Heyyy guys! I’m so sorry for the late updates but I hope you guys are enjoying the journey here with me. Who are you rooting for? What do you hope to see next? Kindly engage and drop comments, I’ll be so happy to get your opinions. Xoxo💕
Giulia's POVI sat quietly on my bed as the look on Maria's face before she died kept playing in my head.It has been weeks since she died but it felt like it all happened yesterday and memories of her lived rent-free in my head.Maria was so much like a sister to me and some stupid mafia who thinks he can get whatever he wants took her away from me.I rarely went out so the maids were forced to bring my meals which I barely had an appetite for to my room.I couldn't shut Leonardo out. He had a spare key and came in whenever he wanted to get what he wanted.
Antonio's POVI sat behind my desk, my eyes fixed on the papers in front of me.My empire was on the rise, and I could feel the momentum building.Seventy percent increase in a few months, all thanks to my brain and to Giulia.I don't know how she managed to get that information but I could tell that she was a smart one.It was a remarkable turnaround, and I knew it wouldn't go unnoticed by Leonardo.The door to my study opened, and Lorenzo walked in. “Antonio, good morning,” he said, his voice smooth as silk.
Giulia's POVI walked into the dining room for breakfast, filled with a feeling of triumph after yesterday's success.The sound of Sophia's laughter filled the air as they ate. They seemed to be in a good mood after their meeting with Lorenzo.Maybe Lorenzo had some good news for them.Well, their joy wasn't going to last long because that was the last information he was going to send since Antonio already knew he was the mole.I went to join them and Sophia didn't pay attention to me, neither did Leonardo and I was grateful for that.Sophia suddenly got a phone call.“Yes, please.” She responded to the other party.She was quiet as the person on the other end spoke.“I'll be there in five,” she answered before she hung up.She quickly stood up and gave Leonardo a kiss on the cheek before rushing out.I finished my meal quickly and got ready to leave.“Sit!” Leonardo ordered.I looked at him in shock as I placed myself back on my seat.He smiled at my compliance and maintained a strai
Antonio's POV“The spy was caught,” he said with heaving breaths.Vincenzo turned to look at me, it seemed like his eyes could bore into my soul.He didn't say a word to me before he barged in, breathing heavily.“I only gave you a simple assignment, Lorenzo,” I kept a straight face.“I know, Antonio,” he took a long pause as he managed to catch his breath. “I swear , I don't know how he got caught.”I stood up and walked slowly to my window.I turned to Vincenzo and Lorenzo who watched me and ran my hands through my hair in feigned frustration.“What is his condition?” I asked.“He was first tortured before he was killed.”“How do you know this?” This question caught him off balance but he maintained composure.“People talk, words spread.”Vincenzo hit his hand on the table and stood up angrily. “What is going on here?”Lorenzo's eyes met mine hoping that I would spill it but I ignored.“What the hell is going on here?” He asked again, this time he was angrier.“I gave him an assign
Giulia's POV“I’m not going to do it,” I yelled.“Oh! Yes, you will,” he laughed.Tears formed like clouds in my eyes and blurred my vision.“I'm not going to take my clothes off; I'm on my flow.”I blinked to let the tears go freely and wiped my face with the back of my palm.“Don't let me force you, Giulia, I don't have much time to waste.”His face was so straight, I had waited for him to laugh this off as a joke but he didn't, it only became more serious.“I can't let you touch me either, I'm on my flow,” I wiped off the tear that dropped from my eyes. “Don't you have any human sympathy?”That question must have triggered something in Leonardo 'cause the next thing that came after it was a hard slap.I put my hand on my face to ease the sting that came from the slap. My lower lip hurt too and I could tell that it was torn.“You can hit me all you want Leonardo, I'm not going to let you get what you want.”“We'll see about that,” his face was blank and he didn't make a move.I had
Giulia's pov“Don Antonio is back up a hundred percent.”These words were like a bombshell to Leonardo as his face turned pale immediately.“What do you mean a hundred percent?” Beads of sweat had begun to form on his forehead despite the low temperature in the room.“He was seventy five percent a week ago or more, you don't expect him to remain there with whatever effort he's made…”“Oh, shut up!” Leonardo roared at the honest man who was yet to finish his all.Did he expect the man to lie?“Don't tell me bullshit, look for the nearest solution,” Leonardo had begun to fidget.The man was quiet for a while before speaking. It was obvious that whatever he had to say was still bad news.“I'm afraid we can do almost nothing sir,” the man said.“Almost nothing?... If it's ‘almost’, then there must be something we can do,” a glint of hope shone in Leonardo's eyes.“Yes, there is something we can do but it wouldn't change anything.”“Spill it, I'm listening,” his full attention was on the m
