Where is Michael?” He asked looking around for him

“ He’s out with a buyer. He said he will be back late. Is something wrong?” She asked

“ Yes. Everything is wrong.” He was speaking with a thick accent

“ What happened. Are you ok?” He didn’t look hurt.

“ No I’m not ok. I will never be ok as long as she is here.” He pointed to his chest.

Liz didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to pry but it looked like he was deeply hurt.

“ Do you want to talk about it?” She asked

He looked up and stared at her for a minute.

“ You really are Bella do you know this?” He said reaching out and stroking her cheek

“ Max your drunk.”

“ I know this but I know that you are bellisima. Do you know why I do not talk to you? It’s because of her!.” He shouted and tried to stand up but fell back on the sofa

“ Max why don’t you just sit down and relax. Just wait for Michael to get back.” She wished he would get back soon.

“ You do not want to talk to me Elizabeth?” He was slightly slurring his words

“ Y-Yes I do.” She was shocked. He rarely spoke to her and he was about to potentially pour his heart out to her?

“ I loved her very much. I was going to marry her.” He began speaking slowly as if to emphasize every word

Liz just sat there and listened. He told her a tale of passion, love and the ultimate betrayal. He was so in love with Tessa the minute he saw her. He thought it was love at first sight, something that he had always hoped for. He went on to tell her that on the night he was going to propose to her he got the biggest shock of his life. He had come home early from a meeting in Florence. He went to his apartments to change and was going to Tessa’s house to surprise her with the ring.

When he walked into his apartment he saw that there were candles lit and there was clothing thrown in the living room. He walked toward his bedroom and that’s where he saw her. She was on his bed having sex with a curator from another gallery. Max threw the man off her and began to take out his anger on the man’s face. He threw Tessa out and hadn’t seen or talked to her since then.

“ I was so angry and hurt. I didn’t understand why she did that. I gave her everything. I wanted to marry her, she knew this we had talked about it.” He ran his hands over his face frustrated at the situation

“ Oh Max I’m so sorry.” He rubbed his arm

“ It’s ok. Not your fault. But thank you.” He smirked at her. The alcohol was wearing off.

“ So I’m guessing that you saw her tonight?” Liz deducted

“ Yes. I ran into her outside a café that I always go to. I thought she had left. That’s what Bella told me.” He rubbed his eyes.

“ Did you talk to her?”

“ No, I didn’t know what to say. I just stood there like an idiot while she walked by me with some man.” He was angry that he didn’t say anything to her. He had so much he wanted to tell her but he just froze

“ I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.” She really didn’t know what to say to comfort him

“ Thank you for listening. I’m sorry to bother you with my problems.”

“ No no it’s fine really. I’m glad I was here tonight since Michael wasn’t.”

“ Me too.” He said and leaned forward to kiss her. He gently glazed her bottom lip with his tongue. She parted her lips slightly welcoming the feel of his lips on hers. The kiss was soft but sweet. He pulled back and looked into her eyes.

“ I’m sorry.” He said resting his forehead on hers. He didn’t want to pull away.

“ It’s ok.” She said taken back that he kissed her. It was not expected but welcomed.

Liz didn’t know what she was thinking wanting him to kiss her again. She knew that she had issues still and so did he. He still cared for his Ex she could tell by the way he told her the story. Liz thought that Tessa was out of her mind for doing that to Max. He seemed very sweet and she knew that he loved her very much.

They both sat there in silence for a while neither knowing what to say.

“ So um are you feeling better now?” She finally asked

“ Yes thank you. I’m going to go to the bathroom for a minute. Excuse me.” He got up to wash his face.

Liz sat on the sofa thinking about the events of the night. He came in drunk then called her beautiful then told him the story of his Ex then kissed her. Now he was in the bathroom. Men, who can understand them.

Max came out of the bathroom and sat back down next to her.

“ So since I have told you about me. How about you tell me about your relationship. Why did you leave your husband?” He took a sip of water

“ Oh well it’s really complicated.” Liz did not want to talk about Jackson. She knew he would tell Michael if she told him the whole story

“ Fair is fair. I told you what happened to me.” He pretended to pout

“ Oh don’t be such a baby.” She hit him with a pillow

“ Please, you can talk to me.” He said it with such sincerity that Liz began to talk

She didn’t tell him everything but she depicted Jackson pretty much for what he was. A bastard. She begged him not to tell Michael when she was done.

“ I am so sorry for you. I am complaining about someone cheating on me when you went through all of that.” He pulled Liz closer to him and placed a kiss on top of her head. She had tears rolling down her cheek when she was done telling him. He also noticed how scared she was about him telling Michael. He was in a tight spot but promised not to tell him.

“ Look at me.” He gently lifted her chin to meet his eyes with hers

“Not all men hit ok? He is a coward and deserves death for what he did. I am happy that you left him. No matter what you didn’t deserve that ok?” He kissed each of her eyelids tasting the saltiness of her tears.

“ Thank you.” She whispered

“ For what?” He smoothed her hair back

“ For listening and for not telling Michael.” She wiped her tears away and sat up

“ I meant what I said before you know.”

“ What?” She had forgot what he said earlier it seemed like ages ago now.

“ You really are beautiful.” He kissed her hand. Just then they heard the locks on the door opening. Max quickly stood up not wanting Michael to know what happened.

“ Max? What are you doing here?”

“ Well I came by to talk to you but you weren’t here so..” He was rambling now. Nervous as hell. He could only wonder what was going thru Michel’s head.

“ What did you want to talk about? Is everything ok?” Michael asked taking off his jacket.

“ Yeah everything is fine now. I’m going to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Max grabbed his jacket and left.

“ So how did the meeting go?” Liz asked nervously

“ It went great. They are coming my the gallery tomorrow to look at more stuff. I really think they are interested.” Michael said excitedly

“ That’s great Michael. I’m really happy for you.”

“ Thanks. Well I’m going to head to bed. Was everything ok with Max?”

“ Yeah I’m sure he’ll tell you about it tomorrow but he saw Tessa tonight. He was pretty bad for a while but he’s ok now.” She said happy that they talked

“ Damn. Did he tell you the whole story?” Michael wondered

“ Yeah. Poor guy she really screwed him over didn’t she?”

“ Yeah she did. Bella flipped out on her too. Surprised that she’s still around after that.” Michael laughed

“ What did she say to her?” Liz was intrigued

“ Well she pretty much called her on all her shit. She also threatened some bodily harm to her too I think.”

“ Wow well it sounds like she was a real piece of work too.” Liz walked behind Michael turning off the lights

“ Yeah well hopefully Max won’t run into her again. Good night.” He kissed her on the cheek and went to his room

Liz sat in bed thinking about everything her and Max talked about. She hoped that she didn’t make a mistake in telling him about her and Jackson. It felt good to talk to someone about it but she was worried that he would eventually tell Michael. Her thoughts turned to the kiss they shared. It was short but Liz hadn’t felt like that in a long time. She hadn’t felt safe in a while either. There was something about Max that made her feel at ease with him.

Ok i know it ended kind of weak but it was getting to long and i had to stop myslef from posting a 20 page part. I hope you guys liked it

You guys rock with the Feed Back!!! Thank you so so much. Now to answer a few questions:

lizard_queen wrote:But is it just me or does it seem like Bella is going to be one of the many obstacles between our dear dreamers? And when will Liz tell Michael about Jackson?

Your right about Bella. Liz will tell Michael soon. All in due time

Begonia9508 wrote:Oh la, la, what's a chicken you are, Liz !.... hope she found some courage left in her to tell Michael bc the longer she waits ....

Liz is scared because of the hell she lived in. She will open up to Michael but she's been through a lot.

Crashdown_51 wrote:Liz uses her credit card, which obviously, jugding from the plane ticket, she's not that stupid to do.

He finds Michael through his Art.

He finds Maria...prick....beats her or dominants her, which somehow I think won't be easy, and then get either Michael's info from her planner or palm pilot...she's a business woman, I know for a fact she has either or, I bet my hands on it.

Isabella. She's a famous decorator and Jackson was getting a new place right?

What if when Jackson...pendejo....was away on business he was banging Tessa?

Tess finds out about Liz's past and tracks Jackson....jabiem ti mamu....drops the dime on where Liz is and then the shit hits the fan from there!

To use your words you got a Yahtzee on one, but which one????

Thanks to everyone else who left Feed Back it really means alot to me that you like this fic.

~~ Chapter 5~~

Max took the long way home trying to sort out the nights events. He was very upset when Liz told him that she was being abused physically. He felt sick at the time but tried not to show it. He never understood men that hit women. Having a sister and being so close to her made him even more infuriated.

Something inside him was telling him to take Liz into his arms and hold her tightly. He held back still having fears of getting serious with someone himself. Tessa had really broke his heart and he didn’t think he would be able to get over that. He went from having the seemingly perfect life to living in hell. He literally had his world shatter before his eyes. Trust was a big issue with him and it was broken.

When he kissed Liz he felt something there. He felt like the wall around his heart was slowly starting to crumble but he pushed those feelings aside. Neither one of them was in the right state of mind to get into a relationship. He had to be the strong one and resist. He wanted to trust her but his mind was telling him to be cautious.

He walked into his apartment and saw that there were several messages on the machine. The first was from his mother asking him to come by the house sometime to look at some of her paintings. The next three were from Bella asking where he was and why he didn’t have his cell phone on. The last message was unexpected. It was from Tessa.

“ Max it’s me baby. Where are you? I hope your not too upset with me. I want to talk to you. I miss you baby. Call me please.”

Max quickly deleted the message. Was she crazy? Did she actually think that he was going to call him after everything she did to him. He decided to take a shower and head to bed. He had a headache and tomorrow would be a long day for him.

~~

Michael woke up and was rushing to get to the gallery on time. He walked out to the kitchen and smelled coffee brewing.

“ Your up early.” He greeted Liz.

“ Yeah I wanted to make you breakfast before you left.” She handed him some eggs and a cup of coffee.

“ Thanks. Hey why don’t you come in with me today? There are a lot of shops around the gallery so you won’t get bored.” He winked at her

“ Umm alright just let me finish getting ready. Be back in a sec.” She rushed off to her room. She knew that Max was going to be there and wanted to look nice for him. She quickly brushed her hair and applied a little lip gloss. She was already wearing a beige skirt with a red tank top and sandals.

“ Well I didn’t think you were going to get all dolled up.” He laughed when she came out of her room

“ I’m not dolled up Michael.” She pouted

“ Ok. Well let’s go then. Don’t want to be late.” He grabbed his keys and they walked to his car.

~~

Liz had been gone a few weeks and Jackson was getting extremely frustrated with the situation. He was not used to not getting what he wants and he wanted Liz. No information had came up on Michael and he decided to stop looking for him. He still didn’t have any information on Maria other then she worked in the city somewhere. He didn’t have a last name to go on.

One night while sitting in the living room he stared at their wedding picture. An idea popped in his head that he hoped would work. He began to flip through their wedding album hoping that he remembered what Maria looked like. He came across a picture of Liz and a another woman that he didn’t recognize.

“ This has to be her. Everyone else I know.” He thought as he took the picture out of the album and stuffed it into his pocket. He was going to take it to a friend of his that was a private investigator. It was a long shot but the only chance he had left.

Jackson had spent the past few weeks going to Liz’s old neighborhood to see if anyone had seen her. He went by her old job a few more times and no one had seen or heard from her in months. One night in a fit of rage he threw out all of her clothes and things from the room. Everything that reminded him of her was gone except for their wedding album. He was glad now that he didn’t throw it out.

He spent his days thinking of how he would make her pay for what she did to him once he did find her. He would make her sorry for ever leaving him. He had planned on taking her to Jamaica before she pulled her little stunt but this time when he did find her he would make sure that she would never leave him again.

The next morning he woke up early and headed to his friends office. He was praying the whole way there that he would be able to find Maria. Something told him that she knew where Liz was. He knew that Maria and Liz were close and that Liz confided in her.

He pulled up to the offices and jumped on the elevator.

“ Bobby hey how are you. Long time no see.” He shook Bobby’s hand.

“ What brings you to his part of town?” Bobby sat at his old ratted desk and lit a cigarette.

“ Well I need your help with something. My wife is missing and I think that this woman knows where she is.” He slid Maria and Liz’s picture across the desk.

“ What makes you think that?” He asked as he studied the picture.

“ Let’s just call it a hunch. Do you think you can help me?”

