BellaI popped my head into Jose's study two days later after the handover to see him huddled over his desk with Quinn.She averted her gaze when I stepped in properly."Riley..."I put on a smile that hid my awkwardness and nervousness around Quinn."I'm headed to Giovanni and Elisabetta's house now. Just wanted to inform you in case you would like to join us.""Nah..." He smiled, "...they wouldn't want to have me there anyway."Right, he had mentioned their beef with him because they blamed him for their daughter's death.I nodded and headed towards the door again, "Okay then. I'll be on my way.""Sure. Send my greetings to them.""Bye."I couldn't get out of there fast enough after that and sighed in my seat beside Lyra and Greg when we got into our car.It was a limo my parents had sent us."What is it?""Nothing." I replied immediately, grabbing a bottle of champagne from the minibar there, and I poured each of us a glass.Might as well get the dinner started before we got there.
Bella"So you were in the foster system, right?"I nodded at Elisabetta's question, grabbing a drink from the variety on the table to pour, and I shook my head at the maid that moved forward to help me pour it."It's okay. I can manage that myself."She nodded and moved back."How was it?"I pondered if I should tell them the truth or just let it all out, "Okay, but..."I felt Lyra and Greg's stares on me.They in fact knew how not-okay the system was to me."...abusive." I later completed my sentence, ignoring their stares."They abused you?"I glanced up startled when Elisabetta raised her voice."I mean, it happens to almost every child, except you're lucky. I've been known to not have such great luck, but it all turned out well. I took control of my life once I was eighteen and ended up going to college, where I met these two."They relaxed in their seats.Phew!You would think they were about to go murder every foster parent that ever raised their hands at me as a kid with the wa
Quinn The doctor called me to the side the next day after checking Jose and made sure he was out of harm's way for now, and he sat opposite me in one of the private living rooms once we were alone."The treatments aren't doing much anymore. It's likely he might deteriorate badly once he wakes up.""How badly are we speaking of?""Memory loss. Leg and hand function. It's a miracle that all these haven't happened before."I felt my heart sink.He had said that before and anticipated this, but I still wasn't ready."Now, you can only stay by his side till the last day he takes his breath. I'm sorry."I shook my head, staring at nothing as he left, and I went back to his room, where he was in with Riley, after a few more minutes."What did the doctor say?"I didn't answer for a minute, pondering if I should break it all to her, but she already knew he was on his deathbed; I might as well tell her about the memory loss to prepare her for when it actually happens."He has deteriorated badl
Quinn We got out of the car when we got to the entrance of Adrian's beautiful home, Gary handing the car key over to one of the valets that was outside the house, and they led us inside to a similar ballroom to that where Jose had held the handover for the function.It was slightly bigger, though, and had this large hanging tool—I'm guessing they use it to dangle traitors from the ceiling—but Juan wasn't there, so I had my doubts.I collected the glass of champagne that Gary passed to me from a waitress when we were fully in and took a sip of the place."Everyone is here. Even the fucking prime minister." I glanced around in the direction Gary signaled me in after a moment."Quinn..."We both turned surprised when a lady came to meet us.She shook my hand, "Flora Moretti. I saw you at the handover party."Right.I nodded, bending my head slightly to place a kiss on her palm.Gary was nowhere to be seen by the time I looked up."Nice to meet you properly.""Yeah. Word on the street sa
Quinn I made my way to Jose's room straight when I got back to the house to find him still in the vegetative state I left him in while Riley took a nap beside him.Her body was bent at an abnormal angle as she must have tried to rest her head on the bed while still holding his hand, but at least she was fast asleep.I took a step further into the room and stared at both of them for a while.Well, Riley, to be honest.She just looked so... Stunning and peaceful, she looked right now with the moon shining across her features through the window outside.She moved her head slightly when I bent down beside her to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.She didn't wake up, though, thankfully, or I would have had to explain why I was so close to her face, staring into her eyes.I sighed and moved back, going to Jose's side to kiss his forehead, and I came back to his daughter's side to carry her up, bridal style, to her room.She immediately turned and gasped when she woke up in my arms."Ril
BellaIt wasn't until the sun shone brightly on my face the next morning that I woke up, and I first got startled at how close Quinn was on the bed to me before remembering everything that had happened last night.Her story of how she had met Jose, then the kiss.I raised my hand to my lips slowly as if in remembrance of how hot the kiss had been and closed my eyes without thinking when she tossed slightly on the bed.Fuck.Why did I close my eyes?It's not like I had done anything wrong or was checking her out. I had just been...Totally checking her out.I paused the thoughts in my head when I heard nothing a second later. The bed was perfectly still too, and there was no sound from Quinn at all.Is she still asleep?I popped open to check that out and saw her staring at me, wide eyes open with a smile on her face."Did you really think I wouldn't notice you checking me out?"I stuttered, trying to get a hold of a sentence that wouldn't totally give me away.She pulled me back onto
