Hi guys! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.
Unfortunately, my schedule didn't let up and I let school get the most of me. To make up for my inactive time, I'll update regularly through the week.
I also have a huge writer's block rn so the update might take a few days. Nonetheless, I'll try to update as often as possible to satisfy my readers.
Please don't forget to vote, comment, and share. It means a lot to me.
Once again, I apologise for my absence and I will strive to put in more work this week.
Thank you for reading, Hillary.
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINTThe flight to Italy comprised Giovanna and Pietro arguing about who got to see their father first while I had stayed silent, partially lost in my thoughts and listening to their conversation. Apparently, Mr. Donatello was a very reserved man, only permitting two visitors at a time when he wasn’t in their villa, and that rule was not restricted to family. He had them patted down and ran through security measures before they were taken to where he worked, doing what I supposed were illegal activities. Although they claimed not to directly participate in such, it was very hard to believe after my encounter with Igor Bortsov and his mafia. I was still sceptical about what was going to happen to me. I was more than sure this wasn’t just an average introduction. I was surely going to be threatened again and from my experience with the cases my father had brought home, I wouldn’t be able to make it out alive.“W
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT We walked a distance from their private airport to the main building, where her father was waiting. I was nervous to meet him, seeing that he was a mafia leader. The fear faded when I was reassured by Giovanna’s hand holding my bicep for comfort. It made me feel safe and loved. Even during hard times, like now, when her aunties were probing me to feel my torso and insisting that I took off my shirt. I was uncomfortable, and Giovanna was deeply irritated, but there was no stopping the drunken trio when they were determined to take advantage of someone half their ages. They giggled about invading my personal space, slurring swears under their breaths and hissing when they managed to get a feel. Stella looked gravely disappointed but watched anyway while I struggled to cook up a nice way to tell the aunties to fuck off. Thankfully, Pietro came to announce that his father was ready to see us, and took time to put the sisters in their places. He seemed to be the only o
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT Waking up with Giovanna in my arms never felt different, yet the sensation never got old. Her body was always pressed against mine and our hearts would always beat in the same rhythm. Her hair always smelled like heaven, and her expression was always peaceful. What made me want to happily scream into a pillow was that she was much more relaxed than when she slept without me. I liked noticing the difference and knowing that only I could provide utmost comfort for her. I observed everything about her. From what her frantic blinks meant, to her breathing when we were alone, to how she thought; even most of her next moves. I could predict Giovanna to-the-tee. I knew that she was going to wake up soon and ask if staring at her was that interesting. I loved being confident that I knew everything about her that she had to say. “Is staring at me that interesting?” She mumbled, her eyes still closed. I smiled, reaching to take her lips. She grinned into t
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT I was tense and the centre of attention in the room. We had gone back to the Donatello estate after Henry and Orion had given me minor heart attacks by recapping very incriminating delinquent behaviours we had indulged in as teenagers. I soon understood that they were punishing me in the best way they could, sabotaging my future with a woman they saw I was head over heels for. The ‘normal Yves’ they knew wasn’t one to let a woman into his life. I had noticed the shock on Henry’s face when I had told him Giovanna was my fiancée. He had sent me a text message asking if I was sure I wasn’t on something. Among the several other thousands of messages that I read almost every day, that was the only one that had gotten a response from me. I had stated clearly that Giovanna was very important to me and I loved her more than anything. He had only taken it as a cue to get as close as possible to completely ruining my life. “So, where did you guys meet?” He
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT. The dinner went smoothly after that, with a drunken Stella maintaining a tension free environment. I had moved to sit beside Giovanna to hold her hand reassuringly when Hellene had started talking about her achievements and how much better they were than Giovanna’s. It was true that my fiancée wasn’t interested in business or expanding her brand- which she had created for personal purposes, but it didn’t make her a lesser woman than her sister. What made her amazing was that she could do all these things and more if she wanted to. So, it irked her to see her sister working so hard to bring her down. Plus, Giovanna was intelligent. She had sealed several deals for me without having to break a nervous sweat. She had simply listened to my conversations with clients and had completely won them over on meeting them for the first time. I was still baffled by how she was able to convince a whole cooperation that my attack from the Russian mafia had been a fail
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINTMy fiancé grabbed my shirt and pulled me down to kiss her, taking me by surprise. I didn’t fight it though, because who was I to refuse pleasure from Giovanna? Getting to be close to her was more than enough for me and the privilege of getting to kiss her so intimately at random times completely blew my mind. I had only started feeling lightheaded when she pulled away to say something to Hellene. My vision was white but I knew I was looking at Giovanna, unconsciously taking in her beauty. This woman was the reason I had been threatening a mafia leader. It had dawn on me how much courage it had taken when I had conversed a bit more with Hellene. We had both become lost in thought for a while before Giovanna had strutted in wearing the sexiest outfit I could imagine. My lower abdomen had fluttered so much that it had hurt. I had caught Hellene’s disapproving expression and had wondered what their age difference was for her to look s
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT Stella and I made small talk as we strolled through the streets of Rome. She seemed to know where was going so I followed blindly, my main objective being to get on her good side. I brought up conversations that had depth, even inquiring about her dancing. As I had speculated, she had been in the ballet. She told me that was how she had met Sergio. She and her sister had been in a performance and Sergio had picked interest in them. He had been charming enough to agree to have the sisters go out with him simultaneously. He was wealthy, and his family had a good reputation. They had been presented as a true Italian mafia, who only helped the people of their community and secured business deals around the world. He was highly respected and had known how to spend equal time with both of them. The sisters had danced still, developed their own ballet school and performance hall, hosting shows every month. Sergio had funded it all and supported them selflessly.
