ALINA'S POV : "Lioness?" He gasped in shock, and his mouth went wide open as he realized while putting all the pieces together. I smirked seeing his priceless expression and was satisfied getting the exact reactions. "You are the Lioness, aren't you?" He asked, arching his eyebrows and pointing his index finger at me. "Mmm hmm… The one and only." I nodded and shrugged proudly, as he stood from the bed and looked at me in horror. "You have been right in front of me all this time and here I am searching for you like an idiot." He frowned realizing how his search mission went useless when the person had been walking right in front of him. "Well, not my fault," I smirked crossing my arms over my chest and he rolled his eyes at me. "Now, I know where those badass moves came from. You were trained by the baddest man alive." He said and started pacing around, "But…" and stopped after a few seconds when a question swirled around in his mind. "But, what?" I asked him, knitting my brows
ALINA'S POV : "Aurora." He said as I sat beside him.My brows furrowed in confusion when he said that name. Aurora? How come she is the reason? As far as I know, she never left Italy. "How do you know Aurora? Last time I checked, she never left Italy." I asked him. He cocked his head and looked at me in confusion. "Italy?" "Yeah, she lives in Italy. Just like Ana, she is also a doctor for Enzo's team." I said. He chuckled, "I know that you are sleep deprived but seriously, you haven't thought once that there are so many people with the same names?" I frowned and mentally facepalmed. He is right, there are so many people with the same name. And yes, I am really sleep-deprived at this point. But, I really wanted to know about him. "Stop laughing and asking me stupid questions and just tell me who this Aurora is." "A b*tch!" He blurted out. "What?" "Yes, a b*tch just like Catherine. But the funny part is, I once loved her. That's the biggest mistake I have ever made. I shouldn't
NEXT DAY MORNING… SHANE'S POV : "Tell the pilot to get the jet ready by 4 a.m. We have to leave by that time. Otherwise, my mom will kill us for getting late. Even though I just wanna go at the time of the ball to rescue myself from all the nagging from that old man. She will definitely kill me if she doesn't see us by the time she mentioned." I frowned imagining my mother's deadly glares and my grandpa's continuous nagging. Nate chuckled, sitting comfortably on the opposite couch. "Well, you can't blame her, she just wants to see her children and spend some quality time with them." I sighed, "I know, that's why I'm going there. But that old man won't leave me alone until I get married." A deep frown formed on my face remembering his words when I went to visit them. He let out a small chuckle and then smirked, "Yeah, why don't you get married, already?" I rolled my eyes at him, "Don't even think about it." "You already found an exact copy of yours, why don't you just tell her y
ALINA'S POV : "Argh! What the hell is going on?" I just woke up when I heard loud voices coming outside the room. Why are they screaming like maniacs outside my room? I can say that it's Shane and Rudy's voices. But why are they arguing with each other? Does something happen? But isn't it too early to start their silly fights? F*cking dramatic brothers! They will never grow up. I decided to go and check what was going on there. Getting out of bed, I went to open the door to see what caused them to scream at this time and disturb my sleep. Just when I opened the door I saw Shane punching Rudy and Omar running towards Shane as Nate tried to pull Shane away from Rudy. I was lost at that moment not understanding what was going on there. Omar and Nate grabbed Shane's arms and pulled him aside using all their strength. Shane looks extremely angry, don't know why. And Rudy, even though blood is coming from the corner of his lips, he is still smiling looking at his brother who was hell-
SHANE'S POV : I was mad and completely furious after hearing what Rudy did. But after seeing her and hearing her voice, I was lost and couldn't move from my place and the whole house fell silent for a few moments as the air around us felt thicker. Omar and Nate loosened up their grips around my arms as they looked at Alina in shock. For a few moments, we stood there looking at each other before she started to walk towards me, looking completely furious. But one thing made my heart weigh as it began to thump louder and harder when I saw a tear roll down her cheeks. My heart beats so hard and loud. And I feel like there is a war going on inside of me which I don't know how to fight. God! I can't see her like this. I can see her anger, she can fight with me as long as she wants. But, I can't see her cry and I don't even know why. "Alina…" I called her name softly because I can't bear to see any pain or hurt on her beautiful face. She approached me and grabbed my collar yanking me t
SHANE'S POV : I was fully and deeply engrossed in her lips forgetting everything that happened. At first, my kiss was hard and outrageous, showing my dominance out of anger after hearing her question. But then it turned into something more, something deep and intense when my lips started to devour her on their own. It was like an ignition to my unending attraction towards her. She woke up the hungry desires inside me that I tried so hard to control whenever she was around. But, she broke it anyways. Placing her hands on my chest, she tried to push me away from her body but I grabbed her waist pulling her even closer to me, encircling my arms around her body and holding her in place not wanting to let go of her. As soon as she realized that I wasn't going to lose my grip, she stopped pushing me away and placed both of her hands firmly on my chest. But I never expected her to kiss me back with the same passion and fire. She grabbed my collar with her hands, pushing my body to hers,
