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
LEO’S POVWhen the Morettis sauntered off to see Bianca and her friend, I was tempted to follow them. After all, Bianca and I were cool, and I wanted to see if she was okay too.I followed behind them—not close enough to intrude, but close enough for Bianca to see me and say hi.However, when the first thing I heard was Bianca’s angry voice, I immediately made a U-turn. I had never walked back so fast in my life. At that moment, it was truly confirmed that Bianca had a five-year-old boy. Her tone was so eerily familiar with what my mother used to use before she gave me an ass-whooping for being so stubborn as a child.I sympathized with Alessandro; it was his cross to bear, and I hoped he bore it like a champion. I couldn’t help but wince at the thought that I would go through worse with Charlie. I sat at the home bar again, poured myself a shot of whatever wine Giovanni had added to his cereal, and imagined how it was going to go.I’d be standing outside my door, a bouquet of flowers
DARREN’S POVI had to admit, when Bianca asked me to come along with her to see Alessandro in his main Moretti house, I had been extremely reluctant.I still hadn’t called or reached out to Giovanni in any form. I didn’t know if it was nerves or just the fact that he had held a gun to Bianca the first moment he saw her, but I wasn’t exactly sure I wanted anything to do with someone so aggressive.However, Bianca’s stupid ex-husband had defamed her all over social media, and I absolutely didn’t want my best friend to head over to her boyfriend alone with his disappearing act. She needed emotional support. I suspected that the real reason she wanted me to follow her was so she could monitor me to prevent me from letting it leak that half of Matteo’s businesses were a money laundering front.She was too damn nice—that was why people tried to pull silly strings. Linda was coming over to Italy soon, and I would summon the rest of our friend group. We had a bastard with the Ricci last name
To all the incredible readers who have joined me on this journey, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of this adventure. Your unwavering support, love, and enthusiasm have made every word worth writing, and I can’t express how grateful I am for each one of you who picked up EX-WIFE REVENGE: HE WANTS ME BACK! and followed along as the story unfolded. When I first began writing this story, I never imagined how deeply it would resonate with so many of you. EX-WIFE REVENGE: HE WANTS ME BACK! was born from the themes of love, betrayal, growth, and healing. It became a journey of rediscovering one’s worth after heartbreak, and how, sometimes, the greatest revenge is simply living life on your terms, stronger than before. I’ll forever have a soft spot for Bianca, Alessandro, Richardo, and, of course, Luca, my baby, whose strength, vulnerability, and complexities grew with every page. And, of course, I didn’t forget my two gays—Darren and Giovanni. Gosh, I love them! Ever
RICARDO’S POVThe man I was a year ago would probably hate me now—or at least laugh at how far I’d fallen.Standing in the warm kitchen of the villa, with the scent of fresh herbs and garlic wafting through the air, I stirred the pot of sauce absentmindedly. Linda was sitting at the island, flipping through some magazines and occasionally humming to herself. She looked up every now and then to check on me, smile always at the ready.“I still can’t believe you cook,” Linda said, her voice lilting with playful disbelief as she rested her chin on her palm. She sat at the island like it was her throne, watching me work.“You’ve known for months,” I replied without looking up, though I couldn’t stop the slight twitch of a smile tugging at my lips.“Knowing and believing are two different things,” she said dramatically as if the mere thought of me wielding a spatula were too much to process. “I mean, come on. You, Ricardo Moretti, slayer of gangsters, protector of secrets, simmering marinar
THIRD PERSON POVLinda stared at the bouquet in her hands, utterly baffled. Roses, hydrangeas, and something that looked suspiciously like a baby's breath. It was the kind of bouquet people bought when they were trying to make a statement. The most ridiculous part was that her fans hadn’t been the ones to send it to her.She glanced up at him, her brooding, possibly homicidal boyfriend — he had become less homicidal, she had to give that to him — standing there like he hadn’t just handed her the boldest floral arrangement she’d ever seen.“You bought me flowers?” she asked, her voice laced with disbelief.His sharp, dark eyes flicked to her, then away, as though he were scanning the room for an escape route. His usual cool, unshakable demeanor had cracked just enough to reveal the faintest hint of discomfort. “Yes.”Linda squinted at him, holding the bouquet to her chest like he might snatch it away. “Are you dying?”“No.”“Did you do something terrible and now you’re trying to soften
