Alora's POVDante took his time, wiping his mouth with a napkin before leaning back against his seat and tapping the wooden table gently. His eyes didn’t stray from mine for a second.Deciding to test the waters, I arched a brow at him. "Are you sure that I can ask what I need and you'll give me? Or are you pulling my leg?"“Alora, I am a man of my word. That’s one thing about the Mafia. We do not go back on our word.”Great. I smiled, feeling a sense of relief. “That means anything I ask, no matter what it is, you’ll give me?” I nodded, peering at him from under my lashes.Dante chuckled, his deep voice giving no hint of what emotion he was feeling. “Well, a man of my word doesn’t mean a fool. I won’t give you anything you ask. I’ll only give you what’s reasonable.”“Fair enough, because I could still ask you for something stupid.” I paused, gathering my thoughts. “So what I want is…”Dante raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for me to continue. I took a deep breath.“I just want a li
Alora's POVAlthough I froze, Dante didn’t stop. His lips kept moving against mine, building momentum. I placed my hand on his shoulder to push him away, but he gripped them firmly in his own, pressing me further against the wall and pressing his body against mine as his lips continued to devour mine.I couldn’t believe it. I was too dumbfounded to react. His lips tasted sweet, like pineapples, but there was a hint of alcohol in his breath. Was he drunk?After what felt like hours but was just a few seconds, I finally gathered the courage and pushed him off me. I turned on my heel and bolted into the bathroom, shutting the door quickly behind me. I leaned against it, my heart pounding wildly in my chest like it would burst out at any second.What the hell? I placed my hand on my chest, trying to calm my racing heart, but nothing was working. I ran to the sink, turned on the tap, and splashed my face with cold water. What just happened?I scurried to the mirror. My lips and face were r
Alora's POV"Don't let me stop you. Carry on with your 'training,'" Dante reiterated, laying emphasis on the word training.Marco and I just stood awkwardly, looking at him, trying to gauge his emotion. The guy's face was set as stone, making it difficult for us to decipher his emotions."Marco," he called out in an intimidating tone, sending chills down my spine."Yes, Don," Marco answered immediately."Get out before I lose it," he growled, his face calm as if the words came from someone else.My eyes widened. Why was he being so rude?Marco didn’t hesitate, nor did he glance at me. He just walked up to where he had thrown his shirt, picked it up, and walked out.When he got to the door where Dante stood, Dante gripped his bicep, pulled him harshly toward him, and whispered something in his ear before shoving his arm off.What could he have said to him? I wondered as Marco left, closing the door softly behind him. My mind started to drift toward possibilities but immediately halted
Alora's POVThe silence stretched across the room as Vittoria stared at me, wide-eyed, her mouth almost touching the floor. I ran my hands through my hair, frustration washing over me."Vittoria," I called out gently, trying to coax her back to life because she seemed like she was out of this world.She blinked rapidly before exclaiming out of the blue, "I knew it! It all makes sense now. I knew it!"My lips curled into a frown. Knew what? I wondered, gazing at her as she danced across the room, still shouting out the words.When she finally calmed down, she turned to face me, a happy glint in her eyes. "How did you do it, girl? I can't believe this! You, my dear, are one sneaky bitch!"I furrowed my brows. "I don't understand you, Vittoria. What do you mean? How did I do what?"She shook her head, her ever-present smile still on her lips. "You came to the Mafia and didn’t even snag the younger or lower-class men. You just had to steal the heart of the Mafia Don? Goodness, what charm
Dante's POV"How do you always get shot, even if it's a small wound?" Marco chuckled, but when he saw the glare on my face, his laughter stopped. He cleared his throat and then stepped back. "I'll go get a nurse to handle that." He gestured to my injury."Don't disturb any of the nurses," I snapped. "Let them take care of the injured men.""Okay, and then what about you?" He questioned, raising a brow as if I had just said the most stupid thing in the world."What about me? I'm fine. It's just a scratch; I'll be okay. And I have to go out now for the meeting at the club.""Uh, I don't think that's a good–""What?" I cut him off, my brows arched, daring him to repeat what he had just said."I meant that I would go now. That's what I said." He rushed out before practically running out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him.He was lucky. Nobody tells me what to do. I am Dante Bellini, the Don, and I decide when I want to go out and when I can't.A few minutes later, the door cr
Alora's POVAs Dante walked into his bathroom, I groaned, gritting my teeth.Marco and Vittoria, you guys are so going to pay for this. Gosh, I can't believe they locked us in. Locking me in Dante's room? I wonder who among them thought that would be a good idea. We hate each other. This guy detests me and will not hesitate to kill me.I'm pretty sure what he meant when he was threatening me earlier was that he would kill me in this room.Dang it! I kicked against the bed, sending a jolt of pain to my toe. I bent to massage the toe. "Ouch! Sorry, my poor toe. I'm just so mad right now.""I didn't know talking to body organs is one of the character traits of a nurse... or is it just you?" Dante muttered behind me. I froze in my spot, realizing that the way I was bending was exposing my ass to his gaze.Just when I thought I would wake up before he noticed, he blurted, "Oh, don't wake up. I'm quite enjoying the view. It's so enticing. I guess this is why you wanted to be locked in, righ
