“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
“How could you hit her?” Dante demanded as soon as Grace climbed into his car. Marco had ordered him to take her home, but he couldn’t just let this matter go unaddressed.Grace should have known better than hitting an heiress. “Excuse me? I shouldn’t have hit her when she raised her hand to my face first?” Graced asked as her anger threatened to burst out again.“Do you know who she is? In Reggio, there...” “To hell with whoever she is! I don’t give a fuck about her! If anyone dares to bully me, I’ll return the favor!” She spat out through gritted teeth and tried to climb out of the car.Dante hurriedly reached out to pull her back, at the same time she was turning to face and telling him that she would take a cab instead.But unfortunately for him, his hand went directly to her boobs the moment she turned around to face him.The moment Dante’s hand brushed against her chest, Grace let out a loud scream and instinctively punched him in his nose.Dante groaned and held his nose as h
Dante walked back into the party and surprisingly couldn’t find Marco anywhere.Thankfully, a waiter had passed by at that time and happened to have seen Marco.“Where did you see him?” He asked the waiter who testified to seeing him.“I saw him being led upstairs, It seems he was pretty drunk.” The waiter informed him as he explained Marco’s condition.A frown appeared on Dante’s face at those words. Marco wasn’t a drinker, neither was he the type to get drunk so easily from a few glasses he exchanged with those men.So how come he became drunk?Speaking of upstairs, where was he heading to? He had called him earlier to inform him that he would wait for him at the bar counter.So why did he go upstairs instead?“Who brought him up the stairs?” Dante asked the waiter who was about to leave.The only explanation was that someone took Marco upstairs.Marco wouldn’t just move around someone’s house so carelessly.“Oh, it was Lady Gaia who brought him upstairs.” At the mention of Gaia’s
The next day, Grace arrived at the airport, ready to board the plane to her dream country.Everything she ever dreamed of was coming true, although it looked like everything was falling apart at first, it eventually came together.Standing at the airport gates and clutching her ticket tightly, she couldn’t help but look back over her shoulder. Sicily had been her home, the place where she had laughed, cried and grown. Her heart swelled with a mix of nostalgia and excitement as memories washed over her: moments of laughter with Alessia, sneaking out on wild journies, quiet nights where she and Dante would talk and cuddle until dawn. She had always dreamed of seeing the world, but leaving this life wasn’t easy. Yet, knowing that her best friend was now happy, married, and building a family of her own made it feel right. She had her dreams to chase, after all.Taking a deep breath, she turned to face the gate, trying to push aside the ache in her heart. Just as she took a step forward,
Grace was so excited that she couldn’t stop rambling on and on as she picked out the perfect wedding dress for her dear Alessia. A proud smile crossed Alessia’s face as she watched her best friend getting so excited about her wedding. She was surprised when Grace told her that Dante had also proposed to her. But Grace being Grace had rejected the proposal. To her, she wanted to go to school first.“Do you have to go to school?” Alessia asked as she glared at Grace who wouldn’t stop grinning. “Ali, we’ve talked about this before. You know I’ve always wanted to go to school in the US. Besides, it’s just 4 years.” She said and pouted.“But I don’t want you to leave,” Alessia pouted also.Grace teared up, moving to hug her friend. “Sorry my baby,” she muttered. “But if you’re happy for me, you’ll wish me well instead of crying.” Grace poked, earning a jab from Alessia.The manager of the mall watched them with a smile, wondering how these two managed to push through life to this day. Wh
A month later, Salvatore walked into Devil's Den to find Marco who had invited him there. When he arrived, he met with Selena waiting for him by the corner. “Welcome, please come with me." She said, knowing he was Marco's guest. Salvatore watched her face for a while and nodded. He followed her as they both got into the elevator and went up to the second floor. Ever since Marco and Salvatore made up, they rekindled their previous friendship. They would often drink and go for meetings together, it made Dante feel betrayed, but of course, they never left him behind. When Selena and Salvatore arrived at the top floor where the supposed Marco was supposed to be waiting for him, he found the place empty.“Where is he?" He asked as he sat on one of the couches in the room.“I presume he is on his way," Selena said robotically. Salvatore smirked, baffled by how she took this mafia work even more seriously than the men.He wondered if she ever smiled in her life considering she was always
