Jacopo Nicolo...I awkwardly stated at my mother as she slid under the covers of my old bed, the one in the master bedroom.She propped her pillow up and settled down before she looked up at me.I could see her heart breaking as she looked up at me, her eyes shining hurt.Seeing her today, or ever for that matter, was not what I had expected for the day to go. Even while seeing her sit back on the bed, I would think she'd disappear if I blinked too much.All the hate I had in my heart for her caused by the way she abandoned me ended up a shield I used to protect myself from how I truly felt.I missed her.I missed her to the point that I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me when I saw her in the kitchen. I was afraid she would disappear if I didn't grab her in the next few seconds. The thought terrified me to the point that I had to run to her.Even after hugging her, even after feeling her motherly arms wrap around me, even after I felt her hands touching my scarred face,
Work has been silent lately. It was too good to be true.The casino was running perfectly smooth the past week, and so was the work Attiwood left behind at my family's company.Things in the web have been quite as well. The dinner parties were safe, the gatherings were fine, and the meetings were smooth. New members joined in, and old members died. Attiwood was still not found.No more words came from the Viper city after Victor Viper killed all of the people the biker named, which led to the bikers' death. My life at home was better than perfect. Eza and I could not be happier and closer. I look forward to the day to end just so I can go home and see her.We weren't just physically close to each other. The emotional connection was growing as well. I feel attacked to her in a way I have never felt towards anyone else.And then there is my mother. Eza and I tried our best to convince her to move in with us. She refused. So we had to settle for the next best thing, which was to convinc
Ezabella Viper...I wake up every day with my husbamds arms comfortably wrapped around me. Each morning after the alarm blared and Jacopo shuts it off, I would feel his lips covering my bare shoulder with feathered kisses.The last four weeks have been absolutely perfect. I wake up each day with Jacopo sleeping behind me and go to sleep with Jacopo's arms around me.The two of us had been intimate with each other for the first time four weeks ago on the sixth month of our wedding day, and it sure as heck was not the last.It's true when they say the right person will make you feel at home, and even your body will allow their closeness.I couldn't even imagine touching another human being, let alone being intimate to that level, but that night with Jacopo just felt right. It felt like a blessing to be in his arms and to be so comfortable with him the way he was comfortable with me.I laid my all to Jacopo, and I felt he did the same with me.I couldn't ask more for our marriage, a
Elijah and Jacopo left us, going to the home office to work, while I stepped closer to Cilvia and started helping her with the little bows she wanted to make on the tiny candy baskets that would later be handed out as treats."These are adorable." I commented, smiling from ear to ear as I tied to small bows."Right? They are my idea, you know." Cilvia replied, proud of her creation."How are the twins?" I asked, glancing around in case I catch sight of them."They're taking a nap. They barely slept last night." Ella replied, looking around and taking inventory of everything they had prepared."Not anymore." Dalinda, the sweet old lady who is always dressed in pink, commented as she walked out of the house next to her husband, each of them holding one of the girls."Oh, my babies. Are you up from your nap?" Ella cooed as she reached out to gently pinch their cheeks, speaking with her lips pouted and her voice even softer.The girls giggled, and damn it, I got a baby fever. They are the
Jacopo Nicolo...The conversation was getting out of hand.All we had to do was have a short talk about the recent findings. Dante had started to tell us about how the Only Girl's Motorcycle club was getting closer and closer to finding Attiwood. It amazed me how he still refuses to give Miles the assignment. I have no doubt in my mind that Miles would find that old witch within matters of hours, if not minutes. But no. Dante wants the club to figure it out, and there was no changing his mind.Cane had to join us to give Dante and Elijah updates about the recent distributions of the new weapons that were shipped in.The conversation was going fine, and we had spent maybe an hour and a half figuring out new routs since apparently the woman of the club want to tax the web for anything that crossed their front gets to make it into the city. But that was until Connor walked in, looking for his brother.It was such a normal conversation until Dante decided to bring up the deal that I
Ezabella Viper...I don't know for how long I was locked in the bathroom, I just knew I needed time away from the man I was madly in love with.My entire world felt like it was crumbling around me. I sat on the edge of the bathtub, just balling my eyes out, trying my best to keep my sobs silent.The amount of defeat that was crushing my shoulders wanted to make me scream.I had fallen for the same cruel trick twice. I had fallen in love with a man who had no other intentions towards me but to hurt me.I should have learned my lesson after what Eliot Williamson did to me. I should. I learned to keep my guard up and not let Jacopo into my stupid heart. I should have been more cautious around him. I should have never let myself get too comfortable with the false idea of someone ever loving me.I should have known better.Beating myself up only managed to make things much worse, my tears flowing down my cheeks uncontrollably.My heart painfully squeezed in my chest, and I could do no
