"By the way, his mother gave me this," I said, pulling out the chain the woman gave me before she died. It's a chain with a gold ring and next to it is a beautiful heart-shaped locket adorned with small diamonds forming a "K." I hand him the chain, he takes it, and I can see a hint of pain in his eyes. Then he pulls my arm again, and I'm starting to get annoyed; I don't like it when he does that.
"My boss says if Mrs. Katherina said anything else," he demands urgently, sounding just like his boss.
"Yes, she said something like 'Per favore, prenditi cura del mio bambino' (please take care of my son)," I look at the little boy's father and see him nodding, "well, I think that's all, now I must go." Without looking back, I run through a small alley, hearing shouts behind me. I manage to run about five meters when I feel someone catch up to me and put a damp cloth over my nose and mouth. I thrash desperately, trying not to breathe, but it's impossible, and I feel my body grow heavy, along with my eyelids.
Massimo Carluccio
I'm continuously surprised to see the same woman I saw two days ago. The first time I saw her, I couldn't stop staring until she vanished from my sight. I was captivated by her beauty and felt the need to have her followed to learn more about her. However, in the end, I regretted it, as women are the ones who seek me out.
Just today, I began to think this girl was responsible for Katherina's murder. Seeing her run with my son in her arms flooded me with a hatred I had never felt in all these years. But when I realized she was actually protecting Alexandre, all that hatred turned into gratitude, as she risked her own life for my son's.
We're heading towards my home in Liguria Genoa. I had to render this woman unconscious to get her into my truck and leave Orvieto. It's about a four-hour journey, and her being asleep gives me time to go through her belongings. I find her cellphone and unlock it by taking her hand. I see a video she recorded this afternoon and witness everything that happened with Katherina's death. This woman was foolish enough to keep recording without realizing it. But thanks to that, I realize that my son's mother said to her in her final breath, "D'ora in poi sarai sua madre" (from now on, you'll be his mother).
We arrive at my mansion late at night. I get out with my sleeping son in my arms and hand him over to my housekeeper as I go back to get this woman and take her to her room. When I lay her down on the bed, I see she's about to wake up, so I ask them to cover her face again with a damp cloth. I don't want her to wake up until early tomorrow; I still have a lot to process about what happened, and I don't have time to argue with her again.
I leave her room and lock it, then head to the room where my son is. My personal doctor is examining him, and from what he tells me, I know this woman took very good care of him during the time she was with him. I pick him up, and he starts crying, looking for his mother. But how do you explain to a six-month-old baby that his mother is dead? Pietro, my right-hand man, suggests I let him sleep with this woman, and maybe he'll calm down a bit. I'm not entirely convinced, but I agree, and to my surprise, Alexandre curls up next to her, hugs her, and eventually falls asleep.
Lilibeth
I wake up in a room I don't recognize. My head hurts a lot, and the beam of light coming through the huge window hurts my eyes too much, making it hard to focus. I look around but can't remember how I got here. I only remember running, leaving all those men behind, when someone covered my face with a damp cloth, and then I don't remember anything else.
I get up quickly and head to the door, which is open. I go out, but I don't see anyone. This scares me. Who would kidnap someone and then let them wander around? I go down the stairs and see a huge wooden door in front of me. I run out, but stop abruptly when I see in the garden about twenty armed men. But since they don't stop me, I try to run towards the main exit when I hear my name shouted in a strange accent. I quickly turn around and see the same man from yesterday.
"Lili...beth."
"I'm sorry, but I have to go. My parents must be very worried," I lie, hoping he doesn't notice the tremor in my voice, "I hope the baby is okay." I don't wait for him to say anything else and continue running, finally reaching the gate, I breathe a sigh of relief. Thankfully, no one is chasing me, so I decide to turn right and run even faster.
I haven't run four meters when this man comes out in front of me, surrounded by all his men aiming their weapons at me. I turn around and see they've closed the other side too, with an infinite number of men making it impossible for me to escape them. Without realizing it, he's in front of me again, lifting me over his shoulder as if I were a sack of potatoes, and my fifty-five kilos mean nothing to him.
