MELINA Melina flinches as Thomas touches her shoulders. Turning to face him, she sees blood all over his body. Her bile rises, and she spills her guts all over him. Thomas doesn’t say anything as he pulls her hair out of her face. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed. The video was one thing but what Melina saw a few minutes ago was something else. Looking at Thomas, she tries her best not to look at the two dead men on the ground. Thomas takes off his shirt and cleans her mouth and bloody nose with the unaffected side before lifting her off the ground. She stares at him, wondering if he killed those men because they tried to rape her or just because they tried to rape a “woman”. She wishes it were the first because it would imply that hatred isn't his only emotion for her. She isn't fooling herself into thinking that because he killed those men for her, he still loves her. It just means that he can feel another emotion for her after she betrayed him. She smiles, hoping t
The next day Melina packs her stuff with Serena's help. She was too tired to pack last night, so she moved it to today. She doesn’t have many clothes as everything she has was given to her by Linda. That’s why Melina could move packing to today. “Do you really have to go?” Serena asks, wiggling Melina’s arm as they stand in her room.“Unfortunately, I don’t have a say in whether I stay or not,” Melina says, patting Serena’s hand on her arm. Melina is sad she will be parting with Serena. They’ve become good friends over the last few weeks. She would miss her, and the fact that she doesn’t know when she will see her again makes the whole situation even worse.“I really hope you come back soon.”“I can’t say the same, but I hope to see you again.”Melina has no intention of fleeing while they are in Chicago. She loves her life and doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of Thomas’ wrath if she runs away again. Melina wishes he’d realize she can’t help him find James and finally let her
“What are you thinking about?” Thomas asks from the chair across hers, a glass of scotch in his hand.“Nothing.”“Are you thinking about him?” he asks before taking a sip of his drink. Melina doesn’t need him to say the name to figure out who the “him” is.“No,” she says, wondering why he’s asking.“You should learn to do a better job at lying.” “I’m sorry,” she says, hoping he doesn’t make a big deal out of it.“How did you guys meet?” Did he just ask her that? “Tell me,” he says, taking a sip of his drink. “I want to know everything since we are going back to where it all started. You guys were high school sweethearts, right?” he leans back in his seat, eager to hear what she has to say.“Yes,” Melina doesn’t like that he’s curious about how she and James met. Anything she says could set him off, and she doesn't have much room to hide on the plane.“Fell in love when you were both 16 and
THOMASThomas is startled awake by the sound of someone groaning in pain. He looks around the plane, trying to find the source. Thomas sees Melina asleep in the chair, sweating profusely, and her face tense with pain. He wonders why she didn’t go inside to sleep in the bedroom. Moving closer, he observes her mouth moving. He puts his ear close to her lips to hear what she's saying.“Please leave me alone, Matteo; I didn’t tell Thomas to emasculate you,” Melina says, clenching her fist. Thomas immediately realizes she’s dreaming about what happened and begins to wake her up.“Melina, open your eyes,” he says softly, gently tapping her shoulder.“No, please stop. Please do not rape me,” screams Melina, startling Thomas. Panicking, he shakes her shoulders viciously, yelling her name.“Fucking open your eyes!”“No!” she yells louder, thrashing in her seat.“Melina!” Thomas yells, forcing her body to remain still.“Thomas,” Melina calls, with her eyes still closed“Yes, it’s me. I’m here.”
