LILITH POVI was yet to recover from the trauma of the burning building. Well, the building that didn't get burnt. It was apparently a false alarm, and the smoke that people had seen coming out of the building was from several burning papers. I didn't know how the perpetrators had done it, but it was very clever of them.I couldn't tell who had been targeted, but I believed I was lucky to have come out alive sustaining just bruises.The bruises were yet to leave. I bet it would take another two weeks for it to finally be erased from my skin.Yesterday, going out with Giovanni, I used makeup to cover up all the bruises on my skin. I shouldn't be going around with bruises as Raven.My cheeks heat up as I recall what had been done to Marcella's gravestone. I hoped I was forgiven by her.Due to the desire that had enveloped me yesterday, I had forgotten to ask Giovanni about what caused the death of his sister. At the same time, I was glad it was his sister and not some ex-lover or wife.
LILITH POV I left the university hospital to go to class as usual. However, all that was taught barely registered in my mind. I could only think of Diamante and all the threats she had poured out. She was going to harm me and the baby. She had planted the drugs on me, and she was going to do worse to us. Was I scared? I wasn't one bit. At least I wasn't scared for myself but for the safety of the child. Giovanni didn't know about the baby yet, I wondered if I should call him to tell him and mention the threats from Diamante. However, what would I say to him? "Hey, Giovanni. I happen to get pregnant for you, and I am about 9 weeks pregnant. I know it's not part of the deal, but will you accept the child? Also, your crazy ex is threatening my life this instant. And do you know she's the one who planted that drug on me? Of course, you must have suspected that!" I cringed as I repeated the words over again in my head. No, it wasn't good enough. I didn't even think Giovanni would ac
GIOVANNI POVI snorted, staring from Jacques to Luca and then the soldati that were in the room.I stood from where I was sitting, took a few walks around the room, and then returned to my desk."You're telling me the plan was foiled? I mean, the plan we fucking did in secret was miraculously known; hence the bastard got to escape?!""We'll do better next time," One of the soldati murmured.I scowled at him, using all my willpower to stop myself from hurling the contents of my cup at him.I didn't care about the plan being futile. Of course, I could make another hit on Diego Cardenas until I was satisfied with the result.It was because the information had leaked out. That was what was pissing me off.The meeting was held between everyone who was here. The information could have only been obtained through one person here, or someone must have said something outside.I wanted to believe we had a spy here but the person must have a fucking death wish to be willing to spy on me.Certainl
LILITH POVI gasped as I came to. I opened my eyes, blinking as I stared around to ascertain where I was, but it was impossible to make out anything. I believed it was the bag over my head or a blindfold; I couldn't tell. But certainly, there was something obstructing my vision.My head pounded like I had about three drums inside, where people continued to beat, venting their frustration. My wrists burned, and I tried to raise my hands but I sensed they were tied together as the rope bit into them."She's awake," I heard a voice say. It wasn't familiar, unlike the one that had pulled me into the car."Hello?" I called. But I doubted anyone would answer me.My ears perked up as I heard footsteps approaching. I turned my attention towards the direction, sniffing the air. The smell of mildew and oil wafted up my nose, and so did the unmistakable odor of blood. My stomach churned, causing me to grimace, and I bit my lower lip to push back the vomit that surged up my throat."Not now," I h
GIOVANNI POVI paced the living room. After hearing the news of Lilith being kidnapped, I dismissed Luca and the others. Even though I wanted to immediately spring forth into action, launching an attack on Diego needed proper planning.It was even more necessary now that we had a potential spy in our midst. I knew I wouldn't be saying any of the plans I had to all of them.Luca and Jacques were enough for me to fill them in on the development on the ground. Also, having a plan B was paramount.I glared at the door as I stopped in the middle of the room, Luca stepped inside. He was the last person I wanted to see at this minute.I wanted to be alone with my thoughts. I needed a fucking clearhead where Diego was concerned.He stood by the door, staring at me. I believed it was to see if I was approachable or not.Luca nodded, letting out a sigh as he stepped closer."What do you want?" I asked him.He brought out the same purple butterfly hairclips he had a few days ago once more."Last
LILITH POVIt was three days that Diego Cardenas had put me in the cell. Although it was more like a room, seeing as I had a standard bed I could sleep in, a nice bathroom, good meal that was often rejected by me, I still was in a prison because I couldn't step out of the room.I couldn't even look out of the damned window without him barking orders through the intercom announcing my death if I kept looking.I didn't even have a phone to contact anyone. Everything I had with me was confiscated.I stood from the bed, pacing the room. Glaring at nothing in particular, I walked to the sofa in the room's center and sat heavily on it.Giovanni wasn't here and it didn't even look like he was coming. It was fucking three days already. If he had wanted to come, then he should have been here. At this moment, I doubted if I meant anything to him. Maybe I wasn't as important to him as they thought I was.Then, if that was the case, I'd fucking rot here."So much for having so much trust in him c
