Chapter 71Ava's pov“Let's go have our seat,” Coran said to me as I held my stomach that was aching from excess laughter. I took the hand he laid out for me and he guided me to a silent corner of the hall.“I will go discuss some business related issues with fellow business partners, I will be back shortly for us to have a discussion about the finale of our plan,” he rested his hand on my shoulder and said to me.I took in my lips and reluctantly allowed it . He hadn't walked a great distance when Emily emerged from far, she didn't walk on the red carpet and she was dressed very casually, though she still looked very beautiful especially with her blonde hair that was coiled into waves.I noticed how lost she was, like she was searching for someone. I stood up and waved my hand eye for her to see me, I didn't bypass the look of relief on her face when she finally sighted me.I dragged out a chair for her to sit on and she collected it from me, thanking me afterwards.“Hi, can I have t
Chapter 72Ava's pov.“The winner is a gorgeous lady clothed in a vampire outfit,” my heart dropped because there were two other girls that fit in the description,I swallowed back my pain and assumed that I had lost this round already.“Ava Black representing Smith’s group,” the announcer said in a loud voice, I wasn't quick to process the information until Coran hugged me happily. Even Emily jumped on me with a big smile.My eyes were quick to gather tears as paparazzi flashed their lights on me and I became the spotlight of the night. All the judges wore a big smile, clapping for me as I made my way to the podium to receive my award.An award was presented to me and the m.c asked, “Do you have anything you want to say or anyone you want to appreciate?” I hesitated for some minutes then collected the mic from his hand, “I want to say a big thank you to everyone that voted, I really appreciate your efforts. Also, I want to give special thanks to the person that made me realize my dre
Chapter 73Coran's pov“Hey, have you seen Ava around?”i asked Emily as my sharp eyes moved around, trying to detect any sign of her. She left after she was handed the phone by Emily and now, she is nowhere around.Emily was just about to reply to me when Ava's call came in, I released a heavy sigh of relief and picked it up.“Hey.”I was awaiting her sweet reply but instead, I could hear the frantic sound of struggle, whispers and groans… in different strange voices.My heart sped faster and I spoke again, “Are you there Ava? Can you hear me? Is everything fine?” By this time, I could not even hear anything again, everywhere was silent. At this point, I need no soothsayer to tell me something was wrong.I hurried out of the space while Emily and Alessandro ran behind me, the place I went straight to was the CCTV room. At the entrance, a guard was trying to stop me but my emotions took the best part of me, j pulled out my gun from the inner side of my suit and shot him down.“Bloody m
Chapter 74Ava's povI felt some light taps on my hand and I tried to open my eyes but the coldness of the floor mixed with the headache coming from the back of my head made me relax and closed my eyes back.“Open your fucking eyes bitch” I heard a deep voice shout at me, the voice sounded harsh and unfamiliar so I lazily opened my eyes.Squatted In Front of me was a man with a long facial scar, his scanty peacock hair was dyed red and he was grinning at me, showing his scanty teeth.“Hey little girl, you look so pretty I must commend,” he tried to touch my face but I shrieked and ran away from him. This little action from me triggered his anger and he hit me with the tip of his pistol.The spot burst open and a pool of blood began to stream down from it, I touched the spot and fear ran across my chest – fear of losing too much blood and probably dying before Coran came to save me.“Opps, did I hurt you?” He feigned surprise, still trying to touch me. I wanted to run away from him aga
Chapter 75Ava's pov I glanced at his face, unable to ignore his familiar aura. He seemed to be someone I have mastered but I couldn't remember specifically.“Can I be taken to Lachlan estate.” I know that is Coran's father's estate but that is currently the safest place for me at the moment.“Yeah, sure.”He nodded and began to move forward, I glanced at him through the side mirror and my eyes met his cold eyes, I could sense his lips tug up as he brought out some sort of spray and before I could scream out for help, he sprayed the content to my face and immediately, I drifted into unconsciousness.…“Who caused this wound on her? Why is she looking this frail?” Loud uncontrolled shouts woke me from my deep slumber and I couldn't tell the amount of time I was unconscious.“She was being disobedient, it was even a small hit,” the Dario guy tried to defend himself but was hit by a golf bar. The bar was heavy and that caused him a deep wound but shockingly, he doesn't seem fazed by tha
