I looked from the man to Alice and back to the man. My face was still stinging from the impact of his hard palm on my cheek when I opened my mouth to speak. “What do you mean she's my sister? I'm pretty sure I would know if I had any other siblings for over twenty years that I have been alive,” my voice trailed off towards the end as it clicked in my head.Until a few weeks ago, I didn't know that the man I thought was my father was not. That meant I could have a whole line of siblings that I was unaware of.The thought that they would all be crazy like Alice crossed my mind, and I shivered. I couldn't believe that I had a sister or that she was the crazy lady with me all this while.“Do you know what started the feud between my clan and Luca's?” Santos asked, ignoring my question as he walked away from the pole and to a chair I had not noticed in all that time. My eyes followed his every movement until he sat on it and returned his gaze to my direction. I shook my head in response
The doorbell rang, insistent and impatient. I turned to the door like the mahogany had become transparent, my heart pounding as I felt a familiar dread settle in my stomach. The man standing at my door looked both familiar and unrecognizable. One thing came to mind, “Father”. It had been almost five weeks since I last saw Father, a title he insisted I called him because it was different from what the other kids called their parents.My father was one thing and one thing only, the sperm donor in my creation. He left us when I was three years old from what my mum told me and never came back.I slowly approached the door. “Father!” I exclaimed, taking in his shirt messed up with blood evidently pouring from his lips. Both his eyes were swollen like he was repeatedly punched, and I couldn't help but notice the smell of burnt skin that was coming from him.The wind picked up outside, howling loudly and pushing branches against my kitchen windows. It brought back ugly memories . ( Flas
The next time I opened my eyes, I realized I couldn't see. A sharp pain throbbing in my head stopped me from making the panicked movements I was making.I tried pulling my hand to my head only to realize that my hands were cuffed behind me, and my mouth was gagged.An unfamiliar stench hung in the air, and I couldn't stop myself from scrunching up my nose. “Ten million!” a voice called out, the sound filling the room in seconds. I jerked up as my senses came alive, I realized I wasn't alone.My heart surged with fear. I said a silent prayer to whoever was listening, hoping that I was not naked. I doubted, though. I couldn't feel the breeze on my mid region and thighs the way I could feel them on my arms and lower legs. Another voice broke me out of my train of thoughts. “Seventeen million!” The thought hit me like a bag of bricks. They were bidding over something. Fear crawled up my spine. We're they bidding over people?“Forty million!” a small voice called out. It was feminine,
It's been four hours fifteen minutes since I was dumped in a room against my will like a bag of pickles. My eyes had barely left the digital clock that sat on the table beside the bed and I could not even imagine myself shutting my eyes for a minute.Rays of sun had started to trickle through the windows before I heard a knock on the door and then the sound of a key unlocking the door.I stood up with my arms crossed over my chest, expecting to see Luca but was greeted with an unfamiliar female face. “Good morning ma'am. My name is Maria, I'm your personal maid and I will be assisting you.“Mr Alessandro is waiting for you in his study. He requested that you freshen up and be out in twenty minutes,” she said without meeting my eyes.The woman looked to be in her mid thirties or so. There were so many questions I wanted to ask but I didn't think she was the best person to answer them so I shut my mouth as quickly as I opened it. I had opened the bathroom door when I saw that she was
I fell on my knees before I could even stop myself. “Please, he's just a kid, please don't hurt him.” “Oh Nazlynn, come on. I'm not a monster, I would never hurt a child,” he said, his voice softening briefly.“That’s only because my men have no problem doing that,” he ended, shattering my hopes.My eyes flickered back to the screen. It was a live video, the man walking beside Enzo pulled out his gun just enough for me to see it. I held a shaky hand to my mouth.“He's just a child!” I screamed. “Are you guys even human?”“It's quite simple actually, you know. I needed a wife and I made arrangements to get you, all you have to do is show up in six days and act like the perfect wife. You do all that, your brother is safe. It's a win-win for us, right?” He asked, not at all sounding like he was asking.My bottom lip quivered but I forced the tears away. “I'll see you in six days then,” I said, standing up to walk away.“You will go with me to meet my family tomorrow and then to the brid
“Hi, it's so nice to finally meet you.”“I'm Elena, this is my twin sister Jenna, the blonde douche is Miguel, freak in the glasses is Sabrina, José and Samuel are the two over there by the garden, Elena is the little eight year old and Mathias is somewhere around the house,” a girl around my age said immediately the door swung open.“Uh-”“Elena, don't do that. Where's Padre?” Luca asked without sparring any of us a look. The group of people parted to make way for him to walk into the building.“He's in the basement. He said he had to do some garbage disposal.” The girl, Elena, replied without looking at him. Luca walked through the wide hallway before taking a turn that I had not noticed. The group of people ushered me into the house and into the living room that had my jaw dropping. The interior decorator of that place needed to be given an appreciation payment if we're being fair.“Hi, I'm Nazlynn,” I managed to say between nervous breaths. “Hi Nazlynn,” about five voices echo
