Every Monday, Devil’s Den always came to a close earlier than every other day.At 1 am, the club would be closed and everyone had to leave.Today was no exception as Grace packed up her bag, changed into a normal outfit, and walked out of the club.A few men whom she was familiar with and were familiar with her, waved at her as she passed by them, heading towards the road.“Gracino, make sure to head home directly! You’re too hot for just anyone!” One of the men teased as she tried to flag down a cab.She turned around and winked at him.“No need to remind me of what I’m aware of!” She retorted sassily. The men chuckled as they left the area. Grace never liked accepting rides from those men, so no matter how long it took for the taxis to arrive, she would wait.She glanced down at her wristwatch and cursed in Italian.“I should have closed earlier today.” She muttered impatiently.At a distance, she saw the silhouette of a man who looked just like Simone. This immediately brought her
Dante brought Grace back to the base that night. Grace was lost in thought all through the ride back because, for the first time in her life, she killed a person. Because she was absent-minded, she didn't notice the route Dante took back to the maid base. She only came to her senses when the car pulled up before the entrance. Her eyes went wide when she saw the bulky guard who came forward to open her car door for her. She slowly climbed out as he kept a poker face, not even glancing at her. She turned to Dante immediately and saw him casually patting the shoulder of the guard who opened his car door for him. Grace scrutinized the surrounding area and her eyes almost popped out of it to let at the sight before her. She dramatically rubbed a hand on both eyes, trying to take in the view clearly. It definitely wasn't a hallucination. It was real. She was clearly seeing soldiers everywhere. Her eyes flew towards Dante as dread filled her. What if he was a policeman who was in
“A-Alessia?”Grace called out in shock and tried to walk up to Alessia whom she had been looking for God knows how long.Alessia on the other hand teared up in shock as she watched her best friend sitting with her captor.Why was she here? Was she working with Marco? What’s happening?“You’re here?” Grace asked confused and tried to walk further when Alessia was suddenly grabbed from behind by two bulky guards.An ear-piercing scream tore from her lips as she thrashed around.“Let go of me!”Grace stared in shock and turned to Marco.“What’s happening?!”Marco sat still on the couch, pretending like he wasn’t even there.Alessia cried bitterly as the guard covered her mouth with a hand and pulled her back upstairs. She wasn’t a criminal for crying out loud!“No! Let her go!” Grace chased after them, but Dante came out from nowhere and held her back.“Stop, you’re trespassing.” He said in a husky voice, wanting to intimidate her.“That’s my friend you all are treating like some kind o
Once Grace placed the gun down, she was instantly captured by Dante.She wanted to resist, to fight off his strong hold on her, but he was stronger regardless.“Send her home; her services are no longer required. And Grace, if you dare to breathe a word of this to anyone, you’ll lose a family member. Fidati di me quando lo dico." He warned, also adding a bit of Italian to make sure his words sank into her mind.Grace bit down on her lower lip, trying to stop the tears from falling off. She had been worried sick about Alessia after Simone spoke about her being missing.She had thought that wherever Alessia was, she would be safe, at least.Only for her to find out that Alessia was actually with Marco. The famous mafia lord, Marco De Luca. This made her wonder how in God’s name Alessia met Marco!What unfortunate coincidence brought them together?Marco was the last person she actually expected to have Alessia. And now he had her with no plans of letting her go. if only she could find
The question was unexpected, but Marco gave no response and just continued eating, totally ignoring her like she never said a word.Alessia frowned in annoyance, she was trying to stay calm, but it seemed he wasn’t interested in her calmness.“Can you please just tell me, why are you keeping me here?” She quizzed again, trying to keep her cool. “Did I offend you that night? The night we shared together. Did I do something stupid? Are you angry about it? Is that why you’re keeping me here?” She continued.Marco finally stopped eating and looked up at her, “ You did nothing wrong.” His husky voice said calmly as he looked up at her.“Then what the heck is your problem?!” She yelled out, jerking up from her seat. If eyes could kill, Marco would be long gone.He sighed, “There is a reason, but you can’t know about it now.” He retorted. “Now sit back down and eat.”“And you think I’ll listen to you?” She asked mockingly.Marco glared at her and repeated, “I said, sit down and eat.”With no
Marco spent the rest of the day in his office, attending to a few documents. Even as the mafia head of the De Luca clan, he still had other businesses to run in the city.Dante walked into the office at that time, seeing Marco buried in work, he smirked.“I see you getting busy again?” Dante poked and sat down.Marco threw him a disgusted look, “What do you mean by that? Wasn’t I serious before?” Marco asked in return as he focused back on his work.“You were never serious, you were exclusively focused on your doll, or should I say, new toy?” Dante snickered.Marco gave no response to that and just focused on what he had at hand, “What time are we leaving?” He asked instead.Dante glanced at his wristwatch and looked up at him again. “In an hour,” he replied.Marco nodded and ignored him totally.Dante decided to bring up the topic of what happened during breakfast.Marco had texted him so early in the morning to go over to Selena‘s apartment and get the news from her about Double S.
