"So, I was thinking that we should have a lady's night one night this week. Me, you, Lucia, Iz and some of your friends. We can talk weddings." She grins at me."Sure, why not. Apparently, I only have two weeks." Which is fucking crazy."I only had a week." Lucia looks at me. "You at least got two." We laugh at words."She agreed. I will sort it out with Marco and Lorenzo and give you a date." I watch Felicity skip off.Turning, I look at Lucia and feel bad."Congratulations, I don't think I have said it." She wasn't pregnant when I left, I don't think?"Thanks." Her word wavers."Are you okay?""Yeah, just..." She sighs. "I don't know what to expect when the baby comes. I'm ready for him to be like Carlos was when they were kids.""No, Marco won't be cold and distant. He loves you." He won't disappear."Not me. How the fuck will he cope with a baby? A child? He hides everything."I get her worry. "You told me he is different with you. So maybe he will be with the baby?" I glance at w
I wanted her to myself tonight, and that failed. Part of me hates Marco for this party. I get he's trying to show he agrees with the engagement, but I wanted her to myself.I've barely spent time with her. Which I fucking hate. I tried to leave, and Marco told me to stay longer. Then, when he finally let me, Lucia stopped us.So, now I'm waiting again."Hey." Turning, I glance at Dario. "Just a warning, she's freaking out."I laugh at his words. "Yeah, my fault, I said we were getting married in two weeks." I should have thought and actually listened to her, not just done what I wanted like the prick I am."Not that. Alice might be pregnant." I turn to him."She told you?""Not exactly, she was freaking out, and I asked what was wrong and tried guessing. I think I pissed her off, so she said it to shut me up." He stands laughing. Shit. "And now you're freaking out, it's a great night." He laughs, and I see Lucia hug Alice."I'm going." I walk over and wrap my arm around her. Guiding h
I'm freaking out. Sure, he is acting calm and relaxed, but somewhere inside me, I feel he will hate and resent me. He will go from having no kids to possibly having two in less than a year."Little kitten. Forget about possibly being pregnant, answer me this. What is your plan for kids? Do you want more? If so, when and how many?" He looks at me, waiting."I don't know, what about you?" I won't answer first, I don't want him to just agree with me because I said it.His eyes roll, and he pulls me closer."I don't give a shit. I don't care if we have five right now or ten kids in five years." He sighs loudly. "I'm always safe, Alice. The only times I wasn't safe was with you. Because with you I don't care if you get pregnant and we have a kid. I didn't a year ago, I didn't last night, and I didn't when I found you.""You were angry over Luciano, though!" He totally fucking flipped out and lost it.He chuckles. "Little kitten, I wasn't angry over Luciano, I was pissed off I didn't know.
I walk into the office, and they look at me. Dario stepped in behind me."You have a fight. You can't keep avoiding it, Lorenzo." Marco looks at me."Fine with me. When?" I sit down."A week, but before we discuss that, what is yours and Alice's plan?""To make babies." I turn and glare at Dario, and they laugh."No plan as of yet. We will go with it and discuss things along the way.""Right, well, I meant the wedding. Not you two reproducing." Marco laughs."She agreed for two weeks.""Okay, well, Alice, Iz and the other women she speaks to will be busy tomorrow. It's sorted. She will be going to find a dress." Marco looks at me."No problem with me. Why are you looking at me like you're ready for me to complain?" I laugh slightly."Because recently, you complain a fucking lot about not being able to spend time with her and Luciano. For a guy who gave no fucks about anyone a few months ago, you're a bit obsessed." He looks at me, laughing."Not obsessed." They all laugh. "Whatever, s
I don't move. Lucia holds me as I cry. If I hadn't left, would he still be here? Elmay offered to get his bottle, and I told her I would. Why didn't I just let her?My body shakes, and I cry. Lorenzo will hate me. I didn't think. I should have stayed with Luciano. Why the fuck didn't I just let Alice get the bottle?Lorenzo said they would find him, but I don't feel hopeful. They had so many leads when I was missing, it took months. How will they find Luciano?I can't stop crying. No matter how much I try to, I fail."Here." I look up to Iz, who is holding out a glass for me."Come on, up off the floor." Lucia pulls me up and guides me to the chair. "They will find him, Alice." She looks at me."Even you don't believe that." I can see it on her face. "I shouldn't have left him. I should have let Elmay get the bottle." I am going to regret that for life right now."No, you did the right thing. If Elmay had gone in, you would be dead." Felicity looks at me. "You going for the bottle sav
Getting into the office, everyone is standing, listening to Marco.“We saw which gate he left out of. CCTV showed the car, it’s been tracked. They changed cars about fifteen minutes from here. We know which car, based on the direction it can be any of these four locations.” Marco points to them.He looks around the room. “This is your only warning. Every message you ever sent to Shaun will be read, so anyone who knows anything better fucking say now.” The room falls quiet. His eyes come to me, and he looks away.“Right, Dario, you take your men, Matteo, you take yours, Carlos, take yours. Let’s leave.” He stands, and I step in the way.“And me?”“You’re not coming.”“Marco.” Our father looks at him. “Don’t be an asshole.”“He can’t be trusted.”I laugh. “So you trust all those soldiers but not me, your brother. He’s my fucking son! You don’t even know if the men you’re sending are innocent.”“I at least know they will follow the order and not go rouge.”“Enough. Marco, Lorenzo is goin
