For over twenty minutes, they've been walking since they got out of the car. Ricardo followed Mr. Roberto as they were being escorted by five other Bodyguards asides from Ricardo who Mr. Roberto labeled a guest.They finally reached where Ricardo assume they were going and it was none other than an illegal gambling den. Mr. Roberto's most precious place. Ricardo heard from his source that Mr. Roberto doesn't reveal the location of this particular place to anyone except his closest friends and business partners and a few bodyguards whom he trusts. Ricardo feared for the reason why Mr. Roberto brought him there since they weren't that close and he doesn't trust him.He remains mute as he followed the man into the VIP section where he attempts to join the other bodyguards outside not until Mr. Roberto beaconed for him to enter and join them. There were already three men inside the VIP room drinking and they each had a young woman entertaining them while they were probably waiting for Rob
Ricardo helped Mr Roberto into his car after the man was dead drunk. He had never seen Mr Roberto drink so much alcohol. Even when he tried to warn the man about his health condition, he didn't listen and just drank more. The man began lamenting about Carmen, his ex wife who was Lucia's mother. The man continued untill Ricardo manages to bring him into the car and they were about leaving."Get out." Mr Roberto scolded.Ricardo thought he was referring to him and he was about to go out but Mr Roberto's tight grip prevented him from doing such."I am not referring to you, I'm referring to them." He pointed at the bodyguards, the one who was about to drive them inclusive.The bodyguard tried to explain that he couldn't leave the driving for Ricardo to do but Mr Roberto insisted. Asking the bodyguard to dare him and defy his orders. The bodyguard knew that Mr Roberto didn't trust Ricardo and he was only acting that way because he was drunk."Get away. " Mr Roberto ordered and they all s
The sound of running water in the bathroom drew Lucia in, and she was convinced Ricardo was inside. Regardless, she chose to wait for him to emerge. Despite the odd design of the room. Not something she would expect someone like Ricardo, who she has visited in his apartment outside the villa, to live in. The room appeared to be very different from what Ricardo would want. Lucia walked around the room, admiring the wall cards. They didn't appear to be ordinary cards, but they appeared to be relaying or representing a message, based on what she saw.Lucia began reading the messages on the card, and as she touched them, she heard the bathroom door open. Lucia was prompted to hide, which she did immediately, under the table. She noticed the man emerge from the restroom. Lucia took a closer look and realized the man wasn't Ricardo, but Marco. Someone made her heart clench in fear. She had misidentified his room as Ricardo's.When Marco returned outside, he discovered that someone had enter
"Look Marco, I know you don't believe me but this is all a misunderstanding." Lucia began to speak."Hmm?." He replied nonchalantly, creasing his brows."If we could talk and sort this out, I'll tell you why I came inside your room in the first place." She said."Fuck your explanations miss Roberto, I know all what you are up to, with that cunning bastard bodyguard of yours." He cursed. "Wait.. no, that's not what I meant. I'm just trying to explain." Lucia pleaded as he picked up the gun and he seemed more angrier than earlier.Just when he was about to shot, Lucia dived at him and they both fell on the bed. Marco continued to shoot bit Lucia dragged the gun with him so it went to the air. It couldn't be heard by other because it was a silent pistle. Lucia was loosing it. Marco was too strong and she wouldn't be able to hand on before he succeeds in pointing the gun at her chest and shooting her. Just when she lost hope, the door opened Abruptly and the gun jerked of their hands. Ri
Lucia joined them for breakfast the next morning, as requested by Mr. Roberto. She didn't say anything and ate her food quietly."I have some news to share." Mr. Roberto broke the awkward silence. Lucia saw Claudia all over her father as he was about to speak and kissed him. Lucia could already tell that whatever he was about to announce was going to benefit Claudia, and she didn't want to hear it, so she stood up to leave."Sit back and listen," he insisted."Why?.""Because I'm making you the managing director of my fashion company." He made an announcement.What!." Claudia yelled."What exactly do you mean?" Lucia sat down slowly as she inquired. She shifted her gaze to Claudia and saw the rage in her eyes. Claudia's expressions captivated her. A defeated expression. Maria's reaction was the same as everyone else's: jealousy.Lucia turned to face Roberto with a bright smile. "Thank you so much, Dad. I promise not to let you down." Lucia stated."When am I going to resume?""As quic
It has been over a month since Lucia began working at the fashion company as the managing director. Occupied by work, Lucia could hardly see Ricardo and also, her dad made him do more jobs. So she had to get used to Rex being her bodyguard even if she didn't like him a bit.After the meeting that day when Lucia exited the meeting room, she came across a familiar man waiting in her office. While she was at the meeting, her secretary informed her about Mr. Matteo's visit which she had already expected to come earlier. They had discussed business on phone so they decided to meet and talk more on it."Miss. Roberto." Matt greeted politely and extended his hands for a handshake.Lucia snubbed his gesture."What do you want?.""A talk with you, business talk." He quickly cuts in."As you can see I was just leaving. We'll reschedule for another day. Here's my card." Lucia handed him a pink card and left hurriedly. In the car, Lucia brought out her phone to make a phone call and the first num
