(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) "Welcome back, Boss Alessio," the gatekeeper said as I drove past him. I ignored him, just as I always ignored anyone who greeted me. My face bore nothing but anger as Lisa's words kept echoing in my ears. I had spent the previous night at the clan because I was consumed with rage, and I didn't want to take it out on her. If I did, she wouldn't be able to survive it. The drive to the house took a few minutes since the distance between the gate and my house was a bit far. When I stepped out of the car, I was immediately approached by one of the guards. It was unusual for them to approach me unless something serious had happened. "Don Alessio," he said, his head bowed to the ground. "What do you want?" I asked coldly. "It's the woman you brought home," he replied, speaking in Italian. "What woman?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "The woman that was brought from California." "Lisa?" I furrowed my brows, not quite understanding what he was saying. He was one of the me
(Lisa's POV) I kept my eyes wide open, trying my best not to fall asleep. If I did, I would move my feet, which meant I would die, and the fear of dying scared me to the core. Now I fully understood why everyone here respected his orders; they didn't want to die. My legs ached, and I was growing weaker from standing on this landmine for more than three hours. I had heard a couple of stories about how deadly landmines could be, and Alessio was cruel for leaving me here without even attempting to help. I hated him so much! Who in their right mind would install a deadly weapon in their house just because they had a web of enemies? Just when I thought I could finally go back to my dad, I was trapped here with no one trying to help me. "You are so heartless, Alessio," I muttered as tears continued to pour down my cheeks. My eyes threatened to close, but I fought to keep them open. "Please, anyone, help me!" I screamed, but the response I got was the echo of my voice. The guar
(Alessio's POV) I wanted to leave her there, letting the rain continue to drench her, but she kept calling out my name, making it difficult for me to stand by my words. I brought her inside the house after she lost consciousness. When she woke up this morning, I was on the brink of unleashing my anger at her for disobeying me. However, when she winced in pain as I held her jaw, I let go, because this foolish heart of mine always ached in pain whenever she was in pain. I hated the fact that I was in love with her. It took a lot of thinking for me to understand my heart. I had always said I would never fall in love with any woman, but here I was, already in love with that fragile, stubborn woman. Now that I know how I feel about her, the Godfather might come after her, but I will ensure he never lays a finger on a single strand of her hair. She was mine even before I realized my feelings for her, and now that I know I love her, I wouldn't hesitate to kill millions of people just for
(Lisa's POV)I kept pacing around the room, not knowing how to leave the suite. I had screamed and knocked on the door, but no one was willing to open it for me. My throat even hurt from screaming so much. Why would he think of locking me in here? Still, I couldn’t shake the thought of how I—no, how we survived the landmine without getting hurt. Was it a real landmine, or was it just for show? I thought to myself as I continued pacing around the room.I need to go back to California now that I was fully aware of the exit, but what if he keeps locking me in here? I quickly went to the door to knock again, but that’s when he entered. I stumbled backward at the sight of him.“You were about to knock on the door again, weren’t you?” he asked. His voice seemed calmer now. Does that mean he’s no longer mad at me?“You locked me in here the whole day. Why would you even do that? You can’t just lock me in here,” I said. He walked closer to me, lowering his head to match my height. I gulped ha
(Alessio's POV) "Did you just smile?" she asked, looking surprised to see me smile. This would be the first time she had actually seen me smile, even if I had chuckled or smiled a few times because of her. How she had compared me to her ex-boyfriend stayed glued in my brain, and every time I thought about it, I felt nothing but anger. I couldn’t shake it off no matter how hard I tried, and that’s why I decided to ask her. When she said she no longer loved or thinks of her ex, I felt happy—no, I was over the moon. Do I love her to this extent for me to be overjoyed that she no longer thinks of her shitty ex-boyfriend? If a soothsayer had told me Lisa was a witch, I wouldn’t doubt it, because she had cast a love spell on me. "You just smiled, didn’t you?" she asked again, as her fragile index finger pointed at my lips. "No, I didn’t," I said, keeping a straight face. Even though I was in love with her, I couldn’t make it so obvious. I was still Alessio DeLuca, no matter what.
"She is going to be fine. The knife didn’t go that deep, which means it’s just a minor injury," I heard a man say. My vision wasn’t clear when I first opened my eyes, but after a brief moment, I saw Alessio talking to a doctor. "If something bad happens to her, you’ll be dead," he said authoritatively, his tone scaring the doctor. "I have been in this medical field for more than eleven years, and I assure you she will be fine. I’ve already operated on her, and the stabbing didn’t go that deep," the doctor explained, though he fidgeted nervously in front of Alessio—he always had a way of intimidating people wherever he went. As for me, the doctor was right when he said the stabbing wasn’t deep, because I had made sure of that when I intentionally stabbed myself. It had taken all the courage in the world to purposely stab myself. It was the only option I had. I thought finding the exit would get me out of his life and back to my normal life in California, but I was wrong. With
(Alessio's POV) "It's been a while, Godfather. I'm so happy to see you again," I heard Bianca say as I entered my office. She was pouring him a glass of liquor, trying to win his favor. "Why are you back?" I asked, not bothering to offer him a welcome greeting. He had to return to Rome at a time when Lisa needed me the most. She’s lying in a hospital bed, and I can’t be with her right now because of Salvatore. "Shouldn’t you at least give me a welcome-back hug?" Salvatore asked with a smile. "That’s not my thing," I replied, my eyes shifting to Bianca. She understood the silent command in my gaze and left without a word. "What brings you to Rome?" I asked again. "Am I no longer allowed to be in my home country?" he replied with a smirk. "By the way, where’s Ivan?" he asked, and Ivan entered immediately. "Welcome back, Godfather," Ivan greeted with a warm smile. Salvatore walked up to him and patted his back. "Thanks, Ivan. That’s what I like about you—you always know
(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