Carlo's POV: Fuck, how long has all these be going on under my nose and I prided myself as one who was always careful. “And do you know who she might be?” I asked, searching my brain to see if I had noticed any weird behaviors from maids recently. “No, not really,” he replied quickly. “Some of us undercover don't actually work with him here at the main office. So I had done a little digging and I found that the one he'd sent specifically to Italy was, Ginevra Berlusconi.” Ginevra Berlusconi. The name wasn't familiar to me, I didn't think I'd heard it within the mansion either, well, I didn't expect it to be so easy. If she was disguised as a maid, then she most definitely wasn't using her real name within these walls. And it was time to fish out whoever they were. “I will get to the root of this matter, Julian,” I said. “In the meantime, keep an eye on your boss. If he begins to act quickly, let me know.” “Sure thing, Don.” The call disconnected. For the next few weeks, my
Natalia's POV:I was being dragged away like I was some sort of criminal while I screamed, cried, begged but it all fell on deaf ears of course.I turned my head toward him while strong hands kept pulling me. “Carlo, please,” my voice wavered as I called out to him. “Please, I'm begging you,” I sobbed harder.But his face remained stoic, shoulders squared.There was no changing his mind. The realization hit me like a freight train, knocking the wind out of me as The closer we got to that familiar, dark underground dungeon, the more my panic heightened.As the guards tossed me into a damp, smelly, dark cell. I felt the lump in my throat thicken. I gasped as I fought so hard for air, clawing at my neck like there was some kind of invisible hands that were restricting my air flow.Tears streamed down my cheeks endlessly as a cold shiver ran down my spine.‘Breathe, Natalia, breath.’ But I couldn't, I tried my usual breathing technique and it was futile. I was way to riled up for it t
Natalia's POV:Eleven years old.The whole house was dark, and very quiet… The house was dark because we didn't have electricity, we almost never had electricity. Daddy always forgets to pay our bills, well, how could he? He was always too drunk to remember and almost never at home.Like now, he was away, so late at night and I was all alone.My stomach grumbled loudly as little pangs of hunger attacked my intestines, I could feel my insides squeezing and my hand came up to rub at my tummy.I was starving and hadn't eaten since lunch school yesterday, it was Saturday today, which meant I was either going to stay hungry until school on Monday or it was one of those rare times dad brought home a meal and I wouldn't have to go hungry until Monday.Maybe if I just try to sleep, I won't feel the hunger pangs anymore…I rose from our worn out couch, slipping into the hallway to my room. I laid on the bed and counted down to ten, hoping to fall asleep. But my tummy only rumbled louder, the
Carlo's POV: FIVE MORE HOURS LATER…. DINNER TIME: The energy around the table was off, gloomy even. Everyone ate their meals in extreme quietness, as if they were secretly judging me in their minds. I wasn't bothered. I really wasn't. Well, except from the fact that my mind kept bugging me to check up on her… Sigh… Maybe I was bothered. BUT only because I knew she was claustrophobic and she might have passed out or something… But that was the point right now, there was a reason why punishments were punishments. Why did I have to care if she was scared or not. A loud clank of metallic cutlery being dropped abruptly on glass snapped me out of my thoughts, my eyes following the sound to find Angela frowning down at her plate like it'd somehow offended her. “What did you do thar for?” Her blazing blue eyes met mine, lips pursed into a thin line as she stared at me for a beat. “You.” She finally said, voice tight. “Brother, how could be so cold? Zia begged you, yet it fell
Carlo's POV: 6:58 AM I paced the length of my bedroom, watching curiously as Natalia was being attended to by Camilla. Camilla was an old school friend and a doctor who worked for me whenever one of my men or me needed a doctor's. It was one of the ways we kept our lives and work away from the scrutiny of the public. “She's stable now,” she said, packing up her bag. “But please for the love of God, don't ever do that again. That's IF you want her to live.” “Of course I want her to live,” I protested, scrubbing my hand over my face. “I never planned on killing her.” “Could have fooled me,” she scoffed, tugging on her bag zipper. “It was just punishment for her crimes,” I pointed out sternly. “If she hadn't done what she did we wouldn't be here.” “Sure, whatever.” She placed her bag strap over her shoulder. “Just let her get some rest, the poor girl is shaken up.” A pang of guilt hit me and I tried to push it away, walking Camilla to the door. Just as she was about
Natalia's POV: I sat up quickly, but he was faster. He grabbed my shoulder, pushing me back on the bed. “Relax, you need to rest.” So that had been a dream? For a second there I thought I was a kid again, going through hell with dad. Thank goodness. A breath I didn't know I was holding escaped me, only to stop short when I realized that I wasn't exactly out of danger as the memories of hours earlier came flooding in. My throat went dry, my heart beating rapidly in my ears as my wide eyes flickered back to bluish-grey one. As if he could read my mind, he laughed a little. “You don't have to be afraid. You're pardoned. For now.” “Wait… what?” My racing thoughts came to a screeching stop. “I'm being pardoned?” I couldn't believe my ears. “Yes, monella,” he said, brushing a stray strand behind my ears. “You're forgiven. What you did is usually unforgivable but I will let you go this time.” My erratic heartbeat started to slow down but somehow, it was replaced with ang
