BIANCA'S POVWe all ascended the stairs. I didn't know if it was just me, or if every other person was feeling as giddy as I was feeling. We followed the dark man through a long hallway until we came before a door. He opened it and ushered us in. In a single file, approximately 12 of us walked in through the doors and appeared inside a fairly large hall. There were paired desk and seats, neatly arranged in the hall. "Please, get sitted and make yourselves comfortable." He informed, before making his way out. It was in that moment I realized not everyone felt giddy like me. Some of them felt tensed. I watched in suprise as a petite looking lady who was dressed in a black gown that definitely looked bigger than her, and a black rimmed glass that covered half of her face, randomly hit more than a few desks in the process of finding the perfect seat to occupy. She finally hit another desk and her pen fell from her hand. As she bent to pick up the pen, she muttered a few curse words and s
MANUEL'S POV"Arrghhh!! Yes!!" She moaned loudly before falling to the other side of the bed. Oh, that was nice. I leaned in to give her a kiss on the lip, but she clearly had other plans as she turned her face away and got up from the bed."Why?" I simply asked, slightly irritated. "I'm sorry, but I have to get going now." She muttered, giving me that sympathetic smile that I hated so much. "We only just got here.""I know!" She sighed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I know, but there is a dinner I have to show up at, with my father." At the mention of that, I went silent, trying to push away the feeling of annoyance that was slowly creeping in."Do you even talk to your father about this? About us?" I finally couldn't hold it in anymore. "Trust me, love.." She chuckled. "I do, but he is never interested in any conversation that has to do with you. I'm trying.""Then maybe you aren't trying enough!!" I yelled out, finally letting out my anger. "You are just not trying!""M
BIANCA'S POV It had been two weeks of working as Mr Alexander Russo's P.A, and I was starting to see that the way to success wasn't so easy after all. The way was not just narrow, but crooked. Trust me, I'm saying all these based on experience. Having experienced what it meant to be efficient in the eyes of Mr Russo, I have decided success is not so easy to achieve. My boss may have been so demanding and expectant towards me, as his personal assistant, but what I wouldn't do is falter or fall short of his expectations simply because they were so mighty. I have always been a hardworker and have always loved challenges, so I decided to put in as much effort as I could. The past two weeks have been so stressful and tasking, but I always reminded myself that this was just a means to an end. I definitely wasn't going to be a personal assistant forever, but I needed to be 'it' for a start. It is so funny how much of a motivational speaker my work had turned me into. Maybe what made it all
BIANCA'S POV It was already weekend, and I couldn't be more grateful for the short break from all the work I had done during the week."Working with Alexander Russo is more demanding than grooming a child." I muttered as Mila laughed heartily at the other end of the line. "But is it really that bad?" She asked, making me release a confused sigh. Maybe it wasn't so bad. Actually, it wasn't totally bad."To be honest, it's not so bad. I actually have a perfect job, if we exclude the work load. The pay is very juicy. I have a lot of allowances as well. Transportation allowance, wardrobe allowance, even housing allowance! I get to eat free and delicious meals at work. It's quite difficult to find well paying jobs like this, especially for people who are fresh out of college. And to top it all, my boss doesn't seem like a sort of man to sexually harrass me. He has been nothing but strictly professional, and that makes my work space really comfortable for me. The only problem is just the
MANUEL'S POV I looked at the men in irritation, as I thought of the best punishment for them. These were the men who had the guts of working with Marco, to cheat me. I had fools in my pack! Their present states was more than enough to douse my anger at that moment, and let me make a right decision as to what best to do with them. The looked like they were on the brink of death from that much torture. I looked at Alexander, and made a signal for us to leave the guard room. We both walked to my study, with Massimo following behind. "I'm at loss here, Alexander. I haven't thought of a suitable sentence. That's unlike me.""It's not so hard." Alexander shrugged, flashing me that evil smirk. "How about they help us send a message to the Marcolinis? This time, their life would be in their own hands. If they fumble, they die. If they are lucky enough, they could escape with a few crushed bones and a disfigured nose." I loved Alexander's suggestion. He of all people knew that I didn't take w
Bianca POVMy boss was already in his office? I could hear sounds from inside his office, which confirmed my thoughts. That was new. I always arrived before him, so what changed today? I had just gotten to work, and was suprised to see that Mr Alexander in was already in his office. Quickly fixing up my hair and brushing out a few creases from my blouse, I walked to the door connecting my office to his. I gave a knock and the next second, I heard him ask me to come in. The moment I stepped in, I stumbled backwards, probably due to the intensity of his smile. So far, I had worked for Alexander Russo for close to a month, but this was the first time he was actually smiling at me. Genuinely. Don't get me wrong, he never talked down on me or made me feel less of myself, but he had never actually smiled at me so widely. Not being able to hold back a smile of my own, I proceeded to ask him the reason why he had gotten to work so early today."Good morning Sir. You're very early today.""Oh
BIANCA'S POV"How?" That was the only word I could manage to say. I doubted she was gonna say anything to me, but to my surprise, she did. Even though she had started in a very confusing manner, I was glad she still did."I thought it was going to be a thing of a few days, but somehow, she stayed at the hospital longer than I had imagined. The first week, the second week, and third week, and I had not seen my mother. I finally mustered the courage to ask Mr Fernando about mom, and all he said was that she was gonna remain in the hospital for a long time, with the look of things." She paused, looking far off as she reminisced the past. I could see those tears clouding her eyes again, but I knew better than to say a word. If I did, those tears would come pouring out, and I really wanted to avoid that. I looked around the executive lounge where I had been successfully able to take her, so we could have our discussion in a somewhat calm and private manner. "Knowing Mr Fernando was already
MANUEL'S POV"You hadn't an idea?""Like I said, this batch of employees were selected strictly based on merit. I made sure that only people who were best qualified for the job got it. If Ricardo Fernando was good enough for the job, then I'm impressed." Alexander smiled. "Rich kids these days, normally have an empty brain.""I would agree to that." I nodded. "But it's clear Honourable Fernando offered us this contract because he felt we were of help to his son.""And.... why are you saying that?" Alex gave me that pointed look of his. "Don't tell me you feel sorry for taking the contract from Ferrari?" He said in disbelief, and I could only hang my head low. "Atimes, I don't just get you. Francesca is supposed to be happy for you! If she really cares about you and sees some sort of future with you, then your success is supposed to be her success as well. Or is there something I'm missing?""There is nothing you're missing Alex." I sighed. "Francesca could be quite difficult to unders
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