Isn't it funny that both my second and third stated the same thing within the space of an hour?Am I really isolating Emma from me?Is my behaviour such a shock to her system?I can't sit and believe that not after she turned into a complete stranger at the hands of our fathers. And don't get me wrong when I say that it's clear to see she was trained for a reason.Emma's not the naive child I once doted on. She's complex, dangerous and an unknown entity to me now.It hasn't slipped me by that I know nothing of the woman I married.Niko shrugs as I glance back at him from the corner of my eye as I slip the knuckle dusters over my fingers. I keep my hand hidden before me, my back to the bastard. "Mass, hold him for me, will you?""'Course," he agrees, even if feebly. "How loud will you scream, Niko? How many men will you send a message to? How many men do you believe will take their chance just as you have despite the death count hitting five now?""You'll lose them too, Luca, just as
EmmaAfter seeing the incriminating photos back in the bedroom, my heart races with the need to protect Niko at all costs.I grab my knife and strap it to my ankle, and I'm about ready to fall into hand-to-hand combat with Luca if needs must. But I hope it doesn't come to that.Racing through the house in a sprint, I note the angry stares of a few of Luca's men, but they don't stop me as I walk down the stairs leading to the house's base level, the cold seeping into me instantly. My anxiety about the past haunts me, and memories surface just as quickly as I blink the days spent below my father's home in the name of training.I can't dwell on the past, not now, not when Niko's in grave danger for no good reason because of me. God knows how much time has passed and how much time Luca has had to do whatever he deemed fit in the name of punishment. I can't explain it, but there's something pulling me to protect him, to ensure his safety despite the fact that I barely know him.Bianca stop
"What did you do?" I ask as Niko over-talks me."Get out, queen. Let us men fight; it'll all blow over soon enough.""You don't understand... the pictures. They've manipulated them to look as if you were...kissing me," I whisper. My words burn my tongue as Luca watches with keen interest. My body gravitates forward, placing itself in front of Niko as if I were the shield to save his life."Manipulated, or showing the truth?" Luca asks."He wouldn't touch me like that," I gasped. "You heard what Mass said, he's my brother—."Luca assesses me as Niko leans up and onto his feet. Suddenly, I'm flung behind him, his body covering me as he staggers forward unsteadily."So it's true?" Luca's voice changes. He seems somewhat resigned, a flicker of uncertainty filtering through his gaze as he assesses whether I'm lying.Once, he would have known if I were lying by just looking at me, but it seems I've mastered fooling him, and it seems he's still deciding whether I am telling the truth.Sadnes
EmmaWe struggle despite Niko trying to aid Bianca and me in getting him up the stairs. He's a dead weight and is moaning far too much with every movement.I worry about his organs and his blood loss, but I have to grit my teeth and concentrate on the task at hand.Eventually, we get him up the dark stairs and into the lower level of Luca's home. He half-limps there as Bianca and I shoulder some of his weight to his office. Luckily it isn't far from the basement door because he's a wall of fucking weight despite being a lean man."Stay here with him whilst I find Anna," I stipulate to Bianca as he falls into his bed dramatically. Her eyes widen with fear, but I ignore the niggling feeling and turn to leave. "Wait—." She calls after me as I reenter his office, hoping to look for Anna."What is it, Bianca?""Are you sure you'll be safe out there...by yourself?" She asks with deep interest."I'll be fine; go watch him. Please?"She huffs but nods anyway and then turns back and walks i
LucaContemplating my life is not a task I like to take part in. But here I sit, five tumblers deep, as I assess every fuck up I've made since Emma came back to me.I love the girl so profoundly that my behaviour stems from fear of losing her for a second time, yet this time, it is me who is making the decisions; it's me who is pushing her away.I can't believe I hurt her as I did in the kitchen. I can't believe I allowed that insidious side my father nurtured to take over and cause her harm.Her, of all fucking people.Why must I keep making these mistakes?Why can't I treat her as I always did when we were younger?Can she even love me after seeing the monster I've indeed become?These are the things I contemplate in my alcohol-induced haze.Emma never resurfaced from Niko's room, and though I could have barged in when the doctor let himself out, I knew it was the wrong thing to do.So instead, I stood in the darkness of the unlit hall, waiting for her to leave the room, hoping that
"Your mother warned me that you seemed off the other night, but I didn't want to admit that perhaps this takeover has put too much on your shoulders too quickly. But this," he bellows, stabbing his pointer finger into his phone. "This is very, very disappointing.""I'm sure it is, father.""I never raised you to be this type of man," he adds with a fist on the desk."We sell women to the highest fucking bidder; we hurt women every day of our lives. Force them to uproot everything they know, to lose their families and dreams and aspirations to sell them to the next man, one that probably has a weird ass kink that the girl has never even heard of yet a few measly marks on my wife's neck is too much for you to handle?" I scoff. "Oh yeah, besides that, you never taught me to lay my hands on a woman.""We sell women to men that are vetted. They are safe, fed, looked after," he shakes his head. "I have a team checking on each girl that passes through our hands at least once every few months
