I parked my car in front of the restaurant he had asked to meet at. It was a posh restaurant that had immaculately dressed people. I looked so out of place in my sweats and jumper. However, I didn’t care. I had gone there for one reason and one reason only. When I got to the entrance, I was asked if I had a reservation as the server eyed me up and down with a sour look on his face. “ Mr. Romano? “ I said but it came out as a question. “ Miss, if you are guessing and don’t really have a reservation then I will have to ask you to leave. We don’t entertain other guests here so don’t waste your time and mine. “ He said rudely. I gave him a sour look of my own. “ Luca, is it? Start looking for a job because you won’t have one tomorrow. “ I decided I was going to follow through with the threat because of the rude way he was addressing guests. He scoffed, not quite believing me. I went past him and looked for Maximo myself while he called guards on me. When the manager came, he eyed me
Nikolai held me to stop me from falling to the ground. I cried all the tears that I had been holding in while soothed me. “ Why don’t you trust me? “ I asked while sobbing. “ Shh, baby. Don’t cry because of me. I trust you. I just let my anger rule my decisions. I’ll never do that again.” He promised. I shook my head and tried to pull away from his grasp but he wouldn’t let me go. “ Please, Brianna, forgive me. I knew that you wouldn’t do such a thing but I didn’t want to believe it. I have been betrayed so many times by people I love. I don’t know who to trust. “ He said. He wouldn’t let me go no matter how hard I tried to wiggle from his grasp. His words were just an excuse that I was tired of listening. “ You don’t trust me! Let me go, Nikolai! “ I screamed with tears in my eyes. He finally let me go and watched as I pulled my suitcase out of the closet. Before I could reach the door, he was right in front of it. “ At least let me clean the wound on your hand. It won’t heal
The next morning, Nikolai was still in bed with me. When I lifted my eyes and saw him sleeping, I took that opportunity to try and slip out of bed to avoid speaking to him. However, his grip on my waist was tight and I couldn’t figure out how to get out. “ Whatever you’re thinking don’t, “ he said with his eyes still closed. Had he been awake the whole time? “ I “ What I’m I thinking? “ I asked, wanting to know what his answer was. “ You, running away, “ he answered and his eyes opened. I sighed and gave him a disapproving look. “ You can’t think of the worst every time. Plus, you can’t lock me in your room every time you do not want me to go. I need my space sometimes, “ I argued. He chuckled and tugged me closer. “ I don’t want you to ever leave me. Do you hear me? Never. You do not need space from me. What would you do with the space? “ He asked. I tried to pull away from his grasp but he would not let me. “ I am still mad at you for not believing me. Just because I stayed d
Romano and Maximo had left before dinner since they needed to get to Milan for business. I had noticed that Nikolai and Maximo seemingly bonded and bordered friendship.Despite not agreeing, I trusted Nikolai’s judgment.If he thought that Maximo was a good guy who only made a few bad decisions then I thought so too. No one knew to read people more than Nikolai.Then again, Maximo looked like he was very hard to read. In fact, I knew that he was hard to read because his face always had a neutral expression.“ What are you thinking about?” Nikolai asked.I shook my head and turned to face him. I had been applying oil to my legs when he interrupted me. I was wearing a flimsy nightdress and he was shirtless and in his pajama pants. Lately, he was sleeping in bed with me which made me happy.I put my arms around his shoulders and his hands went to my waist.“ You smell so good, “ he whispered into my ear.I raised my toes to bury my head in his neck because I loved the comfort and warmth
After spending the morning dancing on the sheets with Nikolai, I headed out of the house in a hurry without taking breakfast. I was in a hurry to get into the office in time for a meeting with a potential investor.As the driver went as fast as he could, my eyes kept glancing at my wristwatch. I was already late for the meeting and I kept tensing. I knew how much people hated to be kept waiting. I just hoped that they thought of waiting a few minutes for me to arrive.“ Can you hurry up? “ I asked the driver.He glanced at me through the rearview mirror before glancing back to the road.“ This is as fast as I am allowed to go,” he said.I already knew who had instructed him on how fast he was going to drive the car. However, I was stubborn and I didn’t want to risk potential funding for the new project.“ Says who? “ I asked, wanting him to say it out loud so he could see how stupid it was that he was following the orders of a man who was not around to reprimand him.“ Nikolai, “ he s
After making sure everyone was okay, I heaved out a tired sigh.“ Are you okay?” Corinna asked as she approached my desk.My chair was facing the floor-to-ceiling windows that gave me the perfect view of the city of Sicily. Since it was getting dark, the lights made the city look magical. Without turning to face her, I sighed again.“ How okay can I be after someone assaulted my workers and some customers? “ I asked.Corinna came and stood at my side, watching the city just as I was.“ Are you not going home? “ She asked.“ My husband is not picking up my calls. To be honest, I am afraid of what I will find when I get there. “ I said truthfully.It was the most truth I had told in the past couple of weeks. Being in the mafia had made me a seasoned liar. As much as I hated it, it was true.“ He loves you, doesn’t he? “ She asked.I laughed realizing where she was going with everything.“ I am not saying that I think we are over. I am afraid he found trouble somewhere and I will go home
