Luca’s POV Armani blurted out of the blue and I watched as Sofia bursted into a little fit of laughter, as she lifted one of her hands up to shield her mouth. I sneaked a glance at Armani to see him still staring down at Sofia, with a smile still spread out on his face.“Uh, thank you.” Sofia finally responded, still smiling a little with a little bit of color staining her cheeks. “I’m Sofia.” Sofia started to speak after a couple of moments, taking the lead once again, and I felt something that felt so much like pride start to tingle and expand in the middle of my chest as I watched as she offered her hand to Armani who had finally managed to shake himself a little to be able to get more words out or himself.“Forgive my manners, My name’s Armani.” He finally started to speak as he accepted Sofia’s hand into his bigger one, and before I could blink, he was moving forward and closing the distance between them to take her into his arms. I watched as Sofia went into his embrace w
Luca’s POV “Uh, no. No, I don’t” She finally responded in a small voice, after a few more seconds had passed. She knew what exactly it was that I wanted, knew that I needed her to respond to me vocally, but had purposely refused to not do that – until I had called out her name the way I did, some moments ago.Someone’s definitely getting a settling spanking tonight, I thought silently to myself as I hummed a little, giving her a pointed look for a few seconds, right before I turned around and started to head towards the entrance of the sitting room, and not before I slipped a glance at Armani who was staring down at his thighs, obviously trying to make himself as small as possible, to make him become as invisible as ever– as soon as he had realized the whole thing that had been happening between the both of us.I made my way out of the sitting room, making my way through the hallway and around the part that led into the kitchen. I headed straight into the walk-in freezer, fishing
Luca’s POV “Thank you, Sarah.” Armani said to Sarah with a warm smile playing across his lips as soon as Sarah set his plate before him, a few moments ago. Sarah smoke back at him instantly and whispered something to him and after caffe more seconds, she was heading out of the dining room and closing the door behind her. Sofia was sitting at my right hand side and Armani was sitting directly before her, at the other side of the table, the exact spot where James had sat in, some days ago when he had come over to do something with me and had decided to stay back for dinner.We all started to eat after a few moments and my eyes kept straying back to Sofia every few minutes, but nothing seemed to be off around her, she seemed to be doing just fine and she was also eating her food just fine. There wasn’t a lot of conversation going around the three of us who were currently sitting around the table, which was pretty fine by me.The quiet was also very good, it made more room in my head
Luca’s POV “She didn’t?” Armani asked and Sofia started to nod her head. “Yeah, she didn’t. It was all Matilda.”Armani turned towards me before starting to speak. “Who’s Matilda though, she was the other woman in the kitchen with Sarah, right?” He asked and I found myself breathing out a small laugh right before I started to speak. “Oh, wait. They didn’t tell you who she was? I thought she introduced herself to you when I left you in the kitchen with them for a while.” I asked after a moment, as I started to drag one of my finger against the top of Sofia’s thigh, and I felt that particular thigh tremble a little beneath my touch.“She didn’t, but she’s really friendly and cool, so it didn’t cross my mind to ask – and even if it had eventually crossed my mind, I don’t think I’d have asked her because I might have ended up sounding rude to her.” Armsni explained with a small lift of his shoulders and I nodded my head a little, flashing Sofia a subtle look as I started to slide my
Luca’s POV I said to him with a jerk of my head and I watched as he remained still at first, right before he nodded his head after a fleeting second.“I’ll be turning in for now, I hope you don’t mind.” Armani’s voice was soft and a little bit lower than usual as he spoke, while glancing down at Sofia who was looking up at him and I watched as Sofia started to shake her head almost immediately.“Ah, no no… I do not mind, I don’t. You’re probably really stressed at the moment from the flight and the ride back from the airport, so it’s very understandable that you’re heading out at the moment, and there’s a lot of time for us to hang out tomorrow as well.” Sofia finally paused and breathed out a slow breath, and I noticed the small smile that started to bloom on Armani’s face the next moment.“Yeah, we can totally hang out together tomorrow, I’ll be looking forward to it.” Armani finally responded with a small lift of his shoulders.“I’ll be looking forward to it too.” Sofia echoed
Luca’s POV “Oh, they’re around, they’re all safe. I just didn’t add any of your old stuff here because I didn’t know if you are still attached to those things the way you used to be back then.” I started to speak with a small sigh slipping out of my mouth.“Oh, really? Wow, that’s so cool.” He breathed out in the next moment.“Yup, it’s still here.” I said once again.“Can I go through them tomorrow?” Ge asked as he started to make his way towards me and I nodded my head with a small chuckle.“Of course, of course you can. They’re your stuff after all.” I said to him in the next moment.“You’re the best, Luca.” Armani said softly as soon as he was standing before me, with a little bit of space between us and I nodded my head at him with a small lift of my shoulders.“I really am?” I asked after a few seconds and watched as he huffed out a small breath.“Yeah, you are. You’re the very best and I’m so glad I have you as a brother.” He finally continued.I felt a small smile start