"Put me down, you damn fool! Who do you think you are?" I kick as hard as I can and hit his muscular back with my small fists. We enter his property again, and I hear the gate close behind me, separating me from my freedom.
"You're despicable! How dare you kidnap me? I demand you put me down!" I shout and hit him in the kidneys; I feel the air leave him, and then he gives me a hard slap on my buttocks, making me ache with pain.
"My boss says to stop hitting him, or for every blow you give him, he'll give one back," one of his men replies, and I suppose it's the same one who acted as an interpreter the day before.
"No one threatens me." I continue to attack with my punches, and he immediately gives me two more blows to my buttocks, causing a small tear of pain, but mostly of anger. When I stop hitting him, we enter the room I left a moment ago, and he throws me onto the bed. I quickly move away from him and press myself against the wall while he ignores me and leaves the room, but not before giving me a cold glance and locking the door.
I approach and try to open the door without success. I start screaming, but no one opens for me. Tears threaten to spill again, and I cry for so long that I don't notice and collapse from exhaustion. When I wake up, I'm lying on the bed, and it's already late, but what really wakes me up are little hands touching my face. When I see the owner of that little body, I realize it's yesterday's baby. He smiles at me, and that makes my heart feel a little better seeing him better than yesterday. As I hug him, I give him kisses on his face, making him laugh even louder and cling to me even more.
MassimoI see how this woman takes my son, and I know that Katherina was not wrong to leave him in her care. She is so happy playing with him that she hasn't noticed my presence. I clear my throat, and finally, her eyes meet mine. I can sense the hatred in her gaze, and she ignores me again, focusing on Alexandre.There's a knock on the door, and one of the maids enters with a tray full of food. I asked for a variety of dishes since it's been hours since she ate, and I don't want her to get sick. The maid places the tray on the table, and I instruct her to leave. When Pietro enters, I ask him to act as an interpreter with this woman and urge her to eat."Mr. Massimo says please eat something; your meal is ready," Pietro translates."Well, tell your boss I'm not hungry, and I refuse to eat anything. I want to leave; he can't keep me locked up all the time." She says defiantly. As soon as I hear what she said, I rise from my chair, approach her, and snatch Alexandre away. I call one of
It's been two days since I brought this woman to the hospital with Carlo, my personal doctor. He has been taking care of her all this time, and now she is doing well. On the first day, when she didn't wake up, I got really scared, but it turns out it was because of how weak she was. As soon as she woke up, she asked for Alexandre. She didn't even thank me for saving her, and she hasn't spoken to me at all during this time. She is discharged from the hospital, and once we're back at my house, I carry her to her room."I'm not going to thank you. It's your fault. If you had let me go, I wouldn't be like this." She says, shooting me a cold look, then turns away from me, which immediately makes me frown.LilibethThe next day, I was awakened by a girl named Mia who had been hired to be my personal servant, although I believe they actually want someone to watch me all the time. She asked me to come down for breakfast, but since I didn't have any clothes —firstly because the ones I had were
LilibethIt's been several days since I returned from the hospital, and in all this time, I haven't seen that Charlotte woman again. I asked Mia about her, but she claims she had to leave because of what happened, although truth be told, I doubt that. Still, it puts my mind at ease not having that woman around me. However, I don't want to be an easy target for anyone else who might try the same thing, so I decide to ask Massimo for something during dinner.“I want to go back to my old rented room.” I address Massimo, and for a moment, I notice that he's surprised that I'm talking to him, since I've completely ignored him since the incident with Charlotte. Talking to him is the last thing I wanted to do, but I truly need something from him.“You can't go there, you know you can't go back there.” He responds indifferently.“I need the things I left there, all my clothes and documents. You can't deny me that.” I shout and stand up from my seat.“One of my men can take you to buy all the
