“You killed your mother?” I asked, struggling to mask the judgment in my voice.In a split second, Luca's lips set into a thin line and his face hardened. “Get out! Now,” he roared, his hands shaking from anger. I scrambled out of the gym as quickly as my feet could take me, hearing a loud bang as his fist made contact with whatever was nearest to him. Just as I was hurrying back to my room, I missed my step and tripped. Closing my eyes, I waited for the impact but it never came.“What do you think you're doing upsetting him today of all days?” Gabriel said, steadying me on my feet.“I…”“Come with me, so you don't get yourself hurt,” he said, guiding me down the stairs and to the living room. My lips were sealed shut and my mind was in a spiral. He killed his mother so why is he mourning? Or is it guilt? The thoughts were making my head ache.Exhaling loudly, I fell back on the couch with a plop.Gabriel was sitting on a stool beside the couch. He sighed.“Nazlynn, you shouldn't h
My phone rang loudly, causing him to draw back and scoot away from me.Enzo’s name flashed brightly on the screen as I silenced the call. “I'll call him back later,” I stated even though Luca hadn't asked me. “No, you can take the call. It's your brother,” he said, not looking at me. The call ended and my screen went blank again. The man before me was not the same man that forcefully brought me to his house a month ago, he was also not the man that led a whole mafia. The man before me was a son who had lost his mother and was still grieving her death.“Do you know that when people die, you can sometimes summon their spirit in their favorite places?” I asked him, breaking the silence that had fallen between us. My aunt had said that to me after my mother died.Lucas' gaze traveled back to me and he looked at me skeptically. “How?” I stood up, stretching my hand out to him. Luca glanced from my face to my hand and back. I gave him an encouraging nod and he sighed before standing up
Jenna, Elena and Sabrina walked in front of Luca with their heads hung low and their tails between their legs until we got back inside the house.“You three, go to your rooms,” Luca said sternly.I stifled my laughter at their long faces as they walked down the hallway and up the stairs.“You should go back home, get Maria to prepare something for you. I'll come soon,” Luca said when they had left.I drew my eyes to the floor, suddenly feeling very self conscious with his gaze completely on me. Nodding, I pursed my lips, thinking of how to ask him about Gabriel.“Actually, I have no way of coming back here. Gabriel was the one who brought me and he left so he could drop the car at the house before….” I trailed off with a frown etched on my face. “Home,” Luca corrected.My eyes widened, “what?”“You said ‘the house’, it's your home Nazlynn,” he said, looking anywhere but me.I nodded slowly, right, home.“Can Gabriel come back please?” I finally blurted out the question I wanted to a
I was extra cheery for the rest of the week as I started making plans towards leaving this place once and for all. Luca hadn't called again since the day he said he was going to, and I didn't call either. I mean, I had no reason to.I considered calling Gabriel, but I quickly brushed the thought off. If there were two people I believed knew the ins and outs of this mansion, it was Maria and Gabriel.But calling Gabriel was out of it. He may no longer be working for Luca, but I didn't think his loyalty would have suddenly shifted to me. Since there was no one to help me with my escape plans, I knew I was on my own. But at least now I had a loaded gun with me. The presence of the gun seemed to be weighing down my vanity mirror.I had put it in the bottom drawer and locked it so Maria couldn't stumble upon it when cleaning.“Maria, how long have you been working here?” I asked her randomly when I was in the living room. I was eating fruits from the bowl on the stool beside me. “I’ve w
“What the fuck is this, Nazlynn?” he asked again, holding his hand out. There was a gun held between his thumb and index finger. The very gun that I had forgotten to lock back in. My head snapped to the drawer where I had kept it, half hoping that it would still be closed and that this gun was not the same with the one I kept there. The drawer was pulled all the way out, and was very much open.“Don't make me ask again,” Luca said, turning my attention back to him. “It's…it's a gun,” I replied, failing to stop the tremble in my voice.“I know it's a fucking gun, I can see that. I'm asking why it's here. Why did I find a gun in your room, in your drawer?” he said angrily.I scooted back on the bed warily. I was unsure of what the Luca in this state could do to me.“I stumbled upon it and thought I should have one, for protection's sake,” I lied through my teeth. Something dangerous flashed beneath Luca's eyes, making me shiver. I scooted backwards again, drawing my legs closer to my
