Chapter 99Ava's pov Again? What is so with this mystery box?, “can we get a link to the box? Is there something that can lead us to the box?”I asked, resting my chin on my hands.She took another sip of her now cold coffee and answered, “ofcourse, I wouldn't want to put you guys on too much suspense. The only person that knows about the mystery box is Pedro.”Pedro? Who is he? Everything just kept linking us to different people which was tiring, I sighed as my attention was drawn to the beautiful fire fly not too far from where we were, the firefly flew to my seat and settled on my journal that I placed on the table.“So free and beautiful,” I mouthed in admiration, watching as the insect enjoyed its freedom.“Pedro is my daughter's favorite guard and they got lost around the same time,” she explained and I mouthed an ohh!Luca wasn't comfortable with all the dilly-dallying we were doing so he interfered into our conversation. “Our priority should be how to get Coran out of that den
Chapter 100Ava's pov “You mother fucker, you are nothing but a dog to Lorenzo,” Dorian 's hand that was raised froze as he blinked his eyes in shock. He was too shocked to react and all he could do was to stare at Knox… indirectly accusing her.“Did you do this? Did you tell them all these?” He questioned with an angry gaze, Knox took in her lips and refused to respond.Dorian released his hold on my fist then barked at Knox, “Mom! I am talking to you.”Knox shivered slightly and her perfect lashes seemed to be fanning each other, her lips quivered as she responded, “Son, we need them. They are the only one that can stop Lorenzo, not only him but you as well.”Dorian gave a butter smile as he moved away from our middle, he rubbed his eyes and said, “Now, I am mad. It doesn't hurt, I promise… it doesn't.”He sniffed and stared at his feet that just hit the table side, Knox went to meet him and gently held his shoulder to explain things to him, “Baby see, My daughter is the only way t
Chapter 101Ava's pov.“This is…” I stuttered as the picture fell off my hand, my palms were sweaty and a bead of sweat began to gather on my forehead. I was literally too shocked to speak.“Is everything fine? Are you okay?” Luca asked, resting one of his hands on my shoulder while he bent down to pick the picture up. His mouth twisted and his facial expression also turned solemn.“Wait… This is Gary right? Your friend,” he flaunted the picture in my face, as if he was trying to remind me.The hair in my body stood then I slowly nodded, making Knox gasp slightly.“You know him right? Where is he? How can I reach him?” She ranted, trying to drag me out of the room. Luca's expression changed and he barked at her, “Can you keep calm? Do you want to trigger her side personality with your excessive display of emotion?” he questioned with absolute anger.Knox rubbed her eyes as she desperately tried to control her emotions, Luca hissed then pulled me behind him while he spoke in my favour
Chapter 102Ava's pov “What… what is going on here?” I asked, glancing at their faces for explanations. Gary jumped out of his bed and kicked the gun out of Knox's hand, his movement was swift and sudden …. I also wasn't expecting it from him.He kicked the pistol to a safe distance then he slid across and picked it up, pointing it at Knox.“Shit!” Knox cursed, giving me a devilish gaze. The sudden turn of events was still very shocking for me until Joe pushed me to the floor, making me wince in pain.I was about to lament when I noticed the sudden hole on the wall behind me. Wait! Did I just escape being shot?It was Dorian that was holding the pistol and behind him was Luca who cocked his gun and shot at his arm.“Fuck,” he let out a curse word as he wrapped his hand around his bleeding wound. My body was almost going stiff on the floor when Gary came to join me.My body was shaking badly as I held on tightly to the tip of my soft chiffon dress, the roughness of the surface kept me
Chapter 103Ava's pov “I honestly don't know,” Gary answered Luca's question and we all gave him a doubting gaze. Didn't his explanation just counterpart his new statement?“I understand that there might have been a confusion, let me explain what I mean by that… The car indeed caught fire and all of us inside the car were thrown off. I was thrown to the other side of the bridge and when I woke up, I couldn't find her,” all of us nodded in a clear understanding, this seems more believable.“But what about Ava? Where did you know her and how did she end up staying with Calista?” Luca jumped in and asked.Gary rubbed his forehead and responded, “I met Ava about seven years after the incident. I couldn't go back to Lorenzo because I would be dead so I had to change my identity and start looking for Knox's daughter. One day, I passed by a beach and that was where I saw Ava, she was brutally wounded and was lying unconsciously by the river side, I saved her because she was about the same
Chapter 104Luca's pov.I laid Ava on the bed after administering her dose to her, her side personality had taken over and her body was desperately weak. Dr Navia is now the one to proceed with her treatment while I go with Joe to teach Calista's previous location.“I have another suggestion though,” Joe brought up, nervously scratching his hair. I raised my brow at him, convincing him to speak his mind.“Why don't we all go to Gary's house, hacking is flexible and it can be done anywhere.” Brilliant idea!I rearranged the collar of my lab coat while we all agreed with Joe's idea. I followed behind them outside and I was about to open Joe's car door when he stopped me by placing his hand on mine.“No!”“Anything the issue?” I asked with a squint and he replied;“No, those two scumbags are in there,” he doesn't need to go into much detail before I get to the people he was hinting at. I withdrew my hand and followed him to Navia's car. I screened the girlish accesorissed purple car and
Chapter 105Luca's povI heaved a great sigh of relief as excitement washed over me, I pulled Joe into a big hug and thanked him while patting his shoulder lightly.“Dude, you are a genius,” I complemented with a big smile as we both took long strides into the dusty living room of Gary. We all coughed for the first few minutes before our nose adjusted to the bed environment. Gary went to a corner and brought out a broom which he used to dust a frame that was hung beside the kitchen door. He pressed something on the frame and mysteriously, a door appeared.I gasped as a big smile escaped my mouth, “Wow!”He dragged the metallic door and a hollow room showed up, the room could only contain one person so only Gary stepped in. He emerged seconds later with a purplish gold box, covered with webs and dust.The box looked like it had been untouched for years, Gary went in and came out with a pale blue dress which he used to wipe all the diets away. After little effort, the box was now shiny
Chapter 106Luca's pov Knox and Dorian were properly attended to by me and my team which includes Jessica who was grumpy throughout the treatment. After several hours of unrelenting efforts, we were able to stabilize their conditions and put them on sedatives while we all retired back to our dorms.…The next morning,The unending beeping of my table alarm woke me up. With grumpiness, I hit the head then prepared to go back to my nap when s nurse barged in without knocking.“Sorry for the disturbance sir, they are awake,” I looked at her like a fool, waiting for her to add more meaning to the statement she just made.She was also lost for the next few minutes but as soon as she picked up my interrogative gaze, she hit her forehead and added to her previous words, “the patients you rushed in yesterday are awake. The guy is throwing tantrums already,”A smile crept its way to my lips and I rubbed my fuzzy eye. I turned to the left and my reflection welcomed me in the side mirror, my ey
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