MassimoI am in the living room talking with Maritza when Lilibeth and my son arrive. They are about to go upstairs when Maritza asks me a very hurtful question, causing Lilibeth to come back and confront her. I didn't know that this woman also spoke French since I didn't think she would understand what my companion asked. However, when she responds and implies that I have multiple lovers, it angers me even more. Throughout the time she has been in this house, I have never brought any woman here. In fact, since my separation from my ex-wife, I haven't been with any of the women I have dated. When their discussion ends, she runs off to her room."Maritza, I'm sorry. Would it be okay if we meet another day and discuss our business calmly?""Alright, Massimo. Don't worry," she says, taking her purse and bidding me goodbye with a kiss on the mouth. This surprises me because she and I don't have that kind of relationship. Once she leaves, I go up to Lilibeth's room."Open the door! I know
“Miss, dinner is ready, Mr. Massimo is waiting for you.”“I’m not hungry, I ate too much this afternoon.” —I lie, the truth is I'm starving, but I don’t want to see Massimo after what happened this afternoon—. “Mia, please, when Alex wants to sleep, you can bring him, and for now, I don’t want anyone to disturb me.”“I’m sorry, Miss, but Mr. Massimo said he would sleep with Alexandre tonight.” She replies apologetically.“Perfect, in that case, you may go. I want to sleep, see you tomorrow.”“Goodnight, Miss, rest well.”I get out of bed and decide to change into something more comfortable. I lay back down and hug a pillow, crying again.MassimoThis woman drives me crazy in a thousand different ways, and when I think I can finally make her mine, she pulls away from me without warning, without any explanation for her change of attitude. Without thinking, I imply that she came to me seeking pleasure, and I can see her face transform as she hears me say this. She screams that she is not
Massimo “Why is she taking so long?” I ask Marion, who has brought me a glass of water while I wait for Lilibeth, who is a few minutes late and hasn’t come down yet.“I don’t know, sir. She might not be much longer. Oh, look, she’s coming down now. She looks truly beautiful, Miss.” I turn when she says this, and indeed, she is right; Lilibeth looks stunning.“Thank you, Mrs. Marion.” She smiles warmly, while I am mesmerized watching her descend the stairs.Tonight, Lilibeth is wearing an emerald green dress (which contrasts beautifully with her fair skin) with one long sleeve and a single shoulder. The upper part appears to have embroidered flowers with black details on an almost translucent fabric that reveals a bra in the same color as the dress. The lower part of the dress opens into a wide skirt, showing off her entire right leg thanks to a slit. She wears matching golden shoes and a handbag, and everything about her is perfection. I can’t help but feel uneasy, thinking about how
We get in the car and during the whole ride, he says nothing, but I can feel he's quite angry. We arrive at the house and to my surprise, he lets me go without saying another word. I quickly go up to my room where Mia is already waiting for me, helping me get rid of this dress. Before going to sleep, I decide to take a shower as I feel my body is permeated with the smell of tobacco. After a quick shower, I dry my hair and put on a red silk nightgown, then get into bed.MassimoWhen I see Renzo approaching her and the way he places his lips on her hand, indescribable jealousy invades me. So, I decide to take her in my arms and kiss her to show everyone present that nobody messes with Carluccio's woman. After arguing with her that both Renzo and I only want to take her to our bed, I see clearly that she's furious. I decide it's time to return home. We don't speak to each other in the car, and when we arrive, she quickly goes up to her room. I, on the other hand, head to take a shower to
When I wake up, I find myself in the back of a car and recognize that we are still in the parking lot of the mall. The men who attacked me are not inside, so I try to open the door to get out, but they've locked me in. Through the window, I see them talking on the phone with someone, perhaps waiting for instructions. When I realize they are approaching, I pretend to be asleep, hearing the sound of two doors opening, one on my side and the other on the driver's side."She's still asleep, no need to worry, but we need to get rid of her soon. Remember, the boss wants to see her dead body.""And what if we have some fun with her?" Asks the other man, making me tense up even more.When one of them is about to get close to me, I kick him so hard that he falls and hits his head. I don't waste time and start running towards the exit. The other guy quickly reacts and starts chasing me."Come back here, you damned witch!" He shouts, catching up to me and yanking my hair, making me scream in pai