ALINA'S POV : Camilla and Jessica both were standing outside the elevator, watching us with shocked expressions on their faces but then it changed into something. They started to smirk after seeing how close we were as his hands are still wrapping around my waist and mine on his chest. I pushed him a little so that there will be a little gap between us and adjusted ourselves. But their smirk didn't leave their faces instead it turned into a cheeky grin as they noticed our flushed faces and their gazes darted to our lips not missing how swollen they were.Shane looked at me one last time and whispered leaning dangerously close to me, again, "Good luck!" He smirked and winked at me. And that stupid wink itself made my heart skip a beat. He just walked out of the elevator like nothing happened and left me alone with them. He f*cking left me.I didn't even have the chance to give a comeback for his not so warnings. Like seriously, 'you can't handle the consequences?' what does he think
RUDY'S POV : "What the hell Rudy? What have you done?" Nate asked, as soon as we entered the bar, our relaxing spot in our house. "Relax, Nate. He did the right thing, even though that went a bit overboard." Omar chuckled and went to fix a glass of whiskey for himself while Nate and I settled on the couch near the bar. "Damn, I kinda need this after seeing all the drama." Omar said while pouring the whiskey in the glass. I chuckled seeing my brother's nonchalant expression when Nate looks absolutely confused about Omar's calm nature. "Fix me one, bro." I said, leaning on the couch comfortably. Omar nodded. But before he fixed me a glass he picked an ice pack from the fridge and threw it to my side. "First, you need that." He pointed towards my wounded jaw and to the ice pack. Well, he is right. I should apply ice, to reduce swelling. "Why are you so calm? You guys know Shane better than anyone, still, you think what Rudy did is right?" Nate asked, arching his brows in confusion.
SHANE’S POV : She was shivering the whole time she told me about that incident. Panic crept up her skin, but I could not do anything but hold her tightly in my arms. I had never imagined seeing her like this, not even in my wildest dreams. She is the only one capable of challenging and resisting me. And the only one to ask me questions without even a trace of fear in her eyes. Damn, she had the audacity to slap me across the face. She is one of the strongest women I have ever seen. But then again, only those who have gone through the worst grow the hardest and create a rocky exterior for their lives. Tough on the outside and soft on the inside. She has been having nightmares every day. And I hate myself for not being there to comfort her each and every time she screams. Whoever did this to her will face the consequences and I will make sure to make their lives a living hell. "I did not want to be scared." Her words were barely a whisper. For once, she did not shout or yel
ALINA’S POV :Buzz…Buzzzz… **Ufff! Not now!Damn, these pills! These are making my body like a damn jelly as if I have no control over it. Sleeping. Sleeping all the time.Painkillers my ass!I have been sleeping for the whole day except for the time someone woke me up when it was time to eat and then again taking pills and, sleeping. But still, I’m tired even though I have been sleeping like a damn Koala.I almost tried to skip the pills if it was not for Ana who threatened to give me an injection instead of the pills and that too high dosage. I’m not afraid of syringes. At least not as much as the deadly company of Tess who warned me to eat my brain off with her… you know.. the X-rated things that she effortlessly talks about without any break.My virgin brain couldn’t take it. So, yes, I would rather take the pills and sleep instead of frying my brain off.Even now, if my phone isn’t buzzing like there is chaos going on, I wouldn’t be waking up. But when I tried so hard to rise fr
SHANE’S POV : “Lorenzo? What are you doing here?” My eyebrows shot up at the unexpected guest beside my sister.His gaze fixed on Camilla for quite a moment before looking back at me. “Came to watch the sunrise. Heard this balcony has the best view from your mother.”“Mmm. Yeah, it does.” I gave a short nod before looking back at Camilla who seemed to be indescribably nervous. Nervous? My sister? These two don’t match.But as I shift my gaze back at Lorenzo, he looks unreasonably perplexed. His face looks like he was flushed with a lot of questions. I wonder what they might be.My eyes darted back and forth from Lorenzo to Camilla before it settled on Cami. If I didn’t know anything better then I would have thought that something was going on between the two of them.“Cami, Mom was looking for you,” I said, observing their every reaction. Her expression doesn’t change much but Lorenzo’s brows shot up for a second before settling in place.“Okay.” She just nodded and walked past me si
