Elena considered leaving the restaurant after witnessing Luca's intimate interaction with Maria, but she decided against it. She was determined to prove that Luca belonged to her. Her anger propelled her towards their table, her demeanor resembling that of a wounded cat. She flashed a sheepish smile immediately she got there. By then Luca had noticed her presence. Maria quickly removed her hand on Luca’s when Elena’s gaze fell on it.“Hey, Babe. You’re finally here. Maria here was keeping me company,”“Oh really,” Elena muttered as she gave Maria a disdainful look. “Then stay with her throughout out the night,” Elena turned and walked out of the restaurant admist Luca’s call.Luca quickly followed her as she stormed out of the restaurant. He caught up with her when they were just feet away from the restaurant’s entrance.“Elena, Wait. Listen, Elena,” Luca called as Elena turned as she eyed him. He tried to catch his breath as he watched her. “It’s not what you think, I promise. Right
Elena stretched lazily as the ray of the sun streamed from the curtain and fell on her face. She opened her eyes slowly to realize she was in a foreign environment. She glanced around and finally to her side to see Carlos, stark naked!A rush of panic flooded Elena's mind. "What on earth happened?" her thoughts screamed. Her eyes darted beneath the covers, confirming her fears as she discovered her own nakedness. The weight of realization bore down on her, and she swiftly extricated herself from the bed, hastily collecting her scattered clothes. She dressed in a flurry and made her way out of the hotel, intent on finding a taxi.As Elena settled into the backseat of the cab, her heart writhed in turmoil. It felt like her whole world had crashed and there was no way for her to repair it. “Arghhhhh….” She groaned out loud as the cad driver looked from the rear mirror with a suspicious look. “Are you okay ma’am?” He asked a hint of curiosity and worry laced in his voice.“I’m good,” Sh
Rio turned to look at Ryan as he watched him with a careful gaze as if scared of the next word he would utter. “So?” Rio raised a brow.Ryan Parted his lips to say something but he closed it back and gave an incredulous laugh. “Nevermind. Pretend I didn’t say that,” Ryan said and turned to look at the window from where he sat on the hospital bed. He didn’t notice when Rio left until he heard the door knob twisted in a bid to get the door opened.He inhaled deeply as he battled with the myriad of emotion that he felt. What was he doing? Confessing his love to his enemy? This wasn’t the plan. It was never the plan but somehow, he found himself in the situation.*******Rio walked stealthily out of the hospital to the parking lot, as his conversation with Ryan weighed heavily in this mind. He entered his Porsche as he started the engine and hit the road. Love? Ryan loved him? Nobody had ever confessed their love to him before. Not even a man. He sighed as he made his way to Romano Group.
Lucia reached for her phone just as Elena's phone pinged with a notification. Elena checked it and found a message from an unknown number. The message read, "It's Carlos. Let's meet up, Elena."Elena quickly turned off her phone, and Lucia looked at her with a questioning expression. "Is everything alright?" Lucia asked.Elena bit her lip as she deliberated on how to answer. Lucia had been nothing but kind to her, even taking her side in the fight with her own sister. She was the only person Elena felt she could trust in that moment."You haven't asked me about that...picture," Elena finally said."Of you and Carlos..." Lucia raised an eyebrow, giving her an 'I don't care' look.Elena nodded slowly. Lucia sighed and spoke thoughtfully, parting her lips. "You must have been shocked last night, seeing your husband with the woman who caused your fight in the first place. You must have been flustered," Lucia said, observing Elena biting her lip."But that doesn't justify my reasons for sl
Rosa's restless footsteps echoed in front of the grand Romano's Mansion. Anxious anticipation coursed through her veins, fueled by her desire to catch a glimpse of Andrea. She had grown weary of Celine's manipulative games and was now resolved to expose her deceitful nature to the Romanos. Celine had made it abundantly clear during their last conversation that she had no intention of relinquishing her hold on Robert. Rosa's heart raced as her thoughts spiraled, until the sudden ring of her phone snapped her back to reality. Without bothering to check the caller's ID, she hastily answered."Where are you?" The voice on the other end sent shivers down her spine, leaving her frozen in shock."Where the hell are you, damn it!" Celine's irritated tone pierced through the line."I-I..." Rosa stammered, her mind racing as the sound of the mansion gate opening reached her ears. She hurriedly sought shelter, desperate to remain unseen. Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath and
Luca gave Andrea a suspicious look. He shifted his gaze down to his phone that dropped on the floor. “What are you doing here?” He asked with a slight frown on his face. Andrea quickly picked up the phone.“Ah…” he chuckled nervously. “I wanted to borrow this,” he raised up Luca’s phone.“My phone?” Luca asked still confused as Andrea nodded. Luca sighed as he draped the white towel he was holding around his neck. He had another draped around his waist.“Is this the way you want to apologize?” Luca gave an accusatory stare as Andrea heart twinge in guilt. Momentarily forgetting about worrying that Luca would see the message in his phone.“You’ve been avoiding me,” Andrea started as he watched him. “You won’t even let me explain,”“There’s nothing to explain, Dad. Nothing can change the fact that you are selfish. Tell me something Dad, when did you know about my allergy?”Andrea paused for a moment then replied. “Few months after your kidnap. Leo told me about the allergy, but the ot