“ Well I’ll have to get some information from you first but I think I can.” He pulled out a notebook to write the information down

“ What’s her friends name and last known address?” He asked

“ Well I know that her name is Maria and that she works in the city. That’s about all though I’m afraid.” Jackson said growing frustrated

“Your serious? I’m sorry but even I’m not that good. I at least need her last name. This is not enough to go by.” He slid the picture back across the desk

“ Look this is my only chance at finding my wife. You have to help me.” Jackson was trying to not lose his patience.

“ Sorry but there is nothing I can do. You don’t even know her last name. I’ll tell you what, tell me what you know about your wife and I’ll try and see what I can come up with. I’m not making any promises but I’ll try.”

“ Thank you.” Jackson jotted down what he knew about Liz which wasn’t much. He knew her last name, where she was born, where she went to college, where she worked and her last address before she moved in with him. He hoped that it would be enough.

“ Just give ma a call in a few days I’ll let you know what I find out.” He stood up and walked Jackson out of his office

A few days later Jackson called Bobby. Bobby told him to come down to the office so they could talk.

“ Jackson have a seat.” Bobby motioned for him to sit

“ Well did you find anything?” Jackson was anxious

“ I didn’t find anything on Maria but I did find something out about your wife that you may not have known. She does have a brother like you mentioned but his last name is not Parker, that’s why you couldn’t track him down. He’s a photographer that‘s all I know.” He sat back waiting for Jackson to say something

“ Well your right. I didn’t know that. She told me she had a brother but she never said he was her half brother.” Jackson was a little ticked that he had to find out from someone else that Michael was her half brother.

“ Like I said nothing on Maria. I’m going to check into Liz’s old high school, see if they went to school together or something. Unless she is famous for something it’s going to be pretty hard to find her. I’ll be in touch.” He said and took a sip of his brandy

Jackson left Bobby’s office with the new information on his mind. He needed to find Liz. He was going to go on a full search for her brother Michael.

~~

Liz had fell into a routine over the past few weeks. She was the happiest she has been in months. Most of it had to do with Max. She met him for lunch a few times and it now turned into a regular thing. They would talk about everything from their childhoods to their fears. They were both so hurt by people that they loved. Liz had opened up to Max telling him all her secrets. She felt comfortable with him and looked forward to their lunch meetings.

Sometimes they would walk around the park after lunch and just talk. Michael never suspected anything. He was busy working and knew that Max had to meet with clients all the time. Liz told Michael that she liked to explore and he bought it. The hardest thing was acting casually around Max when the three of them would get together.

Max and Liz never kissed again like they did that night at the apartment but Max would giver her kisses on the cheek and hold her hand when they were out. Liz didn’t know what to make of that. Sometimes she felt like they were dating but then she would push those thought out of her mind. It wasn’t until one night that Max had invited her to have dinner at his house that things changed.

Michael flew out to New York to meet Maria. He needed to pick up some things from his studio in the city and would fly back with Maria. Michael didn’t want to leave Liz but she talked him into going. It was only two days anyway.

She was set to meet Max at 7:00 at his place and was a nervous wreck. She wished Maria was there with her. She didn’t know how to wear her hair or what earrings to wear.

She left the house at quarter to 7 wearing a pair of black pants and a red V-neck sweater with ¾ inch sleeves. She threw her jacket on and hailed a cab.

“ Sorry I’m late.” She said as Max opened the door

“ It’s ok. You look beautiful.” He kissed her cheek and took her jacket.

“ Thank you. Something smells good.” She said walking further into the apartment

“ I hope you like it. I’m making home made Pizza’s.” He walked her to the kitchen where he had a bottle of wine chilled and ready to pour.

“ Oh real Italian Pizza. This is a treat. You wouldn’t believe how different pizza is in the states.”

“ Please I don’t know how you can eat that.” He laughed and poured her a glass of wine

“ You have a beautiful place Max.” She turned in the stool and looked at all the artwork he had displayed. The apartment was very masculine and resembled a showplace. He had sculptures displayed as well as art on the walls. There were several tapestries hanging as well.

“ Thank you.” He said graciously

“ Bella is dying to re- do everything.” He laughed

“ Well I think it’s great the way that it is. It’s you.” She smiled at him catching him looking at her. He quickly turned away when their eyes locked

“ Would you like me to show you around?” He asked wanting to break the awkward moment.

“ I’d love that.” She set the glass down and slipped her hand in his extended one. She always felt safe with him. It felt like her hand fit perfectly with his. She wondered if he noticed the same thing

They walked through that apartment. Max showed her the den, family room and his room.

“ Ok this room is my favorite.” He led her to a room at the end of the hallway

When he entered the room she literally took a breath in. The room was exquisite. The ceiling was painted to resemble the Sistine Chapel. There was Victorian furniture all around the room and well as a few paintings on the wall. In the middle of the room was a tall sculpture of David also by Michelangelo.

“ Max this is beautiful.” She said in a whisper

“ It’s my favorite room. I like to come here and think.” He had a smile on his face. He was glad that she appreciated the room as much as he did.

“ I’m guessing that you like Michelangelo.” She laughed noticing the ceiling and all the sculptures including the Dawn, Day and Night sculptures.

“ Yes I do very much. I can never get tired of looking at the Sistine chapel.” When he talked about art his whole face would light up

“ Well I can see why this is your favorite room. How did you get the ceiling like that?” She asked in wonder still looking up at it

“ Well my mother did some of it and I got a friend of mine to finish it. It’s nothing like the original but I love it.”

“ It’s lovely.” She sighed looking at each sculpture he had in the room.

“ I’m going to check on the food.” He announced

“ Ok I’ll be there in a minute.” She wanted to stay there. She felt like he was letting her in on something special to him

When Liz stayed behind in the room Max had a smile on his face. He loved that she loved art as much as he did. He never met someone that had so much in common. He had never really dated anyone that had an interest in art.

The Pizzas were done and he went to get Liz.

“ Liz dinner is ready.” He called to her. She was eyeing one of the paintings that was hanging.

“ I really like this one.” She said

“ My mother did that one.” He was proud of his mother

“ She’s really good.” Liz smiled at him and walked out to the kitchen

When he pulled the pizza out of the oven she was looking at it strangely

“ Um Max. Why is the pizza not round?” She asked in wonder

Max began to laugh out loud.

“ Oh you are funny. This is how we have pizza here in Roma.” He was trying to catch his breath

The pizza was long and wide instead of round. Apparently that is how pizza was made in Rome. They ate their pizza like a sandwich. The pizza was cut and folded over.

“ This is a brilliant idea.” She said as she took a bite of her of pizza. “ I mean it cuts out the mess.”

“ Yes it does.” He laughed at how much she was enjoying her food.

After dinner they sat in the living room eating their dessert. Liz had took her shoes off and tucked her feet under her.

“ Thank you for dinner Max it was great. I’m so full.” She rubbed her stomach to emphasize her statement.

“ I’m glad you enjoyed it.” He didn’t know what to do now. He wanted to tell Liz that he was falling in love with her but he didn’t want to ruin their night.

“So.” Liz said not sure of what to do now. She didn’t want to leave but didn’t know what to do

“ So.” Max repeated still dumbfounded on what to say

“ I Um wanted to talk to you about something.” He said. He didn’t know why he said it but now there was no going back. He had to tell her. It was now or never.

Just as he was about to open his mouth there was a knock on the door.

“ Who could that be?” He thought

“ I’ll be right back.” He got up and walked to the door

When he opened the door he got the shock of his life.

“ What are you doing here?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“ I came to talk to you. Can I come in?”

“ NO! What the hell do you want?” He was trying to control his temper. He didn’t want Liz to come to the door. It’s not that he was ashamed of having her there but he knew that she would react badly to seeing Liz there

“ I came to say I’m sorry. I made a mistake I want you back.” She began to sob

“ E` troppo tardi per quello. Vada Prego” He said in a hushed tone
(it’s too late for that. Please leave)

“ But I love you. Can’t you see that?” She was not longer crying. She was angry now that he wasn’t letting her in.

“ There is nothing to talk about anymore. Vada!” He spat at her wishing she would just leave.

“ Fine I’ll go for now but this isn’t over.” With a flip of her hair she turned and walked down the hall.

Max leaned against the door for a minute before composing himself and walking back to Liz

“ Who was that?” Liz placed the magazine she flipping through on the table.

“ No one. It’s was just an old friend of mine. I asked him to come back another time.” He hated lying to her but she didn’t feel like talking about Tessa right now.

“ You didn’t have to do that. I could have left.” He took that moment to lean over and seal his lips with hers. She gave a small shriek not expecting it but welcoming it. He sucked and gently nipped on her bottom lip. The kiss grew hungry as he plunged his tongue into her mouth exploring every inch of it. Liz felt like she was on fire and let him guide her. She match his movements and they soon fell into a rhythm. Max’s hands roamed up and down her sides. He wanted to feel her skin on his.

Liz was tugging on the hem of his shirt willing him to take it off. Her hands were roaming over his hard chest but she wanted more. She wanted to feel him. Max knew what she wanted and quickly complied. He leaned up on one elbow and unbuttoned his shirt and quickly took it off. Once again he plunged his tongue deep . Liz wanted more she needed to feel him on her. She lifted up her shirt and gently pushed him off her so she could take it off. The minute their skin touched for the first time Liz moaned. It felt so right to her. All thoughts of her not being ready went out the window. She wanted Max more then she wanted anything in her life.

Max had a growing need inside him to touch her. He wanted more of her. His hands carefully came up to her breast. He gently touched her through her lace bra. He could feel her hardened nipples and began to rub circles around them. He wanted to feel her skin but didn’t want to rush.

Liz was enjoying the feel of his hands on her breast but wanted more. She slid her hand back and undid the clasp in her bra. She pulled the straps down to show him that she undid it. He gently pulled down and discarded the bra on the floor.

Max looked at Liz in awe. He loved the small freckles she had on her chest. He gently began to run her breast in a circular motion. Liz was pressing her center against him. Rubbing herself on him. She needed a release she didn’t think she could wait.

When Max placed his mouth over her nipple she almost lost it. The warmth of his mouth on her was electrifying.

“ Mmm Max.” She moaned. The first sounds that were spoken since they began

He gently nipped her nipples and it was driving her crazy. She needed more of him. She pulled on his belt trying to undo it. When she finally got it undone she pulled his zipper down and reached into grab his hardened member.

“ Ahh.” He said as she closed her hand around him

Max was kissing her neck gently sucking. He knew he would leave a mark but he didn’t care. He continued to place kisses on her neck and bare shoulders.

“ Andiamo alla camera de letto” He breathed into the crook of her neck

Liz got up and followed him to his bedroom. Not once did she feel that it wasn’t right. She wanted him more then anything. She knew that this was the right thing to do.

As soon as they got to the room he leaned her up against the door and began his attack on her neck again. He was sucking and kissing like a mad man. Liz had her legs wrapped around him rubbing her center against his erection that was now poking through his boxers. Max reached down and undid her pants. He slowly dragged them down her legs kissing her legs on the way. He kissed her from her ankles all the way back up to her mouth. Liz looped her thumbs around her underwear and pulled them down as well. The only thing separating them now was his boxers.

Again she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried them to his bed. He gently placed her down and laid between her legs. He kissed her stomach and worked a trail up to her neck again. He was definitely going to leave a mark there she thought. She didn’t care. She wanted to give herself fully to him. She completely surrendered to him tonight. She had complete trust in him.

He reached down and stoked her heated core with his fingers. He slowly dipped a finger between her folds and explored her most intimate part. She bucked her hips wanting him to go faster to go harder. He sensed her need and gently rubbed her nub bringing her to the point of not return. He knew she was about to go over the edge when he looked up and saw her eyes closed and the way she was clutching the sheets in her fists. No words were spoken they both knew what the other wanted. They were in sync mind and body. He didn’t want to wait any longer and pulled his boxers down. He grabbed his member and teased her rubbing himself between her folds. He glided himself over her mount hearing her moan in pleasure. He wanted it to last and gently pushed inside her. As soon as he entered her heat he let out a groan. She was hot and wet for him. He began the pace slow gently thrusting into her. They threaded their hands together. Liz was kissing his chest leaving small marks on him.

Max was quickening up the pace but not nearly as fast as he wanted to go. Each thrust bringing her closer to the edge. He knew what spot to hit and met his target with ease.

