RAVENNA
~~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤♤“You should have woken me up,” Valentino said for the hundredth time as we made our way to our hotel room.I rolled my eyes at him. “You were sleeping. Forgive me for taking pity on you.”
I opened the door with the key card and we both walked in.
“Also, you don’t look so good. You sure you’re not coming down with something?”
“I’m fine. I’ll be driving tomorrow.”
“If you say so, master. I’m taking the shower first.”
I was tired and sweaty from driving for hours and only taking a few minutes to rest and some food.
After minutes of using the bathroom and changing into my pajamas, I returned to the room to find Valentino sleeping on his side.
I contemplated waking him, but he looked so peaceful and tired, so I left him to sleep.
What felt like just a few minutes of sleep later, the sound of water running in the bathroom awoke me.
I climbed out of bed, g
RAVENNA ~~~~~~~~~ ♤♤♤♤♤♤ “How have you been? Leo finally found you. He came to me a few years ago in search of you,” Callum said as we walked by the lake. “I’ve been doing fine. How have you been? I heard my parents’ demise had been hard on you.” He nodded. “Yes. They were very close friends of mine. Their deaths came as a shock, but I know it wasn’t a mistake. Someone did it intentionally. They had it planned.” That was the opening I had been waiting for. “What do you mean by that?” “How did the fire start? Most importantly, why did the fire happen when the entire staff was on a break. Not a single person was on the property when they died. Someone planned it, and it was someone close to them. The person must have been working with someone on the inside.” “Who do you think could’ve done it?” “Fiore. It’s definitely him. He wasn’t happy about the way your father spent his money. Fi
VALENTINO ~~~~~~~~~~~♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧“I feel quite special. You both had to drop everything you had going on just to come check on me,” Ciro said with a smirk. For a guy who got thrown over the handlebars of his bike, he was quite chatty. “We were coming back already, so there’s no need to feel special. Where the fuck were you going when you had the accident?” I asked, raking my eyes down his body. “I was going home. One moment, the road was free, and the next, a car was stopping in front of the bike. I kinda froze, and when I processed everything in my head, it was too late. I passed out momentarily, and when I woke up, the car was gone. Wanna know what saved my life?” He asked with a grin. “Your constant nagging about wearing a helmet. I guess I should thank you for the helmet you got me. The doctor said I’d be dead if it wasn’t because the helmet took the impact.” Ravenna grinned at him. “You guess? If it saved your life,
RAVENNA~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤♤“You can come spend the night if you want to,” I offered when Anthony parked in front of my house. “It’s pretty late.” “I knew I made the right choice coming down here. It was so boring living all by myself in England. Here, everyone gives a shit about me, sometimes, I feel choked by all that affection.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Let me punch the code for the gate in.” The gate slid open after I put in the code, and Anthony drove into the house. “Your house looks amazing,” he commented as we made our way into the house. “Thanks. Let me show you to your room.” I led him up the stairs and down the hallway, but we came to a stop when we heard the noises coming out of Alaina’s open room. “What exactly do you get from sitting on your ass all day and waiting for you husband? Tell me, mother. How much do you make? Oh, that’s right. Fucking nothing, so get over your fucking self, g
RAVENNA~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤♤I came to a stop at the kitchen’s entrance, damn sure I was seeing things. “Anthony, you’re cooking?” “That’s the same expression we had on our faces when we came into the kitchen this morning,” Nana said, giving Anthony a motherly smile. “It’s a little thank you for letting me stay at your place last night. Don’t worry. I made sure I wiped the all the counters,” he said with a smirk, winking at Zypher who choked on the juice she had been drinking. My eyes danced between the two of them. What was going on with two of them? Zypher avoided looking at anyone in the kitchen, while Anthony grinned from ear to ear. They definitely did something last night. That was why Zypher didn’t want to look at anyone. “This is interesting,” I said, grinning from ear to ear as I took a se
VALENTINO~~~~~~~~♧♧♧♧♧♧“My body hurts all over. I just feel like sleeping and never waking up,” Ciro said as I lowered him to his bed. “That’s wishing for death, Ciro. Stop saying shit like that.” I found an envelope on the bed next to Ciro, but as I reached for it, he quickly snatched it off the bed. “What are you hiding?” “Nothing.” He was definitely hiding something. I could tell from his tone. “Ciro!” I snapped. “What’s inside that envelope?” “It’s private pictures of this woman I’m seeing.” I knew he was lying, but I let it slide. “Next time, keep it where no one can see.” He forced a grin. “Yeah. I was looking at it before I had to leave the house, so I just left it on the bed. My bad.” “Whatever. I’m leaving, okay? Send me a text if you need anything. Or don’t. It’s fine with me either way.” “You love me and you know it. You even killed a bunch of men for
RAVENNA ~~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤♤“Slade and the rest will be fine. Thankfully, it’s nothing too damaging,” Uncle Leo said, patting my shoulder as we waited for an update on the men. “Uncle, did you see the fire that burnt our house down?” “Yes.” “It was a raging fire. Nothing could have saved them. We must have stayed long at the park because the fire didn’t look like it just started. Can you imagine getting burnt by that?” “It was brutal, Ravenna, but even in their dying breath, they made sure they typed out a text to you. Who knows? If they hadn’t sent that message, you might be dead by now. They loved you a lot.” My vision got blurry as tears poured out of my eyes. “Did you know Mom was pregnant?” Uncle Leo raised a brow. “She was?” “Yes. She was going to tell D
RAVENNA~~~~~~~♤♤♤♤♤“What’s going on here?” I repeated when Aria just stared at me with wide eyes, and Valentino looked away from me. “It’s none of your business,” Aria hissed, scrambling for her clothes. “Not really, but care to explain why you’re naked in front of your step son?” Even though the question was directed at Aria, I kept my eyes pinned on Valentino. “Drop it, Ravenna. It’s none of your business,” he said. Aria smiled triumphantly. “See? He agrees with me.” “Shut up, Aria. I’ll only let this slide today. Don’t ever try it,” he said before walking out of the room. “You just had to ruin everything, didn’t you? I just wish you would die,” Aria spat as she put her clothes on. “You should be disgusted with yourself. He’s only two years older than your biological son, and you want to sleep with him? I’ve never met a more fucked up and disgusting woman like you.” “You’re j
VALENTINO ~~~~~~~~♧♧♧♧♧♧“What are you doing in here, Paul?” I asked as I walked into my kitchen. I took off my jacket, placing it on a stool. “I was dreading making a call to you, so I grew some balls and come see you for myself,” he replied. “You’re just in time. I made you something to eat.” I went to the sink to wash my hands before returning to the table. “You were dreading making a call to me because you finally told me the truth about my mother.” He placed a plate of Lo mein in front of me. “You’ll have to hit the gym with this one.” I took a bite of the noodles. “Tastes good. I didn’t know you could cook.” He took a seat at the other end of the table. “I didn’t always come from money, you know. I couldn’t splash thousands of dollars on food at a pricey restau