Alora's POVMy heart skipped a beat. "What? What do you mean by that?"Dante flipped through his book and then picked up his laptop, tapping away at it as if I wasn’t standing there, asking him something."Just eat, Alora. You like making a big deal out of everything. We need to sleep because it’s night. So eat and get some sleep."I breathed in relief. "Oh, thank God. I actually thought you meant what you said."He looked at me, his face cold. "Don’t worry, Alora. I don’t think I would ever go for someone like you. You're not very..."His eyes scanned over my figure before he turned away, as if he had just seen the most painful piece of art in a museum. His words sliced through my heart. Ouch. Why did I feel bad if he insulted me? I hated him, and he hated me. So why did I expect at least a compliment from him? Or just some approval of how I looked?I huffed, deciding to just do what he had said. My steps toward the bed were slow as I picked up the plate and filled it with food. I gu
Dante's POVAlora’s eyes widened as her breath came out in gasps. Her face looked panicked, as if something had been chasing her in her nightmare. I knew it was something bad. I had leapt out of bed the moment she started screaming, trying to wake her up.But she just kept screaming to let her go, to help her, which meant something was happening. And I had known enough in my life in the mafia to know that this was not just a dream. No, this was something from her past.She tried to shift her gaze from my face and focus on the floor, but I didn’t let her. I gripped her chin firmly enough to keep her eyes on me without causing her pain.“Alora, are you okay?” I asked the dumbest question in the world while settling beside her on the sofa as she sat leaning back, her tired eyes focused on the ceiling, staring into nothingness.I held her arm, pulling her into my chest, ignoring the pain that shot up from my side where the bullet had grazed my skin. It seemed like she needed that because
Alora's POV"You like her, don’t you?" I asked Luciano, diverting from the topic at hand."Get whatever is in your head out of the gutter. Vittoria and I were only talking about you. She just met me by chance the other day and told me to meet with her here."Yeah, could have fooled me. I don't know why they're hiding the fact that they like each other. There's nothing wrong with it. If anything, it makes me glad that my brother has found a woman he loves."Back to earth, Alora," Luce snapped his hands in my face, making me jolt.Ignoring my glare, he continued, "In the meantime, don’t tell anyone about our real identity, Alora. There is just too much at stake, which is why I can’t leave Dad and follow you."When he said that, I knew there was a secret they hadn’t told me yet. And they wouldn’t.Because that’s how my life has been now—just secretive people and hidden truths.But that doesn’t mean I won’t find out.Just like I found out about him and Vittoria here today, I believed I co
Alora's POVIf anything could have told me that Dante didn't like Anton, then the forced smile on his lips definitely did.Despite this, they gave each other a bro-hug."Man, you have been missing. Office duties?" Anton asked again."Yes, Anton. I have been very busy in the office managing a lot of things," Dante replied.If they were talking about the "office," it probably meant Anton didn't know Dante's true identity. Or maybe he thought I didn't know. Well, it was up to them.While I stood there, all I could feel were my nerves coiling at the thought of what Dante had in mind for me. Damn Luca—why hadn't he told me Dante had left the house? Or maybe Dante had caught on to us earlier than I thought, and there was really nothing we could do to escape it.The men kept discussing for a while as if I didn't exist, and I took that as my perfect opportunity to disappear. Slowly, I slipped down the hallway, moving silently like a pro.I was about two doors away from them when Dante, even w
Chapter 70Alora's POVI was doing it.I was succeeding.I had actually escaped the tight confines of the mafia mansion. My legs were hitting the pavement hard as I tried to get away.Nobody was chasing me. Yet.But even as I ran, I felt like someone was about to pounce on me and take me back to the mansion. The look of disappointment and rage on Dante's face propelled my legs forward until I finally spotted a cab.Hailing it, I told the driver to follow Vittoria to the place she had just gone to. The device in my hand was indicating not only her journey but the time it would take for me to meet her.“Right here, sir. Thank you very much,” I said, handing the driver his money. Yes, this time I brought money with me.Although I was doing something risky by being here, a thrill was coursing through me. For the first time in a long time, I felt alive. The desire to explore the city hit so hard that I almost forgot my mission—follow Vittoria, record her, and send it to Luca.I didn't know