Three weeks laterI put on my latest pair of spandex shorts and a matching sports bra, placing my headphones over my head.An Asian pop song was blasting into my ears as I walked to the gym. Over the last few weeks, I had started going to the indoor gym more than I ever thought I would. The Nazlynn of four months ago would be so proud of me right now.I go to the gym four times a week, and I always go when Luca has left the house. It's not like I was trying to lose weight or anything since I had a crazy fast metabolism. I just started to enjoy the feeling I get after working out. I almost bumped into someone on my way to the gym, but the figure straightened me back in place. I gasped softly as my eyes landed on his face. “Gabriel! What are you doing here?” I asked excitedly, pulling my headphones to sit on my neck. I had to admit, the past few weeks had been strange without him around. I guess I had started to see him as a friend, although I don't think he saw me as his.“It's lov
After the near kiss that I and Luca almost had some weeks before, he had been acting extremely awkward around me. I guess I also wasn't helping matters with how my face flushed every time we were in the same room.For the rest of that week, my days had basically consisted of me switching my attention from my phone to the gym to the painting I was making and back.“Would you like to go with me to Italy?” Luca randomly asked me one day while we were having breakfast. My fork slipped from between my fingers, falling to the plate. “Italy?” I asked him incredulously. “You want me to go along with you to Italy?” He shrugged. “Unless you don't want to go of course. I thought the change of environment might be good for you. I noticed you've been pretty bored these days.”My eyes widened. “What do you mean ‘not want to go’?” I spluttered like I couldn't believe he would even think that.“I would love to go to Italy. It seems like such a cool place and I've never been,” I said with a large
It was barely a few hours to when we were meant to leave when I finally had the strength to pack a bag. I had a teal green traveling bag alongside a smaller one and all I needed to do was to figure out how to fit my clothes in it.“Do you need my help with that Signora?” Maria asked me, standing by the door to my room.“No, I'm sure I could handle this Maria. If I need your help then I'll let you know, thank you. You can ask Luca if he needs your help with his bag.”I pulled out the bags of clothes we had bought some days back and some other casual clothes I picked out from my closet. Luca said one week but I was certainly packing for two. I had just two bags left to take the clothes out of and was in the process of taking the two piece set out of the bag when a smaller folded bag fell out of it.Picking it up cautiously, I unfolded it and pulled the content out.I gasped, dropping it back on the bed in complete mortification. It was a pair of red bathing suits with a note attached.
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
I was going to respond to the message Alice sent, but then I got distracted by something that Gabriel said, and I kind of zoned out from everything until we got to the house.I knew when Enzo arrived because half of the staff went into a frenzy, trying to prepare a room for the guest. I wonder what he would be referred to as someone who works for the boss or the boss’ wife's brother. Either way, he's getting a wonderful welcome party.Once I got home, I picked up a sleepy Hailey from her nursery and headed to my room. I wanted to take a nap, and I always slept better when I was smothering Hailey in my arms.Some hours later, a knock woke me up. I saw that my girl was already up before me and was staring at me with her eyes that were an exact copy of mine.I swung the door open with a scowl on my face, ready to have a go at the person who has just interrupted my sleep and possibly, Hailey’s. I was certainly not expecting to be met with Luca's expectant face.My face softened visibly.
