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
LILITH POVHe was here again. Staring at me. Since I stepped into La notte, Giovanni's eyes had been on mine. I wondered if he had come here on purpose to wait on me. Maybe Rowland had told him about what happened to me the last time.Two days ago, after having almost fainted and him helping me, I could barely walk back inside as soon as he dropped me off. I couldn't tell how I had gotten inside. I found myself in the morning with my mother sitting beside my bed, holding my hands.She told me Rowland had to carry me inside, seeing as I couldn't walk. It seemed I had become unconscious in the process of him driving me home.With my phone, which was luckily unlocked, he phoned my mother first. Her number was the first on my speed dial.I was lucky he hadn't at least told her that he had brought me home from my stripping. That would have been disastrous, and I wouldn't have been able to step out of the house anymore because my eyes would be on me all through.I believed Giovanni had gott
LILITH POVMy head thumped, and I could literally hear the sound. It didn't help that the pain intensified as soon as I opened my eyes.The bright light from the chandelier flashed into it, and I winced, shutting them back. Slowly, I opened them again. I stared at the ceiling for a brief seconds before looking around me.I was in a room. It wasn't mine.I sat up abruptly, clasping my throbbing head with both hands while I observed my surroundings.I recalled it here. It was the hotel that Giovanni had brought me to on my first night with him. I flushed slightly, thinking about the night and the possibility of being here with a different person.I quickly dispelled the thought as I saw Giovanni standing by the large open window. He was staring out of it with his arms folded across his chest.Why was I here? I wondered. Of course, I remembered what happened and no, it didn't help the embarrassment slowly creeping inside of me.I wondered what I was going to tell Sofia had happened to me
GIOVANNI’S POVBullshit!Total bullshit!How could she overlook putting herself in danger just because she desired to make herself look independent?It wasn't my intention to be here, but I wanted to see it for myself after what Rowland had told me. Also, I couldn't help being worried.I was the one who placed Lilith in the situation, I might as well take responsibility for it.Besides, both Lilith's mother and Christie had put a call through to me.While Lilith's mother had been calm and told me she'd never allow me to have access to Lilith and the child after it was born, seeing as she would be taking responsibility for it, Christie had threatened me for the hundredth time.She warned me never to let anything happen to Lilith, and I'd pay for everything else. Even though her threat meant Lilith to nothing, it was Lilith’s mother, Maria's words, that mostly got to me.I had a rethink. Was it possible to stay without wanting to see Lilith? For the past few days, I have tried my best t
LILITH POVHis words hurt me. I couldn't tell why he kept on reminding me of the fact that he wasn't in love with me and would never dream of doing so, now he had added marriage to the list.I had never thought of getting married at 19, likewise getting pregnant, but if the opportunity came now, I doubted I wouldn't want to explore it.Now that Giovanni had ruled out love and marriage, I wondered what he would rule out next."Can I leave now?" I asked him.We had been here for two hours, and it was too late for me. I had snuck out of the house without my mother's knowledge. This time was different from when I would sneak out and sneak back in.I was pregnant, and my mother had made it her responsibility to check on me every hour to see if I was fine or not."Yes, yes," Giovanni nodded. "We had come to an agreement, have we not? See, it's not that hard."I wanted to provoke him by asking what agreement and we never discussed anything, but I knew damned well what had been discussed and
LILITH POVI sucked in a deep breath as his hand hitched higher into my dress. My gaze moved from his wandering hand to his face, and he immediately held onto my chin, stopping me from looking away."Look at me," Giovanni demanded, his voice raspy.I did as he said. Even if I wanted to look away, I couldn't. His eyes had turned dark with lust swirling around in them; I leaned into his warmth, my hands still clenched tight."I want to kiss you," he said."Why," I whispered, licking my lower lip, before continuing, "Why are you asking me?"I was curious. If he wanted it. He could take it because I wanted it too!Maybe he desired to look like a gentleman he barely was."I need to be certain you want to be kissed, too," he said to me. "Do you?"I swallowed, shaking my head.Giovanni seemed to take that as my answer as he immediately withdrew his hand that was close to my panties, and he let go of my chin.I held onto one of his hands, which was still close to my thigh, and guarded it back
GIOVANNI’S POVI placed both hands on the shower wall, my eyes snapping shut as the water cascaded down my body.Lilith.If it weren't for the command I had given to Rowland to drive off as soon as she came down from the car, I had the strong urge to bring her back in and do as I desired with her. Or maybe inviting her over to the penthouse for the night would have made more sense.But she had rejected moving in with me; how would she accept just coming for the night?I opened my eyes briefly to stare at my hardened length. Nothing was helping it calm down. Not even the freezing water.If anything, it was getting worse. Perhaps I shouldn't be thinking about Lilith since she was the reason I was in this predicament, but how could I not think about her?She invaded my thoughts without trying. No matter how hard I tried to push her out of my head.Aside from that, I was mad at her for telling me lies, and she was a potential weakness to me; I had been trying to stay away from her for thi
LILITH POVMy lesson wasn't learned. With everything that had happened between Giovanni and me, you'd have thought I'd keep my distance. Instead, here I was in his arms, in a function he wanted us to be in.Two days ago, after our meeting and how u had allowed him to do as he pleased with me despite my vows, I went to the hospital with him the next day.Mostly, it was for an ultrasound and something else that Giovanni didn't want me to know because he had called the doctor in private, which, in my opinion, was stupid, seeing as I was the one who was pregnant and everything they wanted to discuss should be in my presence.But Giovanni had returned a few minutes later, looking smug while the doctor was flustered. Well, he had taken me to a hospital of his choosing and demanded a female attend to me.Now, if the woman wasn't already in her fifties, although she looked young enough to be seen around a man like Giovanni, I didn't think Giovanni was interested in a woman her age—I'd have 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