Melina and Thomas walk into the restaurant, trailed by his bodyguards. All eyes turn to face them as they walk in. Melina didn’t even want to imagine the theories going through their heads right now. She bets most of them are wondering what she’s doing with men with ink all over their skin; it’s not that having tattoos is bad, but we all know how the world misjudges people with tattoos like theirs. And in this case, they are right because they are people you shouldn’t mess with; if she had known this as well, she might not be here today.Thomas is the only one whose tattoos aren't visible, but he's also the most frightening of the bunch. As a businessman, he made certain that his tattoos were only drawn in places where his clothes could cover them.Thomas and Melina take their seats at the first empty table they come across, while the bodyguards stand around them. Melina is puzzled as to why he went into the restaurant with his bodyguards today. While they were dating, Thomas never we
THOMASA few days have passed since they arrived in Chicago. They are staying in Thomas’ family’s hotel in Chicago even though they have a mafia house here. He’s going out a lot to deal with the Mexicans, and he doesn’t trust the soldiers in the house not try to fuck Melina while he’s away. Thomas walks out to the terrace in their suite to call his brother.“Hello brother, how is it going with the Mexicans?” Stefano says once he picks up“As expected, fucked up.”“Rafael is really out to get us, isn’t he?” Rafael is the don of one of the most powerful Mexican cartels in the world. He’s also the one causing problems for the Costanzo mafia. He has a beef with Thomas.“Yes,” Thomas sighs, running his hand through his hair.“You know this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't fucking banged his wife?”“How the fuck was I supposed to know she was his wife? She was fucking in our club.” The Mexican cartels never enter clubs owned by Italians. They have a long history of beefing with each ot
“She slapped me, Thomas,” Kimberly whines like a child. Melina looks at her, astonished she’s going to play that card right now.“You did what?” Thomas shouts, arching his eyebrows at Melina.Fear grips Melina as she realizes that slapping Kimberly back might not have been the best idea.“She slapped me first,” Melina tries to defend herself. She knows it won't help, but she’s still willing to try.“And that makes you think you have the fucking right to hit her back?”As his words register in Melina's brain, a stray bullet enters her heart. Melina has never felt more betrayed by Thomas than she does right now. Melina knows she shouldn’t expect him to take her side, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.“No, it doesn’t.” Tear fill her eyes.“Apologize to her.”“What?” Melina knows he won’t take her side, but this is too much. Her heart breaks a million times more. She couldn’t believe he’d do this to her.“Fucking apologize to her.” The tears escape her eyes, flinching as he yells.
Melina can’t take her eyes off Thomas as Leo drives them back to the hotel. Her feet bounce off the ground quickly as she bites her nails and stares at him. He was just released from the station. Fortunately, her sister did not arrive before then. Thomas hasn’t said a single word to Melina since he was released, and he hasn't even given her his signature glare when he's angry with her. Not knowing what's going on in his head is killing her. It’s the most heinous form of torture ever. Not knowing when your doom would come. Melina can only hope he believes her and that she had nothing to do with his arrest. But who will believe her? She’s going to die tonight.They step out of the car once it arrives at the hotel. Melina doesn’t even dare to walk in front of him as they step inside. They walk straight to the elevator and take it to their floor. She wishes the elevator would just stop, and they would never arrive.“Leo, ask the staff to
CHAPTER ONEFranky's PVOFranky slowly opens her eyes but shuts them the second she feels a shooting pain at the back of her head. She gently lifts her hand to touch it and feels a wound with dried blood. She opens her eyes and tries to recall how she got the injury and where she was. Her eyes widen in terror, seeing her environment. She’s in a cell. Oh my God! What am I doing here? How did I even get here? Franky racks her brain, trying to remember anything that can explain why she’s here. Her heartbeat quickens as everything starts to come back to her. She recalls two men sneaking into her room and grabbing her. She can’t believe she got abducted again. Melina must be worried sick about me. Franky wonders if she knows and has started looking for her. Most likely, she believes.Franky whips her head to the cell door as she hears it squeak open. Her heart beats faster against her ribcage as someone approaches her. She wraps her trembling hands around her body and waits at the end of t
Months laterMELINAMelina stirs awake in her sleep and gets out of bed. She doesn’t bother putting on her slippers before going downstairs to the kitchen. She opens the freezer and takes out the chocolate mint ice cream. She hates it, but the little one growing inside her loves it.Melina is pregnant and is in her second trimester. So far, everything is great for her. That’s excluding the morning sickness and the weird craving she has lately, but other than that, it’s been wonderful. She’s excited to be a parent, and so is Thomas.Melina remembered the day she found out she was pregnant. Words couldn’t describe the joy she felt that day. Her heart soared to the highest point the moment the doctor said,“Congrats, you’re pregnant.”Melina believed she saw the brightest smile on Thomas’ face that day. She also couldn’t stop smiling the whole day. They are re
