Alessandro“... Layla Whittman.”Immediately, as planned, an image of the woman that once put me through hell was displayed on the screen behind us.As I tried to avoid a smile from forming on my lips, I faced the screen and put on the most sober look. Then I admired the quality of the picture. The image properly showed Layla’s sternness and the existence of built men behind her made it believable that she was into the gangster business.“Wow…” The female anchor said. “Mr. Valante, are you certain about this? According to the law, making claims without evidence is punishable.”I nodded in agreement. “I am very aware of that.” My hands clasped and settled between my thighs. “I am not seated here because I wish to have fun by throwing baseless rumours. I am here because I can’t let the leader of CDP take over my life. I wish to speak the truth and that’s why I am here.”My sad look intensified after I made intentional contact with one of the main cameras. “I would like to apologise to e
CarrieI sprang out of the car when I saw that his grandfather was about to slap him. But the slap never happened, Alessandro stopped it.“How dare you, Alessandro?” His grandfather was not hiding his anger and I tried to guess that he was furious about Alessandro’s interview. The things he said were indeed enough to rouse the anger of the man that’s the real leader of CDP. “What were you thinking?”“I did what you asked me to.” Alessandro did not hide his cockiness. “This is the start of the plan you asked me to execute.”“I did not ask you to go on air! I didn’t ask you to use Layla like that. How could you? She’s your wife-to-be.”“Layla is nobody to me. She’s not my wife-to-be. She is nothing and absolutely nothing to me.”“So, you are choosing to defy my instruction?”“How can I defy something I never acknowledged in the first place? If there’s anyone defying anything, it’s you.”“What?” His grandfather was taken aback. “What bullshit are you spitting?”“You are very aware of the
CarrieI thought it was my imagination, but a few seconds before Layla displayed a sinister expression, there was a sign of incoming tears in her eyes.If she had started crying, I wouldn’t have found it surprising.After all, she is now CDP’s leader to the public and it is only a matter of time before she’s hunted and captured.But that’s none of my business. She deserves that much punishment especially if it is true that she caused the death of someone dear to Alessandro.“Look at this bitch,” Layla spoke the very second I decided that she was not worth engaging in a conversation with. “How cocky can you be to step into this house as if you own it?”I sighed hard to get rid of every and any temptation to scream at the woman. I am pregnant and pregnant women shouldn’t stress.“What do you want from me?” I calmly asked.“Stay away from Alessandro.”One of my brows cocked. “Are you talking about the man who went on a live show and said things that have now trapped you?”“He did it beca
Carrie“What the fuck…?” Eduardo swore.But before he could remove himself from his seat, the door beside me slammed shut. And all I saw was Alessandro’s broad back swinging with swag toward his brother.I noticed that I could not find a reaction to Kante’s words despite how random they were so I hurriedly got down. But I wasn’t sure if it was reasonable to rush after Alessandro, so I halted my steps before they could become hasty and I watched from that distance.“What are you doing?” I heard Alessandro ask once he was able to stop Kante.Kante glared at his brother. And that was all he did. He did not say a word to him. He walked past him and towards me.“Carrie…” Kante called, his voice softened.“What are you doing?” I asked while my forehead wore furrows of concern.“Marry me, Carrie.”“Kante…”The big bouquet in his hand bounced with excitement as the man dropped to his knee and crawled the remaining distance between us.“Please, Carrie. You know we belong together. You know tha
CarrieI would be lying if I said I wasn’t aware of the magnitude of Alessandro’s response. From his earlier altercation with his grandfather, I could tell that something that broke their family happened two years ago.So, when Alessandro’s response settled in my mind, I knew that I had to carefully weigh the way I would react to it. I have to respect the man’s decision to share something that is deep and important with me.“Carrie?” Alessandro’s thick accent pulled me out of my thoughts and caused me to stop glaring at the walkway that led to the entrance of the house. “Let’s head in. You shouldn’t stand outside for too long.”“Okay,” I quietly agreed and let him place his palm against my back.Once we were inside the house which was furnished in a way that exceeded my imagination, we headed for the living room which had simply designed sofas and some minimalist decor filling its space.“Let me help you with that,” Alessandro swiftly broke the silence in our midst and he reached to t
Carrie“Carrie?”“Eduardo,” I acknowledged the man that called me.“How old are you?”“Why do you ask?” I took my eyes off the large party hall which people were walking in and out of with glee that matched the expensiveness of their clothes written all over their faces.“I have always wondered. You look really young.”“How old are you?” I returned his question.“I am thirty. So is Alessandro.”I glanced at the quiet man seated next to me. Then, I replied, “I am twenty-four.”“Wow. Really?” I didn’t understand Eduardo’s excitement, so I faked a smile when my eyes met his image in the centre mirror. “I would have guessed you were older.”“That sounds like an insult.”“It does?” Eduardo sure was being chatty beyond. “I thoug
AlessandroIt was delightful to see how uncoordinated the men became as soon as I dropped my last statement.Well, it’s always fun to watch people who thought they could get away with causing me discomfort whimper in desperation because they finally realise that time will never be on their side.“You have twenty-five seconds left,” Eduardo informed the men who could barely have a meaningful conversation with each other. I guess people will always become useless when cornered in unexpected ways. “Which will it be? Death by explosion or death by intense public humiliation?”One of the men faced us, his feet and hands visibly shaky. “W… We will choose uhm… public humiliation.”“Oops. Wrong answer.”The man quickly dropped to the floor, his hands joined as though practicing his last prayer. “Please… Please, spare us. We are… I am sorry. I should have not allowed them to kill him. I…”“That’s enough,” Eduardo cut the man short, his voice calm yet laced with danger. “How typical of you to t
CarrieMy heart skipped a beat. I failed to feel the throbbing that was earlier embracing it. And all I could do was get deep into staring into Alessandro’s eyes which were looking weirdly different, almost as though he was wearing great softness in them.“Carrie?”“Huh?”“Marry me,” he repeated, this time, he made sure I could feel him holding my waist. It was as if he was using that to urge me to give him a response as quickly as possible. “Don’t say no.”“But-”“What but?Again, his accent made his response sound funny. To me, he said ‘What butt?’ and not…Oh my goodness.Alessandro just asked me to marry him. And… And I am thinking of butts.“Alessandro,” Eduardo’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked over at the man who could not stop panting as he rubbed his sweaty forehead with his blackened hands. “Why are we still here? We-?”Our eyes met and he saw the tears which were probably going to take some seconds to dry off. “Oh,” he said. “Sister, are you alright? You must have b