Sofia’s pov The utter shock on Luca’s face after I blurted out that question as soon as it appeared in my mind, made me sober up some more. He appeared genuinely confused for a few heartbeats before letting out a slow, long exhale, and then he began to speak.“What? What do you mean by that question? What made you think that?”I bit on my bottom lip and stared down at my fingers which had gone numb at some point, and then I found myself shrugging up one of my shoulders.“I’m not sure; it just felt like it was my fault since what I had on wasn’t actually long.” I admitted, while still staring at my fingers. Moments later, the feeling of Luca’s fingers beneath my chin, tipped my head upwards until I was staring into his face.“Oh, bunny… that wasn’t your fault in any way, it was the bastards’ faults and not yours at all. You shouldn’t ever blame yourself for something like that, cause in this situation, you’re the victim. What you had on when you were assaulted, has nothing to d
Sofia’s pov The coldness of the smoothie glass against my hands were honestly greatly welcomed and as I listened to the familiar, pleasant sound of Zander bursting into laughter, I found myself relaxing further into my seat.It’s been about a week since I saw him for the first time on that particular night, and a few days since I had encounter those dumb boys who had thought it nice and humorous to mess with me.With the help of Luca, I had been able to recover from that incident way faster than I expected. Luca informed me that he dealt with those guys further and made sure they got what they deserved, and as he spoke to me, I tried not to feel any kind of pity for those guys, because they honestly had it coming from themselves since they moment one of them grabbed my butt.I let out a small sound on realizing that Zander was speaking to me once again.“Were you saying something?” I asked while regarding Zander with curious eyes.We had both decided to meet up with each other
Sofia’s pov Zander breathed out an amused laugh. “That’s very insane to be honest. I guess I was too scared to admit it back then.”“I had no idea about my own cursh until moments later to be honest: I mean, I was very hurt that you moved without bidding ne goodbye but I just felt like the hurt was because of our friendship.” A regretful look crossed Zander’s face this time. “About that, I honestly wished I had gotten a chance to bid you goodbye properly, you know? But it was all so impromptu. I got got home from school one afternoon and my things were already packed and in an hour, I was being ushered into a private plane and that was it. The fact that I didn’t get to bid you goodbye ate me up for years.”“Wow.” I breathed out in genuine shock, feeling like I was finslly getting some sort of closure about this situation which I’ve always unknowingly craved. For years, I had just assumed that he hadn’t deemed it important enough to inform me beforehand.“Yeah.” He murmured.A long
Armani’s pov I let my gaze sweep over the club for a few more moments before breathing out a sigh and getting out of my car.Before deciding on this particular one, I made sure to carry out my research properly, making complete sure that this particular isn’t affiliated in any way to Luca or James. I wanted to go to a club where I’d be completely unknown, which is why I had driven a good two hours all the way to this location.I slammed my car shut and pocketed the keys before sweeping my gaze around everywhere at once. I didn’t come here with any guards, and I know Luca wouldn’t be pleased, but I believe I’ve been lowkey enough after the unfortunate incident that befell me right after a few days I arrived here, and now, I believe a lot of people would have even forgotten about my existence, which means it’s not going to be a big deal to come to somewhere like this on my own.I puffed out a long exhale before making my way to the entrance of the club which was filled up with
Armani‘s pov I wouldn’t actually blame the reason for my loneliness on the fact that I’m always around lovebirds all day long, because I know damn well that I was lonely even when I was in Los Angeles.But, perhaps, the fact that I’m always around a pair of lovebirds might have made me start to dwell more and more on the fact that I’m indeed lonely.That’s what prompted me into deciding on visiting the club tonight, because I tried to fight that loneliness feeling away for a while, but nothing seemed to be working out no matter how much I tried. Back in school, I had a total of three girlfriends throughput my school years.None of those relationships were significant enough for me to actually miss anyone. I wouldn’t actually say I was the best boyfriend, because all those girls were the ones to end the relationship and not the other way round for once. But, I knew they never genuinely loved me, the second girlfriend, the one I got together with when I was in my second year,
Armani’s pov As I walked behind her, I couldn’t help it, my eyes kept taking in every inch of her body, drinking it up like the starved man that I indeed was.The dress she had on had no back, and right there on her back, laid a very large tattoo, which made her appear even hotter than she was back in the club.I couldn’t believe my luck, that it still felt like I was dreaming even though I could literally see her in front of me right now.The atmosphere wasn’t loud with music any longer now that we were out of the club, which I was glad about, because that was helping me gather my thoughts some more, something which I was unable to actually do in the club.When she threw a glance at me from the top of her shoulders, I felt my mouth run dry at once. The look on her face was teasing, like she knew I had been checking her out moments ago, like she knew how much I wanted her right now, like she knows what’s actually going on in my head right now.Even though I wanted to avert my g
Armani’s pov “You’re so gorgeous, I can’t wait to wreck you tonight.” She whispered, the words sounding like a promise on her lips before she closed the distance between our lips. As our lips moved together, as her tongue hungrily licked into my mouth, and as her grip on my jaw hardened, I knew without question that those words were a promise she meant to keep, and I knew without doubts that I definitely do want to get completely wrecked by her tonight. After we made our way into the hotel, we barely moved away from the door before she had me caged against the door. The kiss made my entire blood boil with desire, it made everything in my body roar with want and it made a heated tremor glide over my limbs, especially when she bit down on my lip before sucking it into her mouth. “Fuck.” I whispered when our lips finally parted and she grinned while panting, a hot, crazed look in her eyes as she nodded her head and began to trace my wet lip with her thumb.“Yeah, fuck indeed.” She
Sofia’s pov I’ve been putting off having a conversation with Ryan.Not because I was nervous to do just that.Or perhaps I was a little bit nervous… or, a lot nervous. It was still extremely unnerving to think of, because I was still yet to actually fully wrap my head around it. Ryan had actually murdered someone for me. That thought was enough to make me shudder from nerves. The kiss has been the most unexpected out of everything, because it was something I hadn’t seen coming at all. It had kept me up last night, even long after Luca had drifted off to sleep. It was the exact thought I woke up to, and the reminder that I do need to have a conversation with him, that same one which Matilda had suggested I told with him weeks ago. A small sigh escaped my lips as I trudged into the closet while toweling my hair dry. Thinking about having that conversation alone was enough to make my head start to pound, it’s undoubtedly going to be awkward as hell, a scene which I’d rather no
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.