Liz brought her legs up and wrapped them around his back. She wanted to feel him deep inside her. She wanted more of him. She placed her hands on his ass and pushed him deeper. Max knew what she wanted and thrust in harder. His thrusts were short but deep. He felt that he was close and wanted to make sure that she came with him over the edge.

He reached down and rubbed her nub just enough to get her closer. He couldn’t wait anymore and began a rapid pace to completion. Liz was in heaven. She had never had someone make love to her like this before. It was as if she was reading her mind. Max knew exactly what to do to give her pleasure. When she wanted him to go faster he did. When she wanted him to touch her he did. She felt it coming. She was about to release.

“ I want to hear you.” He whispered in her ear catching her off guard. Those were the first words he had spoken since they came to the room

She wanted to give him what he wanted and screamed in pleasure when she went over the edge. She chanted his name over and over as she felt his seed pumping into her. There was a sheen film of sweat on their bodies now and they both struggled for air. He leaned half his body off of her as not to crush her. He lit a cigarette and pulled her close to him.

“ I wanted to talk to you before this.” He laughed letting out a puff of smoke

“ About what?” Liz still felt dazed from the previous events.

“ I want to tell you something. But please believe me that I wanted to tell you this when you first got here.” He turned her around to face him. He was serious

“ Ok.” She looked worried. Was he going to tell her that he didn’t want to see her anymore?

“ Are you ok?” He asked noticing the look of her face. She felt like she was about to throw up.

“ Yeah I’m fine. What is it what you wanted to say?” She wanted him to get it over with.

“ I wanted to tell you that I that I-I” He saw that she had tears in her eyes and started to get off the bed. She was looking for her clothes like she was in a hurry to leave

“ Where are you going?” He asked confused. She couldn’t be leaving because of him could she? What had he done?

“ It’s ok Max I understand. You don’t have to say anything or feel bad about what happened. I’ll be ok just give me a minute and I’ll leave.” She was looking for her underwear.

Max let out a small chuckle. She thought he wanted her to leave. She was too adorable for words he thought.

“ amore pregare. ascoltare verso me” He got up and pulled her against his chest.
(Love please. Listen to me)

“ I don’t want you to leave.” He didn’t care that he was naked. She tried to pull away from him but he just held her tighter.

“ Y-you don’t?” Ok now she was confused. Either he was messing with her or she was totally reading him wrong.

“ No I don’t. I want you to stay. Please stay.” He said softly kissing her temple

He pulled her on top of him back on the bed.

“ You are an angel.” He stroked her hair softly

“ I wanted to tell you that I’ve fallen in love with you.” He said the last words so softly he didn’t think she heard him especially since she didn’t react right away.

Liz was in shock. If someone would have told her that she would meet someone like Max a few months ago she would have never believed it. Now she was practically living in Italy and had a gorgeous man laying under her naked telling her that he loved her.

She looked up at him and just stared into his amber eyes. He was the most beautiful man she ever knew. Not just on the outside but on the inside as well. She knew that he would never hit her. She got to know him so well over the past few weeks and too had fallen in love with him.

“ If I told you that I have too would you believe me.” She said resting her head on his chest.

“ Yes.” He said proudly. He fully believed that she too loved him and hoped that he wasn’t wrong to let her into his heart. He had been cautious about it but couldn’t stop it and was glad that he didn’t.

The next obstacle would be Bella. He knew that she would not be happy about this. It’s not that she wanted him to be alone but he knew that she would tell him that it’s too soon. He knew he had to tell her soon though. He didn’t want her to find out some other way. That would not be good at all.

Thank you all for your awesome Feed back. I'm glad you like " My" Max. LOL

~~ Chapter 6~~

Throughout the night Max and Liz made love over and over again. Each time was different and more intense then the previous.

It wasn’t until morning that reality had set in for Liz.

They hadn’t used protection. She hadn’t brought her birth control pills when she came to Italy and never thought she would need them so soon.

“ Holy shit!” She thought

She didn’t know how to tell Max. Did he assume she was on the pill? He didn’t ask. She was freaking out laying in bed next to him.

“How could I be so stupid.” She said to herself. She didn’t want to wake Max, he looked so peaceful and lord knows he must be tired but she had to tell him, she couldn’t wait.

“ Max.” She gently nudged him to wake him up

“ Umm.” He groaned not wanting to wake up

“ Max get up. I have to tell you something.” She was still nudging him. Geez he was a heavy sleeper.

“ Max!” She said louder then she meant to but it got him up at least.

“Che cosa è errato” He said alarmed
(what’s wrong)

“ Max we didn’t use anything.” She said hoping he understood and would make her explain

“ Huh?” He asked still half asleep

“ Damn it.” Liz thought

“ Last night we didn’t use any protection.” She motioned between him and her to make her point

“ Oh. Oh!” He said suddenly getting it.

He sat up and lit a cigarette pondering what she just told him. It’s not that he didn’t want to have children, he loved children but he wanted to be married first. He felt that he wasn’t as settled in life as he would have liked to be. He didn’t want to give her the wrong impression but didn’t know what to say. He just sat there taking long slow puffs of his cigarette trying to find that right words.

“ I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I wasn’t on the pill. It’s my fault.” She began but he cut her off.

“ Hey, you weren’t the only one here last night. I should have had something too. It’s not your fault. I didn’t ask either. To tell you the truth I wasn’t thinking about it. I’m sorry too.

“ Well how do you feel about it. I mean there is a possibility that we could you know.”

“ Yes that is a very good possibility from the many times that we you know.” He mimicked her at the end

Liz blushed when she heard him talk about what they did and the many times that they did it. She never did some of the things that went on last night. It was magical to her. It was perfect and nothing was going to ruin it. So the worst case is that she’s pregnant. Max was an honorable guy she knew he would do that right thing if need be. She could get a decent job to support her and the baby. So why was she so nervous? She wanted to throw up. She was going to throw up.

She ran to the bathroom and sure enough she threw up. Max ran after he wondering what was wrong.

“ Bella, siete giusti?” He asked worried about her.
(beautiful, are you ok?)

“ Oh Max I’m worried. What if I am? What will we do?” She suddenly began to cry. She hated crying so much but couldn’t help it.

“ Shhh it’s ok. It will be fine. Whatever happens I’m here. I’m here for you not matter what ok?” he lifted her chin to meet his. He wiped the tears away and held her close to him rocking her back and forth.

Liz headed home to get ready for Michael and Maria’s arrival. She knew that she would see Max soon. Maria would want to see him. She also knew that she would have to act differently around him. She didn’t know if she would be able to do that now after the night that they shared.

Max decided to call Bella and meet her for lunch. He wanted to talk to her about he and Liz. An hour later he met Bella near her office where she was finishing up some work.

“ Buon vederli.” She kissed him on both cheeks.
(good to see you)

“ You look great.” He said as they sat down.

“ Ok spill it. I don’t look that good today. What’s wrong?” She knew something was up.

“ What? You do look good. Can’t I just have lunch with my sister?” He scanned the menu.

“ Max please. Just tell me what you came to say. I know you.” She skimmed through the menu even though she knew she was going to order a Caesar salad.

“ Ok ok I’ll spill. I wanted to talk to you about Elizabeth.” He scanned her face for a reaction.

“ Michael’s sister?” She acted like she didn’t know who he meant.

“ Yes. Don’t play with me Bella you know who I am talking about.”

“ Ok what about her?” She opened a packet of sugar and poured it into her iced tea.

“ Well I wanted to know what you thought about her and I ?”

“ What do you mean? Like dating?” She didn’t know what he was getting at.

“ Yes like dating.” He was getting frustrated with this conversation. He felt like a kid asking permission to go to the movies alone for the first time.

“ I don’t know Max. I think it’s too soon after Tessa.

“ Why do you think that I still have feelings for her? Tessa and I are over with. You seem to think about her more then I do lately.” Max was angry.

“ Max I know that she went to talk to you last night.” Isabel confessed.

“ Come l’inferno voi conosce quello? He said through gritted teeth.
( how the hell do you know that?)

“ Massimilio calma giu`” Isabel whispered when people turned to look at them.
(calm down)

“ She came to my place after you kicked her out.” Bella began to explain

“ Are you fucking serious? I kicked her out? Please!” He snorted

“ Max you haven’t even talked to her. She feels really bad.”

“ Bella I can’t believe you! You of all people to be sitting here telling me that I should talk to her. What is wrong with you?! After everything that she did you want me to hear her out. She has no side as far as I’m concerned. I saw her side she cheated on ME in my own house! I was the one that got screwed over not her! I was the one with a broken heart! You know what happened, how dare you try to make me feel sorry for her!” He got up ready to leave.

“ Max please. Sit down.” Bella pleaded with him.

“ I know that she hurt you. I was there with you, trust me I know. It’s just, haven’t you thought about forgiving her? She made a mistake Max. It was a huge mistake but.”

“ Bella she had no reason on Earth to do what she did. I can’t forgive something like that, not ever. I did nothing but shower her with love. I told her everyday that I loved and adored her and this is how she repays me? She didn’t have to do what she did. I gave her everything. If something was missing then she should have talked to me.” Max was on the verge of tears. Tears of rage. Thinking back he did do everything in his power to make Tessa happy. Maybe too much he now thought.

“ Ok well I just don’t want you to regret anything. If you don’t want to talk to her then I’ll respect your wishes. Now about Elizabeth. Are you serious about wanting to date her? Have you talked to Michael about it?” She took a bite of her salad.

“ Yes I’m serious and no I haven’t talked to Michael. All I know that is I want to be with her. Bella you have to meet her she is the kindest person I’ve ever met. She made me want to love again. She’s helped me get past the pain. And since when are you talking to Tessa? After the way you went off on her I thought you hated her?”

“ I did hate her Max but she sought me out, she came to my office and she talked to me, she was sorry for what she did and knew that she made a mistake. She came to tell me that and to ask me to talk to you about it.”

“ Well forget about it. Please don’t bring it up again.” Max took sip of his drink.

“ Fine I won’t I just want you to be happy Max that’s all. If Liz makes you happy then I‘m glad. I hear Maria is coming into town. When will she be here?”

“ Tonight actually. We should all get together.” Max suggested.

“ That sounds good.” Isabel turned her attention to her food until something popped into her head.

“ Wait a minute. Isn’t she married?” Isabel asked looking at Max curiously.

Max almost choked on his water. Shit, what was he going to tell her? He couldn’t lie.

“ Who?” He managed to get out.

“ Don’t act like you don’t know who I’m talking about.”

“ Yes well technically she is.” He was nervous now.

“ Technically? Either she is or she’s not. You can’t be sort of married.” She was waiting for his answer.

“ Yes she is.” He admitted knowing Isabel would be mad.

“ I never thought I’d see the day the my brother would be having an affair with a married woman knowingly.” She shook her head and laughed.

“ You don’t know the whole story. Just trust me it’s not what you think.” He explained

“ Really? Well I think it’s pretty easy Max. She’s married, she’s married and oh yeah SHE’S MARRIED!” She raised her voice aggravated with him.

“ Bella please. Trust me when I tell you that there is reasoning behind this. She is still married but it’s not by her wanting.” He didn’t want to tell the story that Liz told him.

“ Fine Max you do what you want to do. I’m out of it but think about this. You are the one with all your morals and for some reason they have gone out the window. You were never one to cheat and I would never have thought that you would condone such behavior knowingly. I don‘t like these changes in you.” She stood up and placed her napkin on the table before walking out.

Max sat there absorbing what Bella said. She was right but she didn’t know what he knew. She didn’t know that Liz didn’t want to be married. She didn’t know that Liz didn’t really have a marriage to begin with. The reason she hasn’t filed for divorce is because she is scared of him finding her. He hated fighting with Isabella. After finishing off his water he left money for the check and walked back to his apartment.

~~

Michael and Maria walked into the apartment arguing about something or other. Liz heard them as soon as they got to the hallway and opened the door for them.

“ Ria!” Liz pulled her into a tight hug.

“ Liz wow you look great. Italy really agrees with you.” She stepped back to look at her.

Liz blushed. She was thinking about the events of the previous nights.

“ So how was your flight guys?” She asked noticing the frown on Michael’s face.

“ It was fine.” Maria said throwing an evil glare at Michael.

“ You know your brother can be a real pain in the ass Liz.” Maria was walking to the bedroom.

“ Real funny Maria.” Michel grunted

“ What happened?” Liz was amused

“ Hum let’s see. First we almost miss our flight because SOMEONE wanted to stop and buy snacks like there not going to give us food. THEN he decided to pick a fight with someone on the plane because they had their stuff in our overhead container and we had to put our bags a little further down. Then he complains because I didn’t bring freaking Braveheart on DVD so he can watch it on the laptop. Who knew he was such an damn princess.”

