LAURA'S POV The moment I was done dressing up, I waved at Madame Beatriz and was about to leave when she held my hand. "Are you sure?" She mouthed, looking worried. I forced a smile and nodded, before turning and walking out of my room. I had gotten to Ricardo's apartment about 20 minutes later, and was about pressing the door bell for the fifth time. Just before I could press on it, the door opened and I saw him standing so unsteadily. He looked pale and dazed. Seeing him in that moment, all my anger flew out the window. I was instantly worried for him. "Ricardo!" I quickly walked inside and closed the door behind me. Before I could reach out and hold his arm, he had fallen into one of the sofas in the living room. I walked closer to hold his hand, but was shocked at how high his temperature was. "Christ! Ricardo!" I quickly flung my handbag to another sofa and tried to assist him up. "Hold on to me." I ordered, and he lifted his arms with so much unease. He was really sick.
1 MONTH LATER BIANCA'S POV "Emilio!!" I giggled in disbelief. This old man was such a clown. "For real my dear!" He grinned. "She had been yelling in my face, but the only thing I could think about was how beautiful she was, and how I must make her the mother of my children. Oh, my Rosa. She was so calm, but extremely spirited when provoked." He chuckled, looking into nowhere in particular as he reminisced his time together with his late wife. "I really do miss her." He muttered, and I sighed. I could only imagine the pains he went through. Being so old and not having your companion anymore. Amara and Mila were very much still alive. We always talked as much as we could, but I still missed them dearly. "I know how you feel. I guess what hurts the most is the fact that you'll never be able to see her again." I held his hand in mine and he smiled warmly at me. "Bianca, I never knew that the day would come, until you stepped in here a month ago. When I saw you, I saw Rosa.
BIANCA'S POV I had wandered around the streets, confused and desperate to want to be woken from this nightmare. How had my life become this way? I saw a bench by the roadside and decided to sit down, after walking for so long. I sat and started thinking about my plight again. What was I going to do? Who was I going to talk to? I was so scared. What was I going to do now? I started crying again, but quickly cleaned my tears when a call came in through my phone. I felt my heart fall to the pit of my stomach the moment I saw it was my boyfriend. God! What was I going to do now? I wanted to decline the call, but I willed myself to answer it. Taking in deep breathe as the cool breeze of the night kissed my wet cheeks, I tapped on the green icon. "Hey baby. How are you?" "H..hey." I muttered. "Babe? Are you okay? Where are you? I can hear a lot of noise there." "I'm on my way home." I whispered tiredly. Tired from thinking and crying the whole day. "At this time? It's almos
MANUEL'S POV "Babe!! You haven't told me what you think about the pictures I sent to you." Francesca whined at the other end of the line, making me roll my eyes. This was my problem with her. What did she think I was going to think about women's clothing? She was supposed have dinner with my family tomorrow. It was going to be her second official visit to my family, after the successful meeting with her father 2 months back. I could tell that the man wasn't so pleased about the relationship between his daughter and myself, but he clearly couldn't call it off. I guess Francesca may have had some sort of face off with him, after all. "Francesca..." I sighed. "The dress is beautiful." I said, not wanting to get on her bad side so early in the morning. Though I was being sincere. I really thought the dress was nice. "But you know it isn't." "Then why did you ask for my opinion?" I asked in exasperation. Christ! I was slowly going crazy by the day. "Because I wanted to hear th
MANUEL'S POV As Massimo broke down the door, I was worried for a moment. I hoped she wasn't going to be hurt. When I walked in after my men to see her fine and unscathed, I released a breathe. This was the first time I was seeing her after months, and I couldn't really explain how I felt. Angry? Disappointed? Lowkey excited? Whatever it was, I knew the predominant feeling was anger. She looked to be on the phone with someone before we had come in, because the person on the line was still talking and probably asking if she was okay. Bianca just looked at the phone in silence, without saying a word in response. "Bianca." I muttered. "Manuel." She replied, avoiding any form of eye contact with me. "What do you want?" "What I want?" I chuckled humourlessly, playing with my beards. "If you came breaking into my house just to stroke your beards, then you might as well leave." She spat, making my anger rise all the more. So even after seeing me, she failed to let me know what was
BIANCA'S POV He didn't want my boyfriend fathering his child. Those were the only words that kept ringing in my brain even after he left the room. I nestled my head in between my knees as I thought about how nerve racking it was all gonna be in a matter of days. Did Manuel know that the boyfriend in question was none other than his cousin? Finally getting the opportunity to think of Anthonio, I began crying. Through out the time Manuel had been around, I tried not to let a single tear drop. It wasn't because I didn't feel worried or scared, it was because I didn't want to look weak before him. Before them all. Manuel came from an extremely powerful family. Once they realized I was scared and weak, they'd leverage on that to snatch what mattered most to me. My child. What bothered me the most was hearing Manuel say he had taken me, under the instructions of his Nonno. God! Their grandpa was already involved in this matter? This wasn't good for me. Now that Manuel had literally pul