Chapter 76Ava's pov The low sound of the beeping machine reached my ear but that wasn't enough to make me open my eyes. Next thing I heard was the leader's voice.“What exactly is wrong with her? I can seem to understand what you have been saying since morning,” he asked in a downcast tone.“Her wound got infected. From my diagnosis , I discovered that she did a major operation probably weeks and her body is yet to fully recover, infact her immune system is very weak and any little thing can make her sick,”the doctor explained and the leader squinted his eyes in worry.“Major surgery? Didn't know she did one,” thankfully, the doctor didn't mention anything more, like the kind of surgery I did.“So the fresh wound on her forehead was the cause of the illness and her sudden unconsciousness?” He asked to reconfirm.The doctor sighed and calmly explained to him this time around, I could sense teg distress in his tone and I couldn't help but pity him, “Her body was malnutrition and dehyd
Chapter 77 Alessia's pov I placed my head on his lap, weeping softly as he ran his hand over my hair to pacify me, “He… He swore to kill me, he almost made me break my hand. Your brother is damn wicked, he did that just because I let you steal his personality once.” James lips curled up and he answered, “He won't do that, those are just empty threats. Also, I will make sure to hasten my plans so that we can take over the clan from him,” he assured me. My eyes smiled and I bent my face to hide my excited facial, things are going my way now. All I have to do is wait patiently till he kills his brother then I will kill him as well, take over this clan and finally, trample upon Coran's clan. This plan sounded so smooth that I couldn't help but snicker. “Is there any news? Why do you seem very excited?” I pouted, placed a peck on his lips to distract him.He smiled back and climbed on me, I felt very disgusted and the urge to push him off washed over me but it's rare to see him happy
Chapter 78 Ava's pov I kept getting distracted by the persistent calls on my phone. At some point, I just had to pick it and it turned out to be the guy I was staying with. “Hey, where are you? It's almost dawn already and I think you should return back,” he said and I gave a long stare to the guard that was waiting for me at a distance. “Okay, I will be there,” he seemed to be in a hurry to hang up and strangely, I was hearing low noises underneath which didn't sit very well with me. “I will be off now, it was nice meeting you,” I said to the guy that has kept my company all through. I had thrown a tantrum in the morning that I wanted to visit the park. Coran refused at first but after lots of arguments, he allowed me to leave with the condition that my personal guard was going to follow me. I strolled to the guard who rested his entire body on the car. He noticed that I was approaching, then he stood up and opened the car door for me. “Thanks,” I muttered a low appreciation.
Luca's POVI stepped out of the bathroom as I rolled the condom packet between my fingers with a lazy smirk already playing on my lips.Jessica had been the one pushing for this, and fuck, I was already getting excited thinking about how much I wanted her—how much I had always wanted her. I guess taking things slowly wasn't in the cards for her. "Hey, you might want to—" I was saying but then I froze.She wasn’t there, She wasn't in the room, on the couch where I last saw her. I frowned as my eyes scanned the living room. The spot on the couch where she had been sitting was empty.Perhaps she was thirsty after the steamy moment."Jessica?" I called out as I glanced towards the kitchen. No response.A strange feeling had already begun to crawl up my spine, the kind of unease that didn’t make sense yet. Maybe she was in the other bathroom? I walked toward the door, listening. Silence.She still wasn't anywhere.Is she trying to play games with me? I wondered. Jessica really wasn't the
Jessica’s POVI should have known Ava wouldn’t let this slide.The moment she got me alone after I had agreed to go on a date with Luca, I could see it all over her face—the disapproval, the concern, the desperate urge to shake me out of what she believed was a mistake.I understood that she didn't want me to have to go through that trauma but I promise I was fine. "You can't be serious about this, Jess," she said with her arms crossed as she stood in front of me like a mother about to scold her child. "A date? With him?" She asked me incredulous. I let out a sigh, I had already anticipated this conversation. I knew she was speaking out of a place of concern but I could handle myself. "Ava—" I was saying. "No, hear me out," she cut in as I saw the way her eyes burned with something close to frustration. "I'm not saying Luca's a bad guy, okay? I actually think he's annoyingly charming in his own way. But you... you've been through so much, Jess. Are you sure you can handle this?"
