Nico POVThe bright light of the sun shines down on my face from the open window, and I blink awake. I suddenly sit up and look around the room. It's very unfamiliar.I know that there's no one but the Martian, and then suddenly all the events of last night blow into my memory. I look around and feel my face flush with light embarrassment.Looking, feeling across the bed, I realize that I'm the only one in the room. Somehow, the events that happened in the living room ended up in the bedroom. Honestly, that leaves very little to the imagination.I force myself upright and step out of the bed, putting on my shoes as I go. I know that I have to head back now. Just as I'm about to go, looking at the table that's at the corner of the room, I catch a white note between two books.Genuinely curious, I step closer to it, and slip this paper out. It's a note, even though I've not seen her write before. I'm quite certain that it's from Jasmine too.However, after reading the content of the not
Nico's POVI ignore anything that Diego has to say and sit to focus on what's at the back of my mind. Then, taking a deep breath, I saw her on her head, walking through the large passageway of the mansion as my luck would have it.I see Camilla standing at the foot of the stairs and got down out of the room as she was in the room waiting for me. Just as I put myself to work, I come closer.Her hair jerks in my direction, her snow-blonde hair falling against her shoulders. She looks at me; she doesn't even crack a smile. I walk towards her, knowing that my fate is already sealed. The tension between us is unspoken—a long-awaited situation that we simply couldn't keep on putting aside."Good morning," she says coldly. I doubt she even means to greet me in the first place."If you have something to say, just get down to it," I reply, matching her coldness. I'm used to that, matching other people's energy. Although at the moment, I can't tell if this is the best decision or not.I know ho
Kamila's POV: The BastardI clench my fists in anger as I stare at his back while he departs with one of his henchmen at his side. I seem to remember his name - Fabio, wasn't it? Peter's next in command. Well, I don't care. I don't care about him doing anything.All I care about now is the fact that there is some bitch somewhere halfway across the world who is trying to steal my position. I clench my fists harder, my nails digging into my skin, turning my knuckles white. I'm shaking with pure anger.Diego steps in at that moment, and I try to mask my expressions, forcing them back to the poker face that everyone knows me for, but he already sees through it and walks towards me. His eyes show the same worry as my brother's."You said you had him under control!" I yell at him immediately as he gets close enough to me. "You said that everything would be fine!" I say, unable to help the betrayal that is etched deep in my voice.Diego seems unaffected by it, however, and shoves his hands
Camila's POVI settle down behind the desk and take the files in my hand. After a while of sitting quietly and thinking, the plan forms in my head.Since Diego has already assured me that he was going to take care of Nico afterwards, I don't think much about him, but then there's a little chance that he's down in my way.Actually, I don't really want anything from Nico. All I want is the peace and the happily married life that we were living before a certain someone came in our way. And that's exactly the person that I need to get rid of, and very fast.Just sitting down there in silence, I already feel a myriad of ideas popping into my mind on how to make her disappear. But all of them seem wrong. There was something that was missing.I need to break her, crush her bones so that she will never even dream of getting five feet near Nico again. Do I need something that's going to make her lose her trust in him?I cross my leg on the table and tap my shin deep in thought. Well, it's taki
Nichole's Point of ViewCalm and collected, both that they all secretly love. I know that enough is expected from me from here, and I can't afford to let my emotions come into play.So instead, I squirm my expression and walk across the room, looking at all of them in turn before finally sitting on top of the table.The penthouse is wide at first, able to easily accommodate all of us, like about 12 of the men along with three full amounts of arms and ammunition that are in the room.Almost every guy is leisurely toying with a gun and no one finds his way, not at all. It's like second nature to us, being the most dangerous bad person you've ever heard of.It's almost as if most of these men have lost every last bit of humanity that was in them. Now they live to fight, they live for bloodshed, and for some reason, that's the way it's supposed to be.But somehow I wonder, just the way that I was changed, maybe these men don't have a future after all, maybe they could find love. I just al
Jasmine's POVSomehow I regretted more every step of the way. That morning when I woke up, I was still tangled in Nico's arms.I hurriedly untangled myself from him and got off of the bed. Very quiet, not to disturb him.And then, as quickly as I could, I fled the room, closing the door behind me. I leaned against the wall.I heard my breath coming out in a horrid burst. "Finally," I managed to tell myself. Why was I having such a panic attack at this time? I think to myself.But then, Diego's warnings are clear in my head. His threats. I know that he's going to come for me after this.He made it very clear that he doesn't want to see me with Nico anymore. And I'll just let it happen.I know just how dangerous Diego is. I know that he probably has spies around my house as I think. And I know for certain that I'm going to get into huge trouble for this.Taking a deep breath, I decide to get through with it on my own. This time, I would make myself disappear instead of waiting for them
