Chapter 2

NICOLE 

Soon enough, I noticed our limousine had come to a halt. I took a cursory glance at Raphael who didn't seem suprised or confused. Slowly our limousine began moving. I couldn't see anything at first until we came in front of a huge iron black gate.

  I stared at the magnificent iron bars that opened for our limousine to drive inside, jaws dropped.

  I peered through the tinted glass and I could see guards almost in every nook and cranny. They looked so anxious.

Probably because Raphael was back.

   I couldn't see anything infront as other cars drove slowly ahead of us.

I decided to keep on peering outside the glass. The environment was so captivating.  A large lawn decorated by colourful flowers and well trimmed grasses spread across everywhere. Mini-fountains oozing pure crystal clear water were spotted at almost every corner. I spotted some lovely picturesque buildings at the far back as our limousine kept on driving slowly

    It felt like we were in a garden. The serenity was so natural. Soon enough a gigantic milky shade shadow came in view.

It was his mansion.

Oh my goodness.

  If the one back in Nigeria seemed big to me before, this was clearly the biggest. The same style but clearly more bigger.

  Our limousine came to a hault once again. A chauffeur opened the door for us. I stepped out with Raphael taking me by my hands.

  My eyes were literally feeding on everything. The buzzing of bees and chirping of birds could be heard at all coners. The heavenly fragrance of  beautiful flowers filled the air. I noticed he had several ostentatious black and white sculptures of lions scattered everywhere.

   A group of guards came towards us,bowing their heads like Raphael was some kind of king. It felt amusing and intimidating.

"Welcome capo" One of them greeted.

"Grazie" Raphael replied back with a neutral look plastered on his face.

His hands moved to my waist and we began walking towards the huge double oak doors of his mansion, entourage of guards following us behind and some walking ahead of us.

   There were scary gargoyle statues placed at each side of the pillars of his mansion. It felt so gothic and yet so heavenly.

  

   Reaching for the doors, one of the guards knocked thrice. Once again the deep sonorous echo of the doors made me almost jump out of my skin.

  We waited for what seemed like forever to me. I was begginning to get anxious.

How would I be welcomed?

What lies behind these doors?

Will i walk into a house filled with armed men and blood splattered all around?

  Thoughts like this shrouded my mind and perspiration began covering my forehead even though we were outside.

   Soon enough, the door opened and an elderly beautiful face beaming with smiles rushed towards I and Raphael. With brown beautiful eyes, grey hairs tied to a bun, she squealed on seeing Raphael and engulfed the tall man in a tight hug with her petite figure.

  I stood so surprised. None of the guards dared to look Raphael in his eyes yet this woman pushed through the maze of guards and engulfed Raphael.

Raphael laughed and hugged the elderly woman back.

"My child you are back. I'm so happy to see you. We've all missed you child

"she said delightedly as she pulled out of the hug, holding Raphael by his arms.

We?

What did she mean by we?

I suddenly felt invisible seeing that she didn't notice me.

  At that point she turned to face me with a smile breaking on her lips once more.

"You must be Nicole! You look so beautiful. You are very much welcomed here my dear. Raphael told me alot about you"She said before throwing her hands around me and enveloping me in her warm hug.

   I felt guilty for thinking she didn't notice me and hugged her back with a smile too. " Thank you so much"

"Nicole meet my Bambinaia, Aurora. She has been eagerly awaiting your arrival"He introduced me to her.

Her name was really lovely

Eveything made sense to me now. This woman was the nanny he told me about. No wonder she felt so relaxed with him.

"Everybody is eagerly waiting for both of you inside. They will be so happy to see you two. Especially you  Nicole. I can already feel the happiness you will bring to this family"Aurora said softly as she caressed my cheeks.

This woman reminded me of my mother. She was so sweet.

She immedately led us inside with the guards following us.

I noticed those four men stepped inside with us. I had seen them a number of times in Nigeria. I was anxious to actually get introduced to them.

  The  interorior was breathtaking. The light from the various chandeliers situated at all corners almost flooded my vision. The walls weren't all black this time. They looked like they were literally dripping gold as the light from the chandeliers illuminated the beguiling and imperial designed living room.

   Beautiful flower pot plants stood at all corners, feeling the living room with their enchanting odour frenzy.

He was really a nature lover.

I stared at the intricate marble ceilings. How much did all these cost?

More than a fortune i guess.

Not to mention the air was chilly inside.

   About two or more dozens of both male and female workers scurried towards our direction. They all lined up and bowed their heads at Raphael.

"Welcome back master"they chorused.

I noticed their tone when addressing him wasn't faltering or shaky Infact it felt like they were all happy.

Raphael nodded his head at them.

"Grazie" He repeated again with a faint smile.

  "Raphael!!" A feminine shrill whoop across the living room.

Our heads whipped to the direction of the sound.

A teenage blonde girl, clothed in a floral designed jumpsuit came rushing down one of the huge staircase that divided the centre of the living room.

  Her blonde locks dangled across her shoulder as she ran towards Raphael, locking her body against his.

I felt so lost.

"You are back! Oh my gosh! I missed you!"she practically screamed for joy.

Wow. Was he this loved in his home?

I had imagined everyone would be scared of him but nobody was apart from the guards who stood still like statues.

  All the females were hugging him on sight.

