(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
(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
(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
(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 sighed deeply when she woke up the following morning and found herself naked in Ivan's room. She had clearly been sober 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 s
(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
(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
(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) "It's been a while, Lisa. How have you been?" Nathan asked me with a smile. I furrowed my brows at him, wondering if he had forgotten what he did to me, but nevertheless, I beamed a smile at him. If he hadn't shattered my heart, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to know a man like Alessio. "I've been good. What about you?" I asked, trying my best to be formal. There was no reason to be informal with him. "I've been good too. Where have you been all this while? I constantly go to your workplace, but all what your boss keep saying is that you're on a business trip. I couldn't go to your dad, because you must've told him what I did to you." "Exactly, Nathan. I'm glad you still remember what you did to me. So why do you keep going to my boss asking about me?" I asked sharply. "It's because I miss you, Lisa," he murmured, and I chuckled, finding his words so funny. "You miss me? What about the woman you were with? Didn't she sponsor your business like you claimed
(Lisa's POV) I betrayed the man I love and the man who loves me, and no matter what my reasons were, it wasn't justified. I had a chance to ask him about it, but rather than confronting him, I acted rashly. He lost everything. A lot of innocent souls died because of me, and it's best if I leave. If he had wanted to kill me, I would have accepted it, but since he wanted me out of his life, I will do as he says, even though it hurts being separated from him. Staring at the entrance of the airport, my tears fell down my cheeks, but I wiped them off with a sob. With the despicable thing I have done, I don't know if I could live a normal life. I will forever be haunted for betraying him and for killing innocent souls. I sniffled one last time. I made to enter the airport, but I bumped into someone. "I'm sorry," I managed to say, but fresh tears fell from my eyes and down to my cheeks when I saw I had bumped into Angelo. "Angelo," I said, nearly breaking into tears. I had
(Alessio's POV) "How long have I been unconscious?" I asked. "For a few days," Ivan answered. I sighed, trying to sit up on the bed, but Ivan quickly stopped me from doing so. "You shouldn't do that yet. Your wounds are still fresh," he said, but I ignored him and sat up on the bed, enduring the pain. Every part of my body was filled with injuries. It hurt and itched at the same time. "Where's Salvatore?" "He left a few minutes before you woke up," Ivan replied. "Is it true that Enzo destroyed everything, including my house and the clan?" Ivan looked at me and sadly nodded his head. "We lost the mobsters at the clan. The innocent maids also died from the explosion." "No single person survived?" I asked, hiding how bad I felt. "No one, Boss Alessio. We have nothing left," Ivan answered, wiping his tears, as he was too emotional to control them. I failed to protect my men. If I hadn't been trapped under Enzo's custody, none of this would have happened. "Aren’
(Writer's POV) "What did I just hear you just say? You gave who to who?" Salvatore sneered. He had booked an early flight to Rome so he could know the happenings of the clan, only for him to meet dead monsters and a destroyed clan. Lisa took in her lips, unable to say anything. Salvatore had always said she'd betray Alessio, and she felt so embarrassed because his instinct came to pass. She betrayed the man who loves her. A man who always showed up whenever she was in danger. She made a promise… but couldn't keep her promise. She was just like his mother. "Have your tongue been cut off? Repeat what you just said!" he snapped at her, and tears strolled down her eyes. No matter how much she cried, it wouldn't justify what she had done. "I didn't mean to betray him," she began sobbing. "I thought he killed my dad, so I gave him an apple injected with succinylcholine. He became weak because of it, and Enzo was able to trap him. Enzo has him in his custody and it's all