2 weeks later, Nico's POV2 weeks have freaking passed since I've been casting my eyes on Jasmine, and it was fucking killing me. I still had the unanswered text. It actually has fully cut off from me, and somehow it made me realize that I should have expected this. Maybe all the time it was supposed to end up like this, but I convinced myself to fully accept it.Right now, I'm currently in the company trying to pay attention to the meeting that's supposed to be very important. Most of the members of the board are there. I feel like a part of me has been cut and shattered and then burnt in fire. I feel like a part of me can't do anymore.She had no idea what she was doing by walking in when I was with her. Right now, I had a good night of Sanda, and when I did, I was going to phone her. Well, it's very, very annoying just when I think that when I get home from work, she calls away again.What exactly was she scared of? If only I could thank her and ask her these questions myself inste
Nico's POV I get into the car immediately and take out my phone. I have two options. I can go straight to the airport where I'm sure that Javi went to and then get all the valuable information that I need out of the staff there. Like, where is this place? How can my friends learn? I could simply go back to the base and arrange for us to take a flight back to Italy. Thinking of both of them very well now, I realized that both situations would work well for me. All I have to do is to think of a way to do them both and save more time. After all, the faster I get to Jasmine, the better I feel for everyone.So, I put one hand on the steering, easily navigating through the fierce traffic on the road. And then, with my free hand, I slip my phone out of my pocket. Of course, it's against the rules to handle calls while driving, but who says I was a keeper to the rules anyway?I called Fabio immediately. "Arrange a flight straight for Italy," I say to him, my voice quite authoritative and i
Chad's POV He doesn't reply to me immediately but instead passes across some coded message to the rest of the men, and they take their sweet time circling us, forming a tight barricade around the car. I clench my fist, knowing that this situation is one that I won't be able to get out of easily.What do you want from me? I say, trying for another approach."You're asking unnecessary questions, man," the masked man says in a gruff voice. He raises his weapon, pointing the gun directly at my head. Anything that makes him pull the trigger at this point leaves me completely dead. The reality is enough to bring shivers down my spine. I purse my lip, thinking desperately for any means of escape. What is happening? My mind keeps on turning up completely blank, and honestly, it leaves me very much frustrated. What do you want from me? I find myself asking at this point. All I'm doing is trying to get the conversation going and stall him for as long as I can while waiting not so patientl
CHAD'S POV"It's not over yet," I tell myself as the car drives down the road. Now that I know for sure that I can't get Jasmine to myself, I dedicate my time to exposing Nico instead.It's not like I hate him, it's just that when it comes to Jasmine, I feel genuinely remorseful of my actions in the past, and I want to make sure she ends up with someone better than me at least. Nico, though well-dressed and handsome and all, didn't cut that aspect.I grit my teeth, my hands tightening by my sides. Luckily my driver doesn't take notes—or maybe he does—and he knows better than to talk unnecessarily or try to make up conversations.Fine, maybe I was a bit jealous of Nico, but that doesn't matter now. If I was to be completely honest, nothing much matters to me right now.I still have the car now driving down and arriving in the main road. There is only a tinge of satisfaction that I feel from seeing Nico's angry face. Now that will be a bonus that I will be sure to remember for a long ti
JASMINE'S POVAfter the episode with Chad, I don't know what to think anymore. Or more specifically, I choose not to think of anything. It's just too dangerous to let my thoughts move around unrestrained in my head after everything that happened.And I don't think that I've seen Nico so damn angry in my life. I shudder from the thought. I don't even need to evoke my senses to visualize his emerald green eyes spitting fire and the look on his face filled with pure rage.I can swear that he was ready to kill someone back there, and I can only imagine what would have happened if I wasn't there to stop him. I shake my head, chasing away the thought. I don't want to think that Nico has no self-control over the dangerous side of him.The car parks and I look up. "We are at the company, ma'am," Richard informs me. He steps down from the car and opens my side of the door for me. I give a nod. I was too preoccupied in my thoughts to even notice that we had long arrived back at the company.I s
