(Alessio's POV) I chased him down the hallway as quickly as I could. He was a fast runner, but I was still able to catch up with him. Just as he flagged down a cab and was about to get in, I grabbed him, and with a powerful shove, I sent him crashing to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and tried to run again, but a flying kick from me knocked him back down, and this time, he couldn't move. "Who are you?" My voice was thick with anger as I forced him to face me, only to realize he was someone I knew. "Luca?" I muttered, remembering him as a mobster who had worked under me until he chose to resign. But that didn’t stop me from gripping his collar harder and slamming him against the nearest wall. "What are you doing here?" I demanded, my hand tightening itself around his neck. One wrong move from him, and I might snap it with my bare hands. "I'm in the hospital to see my dying mother," he stammered, his voice trembling. "I don't believe you!" I snarled, tightening my gr
(Lisa's POV) A smile surged through me as I stood by the window in my room, embracing the cold air blowing in. Having worked as a weather forecaster for almost two years before being kidnapped by Alessio, I could easily tell it was going to rain. Still, there was a 15% chance it might not. I had studied hard to become a weather forecaster because I always dreamt of announcing the weather on TV and radio, helping people avoid being drenched by unexpected rain. Exhaling, I looked down from the window. The guards were still on patrol, their huge guns slung over their shoulders. I wondered if they ever slept at all because they always seemed to be on watch twenty-four hours a day. One of the guards spotted me and bowed. I gave him a nervous smile before closing the window. If I could remember correctly, he was one of the men Alessio had sent to kidnap me. “Madame,” I heard someone say, knocking on the door. I left the window and went to open it. Vanessa stepped in, a smile spread acr
(Lisa's POV) I sneaked into Alessio's suite, hoping to find the book he took from me. I still couldn't understand why he took it and refused to give it back. I’ve always been curious, especially when it comes to suspenseful stories, and that's why I couldn't bring myself to read another book—I was desperate to find out what happened with Alfred's confession to Nina. "Where could it be?" I murmured to myself as I searched the room. I didn’t want Alessio to return and find me here. I looked under the bed, but the book was nowhere to be found. My last hope was the drawer. Quickly, I went to the drawer and opened it, but instead of the book, I found a letter. For a moment, I considered ignoring it, sensing it might belong to Alessio. But my curiosity got the better of me, so I unsealed the letter. As I read the first line, my eyes widened in shock. The letter wasn’t for Alessio—it was for me. It was from my dad. How had Alessio gotten in contact with my dad? And why didn’t he gi
(Alessio's POV) I shouldn't have kept the letter. I should have pushed through with tearing the letter into pieces rather than keeping it in my drawer like it was an important documents. I didn’t know she would get her hands on the letter. Maybe I shouldn’t have given her free privilege to enter and leave my suite however she liked. But it was her, and when it comes to her, it’s always hard to set rules. "They have nothing to do with this! Just let them go!" she raised her voice at me again, something no one had ever done. "If you want them to leave, then go back to your room," I said, trying to keep my voice cold and harsh so she’d know I wasn’t joking. Lisa had always been stubborn, so she made an attempt to walk away again, and the moment I knitted my eyebrows, Ivan fired a shot at the wall and pointed the gun back at Vanessa and Isabella. The three women screamed at the sound of the gunshot. Lisa fell to the ground, trembling. It was her first time being so close to a gun
(Alessio's POV) I arrived in Lisa's room and found her lying on the bed, soaking the sheets with her tears. Her sobs were loud, and they pierced my heart in a way I couldn’t even explain. "Lisa," I called out her name, but she buried her face deeper into the pillow, crying as if I had beaten her. I’ve never treated her the way I heartlessly handled other women in the past. "Stop crying and sit up. I need to check something," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. I was worried she might be hurt, but her face remained pressed into the pillow, as though she hadn’t even heard me. Why was I even stressing myself over this? I knew how stubborn she could be. With a sigh, I walked over to the bed and gently raised her head from the pillow. It wasn’t difficult to move her; she was so light and fragile. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice hiccupping softly, her tear-filled eyes meeting mine. "Turn your back," I said, but Lisa ignored me, just as I expected. Frustrated, I carefully bu
(Lisa's POV) “I’m not hungry,” I said to Vanessa, who kept pressuring me to eat. How could I eat, knowing fully well that my dad was sick and alone, waiting for me to come back home? I had always been a food lover, but I would be a cruel daughter to indulge while my dad wasn’t well. Vanessa took my hand, caressing it softly, and my tear-streaked eyes met hers. "You should eat," she urged me again, but I shook my head, wiping the tears streaming down my face. Ever since I found that letter, my eyes hadn’t stopped producing tears. “You once said I should consider you my daughter whenever we’re alone like this, right? Well, this is me, as your mother, asking my daughter to eat,” she said, her voice low and soothing. “I'm sorry, but I don’t have any appetite. All I want right now is to go home,” I whispered, my voice barely audible through my sobs. Vanessa wiped my tears and offered me a reassuring smile. “Your dad will be okay. Just have faith.” “I can’t have that faith,” I r
