(Alessio's POV) I had left Italy to go to Mumbai because I needed to finish the job that was assigned to me. Louis had given me the details on where he was hiding in Mumbai. I was just waiting for the perfect time to push through with my mission—I’d attack him when he least expected it. I didn’t bring any of my men because handling him was a piece of cake. I would have taken Ivan with me, but I told him he could stay behind and look after Lisa, just in case she needed anything. It had been three days since I last saw Lisa. I wasn’t sure if I missed her, but I had been waiting patiently for Ivan to call me to say she wanted to talk to me. When he didn’t, I decided to call him just so I could speak to her. I didn’t know why, but not hearing her voice and seeing her beautiful face for three days felt like an important part of me was missing. “Boss, Alessio wants to speak to you,” I could hear Ivan say from the other side of the phone after I instructed him to give the phone to her.
(Alessio's POV) Arriving at the nightclub, it was filled with so many people dancing to the beat of an Indian hip-hop song. I spotted Diego, who was surrounded by ladies in the VIP area. I approached him and sat down in one of the chairs. Diego, who had been sucking on a lady's nipples, stopped and looked at me. "You don't look like an India" he said. "You must be Diego," I said in Italian, which made him smile. "Whoa! You're from my home country. What brings you to Mumbai?" he asked, still smiling. I guessed he was unaware of who I was; otherwise, he would have been trembling at the sight of me. If only he knew today would be his last on Earth, he wouldn't be smiling at me. "Business," I said curtly. I couldn't let him know I had come here to kill him; I wanted him to be taken by surprise. He wouldn't know what hit him. "Nice meeting you," he stretched out his hand to shake mine, but I merely gave him a cold look. I was still Don Alessio DeLuca, regardless of where I wa
(Lisa's POV) I sat down on the bed, exhausted from reading so many books in just a few hours. Isabella had left after I told her I needed to be alone. She didn’t argue and left so she wouldn’t get on Alessio’s bad side. Lying on the bed, counting the lights on the ceiling, my thoughts drifted to Alessio. It had been four days since he left, and I wondered when he would be back. It's not like I missed him, but I was just used to seeing his face every single day. I sighed in frustration, wondering where the exit of his house might be. Ivan had shown me around, but there were no place that looked like they led outside. I had been brought here while I was unconscious, which was probably why I hadn’t figured it out. Should I interact with the maids? I was sure they knew where the exit was since they were brought in by Alessio. But what if they chose to keep it a secret, like Ivan and Isabella? I don't believe Isabella; it was impossible for her not to know where the exit was. She must h
(Alessio's POV) That smile of hers always pulls me in, in ways I can't explain. When she asked about my life and why I didn't become an architect or a baker, I got mad; one thing I don't like talking about is my painful childhood. If it had been anyone else who asked me such a question, they would have been begging me to spare them, but it was Lisa who asked, and somehow she was exceptional. I even had to scare her with my voice, which is why I decided to leave before I frightened her further. I didn't want Lisa to look at me with fearful eyes, like I was her worst nightmare that came to life to haunt her. But here she was, holding my hand and asking me to share the cake with her. I didn't even admit that I was the one who brought the cake for her because it felt embarrassing—this was the first time I had experienced what it felt like to be embarrassed. "You can have it all to yourself," I said, stepping away from her, but she grabbed my hand again. "I can't eat it all because it'
(Lisa's POV) A smile crept onto my face as I stared at myself in the mirror. I had purposely allowed him to kiss me, just the way he wanted, because my plan all along was to stop him the moment he tried to take off my blouse. And it worked just as I had pictured it in my head. I could see the desire in his eyes when I halted him—it was the first time I saw desire in his gaze, rather than the usual cold demeanor he portrayed. He wants me—he wants all of me. He wants to bury himself inside me just like he did the first time we met, but I won't give him what he so desperately desires. Now that I know I can easily seduce a ruthless Mafia boss like Alessio, I’ll keep playing this game. He kidnapped me without my consent, right? I will play my part by always seducing him but never letting him touch me. I want to make him fall in love with me so I can escape this place, but since he's a man made of stone, that plan can wait for a while. I'm going to make him long for me, yet I won’t give