Jessica’s POVI wasn't supposed to be know what he was going to say. At least, that’s what Ava had whispered to me the moment Luca showed up and Coran had called him away to speak with him. Ava had reached for my hand when I wanted to follow them and she had tried to pull me away from going with them. “Leave it to Coran,” she had urged me in a low but urgent voice. “You really don’t need this right now.” she had said to me and she was right, I didn’t need this. I didn’t need Luca showing up at Coran’s house, invading a space that had finally started feeling safe for me. I sure as hell didn’t need the way my heart stuttered the moment I sst my eyes on him, nor the way the world suddenly seemed to shrink down to just his presence the moment o noticed him standing there. But none of that stopped me from standing up and ignoring Ava’s grip."I'm just going to check up on them and let them be." I said to her as I ignored Navia's eyes on me and I quietly followed Luca and Coran as they d
Luca's POV I wasn’t supposed to be here,I know that much but the moment I heard Navia casually mention a barbecue at Coran’s place—and the fact that Jessica might be there, I shut my thinking.I already had it planned out, I was visiting a friend in Milan. An old pal, but upon hearing that she was going to be at Coran's place on Saturday, I just knew that this was my chance to see her and if I got lucky, get to speak to her. I had called, rescheduled my visit to Milan for a few more days and prepared to visit Coran's mansion when no one was suspecting. I had spent days trying to figure out where Jessica had disappeared to and everyone refused to tell me, they were all acting clueless. Not Ava, not Coran, and definitely not Jessica herself as she had somehow either deactivated her phone or blocked me from contacting her. It was like she had vanished into thin air, and I had been left with nothing but restless nights and this growing frustration that gnawed at me at every thought of
Jessica's pov The afternoon sun was warm and it's golden rays were sprawled over estate as I pulled up to the gates of Ava and Coran’s mansion. I had debated coming because I was a bit hesitant for reasons I didn’t want to acknowledge, but Ava had been persistent, She kept texting and bothering me. Begging that I came. What had finally pulled me to the bathroom was a particular voicemail she sent to me. "Jessica, it's just a casual barbecue. You need to get out of your apartment for once," she had insisted over the phone. "And before you ask—no, Luca won’t be there. He’s traveling to Milan for a few days. You won’t see him, I promise." Those were her exact words. That promise had been the only reason I had agreed on visiting. Well, plus the fact that it's been days since I last saw Coran. He wasn't one to bother me, but I knew he wanted to see me as well. Now, as I stepped out of my car and adjusted my sunglasses against the blinding sunlight, the sight of the grand villa stole
Luca’s POVI was still at the hospital with my mind still reeling from the photos Nadia had shown me earlier, when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I didn’t even check the caller ID before answering.“What?” I snapped impatiently into the receiver speaker. “Get to my house. Now.” Coran’s voice was sharp and his tone left absolutely no room for argument. I frowned. “What the hell is this about?” I demanded. “You know exactly what it’s about.” His tone was controlled, but there was an edge of something that resembled a hardly contained anger under his voice. “Get here, Luca. Or I’ll come to you.” he threatened. The line went dead before I could respond, I let out a harsh breath as my jaw clenched. What was this? I get that Coran could be overbearing and too demanding at times, this could probably be just some emergency. Perhaps an integral part of his Mafia family like Lorenzo was in an emergency and needed to be treated on as soon as possible and he needed my help but whatever thi
Chapter FourJessica’s POVI sat curled up on my couch with my knees tucked to my chest while staring blankly at the untouched pizza box on my coffee table. The TV was on and some mindless show was playing with the volume on mute.My fingers dug into the soft fabric of the blanket which I had wrapped around me. It was more or less a very feeble attempt at comfort that did nothing at all, to say the least to ease the chaos inside me.I had locked myself inside my apartment since last night and had tried to use that as a means to shut out the world. My phone was off and my laptop was closed. The only sound that filled the space in my apartment was the occasional drip of water from my kitchen faucet. But even with all the silence I simply couldn’t quiet my mind.Because all I could think about was him.Luca.I clenched my jaw as my stomach twisted with what felt like guilt and self-loathing.They had become my companion now. Admittedly, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every single second of i
Chapter 3Luca's POV I walked into the hospital the next day and was greeted by the usual sterile scent of disinfectant that instantly filled my lungs. The place was as busy as usual—doctors and nurses moved around with purpose, while patients were wheeled down corridors. Conversations naturally blended with the occasional beep of heart monitors. A typical scenerio of a busy hospital. As I stepped my foot into the office room, something felt off... Jessica's usual cheerful self wasn’t anywhere to be found, everywhere was quiet and sad. I swallowed hard as I dropped my folder bag on the chair.I carefully checked the locker room, the changing room and even the damn supply closet where she sometimes stay whenever she wants to avoid paperwork. Nothing.I clenched my jaw as I pulled out my phone, prepared to call her.The call went through but soonest, I got the same response I have been getting since the previous day... Voicemail.“Jess, where the hell are you? Call me back.” I said in
Chapter TwoLuca's POVI let out a groan and stirred as sunlight filtered through the half-open blinds of the hotel room and another tired moan escaped my lips. My body felt warm—too warm. I reached out instinctively and my fingers grazed the empty sheets beside me. The place felt warm but the spot was vacant. I let out a frown as I turned my head. The bed was unmade and the sheets were in disarray. I took in a deep breath and instantly I recognized the unmistakable scent of jasmine and vanilla that still clung to the fabric. It was a very familiar scent. Jessica’s scent.And then realization hit me. .JESSICA'S SCENT! Holy shit.Now fully awake, my eyes widened as fragmented images from the previous night surged through my mind. The wedding. The drinks. Yes. I remembered them all. The laughter. And then, .....her hands tangled in my hair. The feel of her lips against mine. The sounds she had made. The heat. The urgency. The way her body had melted into mine, as if this we had don