Luca’s POV “I didn’t know…” I started to say at first but ended up trailing off as soon as I noticed that Armani’s eyes had started to water. I closed the distance between us and took him into my arms once again, and like expected, it started to break my heart as soon as I felt him start to quietly sob against me.“I’m so sorry, Armani.” I started to whisper as I brushed my fingers through the material of his shirt which he currently had on. I held him close against me, at this point, I was already somehow in sync with his body size and height in my arms due to how much we’ve been in this same kind of position countless times today. It was like both our bodies and soul were trying to make up for lost times bt akways seeking each other out this way. At this point, I wasn’t sure I could be able to count the amount of times I’ve taken him into my arms in a firm embrace since the moment I’ve set my eyes on him back at the airport, this late evening.“I’m so sorry, so so sorry.” I started
Luca’s POV “That was all a misunderstanding.” Armani groaned out while shooting me a narrowed gaze at me, feeling a little bit attacked, because that was obvious what all what I had previously said I had meant – but then, I was referring to myself as well and not just to him.I rolled my eyes a little in the next moment and puffed out a deep breath, and then I started to speak as soon as my eye was back to focusing on him.“Damn, you grew up to be one hot motherfucker.” I stated as I glanced at him intently, noting how his bulging bicep looked right here with no piece of material covering it from an open view. He had obviously been spending a whole lot of time at the gym, almost like the way I do, which was definitely why he was able to achieve this kind of body for himself.“Aish, stop saying that, it isn’t true.” Armani started to say in the next moment as he grinned a little and turned away from me after a few moments. His back was also ripped as fuck. It wasn’t as ripped as
Sofia’s pov The kids had been bursting with excitement, which only meant one thing. It meant more headaches for Luca and I.“Baby, we talked about this, didn’t we? You can’t check the presents until it’s Christmas.” I murmured to Aria while holding her against my chest. She was clearly unhappy about this tiny rule because her frown deepened at once.“But it’s so far awayyyyy! No one is gonna know if I take a peek.”I chuckled as I let her slid down. “Daddy is gonna know.” I reminded her and that seemed to make her have a change of heart.“Oh.” She hesitated a little. “I guess I can wait a bit more.”“More like one more day, honey cause it’s tomorrow!” I gushed out and a grin split out on her face.“Really?!” She demanded and after getting another confirmation, she went off to find her brother, leaving me to myself. I sighed as I watched her leave with a fond smile on my face while massaging my forehead. I called out to her to be careful before I got back to what I was doing before.
FOUR YEARS LATER Sofia’s pov “Be careful, honey!” I called out at once, but I doubt she heard me as she hurriedly raced forward till she was standing before James, a glass of milk carefully clutched in her hand.“Here it is, Uncle James!” She called out enthusiastically and a familiar feeling of fondness swelled in my heart as I watched as an exaggerated look of awe got plastered on James’ face as he accepted the glass of milk.“Thank you, Aria! You’re so hardworking.” He complimented as he took a few gulps of the milk because a tiny sip wasn’t gonna be accepted by Aria who’s clearly still waiting for more compliments.“It tastes so nice and fresh, wow.” James gushed and I listened as Aria’s pleased giggles filled up the room. She began to bounce on her toes when she began to speak. “If you noticed, uncle James, the glass wasn’t totally filled up this time because mommy said that’s how it’s supposed to be to avoid it spilling from the top, and I listened to mommy because she’s alwa
Luca’s POV The bouquet of flowers I had gotten on the way home was a mixture of lilies and tulips, and I paired it with a bunch of balloons and a wrapped gift on the side. It’s a little past six and I couldn’t wait to be home already. I couldn’t wait to get home to my wife and our babies.Work has been quite stressful for the past month, the mafia aspect, to be specific. After news of my wife giving birth circulated around, I already knew that the amount of enemies I have was automatically gonna triple, and in order to keep my family safe, I was gonna have to be more at alert. The mafia clan had thrown a party in celebration after the birth of our babies, and I had purposely attended it alone, keeping my wife and kids far away from a gathering like that because it was filled with dangerous people from top to bottom.“Your enemies are gonna start attacking you even more now that you have a successor. People who have hoped to replace you if you ended up dying without an h