Liz was trying to hold back her laughter. As much as Michael and Maria loved each other you would never know by the way they act. Be she knew how they really were. She was Michaels world. He would be lost without her. Same for Maria.

“ You know what Maria….” Michael began but was cut off by Liz placing her hand over his mouth

“ Ok you two relax. Why don’t I help Maria unpack and you can get us something for dinner Michael.” Liz suggested but it was more of an order at this point These two were going to kill each other one day.

Michael left and Maria started unpacking.

“ So what have you been doing lately?” Maria asked

“ Oh not much. Just sightseeing you know stuff like that.” She was trying to hide the blush that was creeping up on her.

“ Humm are you sure that’s all. You look like your hiding something.” Maria speculated

“ Maria I’m not hiding anything. That’s all I’ve been doing.” Liz laughed

“ Alright fine don’t tell me but I will find out.” Maria teased.

“ Maria how long are you staying?” Liz asked noticing all the clothes she had packed.

“ Only a few days, why?”

“ Because it looks like you packed half your closet.” Liz laughed

“ Well you know how I am always changing my mind so I didn’t want to not have something that I might want to wear.” She said matter of factly

“ Ok then.” Liz continued to help her unpack when Michael announced that Bella and Max were coming over for dinner

“ Ohhh I can’t wait to see Bella.” Maria squealed

“ I haven’t met her yet.” Liz stated sadly

“ You haven’t? Oh my God she is like so much fun. Your going to love her. She is the best to go shopping with. A master I tell you”

“ Well if you like her I’m sure I will.”

“ So what do you think about Max?” Maria asked.

“ He’s nice.” Liz tried to hide her true feelings.

“ Nice?” Maria asked with a raised eyebrow.

“ Yeah nice. What?” She asked.

“ Nothing.” Maria put up her hands in defense.

“ I’m going to take a shower and change. I feel like I’ve been in these clothes for months.” She laughed and headed to the bathroom.

Liz walked to the living room and sat next to Michael.

“ You shouldn’t be such a sour puss you know.” She teased.

“ Me? Please I didn’t do anything. By the way Bella and Max are bringing dinner”

“ What made you invite Bella and Max over. I would have thought you would be tired.” She asked reaching over and taking a sip of his iced tea

“ Well Bella called and said she was coming over to see Maria, I guess Max told her she was coming and I made her bring Max to keep me company with all the girls that would be here.” He laughed

“ Ahh I see. Well I’m going to change I’ll be out in a minute.” She walked to her room

An hour later Bella and Max had shown up with food in hand.

“ Ciao Maria.” Isabel hugged her tightly

“ Bella it’s good to see you.” Maria hugged her back. Liz stood by not sure what to do. She was tying not to look at Max since Michael was standing right next to him.

“ Max!” Maria screeched and pulled him into a tight hug.

“ La bella Maria. Come siete?” He hugged her back and kissed her on each cheek.
( the lovely Maria. How are you)

“ I’m so happy to see you guys. It seems like forever since I last saw you.” Maria said and pulled Liz closer to her to introduce her to Bella.

“ Bella this is a very good friend of mine and Michael’s sister, Liz” Maria smiled.

“Ciao.” Bella said and extended her hand to shake Liz’s. Liz felt the coldness in her .action and didn’t know what to think of it.

“ And you already met Max.” Maria said noticing how cold Bella was to Liz.

“ Yes I have.” Liz said softly. She suddenly felt like an outsider. Bella and Maria began to chat about New York and Michael and Max were talking about something in the kitchen.

She stood next to Maria but it was obvious that Bella was not paying any attention to her. She would ask Maria questions but never looked at Liz once. Maria would try to include her but she knew where she wasn’t wanted.

She didn’t know why Bella didn’t like her. They only just met a few minutes ago. Did she know about her and Max? Did she not like her because of that? Suddenly Liz felt out of place and slowly walked backed out of the living room.

She walked to the kitchen to get herself a drink.

“ Liz, hey. Need a break from all the talk about shopping?” Michael teased.

“ Yeah.” She gave him a half smile.

“ Are you ready to eat?” Michael asked sensing something was wrong.

“ Um sure. I’ll go get Maria and Bella.” She went to the living room to get them.

“ Um excuse me but are you guys ready to eat? Michael and Max are ready.” Liz said feeling very uncomfortable around Bella.

“ I know I am. Bella?” Maria asked

“ Yeah me too.” Bella and Maria stood up and walked to the kitchen.

“ So what did you guys bring?” Maria asked peeking into the various bags they brought

“ Oh just some penne pasta in vodka sauce.” Bella said

“ Oh my God I love you!” Maria screeched It was her favorite.

Liz stood by watching Bella and Maria. She suddenly felt jealous for some reason. She had never had to share Maria with any other friend and she was starting to feel like she was losing her friend.

“ Are you ok?” Max asked her softly so that no one else heard.

“ Yeah I’m fine.” Max was rubbing small circles on her lower back.

Bella saw the exchange and didn’t like it. Liz seemed innocent but Bella thought it was a part of her act.

They ate chatting about everything from art to movies. After dinner they decided to sit on the balcony since it was such a nice night out.

Maria sat next to Michael, Bella sat next to her that left Liz sitting between Bella and Max.

“ Oh this is great.” Liz thought to herself wishing the night would end. She loved being around Max but tonight wasn’t going as well as she thought.

“ Maria we must go shopping tomorrow.” Bella said excitedly.

“ Umm I don’t know I want to spend time with Michael. How about we go on Monday. You have to work don’t you?” Maria asked

“ Yeah I have to meet someone in the morning but I’ll be done around 3:00.” He said knowing that she wanted to go out with Bella

“ Ok great so pick us up here then Bella.” Maria said happy to spend time with her and Liz

“ Ok.” Bella didn’t hide the fact that she wasn’t happy about having to spend time with Liz

After dessert Max and Bella left wanting to let Michael and Maria rest. They had plans to all get together again before Maria left.

Michael and Maria went to bed leaving Liz in the living room watching TV. She was trying to figure Bella out. She didn’t know why they didn’t hit it off but knew it had something to do with Max. She assumed that Max told her something otherwise she wouldn’t have reason to act the way she did. She waited a few minutes and called Max. She wanted to ask him what he told Bella

“ Pronto.” Max answered the phone after rushing to get inside the apartment when he heard the phone ringing

“ Max. It’s Liz.” She said trying not to sound to worried

“ I knew it was you. What’s wrong, you sound sad.” He took off his shoes and propped his feet up on the table

“ I wanted to ask you if you said anything to Bella about us?” She said nervously

“ Well not really. I asked her what she thought about us dating but I didn’t tell her anything else. Why do you ask?”

“ Well it’s just that she seemed cold today.”

“ That’s just how Bella is.” She chuckled

“ She wasn’t like that with Maria. Maria told me that they hit it off instantly when she came last time.” Liz said trying to hide back her tears

“ Don’t be upset about it. You have to understand her. Maria poses no threat to her. Bella has always been protective of me especially when I date someone. She just doesn’t want me to be hurt.” Max tried to reason with her. What he said was true but he left out the part of her being furious that Liz was married, something that Max had been thinking about lately too

“ I don’t know I guess your right. I just don’t want her to hate me.” Liz sighed

“ She doesn’t hate you. Just give her time.”

“ Did you tell her that I was married?” Liz wondered

Max didn’t know how to answer that. If he said yes then she would ask what Bella thought about it. He hated being a liar, it was something that he always hated. He couldn’t lie

“ Yes.” He said regrettably

“ And?” she asked knowing that she wanted to know what she thought

“ I’m not going to lie to you. She was upset about it.” He let out a slow breath

“ Oh.” Was all she could say. She knew that was the real reason she hated Liz

“ It will all be ok. She will get past it, she just needs time.” Max tried his best to calm her fears

“ I hope so. I think I’m going to tell Michael when Maria leaves.”

“ That’s good news. He deserves to know the truth.” Max was glad that she decided to tell Michael

“ Yeah I just want him to have a good time with Maria then I’ll drop the bomb on him.” She laughed trying to make light of the situation

“ I’ll be here for you no matter what ok?” He lit a cigarette taking in a long drag

“ Thank you Max.” They talked for the next hour about all the places Liz wanted to see in Europe and about what she was going to do about her marriage

Liz wanted to file for divorce but she didn’t want Jackson to know where she was. She was so afraid for him to find her. She confided in Max of her fears and of course he said that he would never let anyone hurt her but Liz knew that no one could stop Jackson. That scared the hell out of her.

~~

Jackson had been on a full on search for Liz for a while now. Every time he tried to find out about Michael he would come up empty handed. Turns out that no one knew how to get in contact with him. For all he knew he wasn’t even in the country.

Bobby didn’t find anything on Maria. Why didn’t he pay more attention to Liz when she would try to talk about her friends? If he had then maybe he would know her last name or even where she worked. Times like these he wished he lived in some small backwoods town where everyone knew everyone, but then he wouldn’t be able to make a living the way he did.

He decided that for now he would chill out with the search. For now.

~~

“ I so can’t wait to go shopping. There’s so much nice stuff and Bella knows all the right places to go too.” Maria was brushing her hair

“ Yeah it should be fun.” Liz was trying to sound excited but something told her that today was not going to be fun for her

“ Spill it.” Maria said turning in her chair to look at Liz

“ Spill what?” Liz said

“ Fine play that game then.” Maria turned back to brushing her hair

Bella knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer

“ Hey. We’re almost ready.” Maria greeted her

“ Take your time. I’m a little early.” Bella followed Maria to the bathroom

“ Hello Bella.” Liz said trying to forget her bad feelings

“ Hi Liz.” She answered coldly. This didn’t go unnoticed by Maria

“ Ok I’m ready. Liz?” Maria asked putting her jacket on

“ Yeah I’m ready.” Liz grabbed her jacket and walked behind them

For most of the afternoon Liz felt like a third wheel. Maria was more into the whole shopping thing then her and Bella was an expert. Maria would ask Liz for her opinion on something and no matter what she said Bella disagreed. She felt like she was in competition with Bella for some reason.

Maria did try to include Liz but whenever Bella would talk to her it was very short and cold. She was starting to rethink her relationship with Max. It was apparent that Bella was not happy about it.

She didn’t want to come off as being whiney but she had to talk to Max. She couldn’t see him anymore. After they made it back to Michael’s apartment Liz said she was going out for a minute and left Bella and Maria there. She went to Max’s hoping that he would be there so she could get it over with.

She knocked on the door praying he would answer. When he did she breathed a sigh of relief

“ Hey, what are you doing here?” He kissed her on the cheek and opened the door further for her to come in

“ I wanted to talk to you about something.” She gave him a faint smile and walked to the sofa

“ Ok what’s going on?” He asked taking a seat next to her

“ I don’t think we should see each other anymore.” She said softly trying to hold back her tears

WOW so i guess everyone pretty much hates Bella? Well she will get a little better in this chapter, we'll just have to wait and see if it will last . Thank you all for reading and for the Feed Back. It's great to know that you guys like it

~~Previously~~~

“ Hey, what are you doing here?” He kissed her on the cheek and opened the door further for her to come in

“ I wanted to talk to you about something.” She gave him a faint smile and walked to the sofa

“ Ok what’s going on?” He asked taking a seat next to her

“ I don’t think we should see each other anymore.” She said softly trying to hold back her tears

~~Chapter 7~~

“Scusilo? Che cosa?” He said wondering what was going on
(Excuse me? What?)

“ I just don’t think it’s a good idea. I think it’s too soon.” That was a lie but it was the first thing that came to mind.

“ Bullshit. You and I both know that’s not the reason now would you mind telling me the truth please?” He folded his arms across his chest

“ That is the truth. Max I’m sorry I do have feelings for you but I can’t do this right now. I have some things to work through and I can’t do that with you in my life.” The tears were threatening to spill but she held them back.

“ If that’s what you want then I respect your wishes. I will tell you that I think it’s something else and I hope that you decide to tell me the truth. I want you to be happy.” He stroked her cheek

Liz didn’t know what she was doing. She came here to tell him that she wanted to end it but looking into his eyes she though why should she have to give up her chance at happiness? She deserved to be happy too and Max made her happy. Looking into his face she couldn’t lie anymore. She did want to be with him.

“ Max I lied.” She blurted out

“ You did huh?” He smirked at her.