GIOVANNA’S VIEW POINT“What do you mean, ‘he left’? I know Ralph! He wouldn’t leave so abruptly! So help me God, if one single hair on his head is hurt, I will burn down this house with all of you in it!” I practically screamed at my parents, who looked devastated, like they weren’t the ones that had caused my fiancé to run away. I had entrusted my mother with his safety and she had allowed her monster of a husband to have him eradicated from the face of the earth. I was on the brink of tears, hanging on to a thin thread of hope that he was alive and safe like they said. Knowing my father, it was highly unlikely that he had merely allowed Ralph to walk away with so much information about the family. It was impossible. And my mother was such a good actor, pretending like she had cared about him all this time, only to lure him into his own demise.“Madam, he’s not answering-.” The staff I had assigned to
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT.Natalie, Gaia and I had a long chat before Giovanna arrived. We had been talking about our childhoods’ most embarrassing experiences and laughing about how immature we had been. Gaia had had the most adventurous, and made Natalie and I laugh so much that our stomachs hurt. I had checked on Annie a few times during the conversation and she had been fast asleep, until the moment Giovanna came into the home and announced her presence. A confused “Annie?” followed by an excited “Gia!” could be heard before the two began conversing. Gaia, having no idea Giovanna was coming, perked up in excitement. I went to freshen up in a washroom I had found while searching for Gaia, before deciding to wait in the kitchen for her, knowing I wasn’t going to be able to keep myself calm in front of others. I had disposed of my façade near Gaia but I wasn’t going to let down my guard until I could confirm her trustworthiness.“You’re not going to see her?” Natalie asked when Gaia had
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT.We arrived at the address after visiting the hospital and being told Dr Desroches wasn’t working today. I parked beside a familiar Donatello style SUV, seeing a modern home in a reserved neighbourhood. I inspected the area to make sure we weren’t followed and turned back to Annie, who was fast asleep on the suitcase, looking peaceful in her slumber. I smiled at her in awe, admiring how at ease she was despite our current situation. I was wanted by my fiancée’s father. But it seemed like life didn’t get better than that when being associated with the Donatello family. I couldn’t paint a picture where the odds were in my favour in this whole chaos of a relationship with Giovanna’s family. I looked away from Annie finally, turning to Officer Berrien in expectation of orders from my father. I assumed she was working for my father to keep Annie safe, and not help me get through this mess. “Please help me with the suitcases in the boot. I’ll take Annie.” I told Offi
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINTThe world seemed to stop when Annie dropped lifelessly to the floor. My head went blank and blood rushed to my ears, blocking out every sound that didn’t tell me Annie was alive. When I didn’t get a single signal after a few seconds, I was in complete denial. I found myself wondering how and why my instinct had let me down now when it had never done so before. I was about to run carelessly to hold her in my arms but it seemed God had been on my side. A man dropped down after her, blood spilling from the hole in his head. Reading the situation and realizing there was still hope, I felt my senses perk up again, a new confidence in myself being discovered. In that split moment before the man had come to sight, my life had flashed before my eyes. I had judged my every decision, except not marrying Giovanna. If the supposed death of my sister wasn’t enough reason to leave her, I knew I was fighting for the right cause. I found myself grinning despite having killed a
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINTAnnie and I watched Giovanna get into a mysterious black jeep, seeing strange men surrounding it. As quickly as they had come, they disappeared into their respective vehicles and zoomed off into the day. I let out a sigh, wondering how to put this simply so my father didn’t get angry. I could tell him about Annie helping out first so he got angry before I could deliver the worse news. Or was it good news first? Was there even good news? My life could be ended and it wasn’t the most terrifying possibility. I only wanted to get married to the woman of my dreams. These dangerous circumstances weren’t at all in the plan. “Daddy?” I heard Annie say and my head whipped to the wide, seeing her grinning while she spoke on the phone. I knew she was intelligent but being this far ahead of me with her thoughts was genius. I was considered quite cunning and a quick thinker myself; much more than the average person, so it made Annie’s abilities almost superhuman. I wondered