“We meet again, Handsome.”Gaia Salvador, The only daughter of Mafia lord, Enrico Salvador, said behind Marco as she tilted her head to the side with a coy smile playing lazily on her lips.Marco turned around slowly, wanting to see who dared to touch him against his will. To his surprise, it turned out to be the same person he planned on avoiding tonight.Of course, he knew Gaia Salvador, the strong, independent, and one of the most eligible spinsters in the city of Reggio Calabria.Marco and Gaia had been very good childhood friends. Their bond was inseparable, but it crumbled when Marco became friends with Miracle Gonzalo.Gaia had initially introduced Mimi to Marco, but it seemed Mimi wanted more than just to be friends with him. And because they were kids at that time, Marco was totally cool with it.That was when he actually began to develop a soft spot for Mimi.Gaia felt sidelined as Marco’s attention shifted to Mimi. Their strong relationship crumbled bit by bit, till Gaia
“Exactly, so it can’t work between us.” Marco said sternly and walked out of the balcony, back into the party. He couldn’t believe his bad luck. Just when he walked into the party, he was already bugged by the hosts’ daughter.Just when he decided to head to the counter, at least to get a drink for himself. Only a drink could bring back his sanity at this point, he was suddenly approached by the host himself. Enrico had a grin on his face as he walked upto Marco.“If it isn’t the Ruler of Reggio!” He announced loudly and extended a hand for a handshake. Marco sighed inwards and accepted his hand. “Enrico.” He muttered and returned the smile.“It’s a pleasure to have you here today. Thank you for honoring my invite.” Enrico said and gestured towards the bar counter for a drink.Marco knew this would definitely be a very long night for him at this point.******Meanwhile, Dante in his quest for finding women to have a wonderful night with unfortunately ran into the last person he exp
“Make sure she stays safe, I don’t want to hear any complaints when I’m gone,” Marco instructed for the umpteenth time as he gathered his papers, packing them into a briefcase. This was supposed to be a trip for inspection, but to avoid arousing suspicion, he had to dress corporate and carry a briefcase. “I’ll repeat, She is pregnant and vulnerable. Ensure she’s safe, but also make sure she doesn’t get any ideas of escaping.” He recited again, wanting to make sure Selena got the message loud and clear. He would kill her if anything were to happen to Alessia and his child.“Understood.” She nodded.“Also, Grace, her friend, needs the same level of scrutiny.” He added and turned around to face them; Dante and Selena.“Sure, boss.” Once he had finished his packing, he grabbed his case and headed out with Dante following behind. The convoy was ready outside, black SUVs lined up with their engines running. Clear definition of opulence and power. Marco entered into the lead vehicle, his
The door opened, revealing a maid who came over to deliver Alessia’s dinner.Grace walked forward to receive the meal from her and dismissed her afterward.She made her way back to the bed, placing the meal down on the table in the room.Alessia soon walked out of the closet and seeing the meal on the table, she raised a brow in confusion.“A maid?” she asked and Grace nodded.Just then, Grace finally noticed how much weight Alessia had lost. Alessia looked emaciated, her face and body, pale and thin.Grace shook her head pitifully and said, “Ali, you look so thin.”Alessia smiled weakly and nodded, “Yeah, I've spent all the time crying lately. I couldn't eat even, I lost my appetite each time I saw food.”“Woah, for a foodie like yourself, that's too much to bear.” Grace poked with a snort. “And on a serious note, now that you are expecting a child, you need to take care of yourself more,” she added with a serious look on her face.“I don't want this child.” Alessia’s face hardened a
“Yes, she is pregnant. And she has grown distant_”“Stop!” Grace let out a short scream and she stood up at once. She glared at Marco as tears gathered in her eyes.“You’re responsible for the pregnancy?” She asked, her eyes flashing with uncertainty.Marco knew she would react this way, so he tried again to run a hand through his hair but ended up pushing at his bandages.“Look, it wasn’t intentional.” “Then what was it?!” She yelled, disregarding the fact she was still standing in his property and he could have her punished for yelling. But Marco pushed his ego aside this time, he had messed up and had to fix the mess. “I was drugged that night and I couldn’t control myself.”“Why didn’t you go to the harem? Why did you go to her instead? And I’m sure as hell she put up a good fight. God why?” Grace broke down as she fell back on her chair, her hand going to tug at her hair.Dante felt a tug at his heart seeing her whimpering in her seat. Her shoulders wouldn’t stop shaking as she
Grace glanced at Dante who sat in the driver’s seat, driving towards the base. Earlier, he said there was a problem. But of course, he wouldn’t spill the details of the problem. Also, what has it got to do with her?“I thought you hated me?” She suddenly asked out loud, turning her head to face his that was focused on the road.Dante wasn’t focused on driving, his mind was all over the place as the image of a certain girl on stage kept coming up in his mind.He jerked slightly when he heard her voice beside him and turned to glance at her.“Would you quit that?” He asked with a frown. “Quit what?”“Don’t fucking startle me like that!” He fired and looked away from her.Seriously, why did she have to wear that top?!“Oh, did I startle you?” She feigned ignorance and batted her lashes when their eyes met again.Dante shook his head in disbelief. Which planet did she come from?“So tell me, what’s the problem at the base and what does it have to do with me?” Dante growled at her, his h