LILITH POVI was rudely awoken by a deafening bang. Disoriented, I rubbed at my tired eyes, looking around the darkened room.It was already evening, and the moon wasn't out. I could tell because from where my bed was, I could see the moon. Diego told me he had allowed it to be so because he wanted me to feel as though I wasn't alone.I didn't know if he meant for that to be sarcastic because he had looked and sounded so severe. It wasn't as if I could talk to the moon, complain to the moon about my predicament, or even request for a hug from it.Another bang again, causing me to jolt. I grimace, placing my hand on my pounding chest. It was already past 8pm, I wondered who the fuck was doing that. Beating on a drum as if they were the only person here. It could be Jamie but I didn't think he'd want to disturb Diego.I walked to the window, there was nothing much to see except the swaying of tall trees and the lovely stars that were starting to adorn the sky."Fuck it," I muttered as t
LILITH POV I am alive. That was the first thing I thought as soon as I came awake. Then, the beeping, slow, rhythmic, and persistent sound in the room followed soon after. I slowly peeled my eyes open, then shut them back, wincing as light flooded them. No doubt, I was in the hospital. The same place I had left about a week ago. I had returned to it. My nose wrinkled as the scent of sterile disinfectant reached my nostrils, and a wave of vomit surged through me. I pushed it back. "Mom?" I murmured as I noticed a mop of greying brown hair resting on the small place beside me. My mother raised her head. Briefly, she stared at me. I believe she was startled to see me awake. It took a few seconds for realization to dawn on her. Her eyes widened as she gazed at me once more. "Baby," she whispered, gripping my hand. Her grip on me was so tight that I believed she was still finding it hard to believe I was awake. "Mom," I murmured, attempting to crack a smile. But it came out as a
GIOVANNI POV"Trouble in paradise?"I didn't raise my head from the position it was in. It was currently between my hands, and I was staring at the empty cup once filled with whisky on my office desk.Theo was in the office with me. He'd be staying over for a week, and he had come to Milan for an important business, so rather than let him live in a hotel, I had invited him over.He was my friend after all and he'd be saving money too."Judging by what I saw, I'd say you were the faulty one," Theo continued.I snorted. Sighing, I raised my head, looking around the room. It was somewhat dark. The only light came from the chandelier, and it should have been too dim for anyone to be able to see anything.I could see just fine; no obstacle on the road would make me stumble. In fact, having the curtains down and minimal light was one of the things u preferred while in the office.Despite how gloomy it seemed, the outside sometimes got me even more furious than I always was."What did you sa
CASEY POV"Jesus Christ, Lilith, can you stop doing that?" I groaned, raising my head slowly from the pillow.My eyes were still shut as I sat up on the bed, and I pushed my hands into my hair, holding my pounding head, trying to ease the headache.But it was pretty useless because my head pounded intensely with every little movement I made with my face.I didn't get drunk last night, and I knew the reason I was in this situation.That jerk. He hadn't even spared me or even for a second thought. I was a woman, and he shouldn't be hitting on someone who was supposedly weaker than he was. But no, he had slammed the fucking club at the back of my head. I wondered if it was to prove to Lilith that he could hurt me as he had said, or maybe he just desired to inflict pain on people.I opened my eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the bright lighting in the room. When they were fully opened, they flickered to Lilith, who paced around the room with a mug clasped in her hands.I grimaced,
LILITH POVAbout a few minutes later, we were out of the cage room and outside in the cold. I hurried towards Giovanni as he strode to the car, with Theo carrying Casey walking behind us.Theo promised to take Casey home, although I had declined his offer. It made no sense that I let my best friend be taken home by someone she wasn't familiar with. But I trusted Theo.He wasn't a creep and would ensure Casey arrived home and was well taken care of before leaving.I knew that Casey would be fine with him. So, I allowed it after much prodding."Wait up," I said to Giovanni as he continued walking.I walked as fast as my aching legs could carry me. When we reached the car, I gripped the door's handle before Giovanni could.I didn't let go and that made him turn to me.He furrowed his brows, staring down at me."Are you mad at me?" I asked him. "I know I shouldn't have brought Casey here. It's my fault that happened to her. Besides, I didn't want to be alone because you're mostly either t
