DianaThe morning light filters through the curtains, stirring me from sleep.Anthony's arm is draped heavily over my waist, his breath warm against my neck.Memories of last night come flooding back - our frantic lovemaking, the release of tension that's been building between us.I want to relish in the delight of those memories, but it's clouded by the fear of the future.I shouldn't have let things go so far.I shift carefully, not wanting to disturb him.He looks so peaceful like this, his usual worry lines smoothed away.My heart aches, knowing the danger we're in.A hitman is after us, and we have no idea who we can trust.Me... pregnant.Anthony stirs, nuzzling into my hair."Morning," he murmurs."Hey." I roll over to face him.His eyes are still bleary with sleep, but he smiles softly.Suddenly, I feel sick.I groan, and lie back down."You okay?" he asks."Just nauseous," I say.I know what it is.Morning sickness.But he doesn't."Wait here. I'll make you breakfast."He kisses
AnthonyI pace the length of Frankie's study, head pounding.No matter how many times I review the case files, I can't figure out who's feeding information to Damon Atwell.After a long day in front of the laptop, the walls of the study close in.Diana's in the bedroom when I walk in, her hair falling over the back of an old t-shirt.The sight of her calms my frayed nerves.She smiles, dimples peeking out, and pats the spot beside her.I sit, wrapping an arm around her waist and burying my face in her neck. Her scent envelops me, vanilla and jasmine, as her fingers comb through my hair."Rough day?" Her voice vibrates against my cheek.I grunt. "Dead end after dead end. Someone has to be tipping Atwell off, but I can't figure out who or why.""We'll get him." Her confidence in me never wavers."In the meantime, I picked up some DVDs. Want to watch something mindless?"A movie sounds perfect. I pull back to study the selections—all favorites of mine—and smile. "You're too good to me.""
My hand finds the hem of her shirt, sliding up the smooth plane of her stomach.She breaks the kiss just long enough to whisper, "More, Tony. I want more."The name we used when we first fucked.She wants to play it that way?I'm on board.Permission granted, I push her shirt up and over her head, baring her to my gaze.Black lace cups her breasts, barely containing their fullness.My mouth waters at the sight.Diana reaches for my belt, nimble fingers making quick work of the buckle.I lift my hips so she can drag my pants down, freeing my erection.Her hand wraps around my hard length, thumb swiping over the tip.A groan rumbles in my chest as she begins to stroke. "God, baby. Just like that."She tilts her head up, eyes glowing in the dim light. "How about this?"Diana leans down and takes me into the wet heat of her mouth.Pleasure lights up my nerve endings, white-hot and blinding.I fist my hands in her hair, torn between pushing her down and pulling her away before I lose contro
DianaThe click-clack of the keys on the laptop jolts me awake.I peel my eyes open to see Anthony hunched over his laptop, brows furrowed in concentration."Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he murmurs without looking up."Just trying to get an update on the wedding shooting, but I got nothing so far."I stretch and yawn, the sheet slipping down to reveal my naked body.Last night had been intense, passionate, an escape from the chaos that has consumed our lives since Anthony and my supposed wedding."It's okay," I say. "I should get up anyway."I slide out of bed and pad over to him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.He smiles against my mouth, hand coming up to cup my face.For a moment, we forget - the death threats, the contracts, the target on our backs.It's just us, just this.But reality always rears it’s ugly head.With a sigh, I pull away, my fingertips trailing down his chest."I'm going to explore the house a bit," I tell him."Holler if you find anything."He nods, alre
AnthonyI slump in my leather chair, rubbing my temples as the glow of multiple computer screens casts a harsh light on my weary face.I've been at this for hours, trying to figure out why David Atwell, a former hitman for my father's mafia, is hell-bent on killing me.It's been nothing but dead ends and frustration, and I'm about ready to call it a day.But I've been running in circles for so long, that my brain is confused.An obsession-like disease crawls through my mind, and each time the rational side of my brain reaches out at me to end this madness of trying to find answers, the sickness that consumes my mind refuses to let me shut it down.So, where am I at right now?I can't call anyone, because I'm surrounded by enemies.Whoever I can call is either in hiding, or knows nothing.All I have left is for me to fall back on my one and only skill."Come on, Anthony," I whisper to myself,"you're a damn computer genius. You can do this."I crack my knuckles, take a deep breath, and
DianaThe neon lights of the gas station flicker on against the setting sun of the Montana sky, casting eerie shadows across the deserted parking lot.My heart races in my chest as I pull Frankie's Toyota Corolla to a stop near the pumps.Every light, sound and movement hits me like a solid rock being thrown in my direction.For what I'm about to do is gnawing at my chest.Once I go into this, there's no coming back."Okay, Diana, you can do this," I whisper to myself, gripping the steering wheel tightly.I glance around to make sure no one has followed me.Anthony would be furious if he knew I was going behind his back like this.I keep praying he's still busy researching on the computer, and not following me to town.If he notices me missing, he'd come looking, which is why I chose to drive a few towns over.The station is eerily quiet, as if the world has stopped turning just for this moment.My hands tremble as I step out of the car, adjusting the jacket I'd grabbed in haste from
