( Alessio's POV) "How hard was it for you to watch over one single woman?!" I yelled at the men I had assigned to watch over Lisa. "We are sorry, Don Alessio. She told us she needed to use the restroom. We took her there, only to be tricked by a woman who claimed Madame had lost consciousness and that we should call a doctor. But when we returned to the restroom, neither the woman nor Madame was there," they explained. I dismissed their explanation as mere excuses and punched them in their faces. My punch was massive, sending them flying across the room. "You're all idiots, and that's why you were so easily tricked! If I don't find her, consider yourselves dead!" I yelled at them. "Boss Alessio," Ivan approached me, and I turned to face him, my anger boiling over. "Did she leave the country already?" I asked. "No, she hasn’t. There’s no information about her booking a flight back to California, but I found something on the hospital’s CCTV cameras where she was admitted," I
(Lisa's POV) He came for me. I don't know how he was able to find me, but he did, saving me from being completely naked in front of those men. When I looked at him, I couldn't help but cry, because I knew I had brought this upon myself. But what scared me now were the men who had their guns pointed at him. Would he be able to handle all of them? I asked myself as my eyes focused on Alessio, who was visibly angry because these men had referred to me as the property of Dario Claudio. I guess Dario Claudio was the bearded man who paid Rosita off after she brought me to him. "Who dares interrupt my strip show?" The bearded man, Dario Claudio, stepped into the clubhouse, and Alessio’s eyes darted from his men to him. "Who the heck are you to interrupt my strip show?" Dario Claudio demanded. Does he have no idea who Alessio is? But then it occurred to me that not everyone would know him. "I see you're Dario Claudio," Alessio said. The rage in his voice was evident, but Dario Clau
(Lisa's POV) "Alessio, please, open your eyes," I whispered, my voice breaking with tears as he was rushed toward the operating room. His body was covered in blood, and those cold, ruthless eyes that always holds so much intensity now stared blankly at me. I had managed to get help, and the people around me had rushed him here as quickly as they could. But I couldn’t help but feel it was too late. "Alessio!" I called his name again, clutching his hand tightly, my tears flowing freely, mingling with the bloodstains on his skin. "We’ll take it from here," one of the doctors said firmly, stopping me at the threshold of the operating room. His words were a mix of authority and calmness, but all I could hear was the deafening thrum of panic in my chest. "But—" I tried to protest, but the doctor was already ushering me away. "Let us do our job, miss," he said with a reassuring tone, but it was nothing more than a gentle command. Reluctantly, I released his hand. I crouched down to
(Lisa's POV) "Do you want anything?" Ivan asked me, but I shook my head, resting it back on the wall. I was sitting on the bare floor close to the threshold of the operating room. Ivan had offered me a seat, but I declined because I wanted to be the first person to know about Alessio's condition when the doctors comes out of the operating room. "I'm sure you must be hungry. I can get you whatever you want to eat while the nurses attend to your wound. You're bleeding from your stab wound." Ivan said. I slowly looked at my stomach, where I had intentionally stabbed myself. It stung, but it was nothing compared to what Alessio was going through right now. I had intentionally stabbed myself, but he never wished to be shot. "I'll be fine. I don't need any treatment," I said, my voice barely audible. "You need to be attended to, Madame. Boss Alessio will definitely kill me if he finds out about this," Ivan said, trying to convince me to get my stab wound treated by a nurse, but I
(Lisa's POV) Bianca picked me up from the ground again, holding my hair. I winced in pain as the ache in my stomach hit me hard, but Bianca cared little for my suffering. Her eyes were filled with rage as she attempted to slap me again, but Ivan's voice stopped her. "What the heck are you doing?!" he roared. He dropped the food he got for me and briskly walked up to her. He took me from her grasp, his eyes filled with agitation as he spoke to her. "What gave you the right to hit her?!" "You know this woman too?" she asked, pointing her finger at me while I hid behind Ivan. "Who the heck is she to Don Alessio?!" she demanded. "I won't answer your question, Bianca. Leave now, or you won't like what I do next," Ivan warned, but Bianca scoffed and shot me a glare. "I'm not going anywhere until I find out what relationship she has with Don Alessio! Do you have any idea how I felt when the clan's hacker told me you had rushed out because Don Alessio was shot? And then, when I go
(Alessio's POV)The ray of sunlight penetrated my face as I tried to open my eyes. Fully opening them, I discovered I was in the hospital, which only reminded me that I had been shot.Who dared to shoot at me? I thought to myself as anger surged through my system, but the soft snoring I heard made me squint. My eyes moved to my right, and I saw Lisa sleeping. Her head was resting on the bed while her body was seated in the chair.Did she spend the entire night with me?I tried not to smile, but a grin ended up appearing on my face. Somehow, my smile crept out every time Lisa was with me. I sat up in bed, raised my hand, and gently placed it on her head, caressing her hair softly. She stirred slightly and opened her eyes.I stopped smiling and withdrew my hand. Lisa lifted her head from the bed, and her eyes sparkled with joy at seeing me.Was she really that happy I was awake? Before I could read her thoughts through her eyes, she sprang up from the bed and hugged me.Did she just hug
(Alessio's POV) "Where's Lisa?" I asked Ivan when I arrived back at the house. I had discharged myself from the hospital despite the doctors insisting I stay longer. I had just undergone surgery, but I turned a deaf ear to their medical advice. "She’s in your suite, waiting for you. She’s been worried about you," Ivan replied. I knitted my brows at the mention of her worrying about me. Shouldn’t she be the last person to worry about me, considering how much she hated me? I guess she’s just feeling guilty about what happened. Taking a deep sigh, I asked, "Has she eaten?" "Not yet, boss. She said she’d eat only if she sees you." I nodded and dismissed Ivan. Entering my suite, I found Lisa pacing around the room, worry evident on her face. She wasn’t aware of my presence. "Why haven’t you eaten?" I asked, making myself known. Her eyes darted to me, and she quickly rushed over. "Why did you leave the hospital like that? Do you know how dangerous it was?" she asked.
(Alessio's POV) "Do you want to come with me? I can take you somewhere you'd have a good life and be free from the abuses of your stepfather," Rosita spoke in Italian to a young girl covered in bruises. I had tracked her location, and right now, she was in a restaurant, talking to a girl, unaware that I was sitting just a seat away from her. "Really? You can help me?" The girl’s voice trembled with sadness. "I want to escape from my stepdad. He abuses me and rapes me daily." Rosita placed her hand gently over the girl's, offering an innocent smile. She must have charmed Lisa with that façade. With that sweet, unassuming face, she could easily make anyone believe she was harmless. But in reality, she was nothing but a despicable woman who trafficked girls for money. "Yes. I am going to take you somewhere. They're going to treat you nicely, and you will have a good life with them," Rosita assured her. "Then take me with you. I want to go with you," the girl blurted, unaware of
(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