Alessandro Maurizio~•~I didn't regret killing Francesco Luciano; the eldest of the Luciano brothers.What I did regret was not doing it fast enough.Technically, it had been a combined effort, impulsive as well. As instructed by his father, Francesco had chosen my mother and he didn't waste any second in killing her. Someone had screamed; I didn't know if it was from me, my dad, or Patrizio, but the next thing that happened - which I could barely comprehend at this moment - was that I and Pat whipped out our guns simultaneously and shot at the same time, so technically, we didn't know who exactly killed Franc.All hell had broken loose after that.It had ended in a gunfight that killed my father and injured Mr. Luciano.Till today, I didn't know how I and Pat were able to survive that since we were greatly outnumbered, but we did. And that was why I worked very hard to build our family to the top, recruited and trained men both in Chicago and Italy, so nothing of that sort would re
Jordan Miller~•~Just like Romano had said before he left, a man came into the room, claiming to want to take me to my new room.He had hair, as long as Alessandro's — his own was blond though — and it was up in a man-bun, making visible the tattoo of a dagger on his neck. He had bright blue eyes and that was probably the one thing that made him less intimidating in my eyes, even though his gaze was really cold.I eyed him cautiously. I couldn't really trust any of them. I couldn't trust anyone, especially not the men in this house. If their don didn't like me and didn't fancy me being here, who's to say they did as well?They would probably hate my guts cause I was causing problems between the brothers who were in charge of their family. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I'm not here to hurt you, okay? I have better people I'd rather be hurting, so come with me, and let's get this over with."Goosebumps erupted on my skin. Was he talking about Alessandro and them? For the next few
Alessandro Maurizio~•~"Il giorno in cui ho portato Jordan al Castello Sforzesco di Milano, quando mi hanno sparato, hai parlato con qualcuno degli uomini qui a Chicago?" (The day I took Jordan out to the Castello Sforzesco back in Milan, when I got shot, did you talk to any of the men here in Chicago?)"Wow, ciao anche a te, capo," Lorenzo said sarcastically, but I wasn't in the mood to joke around. It had been a few days since the incident with the bomb and while a lot of us came out unscathed, we lost a few men. (Wow, hello to you too, boss.)I was angry at myself for not realizing sooner that it could have been a trap. If I had, we wouldn't have buried over ten men. I didn't like thinking too much about it and I knew if I didn't act fast, I was going to lose more men. All these while, I'd been trying to draw them out and wait for them to strike. Not anymore."Rispondi alla mia domanda, Enzo." (Answer my question, Enzo.)He must've sensed the seriousness in my voice because he im
Alessandro Maurizio~•~I stared at Carlo. He stared at me.We were silent for a few seconds as we stared blankly at each other. I was about to speak, wanting to tell him to make it quick so I could get the problem over with when his eyes went wide and his mouth fell open."You think—" he stopped short, looking around to see if anyone was close by. No one was. "You think he ratted you out?"My tongue poked the inside of my cheek in annoyance. I took a fistful of his shirt again, bringing my face closer to his. "Carlo," I said slowly and watched him gulp, "I am this close to bashing your head against this wall if you don't tell me who prompted your phone call.""Chris!" He blurted out.My eyebrows furrowed in confusion at first. "Chris?""The guy who tripped Jordan and made her leave the first time. You shot him, remember?"It clicked immediately. I slowly let go of Carlo's shirt, stumbling back as I tried to remember why and when he joined our mafia."What the fuck is going on here?"