Sofia’s pov TWO YEARS LATER “I look ugly and bloated.” I blurted out while eying my reflection in the floor length mirror in the walk-in closet. Luca, who had been running a comb through his hair, paused for a moment before throwing me a glance, and then a smile bloomed on his face.“Of course you don’t! How can you even think that when you look like a goddess right now.” He murmured, discarding his comb and heading in my direction. I pouted at my reflection, not at all impressed by what I was looking at.“Now you’re just lying cause I’m sure goddesses don’t look this bad. My face is swollen and I literally feel like I’m gonna die.” Luca who had now eased up behind me let out a chuckle into my hair as his hand slid around my waist to carefully cradle my large stomach from the sides.“You still look very gorgeous to me. I don’t think your face is ugly, neither do I think you’re no longer sexy, because you still are. Did last night not explain that enough?” He chuckled at the end of
Luca’s pov It was clear as day that this particular topic has been troubling Sofia for a while now. I could tell from how she was wringing her fingers. I lifted her fingers and brushed my lips across it, and then I let out a long sigh.“If I’m gonna be honest, I haven’t actually thought about it. I just assumed you don’t want them and I was cool with that.” Her eyes widened comically as she whispered. “But… I want children.”I hummed. “I see that now.” “You don’t want children?” Sofia asked after a few moments and I slowly shook my head.“I don’t think I do, cause I don’t actually like the thought of bringing a child into a lifestyle as dangerous as my current one, and leaving the mafia is completely out of the question cause the past would end up catching up with me no matter what.”“Oh.” She whispered while chewing at the inside of her mouth.“Yes, love. But, that aside, I love babies. They’re always so cute and clueless of all the evils in the world.” Sofia laughed at th
Sofia’s pov TWO YEARS LATER*** The sounds of soft laughter filtered through the screen of the television I was currently staring at and a small smile tugged at the side of my lips as I averted my gaze and took a glance at the wall clock situated at the top of the wall here in the room. It was past eight in the evening, which indicated that Luca was almost home, and an excited feeling coursed down my spine. It doesn’t matter that Luca has almost returned home to me every damn day, that giddy feeling still engulfs me every day.Which is the best thing ever, said my therapist when we stumbled on that topic. It’s been over two years and till date, I’m still yet to stop seeing my therapist. She, a Middle aged woman, has made me feel so much love and comfort than my mother has done for me throughout the past two decades that I’ve been alive. The sounds of cute giggles emitting from the television screen grabbed my attention and once again, I focused on it. This time, my bre
Sofia’s pov The weeks flew by faster than i could keep up with.Healing was slower than I anticipated, and I hated almost every second of it, if I was being honest, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t willingly take another bullet for Luca if I could, because I will. Luca had gotten extremely displeased when I offhandedly said those same words to him, and he made me promise to never, ever do that again.I stayed in the hospital for months, because Luca wanted me to be completely healed before getting discharged. The flowers that got sent to me by every well wishers had gotten thrown out more than three times because at a point, they all began to rot.A little gathering was thrown in celebration of my release from the hospital. Everybody was there waiting in the house as entered the house, from Kayla and her husband, Travis, to Armani and his girlfriend, Nala, to James and his fiancée, Blair, to Angelo. It was relieving to finally be home and be surrounded by so much love right now ma
Sofia’s pov ‘Was this how it feels to float?’I asked myself over and over again, the more time I spent in that same unending loophole. It felt like I was stuck in a fluffy space, but instead of sinking, I remained afloat.Muffled voice could be heard coming from multiple sides at once but I couldn’t make any word out, neither could I tell each voice apart from the other.I limbs literally felt nonexistent because I couldn’t wait use of them no matter how much I tried. It’s almost weird how it’s pitch dark in this fluffy space, preventing me from making anything out.Or perhaps, I was the one who had my eyes closed throughout, I realized when I discovered that I could feel my eyelids twitch a little. I tried to get my eyes open after that, but ended up giving up after trying over and over again to no avail. I drifted straight into an unconscious state after that.When I came to once again, I felt warm fingers around mine. The fingers felt familiar in a way, and with everyth
Sofia’s pov The scream that left my mouth this time was completely silent as I watched as the kneeling man who was apparently working with Ryan, fell to the ground face first after being shot by Ryan. That sent a more terrified feeling down my spine, because not only was Ryan crazy, he was clearly also heartless as hell. Seeing how he could effortless kill off his own partner made it more obvious that it wouldn’t be hard for him to kill me if he wants to, and that he wasn’t just bluffing by threatening to shoot me.“Fuck, man, you really are a freak. Your own partner?” Angelo mused with an unimpressed look on his face. Luca snorted and leveled Ryan with a look. “That’s not something a Ricci would do, you know?”“Well it’s a good thing I’m not a fucking one, okay? And now that I’ve killed my partner myself, you clearly don’t have anything to threaten me with, I have nothing to lose in this situation unlike the rest of you.” Ryan responded haughtily, sneering as he tugged on my hair.