LEO’S POVI had not slept for more than an hour at once ever since Alessandro called me. He had quickly changed, reverting to the man that invoked fear. I felt grateful that he had begun dating Bianca before this happened, as I felt like his bond with her was the only thing tethering him to not stray too deeply.We had to cut off contact with the girls so they wouldn’t be associated with us and therefore be exposed to less danger. It was easier on me than Alessandro, because I hadn’t known Charlie for too long. I could only hope Alex never got to her, and if he did, I would end him.Alessandro, however, had completely thrown himself into work. I couldn’t help but feel bad for him; he was forced to stay away not only from Bianca but also from Luca. I knew how much both of them meant to him. It was equivalent to me not being able to see my mother.The one good thing about the war that was sure to come this time was that my father was truly embroiled in it. He had confessed his earlier i
GIOVANNI'S POVMy brother was quieter than usual. Usually, whenever he was angry in this manner, he yelled at me for no reason, but right now, he was staring at the wall, his eyes a dark cloud of resentment. I wondered what he was thinking, but I smartly prioritized my well-being over my curiosity. I would be as quiet as a mouse until Leo came back with Salvatore, so I wouldn’t have to be the only one in the room with him.His aura felt malevolent, vaguely choking, and as sharp as a brand-new sword. Where exactly was Leo with Salvatore? Did they both decide to make a break for it? I couldn’t slip out of the room without him noticing I was in there in the first place, and the most foolish thing I could do right then was alerting him to my presence.Right when I was debating making a run for it, a knock sounded on the door. I almost cried in happiness—Salvatore and Leo were here already. Alessandro made a low, curt sound that Salvatore interpreted as a command to come in. I was appalled
GIOVANNI’S POV“What? No!... Why?” I asked, shocked that my brother knew his name and annoyed that he said I should keep my distance.“He is Bianca’s best friend. I don’t want you slobbering all over him,” my brother sneered, acting like I ever slobbered over people. He was so rude!“That’s not enough reason!” I exclaimed, huffing and following after my brother. This was the first time in my life that I was feeling such a fast, surefire attraction, and he was telling me to stay away? I didn’t want to disobey my brother, but I would if he decided to stay on this hill.“You’re not seriously looking to date him. You’ve never been serious about anything. I don’t want Bianca harboring any resentment for me because my idiot brother broke her best friend’s heart or something,” he snapped back, opening the door with a slight bang.I couldn’t clap back immediately. It was true; I was never really serious about anyone. I just never really cared. At first, I thought it was because I was still bu
LEO’S POVWe had won over the main base of the organization, but I couldn’t even think about celebrating. My best friend was lying in front of me in a hospital bed. No matter how lavish and chic the room was, there was no changing the fact that it was still a hospital.We had initially planned to invade their main base a week later than we actually did. The first plan was risky and fraught with too much loss, so we had been postponing it a lot. But ever since I spoke sense into Alessandro’s head and stopped him from going after Sophia for revenge, he began to spiral.He presented the new plan the very next day, with all the loopholes we had been considering suddenly resolved as though they had never existed. I looked into his eyes, seeing that he hadn’t slept in order to produce the plan. I knew Alessandro was a tactical genius, but in all my years, I had never seen such complex resolutions.He solved the answers to our problems and addressed questions that we hadn’t even seen far en
BIANCA’S POVI woke up to seventeen missed calls. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and checked it again. It hadn’t changed; it was still seventeen. What emergency happened while I was asleep?I ran straight to Luca’s room first, but my baby was still sleeping peacefully—well, as peacefully as he could. His blanket and pillows were the ones sleeping fully on the bed. The actual owner of the bed was hanging in the balance, his head and hands on the floor, and his legs dangling off the edge. I shook my head and carried him to lie down properly in the middle of his bed. I knew he would probably turn upside down six times before he woke up, but at least now he wasn’t hanging precariously off the bed.I picked up my phone and checked the list of people who had called me: five missed calls from Darren, four from Charlie, and eight from Linda. Since Linda had called me the most, I called her back first.“Hel—”“I’m coming to Italy next week. We’re ending Matteo once and for all. Is he crazy?!”
ALESSANDRO’S POVPeople always said a bad day was not a bad life, but when your entire month was as bad as mine, it was safe enough to call it a bad life.According to Leo, the members of the Crimson Hand—the shadow cult that had killed my parents—had risen again, and we had defeated their main forces. All that was left was for us to hunt down the remaining minor members, and they would be gone for good.Also, according to him, I was dating Bianca Rossi, the woman I had an eye on ever since I saw her straight-laced and desolate that one night at a club. She was feisty, one of the most feisty women I had ever seen. She knew she was talking to Alessandro Moretti, but she didn’t hold back her fire and just kept stabbing me with truthful words I hadn’t wanted to hear after I tried poking into her business.And I had no memory of winning her over.Many things were important in a man’s life, and the day said man finally got the woman of his dreams ranked among the most important, yet I had
LEO’S POVI had to stay and wait for Bianca to arrive before I went to Charlie. She deserved much more than a rushed phone call. I had to go see her. I had been staying with Alessandro because he lost his memory and was more unbearable than usual. I couldn’t let the staff or Giovanni suffer his wrath.Now that Bianca was coming, I hoped he would at least be less angry and closed off.The first thing Alessandro did was run upstairs. He zoomed past me like he was angrily chasing down Crimson Hand members. I could have sworn the wind from his run lifted my hair a little bit. Giovanni, on the other hand, had stepped out of the kitchen holding a bowl of cereal. Had he not eaten all day?It occurred to me that he had been specifically holed up in his room, hiding from his brother all day. He only came down because he had given out information.“What are you looking at, betrayer?” Giovanni scowled at me. I huffed a laugh and went to sit beside him at the home bar. Only Giovanni would eat cer
BIANCA’S POVI had called Darren to follow me, along with the guild members. If we happened to meet Alessandro’s trigger-happy brother, Darren would be too distracting for him to interrupt the brutal conversation I was about to have with Alessandro. I debated calling Charlie, but I didn’t know if Leo was going to be there.The waiting room was elaborate, far more than necessary. This was my first time visiting this house; we were always at his smaller, more modest building. But this was the Moretti equivalent of the White House. If he wasn’t here, there was nowhere else I knew to search.There were many more employees milling about, and we were let in without having to wait. Someone must have known I was coming because they asked for my name and sent me on my way.“That is a gorgeous garden,” Darren exclaimed, his hand going to his mouth in awe of the sheer opulence.I had lived with Matteo for a long time; he believed in extravagance, and our home was extravagant, but it couldn’t com