GIOVANNI POVPregnant. The words resonated once again in my head. I winced, clasping the cup tightly, my eyes narrowed on the wall. Lilith, or was it Raven. Whatever the fuck was; she was pregnant.The anger that had once enveloped me learning about her identity instantly left as soon as the words came out of the doctor's mouth.She was fucking pregnant."Shit!" I stood and paced the living room. She should be fucking on birth control. It was never in our plan to have a baby. In fact, I hadn't even thought of having a child with anyone.Yet, she had fallen pregnant."Fucking whore," I gulped down the whiskey, taking my cigar from the table, lighting it and taking a drag. Shutting my eyes briefly, I opened them again, glaring at the cigar.It didn't bring out precisely the exact feelings that I wanted. The feelings that always came with it while in the presence of Lilith. The feelings I had once felt.According to the information that Luca had gotten on her, Lilith was nineteen years
LILITH POVIt was two weeks and a few days since I last saw Giovanni. Also, he refused to contact me or even answer my call when I reached out to him.I didn't want to give up on calling him, but it made me look desperate. Giovanni made me that way and I wondered if, it would ever stop.I climbed down from the bed, pushing a hand through my hair before rubbing my tired eyes. I did a little stretch groaning as my muscles popped before walking to the mirror.My eyes were tired. It was as if I hadn't slept throughout the night. Well, technically, I didn't.My mind was pretty occupied with my current situation, so getting a few minutes of sleep was almost impossible.Each time I closed my eyes, all I saw was the scene back at the hospital. The look on Giovanni's face and when he had turned his back on me.Sighing, I pushed a hand through my hair again, my eyes moving downward to my stomach. I undid the buttons on my pajamas top, opening my shirt wider to stare at myself.The only thing th
LILITH POVAfter my mother was done cooking and Christie was eating, I was surprised when she ate everything on her plate and asked for more. We decided to take a walk.Casey arrived soon after Christie finished eating and decided to follow us.We were going to Riley's café. Casey had suggested it too. The movies were my second choice, but I was against them. I was yet to recover from what happened. I doubted I'd ever be going to the movies.Casey and Christie understood and they didn't press further."So you're the new best friend?" Casey sized Christie up. She narrowed her eyes while crossing her arms across her chest. She looked from me to Christie and then let her eyes linger on hers."I am," Christie said. She gripped my hand.That made Casey's eyes narrow even more. "Why do I feel offended by your admission?" She asked."It doesn't matter what you feel. That's the truth anyway," Christie pointed out with a shrug."Do we need to battle this out?" Casey retorted."Absolutely. If t
GIOVANNI POV"I told you all that happened because you forced me to. I never said you could go meet her," I said to Christie as she stepped inside.I was in the living room, nursing a glass of whiskey in one hand while the other hand was flipping through my phone.I raised my head to see Christie roll her eyes at me.She wrinkled her nose as she stepped further into the room, dropping her bag on the couch. She looked around, and her eyes landed on the half-smoked cigar on the center table."Really Giovanni? You're going to hurt yourself just because your damned ego doesn't want you to accept that it's possible and normal for you to be in love?" she said."Fine, she made a mistake. Everyone can do that. It's not as if you're a saint, and don't even get me started on the number of mistakes you made. But who pushed you away for that? If Don Massimo had done that, would you be in the same position you are in?"The mention of Don Massimo's name reignited the anger I had towards him once mo
LILITH POVPulling the overall around me tightly as soon as I stepped down from the bus, I puffed out a breath, walking straight to the entrance of Club La Notte.I ignored the curious eyes that were boring holes through my back and focused on my goal. It wasn't a new thing. People stared this way. In fact, I had once been in this position.The first time I arrived at La Notte, I was looking for a job. People had snickered, and some had even made a snide comment about me. While the ones who thought they were nice enough had told me to return home that this wasn't the place for little girls.Even as they were looking at me in the same manner now, no one was saying anything. It wasn't as if I had put on the Raven personnel. I was just in my Lilith form, even though I was barely recognizable as I had applied a little bit of makeup."Is that you, Raven?" I heard Marco's voice.Just the person I wanted to see. I raised my head to see him by the entrance; his eyes were narrowed on mine as h
LILITH POVI looked at Marco for the longest time. There was no way someone else would be far more awful than he was. Marco was a manslut. He had made advances towards me before, but I hadn't accepted any. But I knew many of the girls he was fucking.He was dangerous. A different type of danger than Giovanni was. But he still was, and I had seen how he treated some people harshly in the clubhouse Now, meeting someone who was far worse than he was? I didn't think I was ready to, but I was curious."You need to speak to my sister. Although I can put in good words for you. All recruiting has to be done by her."The edge in Marco's voice confirmed something was going on with him and his sister. Also, I didn't think he had willingly stepped down for her to take over. Marco, whom I knew would fight tooth and nail to stay as the one managing La Notte."I'd like to meet with her," I murmured. Marco frowned, staring at me. Maybe I was insane to still want to see her after all the warnings in
GIOVANNI POVI heaved a breath, watching as Lilith stormed away from me. Maybe I shouldn't have said that to her. Despite how indirect it was, it still sounded as though I thought of her as a whore.But it wasn't as if I could take my words back. At least she was okay."New catch?" I heard a voice behind me.Turning, I locked gaze with Sofia. She folded her in front of her, a coy smile tilting her lips up."None of your business," I said to her."Right?" Sofia said. Her turquoise green eyes twinkled as she stared at me more as if she knew something. "Thanks to my brother, who's not so useless in providing information about this place. At least, I know half of what I didn't want to.""For example, that girl. Raven. He talked about her a lot, and I had always wondered if he was seeing her until he mentioned your name. Seeing her again today and the altercation from before could only mean she was the same girl Marco had been talking about."What else had he been talking about and what th
LILITH POVI groaned, stretching out my aching body. I was glad to be out of the suffocating dress that had always been free and hug my body like a second skin.Now, it had done more than hugging. It took my breath out, and I had barely stayed alive throughout the performance. Even until I left the stage, I couldn't understand what I had. I kept spinning and twisting while my head was pounding and doing its own spin.I guessed it was Flora's presence that made me steel myself. For some weird reason, she had started a challenge with me on the stage.Although she always did that back then, she had never come close to stealing the spotlight from me before.Hell, she never even got in my line of vision. She only gave me the stink eyes while doing her thing.Sofia had probably noticed because as soon as I left the stage, she had come to meet me to ignore everything that Flora was doing.Sofia was nicer and more observant than Marco. If it were Marco, he wouldn't have done anything about th
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