Jordan Miller~•~It was almost a week later and it was an absolute hell living with Romano and his 'family'. He still claimed to love me, and he still didn't trust me because he strongly believed that I was in love with Alessandro and would do anything to go back to him. I tried not to think too much about how accurate that was. Rather, I tried not to think about if it was accurate or not.I did care about Alessandro; I'd accepted that. I was attracted to him; that was from the very beginning. Maybe, I liked him just a tiny bit. But saying that I loved him? That was most likely a stretch, right?I rounded up showering and got dressed in casual wear. Luciano had gotten me some clothes. At first, I wanted to prove a point by not wearing any of them, but I couldn't stay in what I was kidnapped with forever. Most of the clothes he got me were a size too small and they accentuated every shape on my body. I was certain he did it on purpose because the next batch of clothes he got were als
Jordan Miller~•~Maya was caught off guard and I could see the conflict on her face as she tried to make a decision.I stared at her pointedly, waiting for a reply, but she looked to Vince instead, as though asking for permission."I don't know where to go," I added. Vince released a sigh, then nodded his head. Maya did not look happy about his approval, but she didn't have a choice. Her tongue poked the inside of her cheek as she stood up slowly as if trying to prolong the inevitable."I'll show you," she said quietly and started walking off. I didn't waste any time following.I tried not to think about how suspicious Maya was acting as I tried to keep up with her steps, not even bothering to take note of my surroundings.We eventually reached a door that she opened and gestured for me to go inside. I did, but as she was about to leave, I took a hold of her wrist, effectively stopping her. She kept her eyes on the ground."Maya," I called out and I could see her battling with herse
Jordan Miller~•~I hadn't tried to escape, which meant Romano was trusting me with my freedom a little more each day.I was allowed to walk around the house, which meant I made use of the opportunity to memorize the layout, but I was careful not to cross paths with Vince. That man wouldn't think twice about putting a bullet between my eyes.I was even more friendly with Romano. I let him hold me while we slept, but he hadn't tried to go any further. I was grateful for that.Almost every day, they had a meeting of some sort. I was certain they were planning something, but I didn't know what. It was incredibly frustrating. The only thing I had was a key and a map of the house in my memory and they were proving to be useless. I wanted to talk to Maya again. She wasn't keen on escaping the last time we did, but she had been here longer than I'd been and she was sort of close to Vince when it came to proximity, so she could be of great help.I was walking past the hallway when a door sud
Jordan Miller~•~I didn't plan on staying in there for long.Hell, I didn't plan on staying in there at all. I just had to be smart about how I went about it. I waited patiently by the door for a few minutes, waiting for him to retreat. I knew he would. He had to. Standing around idly in a fight would only get him killed. No one wanted to die. It took a while but he finally left. I could still hear some shots, but they were faint, which meant they hadn't moved up yet. I got to work immediately.The first thing I did was to get the keys I'd found when I first moved into Romano's room. I knew keeping it would be a good idea. Then, I ransacked his closet.I was searching for a gun or any weapon that I could use to defend myself, but I happened to come across something else that would be useful. A bulletproof vest.Finding that, I realized that I should probably change my clothes as well. It was December which meant it would be chilly outside; my shorts wouldn't be a good choice of att
Alessandro Maurizio~•~"Come on," Jordan said as she tried to drag me upstairs. She didn't succeed very much, making her frown at me. "Alessandro!" She whined and I chuckled.Guests had started coming in and we had to be at the door to welcome them, but Jordan had other ideas. "Why do you even need me upstairs?" I asked her, catching sight of a new guest strolling in. Thankfully, Pat was there to make small talk with them."I just want to give you your present before we get carried away.""Jordan!" I scolded playfully, "we can't have sex while everyone is downstairs."Jordan didn't permit me to sleep last night even if she left the room, and immediately it was midnight, she was carrying in a cake and singing happy birthday in a low tune so she wouldn't disturb the others. It was such a sweet gesture that I found myself falling in love with her even more.I'd never imagined myself falling in love; I'd never imagined I would fall in love with Jordan. If I'd known how good it felt to b
Jordan Miller~•~Cathy was honestly a different breed. As soon as she saw the black card in my hand, she concluded that all the bills were on me. When I tried to protest, she took my phone (while we were still in the house) and called Alessandro.Alessandro, who hadn't expected it to be Cathy, answered with, "Hey, mama," and it was on loudspeaker. After getting over her amusement, she announced she was the one on the phone and asked if the black card was to cover all the bills, including theirs.It was embarrassing, but Cathy didn't get embarrassed easily. The guys also said they wouldn't be comfortable letting another man pay their bills, but she was quick to shush them, awaiting Alessandro's answer. "That was precisely the reason I gave her the card."Cathy shot me a look of triumph as she handed my phone back to me. Next, they wasted a few minutes, fawning over my car and arguing about who would drive it.I'd just stared at them for a while before I entered the driver's seat and