MANUEL'S POV The moment I stepped into the study after Nonno, I closed the door shut. What was I supposed to expect now? He sounded really angry. To be very honest, I couldn't remember when last Nonno spoke affectionately to me. He was either indifferent, or plainly angry. Lately, he had been indifferent. I guess this was the first time he was so mad at me again after several years. I looked at the man, expecting screams and threats, but was shocked to hear him say what he said next. "On your knees." The man stated so calmly. What?! I watched in shock as he walked to the seat behind my desk, and made himself comfortable. "I wouldn't repeat myself." Knowing better than to go against him, I went on my knees, feeling so humiliated in my current position. No one could really humiliate me this much. Not even my parents! To others, I was 'The Manuel Russo'. But to my Nonno and a certain stubborn lady, I was just Manuel or the 'infuriating bastard'. I was shocked that he wasn't saying
BIANCA'S POV Oh God! This was all too much for me to take in at once. I was still dealing with the appearance of my parents, only for Anthonio to show up. When did he return? "Baby?" He called, and I shivered with fear and remorse. "Babe." He called again, and I couldn't help the fresh tears that fell from my eyes. "Ohh..." I let out an almost inaudible whimper. "Anthonio." I fell to the ground in the pretty dress that Manuel's mom had gotten for me. "What's going on?" He asked, looking into my eyes as he walked closer to me. "I just came back last night, and had to show up for my cousin's...." He trailed off, looking at everyone, before looking back at me. "Your parents are here too. We've both been trying to reach you. Where have you been? What has been going on? You got us really worried." I watched as his emotions fluctuated by the second. From suprised, to worried, to confused, and then to being curious. "What happened? You have not spoken to me or taken my calls in w
MANUEL'S POV I watched as she played in the soft sand, turning around so fast that I feared she was gonna get dizzy. Her hair shone so beautifully under the sun, making me want to run my hand through it. Oh, my wife was beautiful. I noticed she gently sat on the sand, but I couldn't really see her face. She was probably exhausted from all the fun. "Baby!!" She called out to me, signaling me with her hand, to come over to where she sat. I stood up from the soft sand where I had been lying on, and lazily walked up to her. My shirt was completely unbuttoned and my abs were pretty much on full display for her to see. I hoped she was going to see it though. The whole day, I had been trying to get her to notice me, but it didn't seem like she was. Instead she had been busy with the rest of my family, talking about God knows what. Now that she had come to this secluded part of the beach, I was hoping she'd noticed me and we could run into one of these beach houses for a quickie, but
MANUEL'S POV We came back from the hospital, and I found it difficult to smile. That witch doctor; Luigi, just ruined our plans. What did he mean by 'she is not in the right state to travel long distance'? "Baby stop frowning. I'm also not happy that our plans were spoilt." Bianca pouted. "So, we wouldn't be able to..." "Is that trip more important than my health?" She cut me off, and I shook my head in negation. "Exactly." She sighed. "We have to be more careful for the sake of our baby. After this baby is born, we would have many more weeks to elope together and spend some quality time alone. For now, we have to remain home with the rest of the family, taking care of this little angel." She pouted, rubbing her belly lazily. I released a sigh and nodded in agreement. She was right after all. Our baby came first. After I got discharged from the hospital, we decided to wait two more weeks for the shock of uncle Dante's death to get lighter, before we travel to Moscow. When
BIANCA'S POV We were all silent for the next couple of seconds, everyone looking at each other. What the fuck did we just hear? We heard it all, and I couldn't for the life of me, understand how one person could be so evil. This was outright wickedness! I looked at Francesca and her face was as blank as sheet. I wasn't suprised. The poor lady had been suffering in silence all these while. Meanwhile, the same man she called 'father', was responsible for her mother's death. How could a human being even have the heart to do such? To perpetrate such evil? "There is no time to waste!" Alexander suddenly called our attention. "The men I sent, would have probably gotten to the warehouse already. But as we can all see, there are more people we have to save. Please, we need to get to uncle Dante and his family right now." "Call him already." I rushed out, sweat breaking out on my forehead. "On it!" We all looked up to see Matteo and Tommaso by the doorstep. Tell me they had been he
