Valentina turns to me and I feel cold from the glare of her ice-blue eyes, “What did you say?” I clear my throat, heat spreading up my cheeks at how flippant I had been, I lick my lips nervously, and my eyes fly to Eva beside me, she is quiet, I don’t think she has moved once since we started. Trying to be as polite as I can, I look to Valentina so she knows I didn’t mean to offend. “I don’t have anything against the name Valentina or even Isadora, I quite like it, nice name, I have a younger cousin who goes by that name, we call her Dora.” Fuck, I’m rambling, I look up from my glass, trying for a smile “But we can add that to the list for any future babies,” Thea included, not Tomasa though. She looks at me for a moment then turns back to Niko “Names have meaning, a good name from our line, one with good meaning not some coined version” She makes a face as though she tasted something foul. “Change it” That didn’t seem like a suggestion anymore, it was an order. Still, I hold o
“I’m sorry Niko but your Nonna is a bitch” I pace the length of the room, my hands at my hips, trying to calm down. Valentina just left and the others tickled out of the room one after the other, Tommy saying something about being famished. His eyes follow my movement, the chair turned to the side, not saying a word, in fact, he seems content to stare at me while I seeth silently. “Nothing to be sorry about, I always thought she was a bitch myself”I pause "Why are you looking at me like that?”“Your ass looks delicious in that dress”I give my husband an unimpressed look. “You cannot truly be thinking about sex right now”“Why not?” He corcked a brow. with his hair combed back, his features look sharp, his blue eyes piercing. I stop my pacing and walk up to where he remains seated, I'm so wound up I want to throw a fit, its times like this his cold personality angers me. When I’m close enough, he pulls me by my arm until I’m between his parted thighs and then sits me on one lap.
The door opens a head with brown curls peakes in before he enters the room fully, followed by a low whistle” Was this you Eva? Damn” Tommy eyes the destruction with keen appreciation. His long legs eat up the space easily and before I know it he is lowering down to the couch beside me. I take note that Eva and Matteo are no longer touching. “Are you all planning on how to get back at Nonna? Why did nobody call me?” at my surprised look je pushes his hair from his eyes with a careless shrug, “She wants to take my girl, that’s more than enough offense in my book” “We aren’t planning to get back at Valentina, I was just telling Lola to avoid her, you will do the same” “But why…” he practically whined, throwing his large arms around my shoulders in a hug. “I don’t think that’s necessary, Niko said no so we should be golden” “It's cute that you think that’s enough to stop Valentina,” Tommy says with a pat on my head. "Pretty sure she sacrifices virgins every night and drinks their b
Angelo is sleeping on my chest, just months ago his little body could ball up on my chest but now his hands and legs hang over my sides, his head resting on my breast. They are growing up so fast. To imagine that a year ago they were inside me. My hand drops to his back.“Caela” I called softly. She turns to me, lips parted and struggling with Angelo's toy car happy to be alone with it, the both of them were fighting over it before Angelo had given up, deciding on a nap instead. Caela would have fought over her beloved giraffe until next year before letting someone have it. When I smile at her she turns back, slamming it on the couch and giggling by herself. “Caela” I called again and she turned immediately, eyes wide. I shake my head with another smile. When she turns away from me I say “Valentina?” Waving the car in front of her, she tosses it to the other end of the couch then struggles unto her hands and knees, crawling towards it. “Vale?” I try again. Nothing. “Isadora?” T
“Hm-not much” I stammered, my eyes jumping around nervously, I wondered what he would do if I made a swift escape, in his current mood, probably chase me. His head tilts to the side in silent challenge. “We didn’t get to the gun part-" I decide to add "But he said to shoot to kill” Niko nods in agreement, walking around me, he says, “He’s right about that, don’t pull your gun unless you have every intention to use it.” I follow him with my eyes, my feet still rooted to a spot. Whenever he gets like this, anyone with the right sense will find a place to hide. “And if you do, aim to kill” Now behind me. “What else did your friend teach you” I winced at the way he gritted the word friend. My... I really fucked up. I didn't plan any of it, the thought of learning how to shoot came to me this morning and the more I thought of it, the more it seemed like a smart idea. The mansion is guarded like Fort Knox, but like I told Miguel, one day I might be the only thing standing between my
“Oh my, yes!” I gasped. “Niko…”My core clenches at the onslaught of pleasure gathering between my legs. I scream his name when the wave comes, my head trashing, hair flying about at the intensity. He doesn’t stop, just keeps pounding into me as I ride my orgasm.A broken sound leaves me, I blink back more wetness in my eyes.“Oh…” I squirm beneath him, rolling my hips up into him, knowing I'll have a rug burn on my back but I need more of him. It gets too much, looking at his face eyes dark with pleasure, I tug on my wrists, “Please let me touch you” “No” he punctuated that with a particular vicious thrust and I screamed he repeated the action, hitting a sensitive spot inside me again and again intense pleasure swirled from my hips spreading over my limbs and I felt like I might disintegrate.“Oh…fuckkk” I stand right at the edge, on the precipice as my orgasm crests, about to fall over when he slips out of me. My entire body quakes, my pussy clenching around nothing, as I blinked,
When most women upset their husbands, as punishment their credit cards get taken away, some other of their favorite things, or he can new mistress brought to the house to show the woman her place and that she isn’t irreplaceable. My husband fucks me into oblivion. A strange feeling wakes me, I turn my head, trying to get a sense of myself, was it the kids, did I hear a sound? Breathing deeply, my lashes flutter, and with sleepy eyes, I notice a dark form just beside me on the bed, watchingas a large hand glides up my thigh.“Niko…?” I swallow, blinking away the fog of sleep from my mind, my eyes travel around the room, behind him, and it's dark in the room, only a soft glow from a bulb at the far end of the room. When he remains quiet, “Did something happen?” he looks fine, excluding his silent demeanor. I wasn't expecting him after he left me in bed this afternoon. “Are you hurt?” He pushes off his jacket and crawls onto the bed and over me throwing off the blankets as he goes.