When Salvatore walked in fully, everyone including Alessia excused themselves to give the two some privacy.Now left alone in the hospital room, Marco smirked and said, “So it's you? You're that one stubborn mercenary." “That's a wonderful way to apologize, Marco," Salvatore said, moving to sit on the chair by the hospital bed.Marco's brow creased in confusion, “Apologize? For what?" He asked.“Please don't act like you don't know the reason we drifted apart." The smile on Tore’s face disappeared, replaced by a serious look.Seriously, Marco didn't understand what he was talking about. “I still don't get you. We drifted apart because your father hated my family." “Are you kidding me? We were friends even after the rift began. That wasn't the reason." Salvatore reminded him, this time he could feel his anger building up in him.Marco stayed silent, trying to recall what exactly had transpired between them in the past. The only thing he remembered was that Salvatore had a girlfriend…
It took Marco two days to finally wake up. When he did, he felt a bit strange. This time, the thing on his face had been removed and his right there was someone else face.Alessia sat beside him, or more like lay beside him on the bed, her dark circles visible and a sign that she hadn't slept well in a while.Marco smiled, then reached out a hand to pat her hair.What happened when he was asleep and how long it had been?When Alessia felt a hand on her hair, she immediately opened her eyes.Her eyes met his and a surprised look consumed her face. “Marco?" She asked carefully, trying to make sure she wasn't hallucinating again.“Mia Cara." He muttered to convince her that she wasn't seeing things.Alessia jerked up instantly and called his name again. “Marco?" “You aren't hallucinating, Baby." Marco chuckled.And before he could guess her next move, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly.“Oh my goodness! You're awake! You're finally awake!"Alessia pulled away slightly, her
Alessia stared at Marcel and Salvatore, especially Dante. She was confused as to why their faces looked so worried. “Alessia…” Delilah’s voice called from the side. Alessia turned to see who the voice belonged to. Of course she knew that familiar voice.When she saw Delilah, her eyes widened in shock. "Delilah? You're here?” She asked, unknowingly walking over to Delilah. Delilah smiled through the tears coming out of her eyes and immediately hugged Alessia. "It's so good to see you again, Alessia.” She muttered, patting her back.Alessia pulled away from her and smiled thinly. “Why are you crying? Did you miss me that much?" She teased, wanting to make the old lady smile.Delilah chuckled, wiping her tears. “Yes." She said, though it was a lie. She missed Alessia, but she was more concerned about Alessia's reaction if she saw the current Marco.Alessia was confused by the worried faces of everyone. Wasn't getting Marco out a good thing? Why did they all look sad?“What happened?" S
Getting Marco out of that place wasn’t easy, but Salvatore’s men were hellbent. They called Dante and handed the items back to him.Dante was surprised, he had initially thought that Salvatore would never agree. To top it all, he hadn’t even seen Salvatore’s face before.He only wished to see Double S, not that he would tell anyone of him.He received the items, took them back to the base, and informed a few of the family members about it.He even had to forge that Marco had them all those while but chose to hide and see what Francesco and his children would do. When the twins heard of this, they sent people after Dante, they aimed to ruin the items and maybe kill Dante off.Dante, being the ever so smart one, ran off. It wasn’t easy for Lorenzo and Leonard’s men to get to him.He was faster and better than they would ever be.Salvatore’s men launched an attack on the twins, destroying and eventually killing both of them. It wasn’t easy, but they succeeded.Delilah helped Marco to hi
Marcel called Salvatore over, taking his time to plead with his son to forgive Marco for the sake of his sister.Salvatore as usual wasn't easily pleased and he immediately rejected his father's pleading.Marcel didn't give up. For the next one month, he tried his best to get some men to locate where Salvatore had hidden the items he stole from the De Lucas. If he could find it, he would return it to Dante and have him save Marco. But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find it.Alessia spent the entire day and night crying nonstop in her bedroom. She even fell sick at some point. She would also starve herself often. Salvatore saw all these, but he didn't budge.On this day, Alessia actually slit her wrist, aiming to kill herself.Salvatore went to a meeting with his father. He was about to tell his opinion on the current matter they had at hand, but to his greatest surprise, a sharp pain shot through his left wrist. Because it was unexpected, he winced instinctively.Marcel t
Alessia hurriedly asked the guards to let Dante and Grace into the mansion.She couldn’t believe they had come, although she was scared that her father and Salvatore might come out and get angry at the sight of Dante since he was a De Luca.“Alessia, what are you doing here?” Dante lowered his voice and asked. Of course, he knew this place, Marcel Stefano Marino’s house, one of the most deadly mafia lords of Sicily. It was a place where the De Lucas family was certainly unwelcome.Alessia swallowed, throwing a glance at the looming hallway before leaning closer. “I… I live here. I’m Stefano Marino’s daughter.” Her voice was steady, but the fear in her eyes was unmistakable.Dante, however, merely shook his head, cutting her off before she could explain further.“There’s no time for that.” His voice was clipped, laced with urgency. “Alessia, Marco’s father is dead. Do you understand what that means?”Alessia’s eyes dropped, and she nodded solemnly. “I know. I saw it in the news right