Chapter 53RUSSEL I channeled my anger into my fists as I sent a spiral of punches into the punching bag. The resonance of the punches lingered in the home gym, suspending time momentarily. I paused, but only to catch my breath before I continued again. I had a target in mind, seventy punches for the round if I could help it, and somehow, even though it was just a momentary flash, I had a clear picture in mind of just who those punches were directed to. Memories of last night wouldn't stop bugging my mind, and even though I tried my hardest best to keep the cause of my woes out of my mind, there was just no way to do it. She was stubborn, dauntless, so fucking disrespectful. My hand instinctively reached to rub the tender area where her soft hand had slapped me last night while my eyes remained fixed on the punching bag in front of me. The anger simmered within me, just as it did last night. This was the second time she was slapping me, and each time, I still found it so hard to
Chapter 54 RUSSEL It took me fifteen minutes to get ready, yet I was still cussing underneath my breath for taking so long. The last thing I wanted was a run in with Hyacinth and her filthy family, I thought as I scrambled to pull on my suit jacket, the fabric catching on my sleeves as I hurriedly straightened my tie.I finished with the tie and picked my phone, I made towards the door, only to find Kegan standing there, blocking me as his brows wrinkled in a tight frown. I gave him a sour look and waited for him to get out of my way or state his mission, but he pushed me aside and entered the room instead. “Just how hard is it to get a hold of you? There are cellphones for a reason, you know?” I checked my phone and bad enough, there were over ten missed calls from just Kegan, “I know you're old fashioned and you probably don't know what technology is, but whenever you see my name pop up on that piece of computer in your hand, you swipe right and answer the damn call!” I rolled my
Chapter 55RUSSEL We drove out of the estate in a fit, Vincenzo had silently left the table with us, Kegan was driving, Dylan sat beside him in the front while I sat behind with Vincenzo. Thankfully, neither of them said anything about the breakfast as we drove. We continued in silence for a while, our heartbeats and the sound of the car speeding past trees and other cars the only disruption to the quietness. I closed my eyes and rested my head on the headrest.It was a miracle she didn't remind me today of how I lured my father to his death, that was one of the saddest truths she ever told. Because perhaps, if I had been there… I shook my head, what was that the therapist said about portioning blame to myself? But hell, life was way more realistic than letting someone whose only job was to sit behind a desk, listen to all your problems and tell you how to avoid them when they couldn't even understand what you were probably going through. Besides, what had I done with the therapist
Chapter 56ALLESIA I'd never been around so much tension in my life, certainly not with my three-man nuclear family. Russel, I realize, had a very large family which consisted of people with different personalities and perception of the world. But they all shared one thing in common– they were all wealthy and proud. The breakfast came to an abrupt end after Russel left with brothers, the tension was far too much. All that revelation, with all that frustration that was left to simmer on the surface and their tempers were even hotter than the meals before us. I couldn't even eat a bite as I was unable to shake the feeling of his mother's eyes watching me. She hated me from the moment she saw me, but if she could hate her own son, who was I? From their conversation, I could pick up a few things though, things about Russel that I would never had known. And somehow, I could mirror his pain, even though I could never really understand how much it affected him. Like me, he had suffered a
Chapter 57 ALLESIA It took over twenty minutes for the officers to come out of the house with Luca and two of Russel's men trailing them. On sighting them, I noticed that Russel raised a questioning brow and the first thing Luca did was to give him a reassuring nod, which seemed to calm him a bit because there was a momentary relief on his face.I needed no telling that if anything goes wrong, none of those officers would leave this place alive because Russel still had his hand presser tightly on his gun holster, which the officers did not seem to notice. Not only that, but all four of them seemed to be communicating with their eyes and I felt like the only odd one out because I didn't understand what was going on. “So,” Kegan cleared his throat, “Did you find anything?” The officer shook his head, “Nothing for now.”“I told you,” “But we'd love to question your staff.” At this point, Russel hissed, “Whatever for?” he raked his hand through his hair and scoffed, “Are you accusing
CHAPTER 58RUSSEL After the cops left, I watched as Allesia place her hand on her lips, her expression lost in dreamy confusion, I felt a surge of emotions bubbling within me at the realization that she had just saved me for the second time, for whatever reason I could not tell. Left for me, I would have preferred to turn those cops into corpses, but no thanks to Kegan and the very reasonable Vincenzo. And now I was actually indebted to Allesia again. How do I repay her? And what was that thing she did with her eyes that felt like she could see right through my soul, like she could communicate through her eyes and somehow, my own eyes had a way of understanding her without any spoken words between us. I released a sigh, perhaps if I just thanked her then all these stupid thoughts would go away. But then, maybe not saying anything to the cops was her way of apologizing for disrespecting me last night. She did slap me after all, didn't she? But I also forced her to watch me fuck
CHAPTER 59RUSSELWas he being serious right now? I waited for Kegan to offer an explanation for what he just said, but when he said nothing, I had to ask, “What do you mean it'll involve Allesia?”“We'll need someone to distract them if my plan is to work.”“And she is the only one you could think of?”"The only one with the wit, yeah."I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my temples as his words sank in. The mere thought of involving Allesia in this made my stomach churn with unease. Despite our tumultuous relationship, I couldn't shake the fear of putting her in harm's way."Absolutely not," I declared, my voice firm and resolute. "I won't risk her life for this.” Despite my anger, I remained oddly calm, “Besides, she’s not one of the girls, you can use any of the other Outfit girls and the girls at the hotel. That's why they are there, right?”Kegan's expression remained unreadable, but I could still see the resolute look in his eyes, "I understand your concerns, but have you forgott
Chapter 60ALESSIA I thought I was doing the right thing by helping him, but now I questioned if it was worth it. Maybe I misunderstood that look in his eyes, those devilish green eyes that said different things all at once. For a moment there, I had thought I saw a vulnerability in him, but how mistaken I was, because at the end of it all, I was the vulnerable one. I mean, was he not the great Russel Mancini? He always had things under control, even people, including me. And again, I made a fool out of myself in front of him and his brothers. What is wrong with me? Why couldn't I just be normal? Oh please, I scoffed miserably, how did I think I was going to have a normal life after signing my life away. Renzo was right after all. Oh how I miss him! I miss Elletra, I miss my mum! Maybe I miss my simple life at the bar. My chest suddenly felt dry and my throat constricted because of all the crying I had done. I can't believe I was allowing that stupid jerk to get into my emotions