(Writer's POV) "Did Don Alessio answer the phone?" Isabella asked Ivan in a panicked voice, while Ivan shook his head with a sigh. "Why would Lisa even think of leaving the house?" Isabella murmured, her worries palpable. She had earlier gone to Lisa's room to talk to her, only to find out she wasn't in her room. When she got worried, she asked Ivan for help, and he looked into the surveillance cameras and they both found out that Lisa had sneaked out of the house by secretly entering the car trunk of Alessio's car. "Do you think Don Alessio has seen her already?" "I don't think so, Isabella. It's unlike him not to answer the phone either. Something seems off and I can feel it," Ivan muttered. Isabella swiped her hand through her hair in frustration. "Why can't Lisa just believe that Vanessa was indeed a spy?" "Asking questions won't do. If Alessio still doesn't know she's not in the house, then we should find her before he does." Isabella nodded, and just as they were about t
(Lisa's POV) "I love you so much, Lisa." Those words repeated themselves a thousand times in my ears, and fresh tears rushed down my face. These were the words I had always longed to hear from him. Alessio finally confessed his feelings to me. My glassy eyes shifted to him, and I saw the sincerity in his tears. Did he really not kill my dad? Did I accuse him wrongly? If he wasn't the one who murdered my dad, then who could have done it? "I didn't kill your dad. I will never do that to you," he whispered, and my heart shattered even more. I didn't know who to believe because my dad, who could have spoken for himself, was dead. "Enough with the emotional scenes, lovers. Tell me, Alessio, aren't you happy to see me?" he smirked. Alessio glared at him. "Why should I miss someone like you? You're still the weak person you are. Isn't that why you made me appear weak in front of you? Because you know I would always beat you to a pulp," Alessio said, despite his weakness. Enzo got
(Alessio's POV) I was all alone in my office, thinking of ways I could make Lisa forgive me, when I received a text from her, demanding we meet up. My eyebrows furrowed in surprise, wondering how she was able to leave the house because I had given my men strict warnings not to allow her leave. I sprang up from the chair and called her. It rang many times, but she didn't answer. Grabbing my jacket, I rushed out of my office and almost bumped into Angelo on my way out. He looked shocked upon seeing me. "Why are you looking at me that way? Did something happen?" I asked. "No... nothing happened?" he stuttered, his hand shaking. I didn't have time to ask him why he was reacting that way because all I could think of was going to Lisa and ask how she was able to leave the house. I left Angelo standing there and got into my car. I drove off to Gianicolo Hills, where Lisa had asked me to meet her. Arriving at the hills, she was the only one there, staring into space, lost in t
(Lisa's POV) Angelo arrived at the location the caller had given me. It was a warehouse, but from the looks of it, it was still under construction. I tried getting down from the car, but Angelo held my hand. "Don't tell me you're going in there?" "Yes, I am. That's why I asked you to bring me here in the first place." "You need to tell me what's going on, Lisa. Don Alessio will kill me if he finds out about this," his tone was etched with worry. "You don't need to worry about that. He won't ever find out unless you snitch on me. Are you going to do that?" Angelo sighed, feeling defeated. "You know I would never do that to you. I just want to know why you came here and who you want to talk to." "It's just someone I know. I just need to find out the truth." "The truth about what?" I ignored his question and got out of the car. He tried to follow me, but I stopped him from doing so. "What if you get hurt?" "I'll be fine. I can defend myself," I assured him. "Should
(Lisa's POV) I didn’t know what to do at that moment. There was no way I could possibly leave this house—not when Alessio had his eyes on me. My heart shattered as I spoke to him. Not even in my worst nightmares did I ever dream about losing my dad. Everything was happening so fast in just one day. First, Vanessa died. Then Alessio drastically changing from who he used to be into something worse. And now, I just found out that my dad was dead. It felt like my world had collapsed right in front of me. Why was all this happening to me in one single day? “I… I can't leave. Alessio’s got his eyes on me,” I sniffled. “Then it means you're not interested in knowing who killed your dad!” he snapped and hung up. “Please, don’t hang up on me!” I cried out. Sobbing, I called the number again, but he didn’t pick up. “Please answer the phone,” I cried, almost at the brink of losing myself. I wished this was all just a dream—one where I’d wake up and find Vanessa cooking for me, my dad sti