“ It’s just that I can tell that your sister is unhappy about us being together and I don’t want to get in between you two.”

“ There is nothing that you or anyone else can do to get in between Bella and I, she’s my sister she will get over it. If she is not happy with us together then that’s her problem. I can’t worry about what she wants for me. I want to be with you, that is all that should matter.” He was looking straight into her eyes

“ Max I want to be with you too but she is right. I am still married.” She turned her eyes away from him, unable to face him.

“ Yes you are. What do you think we should do then?” He always wondered what she wanted to do about that.

“ I want to get a divorce, I really do but I can’t. I can’t let him know where I am. He’ll find me and.” Max pulled her into a hug when she broke out in a sob. She was so afraid of Jackson. Max didn’t understand. He could never understand how much fear she had for Jackson.

“ You think that he will come here to get you?” He was trying to understand her fear.

“ Max you don’t know him. I’ve told you about him but you don’t understand. He has never had anyone leave him. He always gets what he wants. I know that he must be furious and I don’t want to see what he will do if he finds me.” She snuggled closer to his chest wanting to feel comfort

“ You have Michael and you have me.” He lifter her chin to look him in the eyes.

“ I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise you that.” He meant that with every fiber of his being.

“ I know you wouldn’t but I’m afraid of what he will do to you and to Michael. He knows people. You don’t know him.” The thought of Michael or Max being hurt by Jackson made her sick.

“ He is only one man. I don’t think he knows people all the way in Italy.” He thought she was being unreasonable about that.

“ I don’t know if he does. Your right he is only one man but I couldn’t bare the thought of you or Michael being hurt by him.” She was beginning to cry again, she hated crying all the time.

“ Just think about it ok? I’m not trying to pressure you or anything but you can’t stay married to him forever. It has nothing to do with me, but you have to end it once and for all.” He rubbed circles on her back trying to sooth her.

Liz knew that he was right. She needed to get a divorce. She was cursing herself now for marrying him. How could she fall for his lies. She didn’t even really know him and she jumped into marriage?

She should have walked out the first time he hit her but instead she fell for his crap. She felt like she was living a made for TV movie. What was the worst thing that can happen if she filed for divorce? Death, that’s what. She couldn’t risk Michael or Max, there was no way in hell she would do that. She had no idea how she was going to get a divorce without him finding her but she was going to have to think of a way.

Max needed to talk to Bella. The way she was acting was really getting on his nerves. He knew that she was protective of him but this had gone too far already. He was going to be stern with her even if it hurt her feelings.

When they went to Michaels to have dinner before Maria left you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Even Michael noticed the way Bella was treating Liz. Bella wouldn’t look at her or talk to her. She spoke to everyone else but Liz the whole night. It was obvious too.

Max saw Liz on the verge of tears several times throughout the night and decided that enough was enough. She was going to have to get over herself and be happy for him or he would not be speaking to her until she grew up. He loved his sister and they were close but this had to stop. He knew that eventually she would come around but didn’t want to risk Liz’s happiness until she did. This was it, she was coming over to his place in an hour and he was mentally preparing for a blow out. Bella was not one to hide her feelings about anything.

Max was a ball of nerves until he heard the knock on the door. He took in a long breath and opened the door.

He kissed her on each cheek.

“ What’s the big emergency? I had to cancel plans you know.” She teased

“ Um I have to talk to you about something….important.” He knew this wasn’t going to go well, he could feel it in the air

“ What’s wrong? Are you ok?” She asked suddenly getting worried

“ I’m fine.” He felt like crap now. She was worried about him.

“ Ok what’s going on then.” She took on a seat on his sofa.

“ I wanted to talk to you about Liz.” He began.

“ Ok?” She knew that he knew her feelings towards Liz.

“ I wanted to talk to you about the way that you have been treating her.”

“ What about it? Max you know me if I don’t like someone then I’m not going to act like I like them, I’m sorry. I‘m tired of discussing Liz with you.”

“ Bella why do you have to be so difficult?” Max ran his hands over his face.

“ Just because I’m not doing what you want me to doesn’t mean I’m being difficult. You always have things going YOUR way. If not then you freak out!” She was screaming now

“ MY way. Are you serious? What always goes my way? Like when Tessa cheated on me? That was going MY way?” Her last statement made him furious

“ Did you ever stop to think that maybe that was your fault a little? You may have thought that you gave her everything but did you stop and ask her if she was happy? NO!” She knew she hit a nerve when his eyes opened wide at her statement.

“ Your unbelievable. She wasn’t a child, if she was unhappy then she should have said something or ended it, she didn’t have to cheat. You know that. I can’t believe that you would take her side. Geez what is wrong with you Isabel? Are you that much against Liz and I? I just don’t understand you anymore. You don’t even know Liz and yet you hate her so much. I‘m tired of talking about Tessa. Can‘t you let it go?” He wanted this conversation to end already. He wasn’t getting anywhere.

“ Max did you ever think that maybe she felt trapped? Maybe she didn’t want to hurt you”

Max burst out in laughter at that.

“ Your joking right? She didn’t want to hurt me? Well guess what, she did. She not only hurt me but she betrayed me. I can never forgive that. EVER! So whatever plan you have to get me to talk to her forget it. It’s not going to happen and it’s not because of Liz either so get that out of your head.” He was pacing back and forth in front of her.

“ You can be so pig headed sometimes you know that.” She stood up to leave but Max held her back

“ Your not going to walk out on me. I’m not done yet.” He looked straight into her eyes.

“What Max. What else do you have to say. Are you going to beg me to play nice with Liz?” She was mocking him now. She knew how to make him mad.

“ Stop it. Your being a child now I don’t like it. I don’t care if you don’t want to talk to Liz but I will not let you treat her the way that you are. If you don’t like her then fine, I don’t care but you will not treat her like dirt Isabella I’m sick of it. You have to let me live my life. I appreciate that you are trying to look out for me but I don’t need it. I can make my own decisions.”

“ Max you don’t know what your dealing with.” She said softly

“ What are you talking about?” He asked confused

“ She’s married Massimilio. What do you think Momma would say?”

“ I don’t know Bella. You can‘t tell Momma or Poppa though”

“ Well don’t you think that there is something wrong with that?”

“ They wouldn‘t understand. We’ve been over this already.” He was getting frustrated

“ I don’t like what you’ve become. A few months ago you would have never done what you are doing now. What is wrong with you?” She threw her hands up in frustration

“ Isabel please, I’m asking you not to be so judgmental. I know it looks bad but please trust me I know what I’m doing.”

“ I don’t know Max. Just please think about this. I don’t want you to get hurt. Has she even thought about getting divorced?” Bella asked

“ It’s not that easy.” He lit a cigarette

“ What’s the problem. You go to a lawyer, you file and that’s it. I don’t understand.” Bella lit some candles to get rid of the smell of smoke.

“ Look I’m just going to tell you so you understand better where Liz is coming from. Her husband used to beat her. She’s afraid of him” Max let out a puff of smoke.

“ I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” She said softly.

“ Exactly, you didn’t know but you jumped to conclusions like always. I didn’t want to tell you and I ask that you not say anything to Liz about this please.”

“ I still think that there is something that she could do but I’ll leave it alone. I’ll try to be civil towards her. I’m sorry.” She got her purse and got ready to leave.

“ It’s ok. I understand where you were coming from but you need to let me live my life ok?” He winked at her giving her a kiss on the cheek

She kissed Max on the cheek and left.

~~

Liz decided that it was time to tell Michael. She and Maria talked before she left and Maria told her the longer she wait’s the worse it will be. Maria also had an inkling that something was going on with her and Max. Maria always had a knack for things like that. Liz confessed that something did happen between them but she also told her of her fear.

Michael was due home any moment and Liz was a wreck. She really didn’t want to tell him but it was time. She was planning on looking for a job soon and he would know something is up once she did that anyway.

She heard his keys jingling and took in a deep breath.

“ Hey.” He greeted her taking his jacket off

“ Hey.” She tried to sound calm

“ What’s going on? You seem quiet.” He noticed

“ Yeah I have to talk to you about something.”

“ Ok let me just put this stuff away. I’ll be right out.” He carried his canvases to his room

“ So what’s up?” He sat on the sofa across from her

“ Well I wanted to tell you the truth.”

“ About?” He asked

“ About why I came here.” She admitted

“ Ok.” He sat back waiting for her to begin. He knew this wasn’t just a visit because she missed him. She was there too long but he didn’t want to push her.

“ The reason I came was to get away from Jackson.” She waited to see if he was going to say anything. He didn’t so she continued

“ He was hurting me. I didn‘t know what to do so I went to Maria the first chance and I got and we decided I should come here.”

“ Wait Maria knew and didn’t say anything to me?” He hurt and upset she didn’t tell him.

“ Don’t be mad at her. I made her promise not to say anything. I’m sorry Michael.”

“ What exactly did he do to you?” He wanted to know everything

“He hit me a few times and he basically held me hostage in my own home.” She said softly

“ How many times? And how did he manage to hold you hostage?” He asked through gritted teeth. He was ready to fly to New Jersey and kill Jackson.

“ Michael it’s over now it doesn’t matter.” She could see the anger in his eyes.

“ It’s not over Liz. It’s far from over. He can’t get away with this.” He stood up pacing the floor

“ Michael what are you going to do? You can’t confront him.” She definitely didn’t want that to happen

“ Why the fuck not?”

“ You don’t know him. You don’t know what he will do. It’s not a good idea.” Liz pleaded

“ Are you serious? Do you really think that I’m not going to do anything? You know me better then that.” He sat back down

“ Michael please I’m begging you not to do anything. Everything is fine now. He can’t find me here. I just want to forget about it.”

“ Well I’m sorry but I can’t. I can’t let him get away with this. Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

“ I was ashamed Michael. I didn’t know what to do. The first chance I got I went to Maria’s.” She was exhausted

“ Are you going to file for divorce?” he asked

When she didn’t answer Michael got the wrong impression

“ You ARE going to right? I mean you don’t want to go back to him do you?”

“ No! No I don’t want to go back to him. I’m just afraid of filing for divorce. I don’t want him to find me.”

“ We’ll have to figure out a way to do it without him finding you. I’ll help you.” He stood up and pulled her into a hug

“ Thank you Michael.”

“ Don’t thank me. I’m your brother. If you don’t want him to know where you are then we’ll find another way. I don’t like it but I’ll do what you want me to do.”

Now that she told Michael why she was here she had to tackle telling him of her and Max’s relationship. That could wait.


That was the shortest chapter I ever posted.

You guys are awesome with the Feedback. I'm glad you guys like it.

~~ Chapter 8~~

A few weeks later Liz found a job at a travel agency. It wasn’t what she was doing before but she liked it and it was close to the gallery that Max worked at so she could see him in the afternoons for lunch. She was tried of hiding from Michael though. They had a few close calls when they were having lunch and decided not to go anywhere close to their jobs in case Michael showed up.

~~

Max and Liz decided that it was time to tell Michael. They had been seeing each other for months now and hated hiding their relationship. They would tell him this weekend when they were all going to Venice to check out a gallery that wanted to show Michael’s work.

“ I don’t know if I can do this.” Liz said as she sat on Max’s lap at his house

“ You can. Everything will be ok.” Max assured her

“ I just think that he will be mad at us for lying to him all this time.”

“ He might but he will get over it. I love you and he’s just going to have to get used to that.” Max gently placed a kiss on her temple

“ So how are things with you and Bella?” She asked changing the subject

“ Things are ok. We talk but it’s not like before. I’m sure she will come around soon though.” Max wasn’t so sure about that but he didn’t want to tell Liz. He and Bella barely said more then 2 words to each other. Max knew she was being unreasonable but hoped that she would come around soon. It was eating him up inside.

“ I’m sorry Max. I know you guys were close for a long time. I just hate to think that I had something to do with you not talking anymore.” She said sadly

“Stop blaming yourself. Don’t worry about it. She’s just worried about me that’s all.” He said more then he wanted to

“ Worried about what?”

“ I guess about me getting my heart broken again that’s all.” He tried to sound convincing

“ Hum. Are you sure that’s all it is?” Liz wasn’t buying it

“ Yes I’m sure.” He smiled hoping that she would drop it. He leaned over and grazed his tongue over her bottom lip. She quickly parted her lips and met his tongue with hers. They began with slow circles but it quickly grew hungrier. Max had laid Liz down on the sofa and began to slowly unbutton her shirt with his mouth placing soft kisses where her skin was exposed.