(Writer's POV) The loud music in the nightclub pulsed through the air as people danced to the beat. Some were lost in their movements, others were busy making out, while a few watched the strippers perform their outrageous routines on stage, tossing money at them. The waitstaff hustled to serve customers who seemed increasingly impatient. Bianca stepped inside the nightclub, the sound of her chain boots echoing as she walked, her eyes scanning the crowd for someone. She wore a pair of shorts that barely covered her backside and dark thigh-high socks. The crop top she worn struggled to contain her huge breasts, but she didn’t care. Chewing gum and blowing bubbles, her gaze darted around until she spotted Marco engaged in conversation with a group of men. Their demeanor suggested they were mafia bosses, but no one could be compare to Alessio when it came to exuding a frightening aura. "Marco, can we talk?" she said, dismissing the men with a wave of her hand. Since they weren't A
(Lisa's POV) I sat on the bed, my smile never leaving my face. After much thinking and trying to figure out where the exit of Alessio's house could be, I had finally found it. He wasn't just a monster; he was a tricky man as well. No one would have guessed that the tiny dot could be the key to leaving this house. I had finally come to believe the saying that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Now that I knew the exit, I planned to leave quietly, without anyone noticing. I had no idea how I would book a flight back to California since I had lost my phone and credit card the day he kidnapped me. But it didn't matter; I was going to find a way back to California. What mattered most was leaving this place first. A hand tapped my shoulder, causing me to scream in surprise, as I had been deep in thought. "Are you okay?" Isabella asked, worried about my outburst. I let out a deep sigh and nodded. "Yes, I’m fine. Why did you tap me like that? You scared me." "I'm sorry I sta
(Alessio's POV)"Where are you?" I read the message Lisa had sent me. I was about to reply when another message came through, demanding that I come back to the clan, because she had something to give me. "A gift? What kind of gift?" I texted back. She replied that she would only show it to me when I returned back to the clan. I smiled lightly, imagining how cute she must have looked while typing the message. "Don Alessio? Are you still listening to me?" the woman across from me asked, and I shifted my gaze from my phone to look at her. She had come to meet me because she claimed to have an abusive husband who beat her and her twelve-year-old child. Right now, the child was in the hospital with only a ten percent chance of survival. "Yes, I'm listening. Go on," I said, and she began sniffling. "I know it’s all my fault for marrying an abusive man. Even when everyone warned me not to, I insisted on marrying him. I tried to run away, but no matter where I hide, he always find
(Lisa's POV) I have always been curious about Alessio's family. Anytime I brought up the topic, he always found a way to change it. Though he had said it was something he didn’t want to talk about, I couldn’t help but wonder why. Even Ivan had once warned me never to mention his mother to him. Bianca might be the second person I hate after the devil, but at least she was right about one thing. I can't claim to love a man and have countless sex with him without knowing anything about his family—what they look like, what happened to them, and, most importantly, his relationship with his parents. "You know everything about his family?" I asked as curiosity took over me. Bianca walked up to me, the smile on her face unwavering. "Do you think I was joking when I said I grew up with Don Alessio? We grew up together, Lisa. I ate from the same plate as him and even slept in the same bed. I knew the cheerful side of Don Alessio when he was still a kid, before he transformed into a
(Lisa's POV) "Whoa, Lisa! You're improving so much," the lady in charge of teaching me Italian complimented after I finished reading some words in Italian. Though it was hard to pull off, I was happy my efforts weren’t going down the drain. "Thank you so much, ma. But I'm still not fluent in it," I simpered. "Yeah, you're not, but you're doing a very good job. If you keep learning, you'll be perfect—not as perfect as a native speaker, but at least you'll be able to understand when someone speaks Italian," she said with a smile, her Italian-English accent evident. Some people in the clan could speak basic English, but Italian tones were always detected in their voices whenever they spoke. I was the only fluent English speaker here, which is why I was determined to learn, so I could interact with them in the language they were comfortable with. Not to forget, there was also my deal with Salvatore. I had been getting a lot of compliments on how much I was improving in terms o