BellaThe first place we stopped at was Teatro Massimo, an opera house in Palermo that holds performances every once in a while.It had this huge historical structure that stretched over a space of land with pillars and statues that accentuated its history.I handed over the ticket Elisabetta had given me after that awkward silence to the officer that checked it.He checked Giovanni and Elisabetta's tickets too and let us through after that.She beamed for the first time after that conversation, "I'm so happy that we get to view a performance today. Your mom used to love these things."I pondered that statement.According to what Jose had told me about my mom, this felt very different from what she might have liked.We sat down at the front row seats, settling in just in time before the first performance started, and clapped with everyone when the lady finished.I wouldn't say it was bad or uninteresting; I actually felt myself getting interested as more performers came on stage to pr
BellaThe guilt for the next few days kept killing me as Matteo and Quinn arranged the ceremony week for his burial, and I tried to get past it to function in some way.The visitors kept pouring in after that.The associates and intimate clients of the business. The family and friends that I didn't quite know about and my grandparents, who had made it known that they had a grudge against him, even though they denied that. Then there were my friends and Adrian.I collapsed into Lyra's arms when she pulled me in for a hug."I'm so sorry, dear."Greg did the same, patting my back like he did sometimes and I did my best not to start crying again.Yes, I had known him for such a short time, but that time had impacted me so much; it felt like I had known him forever.I pulled away from their hugs and sniffed when they had squeezed me long and hard enough.They led me to my room upstairs."It just happened, you know." I still couldn't believe it.There hadn't been any warning. No sign that h
Quinn Three months later,The plane came to a stop in New York exactly twelve hours after I boarded it from our private airstrip in Sicily, and I got out of the plane with one of our agents when we got the go-ahead from the pilot to stand up.I headed straight for the car that was waiting for us a few feet away from the plane with the doors open.He started the engine once we both got in and drove away."Is everyone in position?""Yes ma'am." I took out my tab to view some critical information."And the location?""Secure. Target hasn't arrived yet."It was another agent from the parameter that replied through the devices in our ears.I pulled back my sleeve to check the time only to realize that both of us were actually late.I had said 7 pm, but it was already five minutes past.At least I had a reason; I wondered what his would be."Target has arrived." I heard an agent say a few minutes before we arrived at our location, and the guy with me, Lucas, came over to my side to help me
BellaThe guilt for the next few days kept killing me as Matteo and Quinn arranged the ceremony week for his burial, and I tried to get past it to function in some way.The visitors kept pouring in after that.The associates and intimate clients of the business. The family and friends that I didn't quite know about and my grandparents, who had made it known that they had a grudge against him, even though they denied that. Then there were my friends and Adrian.I collapsed into Lyra's arms when she pulled me in for a hug."I'm so sorry, dear."Greg did the same, patting my back like he did sometimes and I did my best not to start crying again.Yes, I had known him for such a short time, but that time had impacted me so much; it felt like I had known him forever.I pulled away from their hugs and sniffed when they had squeezed me long and hard enough.They led me to my room upstairs."It just happened, you know." I still couldn't believe it.There hadn't been any warning. No sign that h
BellaThe first place we stopped at was Teatro Massimo, an opera house in Palermo that holds performances every once in a while.It had this huge historical structure that stretched over a space of land with pillars and statues that accentuated its history.I handed over the ticket Elisabetta had given me after that awkward silence to the officer that checked it.He checked Giovanni and Elisabetta's tickets too and let us through after that.She beamed for the first time after that conversation, "I'm so happy that we get to view a performance today. Your mom used to love these things."I pondered that statement.According to what Jose had told me about my mom, this felt very different from what she might have liked.We sat down at the front row seats, settling in just in time before the first performance started, and clapped with everyone when the lady finished.I wouldn't say it was bad or uninteresting; I actually felt myself getting interested as more performers came on stage to pr