Dante dragged in deep refreshing breaths, trying his best to hold his anxiety together.When Alessia had found out about her pregnancy, she had cried herself to sleep, after throwing tantrums to kill Marco with her bare hands. Marco had felt so pained and bittered when she said a lot of hurtful words to him. She had cursed him even, said so many words, and ended up locking herself in the room. Alessia had refused to eat or drink, shutting everyone out completely.The only person who could get to her was a close friend and that close friend was Grace Franco.Marco had even collapsed after the struggles with her. The moment he arrived in his study room, his body gave up on him and sent him tumbling to the floor in pain.Before he closed his eyes completely, he begged Dante to go over to Devil’s Den to fetch Gracino, only she could get through to Alessia.The last thing Marco wanted was to harm Alessia or let her get harmed. He would do everything to keep her and their child safe. Dan
“The wedding preparations are fortunately in full swing.” The voice of Ignacio Gonzalo boomed over the phone as he spoke to Ezekiel De Luca.Ezekiel sat in his study room, a glass of liquor in hand as he drummed his index finger on the arm of his resting chair.“That’s great, Ignacio. I can’t wait to have Miracle in my house.” He said in return, a smile spreading across his face.“We should meet up at the Country Club for a few games,” Ignacio suggested, but Ezekiel was quick to turn him down.“Oh no, I have a few issues to deal with for a while and won’t be available for a game now,” Ezekiel said in return.Ignacio at the other end, frowned, but he still didn’t push it and just hummed in response. He knew of the issues ongoing in the De Luca clan, and he didn’t want to get involved in it for now. Maybe after his daughter gets married into their family, he will find a way to help them sort things out.Once Ezekiel ended the call, a knock came at the door and a guard walked in to info
“Pregnant?” Marco’s lips trembled at the word just now.The doctor closed up his items and gave a firm nod. “Yes, she is pregnant and I’m not interested to know the father of the child.” The doctor said sarcastically and turned to leave.Selena and Dante watched Marco, expecting the usual panic and denial he always dishes out each time a woman came with a report of her pregnancy.A playboy like him would never settle with anyone. But they all saw how he treated Alessia better than any of his previous flings, and they were sure as hell that he might settle with her finally. But then again, there was still Miracle Gonzalo in the picture and Marco’s father would never want him to settle with a woman who isn’t a mafia princess.Marco’s emotions were all over the place as he watched Alessia. Before anyone could understand what was going on, Marco yelled out in excitement and leaned in his kiss Alessia’s lips while she remained unconscious.He had prayed to God, (though that was a lie. He
Alessia stood before the machine while holding tightly to the microphone.Marco sat with the others behind her, his gaze fixed intently on her petite figure. He couldn't deny the beauty of her just standing there and doing nothing.Alessia cursed Marco in her heart for making her go through with this. She really didn't want to do this, but Marco was being persistent, plus Selena requested ‘nicely’.The machine soon came alive and the music she had to sing to happened to be one of her favorite songs which Simone often sang to put her to bed. A smile unknowingly crossed her features when she remembered the tone and how she would mock Simone for having the worst voice on earth.The lyrics were imprinted in her mind so much that she wouldn't easily forget them. She didn't even need to look at the flat screen in other to sing along.Soon, the song began and she immediately shut her environment out. Maybe this wasn't a bad idea after all.The entire room went quiet as she began. Honestly, t
Earlier,Marco, who lay on the bed motionless, suddenly opened his eyes, feeling the drowsiness wear off slowly. He turned to the side to see a maid cleaning up the table where the doctor had placed his things earlier. He groaned, his hand going to his head as he tried to fall back to sleep.But with the noises the maid kept making, it was far from possible for him to fall asleep again.“Quiet down, woman." He muttered, but enough for the maid to hear and shudder.She hurriedly stood still, not even breathing to avoid angering him.Marco managed to stay still, his pounding head returning to normal again.Thankfully, the party room was a bit far from his bedroom, so he couldn't hear the loud music coming from there.But again, he recalled something. Dante had this look in his eyes when he came over to the room to check on him earlier.That look was awfully familiar, a look that spoke volumes, one he had always never trusted. A mischievous one too.Marco opened his eyes again, slowly s