When Lucia woke up, it was the next day and only Rex and a Maiden were with her in the room.She tried to sit up but was humbled by the throbbing headache."What happened?." She asked them. Lucia could hardly remember what happened. Just when Rex tried to speak, she suddenly recalled the man from last night who tried to take advantage of her."Did you save me last night?." She asked him. Rex remained silent as he thought of what to reply. He wasn't the one who saved her but Ricardo warned him not to mention to Lucia that he saved her. "Y- yes, I did." He answered briefly."Thank you.""The man got away. I'm sorry miss." He bowed slightly as he apologized."It's okay, at least he didn't get what he wanted." Lucia could hear her mobile phone ring. She saw the caller and it was her best friend. She wondered why she would call her out of the blue and in the middle of the night.Lucia quickly took the call and the first thing she heard was Camilla's scream."Are you alright, Mila?." She
Lucia stood up and ran away quickly, Ricardo did chase after her, he only picked up the pills and went back to the car. Even if Lucia ran, she wouldn't be able to run past a Mercedes. Ricardo drove around and searched for her. Lucia hid beside an apartment, she covered her face with the hood and hid there, hoping that he would pass and not find her, Ricardo was smart enough to look for details. He saw her sitting there, more like hiding.Ricardo got out of the car and went towards her, as Lucia saw him coming, she ran off quickly. Ricardo caught up to her. She was too weak from the dose of pills to run fast. He grabbed her arms and pulled her close."What are you doing? Let go of me!." Lucia demanded harshly."Then I'll report to Mr. Roberto about your addiction." He threatened."Tell him, I don't care." She retorted and pushed him away.Ricardo grabbed her again and this time, he carried her on his shoulders and headed towards the car. Lucia kicked and fought but Ricardo succeeded in
Lucia was busy packing up her luggages to leave the villa. She feared that her life was in danger and wanted to leave.She wanted to flee from the country with the little money she had. She would be able to go away for months.She was still busy packing up when the door was opened by Roberto, Ricardo was standing behind him.They were stunned by Lucia's current actions. "What are you doing?" Roberto was the first to ask but Ricardo was the most curious.He didn't understand why Lucia was packing up her luggage."I asked you a question," Roberto questioned, moving towards her.Lucia left the luggage and focused on her father. "I'm leaving, Roberto. I can't stay here anymore. My life is in danger and you aren't doing anything about it!" She declared harshly."Lucia, you can't leave" "I can't stay either, father. I do not want to get killed" She retorted sharply."I would sort that out." "Father, you do not understand how it feels to live in fear everyday! It's devastating. I no longer
It was in the middle of the night when Lucia woke up from sleep. At first, she wanted to go downstairs and get a glass of milk to help her sleep again.But this time, Lucia thought of doing something different. She's consumed a lot of milk these days, trying to suppress her constant hunger for the drugs.She was slowly getting over it and she didn't want to get addicted to something else in return. She stood on the balcony, gazing outside and enjoying the cold midnight breeze.Lucia closed her eyes for a second and opened it. She suddenly felt like seeing Ricardo, she missed him and they haven't seen each other since afternoon.Lucia was disturbed about his absence. At first, she assumed that he was busy. Her father sent him on a lot of errands these days, since he was short of men to use.Lucia decided to go outside and search for him. She moved towards her huge wardrobe and searched for some clothes to wear.It was almost winter, she dared not expose her skin because of the cold. Lu
For the first time in Ricardo's life, he felt his body tremble as a result of the kiss Lucia gave him. The kiss lasted for a while before she pulled out. Ricardo held her close and hugged her tight. "I'll be back, I promise" he said and left. Lucia heaved a heavy sigh as she slumped on the bed. She pulled out her phone from the plug and began to surf the internet. At least, that was the only thing that she could do without anyone restraining her. After a while, she felt like everything had become boring to her. The internet was filled with several news about her, despite the fact that Ricardo had dealt with the publication of the news, some platforms still published it. She was called several names, a slut and a drug addict. Lucia was devastated. They didn't disclose her identity but they kept saying "the Don's daughter" and in the city, Mr. Roberto of the most powerful Don. Which would make anyone guess that it was her who is the drug addict. Lucia felt devastated for the very fir