When she hears me say this, her body tenses, and she starts crying harder than before. I lead her to one of the chairs and gently sit her down.“What happened to her face?” I inquire after a while, lifting her face a little.“What happened to you, sweetheart?” My father-in-law asks, approaching her, and when his fingers touch his wife’s cheek, she swats his hand away.“Don’t touch me.” She replies without looking at him.I see the pain in Liza’s father’s eyes at his wife’s attitude. He lowers his hand but stays by our side, holding back the urge to hug her.“After Stefano left the house, about half an hour later, Lieutenant Barone arrived. Apparently, he had a warrant for Stefano’s arrest because they had discovered everything about his business, but the way he was acting wasn’t normal.“When our men noticed that he started circling the whole property, Mich advised me not to let them in, and that’s what we did. But suddenly, they started attacking us, managing to break through the gat
Once again, I find myself in the cemetery, a place that has become so familiar to me that my chest tightens with the loss I am facing at this moment. I lower my gaze and observe the white rose I hold in my hand, as I feel a single tear escape from my eye. With the same hand holding the rose, I quickly wipe it away, knowing that the person I am now saying goodbye to would not want to see me in this state.After five long years, Giuseppe Lombardi left us to reunite with his son, whom he has longed for all these years. If it weren't for my mother, who became like a daughter to him, the sadness that overwhelmed him might have taken him sooner.I look around, and both my mother and my sisters are devastated by his loss, but I know they also find peace in having been with him in his last days. Next to me, holding my hand as she always has, is my beloved wife Yelizaveta, and at our feet are our children, little Renzo and little Laryssa.As the priest finishes the last words of farewell, my m
We take the elevator down as quickly as we can, and when we reach the parking lot, I head straight to one of the trucks that’s still there without wasting any time."We won’t take long; it’s about thirty minutes from here." I inform them as I get into the truck, buckle my seatbelt, and then floor the accelerator.The drive to my old home passes in a blink, and when we arrive, I see that only a few walls have remained standing over all these years. I turn off the engine and grab one of the guns from under the seat."I want you to stay here until Bellini and Flavio arrive.""We're not staying. We said we'd come with you, and that's what we're doing." Yasha contradicts me, gritting her teeth."Absolutely not. You'll stay here until the rest of my men arrive."I get out before they can argue, pass through the open gates, and barely take two steps before some men appear in front of me. I fire my gun, but just as I'm about to hit another one of them, I see him fall to the ground. I don’t ne
Yelizaveta Little by little, I open my eyes and feel a bit disoriented, not knowing where I am. I shake my head, and when I finally manage to focus, I look around and realize I’m in some sort of abandoned warehouse. But strangely enough, I’m alone—or at least I think I am.Everything is so confusing that every time I try to remember what happened, my head aches a little. When small scenes of what happened this morning finally come to mind, a shiver runs through me. All those trucks blocking our way, my father’s men trying to protect me, the ones from bombon following us, and that girl, screaming my name before being hit and losing consciousness.I try to touch my head where I was struck hard enough to knock me out, but I realize that I’m tied to a chair. Just as I’m about to move it, I hear unfamiliar voices.“They hit her pretty hard.” Shouts a man, followed by a thud. I try to turn my head to see where it’s coming from, but I can’t, so I listen closely to their conversation.“I’m s