It's a frame I can't ever forget.Familiar, threatening.He steps out of the SUV, his movements deliberate and calculated, and I find myself unable to tear my gaze away from him.This is Damon Atwell. The very name sends a chill through me."Stay calm," I tell myself, slowly stepping back into the aisle and taking cover.I watch as Damon strides towards the gas station entrance, his boots echoing ominously on the pavement.When he reaches the door, he glances around one last time before coming inside.He walks up to Mr. Patel as Mr. Patel introduces himself."Have you seen this girl?" he says, showing him a photo.I take a deep breath and crouch underneath.I can't see anything anymore.All I hear is Mr. Patel's voice."No," he says firmly."Please leave. The store is empty."I don't know why this stranger just protected me, but I began to breathe easy."Please just leave," I pray silently, trying to convince myself that this is just a coincidence.But deep down, I know that nothing is
AnthonyMy heart drops when I notice the white envelope propped against the crisp white pillows on her bed.The elegant penmanship spells out my name, "Anthony" in a way that sends a shiver down my spine.I hesitate for a moment before picking it up, already fearing the contents."Anthony," the note begins, "I saw it. The torture chamber in the basement. I can't pretend I didn't. I thought I could handle being a part of this world, but I was wrong."My chest tightens as I read her words, each one like a cold knife slicing through me.I feel the weight of her fear and the gravity of her decision."Please understand, I do love you. Since this is the last time we will be speaking, I am taking a leap of faith to give you the truth. The night before our wedding, I made promised myself that I would never fall in love with you. At most, I might bring myself to tolerate you. But, the last few weeks together revealed how wrong I was for I did the unthinkable. I fell in love with you, started d
AlexanderA year have passed since the end of the war between my family and the Saconne family. Everyone was at peace. The Romano family was prospering with the added territory of the Saconnes we had divided amongst the other three great families.We were in good times now. Aryana had given birth to our son and he was adorable. He had my gray eyes, which I had also gotten from my father and Aryana’s golden-brown hair. I can still remember the day she went into labor. I had been so afraid and uncertain of what to do. Give me a gun or a knife, and I could kill anyone you wanted to, but give me a pregnant Aryana who was in labor? I was lost.I could still remember the emotions that threatened to overflow when an exhausted but overjoyed Aryana placed our son in my arms for the first time. Despite how wrinkly skin, he was beautiful.After recuperating, Aryana completed her master’s degree in Psychology. It had been a little bit difficult to see her stress over completing projects before de
“I was unconscious for two weeks?” Alexander was astonished, but I ignored his question because I just needed to tell him about my feelings in case this was all temporary.“And seeing how you would never wake up, I was lonely and scared, and I thought about all the times we had spent together, and I realized that I had fallen in love with you, but I didn’t know why I couldn’t say it, and then I regretted it and-,”Dry lips blocked the rest of my words from coming out. I didn’t hesitate to kiss back. It was amazing! I didn’t care that his lips were parched or that he hadn’t brushed his teeth in two weeks. I only watched him kissing me back, something he could do because he was awake!We slowly drifted apart.“Hi,” I whispered, afraid I would start rambling again.“Hi.” He said back to me. We stared deeply at each other, cataloging our features as if afraid we would forget with time.“I missed you.”“I missed you too.”I smiled widely, the first smile I had given in two weeks, and leane
AryanaTwo weeks.Two weeks had passed since Tony and Marcelo returned with an unconscious Alexander, covered in his blood. It’s been two weeks since Alexander promised me everything would be all right, since he promised he would come back. Technically, he didn’t lie. He did come back. Just not the way I had expected. It’s been two weeks since I last heard his voice, Since Alexander was last conscious.I missed him. I missed his voice. I missed his smiles and his grins. I missed seeing his gray eyes. I forgot how warm his embrace was. I missed the feeling of his lips on my body. I missed everything.To think that his last words to me had been to reassure and comfort me, and I couldn’t even tell him that I loved him. That was right. In watching over his prone body for the past two weeks, I came to the realization that I did, in fact, love Alexander. I couldn’t believe it had taken him falling into a coma for me to realize my feelings.How had I been so blind? Why had I continued to dou
