Luca got me a new phone the morning after we had make-up sex. Or rather, I saw the phone on the bed with a note that said “had to run to work. Talk when I'm back.” The phone had already been set up. Probably even had a tracking device in it.I was really not looking forward to that “talk” but I knew there was no way it could be avoided. There were too many things I needed to know and too many things we needed to clear up. One of the first things I did was to call Enzo. I hadn't spoken to him for over a week before I ran off, which meant we hadn't spoken for almost three weeks. He sounded extremely worried and relieved to hear my voice. “Hey Zo!” I greeted once the call connected. “Nazi? Oh, thank goodness you're fine. I was so worried about you, I thought they–” he suddenly went mute. My nose scrunched up in confusion. “You thought who did what?” I asked. “I thought they had overwhelmed you with work back at your office. You always talk about how they have you swamped with work
I was typing a hurried response when another text came in from her. “There's no way anybody stays without their phones for so long, so you must have been kidnapped. Lol.”A breath I didn't know I was holding escaped my lips, and I wanted to laugh at myself.Why did I even think she would know what is going on in my life? She's like on a whole other part of the earth and doesn't even know my real name.I willed away my anxiety and suspicion that had quickly replaced my pornographic thoughts.“Unless you got bored of me though, there's that,” she texted again with a sad emoji.I let out a chuckle under my breath as I took the first bite out of the food. If only she knew how correct she was. “Actually, my phone crashed, and I just got a new one. Had to create a new profile here, too.”She told me about how bored she had been and how she found a new boyfriend but she wasn't as into him as he was with her and it made her feel bad. I had a small smile on my face as I read her messages. It
“You remember my brother, right? Enzo?” I asked Luca one evening at dinner. He raised a brow at me. “Do I remember your brother?” He asked me back. “Right. How could I forget you have threatened to kill him more times than I can count and even caused him to have an injury on his foot. It's a surprise how that didn't affect his career,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “I really am sorry Nazi,” Luca dropped his form, wincing as though he had been stabbed.“Yeah, okay. He's fine now, so that's okay.”“So what about your brother?” He asked, taking a sip of juice. “I want to tell him about us, about you and every other thing,” I said, gearing myself up for his response.Luca almost choked. He fell into a coughing fit for some minutes, drawing Sara and Maria's attention to us. They offered him a glass of water as I tried to pat his back.He waved them away when he managed to gain control of himself. “Are you okay now?” I asked, still standing beside him. He nodded, and I returned to my chair
I was feeling anxious about what Dr. Martin might want to say. What if she went through her report and realized there was actually something wrong with my baby. Tears were threatening to rise to the brim of my eyes but I forced them down. If there was one thing I wouldn't do, it's that.“Ma'am?” Gabriel called out, snapping me back to reality. “We're here,” he said, gesturing out the window.True to his words, we were parked in the lot of the clinic. The warm appearance of the place immediately started its job and made me feel calmer.“Thank you Gabriel,” I said as I unfastened my seatbelt. He hurried out of the car to the other side of the door to open the door for me. I was out of energy to even warn him against it so I just smiled. “I won't be long.”The air felt different today but I was certain it just felt that way because of my nerves. "Mrs. Alessandro?" The receptionist's voice pulled me from my train of thoughts when I walked through the doors. I nodded. "Dr. Martin has be
The rest of that week went by pretty fast. I spent most of my days planning for the party with Elena and Sabrina. When we weren't doing that, I was in the gym or I was sleeping. From what Dr. Martin said, I was about a month pregnant, and physical exercises are much needed at this stage. In fact, at all stages.I was in an entirely different dilemma, though. I had no idea what to get Luca for his birthday. Everything I could think of, he either already has or would get in a heartbeat. And it didn't make me feel any better knowing it was his money I would be using to get him a birthday present since I didn't make any of my own.“Take that frown off your pretty face,” Luca said, walking out of the bathroom to meet me on the bed. He had on a pair of shorts with droplets of water dripping down his bare chest.I breathed out a laugh. “I didn't realize I was frowning,” I said, trying not to drool at his body. Luca had the body of a god. Don't even get me started on his perfect skin.“Ca
I hurried away to find Luca without waiting for her response. Why would she go against my words and tell him? He must be angry. I didn't know what to make of that, but I needed to find him, and I needed to fix it. Luca was always with one person or the other anytime I saw him. It was like everybody wanted to get a taste of the celebrant. I decided not to wait until he was free anymore, so when I found Luca with two other people, I approached them swiftly. “Luca?” I called out shakily.He turned around with a warm smile. “Nazlynn, come here. I was just talking about you,” he said, stretching a hand towards me.I took it tentatively. He was in a completely different mood from what I had expected to meet him in.“This is my good friend, Chappo, we go way back. Chappo, this is my lovely wife that I've been telling you about,” Luca introduced.The man beside Luca greeted me with a warm smile, holding a hand out. I stretched mine out to meet his, expecting a handshake, but instead, he br
I stood, frozen in place. It was like my feet had forgotten how to move. “Luca,” I called out shakily without turning to face him. I didn't even know what to say, talk more of how to say it. “Look at me,” he said. I hated that I couldn't decipher any emotions from the tone of his voice.I shook my head in disagreement.“Look at me, Nazlynn.”I steeled myself, turning around slowly to face him. He wasn't looking in my direction when I turned, and that got me even more worried.I closed the distance between us with two short strides. “I'm really sorry, Luca. I found out shortly before I ran off. I was still locked in the room, and I was all alone. It was a few days before you hurt Enzo.""I was so overwhelmed and scared that I made the decision I made to run. It was selfish of me because I put my child in harm's way, I shouldn't have done that,” I said with trembling lips. I hung my head low in fear. Not because I was scared of what he would do to me but because I was scared of what
Luca and I had agreed not to tell anybody about the pregnancy just yet. He said it was fine to tell Elena and Sabrina if it would help me feel comfortable, but I said not to worry. In a couple of weeks, I had seen sides to Luca that I didn't even think existed. He was so sweet, so caring and more importantly, a lot more active. He worked from home a lot more and hardly went out unless it was unavoidable.“You know, you don't have to stay coped up with me like this? I know you have work, and I can take care of myself,” I said to Luca one day as I was sitting in his study while he worked.“I know you can. But if I can stay home with you and work then why not?” He said without looking up from his table.“Luca, come on.”He looked up at me with a sigh. “I need to be sure you both are safe, and there's no better person to entrust with that than myself,” he said in a voice that left no room for arguments.“What's Gabriel here for then?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.“I like it w
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
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