NICO'S POV I watch her stumble back in shock, her eyes widening. She seems really surprised to see me.“What are you doing here?” she mutters, her voice shaking.I don’t give a direct answer but instead step inside the room and scan my eyes around the forum. Someone is there, sitting in the living room. I recognize his features immediately.The fucker, Chad, is here. But what the hell is he doing in the hallway? And why did she let him in?My eyes turn back to fall on Jasmine. There is a sense of fear in the air. I can guess that an argument has taken place here.“What are you doing here?” I speak directly to Chad.Chad stands up from the seat and stares back at me, his eyes defiant.“Well, I’m sure that I have my own freedom of speech and movement, Nico Ferrari,” he speaks, his voice full of malice.Like a glare, I glance through the corner of my eyes and see the way Jasmine is trembling. I’m sure that this motherfucker said something to her, and I don’t like him. His mere presence
Jasmine's POV The black sedan car was parked in front of my house, just a few feet away from the man who brings back unnecessary memories. I would want to tell the driver to slow down and say, "Look at it closely," praying against hope that it wasn't what it seemed to be.Finally, we stepped past it and came to park in the garage. I stepped out of the car immediately and searched around, however, to find this man leaning against the door of the house walls—none other than Chad himself.Hell no, why does he keep on appearing? I wonder to myself and walk up to him cautiously. I know that I have to be careful. I don't know what he wants.Frankly speaking, I've not been able to tell if he's appearing or not appearing at unpredictable timings. And not to talk of the way he behaved towards Nico—almost like he knew something I didn't.I shook my head. I'm not going to doubt Nico. Not now that I finally seem to be getting along and agreeing on something. He just has to step out of the way.P
Jasmine's POV Nico smiles lightly, but he doesn't tell you because he's going to disclose the information any moment soon. He stands up and kisses me lightly on the cheek. "I know, but you don't have to worry about it. I'm going to sort this all out in a couple of days." I know and understand that this is something that he has to do himself.In the meantime, I say equally, "That's enough. Since I'm already in the company, I might as well get to work."Nico looks like he is about to object, but I raise a hand, telling him, "I'm not going to just sit around and let you treat me like a princess."He smiles. "Are you sure you don't want that?"I roll my eyes and shake my head. "No, I would like to actually be useful and earn my position here."Nico sighs, knowing that he won't be able to convince me otherwise, since I have a pretty strong gut when it comes to finding my place. "I'll call you if I need anything."I nod and wave at him as I step out of the office. I appreciate the fact th
Nico's POV I look up and see my manager step into the office. He briefly graces us, me and Jasmine. His poker face faults us for a while, but he quickly masks it with another professional one. If he has his own reservations or questions, he doesn't ask any of them, but instead stands patiently by the door, waiting for me to acknowledge him. I raise an eyebrow at him, wondering what he wants with me now. I just barely stepped foot into the company, and personally speaking, I had hoped to spend some time with Jasmine in private. There's still a lot of things that she is yet to understand, and I want to make her do so to the best of my ability. However, of course, coming to the company, I could only have imagined that there would be work waiting for me. It's not like my manager could be here to see me go idle for more than half an hour. "I'll be right back," I whisper to Jasmine, and carefully remove my hand from hers. That also leaves me holding her in a tense grip. I regret it; ho
Jasmine's POVHe stares back at me without a change in expression. Suddenly, those deep green eyes that seem to read even my soul jump into the line of one beat. I find it hard to believe that I can ever do the case. I take it is worth trying to think of what to do. No one is ever prepared for this kind of situation, and what proves to come is what proves to remain.Finally, I take a deep breath. Even though I pretend that I don't know what's happening, and I'm entirely shocked by the way things are progressing, deep down, I seem to already know all the answers. I tend to question if I already decided to give him a chance, and don't want to go, then what's wrong with right now? That's the question that I ask myself."Well, he's your son," I point out quietly. "Of course you can't take care of him." He pulls me into a hug immediately. "Thank you," he breaks down on my shoulder. And only then do I realize that he has been holding his breath. It kind of makes me smile as well. Touching t
JASMINE'S POVIt's late in the night when I finally arrived back in Los Angeles. After bidding Nico goodbye and taking Michael with me to the apartment, I feel like I'm finally done for the day. It has been a very long one. First, I had to get Isabella and Michael ready for the information exercise. I still did not go here before, but all in all, I would say that they are much better than I thought. I feel a bit of relief now, even though I'm back in the enemy's lair. But for some reason, I do feel like Michael is actually here to take care of me this time. I feel if all they want is a second chance, then I might as well give it to him. After all, there's no harm in trying, right? Also, I thought I'm still on my guard, though.I think as I enter in the combination lock and turn back, watching as the bright red Ferrari zooms out of the compound, I try not to think too much about him as I push open the door. Isabella carries an already sleeping Michael inside the house. The house feels