VALENTINO
~~~~~~~~♧♧♧♧♧♧“I have news for you,” Anthony said as he walked into my living room alongside Ciro, Renegade, and Carlo.“You actually made it before the end of one hour with a few minutes to spare,” I said, glancing at timer I had running on my phone. Renegade padded over to my side, curling himself up against me.“I think you’re a dick for doing that,” Ciro said, his eyes shooting daggers at me.“Nobody gives a fuck what you think about me, little brother.” I shifted my gaze over to Anthony. “What’s this news all about?”“I spoke to the Chinese guys. After a long talk which I had to bring my godfather in for, everything was forgiven.”“Well, that means you can return to England, but something tells me you won’t.”Anthony grinned. “What can I say? I like iRAVENNA~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤“She’s acting weird. So not like herself,” Uncle Leo whispered as we watched Sofia from the corner of our eyes. She was staring at the wall in front of her without saying a word. “Where did you find her?” “One of the security at the company found her slumped against the building.” “Are you sure it’s her?” “It looks like her.” “I think we should call Tino. He needs to see her for himself. Thankfully, he hasn’t left for the wedding. That’s supposed to be late this evening.” Uncle Leo nodded in agreement. “You should call him. He deserves to know.” I moved a few feet away from him, pulling out my phone and calling Valentino. “What do you want?” He snapped, his icy voice sending shivers down my spine. “This is Ravenna.” “Ravenna? Why are using a different number?” “I got kidnapped. Remember? I lost my old phone.” “Well, why are you
VALENTINO ~~~~~~~~♧♧♧♧♧♧“This place looks like it’s about to fall apart,” Ciro said as he cut the engine of his car. “This is where he’s keeping her,” I said, climbing out of the car. I heard as Carlo’s car came to a stop before he threw the door open. I headed straight for the room I knew he kept her in. He had once told me that that was the safest part of the house, and where he was likely to keep his prisoners. I might have been sloppy and told Paul everything about me, but I could say the same about him. I knocked on the door. “Paul, come out, and let us hash things out.” “Oh, he’s here,” I heard Paul say with excitement in his voice. “Yay. Lucky me,” Ravenna said. I couldn’t see her, but I could’ve sworn I heard the eye roll. “Where’s Sofia?” He asked. “She’s not with me.” “Then why the fuck are you?” He roared. I heard feet stomping on the floor. A loud cry from Ravenna f
VALENTINO ~~~~~~~~♧♧♧♧♧♧“Can I come in?” I asked, standing in the doorway of the room Carlo had placed Sofia in.She beamed at me. “Of course.” I walked into the room, but I didn’t go close to her bed. “You’ve grown since I saw you the last time,” she said. Maybe she had lost her mind too, because I knew we had never met. “We’ve met before?” “Yes. Multiple times, but I had to wear disguises. Your father would have been angry otherwise.” “Why?” “We made a deal before I left. He was going to protect you at all costs, and I’d stay away. Don’t get me wrong, though. I didn’t want to stay away. My parents weren’t happy that I was pregnant with Fiore’s child. They wanted me to get an abortion, and when I gave birth to you, they wanted to harm you. It was about that time that I knew I couldn’t be with Paul, too. The pressure was too much, and Fiona suggested I left. Fiore didn’t want me to take
VALENTINO ~~~~~~~~♧♧♧♧♧♧“Will you tell Father about your mother’s return?” Ciro asked. “No, and neither will you,” I replied as we made our way to the reception area. “You can count on me, bro. I won’t say shit. Hey, seems like we came at the wrong time,” Ciro said, nodding towards the crowd who were running in our direction. “The fuck is going on here?” I asked, as many of them ran past us. Ciro shrugged. “Dunno, but I know that guy approaching us.” He pointed at a short, round man that looked like he was struggling to keep up with the pace of the crowd. Ciro snagged his arm when he tried to run past us, bringing him to a halt. “Jonnie, what’s going on?” Ciro asked. “There’s been a murder. Lucian Sterling is dead. They hung his head on a spike,” Jonnie replied as he tried to catch his breath. “Who killed him?” I asked. “No one knows. A woman found his body when she was walking
RAVENNA ~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤“You act like a child sometimes,” Drake’s smooth voice said as he strode into the living room. “Why? Because I’m reading this file upside down?” I asked with a smirk. He took a seat on a couch. “Yeah. How you holdin’ up?” “Great. Did you and Jacob fit in well with the men?” He shrugged. “Dunno. They all think I’m fucking you.” I arched a brow at him. “And why would they think that?” “Jacob kinda dropped a hint about it when he was drunk.” “And what did you say?” “I cleared the air. I know how much this means to you. You wouldn’t want to be referred to as the boss who fucked her own worker.” “You’re more than a worker.” He smirked at me. “Ex-fuckb
RAVENNA~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤“Well, that was a total waste of time,” Drake said as we made our way back home. “Not a total waste. At least we were able to warn him.” I busied myself with my phone when a text from Zypher came in. Zypher: Lucian Sterling is dead. His funeral is tomorrow, and you have to attend. Alaina has gone shopping for some dresses for you. Lucian Sterling was dead. I didn’t know if to be happy or sorry for him, but good riddance, right? “We’ll have to push the appointment with the men for later. A member of the organization just died. I have to get prepared for his funeral. If I know Alaina, I’ll be trying on a thousand dresses.”“Okay. Maybe we'll ask Andrea and Slade to take care of the issue temporarily.”“Good idea. I'll text them.”********“They look like a perfect fa
RAVENNA~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤“We can leave now,” I said to Drake and Zypher. “Took you long enough. We were a second away from coming to find you,” Zypher said as we all made our way out. “Alaina texted me and asked if we wanted to eat something. Apparently, she’s the only one at home.” “Where’s Nana?” I asked. “She went to visit your parents with Leonardo,” Zypher replied. “I know it’s not my place, but you should go visit them someday.” “I will.” Drake elbowed my side. “Ravenna, you’re like the exact opposite of Alaina.” “How so?” “You can’t cook.” “I bake really well.” “That’s a lie. You never baked for me.” “Oh, you expect me to bake for you when w
CIRO~~~~◇◇◇“Hi! I was asleep when you two came in earlier. I’m Sofia,” Tino’s mother said as she took a seat on the lounger closest to where I was sitting on the edge of the pool. “I’m Ciro. It’s nice to finally meet you,” I said, faking a smile. “Something troubles you. I might be no genius, but I can see it in your eyes. What’s wrong with you?” She asked with worry in her eyes. Worry. A woman who I just met for the first time was worried about me, while my mother sat on a chair without a care in the world, watching as my father threw a cup at my head. I had gotten a minor cut just above my left eyebrow, dangerously close to my eye. “You know, it’s messed up that my mother watched when my father did this.” I pointed to the cut on my head. “To me without saying a word, but a woman I just met is