He pushed her shirt aside and rubbed her breasts through the silky material of her bra. He could feel her nipples harden and wanted to feel her skin on his. He leaned up and pulled his shirt over his head tossing aside. He then slipped the strap of her bra down her shoulders and reached back to unclasp it.

Tossing her bra aside he placed his mouth on her hardened nipple and began a circular motion with his tongue.
Liz ran her hands through his hair urging him to take more of her into his mouth. She ran her hands up and down his back lightly scratching him with her nails. Max moved up and was not attacking her neck with soft kisses. He gently nipped and sucked her sensitive spot.

Liz was rubbing her center against Max’s hardening member. She wanted to feel him. She reached down and started to unbutton his jeans. Max reached down and pulled her hand away.

He wanted to make her scream before he let her feel him. Liz let out a small moan of protest but forgot about it when Max reached down and began massaging her nub. Lucky for him she was wearing a skirt that allowed him easy access to her core. He had pushed her underwear to the side and dipped a finger into her passage.

Liz pushed her self to sit up. She wanted to be on top of him this time. She motioned for him to sit and placed herself on his lap. She began to kiss his neck while she was unbuttoning his jeans. Max lifted himself off the sofa so she could pull his pants down. She grabbed his member through his boxers and began to stroke him softly.

Max didn’t want to do this on the sofa and gently scooted forward with Liz still in his arms. He lifted her and began to walk towards his bedroom. Their lips were crashing against each others and Max had to put her down. He wanted to touch her everywhere and it was hard to do while he was carrying her.

He leaned against the wall in the hallway and lifted Liz so she could wrap her legs around him. He thrust into her in one swift movement. They both gasped at the sensation and quickly fell into a rhythm. Max was thrusting into her in short fast thrusts. He felt himself close to the end but wanted to wait for her.

Liz met his thrust and felt him so deep inside her. She was close and couldn’t want for her release.

“ Ahhhh Max Yes!” Liz chanted

“ L'OH sì che ritenete così buoni.” He panted
( Oh yes, you feel good)

They both tumbled over in bliss. After catching their breath they made it to his bedroom and began round two for the night.

“ You know Max we need to start using some kind of protection. We can’t keep hoping that we will get lucky and I won’t get pregnant.” Liz said drawing small circles on his bare chest

“ I know. I’m sorry I will get something tomorrow.” He kissed her on her head.

“ Well I can get something. I can get back on the pill.” She suggested

“ If that’s what you want to do.”

“ I do.” She really did. She didn’t want to get pregnant and was starting to feel that they wouldn’t be so lucky one of these times.

~~

It had been close to a year since Liz disappeared and Jackson had urn into dead end after dead end. He had spent thousands on trying to find her and came up with nothing.

Maria was unreachable also. He didn’t have any leads at all. It turns out that Michael wasn’t in the country and he couldn’t find anyone that knew where he went. He didn’t have a manager and Jackson learned that Michael kept to himself a lot.

That was all he found out about Michael. Jackson was to the point where he was going to just give up. He hated losing, that’s what kept him going. He needed to find Liz. It wasn’t so much about their relationship it was more or a game to him now.