"Tell me, Celine," Rosa began, her voice rising with anger. "Where is my boy?""It's Maria," Celine corrected her.“I don’t give a fuck about your name!” Maria fired as she glared at Celine who just watched her in silence.“Well?” Rosa pressed. “He’s in good hands,” Celine replied as Rosa watched her, obviously doubting her words.“I want to see him, I want to to take to him,” Rosa said as Celine pressed her lips.“Why aren’t you saying anything? I want to see my son!” Rosa fired as she breathed heavily.“Shut your fucking mouth, or you won’t leave to see your son again, that is if he’s still alive,” Celine said in a anger.“What?” Rosa asked in a lower tone. “Dead?”“It’s not confirmed yet, but If you don’t get your acts together, I’ll make sure I kill him myself,” Celine said as Rosa slumped on the floor.Celine rolled her eyes as she walked past her and walked out of the room.**********It has been exactly thirty minutes that Andrea and Lucia has been sitting opposite each other
"It's irrelevant," the voice from the other end persisted. "But what about the pictures? Did you see them?""What pictures?" Lucas inquired, his curiosity piqued."Come to the address I'll send you, and all your questions will be answered. As for the pictures, I'll send them," the voice said before abruptly ending the call. A notification pinged on Luca's phone, indicating a new message.Luca swiftly opened it, revealing a photo of Elena and Carlos in bed. His legs turned to jelly as he tightened his grip on the phone."What the hell?" he gasped, shocked, while staring at the incriminating photos."Luca?" his father's voice interrupted his thoughts. Luca turned abruptly to find his father standing in the doorway, studying him intently. Andrea's gaze shifted to the phone in Luca's hand."Did you know?" Luca accused, glaring at his father."Know what?" Andrea responded calmly."Don't play dumb with me. You saw the damn picture!" Luca fired back."I don't believe it," Andrea immediately
“Rio,” Rossi said. “There’s a commotion in the hospital he was admitted in. He is on the rooftop with Elena. Luca should have received a call by now. He keeps asking for him.” Rex turned to look at Luca who stared anxiously at him. “I’m with Luca right now. We’ll head there right away.” Rex said and hung up.“What…”“Your crazy Boyfriend has her.” Rex seethed.“What?”“There’s no time. Let’s leave.” Rex said as he walked out of the house, trailed after by Luca.As they entered Rex’s car, Luca was still oblivious to what was happening.“Aren’t you wrong? Rio is in a psychiatric hospital.”“And he has my sister. He is threatening to kill her.”“What?” Luca's eyes shone in surprise. How is that….”“I don’t fucking know!” Rex snapped as he faced the road and hit the accelerator. Luca stared at him and looked at the road ahead. What the fuck is happening?When they got to the hospital, there was greeted by the crowd in front of the hospital as Rio stood at the edge of the rooftop, with a
Rex paced around the living room frantically. It was late in the night and there was no sign of Elena. He has been trying to reach her since they left King’s Hotel. After the argument with Rossi, it was as of Elena had disappeared into thin air. She wasn’t even in the motel she has been hiding all this while. He dialed his father….they had both exchanged contacts earlier, both promising to give each other updates on how things would proceed.“I can’t seem to find her,” Rex said immediately after he heard the beep.Rex could hear him sigh from the receiver’s side. “Where she’s staying?”“Not there. And she isn’t picking up my calls. The call doesn’t seem to go through no matter how many times I try.” Rex said in frustration. “Does Levante have her?”“I will ask my people to track her. She’ll be fine, Rex.” Rossi said.Rex hung up but the gut feeling that his sister was in danger was overwhelming. He couldn’t just sit and wait without doing anything. What if Elena was in danger? A tho
Luca moved instinctively towards her and drew her into his embrace. Elena's lips curved into a smile as she snuggled close to him. “What happened with Rio wasn’t your fault.” She said.“I know. I know. But I can’t seem to stop blaming myself.” He murmured in her hair. Elena rubbed his back like a child that needs consoling.“Let’s get married. And leave this place.” Luca said as Elena’s body stilled in his arms. She didn’t expect things to be going this way.She freed herself from him and looked at him. “Really?”Luca smiled at her. “And it’s not because of the child. I haven’t felt attracted to anyone the way I am to you since Angelo’s mother died. I’ve only loved her.” He said as Elena forced a smile. She hated the fact that she couldn’t tell him the truth yet. It wasn’t the time. When everything’s settled, they would have the whole time in the world. She promised herself.“For now…” Luca stared lovingly at her as he removed the strand of hair that was covering her face. “Let’s help