Antonio's POV“Why haven't you gone back for Giulia yet? Vincenzo asked.He was pacing to and fro in my study while I sat with my chin balanced on my palm, watching him.“There are still things to attend to,” I answered.He stopped to look at me. “Why don't you get her back before you attend to those things?”“That's not how it's supposed to go, it'll be too sudden to go there,” I answered hoping he'd understand.“Do you even care about Giulia? Because leaving her at the mercy of that bastard makes it seem like you don't.”“Vincenzo—”“This is past a week now and it's still not time?”“It's not,” I answered. “And besides, I care so much more about Giulia than you can ever imagine.”“I'd like to believe so,” Vincenzo walked to my desk and pulled out the seat opposite mine. “So, talk to me… when is it going to be time?”“Vincenzo, you need to understand how things work, we don't just jump into conclusions here,” I paused for a while. “You do business for crying out loud.”He smiled. “Wh
Giulia's POV“How can you tell me you don't know how it happened?” Leonardo roared at the person at the other end of the phone.He paused to listen for a while and continued. “Time to do what?... We already ran out of time.”Leonardo was pacing to and fro in his study and for the first time since I came here he actually looked worried and frightened.Leonardo sighed in frustration and threw his phone on the table.“This is shit,” he yelled. “A huge piece of shit.”He punched the table angrily and a fleeting look of pain appeared on his face.Leonardo had called me to his conference room for reasons I knew nothing about and I walked in to meet him on a phone call.“Sit!” He gestured to a seat and I did.He sat on a seat opposite mine across the table.“Who was the intruder from the other day, Giulia?” he asked, his gaze not leaving mine.It's been about four weeks since the intruder incident, why did he choose to ask about it now?“I don't know him,” I answered genuinely.“Yes, you do,
Giulia's POV"You are quite the sleepy head," Lucien said as I took my head off his shoulder.I yawned as I rubbed my eyes with the back of my palm."Are we there yet?" I asked, looking out the window."We'll be there in thirty minutes, ma'am," the driver answered.The plane had landed in Rome and from there we took a rental car which was headed for Viterbo.I had never been there but I heard it was a great place to start a life; the crime rates were lesser here compared to Sicily."I'm so hungry," I said and yawned again.Lucien looked at me, disgusted. Why the heck was he even here with me?I had the address of the place which Vincenzo had sent to me once so we alighted the plane. I could find my way and put things in order without his help."Once we are settled in, we'll find a restaurant to get food," he said when he noticed my disdain.We?The word sounded so cringe coming from him.I didn't care how good looking he was, I just wanted him to be off my neck as soon as possible.On
Antonio's POVI sipped on a cup of coffee as I flipped through the files on my desk.I had my eyes on the files but my mind wasn't there. It kept drifting away.For every line I read, Giulia's name kept appearing.I could have said something to her last night before I walked away. I could have told her how I really felt about her because it seemed to me that she was willing to listen to all I had to say.And even if I couldn't say anything to her, I could have waited to listen to what she had to say.Although I felt betrayed that she chose Vincenzo over me, I also felt a pang of guilt that clung to my chest.I had remained indoors as they left for the airport so that I wouldn't see them.If I did, I would have died of chronic heart attack from seeing the girl I had grown to love leaving with my brother.I thought Giulia had felt things for me too, although we never spoke about our feelings due to the numerous events. Maybe it wasn't my fault that she left me or maybe it was.Yet, a pa
Giulia's POV“I'm not coming with you.”Alessandra's arm dropped from mine in shock. “Why? What's wrong?”“Is it Antonio?” Vincenzo asked. “Are you now bailing on me for him?”Vincenzo had become angry. He must be thinking that I had finally changed my mind to be with Antonio.I shook my head. “No, not at all; it's not Antonio.”“Then what is it?” He asked, it was obvious he was trying to contain his anger.“I want you to be happy,” I said.“What do you mean?” He asked.“I don't want to be with you, neither do I want to be with Antonio… I want to live an extremely normal life.”“Are you being serious right now?” He asked.Alessandra could only watch in awe. I suppose she didn't know what to say.“Yes, I am.”“Why are you saying this now?” Vincenzo asked, his eyes boring into mine.“If I stayed back, you would think I was staying for Antonio and if I didn't come, you would never know how much Alessandra cared about you.”“What are you doing?” Alessandra was surprised.Vincenzo turned t
Giulia's POV I sighed as I put the dishes away, I had lunch in my room as I had expected. My palms were sweaty. I hadn't seen Vincenzo nor Antonio since I left the study and I was glad we didn't have lunch together. Never have i felt this much tension before. I didn't know if I did the right thing by choosing Vincenzo. I may not like him as much as I liked Antonio but I needed a life of peace and quiet, there's been too much chaos in my life these past years. I wanted to live a normal life, a life free from crimes and only Vincenzo could give me that. Soon, there was a knock on the door. I couldn't help but think that it could either be Antonio or Vincenzo. I wanted to be alone, and seeing them wasn't going to help the chaos in my head. Especially Antonio. I was so rude to him earlier, something even the dead could not do except they wanted to die again. I went to the door to open it and I saw Alessandra. I didn't notice that I had been holding my breath until I exhaled. “Oh