“Where in the world is Liz Parker Cayne?” He laughed to himself.

~~~

When Max and Liz went to tell Michael about their relationship they got the shock of their lives. Turns out he already knew and was waiting for them to admit it to him.

They both walked into the apartment to find Michael eating cereal and watching Braveheart.

“ Hey.” Liz said.

Michael nodded his head never taking his eyes off the Television. He didn’t even know Max was there until he heard his speak

“ Michael we wanted to talk to you.” Max said sitting across from him

“ You finally decided to tell me that you guys have been seeing each other for the past few months?” He still didn’t look up shoving a huge spoonful of captain crunch into his mouth.

“ How did you know?” Liz asked

“ Please. The way you guys look at each other. The way Max avoids you like the plague when we are all out together. Oh and Maria too. Liz you should know better then to tell Maria anything if you don’t want me to know about it especially when it comes to dating.” Michael paused the movie.

“ So are you ok with this?” Max asked gesturing towards he and Liz.

“ I wasn’t at first. Trust me there were many times where I wanted to rip your head off but I know that you’re a good man. I trust you.” He said pointedly towards Max

“ Thank you Michael I’m so happy.” Liz pulled Michael into a hug

“ You better take care of her.” He joked with Max

“ With all that I have.” Max said seriously

Liz was so happy that she was able to love Max freely now. The next obstacle was having dinner with Max’s parents. She hadn’t me them yet and was nervous. When Max told her that Bella was going to be there she felt like she was going to throw up. Her stomach was in knots the whole day. She wanted to look perfect and had gotten her hair and nails done earlier that day. She even went out and bought a new outfit.

Max picked her up at Michael’s and she saw that she was way over dressed.

“ I need to go change. I’m too over dressed.” She said rushing back to her room

“ You look fine. Don’t change.” He tried to convince her

“ Max you look so casual and I look like I’m going to a ball or something.” She said almost in tears. It had took her forever to get ready.

“ I have another shirt and tie in the car. I just didn’t want to get it wrinkled.” He laughed

“ Ugh your terrible.” She huffed

“ Relax, everything is going to be fine. They are going to love you.” He kissed her passionately before they left.

On the way there Liz was a wreck. Her hand’s were sweaty and she kept wringing her hands in her lap.

“ You going to be ok?” He asked trying not to laugh

“ Yeah I’m fine. Just nervous.” She smiled at him

“ Don’t be.” He assured her again

When they pulled up to the house Liz almost lost it. The house wasn’t just a house it looked like a mansion. It was away from the city. It looked like a Tuscan villa.

“ This is beautiful.” She said as they walked up to the door

They were greeted buy the maid Rosalie who took their coats.

“ Massimilio!” A woman greeted him whom Liz assumed was his mother. She was very elegantly dressed and looked like an older version of Bella.

“ Mama.” He kissed her on both cheeks

“ Ciò è Liz.” He gestured towards Liz

“ Piacevole per venirli a contatto. Que bella.” Max’s mother kissed her on both cheeks.

“ Thank you. It‘s nice to meet you too.” Liz blushed

“ Let’s go in the den. Your father and Bella are there waiting.” His mother said making Liz’s stomach drop.

When they walked into the den Max’s father greeted Liz the same way his mother did. Isabel politely but coldly said hello and they went to the dining room to sit down for dinner.

“ So Liz what brings you to Italy?” Max’s father asked.

“ Well my brother lives here so when I decided to get away from New York I came here and fell in love with it.” It was a white lie but it wouldn’t hurt.

Bella rolled her eyes when Liz said that knowing that it was a lie. Max noticed and gave her a stern look.

“ Well I can relate to that. I came over here to go to college and fell in love with the country and my wife.” He winked at his wife.

“ Dad please.” Max warned jokingly.

“ What? These kids still get embarrassed when I say that I love my wife more and more each day.” He laughed

“ I think it’s great.” Liz smiled. She looked over at Bella who was not amused and her smile quickly died.

She could feel Bella’s eyes on her throughout dinner and felt like wounded prey being watched by a hawk.

“ So Liz what do you do?” Max’s mother asked

“ Well I currently work at a travel agency but that’s not what I did in New York.” She felt saddened that she wasn’t doing what she really loved.

“ Where did you live? I visited New York quite a few times on business.” Max’s father asked

“ Well actually I lived in New Jersey about 20 minutes from New York City.”

“ Is that where you met your husband?” Isabella asked with a smirk on her face.

“ What?” Max’s parents both asked.

Liz almost choked on her wine. Max looked at Isabella like he was about to rip her head off. His parents were very religious and would not like the fact that Liz was still married at all.

“ You are married?” Max’s mother asked.

“ Um y-yes I am, but I’m in the process of getting a divorce.” A lie but she had to say something to redeem herself.

“ So you are dating my son even though you are married? Did you know about this?” he asked looking towards Max.

“ Well yeah I did but it’s not what you think mamma.” Max could have killed Bella for doing this.

“ Well it’s seems pretty simple to me. Massimilio li ho alzati più meglio allora quello.” ( I raised you better then that.)

“ I am a grown man mamma. I know what I’m doing. Can we not have this conversation right now?” He looked over at Liz who looked like a child out of place at the grown up’s table.

“Andiamo al den por favore.” His mother got up and began walking only to see that Max wasn’t following her to the den.

“ Massimilio?” She turned to look at him.

“ We are leaving. This dinner is over. Since you are not interesting in my feelings, my true feelings then you and Bella can talk about me while I‘m gone. Good bye.” He turned to look at his father who was just sitting there not saying anything.

Max stood behind Liz’s chair to help her up. They grabbed their jackets and headed to the car. Liz was in tears. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her right there.


Max didn’t know what to say. What Bella did was out of line. He didn’t know what got into her. He thought she understood Liz’s reasons for not getting a divorce right now. He had never fought with his sister.

They had disagreements but she never disrespected him like she did today. His concern right now was Liz. He had to make her understand that it didn’t matter to him what others thought about the situation. He knew that he felt and he knew how she felt about him. That was all that mattered.

The original plan was to take her back to the apartment she shared with Michael but he thought they needed to talk privately. He drove to his house instead.

Liz didn’t know what happened back at the house. She sat and watched Max and his mother talk but didn’t know what to say. She never thought that she would cause such a problem between Max and his family. She loved him but not that the price of him alienating his family. She knew his family meant the world to him.

Why couldn’t she just get the damn divorce? Would Jackson bother coming all the way to Italy? Hell yeah he would and she knew it. But what was the worst he could do? Kill her? Would he do that? She was just Liz, just a regular girl. Why couldn’t Jackson just let her go? She had to do something and fast. This was going to put a strain on their relationship and she wasn’t about to lose Max to Jackson. He beat her down enough, he took enough from her she wasn’t going to let him take this away too.

I'm pretty sure that everyone hates Bella at this point. I hope that you will stick with me as i TRY to explain where she is comming from.

I'm glad that you all like this well except for Bella. She does have a reason for acting the way that she did. I didn't just make her hateful for no reason. I hope you all can stick with me until that is revealed. Thank you all for reading

~~Chapter 9~~
The drove the rest of the way in silence. Max couldn’t believe what Bella did. It wasn’t like her to be so cruel. He couldn’t think of one reason to make her act in such a way. He knew that she has issues with his relationship with Liz but this went beyond that and he knew it. The question was what was it? He suddenly realized that he didn’t know much of what had been going on in Bella’s life for the past year. It was partially her fault but he was her brother, he should have talked to her.

“God what was Liz thinking?” He thought. He must think that they all hate her. He expected his mother to be upset about something like that. She holds marriage vows very dearly. He was worried about explaining the fact that Liz was divorced to her since she didn’t believe in that but Bella ruined that for him.

He didn’t care though. As much as he loved his family there comes a time when a man has to follow his heart. They would just have to accept his choice, that’s what family Is supposed to do.

Max had to talk to Liz, he had to assure her that what happened tonight didn’t change anything.

They pulled up to his apartment and Max got out and opened the car door for Liz. She placed her hand in his and gave him a brief smile.


“ Max?” She asked as they walked into the living room taking off her jacket.

“ Yes?” He answered nervously, he didn’t know what to expect and feared the worst.

“ I think I’m going to find a lawyer that can help me with the divorce.”

“ W-what?” She took him by surprise.

“ I think it’s time. I thought about it and it’s not fair to you and before you say anything just hear me out. Yes a part of why I’m doing this has to do with you but a bigger part is me. I have to let go of that part of my life. It’s over and I need to close that chapter of my life and begin a new one. We won’t be able to really move on until it’s done.”

“ Amore I am so happy to hear that. But I don’t want what happened tonight to make you do this. I want you to do it when you are ready. I will be here no matter what you do or don’t do .” He placed a gently kiss on the top of her head.

“ What happened tonight was an eye opener. It did give me a push but I’m glad. I was hiding behind the fact that he was abusive and I have to stand up to him. I can’t let him control me from the other side of the world.” She closed her eyes as Max wrapped his arms around her waist resting his chin on her head.

Liz didn’t know how happy that really made Max. Now he felt that their relationship could go forward. He had many plans in store for them and wanted to get past this hurdle. The next obstacle was Bella.

A few days later Liz met with a lawyer and told him all about her history with Jackson. They had talked about ways to get around him finding out that Liz was in Italy and decided to file through an associate he had in New Jersey. They would use her address in New Jersey since that was still her legal residence.

Liz was excited and met Max at the gallery since he was getting off soon.


“ Let’s celebrate.” Max said as he started up the car.

“ Celebrate what? We don’t now if it’s going to work yet.” Liz wanted to be happy but still was unsure.

“ Don’t be like that. Everything will be fine. Come on let’s go out.” He sounded so happy.

“ Ok. Where do you want to go?” She asked not wanting to ruin the moment.

“ Let’s go to a club. I know of a really nice place, very classy but we will have fun. It’s time to let loose.” He winked at her.

“ I don’t know Max a club?” Liz hadn’t been to a club in years.

“ Do you trust me?” He asked glancing over at her.

“ Yes.” She said and meant it with all her heart.

“ Good.” He drove to Michael’s so Liz could get some clothes. While she was getting ready he went home to change.

When he walked up to his apartment he saw that someone was waiting for him. As he walked closer her couldn’t believe who it was.

“ Che cosa l’inferno?” He muttered under his breath
( what the hell)

“ What are you doing here again?” He was trying to keep his cool.

“ I need to talk to you and I’m not taking no for an answer.” She said sternly

“ Well your going to have to because I’m getting ready to go out.” He walked past her sliding his key into the doorknob.

“ Stop shutting me out. I need to talk to you it’s important.” She stuck her foot in the door to stop him from closing it

“ What? What is it? What do you want!” He was loosing his patience. He let her come in.

“ Why haven’t you returned any of my calls?” She sat on the sofa.

“ I don’t have time for chit chat. Get on with it.” He lit a cigarette knowing it would annoy her.

“ Do you have to do that in the house?” She huffed

“ Yes. It’s my house, if you don’t like it then leave.” He smiled to himself for getting her mad.

“ Ugh your impossible.” She threw her hands up in the air.

“ For the last time tell me what the fuck you want. I have somewhere to be.” He took in a long drag of the cigarette.

“ Well I have good news.” She began.

“ Your leaving the country?” Max said out loud not meaning to, but glad that he did.

“ What? No silly. I broke up with Marco.” She looked up at him with bright eyes.

“ What makes you think I would care?.” He asked really not caring.

“ Now we can be together. I love you Max, I want things to work out between us.”

“ Tessa I don‘t know how else to say it to you. I‘m no longer interested in having any kind of relationship with you. You betrayed my trust. It‘s over.” He walked towards to door hoping she would follow.

“ What do you want from me? I’m practically begging here.”

“ The only think I want from you is for you to leave and never come back.” He opened the door to reiterate his point.

“ Max why can’t you forgive me? Why are you being so hard on me? I made a mistake, can’t you forget it? It was only that one time.” She had tears in her eyes.

“ You know how I feel about cheating. For Christ’s sake you had sex with someone in my bed! Do you think I would ever forget that? You betrayed me. I was going to ask you to marry me! I can never forget that I’m sorry. I‘m tired of talking about this. Please don‘t contact me again. It‘s done. Let it go.” He was unaffected by her tears

“ Well then I hope your next girlfriend is a saint. No one could ever live up to your expectations Max.” She spat at him.

“ My expectations? The only thing I expected from you or anyone that I was dating was honesty. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for. I don’t expect anyone to be perfect, I know that I’m not but I do want honesty and respect.” He wanted her to leave he was going to be late picking up Liz.

“ This is not over Max. I want to be with you and I get what I want. It’s only a matter of time before you come back to me. You know what we had and you know that it was good.” She walked out the door.

“ Tessa?” Max called behind her.

“ Yes?” She turned around with a huge smile on her face thinking that he words made an impact on him.

“ You left this.” He had her purse hanging from his finger. “ Goodbye.” He said before slamming the door in her face.

~~

2 weeks later Liz got a call from her attorney saying that everything was being delivered to Jackson. He should have the papers by the end of the week. All she had to do was wait for him to sign them and send them back then it would be finalized.

“ That is great news!” Max said. Liz had called him right after she hung up with her lawyer.

“ I know I just hope everything goes smoothly.”

“ It will. Why don’t you come over tonight. I’ll cook you something special.” He wanted to take her mind off what could go wrong

“ Ok I’ll see you tonight then.” She hung up and went back to work.

Max had so much nervous energy while making dinner. He wanted this to be special for her. He wanted everything to be perfect tonight.

After setting everything on low he jumped in the shower. He wanted to dress casual but wanted to look nice. He decided to wear a pair of black slacks and a Royal blue button up shirt. He poured some gel in his hands and ran his fingers through his hair.
When he went to put on cologne he ended up pouring half the bottle on himself so he had to change into an olive green shirt.

He had arranged for them to eat in the formal dining room and lit several candles on the table. He popped in a CD with soft classical music. Tonight was about romance and Liz. He had stopped at the store on the way home and bought some bath oils as well as massage oils.

When Liz knocked on the door he felt his heart rate pick up. He was so nervous and laughed to himself about it.

“ Ciao.” She said with a smile

“ Ciao.” He kissed her on the cheek and laughed at her antics

“Qualcosa Sente l’odore di buona.” She asked walking further into the house.
( Something smells good.)

“Stiamo perlando stasera Italiano?” Max smiled at her opening a bottle of wine.
( We’re speaking Italian tonight?”)

“ No I don’t think I could do it all night.” She broke and laughed.

“ You were doing great.” He stoked her cheek and poured them a glass of wine each.

“ What’s the occasion? Everything looks great.” She turned on the stool to look around at all the candles he had lit.

“ Nothing special just wanted to celebrate a little.” He winked at her.

“ Uh huh. I think your up to something.” She winked back at him.

“ Dinners almost ready. Why don’t you take a seat in the dining room. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Max came into the dining room looking like an experienced waiter balancing several trays.

“ You need some help?” Liz asked trying to hide her laughter. He looked so cute.

“ I’m fine.” He placed the dishes in the middle of the table.

“ Max everything looks so good.” Her mouth was watering.

“ I hope you like it.” He sat down and passed her the salad bowl.

Dinner consisted of a Caesar salad followed by Linguini in a clam sauce with fresh baked bread. For dessert Max had all the ingredients for them to make their own sundaes.

After dinner they sat by the fireplace in the living room.

“ Everything was great Max. Your starting to spoil me.” Liz leaned back against his chest.

“ I’m glad you liked it. You deserve it. I’m not spoiling you, I like to cook.” He was stoking her hair.

“ umm that feels so good.” She moaned

“ Well I have something that will make you feel better. Give me a minute I’ll be right back.” He got up and walked to his bathroom.

After turning on the faucet he poured some lavender bath oil into the water along with some lavender soap. After making sure the water was the right temperature he turned on the jet’s to create bubbles.

“ Ok it’s ready.” He whispered in her ear.

“ What is?” She asked curiously

“ You’ll see.” He smiled and pulled her up from the sofa.

Liz could smell the aroma or lavender as soon as they got close to his bedroom. When she stepped into the room she heard the jet’s running.

“ Max?” She asked

“ Yes?” He pulled her close to him and gently kissed her

“ What are you doing?” She asked between kisses

“ I’m running you a bath.” He walked her towards the bathroom

“Are you joining me?” She asked seductively

“ No baby. Tonight is all about you. While you soak in the tub I’m going to finish cleaning up. Then I’ll be back to give you a massage.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose

“ I would enjoy it more if you came in with me.”

“ I know you would.” He laughed. “ I’ll join in you in a bit ok?” When she nodded her head yes he turned and walked to the kitchen.

It’s not that he didn’t want to join her but he had an agenda tonight and couldn’t steer off course. He was going to ask Liz to move in with him. He hated being apart from her. He just hoped that if she said yes that Tessa wouldn’t show up at the apartment.

After putting the dishes in the dishwasher he decided to join her. When he walked into his room he heard Liz singing softly. It was more like a hum but he stood quietly behind the door listening to her.

When she stopped her decided to have a little fin with her and snuck up behind her. Liz didn’t know he was in the room. She was totally relaxed. Max was standing right behind her now and was trying to hold in his laughter. He felt like a little kid playing a joke on his sister when they were kids.

He bent down and whispered “ Guess who” In her ear.