I push out of the water breathing hard, I wipe water from my eyes with a hand, climbing out of the pool ungracefully. My arms shaking, lungs burning. I had hoped I would feel better after the workout. I don’t. I go to bed angry and I wake up frustrated, I’ve been to the shooting range every day for the past three days, shooting a few rounds, I’ve gotten more familiar with my weapon and my hands don’t shake anymore. The recoil and loud bangs don’t make me jump. My aim has also gotten better. My life is falling apart, the mansion is as tensed and quiet as a graveyard I don’t know how things are with Eva and Matteo as I haven’t been able to reach either of them, Tommy has been MIA, Niko isn’t speaking to me, I know he felt bad about pushing me away the other night but not enough to make peace, it’s all that witch’s fault. Everything changed the moment she arrived. Everyone has asked me to steer clear of VValentina. Matteo, Eva, Tommy, Maria, now, even Niko. He assures me that
My uncle was right, everything will change from now on, the Grecos, Mendoza, and the Oriente arms of the New York Families are no more. Though we weren't particularly friendly with the other two, it wasn't required for the business. The Greco’s however have always been closely allied with the Salvatores, it wasn’t because of that friendship that Julio was my father's right hand and his father before him, as capo it was my decision to choose my right hand, but for decades, that honor belonged to the Greco’s, until Julio fucked it up. With them gone, there is a gap, in the prominent families, and someone needs to take over for the business to run smoothly. As things settled, I just wanted some peace to be with my family, my children, I already missed so much. It was something I would never retreat, I kept them safe. I did what had to be done, even though it hadn't been my Knife in their throat or my orders. My actions lead to their deaths. And their deaths created a power vacuum, one
**“We have to leave here, get to another safe house we don’t know who else- this place has been compromised” Arms wrapped under my arms trying to pull me away. I was staring blankly at the Man I'd grown so close with. I didn't know what to do.“We can’t leave him here” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “You think I want to leave him? He was like a father to me, but I have to protect you, he would want you to get to safety”“Miguel…”“Now Lola, Now." he shook me "We have to-“ a phone ringing cuts off the rest of his words. Miguel bends down and searches through Matteo’s jacket to retrieve his phone. I crawl back to him lifting his head into my lap, spatches of blood stained my jeans as I run my fingers through his hair. “Please Matteo open your eyes,” I begged softly.He couldn’t be gone. He felt warm despite the blood pooled on the ground beneath him, he couldn’t be gone. He couldn’t...“It’s Matteo…” I hear Miguel say to the other person on the phone “He’s gone” is all Miguel says
I straightened at the sound of a car pulling closer. I know it isn’t Miguel as he’s in the next room, slowly tiptoeing to one of the windows and pushing back the curtains, “Lola don’t do that-“ “It’s Matteo” I gasped in recognition at the dark hair and family face of the man that exists the drive's seat. “It’s Matteo” I repeated “He’s here!” I announced as my heart began to race in my chest. “Stay here, stay down” Miguel ordered, as he headed to the door a gun in hand. I remained at the window, clutching my rounded belly with a shaky hand, the other fisted around the thick curtains as I tried to listen to their exchange. It went on for about half a minute but it was too long and then Miguel crossed back to the porch, he disappeared from my line of sight, and I moved to the door. The bottom of my oversized jeans dragged on the floor over my bare feet as I had left the zipper undone to accommodate my large bump. I’m standing behind the door when it opens and Miguel says “It’
“That puta was whoring around dirtying the family line-“ she gurgles, choking as red spills from a thin line across her throat. A hand flew to her neck eyes wide in shock. No one was allowed to speak of that, I took pains in ensuring it remained that way. The consequences would be devastating. I look at the blade in my hand then swipe the napkin beside her tea set to wipe the little blood at the end. I turned around and came to a stop at the dark figure at the entrance. Fuck. “Is it true what she said?” I observe his stance, the pistol hanging loosely at his side, my brows furrowed as I tried to figure out how long he’s been standing there, how much he heard, I let out a sigh, “Tommy…” He sucked in a deep breath, his empty hand clenching into a shaky fist. “Did you know?” Tommy asked calmly. I grit my teeth and wipe the blade once more, then I return it to the sheath strapped to my wrist, soothing down my sleeves to keep it hidden. I turned to my brother fully and asked “Wh