Jordan Miller~•~I heard the doorbell ring and I shot up from the couch, half scaring the men around me. "I'll get that."Alessandro chuckled, shaking his head as he stood up as well. "I'll come with you."I made a face. He was only coming with me because he knew Blake was also at the door and he was a very possessive man. I didn't object though. I wanted my friends to meet Alessandro after all. "Promise to be nice.""Dolcezza, I don't make promises I can't keep."I scoffed, not bothering to try with him because he meant what he said. As we reached the front door, Alessandro decided to open it himself. He stood in front of me, blocking my view from my friends. I pushed him to the side with little to no strength. He most likely moved out of his own accord.All three of them stood there patiently. Cathy, unusually, was putting on a dress, a jacket, and a pair of boots, making her seem taller than she already was. Spencer and Blake were dressed similarly in a shirt, undershirt, and trou
Jordan Miller~•~I took a deep breath as I stared at the apartment complex again. It was fine. Everything was fine. I didn't have to worry too much. They would be welcoming, wouldn't they?"You don't have to go in if you don't want to." Alessandro interrupted the pep talk I was giving myself."Oh, I want to. But what if they don't want me anymore?" Since I'd decided to tell my friends about Alessandro, that was the one thing I'd been worried about. "They're your friends, they'd welcome you anytime. If anything goes wrong though, call me. I'll come immediately."I smiled at him. "Sure." Then, I frowned. "It isn't fair you get to ride my baby before me though."Just as promised, Alessandro had taken me to the car dealer. It was a 2020 Rolls Royce Wraith that was worth over three hundred thousand dollars. I hadn't known the name of the car but I happened to like it. Only after choosing it did Alessandro tell me what it was called."You can ride this baby."I didn't know what Alessandro
Jordan Miller~•~"I want you to be mine."Like any other girl, those words excited me. But they also scared me because they were very much random.Alessandro and I were in the middle of a conversation in the kitchen when he blurted them out. They still hadn't found a replacement for Maya because they couldn't just trust anybody, especially after what happened with Maya.Inviting any man or woman to be a full-time cook in the house gave that person access to information and who knows what the person might do with it?"When you say yours…""My girlfriend, my fiance, my wife, my everything." He said, casually peeling a potato. I'd never seen Alessandro do such a mundane job, but I'd said I wanted to cook and he offered to join because he was still following me around to make sure I was okay. Besides that, he looked incredibly hot with an apron and a peeler in his hand.I bit my lip, trying not to be too giddy with excitement. I must have been quiet for too long because Alessandro looked
Jordan Miller~•~I straightened up on the bed as Alessandro walked into the room, carrying a tray most likely filled with things that would add nutritional value to my health."You don't have to do all these, you know?" I chuckled, stretching my hand forward to take the tray from him, but he didn't give it to me. He swatted my hand away and sat next time, then he started feeding me."I'm not complaining, Jordan.""That's because you don't believe me when I say I'm fine. For the umpteenth time, I am." I informed him, opening my mouth immediately after to take in a spoonful of the meal.He shook his head. He was looking very casual today — a tank top and joggers — as he'd been these past few days. Then again, he had not left my side, claiming he needed to take care of me and his men banished him from working for the next few weeks, so he had enough time on his hands to bug me. "Tesoro, you haven't left this room since we came home—"I quickly cut in. "Maybe that's because your room is v
Jordan Miller~•~I closed my eyes, awaiting my death.Although I didn't want the last thing I saw to be Vince's annoyed face as he pulled the trigger, I also didn't want to see the horror in Alessandro's eyes as I took my last breath.I expected a bullet to pierce through my heart. I expected to be dead in seconds. What I didn't expect was to be flung to the side like a rag doll. I would've fallen to the floor if Alessandro hadn't been there to catch me."Fuck, Jordan, are you okay?"I nodded distractedly, noticing the hall had gone deadly silent. I turned around in his arms and nothing could've prepared me for the sight I met.Vince's arm was still hung in the air, his gun in his hand, frozen as he gazed at his brother's dying form, who was on the ground with his hand placed on his stomach.His hand was filled with blood, which only meant that was where he was shot. This was the second time he was taking a bullet for me and this one seemed worst than the last. Hell, it was obvious i
Jordan Miller~•~I blinked repeatedly, looking at the gun in my hand; looking at my finger on the trigger that I had pulled. I had killed a man.Well, I wasn't certain until he dropped to the ground, an obvious wound on his head, revealing Alessandro.My eyes met with Alessandro's and he looked shocked to see me. I looked down at my hands again. They were shaking; so badly that I almost dropped the gun. A shadow fell over me. It was Alessandro. At that moment, all the grudges I held against him were nowhere to be found. I couldn't even remember why I was mad at him, to be honest.I didn't know what to do. I didn't know whether to slap him, hug him or kiss him, but Alessandro made the decision for me, pulling me into his arms and kissing me senseless.The feeling was both familiar and foreign at the same time. I'd forgotten how good Alessandro kissed. Hell, everything he did was good and I wasn't even exaggerating. My gun clattered to the ground as my arms wrapped around his neck, br
Alessandro Maurizio~•~I had been looking forward to this day all week; since the day Vlad successfully tracked the location of Vince and fucking Romano.I'd known neither of them would have answered or returned my calls, which was why I had Vlad do it. Vlad was able to keep him on the phone for as long as we needed to track them because of his wittiness.We had a plan. Vlad and his men had just gone in and the other family was prepping to go. I wouldn't admit it, but my heart was pounding. This was the closest I'd ever been to Jordan, assuming she was inside the house at the moment.Knowing Jordan as much as I did, there was a possibility she'd try to escape, so I wouldn't be surprised if she already did."Siete pronti?" Patrizio asked the fuckers in the backseat. (Are you guys ready?)"Pronto a sconfiggere questo figlio di puttana," Lorenzo replied, seeming more enthusiastic than he should have. (Ready to take this motherfucker down.)"Perché lo odi?" Carlo asked in amusement. (Why