Alora's POVI walked into the mansion on trembling feet, relieved that I had managed to fool Vittoria into thinking I was fine.Then again, I doubted she would have noticed anything was wrong. Her attention had been glued to her phone from the moment she saw me until we got into the cars and left the mall.Enough about Vittoria—the real issue was, how did he keep finding me?I checked my hands and neck, searching for any bracelet or jewelry that could have a tracker, but there was nothing. I would have to ask Gianni or Luca about the different ways the Mafia tracked people so easily.Unless… he wasn’t tracking me through something on my body at all.Which could only mean one thing—one of Dante’s men was working with my father.That possibility made too much sense. My father had been finding me at the most unexpected times, even knowing about my private date with Dante in the garden of his mansion. Something was definitely off, and we needed to get to the bottom of it.But now, he had
Dante's POVVittoria was a nervous wreck.Vittoria trembled.For the first time since I had become Don years ago and appointed her as Underboss, Vittoria trembled.It wasn’t something to take lightly because she was my Underboss—the person in whose hands I had placed my mafia.So what exactly was wrong with her? Why was she acting so off? Doing things she had never done before… going out at odd hours?I didn’t want to have her tailed. No.Loyalty was a very important aspect of trust and belief in my mafia. None of the top people were ever to be suspected.These were my family.But at this point, it seemed like I was going to have to go back on my word and send my men to find out what had Vittoria so occupied—occupied enough to be nervous when I called her to ask why she hadn’t been around much.The knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts. I had been tapping my pen incessantly on my desk, my mind struggling to piece together what Vittoria was up to.“Hey.”Luca’s head popped in. “A
Alora's POVDante is onto me. My dad is onto me. It seems like the whole world is onto me at this point.What the hell am I supposed to do?Maybe I can find someone to confide in. Yes, that’s what I have to do, I thought to myself as I paced up and down in a room in the medical bay. The nurses were in the other area.They had asked me why I was here when I clearly wasn't working much anymore—thanks to Dante. I told them I needed to practice something small and for them to give me privacy, which they had done, thankfully. I wouldn’t want anyone to see me in this state.I thought I’d been masking it quite well—the fear in my eyes. But it seems like Dante noticed.What the hell? Just how does he notice everything about me?I didn’t want him to know. Dad said not to make anyone suspect.No. I was not obeying my dad. I was just scared of what the outcome would be. His words still rang in my head even today."You are going to act like my beautiful little spy in that mansion. Get me all the
Dante's POV"Where is Vittoria?" I asked two men who were in the gym. Normally, this was her gym time, as she didn’t train with everyone else."No idea, boss.""We don’t know, Don," they responded.This was the fifth time I had looked for her in the mansion. What is going on? Her movements had just been… weird and too frequent.The Vittoria I knew only went out when there was a mission. She didn’t even have much of a social life, had no female friends, or anyone she would want to hang out with. I know her first female friend is Alora, which is why she values their friendship so much.Maybe I could ask Alora about Vittoria? Girls gossip, right… so she’d know something.Who am I kidding? Both of them are the same. Ever since we came back from the date, Alora has been avoiding me. Now, I had taken it to heart. It is definitely my fault.What could I have said during the date that would make her so worried and scared of me? Damn it, I knew it. I shouldn’t have spoken so much. Now, I have
Alora's POVDespite all the pacing I had been doing up and down in my room, I still hadn't calmed down. The time was ticking by, and she was nowhere to be seen. I wonder what could be delaying her arrival.I don't know what’s wrong with this girl. She just seems a bit off these days. But that is beside the point now. I need to focus on this emergency, and then I was going to ask her what exactly had her so occupied that I barely saw her, even though we basically lived rooms apart from each other.Finally, after another excruciatingly long wait, I heard a knock on my door before she pushed it open, strolled into my room, and slumped down on the bed like she owned the place."Who dares summon her royal highness? How mayest I be of help to you low—""Vittoria, this is not the time for jokes, okay? We need to do something now.""Oh, Alora, I'm tired. I didn't sleep last night. I was out the whole time.""That is none of my business, Vittoria, okay? Get up. You need to help me out here. Co
Alora's POVMy laughter slowly died when I noticed that Dante was glaring at me. I scooted closer to Gianni, who wass justl staring at our exchange as though he was in the most boring moment of his life. How can this kid put on such a brave facade at such a tense moment when the Mafia Don's icy eyes are digging our graves already"Alora, for the last time, I'll ask-""Brother, I went out with Alora. You should also ask me where we were, right?" Gianni cut in, making my eyes widen.Is he having a death wish?"Gianni, stop!" I exclaimed, horrified at his nonchalance.But he just turned to me and rolled his eyes."I'll tell you where we were," he said to dabte, and my heart started thuddingng.Oh, shit. I just hope he doesn't throw me under the bus. We made an agreement That if I took him out, he was going to keep my own secret."Yes, I took him out. We went to see Cherry," . "I haven't seen her in a long time.abd I promised I'll pass by today," Gianni saids, confirming my words.Dante