(Writer's POV) Isabella sighed deeply when she woke up the following morning and found herself naked in Ivan's room. She had clearly been somber when she asked him for a one-night stand, and right now, she didn't regret it because it wasn't the first time it had happened. Before she had come here to be a chitchat buddy to Lisa, she had always gone to the clubhouse once every month, bought herself some drinks, and then get laid with any man who approached her. Just like she had told Lisa, she shut her heart from love after her love story was cut short when her first love died. She believed she would never find a man like him or a man who would love her the way her first love did. Sighing again, her eyes scanned the room in search of Ivan, and that’s when she noticed the sound of the running tap coming from the bathroom. Her clothes were scattered all over the room due to how Ivan had hastily discarded them. She clearly enjoyed the sex from last night, and she'd admit that
(Writer's POV) Enzo had always kept an eye on Alessio. He followed him everywhere he went, making sure Alessio didn’t notice him. The DeLuca family had always been known to move silently, as it was a part of their training. Enzo had witnessed how Alessio’s eyes were fixed on Lisa the night she walked into the bar after she got her heart broken by Nathan. He had also witnessed how Alessio saved her from the man who tried to harass her and how possessive he was when he held her fragile arms. Enzo was also aware of what had transpired between them when Alessio took her to a hotel. He had thought Lisa was just one of the flings Alessio had a one-night stand with—until he overheard Ivan talking to Marco about finding a chef who knew how to cook California dishes. He disguised himself and went to Marco's clubhouse since he had been following Ivan too. That’s how he learned that Alessio needed a chef. At first, he didn’t know why Alessio needed a chef who could prepare Californ
(Writer's POV) Isabella sat in the dining chair, enjoying a bowl of pears while grinning to herself. She loved pears a lot and couldn't go a day without eating them. Fortunately for her, they were always among the items delivered to Alessio's residence every month. Ivan was always the one who took the deliveries from the gateman and brought them inside the house since he knew both the exits and entrances of the mansion. "Anyone who doesn't love eating pears must be from ancient Greece," she said and chuckled at her own words. She was still enjoying her bowl of pears when Vanessa approached her with a worried expression. "What's wrong, Vanessa? Why are you wearing a sad face?" she asked. "Aren't you worried about Lisa? She hasn't been home for seven days," Vanessa voiced her concern. "There's no need to be worried about her, Vanessa. She already started her training at Don Alessio's underworld." "Really? Even if she has started her training, that doesn’t prevent her fro
(Alessio's POV) "Am I interrupting something?" I asked, jealousy evident in my voice. I was clearly not happy about the unnecessary attention she was getting. Everyone in the clan was talking about her, and some of the male mobsters even went as far as complimenting her beauty. I was sure that if I had introduced her as my woman, none of them would have dared to talk about her or even try to compliment her beauty. As if that wasn't enough, here was Angelo, the clan's hacker, offering her a can of soda. "Good afternoon, Don Alessio. Lisa and I were just talking," he said in Italian with a smile. "What were you both talking about?" I asked in English, just so Lisa would understand. Before Angelo could reply, Lisa interrupted him with a laugh, stepping in between us. "You should get going, Angelo. I'll just talk to Don Alessio," she said with a smile. I didn't like the idea of her calling me 'Don Alessio,' and what intensified my irritation was how she was smiling at him. T
(Lisa's POV) I walked around the clan, feeling so excited to be here. There were lots of training grounds to learn martial arts and how to handle guns too. When Alessio showed me around the clan, I couldn't even count the number of guns, dangerous weapons, and explosive bombs they had. I guess the mafia world sometimes calls their clan the underworld because it’s filled with all the dangerous things you could find. Alessio said he needed to attend to something, which was why I was taking a walk and going through the places he had shown me. I smiled when I saw two young ladies like me fighting in the training ground. I’m definitely going to learn how to fight like them. "Hi," I waved at them with a smile, and they waved back before continuing with their combat. This was what I wanted, for everyone to be comfortable with me. If Alessio had introduced me as his woman, I’m sure they'd have bowed to me instead of just smiling and waving at me. Well, everyone except for Bianc
(Lisa's POV) I kept grinning as Alessio drove toward his clan. It would be my first time seeing the underworld he ruled, and I felt so thrilled about it. When he told me he had agreed to let me join his clan, I was overjoyed, and last night was mesmerizing. It was wild, passionate sex. He made me experience what it feels like when a man teases you with his tongue. I enjoyed every bit of it and would love it if he did it again. Damn! I’m becoming more corrupt with each passing day, I grinned to myself. "What's making you so happy?" he asked when he noticed my smile. "Why don't you guess?" I teased, my eyes boring into his. Alessio glanced at me, and a naughty smile played at the corner of his lips. "You loved last night, didn’t you? And you want me to do what I did to you again, right?" he asked, his eyes flickering between the road and me. "How on earth are you capable of that? Are you sure you're not a wizard?" I asked, and he chuckled. It was still hard to get us