I don't know what is going on. Ages has passed, and there have been no updates. I can see Mac is on the phone and then disappears, and I hear him shouting orders and the soldiers rushing out.I stand up, and Lucia joins me."Mac?" Lucia looks at him."You need to get to the back of the house now." He points, and we don't move."What is happening?" I can't just be told to go and expect to fucking list. I watch as he turns."Come on." Lucia pulls me through with Felicity, Iz and the kids following. Pulling, I break away."Not until someone tells me what is going on!" I watch Mac rush over, pushing me into the room, and the door locks."Mac!" Lucia rushes forward and tries opening the door."Boss said to lock you in." Lucia laughs at his words."Okay, at least tell us why we're locked in a fucking room!" She bangs on the door, but he doesn't reply. We hear him rush off and continue shouting orders.I look at her."I would ask Marco, but clearly, something is going on, and I don't want to
I walk back down and see everyone sitting. Grabbing a glass, I sit down and look at Callum."I'm sorry, I realised after how fucking stupid and unprepared I was. I thought taking the car would make them useless."I want to kill him. There would have been no fucking chase, no truck if he hadn't tried to be the saviour. I can't, though. I heard enough to know if he had told us and waited, Luciano would be gone."I'm angry, but it's fine. Yes, it was fucked up, but you stopped them taking Luciano out of the city.""Lorenzo is right, plus it would have happened regardless. They would have followed if we had gotten there and taken Luciano into our car.”"So you're not going to beat the shit out of us? The first time you did, it fucking hurt." Paul laughs, looking at me.I sit confused, I beat him up? "I don't remember that." When did me and Paul ever fight? Harry, sure, but Paul?"You don't remember?" Callum and Thomas laugh."If you don't remember, you won't remember Alice that day either
I'm so fucking happy. This is the best Christmas ever. She's pregnant, Alex is officially ours, and she's marrying me! Tonight! I left her for a bit. Her dad is here, so they are talking everything out. I wanted to be there but knew she needed space to do it herself. I look across the chairs and other things. She wanted to come outside, but we banned her. She can't see this, not until later. "It's looking good." Lorenzo smiles at me. "Have you considered this, Dario?" Marco looks at me. "She said yes! She said she would marry me." She said yes. "I know, but I mean the whole surprise wedding; she said yes, but that doesn't mean now." "Yes, it does!" She wouldn't say yes if she weren't ready now. She's ready. She will say yes. She will love this. "Okay, calm down, you're too high." Marco chuckles, but I can't. I feel amazing right now. "How is it going with her dad?" Matteo looks at me. "No idea. I gave her space." I'm giving her space. "Matteo, he's staying at your house toni
I walked out of the room feeling sickened. Not so much that he had slept with my mother, more he slept with me purely because I looked like her. Like in his mind, I was her. I need to check on Alex. Walking into his room he's sat up on the bed looking at the book. "Read it?" He holds out the book, and I laugh. "Move over." I climb onto the bed, and he cuddles into me as I read it to him. Today is Christmas. I didn't realise, but Lucia had the baby on Christmas day! It's nearly three. I read to him, watching as he fell asleep. Slowly, my eyes slip closed. I wake feeling someone wrap their arms around me. Glancing behind me, I see Dario. I open my mouth to talk, and he shakes his head. "No. Leave it, little rabbit. Let's just sleep for a couple of hours." He holds onto me, and I fall asleep, with him and Alex cuddling me. I need to get answers later. I wake up in bed alone. Neither Alex nor Dario are here. Climbing from the bed, I go to our room and begin to get ready. "Little ra
So far, this guy hasn't been forthcoming. It's Christmas, and we're wasting time on him. Sure, we could just forget him and go to bed for as few hours as possible before getting up, but he's a risk. Alice came to get the baby, and Lucia is currently resting. So this needs sorting now. He's not someone who can be trusted alone, even with soldiers. "I never would have hurt her." I look up, confused. "Evaline, my plan was never to touch her or harm her. Weirdly, she is just like her mother. She's amazing." "How did you meet her mum?" I want to get her answers. "I had just taken down a target and was ready to leave when I saw her. I was twenty-eight, and she was thirty-nine. She was so different. She was so amazing I just went over and said hi, which is how it began. At that point, Evaline was born." "Did you see Evaline?" "No!" His head shakes. "I never did; we had been sleeping together for years. She wouldn't let me see Evaline. She spoke of her. He found out about the affair and