BellaIt wasn't until the sun shone brightly on my face the next morning that I woke up, and I first got startled at how close Quinn was on the bed to me before remembering everything that had happened last night.Her story of how she had met Jose, then the kiss.I raised my hand to my lips slowly as if in remembrance of how hot the kiss had been and closed my eyes without thinking when she tossed slightly on the bed.Fuck.Why did I close my eyes?It's not like I had done anything wrong or was checking her out. I had just been...Totally checking her out.I paused the thoughts in my head when I heard nothing a second later. The bed was perfectly still too, and there was no sound from Quinn at all.Is she still asleep?I popped open to check that out and saw her staring at me, wide eyes open with a smile on her face."Did you really think I wouldn't notice you checking me out?"I stuttered, trying to get a hold of a sentence that wouldn't totally give me away.She pulled me back onto
Quinn I made my way to Jose's room straight when I got back to the house to find him still in the vegetative state I left him in while Riley took a nap beside him.Her body was bent at an abnormal angle as she must have tried to rest her head on the bed while still holding his hand, but at least she was fast asleep.I took a step further into the room and stared at both of them for a while.Well, Riley, to be honest.She just looked so... Stunning and peaceful, she looked right now with the moon shining across her features through the window outside.She moved her head slightly when I bent down beside her to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.She didn't wake up, though, thankfully, or I would have had to explain why I was so close to her face, staring into her eyes.I sighed and moved back, going to Jose's side to kiss his forehead, and I came back to his daughter's side to carry her up, bridal style, to her room.She immediately turned and gasped when she woke up in my arms."Ril
Quinn We got out of the car when we got to the entrance of Adrian's beautiful home, Gary handing the car key over to one of the valets that was outside the house, and they led us inside to a similar ballroom to that where Jose had held the handover for the function.It was slightly bigger, though, and had this large hanging tool—I'm guessing they use it to dangle traitors from the ceiling—but Juan wasn't there, so I had my doubts.I collected the glass of champagne that Gary passed to me from a waitress when we were fully in and took a sip of the place."Everyone is here. Even the fucking prime minister." I glanced around in the direction Gary signaled me in after a moment."Quinn..."We both turned surprised when a lady came to meet us.She shook my hand, "Flora Moretti. I saw you at the handover party."Right.I nodded, bending my head slightly to place a kiss on her palm.Gary was nowhere to be seen by the time I looked up."Nice to meet you properly.""Yeah. Word on the street sa
Quinn The doctor called me to the side the next day after checking Jose and made sure he was out of harm's way for now, and he sat opposite me in one of the private living rooms once we were alone."The treatments aren't doing much anymore. It's likely he might deteriorate badly once he wakes up.""How badly are we speaking of?""Memory loss. Leg and hand function. It's a miracle that all these haven't happened before."I felt my heart sink.He had said that before and anticipated this, but I still wasn't ready."Now, you can only stay by his side till the last day he takes his breath. I'm sorry."I shook my head, staring at nothing as he left, and I went back to his room, where he was in with Riley, after a few more minutes."What did the doctor say?"I didn't answer for a minute, pondering if I should break it all to her, but she already knew he was on his deathbed; I might as well tell her about the memory loss to prepare her for when it actually happens."He has deteriorated badl
Bella"So you were in the foster system, right?"I nodded at Elisabetta's question, grabbing a drink from the variety on the table to pour, and I shook my head at the maid that moved forward to help me pour it."It's okay. I can manage that myself."She nodded and moved back."How was it?"I pondered if I should tell them the truth or just let it all out, "Okay, but..."I felt Lyra and Greg's stares on me.They in fact knew how not-okay the system was to me."...abusive." I later completed my sentence, ignoring their stares."They abused you?"I glanced up startled when Elisabetta raised her voice."I mean, it happens to almost every child, except you're lucky. I've been known to not have such great luck, but it all turned out well. I took control of my life once I was eighteen and ended up going to college, where I met these two."They relaxed in their seats.Phew!You would think they were about to go murder every foster parent that ever raised their hands at me as a kid with the wa
BellaI popped my head into Jose's study two days later after the handover to see him huddled over his desk with Quinn.She averted her gaze when I stepped in properly."Riley..."I put on a smile that hid my awkwardness and nervousness around Quinn."I'm headed to Giovanni and Elisabetta's house now. Just wanted to inform you in case you would like to join us.""Nah..." He smiled, "...they wouldn't want to have me there anyway."Right, he had mentioned their beef with him because they blamed him for their daughter's death.I nodded and headed towards the door again, "Okay then. I'll be on my way.""Sure. Send my greetings to them.""Bye."I couldn't get out of there fast enough after that and sighed in my seat beside Lyra and Greg when we got into our car.It was a limo my parents had sent us."What is it?""Nothing." I replied immediately, grabbing a bottle of champagne from the minibar there, and I poured each of us a glass.Might as well get the dinner started before we got there.