Bang! Bang! Bang!!! Gunshots sound as I make my way down the hall of an Italian-styled penthouse. The enemy tries to return fire, but they are quickly overwhelmed by my men. Martino Greco led me to Valentina's hideout like a mouse to the cheese. Pained grunts and shocked yells followed by the thuds of bodies heating the ground, and then quiet. Hmm. I walk in smooth strides past pools of blood, bodies littering the polished wooden floors noting the soldiers Valentina called from her mansion in Italy, I frown at the sight of a falcon tatted on one of the fallen men’s forearms, seems she hired some mercenaries also. Splendid. Last night Valentina sent her men to Mendoza and Orinete households while they slept and took them out in one swell move. It is why I can break in with little to no resistance, half of her man power is gone. Danilo inclined his chin at me then motioned up silently a gun in hand, corked and still at the ready. Chase and Emilio stand beside him each o
I stared out the window on the ride back. Like the two times we’ve gone out, I remain in the car while he checks the property, when he signals all clear I open my door and move to the back to get the kids. Miguel goes around the other side and gets started on Angelo’s seat, he undoes the strap holding the child to the seat and then unhooks the chair fully so he can take it inside. “Want to tell me what happened at the clinic?” he questions as we walk. I shook my head nothing. “You don’t really expect me to believe that do you?” “What makes you think I did anything." “Excluding the fact that you looked guilty as hell when we got back, there’s a tear glued to your lashes" he pointed one end of his bottled water at me, "Why were you crying” We entered the cabin and I unstrapped the kids to let them run free. “I just needed to use the bathroom quickly” I paused helping Angelo to his feet. “I called him” I admitted. His expression remains unchanged. “You don’t seem surprised
NIKO That evening I left using one of the hidden exist. There's a car parked under the bridge, I pull up behind it, leaving the engine still running as I look out the window, moments later a male form, wearing a black oversized coat blowing the wind takes long steps in my direction as far as his short legs can carry him, the side door opens and he drops down beside me, the smell of tobacco that follows him where ever he goes fills the car. I make no effort to his my frown. Excluding the fact that it was a shitty habit that kills the liver, I imagine it would make stealth impossible if they can smell you from a mile away. And I preferred to leave no traces, unless it was a warning that is. I have half the mind to ask him to exit my vehicle before he saturates it with his unpleasant smell but I need him tonight so I decided to play nice. “How did it go?” Martino Greco smacks his lips once, “Just as you expected boss, Maxim sent another offer, I did as you said while showing some
LOLA I’ve been teaching my twins simple words and pointing out items around the house for them. I once read that kids need contact with other people and other kids to stimulate growth, and I’ve been doing what I can to fill that role. "Nana" Angel mumbled pointing at the banana when Miguel walked past eating a banana last night.It is also his favorite fruit. Micaela liked peaches.I also roped Miguel into watching some soap operas airing every evening with me so I’d have something to look forward to and someone to discuss with. Soap operas were always better when you had someone to discuss them with. He acts like he hates them but I swear he secretly enjoys them. He finds it hard to understand the motives of the main antagonists and often wonders why the ‘good guys’ give so many chances.No one is that inherently good. Miguel had said when the main female character got played for the fourth time in twenty episodes. It's plain stupidity. he added his two cents, I shook my head with
NIKO -Months later... “Who can we count on?” Tommy asked his chin on his jaw. In front of me at the other side of the desk Matteo cleared his throat and the other turned to him, “Brenadi, Orisi, Ajello, the Sances are a given" he tips his head. With Chase one of my trusted enforcers the head of the Sances family, it was a given, I trusted him to keep his house in check, the others however, "The others will need more convincing" Matteo added voicing my exact thoughts. “That’s four out of twelve” Vincent grunted unable to hide his displeasure. “How can Valentina have eight over us, the bitch has been in Italy for almost three decades," Tommy growls. “Exactly, lots of families owe her favors, she ran this family before us with an iron fist and she never fully removed her claws while my brother was capo, that’s nearly four decades of loyalty from the New York families. "Enough time to amass a fortune's worth of secrets and debts to call in, moreover, a number of the men are too sca