(Lisa's POV) "Are you already afraid of her?" Isabella asked as my gaze fell on her, already indulging in the velvet cake on the table. "No, I’m not. I have no relationship with Alessio, so why should I be afraid of her?" I replied, though I knew it was a lie. I hadn't even seen this Bianca, but the thought of her scared me. If she could kill her best friend, then I would be an easy prey for her. All my life, I had lived peacefully, without knowing how to handle guns or anything related to fighting skills. Since Bianca was part of Alessio's underworld, I was sure she was strong enough to beat me to death without much effort. "But don't worry, Lisa. I think she won't be able to kill you." "You think so?" My voice was low, revealing how scared I felt. "Yeah. You belong to Don Alessio. I'm sure she values her life and wouldn’t dare do anything to you—unless she wants to die." "You really think Alessio will protect me from her?" I asked again. "That's a silly question, Lisa
(Alessio's POV) "She asked about where the exit of the house is," I said to the maid who had reported Lisa to me. "Yes, Boss Alessio," she answered, her head bowed to the floor. "And what did you tell her?" I asked, displeased with the fact that she still wanted to leave. "I told her the truth. We don't know the exit of this house because we were brought here unconscious," she said. My eyes fell on her, and she quickly dipped her head to the ground, afraid that I might kill her. "Leave," I ordered, and she rushed out of my suite immediately. I lit up a cigarette, clearly not happy that Lisa had inquired about the exit of my house. If she hadn't accepted that she couldn't leave, what were all those smiles of hers for? The maid who had just left was right when she said they were brought here unconscious. When they accepted to work for me, I had brought them into my house unconscious. Even Isabella was brought here the same way. So, apparently, only Ivan and I knew that the library
(Alessio's POV) "Lisa!" I called out as I barged into her room. She quickly tightened the towel wrapped around her body. Her skin was slightly wet, indicating she had just taken a shower. "You should know how to knock, Alessio," she said, her voice low. I walked up to her, turning her around to check if she was hurt. "Are you okay?" I asked, my voice filled with concern—something that had never happened before. Lisa stared at me before nodding, and I let out a sigh of relief. "Did someone come in here while I was away?" I inquired, despite knowing that only Ivan and I knew how to exit the house. That left me wondering how the stranger had found out about Lisa's room. "No one came in, Alessio. I was alone in here." "Were you sleeping just a few minutes ago?" I asked, locking my eyes on hers. "No, I wasn't," she replied. Did that mean the strange voice was just playing tricks on me? I clenched my fists, angry that I had fallen into his trap. But I couldn't shake the qu
(Lisa's POV) I still couldn't believe Alessio would do that to me. He had promised he would never hurt me, but yet he did. When he choked my neck, I pleaded with him, hoping he'd stop, but he ended up throwing me against the wall like a piece of paper. I had never imagined he would do that to me. Even though he hasn't said he loves me yet, I thought I was the most important person to him. So how could he do that to the most important person in his life? I was just looking out for him because it's been years since he saw a picture of his mother, and yet he reacted as if I had just shown him his worst nightmare. I want to hate him. I want to hate him for what he did, but I couldn't do it, because I was completely head over heels for him. When I sent him away, I felt hurt doing that to him, but it was the only way to show him I was mad at him for what he had done. I must have nine lives because I don't know how I've kept surviving with everything that has been happening to me ev
(Alessio's POV) How could I? How could I have done that to the woman I love so much? How could I have vented my anger on her like that? I should have held back. I should have held back my anger no matter how angry I was. I shouldn't have done that to her. I should have simply torn the picture when she gave it to me. But if only she had told me where she got the picture and didn't keep insisting I missed that despicable woman, I wouldn't have lashed out at her like that. Still, it didn't justify what I did to her. I didn't just choke her almost to death, I threw her like a piece of paper, making her back land forcefully on the wall. Kindness? The woman from earlier who had an abusive husband must be mistaken. There's no single kindness inside of me. The boy from decades ago is already dead. If I still had that kindness in me, I wouldn't have done what I did to Lisa. I would have held back. I had promised her I was never going to hurt her, but still, I broke that promi
(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