Having found out the truth, there was no point in delaying matters. The only reason why Tom had been so successful in beating us down was because of Alfonso. Without Alfonso, what power did Tom have? Tom was already in a tight corner, and seeing how desperate he was to have sent Alfonso to kidnap Aryana, I could sense the end of this pointless war coming to a head.“I should kill you for your betrayal and send you on your way to meet my father, where you will spend your afterlife begging him for forgiveness, but I won’t. Not yet. What you’re going to do now is, you are going to tell Tom that you have Aryana, and he should meet you where we tell you to say. Do you understand?”The resignation was written all over Alfonso’s face. He knew he was done for. He had sealed his fate the day he decided to betray my family.“Are you sure it’ll be fine?” Aryana pulled me aside and asked. “What if he-”“Nothing will happen, I promise you.” I comforted her. “This will be the end, and we’ll finally
AlexanderWhy? I couldn’t believe it. I almost hadn’t wanted to believe it when Felice had taunted the knowledge in my face while kneeling on my feet moments before his death. Seeing my enemy at my feet greatly irritated me, laughing like a mad person instead of cowering and begging like I had wanted him to.Nonetheless, the information struck me like a bolt of lightning. A traitor in our midst had supplied the Saconnes with information about our trade routes so they would know where to hit. The traitor was also responsible for reporting my father’s location. Because of him, my father died. I was filled with rage. We had welcomed that traitor into our midst and had treated him like our family, and he repaid us like this?What pained me the most was who the most likely suspect could be. Marcelo and Tony had discussed this when I told them. We went over different possibilities and clues we could have missed.For the traitor to be reporting my father’s whereabouts meant he was high up in
My eyes widened in surprise.Elio Saconne was one of the brothers of Tom Saconne, the Don of the Saconne family. Marcelo had explained a little about the dynamics of the mafia families. Tom Saconne was the oldest of three brothers. After him were his two younger brothers, Elio and Felice Saconne. Despite how impulsive Tom appeared, it was a known fact that he doted on his brothers though I had doubts on whether he actually doted on them or if it was simply that he let them do whatever they wanted, precisely because he didn’t care about them.Alexander killing Elio meant a ray of sunshine for the Romano family as the war finally turned in their favor. It also told that Alexander was proving himself to his family members. Killing Elio was equivalent to cutting off a limb of the Saconnes. It was good news. I allowed myself to drag my eyes over Alexander and observe his features, spotting no happiness or pride in his feat. It had been quite a long time since I last saw him.I barely see A
AryanaWatching how the men under the Romano family cheered for Alexander settled the unease that had appeared ever since Marcelo told me what was happening. I was aware that this didn’t mean that they had forgiven Alexander. It meant that they would give him a chance to prove himself. I wondered if we hadn’t slept together or if I had allowed him to go back to grab a condom from his car back then, would this have happened? There would have been no need for Alexander to go into hiding. He would have stayed here with his family. His father probably wouldn’t have died, and these men wouldn’t have doubted Alexander’s loyalty to his family.I wished they wouldn’t be harsh on Alexander as it hadn’t been his fault. It wasn’t as if he had wanted to leave. He had argued with his father, but in the end, he’d had no choice but to obey his father’s orders. But I knew that wasn’t how the mafia operated.I watched in curiosity as they went on to perform the ceremony that would mark Alexander as th
“How are your injuries? I heard they’re better.” I changed the topic. I didn’t want to immerse myself in my longing for my father.“It’s getting better. You need not worry.” He patted my shoulder.“I know you need time to think about handling what will happen in a few minutes. I’m sure Tony told you about the displeasure of our men.”My eyebrows slightly furrowed at the words ‘our men,’ but he continued speaking before I could contemplate it. I decided that it must have been a blunder. After all, he was an old family member who served on my father’s side. It must have been a blunder.“I only came to tell you that I am here. I watched you grow from a baby to the man you are. You have my support.”I smiled, thankful for his support. He again gripped my shoulder, momentarily tightening his hold on me before letting go with another smile, exiting the study, and leaving me back to my thoughts.I let my mind wander as the time the men under the Romano banner would arrive slowly grew closer.
AlexanderReturning to Manhattan filled me with so many emotions. Memories of my father slammed strain me with so much force that I stopped in my tracks, earning glances from Tony, Marcello, and Aryana. I waved their concern away and stepped into the building that once housed my father, and meters in arms had arrived this morning to drive Aryana and me back to Manhattan. The ride back had been tense and quiet. The atmosphere between Aryana and me was strained. Since I told her I loved her last night and she didn’t reply, we didn’t know how to act in each other's presence. Even though I said she didn’t need to say it back, it didn’t mean I hadn’t been hurt. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t say it back.Didn’t she love me? Had I read her emotions wrong? It was clear that she had feelings for me. Was it that her feelings for me were not as deep as mine, or was it too early for her? I scoffed bitterly to myself. It didn’t matter what. I couldn’t force her to return her feelings for