Luca’s POV “Fucking shit.” I quietly cursed beneath my breath, a dark scowl settled on my face right after.James had his lips pursed into a thin line, and he didn’t look impressed.He never liked Lola, throughout the time we hooked up back then, and he never bothered to hide it. Travis arrived at my other side and slung his arm over my shoulder.“What’s up dudes? Let’s go have some drinks, we haven’t had anything to drink since we all arrived here.” Travis spoke up but when I turned sideways to glance at him, he instantly knew something was off.“Shit. What’s wrong?” He demanded. I remained silent, not knowing how best to respond, but James spoke up on my behalf soon enough.“See that woman over there with his wife, she used to hook up with Luca some years back.”“Oh damn. What the hell is she looking for here? Or is she friends with Luca now?” Travis murmured with his eyes never leaving Lola and Sofia, who to Luca’s horror, were both giggling at something together.“Hell
Sofia’s POV I watched as Luca hastiky walked away, all the way to the outside of the hall where the exhibition was being held in. A troubled feeling settled over me a little.It was obvious that something had happened, something important enough for his guards to come summoned him so abruptly.I really hope nothing happens that might ruin today.I turned around and made my way forward, smiling at a few people who were waving at me. This was one of the reasons why I was really grateful for Luca’s presence.He had always been wary about this being safe when I had first pitched my idea to him, and him being here today in order to guard the entire place with his men and ensure that nothing goes wrong, made me feel really happy and less worried.Even though things were not as it used to be before, I’m glad that he was here right now today, doing this. Proving that even though we were not on the best talking terms, my safety is still utmost priority to him.Kayla rushed towards me and eng
Sofia’s pov ‘What could they want?’ I quietly asked myself as I drew a welcoming smile on my face, hoping that it appeared real and genuine, and not tired and exhausted like I actually feel right now.I’ve never talked to so much people one on one in the span of a few hours in my entire life. It was really overwhelming then I had anticipated.I don’t regret doing this exhibition. It left so much joy and satisfaction in my heart, but perhaps next time I’d be hosting this– which wouldn’t be anytime soon, I’d put a limit to people who’d be able to come in, that way, it wouldn’t get this crowded, and wouldn’t overwhelm me this way.“Hello there, I’m Sofia Ricci, the artist whom you’ve come to see today. I assume you’ve taken a look around, are there any paintings in particular which stood out to you?” I said in a single breath and I watched as the three women all exchanged looks amongst themselves.One of them, the one standing in the middle, whose hair was styled in a really high bun,
Luca’s POV After heading outside with the two perplexed looking guards, even before I emerged outside, I already knew that something had happened, coupled with the few words the guards had said to me, just when I had been about to say something in response to what Sofia had said about her needing to thank me. James had his gun out, along with Travis, and at soon as I made my way outside, I hastily whipped out my gun while regarding the unfolding scene carefully.Men clad in black and red where pouring in from different directions, jumping over the electric fence effortlessly, making it obvious that the electrocution projected into the wires atop the fence has definitely been disabled. James, Travis and the guards were taking care of the men, but they were starting to get outnumbered.I motioned for some of the guards to go watch over the people in the hall and prevent them from coming out. I also motioned for some other guards to go check the other side of the hall to ensure
Sofia’s pov Kayla was literally bouncing on her feet as she kept yapping about everyone of us going out for a celebration of the success of my launch.If I were to choose, I wanted to take a long bath and curl up by myself tonight. I was still feeling quite overwhelmed, but at least the zipping in my ears was starting to ease away now that I wasn’t in the cramped hall any longer.But, with the way Kayla was brimming with excitement right now, it was obvious that she wouldn’t be giving in easily if I refuse to come out with them for the celebration. And, if I should do that, not only would I be a huge spoil sport, It also wouldn’t make sense if I wouldn’t be going out to celebrate with them seeing as I’m the reason for the celebration in question right now.“A celebration? In where?” Travis, Kayla’s husband asked as he pressed his back behind his wife and placed his hands on her hips, probably to stop her from bouncing up and down. I watched as she instantly stopped bouncing an
Sofia’s pov The moment we alighted the Lamborghini which Luca drove himself tonight, we were instantly swamped with the paparazzi. I was grateful I had slipped a pair of sunglasses over my face before leaving the car, and as the camera flashes kept going off without pause, I felt my head pound a little.Luca’s hand closes around mine after a few fleeting seconds and he began to guide me past the swamp of paparazzis. It took me a couple of seconds to notice Luca’s guards were already starting to shove the paparazzis away from us. I ignored the questions and mics pointed in our faces, and the whoops from the people in an extremely long line, obviously waiting to be let into the club one at a time – as we made our way into the club. We climbed up the stairs, walking past bouncers who hastily bowed on noticing Luca. On arriving at the third floor of the club, the first thing I noticed was that it wasn’t all that loud nor rowdy up here, like it had been in the vip section of that c
Sofia’s pov The ride home was extremely silent. I couldn’t believe that the air between Luca and I could get any tenser, but tonight has proved my thoughts wrong. I was angry, definitely.Who wouldn’t be angry by the blatant show of disrespect. Excusing to go talk to the woman whom I had just introduced to him only a few hours ago – whatever it is that he went to ssy to her couldn’t be voiced out in my presence?I was very angry, and hurt.I don’t have a problem with Lola. She probably didn’t mean any harm. My main problem was Luca now.I kept to myself and alighted the car as soon as it drove into the compound, hastily making my way into the house. I was about to climb off the stairs when Luca, probably sensing that something was wrong, stopped me with a hand on my wrist.“Can I help you with something?” I asked, keeping my voice as neutral as possible.He fidgeted for a few moments before finally shaking his head.“What’s wrong?” He finslly asked and Sofia let out a started
Sofia’s pov Once again, before I could begin to climb up the stairs, Luca stopped me with his hand on my wrist, stopping me from moving an inch forward.And after that, I refused to turn back around back to stare at him, because I didn’t want him to see that this entire thing was getting to me this way.I didn’t want him to see the tears already starting to gather in my eyes. I didn’t want him to see how weak I was, and kinda pathetic.But, he kept tugging me around until I gave in and turned around, eyes plastered to the ground. I didn’t see his hand come around until I felt his hand move beneath my chin really lightly to tip my face over until I was staring up at him.I hastily tried to blink my eyes in order to hide the tears, but that was a wrong move because it only made the tears roll down my cheeks really slowly.The shock that took over Luca’s face almost immediately was almost comical.“Why are you crying?” He asked, voice quiet as he reached up to thumb one of the teardrop
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.