“I can’t believe we’re stuck here,” Alessia grumbled, glancing at Grace, who was lounging comfortably on the chaise in the corner of the room. Grace, ever the optimist, smiled softly. “To be honest, I’m actually relieved that we don’t have to leave. I don’t have the energy to roam the crowded malls today.”Alessia rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was also relieved. What Grace said about the crowded mall was the truth, plus Marco was trying to keep them safe. If they mingled with the crowd, an enemy could easily attack them and Marco wouldn’t be able to help.“But I just wanted to see the outside for once. We’ve been indoors for a long time now.” Alessia whined and slumped on the couch next to the chaise. Grace didn’t say a word to her and just shut her eyes, wanting to sleep if she could. After a while, Grace finally said something. “Don’t worry your pretty head, Ali. Just know that the attendants would bring something we would like.”As if on cue, there was
Finally, the night of the masquerade ball arrived with an air of mystery and excitement. The mansion was transformed into a lavish scene straight out of a fairytale, with decorations that portrayed the world they all lived in; Mafia.It wasn’t like all those royal balls seen in England or on TV. It was a totally different setting and the opposite of elegance. Guests began to arrive, each one dressed in the way they wanted to be addressed. Their mask, coat, and gowns, were all in colors that reflected their personality. Alessia and Grace sat in her bedroom, doing their finishing touches.“I can’t believe Marco is bringing you to the spotlight,” Grace said as she brushed Alessia’s long red hair backward. “I don’t think that’s the point, though. We’re merely coming as his workers.” Alessia corrected.“Workers who got the best Jovani and La Femme dresses? That’s quite an important worker.” Grace chuckled.A knock sounded at the door almost immediately. “Come in,” Grace yelled.The doo
Grace and Alessia walked down the grand marble staircase to where the guests were gathered in the vast, luxurious ballroom. The chandeliers overhead sparkled with a soft, golden glow, shining elegant shadows across the room. Classical music filled the air, blending seamlessly with the soft hum of conversation, the clinking of glasses, and the shuffling of feet as couples twirled on the dance floor. Everything felt surreal, almost dreamlike, but there was a dangerous edge beneath the polished surface, a tension Alessia couldn't quite shake.Their masks, beautifully designed in silver and lace, concealed most of their faces, granting them a measure of anonymity. But even with the disguise, the two women drew attention. It wasn’t just the masks that intrigued people; it was the undeniable presence they carried. Alessia’s striking red hair was a beacon among the black, white, and grey attire of the guests. The silky waves cascaded down her back, catching the light and drawing every pair o
Marco took a steadying breath as he made his way across the ballroom toward the imposing figure of his father. His jaw clenched, muscles tense as he approached, knowing full well that the conversation waiting for him would be anything but pleasant. As he neared, Ezekiel’s cold gaze locked onto him, the sharp, calculating look that always sent a shiver down Marco’s spine—even if he’d never admit it. Ezekiel stood tall, a quiet authority radiating off him that made the entire room feel smaller, more suffocating. His mask, dark and elaborate, barely concealed the stern features beneath. He didn’t need to say a word for Marco to feel the weight of his displeasure. He wasn’t happy that the boy left the need to capture Double S and was here partying instead.He also invited his red hair."So," Ezekiel’s voice was low but heavy with the sharpness of a blade. "You let her come to this party." His eyes glinted beneath the mask as they flicked briefly toward where Alessia had been standing. "Y
Marco’s fingers twitched as the doors to the ballroom slammed shut behind Alessia. The moment felt suspended in time, the chatter and clinking glasses fading into the background. His heart was pounding, and his body moved on instinct as he took a step toward the doors, ready to chase after her.Suddenly, a firm hand clamped down on his arm, stopping him in his tracks.“Marco, don’t.”Dante’s voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable authority in it. His grip tightened just enough to hold Marco back, though not enough to cause a scene. Marco’s body was already coiled with tension, his muscles tight with the need to act. He turned his head sharply, glaring at Dante with barely contained rage.“Let go of my hand,” Marco growled through clenched teeth, his eyes blazing with fury. Every second that ticked by was another second Alessia was out there, alone, hurting, and it was his fault. The guilt gnawed at him like a beast tearing at his insides.But Dante stood firm, his gaze hard as
The double doors of a mansion on the outskirts of town were pushed open and Salvatore walked in. The guards bowed on seeing him and the maids led him to the study where a man clad in black sat awaiting him. “Greetings, father." Salvatore greeted and lowered his head in acknowledgment. The man in black lazily nodded, refusing to say a word.“I have news to share with you, but before then, you'll have to answer a few questions of mine." Salvatore implored and took a seat opposite his father's."What else did you find out now?” The man in black asked with an amused smile. "I just hope those people aren't still after you. Salvatore, or should I say, Double S, the mercenary.” Salvatore grinned and winced. “Please don't call me that, it's extremely cringe." He replied with a glare.His father chuckled loudly at his son’s reaction. “It’s good to have you here, Tore. Tell me, what brought you here today from Sicily?”"Father, I'm sorry to ask this, but who was my mother?” Salvatore swallow
After the ball was over, Marco rushed to find Alessia. He had been worried sick, not even knowing where to start his apology from.When he walked into her bedroom, he found it empty but also caught the sound of water running in the bathroom. She was having a night bath.He walked over to the bed and plopped down on it. His happiness was directed at the fact that his father did nothing today. Thankfully, the party went smoothly as planned.All that was needed was to get Alessia to forgive him.Just then, the door to the bathroom was pulled open and Alessia stepped out dressed in a bathrobe.At the sight of Marco, she jolted in shock, but soon realized it was him.Marco drank At the sight of her petite frame in that big black bathrobe. He had never expected black to look so good on her, coupled with her red hair that cascaded down her shoulders.“What are you doing here?" She asked begrudgingly, walking towards her closet and picking out the outfit for the night.She was angry, but she
After their passionate night together, Alessia woke up the next morning feeling sore. She turned to see that her side of the bed was empty. Her brow furrowed, wondering where he had gone off to.She stretched her aching limbs, groaning in satisfaction as she pulled the covers aside to get down from the bed.She walked naked towards her bathrobe, grabbing it and throwing it on as she walked towards the bathroom.Surprisingly, Marco wasn't also in the bathroom.“I wonder where he went to." She muttered and walked in to wash her face.After tying her hair up, she splashed water on her face, at the same time memories of what they did last night came flooding into her mind.Red marred her cheeks as she smiled widely.She had never expected Marco to take her the way he did last night. He didn't hold back. He even pleaded and begged her that he wanted to loose himself inside of her.She had shamelessly accepted with her mind all over the place in pleasure and pain.This was all she wanted,
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