I've been trying to keep my distance for the next two weeks, trying to sort my feelings out.I had planned to confront Jacopo the day after the birthday party, but each time I tried to face him and bring up the topic that was killing me from inside out, the words would get stuck in my throat and refuse to get out. The main reason for that, I believe was because I was scared to find out that Jacopo's motive to confessing his feeling for me, to holding my hands and sharing kisses in our home, and to sharing our bodies with each other was for the reason of getting me pregnant and leaving right away.The thought made me feel sick each time to the point that I would have to rush to my bathroom to empty my stomach, to the point that I could barely eat any food.This hardboiled eggs I used to love to share with my husband now make me sick at the mere smell of it, and so did anything I would share with Jacopo.So, I started avoiding him even more, running away from our problems and trying to
I stood in front of the sink, looking at my reflection in the mirror above it after I had thrown my guts up on the toilet, not more than two minutes ago.I looked pale, paler than usual, my hair greasy and tangles from the lack of washing and brushing on my part. My eyes were slightly sunken and surrounded by dark circles. My cheek bones were showing more, evident that I had lost some weight in the last two weeks since I found out the horrible truth about Jacopo and I.No wonder Jacopo looked worried. I looked like I was an hour away from knocking at the door of death.I let out a sigh, feeling my entire body ache, the small action almost making me vomit again.I turned the water on and cupped my hands together, letting it fill with water before I splashed it on my face, I repeated the action a few more times until I felt wide away despite the ache in my body. It amazed me how I could feel awake and sleepy all at the same time.I glanced around for a towel and remembered that I had dr
"How did it go?" I asked.Jacopo and I had shared dinner alone after Dante, Elijah, and Ella, along with the twins, left. The day turned out a lot different than I thought it would be. The men spent most of the day behind the doors of Jacopo's home office, coming up with a plan to take their enemies down, while Ella and I caught up, ordered food, made sure the men were fed, and played with the kids when they woke up.It was nice to forget about everything bad and surround ourselves in the bubble of joy the twins provided, and I didn't want it to end. But of course, the sky was starting the darken, and the men were leaving the home office.After saying fairwell to our unexpected guests, Jacopo and I settled for some leftovers from lunch from earlier and retired to our bedroom to call it a day, where I couldn't help but start to ask him questions about the conversation he had with the men in his office."It was... fine." He replied, settling down under the covers next to me."Did you g
Ella and I left the twins to sleep some more in the bedroom and found ourselves in the open kitchen.She was telling me how her and the other ladies of the web missed my company, and it reminded me that it has been a long time since I joined the gatherings. To be totally honest, I did miss hanging out with some of the ladies of the web as well. I don't mean the mean mother-in-laws and constant glares of the younger women. I mean the women who went to those gatherings to genuinely have fun, to talk with one another, and had a good time outside of their houses."I do miss you guys too." I replied."Well, you can always come on the next gathering." Ella said. "I know things aren't great right now, but it would be good if you give yourself some time too.""That would be nice. Bit, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to show up at your gatherings when Jacopo wants nothing to do with the web." I replied.Ella and I were talking about having something to eat before we came to the ki
Ezabella Viper...I watched as Ella lovingly looked down at her two daughters, her fingers gently brushing their thick hairs off of their faces.I look at her, and I see a loving mother looking at her children. It was a beautiful sight, and I wondered if I could ever be the mother that she is.My hand was pressed against my lower abdomen as I stared at her."Is it hard?" I whispered, trying to keep my voice high enough just for Ella to hear me, and low enough not to disturb the sleeping twins."What is?" Ella asked, tearing her eyes away from daughters to look at me."Being a mother... being a mother in a place like this. Being the wife of a dangerous man working for a dangerous organization. Is it hard?"Ella let out a soft sigh, looking away from me as she thought through her answer. "I wouldn't say it is easy. What I can tell you is that I wake up every single day next to the man I am madly in love with. I have two amazing daughters who I would give my life for. I have a fami
