CHAPTER ONE

RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT

I was woken up by the alarm I had set last night, fumbling to turn it off while Giovanna groaned tiredly. I carefully took her leg from my torso but she resisted, wrapping her arm around me. I laughed, not believing she had the energy to protest after last night.

“Do you have to go?” She asked, kissing my arm lightly. I looked at the ceiling, considering losing my job and staying with my beautiful fiancée. But someone needed to pay the bills and get her designer. I had taken several weeks away from office out of my own laziness but the workload had caught up to me and I had a meeting with the CEO today, wanting to discuss promotions and demotions. I was one step away from becoming the assistant CEO of the company. I just needed to prove myself yet again and boast about my commendable progress compared to the rest of the workers. Missing the meeting was going to be a big down-turn for me.

“Yes, Gia. But I will come back as soon as possible.” I assured, reaching to kiss her lips before hopping out of bed. It was merely five minutes before she joined me, wrapping her arms around my torso and leaning her head on my back.

“I’ll miss you, Orsetto.” She sighed, making me turn around to her pouting face. I couldn’t stand leaving her all alone sometimes. I always considered leaving my life for her and at this rate, I was going to if needed. This woman was spectacular and I wouldn’t trade her for anyone else.

“Mon amour.” I called for her to look at me, slipping my finger under her chin. Her eyes were teary, breaking my heart completely. But I needed to let her know that I wasn’t going to be around at every second and she needed to get used to it. I was definitely going to make myself available, but moving up my ranks guaranteed that I was going to have to be at work more often than now.

“I love you, you know that.” I told her, getting a single nod in return. I sighed and kissed her forehead, not so excited about the promotion now.

“Why are you leaving me then? You know it kills me.” She expressed dramatically, making me laugh heartily. She had attempted to guilt trip me and I had fallen for her trap. I was partly impressed and scared by how easily she manipulated me. But her heart was in the right place and she only wanted me for herself.

“How about this? I bring back the most beautiful Chanel bag I can find, along with your favourite lilies and roses and we’ll go out for an opera.” I offered, making my fiancée light up.

“I haven’t been the opera house of recent. That sounds wonderful, darling!” She exclaimed, hugging me tightly. I smiled, holding her slender waist in my hands.

“In the meantime, you can go back home and get ready for me. I’ll pay for the damaged property on my way out.” I smiled, kissing her lips again before proceeding with my shower. She helped me prepare, telling me about her friend that had gotten married to a man she didn’t love, just for me name his family held. I, of course knowing nothing about arranged marriages, nodded along and agreed with her statements of the absurdity of her friend’s actions.

Soon, I was kissing her goodbye and handing the receptionist a cheque for the damages that had been done to the room we had stayed in. I walked down to the parking garage, optimistic about the progress I was going to make today. I felt on top of the world, not even bothering to prepare for the meeting. I even had a certain bounce to my step that showed my excitement. I was convinced that nothing could spoil my day, and even if I didn’t get the promotion, I had several job opportunities waiting at my doorstep, with better contracts than my current one. I only stayed because of my love for my employers, nothing more. Also, I could always call Giovanna to distract me from the chaos.

I stopped where my car was supposed to be but saw a large black jeep blocking it from view. I shrugged, knowing I could just drive the other way. I proceeded to turn around so I could walk around the floor through the second entrance. The place was strangely quiet and lights dimmed, but I didn’t question it since it was five in the morning. I looked to the side and saw that it wasn’t completely empty. There were some men talking in a corner, probably discussing the news of today. They looked suspicious though, even stopping to stare at me before scanning the room behind me. I turned as well, seeing the jeep racing toward me. Thinking quickly, I stepped out of the way, watching it crash into the wall. I thought it was strange but I walked into the other part of the floor, seeing a group of men standing by my car. I studied them, scanning their bodies for anything that identified what they were.

At first, I speculated they were police officers that must have mistaken my car for someone else’s, as they had guns on them, but when they looked at me and pointed, the unarmed ones proceeding to rush toward me in an attacking manner, I took for the hills, rushing into the third part of the floor. I was almost certain I had escaped before a pair of hands held me back and an immediate blow was delivered to my chest. The wind was knocked out of me and I wheezed, unable to bear the pain from the blow. The attacker became more violent with their assaults and I knew that if I didn’t react, I was going to die. I forced my paralysed limbs to move and acted out of pure adrenaline, not even knowing when I had broken out of the person’s hold. I ran forward, taking my keys from my pocket and opening my now deserted car, getting in and locking the door before finally inhaling deeply.

I hurriedly looked around, wondering where the men were all of a sudden. I saw no one in the parking garage and even the totalled jeep was gone. I was confused but I wasted no time getting out of the place, only to be met with a closed gate and guns facing me. I froze, not knowing what to do. Who were these men and why were they attacking me?

“Move and they’ll kill you.” Someone with a thick Russian accent told me from the back seat, making my neck go stiff and eyes widen.

“Raise your hands and put them behind your head, Raphael” He instructed and I did ask was told, not even hesitating to judge the situation and if this was real.

