Luca dashed towards the voice with me right behind him. We joined Sabrina midway and continued to the control room."What is it?" Luca demanded once we were inside, his eyes scanning the wide screens in front of us.Gabriel was back in the room with the other tech guy whose name I didn't know. The other guy pulled himself closer to the keyboard, his fingers flying across it. He pulled up a set of images on a separate screen. "We found traces of a sophisticated jamming signal that was active during the time of the drone's arrival. It explains why our security systems didn't pick up the breach in the air immediately.”Luca's brow shot up in surprise."The tech they're using is cutting-edge,” Sabrina said. “We're talking military-grade stuff here. Santos must have made some new friends since your last encounter.”I was still a little surprised to see Sabrina in her element like that. Of course, I knew she was the head tech genius, I just kind of thought she didn't get directly involved
Nazlynn’s POVThere was a loud explosion that shook the ground beneath my feet.My neck snapped around so fast as I looked out the window. “Luca,” I whispered in horror before taking off, using Gabriel's momentary distraction as a leeway. Gabriel was calling out to me as he chased after me, but I ran as fast as my legs could take me. “Luca!” I called out when I was outside the compound. Being outside, I could no longer tell what direction we had been watching them from.“Luca! Say something if you can hear me,” I screamed in panic.Confusion and fear gripped me. I ran to the far west just as Gabriel caught up to me.“Nazlynn. Please go back inside, I'm sure everything is fine,” he said, holding my arm to guide me back inside. I snatched my arm away and started going to the opposite side. I heard someone cough loudly and then groan. “Luca,” I whispered to myself, running in the direction of the sound. “Nazlynn, don't come any closer,” Luca coughed out.I ignored him and ran to his
Nazlynn’s POV Luca left for Italy the day after the drone incident, and I had to stay in the house all by myself. He said something about having to meet with an associate there. I didn't need to ask to know it was about this Santos guy.All by myself if you're not counting Luca's numerous men that were constantly breathing down my neck each time I stepped out of the room.Gabriel stayed everywhere with me. The only time I had peace and quiet was when I was going to the bathroom. Even then, he checked it just before I went in.It's been three days since Luca left, and I had only gotten a total of eight hours of sleep. I had almost completely moved into his room before the whole thing happened, but it seemed so empty without him there.“Can you help me do something?” I asked Gabriel that afternoon. “Yes ma'am,” he said, bowing his head slightly. “What do you need?”“I want you to give me some privacy for an hour or two,” I said, looking at my nails in fake concentration.He cleared hi
Luca made it seem like everything was under control when I asked him how his trip in Italy went.“My guys are handling that already. Once they get Santos, it's all going to be over, my love,” he said, giving me a reassuring kiss on my forehead. “What did you do to the guy anyways?” I asked him. “Mathias mentioned something the other day.”He breathed out a laugh. “Guy?"My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Did I say something wrong?”“Santos is a 50 plus year old man. You called him a guy,” he pointed out.My cheeks reddened from embarrassment. “Sorry, I kind of thought mafia dons get to a certain age where they are succeeded by their kids just like average business owners.”“There's no need to apologize. You're new to all of this and you're still learning,”he said, running his thumb softly over my eyebrow. “And besides, you're not wrong. That's how it works here too. Only that he doesn't have a male child, just a daughter and I guess he doesn't want her to take over.”“Gender discri
The next few weeks with Luca were pretty amazing. He was around more often and we were around each other a lot. I was starting to like him a lot, it's not because of the great sex, and trust me, there was a lot of it. He was great and I had almost completely forgotten how I got there in the first place.I was also kicking things off with A, although I was careful not to tell her anything about the dynamics of my marriage with Luca. She was, however, just the friend I needed to keep me busy and entertained. “Are you okay, Signora?” Maria asked me one morning after she finished running my bath. “Of course! Do I not look okay?” I asked, raising my hand to my face. I had just finished a brief morning work out session in the gym.“No, not at all. I was just making sure you didn't need anything,” she said, giving me an odd look.I took a bath and headed to the kitchen where Nora was just finishing breakfast. “Signora!” She exclaimed, shocked to see me.“Hi,” I greeted with a large smile.
“Do you think you could ever leave the whole mafia life and start a family with me in the city, like normal couples?” I asked.I regretted the words before they even came out of my mouth.Luca pushed my hands off him, standing up abruptly like I was some sort of disease.I opened my mouth in an attempt to take back my words, but Luca held a hand up to stop me. “The whole mafia life you talked about is my life, with or without you in it. I think you've forgotten what your place is here, and it's time I remind you,” he spat. I backed into the headboard of the bed in shock. This was the Luca I was afraid of.“Do not step a foot out of this room for the next week. If you do, maybe a night in the basement dungeons will teach you not to defy me,” His voice was not loud, but it was bold, full anger.“Luca, I just thought we–”He climbed on the bed and held my face with his hand. “There is no we! Don't you get it? I own you! I own your life, I own your actions and I own your fucking thought
The two minutes I waited for the results were the longest two minutes of my life. “Fuck it,” I said to myself as I looked down at the thin strip.I gasped in horror as the two pink lines stared back at me.I'm not sure how long I spent in the bathroom, staring at the strip.It was when I heard someone knock on the bedroom door that I was snapped back to reality. I splashed my face with water and disposed of the test strip before going back into the room.“Maria? Is that you?” I called out.“Gabriel here ma'am. Is everything okay? It went quiet there for a moment,” Gabriel's voice came through the door.“Yeah, uh…yeah, I'm fine, thanks.”My mind was reeling and I just couldn't bring myself to focus on one thing. I climbed back into the bed, bringing my knees to my chest in a fetal position.It could have been a mistake, right?The test could have been wrong, I could have done it wrongly. I picked up my phone that hadn't been touched in days and pulled up a Google search on how accura
A veil of confusion fell over me as I stared at her message. Was she right? Maybe. Did I want to? No.“What do you mean ‘get out of there'?” I asked. She immediately deleted the message after I sent mine. “Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't at all empathic of me,” she texted.“No, it's fine. Can I text you much later? I have to go,” I said before turning off my phone without waiting for her response. I took a deep breath once my phone was out of the way. I started deeply wishing I hadn't said anything to her. Maybe if I had already told Enzo everything before then, I would have been able to tell him about the pregnancy.Pushing her words to the back of my head, I stood up to stand in front of the full length mirror.I folded my sweatshirt up so I could visualize my bare stomach, turning in different directions as if a bump would have formed within the time I lay down. It was still as flat as ever.A knock sounded on the door. Before I could react, I heard the lock turn ope
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