Liz let out such a scream that you would have thought someone was trying to kill her. She just screamed and screamed over and over again. Max was trying to calm her down but she just kept screaming. She stood up in the tub and ran to the bedroom.

“ Liz? I’m sorry. Calm down please.” He was trying to figure out what made her so upset.

She sat on the bed rocking back and forth. Max knelt in front of her and placed a towel around her. Her skin was cold.

“ Baby tell me what’s wrong.” He said softly.

“ I’m sorry, it’s just that He-He S-said.” Max put his arms around her. He knew who she was talking about and didn’t want her to have to finish the story.

“ Shhh it’s ok. I’m so sorry.” He sat on the bed and pulled her into his arms stroking her hair trying to sooth her.

They sat like that for a while. Max was thinking how much of a pig her husband was. He saw how terrified she was and it made him sick. What he wouldn’t give to be alone in a room with him for a few minutes.

“ I feel better now. I’m sorry I know you would never hurt me.” She lifted her head from his chest

“ I’m glad you know that. I would never ever touch you like that.” He kissed her softly.

“ I had this whole surprise planned out for you. I was going to give you a massage and everything.” He laughed.

“ Thank you that’s very sweet of you.”

“ I think you need it more now then before. Why don’t you lie down on her stomach and I’ll start.” He waited for her to comply and went to get the lotions that he bought at the store.

He poured some lotion onto his hands an rubbed them together to warm it up. He began on her shoulders slowly kneading his knuckles into her tense muscles.

“ That feels good.” She said closing her eyes.

“ Just relax.” He said in a soothing voice. He grabbed the remote and dimmed the lights so she could completely relax. He planned on working his way all the way down to her toes.

When he got to her back he started to get aroused. He silently cursed himself wanting to give her a full body massage but didn’t think he would last another minute without tasting her. He was studying every freckle on her back and picturing himself kissing each and every one of them.

Liz couldn’t take it anymore and flipped over attacking Max’s lips. She didn’t care that she was naked. She wanted him now.

~~

Jackson was walking around 5th avenue in Manhattan after a business meeting. He had stopped at a lunch truck to get a hot dog when someone caught his eye. She look familiar to him. He walked closer to her and saw that she was with a small group of people discussing something. He dropped his hot dog when he recognized her.

“ Holy shit.” He said to himself. It was Maria. He silently thanked the Gods that led him to this place at this time. What were the odds?

He decided to follow them when they began walking down the street. Thankfully they decided to get lunch and Jackson followed them into the restaurant. He paid the hostess to seat him near their table but far enough away that they wouldn’t see him. He didn’t know if Maria would remember him and didn’t want to tip her off.

Throughout the lunch he watched her like a hawk. He was thankful that they never looked over at him since they would have caught him staring. He was trying to listen to their conversation to see is Liz would come up. All they talked about was work and other employees.

When they got up to leave he waited until they were outside before he stood up to follow them. He prayed that they wouldn’t get into a cab. Thankfully for him they didn’t. He followed them back to the office taking mental notes of where he was in case he had to return. He saw that she worked right off 5th avenue.

He watched them walk into a tall building and tried to get inside so he could see what floor she worked at. He didn’t hear her say the name of the company at lunch. When he walked into the building he saw that it was the corporate offices for a bank. There was a security guard in the middle of the entry in front of the elevators.

The guard quickly asked him where he was headed.

“ I’m here to see Maria, sorry I forgot her last name. I have an appointment and I don’t want to be late could you please just let me up. I’m sure that I can find her.” He tried to sound convincing.

“ Sorry sir. I need to know who you are going to meet with so I can call and confirm it. I can’t just let anyone in.” The older man said obviously a stickler for the rules.

Jackson knew that it was a loosing battle and decided to come back when he had a plan. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself either. At least he knew where she worked. Maybe Bobby could help him get her home address now. He saved the address in his palm pilot and went to made his way to Bobby’s office

Ok so i'm a day early. The bad thing about having a fic all written out and sitting on your computer is that you want to post more often. Thank you all for the Feedback, you guys make me want to post more often.

~~ Chapter 10~~

Max had arranged to have lunch with Isabella the next afternoon. He knew that it would possibly turn ugly so he decided that they should go back to her place to talk.

He got into his car and drove the 15 minutes to her villa.

“ Ciao.” They greeted each other coldly.

Max walked into the house and to the living room. They both sat there in silence neither knowing what to say but both knowing what the problem was.

“ Massimilio”

“ Bella” The said that the same time.

“ Andante in primo luogo” Max said.
( You go first)

“ I thought a lot about what happened the other day. I know that I was wrong and I know that you are furious with me.

I want to say that I’m sorry. I know it’s not enough but I still want to say it. I also want to apologize to Liz. She didn’t deserve what happened and it really doesn’t have anything to do with her personally.”

“ Non capisco. Why did you do it? You knew how Momma would react. What you did was cold hearted even for you Bella.” Max wanted a cigarette badly but knew that Bella would kill him if he lit one in her house.

“ I know it was but you don’t know how hard it is.” She whispered not wanting to admit to it but she had to. She had to or else it would ruin her relationship with her brother.

“ How hard what is?” Max didn’t understand

“ How hard it is to see you in love.”

“ This isn’t the first girlfriend I’ve had. I don’t understand. Have you forgotten that I was going to ask Tessa to marry me? It does seem like a personal attack on Liz. I don’t know if I want you talking to her. ” He folded his arms over his chest.

Bella laughed. He really didn’t understand.

“ Che cosa la scopata e cosi divertente?”
( What the fuck is so funny?)

“ You know I don’t like it when you use such language but in answer to your question I laugh because I can’t believe that you don’t know the difference. I can see it Max, the way you talk about her, they way you were looking at each other. You didn’t have that with Tessa I know it and I know that you do too.”

“ So wait a second. You were acting like a bitch because I love her in a different way then Tess?”

“ God you are dense! It’s not just that you love her different.” She threw her hands up in the air “ Max when you and I used to talk about love and meeting the right person what did we both used to say that we wanted?” She asked hoping that he would get it.

“ Well I guess it would be what momma and papa have.” He hoped that was it.

“ Exactly! You have that Max, I don’t know if you know it or not but you do I can see it. This is not what you had with Tessa, not by a long shot. And I do need to talk to Liz weather you like it or not. I have to apologize face to face, she needs to hear it from me.”

Max sat back soaking in what Bella just said. How could he not see that she was jealous. He suddenly felt bad for her. It didn’t excuse what she did at dinner but it was a start. Bella longed for a serious relationship for so long and here he was flaunting one right in front of her. But why couldn’t he? He was in love that was not a crime.

“ Bella you still shouldn’t have acted that way. It’s not right that you felt jealously towards me and what I had. You will find love one day maybe even greater then what momma and papa have but you can’t have this hatred towards me. It’s not healthy.” He pulled his sister in for a hug.

“ I know it isn’t. I’m sorry you know that I keep things inside until I explode. I will talk to Momma about this. She needs to understand as well. Don’t worry she will come around. She loves you no matter what.”

“ I need to smoke. I’m going to step outside for a minute.” The both laughed.

Max leaned against the railing on the balcony. He was soaking in everything that they talked about. He was glad that he and Bella talked and knew that things were going to be better from now on. He was a little concerned with having Bella talk to Liz but knew that it was something that she felt strongly about and would do weather he approved or not.

~~
Max wanted to ask Liz to move in with him. He knew that Liz was the one for him. All that was in their way now was the divorce papers but at least they were delivered. He meant to ask her last night, that’s why he wanted to make it so special but her freak out got in the way of that.

The week came and went and Max going to London to look at some potential new pieces for the gallery.

“ London? When are you leaving?” Liz was watching him pull socks and underwear out of the top drawer.

“ Tomorrow.” He stopped packing and stepped closer to her. “ Sono Spiacente”

“ Don’t be sorry it’s part of your work. I understand.” She leaned into his chest.

“ I wish you could come with me.” He admitted placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“ I know I do too. How long will you be gone?” She asked looking into his honey colored eyes.

Those words brought Max back. The last time someone asked him that he was in the same room packing. She asked how long he would be gone only she didn’t seem upset about it. He had told her never once thinking that she would do what she did.

“ Oh umm not long.” He stepped away from her and walked to the bathroom to pack his toiletries.

Liz knew something was wrong. “ Max?” She stepped into the bathroom behind him.

“ Yeah.” He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t.

“ I know what you are thinking about.” She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“ Perdonilo.” He whispered still not looking at her. He felt bad for thinking about her.
(forgive me)

“ Hey, look at me.” She moved to stand him front of him pulling him down to sit on the step of the bathtub.

“ I’m not her. And I’m not saying that you think I’m her.” She put her finger on his lips knowing that he was going to interrupt her. “ I would never ever do that to you. I know what it’s like to be lied to and to be hurt. You have to trust me though Max and most important you have to talk to me. You have to tell me what you are feeling no matter what ok?” She placed her hands over his.

“ I would never think that you were her or that you are like her. It’s just when you asked me when I was coming back I remembered that last time someone asked me that in the same room. I’m sorry amore. I will talk to you from now on I don’t want to make the same mistakes again.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips.

“ I don’t even have a key to your apartment and you know that I couldn’t bring anyone to Michael’s place.” She laughed as she stood up walking back to the bedroom.

“molto divertente” He tackled her onto the bed.
(very funny)

The next morning Max had stopped by Michael’s to say good bye to Liz.

“ You’re here early.” Michael said answering the door.

“ Yes I have to catch a flight to London I wanted to say goodbye to Liz.” He stepped in a placed his bags on the floor.

“ What you didn’t say goodbye enough last night? You had my sister home pretty late you know.” Michael crossed his arms over his chest staring at Max.

“ Spiacente. It will not happen again.” Michael burst out laughing.

“ Man this is too easy.” He shook his head and poured himself some cereal.” She’s getting dressed for work. Why don’t you surprise her.” Michael pointed towards the bedroom.

Max stood near the doorway listening to Liz sing. She was singing an American song that he was not familiar with but it brought a smile to his face.

“Che voce bella” He stepped into the room scaring Liz half to death.

“ Max!” She shrieked. “ What are you doing here? Don’t you have a flight to catch?”

“ Yes but I wanted to say goodbye to you first. I don’t have much time amore. I love you and I will call you every chance I get.” He was placing kisses all over her face not wanting to leave.

“ I love you too. And I’m going to miss you.” She pulled him close to her wanting to take in his masculine scent.

They both walked out to the living room where Michael was engrossed in cartoons.

“ Ok well I’m going.” Max announced getting a head nod from Michael.

Liz walked him to the door.

“ I’ll be back in 3 days 5 hours and” He looked down at his watch. “ 17 minutes. I trust you.” He whispered into her hair wanting to remember it’s smell. He placed a key to his apartment into her hand.”

“ Max what is this for?.” She looked at the key.

“ I want you to have it. I love you.” He gave her a brief kiss

“ But Max I have no reason to go to your place when your not there.” Liz shook her head.

“ Just keep it then. If you don’t use it then that’s fine.” They shared a long kiss before he headed out to catch his train.

“ So things are getting pretty serious between you two?” Michael looked up from the television when he heard the door close.

“ Yeah I guess you can say that they are.” Liz was trying not to blush.

“ I’m happy for you. Max is a good guy, I know he will make you happy.” He got up and put his bowl in the sink.

“ I’m just so happy right now I can’t help but think that something is going to go wrong. I haven’t been this happy in years.” She stood next to him and he rinsed his dish.

“ You deserve to be happy. Don’t worry yourself about what can go wrong just enjoy every day.” He winked at her

“ Since when did you get all sappy?” She punched his shoulder lightly

“ Hey I’m just trying to be nice here. “ He held his hands up in defense getting a laugh from Liz.

“ Well I’m glad that Maria is finally rubbing off on you after all these years.”

“ Yeah I guess she is. I miss her. I can’t wait to go back home. I feel like I haven’t spent any real time with her is so long.” He admitted

“ I know that you miss her. When do you think you’ll be able to go back?” They moved back to the living room and sat on the sofa.

“ Well I wanted to talk to you about that. I was thinking of going back in a month or so. I just really miss New York and I’ve shown my stuff around here enough for now. Plus Max can handle anything that might come up. What do you think?” He looked up at her.

“ I think it’s a great idea. Don’t get me wrong I love spending time with you. It feels like old times but you need to get back to Maria. It has been too long and your right Max can take care of whatever needs to be done here and I’m sure he would do it gladly.” She smiled at him but she was scared deep down. She didn’t want to be alone. She knew she had Max but she didn’t want to ask him to move in with her or ask to move in with him. She hadn’t lived alone in such a long time and was not looking forward to it.


“ Well like I said it won’t be for another month at least so we’ll have time to sort everything out here.” He pulled her into a hug. He was going to miss her and wanted to talk to Max before he left. Someone would have to look out for her. He didn’t want her to be alone.

~~

Jackson had sent some of his men to stake out the building that Maria worked at. He would send a different man every day so no one would notice anything. He didn’t want anyone to follow her home, not yet. He wanted to do that himself. After a week he had her schedule pretty much figured out.

She would get into the office at 8:45, at 12:30 she would go out to lunch with a few other people. Usually they would eat at the same restaurant. She would get back to the office at 1:45. He figures her lunch ended at 2. She would always be out of the office by 5:30 the latest.

He made sure they knew where she parked her car if she had one and she did. He was convinced that she knew where Liz was and he was going to get the information from her one way or another. He hoped that for her sake she wasn’t stubborn.

He had planed to follow her on a Thursday night. He would have done it on Friday but wanted to make sure she was going home and not out to happy hour or something. He had parked his car near hers. He sat with the seat low enough to where he couldn’t be seen and waited.

“ Hope she gets out early today.” He thought to himself. He was getting anxious.

At 5:15 he saw her getting into her car. He waited until she got to the parking attendant before pulling out behind her.

The whole way to her apartment he kept his distance careful not to be noticed. He was surprised to see that she lived on the upper eat side when he saw her park her car in the garage of an apartment building.

He parked his car in the street and got out in time to cross the street and follow her inside the building.

“ Good Evening Miss DeLuca.” She was greeted by the door man as he opened the door for her.

“ Thank you George.” She smiled at the man and walked inside.

“ Good Evening Miss. How was your day?” She was greeted by the security officer.

“ Oh you know same ole same ole.” She said while she opened her mailbox and took out the days mail.

“ Well I hope you have a nice weekend.” The man said before she walked to the elevator and hit the button for her floor.

“ Can I help you?” She heard Ronny the security officer ask before she stepped into the elevator

“ Um yes I’m supposed to be meeting someone and I forgot what apartment they live in.” He was trying to stall so he could watch the elevator to see what floor Maria landed on. If he at least had that maybe he had a chance to get into her apartment.

“ Well what is the name?” Ronny asked

“ Name? Oh um.” His eyes trained on the elevator praying she would get off soon. There were 30 floors.

“Well actually I forgot. But I um think I know what floor she is on.” He was sweating waiting for the damn thing to stop. DING! The elevator stopped on the 18th floor.

“ She’s on the 18th floor. She had um long blonde hair and umm brown eyes.” He was describing someone very vague hoping someone on the floor resembled what he was saying.

“ I don’t know of anyone on that floor that looks like that. Look I’m sorry I really can’t give out any information anyways. Try calling her or something.” Ronny had second thoughts about giving out information to this man.

“ I can’t call. I don’t have the number. Help me out man please.”

“ I can’t. I could lose my job, I got a wife and kids. Sorry.” Ronny was waiting for him to turn and leave.

Jackson Pulled out a few hundred dollar bills and flashed them to Ronny.

“ How about I make it worth your trouble. How much do you want? 500?” Jackson was used to buying people, it was one of his best tactics. Everyone had a price as far as he was concerned.

“ Look man I’m sorry but I can’t help you. Your going to have to leave now.” Ronny stood up to make his point more clear.

Jackson stood outside trying to figure out a way into the building. He needed to talk to her and he needed to do it soon. He was tired of waiting. This was the break that he needed. He decided that he was going to have to do something more drastic. He didn’t want to have to resort to this so soon but had no choice.

~~

Max came back home a day early and his stomach was in knots the whole time he was on the plane. The last time he came home a day early it didn’t go so well. He hadn’t planned on being home so soon but that’s the way it worked out. He pushed those thoughts out of his head and closed his eyes for the remainder of the trip.

When he got to the floor of his apartment his hands were shaking. He trusted Liz but couldn’t help the thoughts that were running through his mind. He didn’t even know if she would be there since she said she didn’t have reason for coming to his place. He inserted his key into the lock and stood frozen. He heard music.

“ Cio non puo accadere” He thought.
(This can’t be happening)

He decided that whatever was behind that door he would face not matter what. He would not run away this time. After several deep breaths he unlocked the door and pushed it open.