“Enzo,” I breathed out without turning back.“I'm home, sis. Not at the best of times, but I'm home,” he said, taking steps closer to me.I pressed a hand to my lips to conceal the sob that was threatening to break out. Slowly, I turned back to see a face that I had not seen physically in about eight years. Enzo was right there, standing in front of me.“How did you….?” I said, making a beeline for him, but then I stopped. Memories of the events from the past few weeks came flooding back into my head at once.“Nazi, please, don't turn away from me. I just want to give my big sister a hug after all these days,” he said, his eyes searching mine for any form of forgiveness. I made sure he wouldn't see any.He took a step closer to me, but I held a hand up to stop him. “How did you know where to find me?” I asked.“I called the boss when I landed at the airport. He told me you had just left the house and were headed here. Turns out, the trip from the airport here takes less time than fro
“Thrilling isn't it? To have found out that everybody had been lying to you,” the message read.“Who are you?” I typed in a frenzy. “Why are you doing this?”“Just a concerned citizen who doesn't like getting lied to. Something I figured you and I have in common.”My nostrils flared. Whoever this was, the person clearly knew a whole lot about me, and I didn't know anything about them. “I want to know who you are. Do you want to meet up?” I asked, biting down on my fingernails.“Making friends is not a part of my job description, sweet pea.”I kissed my teeth in irritation. “What job description?”“You.”That one word chilled me to the bone. I swiped away from the chat and quickly blocked the number from calling or texting me before I could allow myself to give it an extra thought. And that was the end of that chapter for me. I completely closed my mind to everything the person had said to me.It's been almost three weeks since Luca and I had the biggest and most emotional argument t
It took me a few minutes of staring at the screen before I decided to turn off my phone and ignore it. I left Hailey under Tracy's care and headed for the gym without taking the bath that Maria had already prepared for me.Between the music blasting through my earphones and how fast the treadmill was, I was in my own world.The treadmill was on the highest speed it has ever been on. Somehow, it felt like I was running away from all my problems and for just that moment, I felt better. I felt hopeful like I could forgive Luca, forgive Enzo, forgive my mother, forgive Vincent, and lastly, forgive myself.I wasn't sure how long I was on the treadmill, running on a spot until Mathias appeared out of nowhere and turned down the speed of the treadmill.“Hey, hey, hey,” he said as I turned to glare at him. “Don't kill the messenger. I'm just here to check up on you.”“Why did you turn it down? I didn't ask for anyone's help,” I said with a scowl on my face as I took off my earphones that were
It had been two weeks since Luca dropped those bombs on me. Enzo had been blowing my phone up nonstop. A part of me was hoping and praying that Luca was lying about the whole Enzo thing, but barely twenty minutes after I asked him to leave me alone, Enzo started calling me.My brother wasn't playing football in Atlanta like I thought. Instead, he was a member of my husband's mafia. How much crazier can this get? At least it made sense now why Enzo did not mention anything about getting threatened by Luca's people or the time when they made me believe he was shot. It was all part of their ploy to get me to stay here and what better way to do so than to threaten my brother? I couldn't even speak to Elena or Sabrina. What would I say? How does a person even start a conversation like that with her friends?I had told Luca to give me space to process things and I clearly needed a lot of that space. He didn't agree too easily though.“You'll need to leave. This room, this wing, maybe even
“What do you mean Enzo?” I asked incredulously.I had stopped pacing and was now standing a few inches away from Luca, waiting to hear what he had to say. My heart was in my throat, choking me internally.“Nazlynn, I promise you, I was going to tell you everything soon. This is not how I planned for you to find out. This was certainly not a part of it,” he said, standing up so we could be on the same level. “I would appreciate it if you explained to me what you meant when you mentioned my brother. You don't know Enzo. You've never even met the guy. Hell, I haven't even seen the guy in years, so how are you speaking about me on the phone with someone you've never met?” I asked all in one breath.Luca is either the worst at starting an explanation or has plans on giving me a heart attack because his first statement threw me off balance so much that I could have crumpled to the ground if only it registered at first. “Enzo works for me, Nazlynn,” Luca said.I fixed my gaze on him. Then
“You're right,” Luca started.“What did you say?”“You're right,” he repeated. “I already knew.”The sob that I had been holding back all this while rose up to my throat, and I choked it back forcefully.“Your mother was in Italy when she got pregnant. She and Vincent were dating then, and he worked for a man there. The man admired your mother, and during one of their encounters, you were conceived. It was—”“Hold on. Hold on. How do you know any of this?” I asked him, shocked at the words that were coming out of my husband's mouth.“Can you just let me say what I know? I promise I'll explain everything to you.”I kept mute. By all means, speak away.“It was an amazing time for Vincent. He had no idea he wasn't really your father, and your mother couldn't bring herself to tell him just yet. When she did, he ran for the hills. He was scared of what his boss could do when he found out about it. Vincent was a coward. He left your mother when she was far along in her pregnancy.”“Your rea
“No,” I whispered to myself, scooting away from the journal.“No, it's not possible,” I said again, louder this time. But there was talk about the mafia, about being scared, being in danger, and now, there's the name Santos. It couldn't be.I reached for my phone and pulled open a Google search then searched some keywords from one of the headlines I had read. Nothing came up. It was like all information from that day had been wiped off.Santos? The Santos that I have heard of? No way.I pulled up a search for the name Santos, and I was faced with about a hundred thousand of them. Pulling my hair in frustration, I flipped the remaining pages of the journal.Hoping and praying that I missed something the first time and that I would come across another page that would explain things. There was nothing. Just blank pages.My hands were shaking when I picked up my phone to call Luca. I hardly ever called him, so when I do call, he knows it's something serious. He picked up on the first