Nikolai had been finding a way to deal with Claire while she wreaked havoc all around Sicily. She didn’t show up to the company because she knew that on top of doubled security, there were officers and we were expecting her.That was a relief since the workers were starting to lose faith in us. Some of them even went as far as quitting. Thankfully, I had convinced the investors that their funds were safe with us in the company.I would have found her and slit her throat myself had they pulled away. The company would have crumbled and we used it to launder funds.“ What is he planning? “ I asked Anabelle as she changed out of her bloody clothes and into others.I didn’t see the point since I knew that she would dirty them again.“ I can’t tell you. Nikolai told me not to tell you because you would get angry. It is important that you find out last minute. “I groaned and fell back on her bed. Nikolai had told me the exact same thing. I knew it was something bad if Nikolai was refusing t
“ One of you people killed my daughter! “ She yelled, her calm façade faltering.It seemed very weird that she hadn’t thought that Nikolai would take her children. Maybe she had banked on me to convince him not to do that. She thought I was still the same Brianna I was when I left New York.“ Lily killed herself. I was there trying to unlock her door while I called out to her. She didn’t answer me because she was busy giving up on life.I found her in the closet hanging from the ceiling and a stool was toppled over on the floor. We all lost a companion in her. Don’t act like you’re the only one grieving. “ I said with tears gathering in my eyes.Claire scoffed and shook her head, refusing to believe what I was saying.“ Liar! No one was as resilient and hopeful as Lily. You brought her into the mafia so even if she did kill herself, it would be your fault. “ Claire said.“ She fell in love, Claire. She fell in love with a man and refused to go back to Seattle no matter how hard I begg
My eyes felt heavy but my ears were alert. I heard the beeping of machines and the voice of a woman speaking. Was I finally in heaven? I knew if that shit was real, I was going to hell for all the horrible things I had done.“Is he going to be, okay? “ I heard an angelic voice ask. It sounded awfully familiar like I should have known who it belonged to but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Why did it sound so sweet and inviting?“He will be. He should wake up any day now. “ A male voice replied.For some reason, I wanted to hit the male and tell him to stay away from my angel even though I couldn’t see how close they were.“You said that last week, “ the angel said with a sigh. There was sadness in her voice and it broke my heart. I had to open my eyes to look at her.When my eyes finally cooperated, there were white walls everywhere and two people in a corner. One of them was wearing a blue dress and her copper hair was in a messy bun.That was the moment we made eye contact and sh
“We will attack from this point right here and then Luca and the other men will go from the back. Make sure all your coms are working when we get there. If you encounter something, you tell us. “ I instructed.Esposito and Romano were standing on either side of me looking at the map I had. Thanks to a tip, we had a possible location for where they were keeping Nikolai and I was determined to find him.“So-““Why is nobody looking for Lorenzo? “ Viv asked from the door. I turned to face her with a hard glare on my face as I crossed my arms against my chest.“You’re not allowed in here, Viv. Why are you here?” I asked even though I had heard her previous statement.She scoffed and came deeper into the room, making me fold the map and hand it to Luca. With a nod of my head, he understood what I was saying and he left.“I asked where Lorenzo is. Last I heard from him, you sent him on a mission and he never came back. That was three days ago. Why aren’t you looking for him?” Viv asked.I d
Anabelle lowered the gun and placed it in the back of her jeans without taking her eyes off me. She proceeded to take my gun from the ground and unloaded it. She placed the bullets in her pocket and then tossed me the gun without any bullets.“Tell me what you meant when you said all my men are dead, “ I said, not wanting to beat around the bush.It was then that I realized how insensitive I was being. She had been through a lot and I hadn’t even heard what had happened to her yet I was prioritizing my needs over hers. I shook my head and gave her a soft look.“What happened Anabelle? One day I left you with Lorenzo, Viv, and Florian, and the next, I came back to find my mansion in ashes. What happened to your arm and where have you been?” I asked.She sighed and sat down on a rock. I followed her lead and sat beside her.“We were all in the mansion. Florian and I were in the basement interrogating someone when we heard the commotion upstairs. We stayed back and watched through the li