Present TimeMELINAMelina steps out of the car once they arrive at the beach house on the island. They touched land a few minutes ago and drove straight here. Thomas links his hand with Melina’s and leads them into the house. She is awed the second they step inside. The place is beautifully decorated with rose petals all over the living room. It has couches that have brown armrests and white pillows on them. To the left is a sliding door that leads outside, and right in front of it is a swing chair. The sun is setting, and the only light illuminating the place, adding to its allure.Melina walks inside, to the bedroom, following the trail of the rose petals. It has a king-sized bed with white covers and a carpet of the same color in front of it. Walking further in, she is blown away by the beautiful view of the beach. The sun casts a shadow on the beach’s crystal-clear blue waters and white sand. The sunset looks so stunning from here
THOMASHe looks at Melina as she settles into her chair. He’s relieved she didn’t question him about why he took so long at the warehouse. It wasn’t something he couldn’t tell Melina; he just didn’t want to bother her with it. Thomas smiles as he thinks about it. He looks at his lighter, and the smile on his face broadens. He couldn’t think of a better way to send the bastard to hell.A few hours agoThomas enters the container where James is being held. The room has buckets, a chair, a table with blades, a blow torch, pliers, and a whip. Rafael was quick to deliver him while Thomas was in the hospital. Thomas wouldn’t have had to deal with him today if he wasn’t on his way to his island with Melina. She deserves the time away after what they’ve been through.Thomas removes his Burberry suit jacket and drapes it over the chair. He unbuttons his sleeves, rolls them up, and re
Two Weeks LaterMELINA“Thomas, I might not know much of Sicily, but at least I know the surrounding area on the way home,” Melina says, looking out the window. They are on their way home. Thomas just got discharged from the hospital. Melina is so happy as he is almost fully recovered.“I know,principessa. I need to make a quick stop at one of the warehouses before we go home.”“You just got discharged. How could you already be working?” Melina asks, concerned he might be stressing himself.“Don’t worry. I’m not doing anything strenuous.”
THOMASHe scrolls through his phone to pass the time while waiting for Melina to return. She stepped out to get him some food as he hated the hospital food. Thomas couldn’t believe she forgave him for everything he did. He really thought she would never forgive him and would always blame him for all her sorrows. He is truly happy she did and intends to spend the rest of their lives making sure she never regrets it.The door swings open, and Thomas lifts his head up from his phone, shocked but happy that Melina is already back. The smile on his face quickly changes into a frown when he sees it isn’t Melina.The unwanted guest causally strolls into his room like he owns the place and walks to stand at the foot of Thomas’ bed. Thomas quickly replaces his phone with the gun his father put u
A few hours have gone by since Thomas was shot. The whole family is in the hospital. Melina fears every second, the doctors will just come out and confirm Thomas is dead.Hopefully, that won’t happen.She snaps out of her reverie when someone calls her.“Melina,” someone says, barging into the room. Melina turns her head to the door, and her eyes widen in shock.“Franky!” Melina jolts out of her seat and runs to her sister.“Hello, Mel,” Franky says, smiling.“Oh, my God! Franky, it’s really you,” Melina says, pulling her in for a hug.“Yes, it’s me.” “I’m so sorry for what happened to Thomas,” Franky says, pulling from their embrace.“I don’t know what I will do, Franky, if he dies. I didn’t even tell him I forgave him before he closed his eyes,” Melina says, as fresh tears sting the back of her eyes.
“Mel,” someone calls from behind her. She turns and sees it’s Leo.“Thomas is dead! He’s dead, Leo,” Melina says, sobbing and showing him her hands filled with Thomas’ blood.“I know, Mel, but do you know something else?” Leo asks calmly.She responds by shaking her head.“Until a doctor fucking calls the time of death, Sotto capo is alive. Do you hear me?”She nods her head, agreeing with him.Thomas could still be alive and just unconscious from blood loss.“He isn’t dead until a doctor says so,” she whispers, looking at his chest. She stares at it, waiting to see it move, but it doesn’t. The little glimpse of hope of him being alive dies. She snaps out of staring at his chest when Leo bends down to her on the floor.“Can you apply pressure to his wounds while we carry him to the car?” he asks, taking off his shi
Unfortunately, this doesn’t help Melina because James surprisingly kicks the bucket off her hands and backs her into a wall. He wraps his hands around her neck, restricting her airflow.“Fuck having your body; I’ll just fucking kill you.” He digs his nails into her skin and draws blood as he strangles her. Her face darkens as the veins around her face appear ready to burst at any moment. Melina places her hands above his to free them from her neck. She scratches his hand, drawing blood, but he doesn’t budge. Melina can’t believe this is how she dies. I have to do something.She checks her surroundings for anything that might be of help. Nothing is within her grasp because everything is on the floor. As he squeezes her neck tighter and presses her head deeper into the wall behind her, the wound behind her head burns. Her eyes become heavy. Melina could feel her soul slipping out of her body.I must act now.