Jacopo Nicolo...Elijah, Dante, Victor, and I sat in a circle, our focus on Victor as he restarted his explanation on how he was looking into Elizabeth while he stayed here to keep Eza safeEza and Ella were in our bedroom with the twins as Elijah had refused to talk about killing a bunch of people in front of his two daughters, and while both Eza and Ella wanted to stay and listen to our plans, they didn't protest against Elijah's request."As I was saying before, I was rudely interrupted by your unwanted appearance..." Victore said as he pointed at Dante and Elijah at the same time with two of his left fingers. "I've found out that Elizabeth is staying two towns over with a small mafia wannabe, boys. All we have to do is march ourselves there and wipe them off the face of the earth.""We need to be careful." Elijah commented."Of course, we need to be careful. That doesn't mean we should waste any more time than we already had." Victor countered. "It's been two whole months sin
A short silence fell in the home office as Dante and Jacopo stared each other down.Jacopo crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to make a single comment and forcing Dante to continue."Like Elijah said, I am sorry for what happened that night, but I, too, had someone I needed to save. And as much as it pains me to sat this, your mother was not my priority that night."My goodness... I get what Dante was saying, but damn it, he didn't have to say it like that."And what? I'm supposed to just believe you and be happy with your decision? I'm supposed to clap my hands for you and just move on?" Jacopo asked, hurt still evident in his voice."That is not what I am saying. What I'm saying is that the night was not easy for any one of us. We were all isolated and were forced to choose to save those we loved the most. Elijah had to choose his family and you had to choose your wife..." "Then what about you?" My father jumped in. "Who were you forced to choose?" He asked.All eyes turned
Ezabella Viper...I sat tense in Jacopo's home office, my back to the window, and my face turned towards the unexpected guests sitting in front of my husband.Dante, Elijah, Ella, and their twins. One look at Jacopo and I could tell that he was trying his best to control his anger, to stay come and hear them out before he can kick them out without Dante threatening to burn us all down along with the apartment building."This is very awkward." My father leaned in to whisper to me, shaking his head in disappointment for getting caught up in between the affairs of the people of the web."It sure is." I replied, keeping my voice hushed enough only for my father to hear."Are you sure you want to say with this man, Bella? Because if I were you, I would not handle this well." He added."Well, it's a very good thing that you are not me, then." I replied, glancing at him and seeing the face he was making at me."Are we going to sit here and stare at each other all day... or are you going
I was in the middle of preparing breakfast for Eza when the panel lit up with a notification. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to look at what had set it off.Victor was standing in the elevator, aggressively punching the button that would take him to my floor.Goodness.I pushed the pass code in through my phone and watched as he shoved his hands in his pocket and looked up at the camera.I returned my attention back to the breakfast I was preparing for Eza, which did not need the stove to be turned on. Thank goodness.I ignored the noise of the elevator door opening as I started plating the fruits and cookies."Is that why you eat? Or is that what you feed my daughter?" He asked as he stopped in front of the kitchen counter."Mind your own business." I mumbled."My daughter is my business." He replied."Dad?"My eyes are drawn to the hall at the sound of my wife's soft voice."What are you doing here this early?" She asked. "Did we make plans for today?""Good morning to you too,
I stood in front of the mirror, pulling a black t-shirt over my head, wincing as I felt the slowly healing gunshot wound on my shoulder.Eza was still asleep in bed when I got up to get ready. The previous night, after Eza and I had spent the day together forgetting the horror we were living, we'd returned home and spent a few more hours in each other's arms, talking about this and that until she fell asleep.After tucking her in bed, I'd returned to the living room to retrieve my phone, charge it, and make a phone call even though I knew it was past midnight.I knew I wouldn't be able to fall asleep if I didn't call Victor right that second and make plans. I just couldn't wait a few more hours until the sun went up.I was sitting at my desk in my home office, one I have not been in since the day I lost my mother, and almost lost my wife for the rest of my life.I expected to call Victor a few times before he picked up, but to my surprise, the phone didn't even ring three times befor
Jacopo Nicolo...If there is one thing going right in my life, it's having Eza next to me.These past eight weeks had been brutal, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get out of my shell as fast as I could to start fixing our marriage. I was the one who messed up, yet Eza was still by my side, cooking my every meals and trying to get me out of my shell every single day.I didn't deserve her kindness. I still don't. But I recognize how blessed I am to have her.She was probably the only reason why I was back on my feet, walking around and not letting myself west away. As of now, she is also the biggest reason why I decided to go through with the visit to see my mother.I was not even close to being ready to fall at her grave, to say the things I wanted to say to her. But I also knew that the longer I took to get to the cemetery, the harder it was going to be for me to start healing, and that will only make it even harder to fix my marriage with Eza.I glanced at her