I look at Marco. He's heard nothing. "It's Christmas. Maybe just leave it until after today?" Lorenzo looks at me. "I can't do much, Lorenzo." I can't do anything without information that we don't have. "This is your first official Christmas with Evaline, don't fuck it up." Our dad looks at me, and I know he's right. The gunshot has us all jump up and rush out. I watch as a window smashes and smoke begins to flood the hall. "Get the women and kids!" Marco screams, rushing upstairs; I grab Luciano, Lorenzo grabs Alice, and I see soldiers follow Marco up to Lucia and Evaline. Carrying Luciano down, I sit him in the safe room. Rushing up, I see someone carrying Alex. "Put it on." I see something throw a mask at me. Placing it on, I rush up and see Evaline fighting to get to Alex's room. "Alex is downstairs, little rabbit, go." I watch as she disappears. Rushing through, I get to our room and see him. Throwing myself at him, someone grabs me and stops, and I watch them grab him. "D
I wake hearing a bang, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. I reach out to Dario, but he isn't there. The sound of gunshots has my body jump up and out of bed. Rushing, I get the gown and wrap it around my body as the windows in the room smash, and smoke begins to fill the room. I rush for the door and hear something. Turning, I look behind me and see someone jump through the window. Running out the door, I get grabbed. Screaming, I go to hit him. "Evaline, go with him!" Marco? I feel them pull me, but I try to get to Alex. I need to get Alex. Screaming, I fight against him. "Alex is downstairs, little rabbit, go." I don't get a chance to respond. I'm just pulled further away. As we reach downstairs, I'm thrown into a room and the door locks. "Evaline, thank god you're okay!" Lucia rushes and hugs me. I look around, Alice, Lucia, Alex, and Luciano are in here, and I believe it's James. I'm not sure which soldier it is. "What is happening?" I look around us. This room has no windo
Dario's arms stay around me as we dance. He started out fine, but in the past week, he's been slowly drowning and getting lost in his mind. I know he's constantly overthinking what is happening. Everything I try fails. Sex works while we're having sex, and then he's back in his head. It's taking so much effort to keep him here and with us. The last thing we need is for something to happen and for him to slip away in his mind and not wait for answers. So, I need to keep his mind off Mad Hatter or Tim, as they haven't been able to find anything. Marco even tried to send a message out for my dad in the hope he would reply and give us something, but it's been silent. I lean up and kiss his lips. "We haven't spoken about how many kids you want." I smile, and he looks at me so damn confused. "Babies, Dario, how many do you want?" "I just want you." My eyes roll. "You have me. We have Alex. I want to know about us making babies. How many?" He seems to be considering it. "I would be hap
It's too quiet, and I don't like quiet, not in this way. Quiet in my head, fine, but this feels wrong. He's gone quiet. He's stopped sending messages out. He's ignoring us. He's planning, he's planning something, what is he planning? I pace the room. Today is Matteo's engagement party. Tomorrow is Christmas. It's too fucking quiet. Quietly, quietly, not a sound. I'm listening and listening. "Dario!" I turn, and Marco is staring at me. "You're singing." He holds out his hands. "We were waiting for you!" "I..." Something is wrong. Quietly, quietly, not a sound. I'm listening and listening. "Dario!" I glance at him. "Get out of your head, focus." I can't focus. It's too quiet. "Okay, tell me what is in your head. You keep singing quietly, quietly, so speak." "It's too quiet." It's too quiet. "Right, and I agree it is. It's unusual. He's gone quiet; he's not responding, but stay out of your head. It's been half an hour. How long have you been standing here pacing and singing in yo
I sit with Dario. His brothers and his dad are facing me. "You slept with him, just say." Marco laughs. "I did, but that isn't it. That time, I never returned; about a year into it, Dale had bought a holiday home. He sent me to it alone and told me not to leave as it wasn't safe. I stayed there for maybe six months. A few weeks after I got there, the guy showed up. He basically moved in with me." I see Carlos' mouth drop open. "He never stayed in one place!" "He stayed with me. Dale would send maybe one message a week saying I wasn't safe and to stay hidden. If I tried messaging him, it wouldn't go through. I told him I couldn't keep calling him Mad Hatter, so he said to call him Tim for now. That wasn't his name, I don't think. He confided in me, told me about his childhood and things, and I know I should have said, but I saw him as a friend." Which was stupid. "And now you don't? Why?" Marco looks at me, waiting. "Because now I realise he was trying to get information from me.
Dario pushes me to sit in a seat and faces me. He's looking at me like I'm about to blow everything up. I feel like I am. I didn't tell him everything, not because I didn't want him to know, but because I had no idea how or if he would handle this. Then, I just figured out things while he was getting Alex in bed. "Little rabbit, please." He looks at me, almost begging. "I didn't tell you everything. I stayed at a small holiday home without Dale for about six months. I have no idea where he went. Tim, or Mad Hatter as we know him, stayed with me." "You knew his fucking name!" "No! I told him I felt awkward calling him Mad Hatter, so he said to call him Tim, which could be his name for now. His name isn't Tim. It's just a name he said to call him, so I didn't have to call him Mad Hatter." "You don't know for sure, little rabbit, why the fuck did you live with him for six months!" "Dale was gone. I don't know where or why. He was just gone. Tim isn't a bad guy, or I thought. Dale h