The next morning was hectic for Lucia as reporters found their ways inside the mansion and had dared to question her about her father's health condition. The new headlines that morning were all about the famous Rich man's daughter that caused her father to fall ill on his birthday. While Lucia was struggling to leave the mansion and head to the company, her car was flooded by these reporters. Ricardo hurried towards the scene and shielded her till they got inside the mansion. Lucia's dress was torn in some parts as they were rough with her. A video showcased online and its content was about everything that transpired between her and her father during his birthday the previous evening. "Investigate from which angle the video git recorded" Ricardo spoke with someone over the phone as he stood near the door inside Lucia's room. Lucia was sitting on the bed, panicking.Reporters were still outside her door knocking and more were flooding inside the apartment premises.Noticing how pale a
Lucia was in her room crying, feeling guilty over her father's health condition. She never thought that things would turn out this way. If she did, she wouldn't have done it. Even though Don Roberto hurt her, she never wished for him to fall sick.Lucia badly wanted someone to talk to, she had expected Ricardo to come in after everything but he didn't even come to check up on her. She was somehow angry at him and at the same time she didn't blame him. Everyone was disappointed at her and she was tagged as a bad daughter. Soon, she changed from the dress and left her room. Lucia wanted to go find Ricardo and talk to him. She expected everyone to judge her except for him.As she stepped out of her room, she noticed Marco sneaking around the corridor leading to her father's study and she followed him stealthily.Meanwhile, Ricardo was still inside the study and he was yet to find anything. This time, he opened the automatic metal detector compass and faced it towards different angles of
The following week,Lucia noticed that the mansion was buzzing with activities. However, no one mentioned to her about any celebration.She checked her calendar to be sure that she wasn't missing out on anything. Just then, she realized that it was her father's birthday that day. Lucia had forgotten about it. She suddenly recalled how they always celebrated his birthdays when she was a kid. It was just her mother, Mr. Roberto and her that celebrated it together. Sometimes they go out to the movies or the park. Her father's birthday was always the best days of her life as she always got to spend quality time with her parents. After she had been absent since the past few years, Lucia was sure that they changed the celebration style.She decided not to acknowledge them since she wasn't invited in the first place. Lucia decided to draw some digital designs and upload them to her catalog online. She was busy working on her laptop when a knock on the door interrupted her.She allowed the p
"Miss Roberto?" "Lucia" She heard Ricardo call out and she suddenly regained herself.Lucia was caught up in her own imagination. From where she stood, Ricardo was far away from her. He didn't even attempt to come near her. Everything was just her imagination."What happened to you?" Ricardo asked curiously and he tried to approach her."No, don't come near me. Stay where you are" she instantly rebuked him."Are you alright?""I'll come meet you downstairs, please leave" Lucia said to him.Ricardo stared at her for a moment before he walked out of the room.Lucia instantly went to lock the door."Lucia, what is wrong with you? Why do I keep on having these silly imaginations?" She scolded herself as she rushed to put her clothes on.She realized that Ricardo had dry-cleaned them which meant that he was the one who changed her clothes. Lucia was caught up in her wild fantasies that she didn't realize that it was Ricardo's shirt she wore when she woke up. Everything seemed so strange
This tastes awful. I'm sorry.." Lucia giggled, trying to be considerate so that he doesn't feel bad about his cooking."Yeah, I expected you to be honest with me," Renee laughed."What do we do? There's no food in this house?" Lucia continued to clean her tongue with a tissue, she didn't seem to get over the greasy taste of the meal."Are you alright?" Ricardo asked."Yes," Lucia nodded."Remind me not to let you cook next time," she said and they both broke into laughter."Can I have something to get rid of this taste?" She requested."Yes, I think some tequila will do. Mum brought some." He excused himself to quickly bring the drink from the bar.Shortly, Renee arrived with a bottle of tequila, a rubber of ice, and two tumbler glasses."Here," he quickly poured some for Lucia and she didn't waste any time in gulping it in quickly. "This is better." She said and breathed in relief.Renee also poured a cup and drank it all."Aren't you going to have more?." He asked Lucia who sudden
Lucia arrived with Renee in his home, Rex decided that he would wait in the car till she was done with Renee. Lucia helped Renee arrange the stuff they got in the kitchen and he volunteered to cook for them. Lucia sucked at cooking and he knew. While he cooked, Lucia sat and watched him in the kitchen. Renee didn't allow her to do anything even when she volunteered to help him."I wouldn't want you to cut your fingers or ruin your acrylics." He said,"Oh that doesn't matter, I'll just get another done." Lucia explained."No, I won't let you stress yourself. Just sit here and watch me perform magic. Trust me, I'll do just fine." Renee led her to the chair and made her sit.He adjusted the apron on his waist and continued chopping his vegetables and at the same time stirring the soup. "So, what are we having tonight?.""I don't know, I saw the recipe online but it's trusted and I'm sure that you'll love it. It's definitely not an Italian dish." He revealed."Oh, it's not? Then I guess