Luca's POV It took all that I had for my mouth not to drop open in shock as I took in the woman that had just slapped me. My eyes turned red. I wrapped my hand around her throat, pinning her to the wall. “Who the fuck do you think you are Nazlynn?” I yelled out in rage. Her eyes quickly watered up as she clawed against my arm, begging for release. “In my world, no one even dares to look at me the wrong way. I am the most feared mafia leader so do not think I would hesitate to put a bullet in your head because we're to get married.”“There are a million women like you that I wouldn't even notice if you were switched during the wedding. You're my wife, not my equal. Get that through your thick skull.” I growled out, pushing her away from me. Nazlynn staggered before regaining her balance some steps away from me. I had not wrapped my hand tightly against her skin so it wouldn't leave a mark but now, I could see her skin turning red from where my fingertips had pressed down on. “I h
“I don't have the time nor the strength for your games Nazlynn, your tears don't move me. This was your plan wasn't it? To create a scene in front of people and make them believe I was forcing you into this, am I right?” He asked, rage brewing beneath his eyes. He was wrong and I tried to show him that by shaking my head to every word he said. “I am having an extremely shitty day, you don't want to add to it,” he said in a controlled voice. “You will try on the dresses and make a choice. You will get married to me in three days, Nazlynn, that is not up for debate. Neither of us want your brother to get hurt, am I clear?” I froze as an image of Enzo getting shot on his way to his room in Atlanta filled my head. I bobbed my head in response. He signed, pressing his fingertips on his temple. “Can I please have my phone back?” I asked in a shaky voice. He gave me a frustrated look. “You'll have it after the wedding and it will be on some terms.” He took a seat on the armchair oppos
I looked from the man to Alice and back to the man. My face was still stinging from the impact of his hard palm on my cheek when I opened my mouth to speak. “What do you mean she's my sister? I'm pretty sure I would know if I had any other siblings for over twenty years that I have been alive,” my voice trailed off towards the end as it clicked in my head.Until a few weeks ago, I didn't know that the man I thought was my father was not. That meant I could have a whole line of siblings that I was unaware of.The thought that they would all be crazy like Alice crossed my mind, and I shivered. I couldn't believe that I had a sister or that she was the crazy lady with me all this while.“Do you know what started the feud between my clan and Luca's?” Santos asked, ignoring my question as he walked away from the pole and to a chair I had not noticed in all that time. My eyes followed his every movement until he sat on it and returned his gaze to my direction. I shook my head in response
“Don Luca, we have a big problem,” Marco said as he walked up to me. “I can see that, what's happening?” I asked, looking around me.My men were scampering from one place to the other in the compound, so much that my presence went unnoticed. “There's a strange gas that was released in the house, it made a few people drop like flies. I'm not sure if they are just unconscious or it's something worse. We're having everyone evacuated before anything worse happens.”An alarm bell went off inside of my head. “Where are my wife and daughter?” I asked, making an attempt to go into the mansion.Marco sidestepped me. “Your wife wasn't in the house sir.”“And Hailey? Where is Hailey?” I demanded.“Mathias has her, Maria and Tracy stay at one of the safe houses alongside your sisters but I don't know which,” he responded.“Find out this instance and let me know.”“Sir, the less we know about their current location, the safer they are,” he argued. I took two angry steps closer to him, sizing hi
“How is this….how are you…I don't understand,” I spluttered. It was either my brain had gone radio silent, or I was just slow like Alice had said because I could not make sense of the situation.She gave me a few seconds to try to process things, and when she saw that I wasn't able to, she spoke up. “Let me make it easier for you, I kidnapped you,” she said with a sinister smile that made me want to puke.“So you see,” she started, dropping the pair of glasses on the table and picking up the blade that was used to free her. “My mafia needed inside information on Luca's mafia, so I decided to go through you. It took days of my tech guy doing his tech thing for us to finally find a social media presence for you. Although it turned out you had just opened the account that day. You live a very sad life, if I may say,” she tutted.“Anyway. You weren't giving me the information I wanted, so I suggested the therapist thing. It wasn't at all difficult to rent a space, place a few members of