“Igor Bortsov is my name. Your little girlfriend, Giovanna, got you into trouble with me. Tell her father I will kill you and Giovanna if he does not release my beloved. This was just a warning, Mr. Yves. Next time, I won’t be so forgiving.” He said clearly and surely, even pressing his gun to my side. I was beyond confused on what Giovanna had to do with any of this but I kept my questions to myself, not wanting to anger the man that had multiple ways to kill me.

“You’re going to drive directly to work and attend your meeting as if nothing happened here. Is that clear, Raphael?” He asked but stepped out of my car without waiting for an answer. Immediately he got out, the guns were lowered and I could finally release a breath. I gulped air in, suddenly weak as the adrenaline drained from my system. I rushed to work, not wanting to encounter them again. My knees were weak when I stood on my own two feet, my energy seemingly draining by the second. I went into the lift, typing my floor into the screen and waiting patiently for the cart to stop before I dragged my feet out, moving into the conference room and settling down beside one of my co-workers before the meeting started. I couldn’t believe I had still been on time.

“Yves! What happened to you?” Someone exclaimed, getting the attention of our boss, who had walked in after me. All eyes turned to my beaten self, even mine, all darkening in shock of my blood stained shirt and ripped blazer.

“Raphael, what’s going on? Was this done by any of you?” Mr. Leo questioned, earning denying mumbles from the overachievers while the more pleasant ones only stared at me in shock.

“Doing this will not hinder the promotion, just to inform you. It was a sure deal from the beginning” Someone else said while another called the in-office medical professionals. I was silent throughout, the pondering thought of how Giovanna had gotten me in trouble and hadn’t mentioned a thing to me throughout our night together, was on my mind. Maybe that was why she had attempted to make me stay at home today. But it was something innocent that she always did. There was cause for it to be different today. Or had Giovanna set me up on purpose? I didn’t want to believe that.

“Yves, what happened to you?” Someone asked calmly, snapping me out of my trance. I adjusted my sitting position, being the centre of attention now. I was still a bit shaken by the events of this morning, but I managed to tell them what happened.

“I was attacked on my way to work.” I let out lowly, making my boss’s brows furrow.

“Did you get a name? We can file a police report” Elena, my assistant, suggested and somehow, I knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. Neither was telling Giovanna. Even if I did, what was I going to say? ‘A Russian man attacked me and told me to tell your father, who I’ve never met, to release his beloved?’. It made no sense to do so. She probably didn’t even know about these people and I didn’t want her to be dragged into her father’s businesses, as they were quite obviously insidious and I loved Giovanna too much to involve her in this.

“Yves…” Someone called my attention again, reminding me that I was part of a conversation.

“Yes. He said his name is Igor… I forget the other name.” I sighed, trying to wrack my brain for it. It had all happened too fast for me to keep the detail for long.

“Igor Bortsov?” Stephen, the only co-worker I regarded as a friend, asked, making me nod in agreement.

“How do you know him?” Our boss asked while Stephen’s expression became solemn.

“He runs the Russian mafia. How did you get involved with him?” He asked me, looking worried.

“He said Giovanna’s father took his beloved- I don’t understand. How is Giovanna linked to the Russian mafia?” I asked, sitting up in my chair and forgetting about the aches all over my body. Had she really tried to get me killed?

“What’s Giovanna’s last name?” He asked, seeming to know the answer somehow. If this was an elaborate scheme to drive me insane, it was working and I didn’t like it one bit.

“What do you think it is?” I spat angrily, not at all amused by all of this.

“Donatello” He said simply, causing a shocked expression to overtake my face. He gave me a look of pity and looked down at his hands to tell me the most shocking news I would ever receive.

“Your girlfriend is the daughter of a mafia leader- the most notorious one in Italy. You should tell her what happened, for your safety” He advised. I didn’t know how to react to the news so I remained silent, staring at Stephen in bewilderment. I had assumed her parents were simple business people, not part of a mafia.

“Don’t worry, Yves. The job is yours. Just go home and get some rest. I’ll put you on paid leave until it’s all settled” My boss said what would normally excite me, but made me unexplainably uneasy. I wasn’t ready to face Giovanna, mostly because I didn’t know what to say. I had to break up with her because she had lied about who she was.

“How is that fair?” Someone interjected but was ignored.

Soon, I was escorted to a hospital, treated, and taken home. A million questions flooded my head as I opened the front door, keeping my vision fixed to the floor, as I couldn’t bear to look at Giovanna at the moment. As I approached the lounge, I heard voices whispering to each other. It was male and female, panicked and frantic. My heart broke again as I realized that she might be cheating on me in addition to making me a target for a Russian mafia. I went in nonetheless, hopeful that she wasn’t trying to sneak a man out of the house.

“You always do this! I am not a little girl anymore! Let me have a life, for once, Pietro!” The whispers turned to yells when I passed the glass doors to reveal Giovanna arguing with an older man.

“We let you live and you went and got engaged! What will I tell father?” He shouted back, making her stubbornly cross her arms over her chest. We had agreed to keep our engagement a secret until we met our families, so it surprised me a bit when I heard them arguing about it. The pondering situation however proved to be more important when memories of being threatened my Russians crossed my mind.

“Tell him that Igor Bortsov wants his beloved back.” I said calmly, making Giovanna’s head whip to me.