As I was pacing wondering why the men we had sent to attack Bianchi’s estate had not arrived, my phone rang. I frowned as I looked at the screen because it was an unknown number. Who could it be?Thinking it could be new information regarding Nikolai, I was eager to answer it. I stepped away from Romano. Esposito had gone for a smoke so he wasn’t anywhere near where we were.“Hello, “ I spoke as soon as I placed the phone against my ear.“It’s Anabelle. I need you to make sure you are nowhere near the people around you. Walk away from everyone now. “ The voice on the other end said.I recognized that it was indeed Anabelle from her voice. I could recognize it anywhere. I put my hand on my mouth and did as she had instructed. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted anyone but my instincts told me I could trust her.“Where have you been? “ I asked, wondering why she had been missing all that time.“Look, I can’t talk for long. It was a trap. Bianchi is not an enemy. You can’t trust anyone. You’
“ You know something, don’t you? This can end right now or we can go all night. “ Lorenzo said and removed his coat for emphasis.He proceeded to fold the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows. I didn’t understand why he insisted on wearing a suit when he was only going to torture people. It was a waste of the perfectly tailored expensive Armani.We were in the basement of the new house and there was a man tied to a chair. It was only the three of us in the room. The man was believed to have known what happened to the estate. He was one of the guards who had survived.We had yet to find the rest and it begged the question of why they were hiding in the first place. I had made it my responsibility to know everyone who had died during the attack. Those who were survivors and hadn’t come forward were suspects.Before the man could speak, my phone rang and I headed out to pick it up. It was one of the suppliers and I prayed it was good news or else he would pay. My patience was thinner than
My head was buzzing and my ears were ringing. There was an undeniable pain in my right leg and stomach. I was beginning to think I was in purgatory for all the bad things that I had done. I tried unsuccessfully to pry my eyes open.Every time I did that, my head hurt like small pins were being dropped on my head. I let out a groan when I was finally able to open my eyes. I was surprised when I saw darkness everywhere.If it wasn’t for the fact that I was sure that I had opened my eyes, I would have been doubtful of the fact that they were open. I tried to walk and that was when I registered that my movement was restricted.There were shackles on both my arms, pulling them apart like I was on a cross. My feet, on the other hand, were shackled to the wall behind me but they were closer together than my arms.Where the fuck was I?I tried to remember the events of the past few days but my memory was foggy and my thoughts were all over the place. I wanted to get out of that place that had
I heard them arguing before I even got to the bottom of the stairs. They were not very discreet with their plans at all. Before I left, I heard Viv calling out to me to stop.“ Please, just listen, “ she begged and I stopped.Who could I be if I didn’t listen to her?“ What is it, Vivienne? “ I asked while turning. I crossed my arms against my chest.She reached me and placed her hands on my arms.“ Look, we were going to start today but we couldn’t until we had enough men. I am sorry we lied to you but it had to be done. “ She said, not looking the least bit remorseful.“ First, get your hands off me. Do I look like an unreasonable woman to you? “ I asked.She looked at me like she wanted to be anywhere else. Well, I wasn’t the one who told her to follow me, was I?“ No, “ she answered.“ That’s right, Vivienne. I am not unreasonable. You say you were setting up but you took two weeks. Do you think Nik can wait that long? No! Do you what he is going through? No! “She looked anywhere
Romano walked me back to his car and I sat on the seat with a lot of things on my mind.“ Where am I going to start? “ I asked him.He rubbed my back soothingly which was something so out of character with him and gave me a hopeful look.“ As long as you have me, you will always know where to start, “ he said.He drove me back to my penthouse and I expected him to go back to Milan but he followed me back.“ Don’t you have a business to take care of, old man? “ I asked.He glared at me because he didn’t like being called old and I only smiled mischievously in answer. I loved teasing him a lot.“ I am not old and I am not leaving you here without backup or a plan, okay? “ He asked. I nodded my head and placed my hand in his.When the elevator doors opened ad I punched in the code, I saw men in my living room. There were guards everywhere and Esposito was sitting comfortably on my couch looking like the place belonged to him.Not to mention he had a whiskey in his hand. These men and my
“ Why are you suddenly so quiet? “ Romano asked.He took a gulp of his whiskey and went to pour himself another one. He looked back at me and then smiled. It was a sarcastic smile because what he was telling me was too serious to smile about.I didn’t have the answer to his questions. Before I could react, he threw the wine glass to my head and I ducked. It was seconds away from hitting me square in the face. It shattered on the floor, causing a mess.I brought my eyes to him with shock written all over my face. How could he do that? It would have sent me back to the hospital.“ I expect an answer, Brianna, “ he said before grabbing another glass and pouring himself a drink.I stayed quiet because all that was happening was shocking enough to leave me speechless.“ Are you going to finish that?” He asked while pointing to my whiskey glass because I had taken a very tiny sip.“ I’m pregnant, Romano, “I explained even though I didn’t want to put it out there. That was not the way I had