Alexandre “Boss, Mr. Belucci is outside and insists on speaking with you.” One of my men informs me. I set aside the documents I’m reading, somewhat confused by the visit from Liza’s father.“Let him in, please.” My man steps aside, and I see Mr. Belucci enter, clearly upset. He looks around as if searching for someone until he finally fixes his gaze on me.“Where is Yelizaveta?” He asks angrily.“I’m sorry, father-in-law, but Liza and I didn’t plan to meet today. I haven’t seen her in days.”“T-that can’t be possible. She told me she was coming to see you and left the house at noon, and she hasn’t returned. It’s already past midnight.” I check the time on my computer and realize she’s been missing for over twelve hours. I jump up from my seat, grab my phone, and try to reach her. “She’s not answering; we’ve been trying for hours.” He says, his voice trembling slightly.“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask, frustrated. “What exactly did she say before leaving the house?”“One of yo
Alexandre "For several days now, you've been acting a bit strange. What's bothering you, Alexandre?" Inquires Flavio as soon as he notices my expression.I turn my chair, let out a deep sigh, and gaze out over all of Liguria in an attempt to clear my mind of so many problems. After a brief pause, I decide to speak."Someone blew up Liza's father's ship a few days ago. Apparently, they had a very valuable cargo that was about to be shipped to Russia. This was a significant loss for both my father-in-law and his partner.""And how does that affect you?" Bellini asks. "Don't tell me the bastard dared to blame you?" He growls furiously.I can't help but laugh. When I turn my chair back around to face them, I shake my head."Why am I not surprised you think that of my father-in-law?""Maybe because the idiot is capable of that and more." Bellini retorts, glaring at me."Only because Liza isn't here will I agree with you, but in front of her, I never will. So, you know, Bellini, keep your
Yelizaveta As soon as we got into the SUV of my bonbon to head to his mansion, I heard his parents begin to argue in hushed tones, trying not to be noticed."Can I ask why you didn't intervene, Massimo?" Mrs. Lilibeth inquired, and from the tone of her voice, I could tell she was a little upset with her husband."Little shrew, you were handling it wonderfully; you didn't need me at any point. Besides, I love seeing you in that mama bear mode." Mr. Massimo replied, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. I immediately turned my face away so they wouldn't think I was eavesdropping, but I continued to listen to their conversation anyway."I don't like the way he talks to Alex." She said, lowering her voice a bit more."I know, little shrew, but Alex accepted it all along and didn't say anything. What can we do? Nothing.""It's not your fault, honey." My bonbon murmured, wrapping his arm around my waist. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had overheard them arguing."I'm sorry! It's just
Fabrizio “If you're here, it's because you need to tell me something. What is it?” I ask without looking up from my work.“Our men reported that Carluccio just arrived at the Belucci mansion with his parents. They believe they are there to make their relationship official.”“With a demon!” I explode angrily, hitting my desk, “this can't be happening.”I get up from my seat and start pacing around my office, thinking of the best way to prevent that engagement from happening at all costs.“I want you to blow up the shipment waiting at the port.” I order, stopping my steps.“H-how?”“Are you an idiot? Do I need to repeat my orders twice?”“I’m sorry, boss, it’s just that it will be a significant loss for both you and Belucci.”“That loss is nothing compared to what I stand to gain by keeping Yelizaveta away from Carluccio.”“Should I ask our men to abandon the ship?”“No, sometimes it’s worth making certain sacrifices to achieve a greater good. I want that ship to blow up within ten min
Alexandre "I don't understand what you mean, bonbon." Says Liza with a slight frown. In front of us, I hear Brianna chuckle, but I ignore her."Yes, bonbon, explain to us." Brianna chimes in with a malicious smile."Brianna!" I scold her, because I am sure that now that she knows what Liza calls me, it will be impossible for her to stop calling me that."You're so boring." I see grandpa give her a conspiratorial look, and I shake my head."Baby doll, let your brother explain." My father intervenes. Brianna makes a little pout and falls silent, still hugging grandpa."Liza's father must have his own hangar. I know that if we talk to him and explain the situation, he could help us. Besides, we can get grandpa out through the tunnels in the house. That's what I can think of for now.""And will your girlfriend's father agree?" My father asks, not very convinced."It's possible, though I'm not quite sure.""Don't worry, bonbon, I'll talk to him.""I think it's best if Massimo and I go and