A DAY LATER…Alessandro's POV:“Explain to me in simpler terms, so I could understand the bullshit coming out of that mouth of yours!” “Go fuck yourself!” I shot back, glaring hard into my partner's eyes. “I found a solution for this mess when no one else could!” Everytime, they act like they are the boss of me, like we aren't in this as partners!“Really?” They scoffed. “The plan was to get the girl involved after she had gotten Carlo to trust her and now we can no longer get her involved with that stupid suggestion you made.”I paced the length of the abandoned building, tugging on my strands and then I came to a stop. “If you had at least let me explain things better you'd understand that my plan isn't useless. But all you do is criticize and talk shit to me.”Their lips pursed into a thin line as they regarded me slowly. “Go on then.” They took two steps forward until we were only a foot apart. “Explain this grand plan to me.”“I was hoping you'd ask,” A smug smirk tugged on my l
Natalia's POV: “You're sleeping with him?” Her nose scrunched up forcing her eyes to narrow into slits. Somewhere along the phone call, we'd switched to facetime especially since it had been so long since we last saw each other…“Kinda.” My face flamed. “I don't know how to explain it….I'm like his mistress?” Fuck, why was it so embarrassing to talk about my relationship with Carlo?“We are saying the same thing, babes,” An amused smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Seriously, I don't know how to feel about this but—”“You're judging me, I get it. You have every right to…” I said in defeat, averting my gaze. “It's weird fucking a man who'd practically kidnapped you but—”“At least let me finish, Nat,” she chuckled softly, her eyes gleaming with mischief. But then her expression turned serious. “It's crazy, not gonna lie but it's what you want, right? I mean you were forced and you enjoy it?”I hesitated, unsure of how to respond. I mean, I didn't actually picture myself doin
Hi, y'all. Happy new month💗! I know chapter updates have been on hold for over a week now, and I sincerely apologize for that 🙏 I needed some time off for school and other stuff, but I'm back now. Updates resume any day from now, thank you so much for your patience💗And for the repeated chapters, I'm sorry and I will make it up to you. I do not take your support for granted 🥹💗 Love y'all 🫶🏻
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & EIGHTY-NINE: Natalia's POV: My eyes fluttered open and the first thing I noticed was the big hand resting on my waist and I stiffened.Carlo?Carefully and slowly, I turned around coming face to face with a sleeping Carlo. Like this, he looked so peaceful and even more gorgeous. So he came back to bed, cuddling with me. I thought. I could stay like this for hours—days—and not move, I love being in his arms like this, I love being this close to him. For the next ten minutes or so, I lay quietly, until his eyelashes fluttered open revealing those gorgeous eyes to me.“You're awake,” he mumbled in a deep, throaty voice and I smiled.“Yes,” I whispered. “I was watching you sleep,” I said before I could stop myself, almost like my mouth had no filter.He smiled. “You enjoy watching me sleep?” Maybe more than I'd like to admit. “I don't know,” I lied, avoiding his eyes. “I'm thirsty, could you move your arm?” “Don't stress yourself, I'll get water for you,” he i
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & NINETY:Angela's POV: HOURS EARLIER….Rueben was finally getting better and Camilla said his infections were gone. I couldn't stand being close to him like this out of guilt but I couldn't leave his side either. Of course, being the man he was, he didn't blame me, in fact, he was relieved I had gotten home safe. Can you believe it?I was the reason he almost died and he was worried about me?‘Tell him what happened and watch if he'd still care about you,’ A voice mocked in my head and I shut my eyes tightly to make it go away.Every day was an internal battle with my head and heart. Do I tell him or not? I know if I didn't there would be no way of him knowing since none of the people who already knew were going to spill it anyways.But it was eating me up inside. No one knew how I kept reliving that day every time I shut my eyes, no one knew how I kept looking behind me. How could they tell I could still feel those bastards moving in and out of my mouth?They
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & NINETY-ONE: Carlo's POV: My knees buckled. I can count on a single hand the number of times I've felt this way. Helpless, frightened, powerless.“Don't you dare lay a finger on her!” I barked, my voice trembling. “I can't promise that, Carlo,” the bastard drawled. “Your cooperation determines how this goes. If you do as I say, she gets to walk free, unharmed.” “What do you want?” I gritted, grabbing my phone so hard it was a surprise it didn't Crack. “Name your price.”“You, Carlo?” I could hear the smile in his voice. “You're the prize.” This fucking bastard. “Fine!” From the corner of my eyes, I could see Enzo shaking his head, saying no but my mind was made up. “You will come to the location I've just sent you,” he ordered. “Come alone, Carlo. I don't need any of your minions, just you. You in exchange for your whore.” I didn't wait for any more babbling from me, I hung up, checking the location he sent as Enzo walked up to me.“You can't go there alo