"I missed you too tigress. Hope you didn't trouble Aurora?"he asked teasingly.

She huffed and smiled. "Not at all"

Then her eyes moved to me and she stared at me wide eyed like she had seen a ghost.

"You must be Raphael's wife! You are so pretty! I love your hair. I love your skin colour. Raphael she is so pretty"the young girl chirped before hugging me much tighter than Aurora did.

I felt so flattered by her compliments.

"Nicole meet Sofia, Aurora's daughter"Raphael introduced

"Thank you so much"I replied back to her with my cheeks flushed.

  "Andare preparare il pranzo a tutti voi" Aurora immedately said to the workers which made them scurry out.

She turned to face me and smiled once more. "I told them to prepare lunch you all must be farmished"

She had a really strong italian accent.

Raphael motioned with his hands to his entourage of guards and they all dispersed leaving only Aurora, Sofia, the four men and I and Raphael in the living room.

"Aurora prepararmi lasagne per favore" one of the men said stepping forward to Aurora.

He was tall with broad shoulders and silver coloured long hair but not as long as Raphaels.

"Aurora don't let Thomas bribe you please. But I'll love to taste your lasagne and I'm sure Nicole would love it too"Raphael said as he glanced at me.

"Let me go to the kitchen. Nicole my dear make yourself feel at home because this is your home ok"Aurora reassured me before leaving us.

  "Raphael would you mind formally introducing us to your wife please"Another of the men said, stepping forward.

He was the one that asked me if I was with Raphael the day i eavesdropped on their conversation.

I bet he was also the one that cocked the gun.

    He had round hazel eyes and a line that broke through his cheeks when he smiled, making it seem like dimples.

"Cazzi meet my wife Nicole. Nicole meet my brothers. You've met them before. This is Lorenzo"He said with a smirk.

Yes I had met them before. When i almost died out of fright thinking they would shoot me.

He called them his brothers, they must really have a special bond because I know Raphael only has a step brother. I just wish he was this close to his cousins too.

"It's nice formally meeting all of you again"I replied with my most polite tone.

"Hello gorgeous. We never really got the time to interact back in Nigeria. I am Luca"one of them introduced coming towards me. He held my hands and kissed my knuckles which got my cheeks red and Raphael stunned.

     Luca was really handsome. He was tall like the rest of them and also muscular too. His hair was a mixture of dark brown like mine but more indent. His cheekbones were high and his jawline were sharp. His eyes were deeply honey coloured and they looked so amazing. He was really the most good-looking out of the four but not compared to Raphael.

  "Luca did you just flirt with my wife like I wasn't even present?"Raphael asked.

Luca grinned and nodded before heading upstairs.

"Yeah you better go upstairs because I might just rip your head off cock"Raphael scoffed, all hints of jealousy in his tone.

It felt cute seeing him jealous. I tried suppressing my laughter but I couldn't.

"Marco won't you introduce yourself?"Sofia asked. I had almost forgotten she was present.

Marco stepped forward and gave me a mild smile. It seemed he was the most quiet amongst the four.

He had grey eyes, light pink lips and his hair was caramel coloured. That was fascinating.

  "It's nice to meet you formally Nicole. 

You will definitely enjoy your stay here. My brothers are all jerks but I'm not like that. Whenever you need someone to talk to and a quiet atmosphere to be in, I'm just around the corner"

  From the way he talked, he must really be the most quiet amongst all of them.

"Are you all done trying to snatch my wife away from me?"Raphael sarcastically asked with a glare.

Sofia giggled and came towards me. "I can't believe my sister inlaw is from a different continent.  I'm so happy to have you here"

  I was also happy to be here honestly.

Then I heard soft clicking of heels coming down the stairs.

  A slim beautiful woman claded in a black skin tight outfit comprising of black leather jacket, black inner tank top and black jeans, showing off her hour glass body figure alighted from the stairs with a red haired boy behind her.

  Her hair was vanilla coloured, her lips were deep red and heart shaped.  She had this intimidating aura around her.

  I suddenly found myself hoping

she was part of their family and not some outsider because I truly didn't want to start feeling insecure.

"Welcome back Raphael. I missed you"she said in a sultry tone.

"It's nice to see you Leila. I missed you too. I'm glad seeing you recuperating. If you weren't healing, I don't think I would ever forgive myself"

She fluttered her long lashes at him. "Anything for you boss"she sniggered.

Why did that sound so sensual to me and what Raphael mean by what he said?

Why wouldn't he forgive himself if something bad happened to her?

"Meet my wife Leila. Nicole meet Leila, my very trusted female worker"

I gave her a smile and she smiled back but it seemed like it was more of a forced smile.

She must be really an important part of his work for him to address her that way.

"She is an assassin"Raphael whispered to my ear.

I gasped immediately.

"What's wrong sister inlaw?"Sofia asked. "What did Raphael tell you?"she added giving Raphael a quirky look.

"Nothing Sofia. Just funny stuffs"i lied.

"It's adult talk"Raphael added to Sofia which made her huff at him.

"Nicole come let me show you around the house"Sofia eagerly said,pulling me out of Raphael's grip.

"Be careful with her Sofia"Raphael cautioned somewhat sternly.

"I'm not going to kill her Raph" she retorted as she took me away even before I got a chance to speak for myself.