CAMILLA’S POV : Why is this happening to me?Why does everyone that I trust end up betraying me?My love life!Once is a mistake but twice?I’m such stupid to believe that love ever existed in my life.“Cami…”How can I ever trust anyone again after all this?“Cami!!”He f*cking used me for years! Lied to me every f*cking day! And I believed him like a fool!“Camilla!!!”“Huh?”“Damn! You scared me for a second.”“Rudy?” When did he come? I didn’t even realise him coming. I have been on the balcony for God knows how long, staring into the dark sky full of stars and life in it. But the stars are fading now, which means, I have been lost in my thoughts for hours.I came here for stargazing, to find myself in the sky full of stars. But there would be no meaning if I’m not a star in anyone’s life. And I don’t have a Sun in my life. No stars and no Sun. My life is exactly like the night sky except it doesn’t have any stars other than the utter darkness and the Sun I thought would give lig
SHANE’S POV : “So…” Vladimir startled for a second but soon composed himself before walking towards me. “How was the dungeon?” I asked while walking towards him with my hands in my pockets.“Nothing I haven’t seen before.” He looked relaxed, more carefree now as he was past all the lies.“Sure you do.” We are now in his bedroom. I released him from the cellar as soon as I knew Alina was fine.I knew it wasn’t him but he was the reason for the whole attack. They used the chance because of him. If it wasn’t for him then no one would dare to enter my house. Which is why he needs to be punished.Putting him in a cell might not be a punishment. But he already got the worst. Years of lies. Living with us, whom he thought as his enemies. He might made quite a lot of mistakes to sabotage us but mostly saved our lives which we are grateful for. Which is why I am still talking to him instead of shredding him into pieces. Yep, I had to deal with my father though after his death. But it would be
ALINA’S POV : How does he know about my nightmares?“Isn’t it because of the bad dream you were frightened in the plane on our way here?” He asked.“Huh?” So, he doesn’t. For a second I thought he knew. A small part of me felt relieved while a big part of me felt disappointed because I wished he would know miraculously. Because I don’t know where to start. I wanted to tell him so badly. But don’t know how. Not a storyteller! He looked at me, arching his brows, waiting for me to confirm. “Yeah. Right!”He pursed his lips tight, jaw clenched, and looked away for a second before looking back at me, staring right into my eyes, quenching my soul with his. He was about to say something but was cut by the door creaking sound.We shifted our gazes towards the door and saw Jessica coming towards me, well scratch that, running towards me. “I’m dead.” I was mentally prepared.“Wait!” Before Jessica could engulf me and crush me with her hugs until she was satisfied, Shane stood up, shielding me
GRACE’S POV : “Oh, for god sake!!” Emily shouted impatiently, “You brought us here for what? To help you with this f*cking piece of shit?” She asked, holding the little but nothing cloth in her hands.“Well…” Rudy pursed his lips tight and shrugged, “I just wanted to throw a pool party.”Emily groaned in anger and cursed under her breath. “Are you for real!!” She clutched the tiny cloth tight as if she was imagining it was his throat. Rudy must have understood her thoughts because he visibly gulped down. “Who the f*ck wears this for a pool party?” She threw the cloth at him, which he caught in the air.“Don’t be a party pooper. My ideas are very innovative and I know you are just jealous.” Rudy said with a smirk on his face.“Jealous?” Emily scoffed, “Of what? That empty head? Quit dreaming?”I was looking back and forth between the two of them. They have been doing this for almost an hour. Still not bored.I sat on the foot of the bed, hands on my knees and chin in my palms. Rudy as
SHANE’S POV : “Who the f*ck tried to kidnap her?” “We don’t know. It was anonymous and couldn’t be traced. Whoever called, must have used a burner phone.” He said, gritting his teeth.A burner phone? This means he was prepared for the kidnap or he has easy access like us all. “Are you saying that you still don’t know who it was and he is still out there enjoying his life after trying to f*cking kidnap her?” I was boiling with rage. My veins are visibility ticking. Who the f*ck wanted to kidnap her? And why? “You think I let him go.” He arched his brows in displeasure. He curled his hands into tight fists, “That f*cker had it all planned. He made sure that no one could find him and covered all his tracks.” He cursed under his breath.He couldn’t track him, even after all these years? Who the f*ck is he? And what would have happened if Enzo wasn’t there on time? God! My pulse pounded at the thought. The mere thought that he could have put his hands on her… My heart swells with rage a
SHANE’S POV : “Don’t worry,” Charles said after he cleaned up the wound and Band-Aid her. “She was lucky, the poison didn’t spread. Only a bit grazed her body, which might not be enough to kill her but enough to collapse.” He said while taking a vial of her blood in a syringe and storing it in two tiny glass containers that he brought with him. “Don’t look at me like that.” He said when I was staring at him. “I took these…” he showed me the blood containers, “…to run a few tests. To make sure that she is completely fine.” I rolled my eyes at him. But still, something doesn’t make sense. Why does he look tense when he is taking her blood? Is she really okay? Is he hiding something from me? “Will she be okay?” I asked him.“Of course. She will get conscious in an hour or so. And I will inform you if there are any traces of poison in her body once I get the results. But other than that, she is absolutely fine.” Relax flooded through my bones once I heard his words. “I’ll take my leave