RICARDO’S POVThe soft hum of the phone ringing cut through the tension in the air. I was elbow-deep in chaos, surrounded by the thick stench of gunpowder and the distant, muffled screams of men who were just realizing that their time was up.My team and I had spent the last few hours cleaning up the mess of corrupt gangsters who thought they could cross me. The usual mix of quick punches, fast moves, and lethal precision had done the job, but as always, it was the aftermath that lingered.I swiped my phone from the back pocket of my jeans, not even checking the ID. The ringtone was familiar enough; she had forced Rises the Moon on me herself, so I knew who it was. My lips involuntarily quirked as I lifted the phone to my ear.“Go for Ricardo,” I said coolly, stepping over the body of a man who’d decided to fight rather than run. “What’s up?”“Hey, you!” Her voice came through the phone, a little cracked but still unmistakable; the reception in the shitty warehouse couldn’t keep me fr
BIANCA’S POVI adjusted my blazer, glancing at Darren with a calm expression as we approached the visitor’s room. I’d been prepared for this moment, mentally rehearsing every word I’d say, ever since the beautiful day of his and the Dobres' downfall. Darren walked beside me – sauntered really – with the countenance of someone ready to kill a man. I would have liked to complain, but his protective presence was a comforting reminder that I wasn’t facing this alone.When we entered, Matteo was already there, sitting stiffly in one of the chairs. His once-pristine suit looked worn, almost threadbare, and there was a shadow of desperation in his eyes that hadn’t been there when he was the man I’d once known. The air of arrogance he used to carry was gone, replaced by something much smaller, much weaker.“Matteo,” I greeted evenly, my voice giving away nothing. I didn’t sit; he wasn’t worthy of being in a room where I was also seated in. Instead, I stood tall, my gaze unwavering as I let hi
BIANCA’S POV Three months later, I was halfway through drafting an email when the door to my office cracked open. “Mommy, can I come in?” Luca’s voice rang out, all sweetness and patience that I knew wouldn’t last long. I looked up from my desk to see my six-year-old poking his head around the door, his brown curls slightly mussed from running around. Behind him, Alessandro leaned casually against the doorframe, his usual composed demeanor tempered by the amused smile playing at his lips. “Are you alone?” I teased, arching a brow. “Or are you bringing trouble with you?” Luca giggled and stepped in, revealing Lazarro trailing behind him. The ten-year-old was holding a bag that looked suspiciously like it contained illegal items, but he was a ten-year-old, how much trouble could he bring along? “Trouble is relative,” Alessandro quipped, stepping into the room and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “And you’re the king of it,” I shot back with a smirk. Luca climbed onto my lap
ALESSANDRO’S POV“Looks like the future’s here,” Bianca murmured in reference to what the patriarch had said before, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. Her gaze was fixed on the Dobre patriarch, whose previously smug composure now seemed on the verge of crumbling.I tilted my head slightly and slipped a hand around her to bring her closer, unable to resist. “What a shame it’s not the one they envisioned.”Darren sauntered over with a large smile on his face, and I could relate to him. He had been wanting to release the information about Matteo for such a long time, and I was certain it felt like a balm on his wearied soul to finally enact revenge against the scum.“Showtime,” he said, just loud enough for us to hear. The crowd was awash with murmurs and people whispering loudly, clearly intending to target the Dobres and make sure they heard their speculations. Lumari was confused, Samuel was furious, and Toria was trying to play the good wife. The negative energy in the room had
ALESSANDRO’S POVI leaned against the marble pillar, my fingers drumming idly on the rim of my untouched champagne glass. The evening was a disaster. Not the catastrophic, bloody kind of disaster I was used to handling, but the sort of slow-burn chaos that made me wish I’d missed the whole spectacle in the first place.And of course, it all started with Giovanni.My younger brother’s camera crew was bustling around the room, shoving microphones and lenses into the faces of people who, mere minutes ago, had been dignified power players. Now, they were giddy fans jostling for selfies and sound bites, trying to get their good sides.Larisa was hanging on to my arm for dear life like I was going to fade away into dust if she didn’t, and irritation clawed up my throat. If Bianca had been beside me instead of this bitch, I would have been able to enjoy the look on the Dobre patriarch’s face as his revered gala became a celebrity meet-and-greet. I only had to wait a little; she was in the ro
LIMARI’S POVThe conversation had become a tangled mess of pleasantries, small talk, and carefully crafted smiles. It was all just so… predictable. I could feel the eyes on me, but not in the way I wanted. Tonight was supposed to be mine—mine to shine, mine to be the center of attention. I had worked hard for this, after all. I was the newest Dobre, the woman Samuel had chosen, the one who would help bring the family into the new age. I wasn’t just attending this gala; I was the gala.And yet, despite everything, my heart still thudded uneasily in my chest. The sensation wasn’t from Samuel, who stood tall beside me, a constant presence as calm as ever. No, the feeling came from Ricardo, Ricardo of all people, who, of course, had shown up looking effortlessly handsome, as though he hadn’t even tried. And, worse yet, he was with… her.Linda Collins.She stood beside him, the actress and writer who had quietly slipped into the crowd as though she owned it. People had already begun to rec