LILITH POVEverything happened so fast that I could barely keep up. From Giovanni landing the first punch to Jared, my so-called captor retaliated, and everyone started fighting.My attention was mainly on Giovanni, who had succeeded in shoving Jared into the cage facing him off.I hadn't seen Giovanni in a fistfight before until now. Oh boy, he easily was the sexiest man I had ever seen despite the blood dripping from his hands and bruises on the side of his face.I hadn't doubted Giovanni beating Jared but I never thought it would be as easy as this.It looked like this was what he did everyday and Jared wasn't even a match for him.Giovanni emerged from the cage a while later, wiping the blood in his hands.He gripped the door of the cage and pointed to Jared's body, which was now on the ground.Two men immediately ran towards the body and pulled him up. I recalled one of the men as the guard who had stopped me from entering the VIP section the first time I met face-to-face with Gi
GIOVANNI POVWe were done with the meeting. Although the underground club, as it was called so as not to draw unwanted attention, wasn't just filled with one Mafia group. There were different factions from different Italian mafia families. It was owned by multiple factions, and everyone had gathered to decide who would get what cut of the profits.Not to brag, but I had the most significant profit in this underground club. Likewise, the club wouldn't be functioning without my influence."Really?" Theo murmured, igniting his fourth cigarette since today. "Bringing her here? What point are you trying to make exactly?"I shrugged, walking to the window and staring at the darkened area. I could only see the three swaying gently as the wind blew it. Also, it was possible to see the twin lampposts a few distance from the tree.We were in an office that could be used by anyone. This was a private space, especially when you had something you desired to say and didn't want the world to know ab
LILITH POVIt wasn't long after Theo left as well to go into the room I had been in. I was with Casey once again in the cage room.Both of us looked lost and wondered what to do with our time. We needed to wait for Giovanni and Theo to be done with whatever they were doing before leaving here."Where did you go?" Casey asked me as we walked towards the bar at the room's corner. Less people gathered there. Most of the people were close to the cage, which was situated in the room's center, and they were fixated on the event that was going on.Also, they had servers bringing wines and liquor to them, so they had no reason to come to the bar except if it was necessary."In a room," I murmured. Casey raised her brows, and I thought of what to add precisely to what I said.It was a room filled with all sorts of things, perhaps the ones I hadn't seen yet, and it was the reason Giovanni wanted me out of there. To shield me. But I doubted that was the case because if he had wanted to shield me
GIOVANNI POVI stared at Lilith. She still had her thinking face on. It was tilted in the air, and her lower lip between her teeth and forehead had crease lines. I was expecting her to heed my advice and do as I said. Bringing her here might not have been the best thing I ever did as far as I was concerned.She was in the danger zone and barely had any experience with the Mafia world. If that was Diamante, she had all the knowledge from her father. Lilith was different.At this same time, I wanted her to see me for who I was. There was no way I could give her what she desired and there was no point in her staying with me because it would be a waste of time.I was doing her a favor and hoped she was sensible enough to know that."Maybe I am not brainy after all," Lilith finally said. She shrugged her tiny shoulders and a small smile formed on her face.She was exceptionally gorgeous tonight. It wasn't the makeup. She was always this beautiful but something about her tonight was somewha
LILITH POVThe room wasn't as dark as I had thought. I guessed it was due to the dimness, and my brain had processed that it was that way; hence, I had seen nothing at first.All the same, I was still curious."What's going on? Why am I here?" I asked Giovanni."Relax," that was the only thing he said as his hand, once again, snaked around my waist.Relax? I wanted to scream at him. How the hell was I going to relax in this manner? What the fuck was he thinking bringing me in here?! Ever since I had been following Giovanni, this was the first time I'd be in such an atmosphere as intense as this.Although I had seen him with guns many times, killed people, and even once saw him being shot at, the first time, that was all.We were always in a high-profile event with wealthy-looking men and women.This wasn't as noisy and chaotic as the first place we were in, but it didn't make it less dangerous.This place was darker. Cooler. It seemed like the place where silence held more weight than
LILITH POVI had no choice but to leave the house. Casey waited until it was precisely the time to lead me out. She had borrowed me one of her dresses because she believed the ones in my wardrobe weren't fitting for the occasion that Giovanni wanted.Even though we didn't know what the occasion was about. I never knew, so I wasn't even surprised one bit.When I was out of the house after giving an excuse to my mother to stay over at Casey's for the night, to which she had agreed, Casey and I both walked to the bus stop, where we waited for Giovanni to arrive.In about ten minutes, the car was here but he wasn't the one picking me up. It was Rowland and Giovanni wasn't even in the car.I furrowed my brows as I walked to the car, leaning close to the window, "Where's Giovanni?" I asked him."The boss is in the party. He needs to arrive there because he's having an important meeting in about," Rowland stared at his watch, before glancing back to me, "2 minutes and shoot! He asked me to b