“What development?” Elena asked.“Someone with the same goal as us contacted me.”“What?” Elena raised a brow. “What do you mean?”“I don’t know. He wants to stay anonymous till the day we meet.” Rex said, frustration evident in his voice.“Does that make sense? Do you want to meet up with some stranger? Because of what?” Elena asked with a sarcastic look.“I don’t care. I lost Victoria. I don’t want to lose you too. As far as I know, Levante thinks you’re dead. We need to strike now. When they least expect.” Rex said with determination.“Do what you want.” Elena stood up and picked up her cell phone on the bed. “I’m going to meet the father of my unborn child.” “What? By this time? Why are so stubborn? What if Levante sees you?”“I don’t care. I might as well tell Luca the truth about them. He would stop caring about that Rio.” Elena hissed and headed for the door.The evening breeze was gentle but Elena couldn’t help but feel chilly as she stood by the roadside, looking for a cab t
“I fucked Martino.” She said dryly as Rex's eyes flickered at her for a while and averted his gaze quickly as if trying to hide something. “I fucked him,” Victoria replied as Rex shifted his gaze to her face again. “Okay.” He shrugged. “It’s all for the plan, right.” He asked, desperation hidden in his voice.Victoria cupped her face in frustration. “I love him, Rex.” Rex's hands stiffened in his pocket. He parted his lips but nothing came out. “Say something, damn it!” She fired as Rex chuckled.“Say what?” He asked, trying to fight the emotion that was burning within him.“Curse me. Call me a filthy bitch. I can take it all. But I do love him, Rex.”“And us?” Rex asked as if that has been the question in his mind.Victoria closed her eyes for a while and opened it. “I don’t know.” She shook her head as Rex’s heart sank.“I don’t know, man. I need space.” She said as tears streamed from her eye. As she turned to leave, Rex caught her arm again.“Our plans?”“Are you kidding me ri
Martino sat down in the visiting room while Levante paced around in front of him. He didn’t dare to talk. After he received his call at the hospital earlier. His urgent tone signaled to Martino that Levante was, even more, crazier than his son. “PTSD ugh?” He stopped moving as he regarded Martino. Martino paused, nothing ever gets past this man. More reason why he should be more cautious.“The doctor hasn’t made any diagnosis yet. He’s still under observation.” Martino replied, careful with his words in order not to infuriate him any further.Levante nodded. “Will he be admitted to some psychiatrist hospital?”“Like I said…”“I bloody heard you the first time, Martino!” Levante fired as Martino bowed his head. That’s more like it. This was his true character. Not the unusually quiet type that was unpredictable.“I’m sorry boss.”“Did the doctor say what caused his trauma?”“I…”“I could get that information in a matter of seconds. Think before you lie.” Levante hissed.Then why did y
“What?” Luca asked, surprised. “This is crazy, Rio.” He added quickly when he noticed his surprised look wasn’t helping matters.“Yeah! I’m crazy about you, Luca!” Rio sobbed as Luca pressed his lips in exasperation.“Those times in the past…” he started slowly and his grip on the injection was less. “I would always watch your back. Dad said it was my duty. It was our duty to watch out for the Romanos.” He scoffed with a bitter smile as Luca watched him. He hated seeing him like this. He couldn’t do anything and it added to his frustration. “I misunderstood man.” He added.“You were the best thing that happened to me,” Luca said.“Were?” Rio raised a brow.“Rio…”“Those times when you would always stay alone. Angry you couldn’t approach other girls, I wished you would just look at me. Even for once.” Rio said.“I didn’t….” Luca brushed his hand through his hair. “I didn’t know, Rio.”“Well, Now you know!” He snapped.“Yes. I do. And I appreciate you….your love.”“No, you don’t,” Rio s
“Victoria….I…” Martino started to say but the words got hung up in the air.“Martino?” Victoria called when he didn’t say anything afterward.“Anything I do in the future, just know I love you. I love you so much, Victoria.” Martino said and hung up. He swung around and marched back to the cottage. He narrowed his eyes at Elena. “I’m not going to kill you. A certain person is betting on me. So I wouldn’t want to break her trust.” Elena watched him. Was it Victoria?“Then what?” She asked with a frown.“Let’s make a deal….” “Deal?”“You already know by now that Rio wants you dead. And I can’t seem to understand why you said he tried to kill you in the past…” Martino gave her a wary look. But Elena didn’t reply. There was no use hiding it. Or was there? He is going to spare her. She should keep her mouth shut till the end.“Your deal…” she said.“Stay away from Luca. Go far away from him. Out of the country….I don’t care. Because if I see you anywhere around him, I’ll be the first to
“How are you feeling, Rio.” Levante ignored his initial statement.“It’s not your concern. You’ve always wanted to do my bidding right? Then take her out? I don’t want to see her ever again!” A silence ensued for a while then Levante spoke up. “Did she try to hurt you?”“Is that more important to you?”“Answer the damn question, boy. I pay my enemies back in full.” Levante spoke harshly as Rio sighed.“Not directly.”“What do you mean?”“Luca slept with her.” He said and paused but his father didn’t say a word. “I got overwhelmed with the thought and crashed on a poll.”“I can’t believe this,” Levante muttered under his breath.“Well?” Rio asked.“Focus on recovering. I’ll take care of the rest.” Levante said and hung up.“That isn’t a bloody answer,” Rio muttered as he put down the phone. He lay there in silence as he took time to eventually review his decision. He had called his dad on impulse. He was angry. Especially after that talk with Luca. His rage knew no bounds. He just cou