SERGIO’S VIEW POINTThree days ago, I had gotten permission from my daughter to use her fiancé as a negotiator and temporary consigliere. I had to say, I wasn’t too happy to have had suck up to the revolting yet fascinating man. I was an honest man, so I couldn’t lie to either of them about my plans. Luckily, I had been able to keep my intentions private and expose only a small part of the full story. The only person aware of the entire hoax was Isabella, who was a questionable ally, having spent so much time with Igor. She had escaped his possession three weeks ago, which shortly after Yves had been attacked by Igor. It had been a measly and very shallow execution of strength and display of lack of fear, but it had somehow had a great effect on my business. And knowing Igor, there was absolutely no way he or his men had discovered Giovanna’s importance from surveillance; so it made me wonder if Isabella knew about her and had told Igor. Even Mr. Clever French boy hadn’t figured it o
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT I was visibly happy when I stepped back into the house. The thought in my head was a simple one; “I'm going to marry Giovanna”. It was all I could think about. The conclusion came before the slightest decisions. It affected my reasoning in a way I felt was positive because anything I did always led back to the thought that I was doing it for Giovanna. That I was growing for her and slowly morphing into a spouse she would see as perfect. I had an idea of what she thought about me now. I knew she regarded me highly, but I wanted to be her everything, just as she was mine. Which was why, when I saw her standing with Blossom and Belle while Annie made them rehearse her lines for her play tomorrow, I pulled her into my arms and gave her a loving kiss. I hoped to be able to do this for the rest of our lives. “Leave my supporting character alone!” Annie yelled, stomping her foot while Giovanna smiled at me. “That’s a first. Are you in a better mood than usual?” She
ANNIE’S VIEW POINT.Giovanna was a better cook than I expected. She chopped vegetables at chef speed and accuracy, being completely focused with her quantities. She measured everything, down to water. I was surprised she was this conservative when making meals. She seemed like a carefree person that went where the wind took her, but she was different now. Like a whole new person. I appreciated that she was serious with making food for my brother, but I had to know why she was acting like her life depended on its perfection. “Hey, Gia?” I called, seeing her look over her shoulder while stirring ingredients for the jambalaya. She smiled warmly, leaving the other pot of potatoes to boil and placing a lid over it. She turned and wiped her hands on the towel she kept in the pocket of the apron she insisted on wearing even though this was a casual meal. She had also insisted on making a three course meal from the start and despite the time limit we had, and the assumed impossibility to do s
My greatest apologies for not posting often. I am displeased to inform you that I will not be posting a chapter this week as my schedule is very choked and I have unfortunately experienced a tragedy that has hindered my thinking and ability to write effectively.But although I am greatly troubled, a new chapter will be available early next week. Thank you for reading my book, your support fuels my ambition as a writer and makes me strive to work harder to complete this project I have started. Please remember to like and comment! Have a nice day/night. Goodbye!
GIOVANNA’S VIEW POINTI adored the relationship between members of this family. There wasn’t a sense of professionalism as there was with mine. They were homely and nice, not even bickering for fun. They minded one another’s feelings and were so familiar with themselves that they had inside jokes with each person that others didn’t know. Ralph and Annie had the most, as they laughed so much together, that they were often out of breath. I had never seen my fiancé so at ease before. I could tell by the way he acted that he was in a room full of the people he loved the most. It melted my heart to see him so happy. I wished we could stay like this forever. It was a stark contrast to how he was around members of my family. He always seemed put together and guarded, like he was with some of his business partners. I was sure it was because they had made a terrible first impression with my fiancé. My mother had been completely embarrassed by her sisters, my father had attempted to make him a