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & NINETY:Angela's POV: HOURS EARLIER….Rueben was finally getting better and Camilla said his infections were gone. I couldn't stand being close to him like this out of guilt but I couldn't leave his side either. Of course, being the man he was, he didn't blame me, in fact, he was relieved I had gotten home safe. Can you believe it?I was the reason he almost died and he was worried about me?‘Tell him what happened and watch if he'd still care about you,’ A voice mocked in my head and I shut my eyes tightly to make it go away.Every day was an internal battle with my head and heart. Do I tell him or not? I know if I didn't there would be no way of him knowing since none of the people who already knew were going to spill it anyways.But it was eating me up inside. No one knew how I kept reliving that day every time I shut my eyes, no one knew how I kept looking behind me. How could they tell I could still feel those bastards moving in and out of my mouth?They
Natalia's POV: My eyes fluttered open and the first thing I noticed was the big hand resting on my waist and I stiffened.Carlo?Carefully and slowly, I turned around coming face to face with a sleeping Carlo. Like this, he looked so peaceful and even more gorgeous. So he came back to bed, cuddling with me. I thought. I could stay like this for hours—days—and not move, I love being in his arms like this, I love being this close to him. For the next ten minutes or so, I lay quietly, until his eyelashes fluttered open revealing those gorgeous eyes to me.“You're awake,” he mumbled in a deep, throaty voice and I smiled.“Yes,” I whispered. “I was watching you sleep,” I said before I could stop myself, almost like my mouth had no filter.He smiled. “You enjoy watching me sleep?” Maybe more than I'd like to admit. “I don't know,” I lied, avoiding his eyes. “I'm thirsty, could you move your arm?” “Don't stress yourself, I'll get water for you,” he insisted, pulling away as he rose to
Carlo's POV: I don't know what I'm feeling, but I can't say I didn't understand it either. I do and that's what terrifies me. I might be overreacting, freaking out because I was slowly realizing that things have completely changed for me, that my normal was now a completely different thing. And I see it now, what Camilla had been trying to tell me, Enzo too. But how could this have happened? When did the lines get blurred? How did I get here? It's just been months, how didn't I see this coming?“Don?” My head snapped up at Enzo's voice. How hadn't I heard him come in? “Enzo,” I muttered, watching as he closed the door behind him and walked in. “You're up late.” He pulled out the chair from across me and lowered onto it. “Yes, I had to round up some things,” he laced his fingers. “I noticed you walking aimlessly in the garden before coming here. Are you okay?” I should tell him, shouldn't I?He understood me better and was my most trusted man.I heaved a sigh rubbing a finger o
Natalia's POV: “Are you asleep?” Carlo asked, his fingers toying with my hair was already taking me there…“No.” We lay together on his bed, after a good round of sex, we'd showered together and now, I had my head on his chest and his arms wrapped around me.A beat passed. “How do you feel about going to university?” Huh?!I jerked up to look at him. “I don't understand.” He smiled, and pulled me back down to his chest. “I don't know, I just thought you might want that. Maybe after you've had the baby or maybe you can start now,” he shrugged. “I heard even pregnant women attend university these days. Anyone you're comfortable with is fine.” Wait…. Am I dreaming?“You're for real?” I asked carefully.“When have I ever joked about something so serious, monella?” He planted a kiss on my hair. “I'm serious about this, you can attend university if you want. I don't know if I'm wrong, but it was your dream, yes? To go to school. I do not want to take that away from you…” he trailed off
Natalia's POV: I'm easy and cheap. I thought to myself as I melted against his bare chest. His arms came around me, holding me so close as if he was trying to merge us together and for a moment, we just stood like that. And then one hand came up to my hair, stroking it gently.“You confuse me,” he murmured. “I do not know what to do with you, how to deal with..” He trailed off and I was tempted to ask him to continue but I didn't want to ruin the moment.“I didn't mean to ignore you,” he continued. “And you're right, I should've communicated better. I guess I didn't think it was important… I …I.. I've never done this…”This? What did he mean by that? “I'll do better, monella,” He whispered softly. “I'm sorry.” He didn't have to keep saying sorry because I'd forgiven him the moment he held me back. You see? Easy and cheap. But then, he was apologizing wasn't he? Didn't that mean I was a little bit important to him?‘Because of the baby!’ A little voice in my head snapped and I