EmmaI woke up from a restless night's sleep to face a new day with a fresh perspective. Throughout the night, I had been nestled between Bianca and Niko on his bed whilst cuddling Bianca, but in the morning, I turned to look at Niko.He was still clearly in pain, his abdomen showing worsening signs with mottled purple hues. Despite the doctor's miraculous revelation that nothing was broken, Niko was seriously bruised, and that coincided with his lack of sleep overnight.I spent some time simply observing his breathing, silently contemplating how to best care for him. And though I lay there promising myself not to think about the events of last night, my mind wandered. Had my behaviour triggered Luca's response just as much as his triggered mine in the kitchen?It feels as if we've been conditioned to tiptoe around one another for fear we'll lose one another again, and I know that my father dislikes that I was called home to fulfil his promise. So, are we exasperating the problems r
The mafia business follows mafia protocols. Luca obviously upset his father enough to provoke this reaction from him. Besides, I'm not sure I want to argue with him after he's lost an evidentially large amount of blood.I pour us both a drink, passing one tumbler to him as he assesses me with hooded eyes. I have no clue what he's thinking right now, and for once, I see the pain etched on his handsome face. The liquid burns my throat as I swallow the tumbler full, but after the last few days, I feel that I need something to steady me and look at his arm.I'm not squeamish, not really, but I was right. After ripping his shirt open, I note his shoulder is a bloody mess with flesh sticking out of a close proximity shot from what I can only presume is a pistol. Blood trickles out the hole and down across his skin as I assess him flexing the hole."You need a doctor; it's still inside—," I note as the gold bullet shines back at me and the blood surrounding it dribbles down onto his peck."
"Wait.What? Does Luca know?" I ask quietly, trying to keep my worry from being evident."No, I haven't told him. These are your results, Mrs. Moretta, not his.""If he knows, it'll worry him. What do the blood results mean? The milli—whatever it was.""I understand your concern, Mrs. Moretta. Your child is his heir, remember? Your HCG levels suggest you are very early on, four or five weeks perhaps. It would be premature to perform a scan at this stage as there will likely be nothing to see. So I'd suggest waiting another fornight. However, we've caught your vitamin deficiencies early, so my chosen treatment will be very effective.""Right, the vitamins, they'll address the deficiencies completely?""Yes, they are easily manageable with the prescribed treatment.""Well, that's something. Can you send the prescription to the same pharmacist?""Of course, it'll be there momentarily for Niko to collect.""Thank you.""My pleasure, Mrs. Moretta. And congratulations, you must be so excited
EmmaIt's two in the morning, and I find myself standing in Luca's office just before the break of dawn. Startled from my sleep, he pulled me from our bed to attend an urgent meeting he called in the dead of night.Niko and Mass are seated across from us, their expressions mirroring my own alarm at being summoned at such an ungodly hour."What the fuck is this?" Niko shoots a sharp, skeptical look across to Luca, his evident disdain for his boss simmering just below the surface."It appears my wife desires her sister to depart, and I wholeheartedly concur regarding the timing. I require you to escort her," Luca reluctantly discloses.I'm feeling quite bewildered. Why would he choose to send Niko, of all people, to accompany me to my father's estate when he poses a more significant threat to my safety than Bianca does? Niko glares at Luca, clarifying that he does not appreciate his boss."Luca," I started to say."Uh-ah, Emma. I'll help with this unexpected delivery, but it will be don
"Luca, you're hurting her," I tell him imploringly. "Let her go.""She can get out of it," he fires back immediately, but his eyes change. They're not dark orbs of evil as they were only moments before. Now, they're soft, an emotion he seems to reserve for me, even if his actions fail to mirror his internal feelings."Can't you, Bianca?" Luca asks her teasingly.She grits her teeth, batting his arm away before using her elbow to hit him in the stomach. She has him falling to his knees with a knee to his groin. And it's then I see his hatred for her again.Why does he hate her? "See, no harm," he tells me angrily. My eyes bounce between them, and I know then I need to get her away from here where she'll be safe."Bianca?" I call anxiously."Just training, Emm," she lies, smiling to me. But I can tell it's fake, and there's definitely an element of needing to escape in her eyes.Luca grabs for her, pulling her to him as he settles her under his arm. He's still livid but puts on a show
