Damiano “Oh, darling, the ring is just beautiful!” My jaw clenched at the horrendous high-pitched voice. Every single time that woman opened her mouth, it felt like a bunch of knives was stabbing into my ears continuously. I was convinced Gataeno was partially deaf. It was impossible he heard that voice and decided to marry her. “Thank you, Morella.” Althaia gave a tight smile and I knew it was taking everything in her not to grimace. “Wonderful news, figlia! When’s the big day?” Gaetano smiled widely. “Oh, actually…” Althaia started and my hand squeezed her waist a little to warn her not to let it slip out. She quickly glanced at me before facing Gataeno again with a soft smile. “…We haven’t decided yet. Plenty of time to figure it out.” She told him instead. Gaetano nodded a few times. “Good, good. The sooner, the better.” He looked at me when he said that, not being discreet about his underlying message to me. “Congratulations again, darling.” Morella smiled big. “Enjoy the
Althaia “…Althaia…” A small groan escaped my lips. I felt groggy and completely disoriented as I felt my body slightly shake. I felt nauseous and my eyelids were heavy when I tried to open them. “Althaia, please wake up.” Cara’s voice sounded clear and I pushed myself to open my eyes despite their heaviness. “… I don’t feel too good.” I almost whimpered as she helped me to sit up. I rested my head against the wall, slowly blinking, and looked around. It looked like we were in a small basement room with grey walls, a tiny lightbulb that was barely giving any light, and there was a sound of water dripping somewhere in the distance. Where the fuck were we? “Are you okay?” I blinked a couple of times and looked at Cara. Her hair was a complete mess and looked like she had been through hell. “I… What happened -” I stopped breathing as everything rushed back to me. Dario. Blood. Fighting. Damiano. Damiano! No no no no! My eyes widened and I suddenly felt suffocated. The images of
Damiano I slowly started to gain consciousness when I heard faint voices around me. The burning sensation was still present, spreading all over my abdomen. I felt someone tapping my cheek and I opened my eyes. My sight was unfocused and I saw shadows above me, seeing their mouths move as they talked to me, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I tried to move but clenched my jaw and grunted out in pain instead. “I got you. You will be fine.” My sight finally focused when Antonio came into view, talking to me. “Althaia… I need to get to Althaia.” I felt hands trying to stop me from moving but I shoved them away, clenching my jaw hard as I pushed through the pain to get up. “We need to get you fixed first. You’ve lost a lot of blood.” Antonio prevented me from moving. “I… don’t care… She needs me.” I growled out and tried to push them away. “You can’t help her if you’re fucking dead!” He shouted in anger. “I have to get the bullet out of you. Bite down on this.” He put a
Damiano“This is what we have found so far.” Ava rolled out a map on the table. Everyone had been gathered to the manor once Ava and Rafaelle had something useful for us to be able to lay out a new plan.“Based on the information given, they can’t be more than two hours away in fly time. We have narrowed it down to this.” She drew a circle around the area and I frowned. It was still a large area and it would take us too much time to pin down exactly where Gaetano was hiding.“But our theory is they have to be closer to this area.” She drew another circle within the circle, but this time it was smaller.“Your reason?” I asked.“The type of helicopter they’re using can’t fly more than five hours at a time, and since this is not a helicopter that can refuel midair, they have to go to the fuel station. Which is two and a half hours away. But we don’t want to rule out the area completely.” Rafaelle explained.“They could already have a truck ready to fill up.” Luca pointed out.“It’s possi
DamianoMy brows pinched together as I looked at his unmoving body on the ground. I stopped in front of him, nudging him with my foot before a groan came out of him. I watched him struggle to stand up, seeing just how badly he was beaten up. His face was covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. His arm was wrapped around his ribs. It was most likely broken just seeing the condition he was in.Michael winced as he slumped against the car, breathing heavily before he met my gaze.“What are you doing here?” I stared at him blankly, waiting for him to speak.“I… Shit - Althaia.”“You’re too late.” I scoffed.“I tried… to warn…” He kept groaning out in pain, on the verge of passing out.“You’re wasting my time. Get the fuck off my property.” Michael slumped to the ground again and I signaled for my men to get moving.“I know where they are.” Now, that got my attention and I turned to look back at him. He was struggling to keep his eyes open.“Do you believe he knows something?” Antonio came to
Althaia I felt like I was losing my sanity the longer we were locked up in this shit hole. My heart ached continually at the thought of Damiano not being alive. The image of him being shot was playing over and over in my head, and no matter how hard I tried, tears threatened to fall. I wrapped my arms around my knees, somehow trying to calm down my racing heart. Guilt was eating me alive. Maybe… if I had gone away, he would still be alive and he wouldn’t have had to deal with all those problems I carried along with me. He wanted to make life easier for me. To make me happy. And he did. But in return, I placed all the burden on his shoulders, causing his death. Was this how it really was going to end for us? For him? For me? To lose the people I loved so dearly in a blink of an eye? If he wasn’t here with me, then I wouldn’t want to live anymore. And maybe, just maybe, with a glimpse of hope still in my heart, I would be able to see him again in the next life. “We have to do so
Althaia I swung the door open, holding the hairpin tightly in my hand. I stopped at the doorway and just looked at them, feeling the tension between them. I couldn’t do anything since Cara was looking at Maso, not prepared, and Maso was keeping a sharp gaze at me. I wanted to shout at Cara for not being ready, and possibly wasting our only chance. I couldn’t do this on my own. “Turn around and put your hands on the wall.” “What, why?” I asked, my heart leaping to my throat and my hands started to get sweaty. Fuck, I’m going to get caught. “I said turn around -” “She can’t!” Cara finally snapped out of whatever was going on with her and came to my rescue. “I need help since I can’t really do anything in this big dress.” She continued and gestured to her dress. Maso’s eyes narrowed as he looked at me. His eyes continued down, stopping by my hands where I had them both into fists. “Hands on the wall, now!” He snapped. I took a step back when he came closer to me, and I sent a pan
AlthaiaI felt my heart stop beating.I couldn’t believe it.I was afraid to even close my eyes to blink in case this was some kind of an illusion. A beautiful one that I would never get to see if I did.Did I die and we got reunited?With my shaky hand, I reached out and touched his face. He leaned into my touch and a sob escaped my lips, and tears welled in my eyes."Damiano…” I sobbed in a whisper.“I’m right here, baby.” He kissed the palm of my hand and pulled me into him. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and cried into his chest, wrapping my arms tightly around him. It was real. He was right here in front of me, holding me tightly in his strong arms as he buried his face into my neck.My husband is alive.Damiano wiped my tears away when I had calmed down, placing his hands on my cheeks, and leaning down until he captured my lips. The moment our lips touched washed away all the stress and anxiety that had built up in record time while being locked up. It gave me a sense of serenity