MANUEL'S POV I blinked furiously as I came back to consciousness. I looked around the dark room and frowned. Where was I? The next minute, I tried to get up and walk, but nothing. Rather, no movement. Why the hell couldn't I move my body?! I wanted to talk, but realized I couldn't. Nothing was shutting my lips, I could feel it. So why then, couldn't I talk? Slowly, the events of earlier flooded my mind, and I found my anger intensifying. What the fuck was this about? Who had taken me, and what did they want? I continued trying to struggle in the dark room, but to no avail. I literally couldn't even move my muscles, I felt like a vegetable. Fuck! I was in deep shit, because that was when I realized what was going on with my body. I may have been shot a high dose of sedative, now I couldn't feel my body. The moment I realized what situation I found myself, I quit struggling and waited for whomever had taken me, to show up. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, waiting for th
BIANCA'S POV "Massimo." I muttered in disbelief. How??? How was all he just told me possible? I thought he... I never knew that the lady he talked about was Francesca. Oh, my world! I felt soooo sorry for him. How could a human being be so unfeeling and selfish? How could she think to keep Massimo's baby away from him and try to pin it on my own man?! I was literally going crazy here. "I know! I messed up and I'm sorry. But I couldn't keep it inside anymore. The guilt was eating me up, and after the attack on my life yesterday, I..." "Massimo, you are not guilty of anything!" I yelled out, hoping I would be able to put that deep into his senses. "You are not guilty!" I repeated. "You fell in love with a woman who doesn't value love or bond. For all we care, Manuel was no longer with her when you finally acted on your feelings for her, and that was only because she seduced you. And what is this attack you just spoke of? Massimo, is all well?" "How can all be well?" He looke
FRANCESCA'S POV 5 YEARS AGO "I miss you mom." I sighed deeply, my hands on the gravestone that had her name boldly encrusted on it. "I miss you so much, even if it's been so many years already. I feel so alone all the time, hoping someone would finally fill that space." I sighed hopefully. Maybe one day, I would finally have such a person in my life. That person who would never be okay seeing me shed a tear. That person who would always be there for me, no matter what. That person who would love me unconditionally. Seeing that I was already thinking far off, I sighed and gave an apology. "I'm sorry mom." I smiled. "I know that today is just supposed to be for us to spend quality time together. Here." I dropped the chrysanthemums on her gravestone. "I brought your favourite flowers, freshly picked by the florist just this morning. It's afternoon already, so it is not soooo fresh anymore." I chuckled at my own words. This felt lonely, but satisfying at the same time. I sighed and
MASSIMO'S POV I woke up so late in the morning, feeling extremely tired. There wasn't a doubt that the recent happenings had really drained a lot of strength from me. I hadn't even had the time to see Francesca lately. We last saw each other about a week ago, when she said she was going to be at her father's place for the next week. That simply meant seeing her was going to be much difficult. I groaned in frustration, realizing she was the first person I thought about after waking up. And it drove me crazy because, I couldn't even tell what we were doing! Our relationship wasn't defined and I didn't want to complain about the fact that she was showing me any form of commitment, because I was scared I would lose her completely. If being in this undefined relationship was what worked best for her, I'd try to work with it. But for how long? I didn't know how long I was gonna be able to keep hiding what we shared. I knew we both shared something, we were beginning connect with each o
THIRD PERSON'S POV He spotted her the moment she stepped out of the gigantic gates of the Ferrari mansion, walking towards his car in that skimpy skirt that didn't go lower than her mid thighs. The designers crop top she had been putting on, did little to hide the slender curves of her waist. He hated that other men had to see her this way as well, but could do nothing about it. He wasn't her fiancee, neither did he have any right to question her dress sense. He had been pretty much swallowed by his thoughts that he failed to realize when she had gotten to the car. Her tap on the window glass had pulled him back to the present. He quickly unlocked the car doors, making it possible for her to pull open the front passenger's seat and hop in. "Good afternoon Miss Francesca." He greeted. "Hello Massimo." She gave him a small smile that made his heart do a silly flip. He quickly pulled his eyes away from her and focused back on the road as he drove off. The Don had asked him to br
MANUEL'S POV "Don't goooo!!" She whined, making me smile. "I miss you alreadyyyy." My wife could be a big baby sometimes. "I would be back before you know it." I smiled. "Come here and give me a kiss." I walked closer to the bed and bent down for a kiss. She pouted in mock annoyance, before finally giving in and kissing me. While she kissed me, her hands snaked around my neck, holding me very close to her. We broke off the kiss and she still refused to let go. "Babe?" I muttered. "I need to leave now, don't want to keep my men waiting." "I'm sorry." She pulled away, looking a bit distraught. "I don't even know what is wrong with me. Crazy hormones." She sighed. "But I do not like the way you look. If you insist I should remain home, then I would." "No no no!" She rushed out. "Not at all. You don't need to do that. All you just have to do is go and come back to me in one piece. I'm just naturally worried because nowhere seems safe for us anymore, and my senses feel more he