Luca's POV“We've been driving for quite some time. I think we would have found her SUV if it were here to see.” Gabriel said, taking the words right out of my intrusive thoughts. I've been forcing myself to ignore the fact that my wife's car was clearly not in sight. “I'll just drive around this street one more time then,” I said, stepping on the gas to increase my speed. “She's not here, boss,” Gabriel said, and I only hummed in response but showed no sign that I had heard him.“She's not here!” He said, louder this time, causing me to step on the brake so hard that our bodies lurched forward in the car. I glared at him so hard until he cowered. “I'm sorry, boss. You were driving at a speed that was going to get us pulled over by the police.”Scoffing, I shook my head in disdain. I was irritated with myself, with the fact that I couldn't even protect my own wife. “I can't have a repeat of what happened a year ago, Gabriel. I really cannot,” I said, feeling my tough facade slipp
Alice struggled against her restraints, gnashing her teeth at him. “Who are you, and what do you want with us?”The man's face came into view, and I frowned slightly. It was a boy actually, he didn't look a day over fifteen years old. His voice sounded a lot more mature, I would have guessed he was in his late twenties if I hadn't seen his face. “Please let her go. She has nothing to do with me, and she doesn't know anything,” I pleaded on my friend's behalf. Alice looked scared shitless, like she would piss her pants any time soon.“Way to go, Nazlynn. You meet your friend for the first time ever and get her kidnapped,” I said to myself mentally. I couldn't let them hurt her. Alice could already clearly see that she's missing something about my life.The boy just stood there and stared at me. “Do you know him or something?” Alice whispered to me.I shook my head, “I've never seen him before.”He stared at me for a long time without saying a word. His face was void of any facial exp
She scrunched up her nose, and her eyebrows pulled together in a manner that screamed confusion. “You mentioned it when you told me about your nightmares some time ago,” she said.I nodded. “I think you should do what you think is best for your child. You know it's not just yourself that you have to take care of or look out for,” she said, giving me a look that my mother would give me when she was trying to make me see a point that I am intentionally blind to.We talked some more, and I told her everything about everything, going into more details than I did when I sent that long text message. For some odd reason, I felt really calm around her, like I could tell her anything at all. Which was surprising considering how much I was freaking out when I got here.I had come to meet with her to get some advice on what I should do and how I should do it, but here she was telling me that the decision was all mine to make. Just sitting down and talking to her did help me feel better, thou
I agreed to meet up with Alice two days after she had sent that text. Coincidentally, we were in the same city, so it wouldn't be too much of a hassle. She said it was important we met up, and I was curious as to why.“I already fed her, but in case she gets whiny again, give her water in her bottle,” I said to Tracy, crouching down so I could give Hailey a big kiss.The only thing I hated more than being away from my baby was being away from my baby.“I'm going out,” I said to Luca when I saw him in the hallway. He was speaking to some of the members of our security team. He frowned, giving me a once over. “Where are you off to?” “I'm going to meet with someone,” I responded briefly, checking my reflection in the full-length mirror hanging on the wall. Luca dismissed the small gathering of men before turning his attention to me. “Who? You don't have any friends. You're not exactly the most social person,” Luca pointed out. I froze. He had a point. Considering everything that has
Luca walked towards me in a predatory type of way. “Hi princess,” he greeted Hailey before taking her off of me. I stilled as he passed by me, keeping my eyes on Enzo at the other side of the room, who looked half as uncomfortable as I did. “Judging by the fact we've been married for almost two years, you should know that I know you better than yourself,” I heard Luca say from behind me before hearing the door shut and then the sound of a luck turning.I whipped around and was shocked to see an empty space behind me. “What just happened?” I asked Enzo, who was just staring at me.“Your husband just locked us in,” he stated simply.“Yes, I can see that. But why?” I asked as my panic level started rising. Enzo hopped off the chair he was sitting on and started walking towards me. “I asked him how I could get you to talk to me. He said you have a thing for eavesdropping on his conversations, so we decided to see if it'll work. We left the door open a bit, sprinkled your name into the
You're really not going to talk to me at all?” I heard Enzo ask, making me sigh.I had come down the staircase the next morning only to almost bump into him at the bottom. I increased my pace so I could disappear from him as quickly as possible, but Enzo just wouldn't let me be.“I thought I made that clear enough, but apparently I didn't, seeing how you're currently trying to talk to me,” I replied with a fake smile.“Nazlynn,” he called out softly, taking a step in my direction.My eyes searched his. I could still see fragments of the little boy who had left for Atlanta years back, but I could also see something darker. The kind of darkness that you are bound to be exposed to while working with the mafia.I was one to talk, considering how I'm married to a mafia don who is the rival to my biological father who is also a mafia don.“I'm not ready for the conversation you're trying to have, Enzo. I would like to get through one day without reminding myself of how I failed you as a si