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~•~I would say I had a high tolerance for a lot of things, even if most of my friends wouldn't agree with that.I could tolerate the apartment next to mine throwing a party when I was studying for my finals the next day.I could tolerate my friends drinking straight from the OJ carton.Hell, I could even tolerate the racist and sexist comments that I was prone to since I was a black student in engineering. Okay, I could barely tolerate that.What I could not tolerate though, was my professor picking on me in class just because I refused his advances towards me. Well, he picked me to answer the question because I wasn't paying attention, but in my defense, I barely had enough sleep last night because I was working all through it. I didn't have many days where I had high sales, so I took advantage of the days I did. And it always came to bite me in the ass when I'd feel sleepy in class the next day.Professor Mark raised an eyebrow at me; an indication that he was still
Jordan Miller~•~Although, Alessandro didn't know all of his workers personally, he had seen them at least once. I knew that. I knew a time would come when he would see me too, but I didn't expect it to be so soon.The capo had told me that the boss wouldn't be in Chicago for another month because he was busy handling business in Italy, and I'd been happy to hear that because I couldn't face him just yet. I'd heard stories of him and the only conclusion I could come to was that he was crazy.So the fact that he was around and wanted to see all his dealers — not just the newer ones — was a cause for alarm and boy was I panicking.I'd never seen him before. I didn't have any reason to. But now, unfortunately, I was kind of under him and his orders and was forced to face him.I stopped in front of the gate (Carlo had given me the address) and before I could take deep calming breaths, the gates opened. I froze. Then I had to start driving if I didn't want to look silly. I didn't get to d
Alessandro Maurizio~•~"Boss, for real, you're gonna kill her.""Shut the fuck up." I seethed. "You're the reason she's here right now." Accompanying my words, I let go of her and she stumbled back, a sick satisfaction settling in my veins when I see her rubbing her neck, coughing profusely.A glance at her told me her neck was slightly bruised. Good. When she looks in the mirror and sees my mark on her, she'd have to reconsider everything coming out of her mouth.I trained a hard look on Carlo. He knew the rules. He knew not to employ a girl to sell drugs, and most especially not one who looked like a teenager. She'd be easy to break if a rival ever kidnapped her for information. "I'm so sorry, boss. It wouldn't happen again.""Damn right, it won't. I'll kill you if you ever make a mistake like this again. She's not even twenty-two yet." That was another rule. I didn't want to be responsible for kids dropping out of college because they felt they'd gotten a stable and well-paying jo
Jordan Miller~•~"I'm… gonna swinggggg from the chandelier, from the chandelier!" I watched Catherine slide on the ground, her knees scraping the floor as she sang her heart out. "I'm… gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist, like it doesn't exist."I smiled wryly. If only I could live like that; like the next day didn't exist, like I didn't have to worry about finding money for my tuition if I didn't want to be forced to take a student loan. And one thing I hated was being in debt, which was why I paid off my father's debt as soon as possible, even if I never knew about it until he was gone.In a way, I was jealous of Catherine. She was living without a care in the world while I was there trying to think of ways to make a living.It was the only reason my friends were at my place at that moment. When I'd come back from the mansion last Friday, all my supplies were gone. I didn't know how they knew where I kept them, but they did and managed to strip them away from me. Alessandro had
Jordan Miller~•~Today was the day I had to go to the Maurizio mansion and I was beginning to have double thoughts about it. Was it a good idea to go there?Alessandro had clearly told me that I wasn't getting my job back. What if he was only letting me go to his house just to punish me for my stubbornness? I'd been drunk when I made that phone call and the next time Carlo called me, I'd apologized for my behavior the other night, so I wasn't worried about him. Alessandro on the other hand…"Miss Miller," Professor Mark called out. "A word please."I groaned internally and told my friends not to wait up for me. I packed up all my stuff and approached his desk hesitantly as Catherine exited the room, along with the rest of the class, winking at me as she did so. I snickered."Something funny, Miss Miller?""Oh, cut the formalities, Professor." I snorted. "Why'd you call me?"Professor Mark shook his head in disbelief. "Someone needs to tame you…" he said it so quietly, that I was sure
Jordan Miller~•~"Let me drive you home."Since Blake had picked me up in the morning, I accepted the offer. He waited for me as I put on my clothes. Sometime during our rendevous, I'd gone completely naked and as I finished wearing my top and skirt, I looked at him in amusement. "Am I getting my panties back?""Nope." He put them in his pocket and I shook my head as we left his office, going down to the parking lot. Thankfully, there weren't a lot of people around when he opened the door for me.The ride to my apartment was silent. I was already beginning to regret what I'd done. It was an impulsive decision and somehow, I had a knack for those. I was lost in my thoughts until I felt his hand on my bare thigh, caressing it."It's not a bad thing to give into your desires, Jordan. Don't overthink it."I nodded, pushing it to the back of my mind. "You do know you could get fired if this gets out, right?""I don't care." As though wanting to emphasize his words, he moved his hand furth
Jordan Miller~•~It had been hours. I didn't know how many hours, but I knew it had been hours. I couldn't even tell the fucking time because when I patted myself for my phone, I couldn't find it. I didn't realize it when Alessandro took it.All I could do was sit on the cold ground, trying my hardest not to freak out when I saw white everywhere I looked in the windowless room.I was bored, I was hungry, I was thirsty, and most importantly, I was going out of my fucking mind. My throat was scratchy and parched. I'd screamed a lot when I realized that Alessandro had actually locked me in this room.I closed my eyes and tried to imagine various colors. That was what I'd been doing for the past hours. Had it been a day already? I couldn't tell because the room had remained the same since I was thrown in here.I looked over my body, gritting my teeth. I didn't realize it, but I'd been scratching myself, and I'd retained bruises from the scratching. It wasn't something new, but it wasn't
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