Vincenzo's POV"Vincenzo," she said. "I choose Vincenzo."I couldn't believe my ears. She had looked Antonio in the eyes as she spoke so how did she mention my name?I turned to Antonio who stood there expressionless. It looked like he had seen this coming.I was utterly speechless. She walked closer to me and smiled. "I'm choosing to be a part of your world of strategy and finesse.""Is that what you really want?" Antonio asked."Yes, it is," she answered.For some reason, I wasn't happy as I ought to when she picked me. It was so obvious she had made her choice out of anger.She was still pissed about what had happened with Antonio.I knew this was going to happen. That was why I had asked him to apologize to her but as expected he had refused.Looking at Antonio's made it worse. He was so hurt and he didn't hide it."If that is what you want, then good luck with that... You should know better," he said and walked back to his desk."I think it's enough with the 'you should know bett
Antonio's POV “How did you know that Giulia was having nightmares?” I asked as Vincenzo walked into my room.I still had my eyes glued to the book I was reading.I was a bit surprised that he had come to see me after the fight Giulia and I had.Or maybe he was here to ridicule me and reassure me that I had no hope of having Giulia for myself.I didn't want to give him room for that so I asked him the question that had bothered me since I entered my room.“Is that what you really want to ask me now?”“Yes,” I answered. “How did you know Giulia was having nightmares?” I asked again.“I cared enough to know,” he answered.“Good for you,” I answered, ignoring the rage that welled up inside.I would have loved to strangle him to death but I remained seated with my eyes still glued to the book.I didn't want to start what wouldn't end well.And if I should kill my brother, it shouldn't be over a woman who sees me as a beast.“Why are you here?” I raised my head to look at him for the first
Giulia's POV“You shouldn't use things like this so carelessly,” a familiar voice said from behind, referring to the gun I held.I turned to look at him, and watched as he came to stand beside me. It was my father.“I did not use it carelessly,” I argued.“Oh child, yes you did… you've got blood on your hands,” he said, his eyes focused on my hand.I looked down at my hand and it was soaked in blood, which dripped little by little and I threw the gun to the ground.Lorenzo's body lay lifeless in front of me. “No,” I whispered.“Yes, Giulia, there's blood on your hands,” he took a step closer. “You are a murderer.”“This wasn't my fault,” I cried. “I was made to do it, I didn't want to.”“But you did,” he taunted.“I promise I'm not a murderer,” I cried even louder.I couldn't be blamed out of nowhere for something I was forced to do.“You had a choice,” he continued.His voice had changed and when I looked beside me again, it was Vincenzo; my father was no longer there.“You saw it, h
Antonio's POV“You have visitors,” said the bodyguard I had asked to come in.“I'll be there in a minute. Let them wait in my study,” I replied.He gave a slight bow and walked out.I quickly got dressed and left my room.As I entered my study, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Moretti, Sophia's parents, standing nervously by the window, their eyes fixed on me.“Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Moretti,” I said, keeping my voice neutral. “What brings you here today?”Mr. Moretti, a portly man with a sweaty brow, stepped forward. “Antonio, please... we've come to beg for our daughter's freedom.”I laughed; I had expected this the moment I saw them, but it still amused me.“We know she made a mistake, but we're willing to do whatever it takes to make it right,” he continued.I raised an eyebrow. “Whatever it takes?” I echoed.Mrs Moretti, a petite woman with a pinched face, spoke up. “Y-yes, Antonio.”“What can you offer?” I asked, my brows raised. I was curious about what the couple might have to offer.“We're willi
Antonio's POV"No," I said almost immediately. "Giulia will... she'll do it."A part of me felt like I was making a mistake but I really wanted her to do this.If I was a murderer, then she needed to see what it takes to become one.As much as I wanted to have all the fun torturing and toying with Lorenzo, I had to let her do this one.Giulia looked at me with rage in her eyes. She took one last look at the gun which Roberto held in an extended arm.She then turned to look at me and walked past. I turned to look and saw that she was walking to the door.The guards at the door looked to me for approval to hold her and I responded with a nod.They held her as soon as she got to the door."Let go of me," she screamed as she struggled.Vincenzo stood up to speak but I held up my fingers."You cannot keep-""Shut up Vincenzo, your opinion is not needed."Vincenzo and I held eye contact for a while before he looked away and sat down.His veins were already popping out in anger.I walked to