EmmaMy heart wasbeating in my throat when I woke up to no Luca beside me. After last night, I thought he might sleep in with me.Rolling to my side, I see the clock reads seven-thirty. It's late, yet I'm bone tired and ache like hell.Sitting up, I find Niko sitting in the armchair, watching me intently as he leans back in the chair with his legs spread. Both elbows are on the armrests, his fingers pressed to his lips."Niko," I fright, holding my chest that hurts with how rapidly the beat of my heart is racing."I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he shrugs. "Are you okay? I know you said you were yesterday, but Luca's not here now; you don't have to lie," he exclaims calmly."I'm fine, Niko... just as I had said yesterday.""Good, that's good," he trails off.Cinching the bedsheet against me, I do nothing but stare at him as he stares back. Something in his eyes seems depleted, as if he's received some bad news that's set him off to hate life today.I want to ask him about it,
Despite wanting nothing more than to climb back in bed with Emma, I chose to stop by the garden, where our men are training with one another, as I would expect them to.I noted them as I walked down the hall, stopping to stare out the window as I marvelled at how good they were becoming in hand-to-hand combat. I have Emma to thank for that. Just when I thought they couldn't improve, she showed up to prove me wrong.Backtracking through the house, I chose to stand off to the side and watch in the shadows, not really piquing anyone's interest nor imposing on their training session. My pain threshold would not hold up anyway.I'm disgusted to say after a while; I find Bianca in the thick of my men doing precisely what Emma might have been doing if she weren't in bed, exhausted from the last few days of hell.She, too, moves just as fluidly as Emma does, leaving me with no doubt that they were trained by the same person. I find myself hovering closer to marvel at the fact that though even
LucaI should have immediately gotten up last night to see what the fuck Bianca was up to, but I couldn't give up the chance to hold Emma close after we finally broke the fucking ice that was dividing us.So I held Emma until she fell asleep, and then I rolled her onto the mattress, spooning her until sleep also took me. But a gut feeling woke me early in the morning as if someone was watching us.Emma was still snuggly held to my body when my eyes flew open, her head under my chin as I breathed her in.The clock on her bedside table read three thirty, yet despite the muted light it gave warding off the pitch darkness, I swear I could have seen someone sitting in the armchair looking back at me.I squinted for a few moments hoping my eyesight would adjust to reveal who it was, but it was far too dark to see who dared to sit in my room whilst I slept, but in honesty, I had an inkling who the fuck it might be. Call it intuition, or let's admit that the hairs on the back of my fucking ne
Looking between her and the doctor, I move without hesitation, sitting before him as he smirks."Do you hurt anywhere, in particular, Mr Moretta?" He asks me."No—.""He hurts," Emma overtalks me."Where?" he asks me. For a long moment, I choose to be quiet, contemplating standing up and refusing to be seen at all. But with Emma standing right there behind him, arms crossed, her bottom lip trapped as she bites down on it, makes me second-guess my choice."Chest," I reveal reluctantly."I'd like to have a look. Can you take off your upper clothing, please?"Gritting my teeth, having noted Emma floating closer, I do as he asks. Usually, I would ignore my injuries and allow them to heal on their own, but Emma feels the need to ensure my safety.I shrug off my ruined blazer and the shirt that's ripped in several places, dropping them on the floor carelessly. They'll go in the bin, anyway."Ah," the doctor hums whilst Emma gasps aloud.I haven't looked at myself, but from the sounds of it,
LucaEmma has me rendered speechless as she firmly chastises the men who are put in place to protect us at all times, no matter the cost. To say I'm not sad to see that she admonishes Niko would be honest. And what's more, she demands they all leave my office, leaving me alone with her after her shining ability to rule our men as their queen for the first time.I had expected her to retire to Niko's bedroom the moment we stepped foot in the house, as she has done the last few days, but not today. Today, she chose me, and I'm not stupid enough to ignore that fact. I'll be sure to revel in any and all attention she designates for me. Trauma can do that, bringing people together over mutual experiences, and today, our ordeal has been more than horrific and most definitely unexpected.Honestly, I want to lay her back into our bed and fall beside her to lie in content silence. My mind can stop racing, and I can just enjoy her company by touching her in as many places as I can."Let's get y
"Stand down, idiota!" Luca hisses his way."Why are you walking in here looking like a bat out of hell?" One of the others, Theo, I think his name is, remarks."We got ambushed. Hasn't Team Three notified you? What about team two? Do you have communications with them?" Luca asks as we race towards the house. His burst of energy has me panting as I race to keep up with him."We had confirmation you took off an hour ago," Theo answers."Where's Niko?" Luca fires back."In his office.""Get him to meet me in mine. The six of you and no one else understood?""Yes, sir." They all mutter together.Five of them followed Luca, Mass, Angelo, and me to Luca's office, and Theo promptly headed to Niko's office.I've barely sat in the office chair Luca guides me into before Niko enters the room.He beelines straight for the desk, crouching beside me, asking if I'm okay."Are you hurt? Have you called the doctor?" He questions me and then Luca."I have no phone; how'd you expect me to order the do