Alora's POV Maybe I should have responded to him. He wouldn't have tried to come closer. Now he has found my evidence of trying to run away. It's all there, clear. There's nothing to say about it. So, instead of acting scared or panicked, I just turned my face back, gazing out the window into the dark blue sky that had descended upon the afternoon. "Alora, what's going on?" Dante finally asked after a long and painfully silent moment where I could feel him staring at me. I pretended to be deep in thought, all the while still staring out the window. He already has the proof. Why is he asking me what is going on? It's obvious. "Alora, please answer me. What's the meaning of all this? Were you, by any chance, planning to leave?" Oh, Dante. "Leave" is a very easy word for what I was planning to do. If only he knew that I am going to take Gianni with me one way or another. Even if I have to kidnap the kid, I'm doing it. Seeing that my silence was only going to make him ask more ques
Dante's POVEver since I saw Alora's bag packed and realized she was ready to leave by escaping or something, I haven't been fine. I mean, it is my fault, yes. But I don't want her to leave.Although Luciano has been kidnapped, even if he were still around, I doubt that I would have let Alora leave.When he showed up, that was my biggest fear. Am I a bastard for being happy that her brother got kidnapped? Although I wish we could find him sooner because she's heartbroken and scared.I just don't want anyone to take her from me. Even when I've messed things up so badly. Yes, I am a selfish bastard, but do I care? No.Alora makes me feel things that I never thought were possible, and I would be a fool if I let this one go. Dad always used to tell me, "Hold on to what makes you happy, son. The fact that you're in the mafia doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your happiness. You can still be happy and fight for what's right."He had laid a strong emphasis on the mafia. Despite it being a d
Dante's POV No. It can't be what I'm thinking. Alora can't have escaped and taken Gianni along with her. She has no reason to. Yes, I understand she wants to leave the Mafia at all costs. But Gianni? That's my brother. She wouldn't dare. She cannot take away the Prince of the Mafia. I'm not involving him in it, but he's still a member. A valuable one. The men were returning from the sites where I had sent them to check on her. Everywhere. And no one could find her. Not even one person. The gardens had been checked. The gym. The medical bay. Every place in the Mafia. Going right to the computer room. And lastly, the dungeon. Alora hates that place. She wouldn't go there for any reason. Where the hell is she? Did they really step out of this mansion? With all the danger looming around, it's certainly the last thing I expected from her. Marco stood beside me, clicking fast on his laptop, trying to trace Gianni and Alora. I don’t know how, but it seems they have removed the bracele
Alora's POV My laughter slowly died when I noticed that Dante was glaring at me. I scooted closer to Gianni, who wass just 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, confirmin
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
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 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 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 POV I was crying again while Marco and Luciano looked at me, both panicked, a tinge of concern all over their faces. Vittoria was laughing her ass off on the couch, and Gianni still seemed unbothered, typing away on his phone while his AirPods filled his ears. Dante marched in, his face already twisted with concern and anger because he suspected what was going on. "What is it, baby?" I jumped into his arms, letting my tears soak his crisp white shirt. I felt sorry for him. He was just about to go to a gala, but at this point, I doubted he was going to go anyway. "What is it, Alora? Who? Just tell me the name." I lifted a shaky finger and pointed at both Marco and Luciano, who were shaking their heads. Once Dante’s eyes fell on them, they both pointed at each other. "It was him, not me!" "I have told you guys to stop. You're grown men, for shit's sake. You know what? You are going to get punished for this." "Wait, what? Come on, Dante, it wasn’t even that serious!" Luci
Alora's POVI still couldn't believe I had two brothers. And that Bianca was my sister. We looked nothing alike.I was chubby; she was slim. I had black hair; she had blonde. I was good. She was evil.See? Nothing alike.Marco and Luciano, too, took it upon themselves to make me miss growing up with siblings. Yep, you guessed that right—annoying me."Marco, Luciano, if you don't get out of this room, so help me God, I am going to castrate you and feed your balls to my alligator! Get out now!"Vittoria screamed, making them stop snickering and start walking toward the door with their heads bowed.Both of them had something for her—I could feel it. But she hated Luciano and tolerated Marco, according to what she had told me."Luciano, give me the brush before you leave."Marco laughed at Luciano, who pouted and brought out the comb he was hiding in his pocket. They both walked out, and I turned to Vittoria, who huffed.“These men act like children. Tell me, how are they even in the Mafi
Alora's POV"Wait, what?"The men holding Dante back stepped aside, moving backward with their heads bowed. All the men who had entered with Dad did the same, placing their guns at their sides, leaving the guests to stand up—except for a few, who I now knew were working with Dad.The elders. Not surprising."What the hell is going on? You're supposed to have them at gunpoint until I say we leave. What is happening?""What is happening is that you, Giovanni, have just been outsmarted. You thought you were the most intelligent, you thought you were the wisest, and now what? You have been reduced to nothing. Boys, you can come out now."Marco and Luciano emerged from the corner, Marco giving me a small wink and a nudge on my shoulder."I never wanted to betray you. It was all part of the plan—infiltrate him, get his men on our side, and win," he whispered to me, making me nod, though I was still dazed."Yes, sister, it was tough, but with your help, we managed to do everything as we shou
Alora's POVNo.It couldn't be.Bianca froze, same as me, and everyone else, as we watched the man I thought was my father—and whom she thought was hers—walk up to us. He had glasses on, but I knew my dad, even if I hadn't seen him for some years, thinking he was dead.His words were still ringing in my mind."One of my children."Daughters? We were his daughters? Bianca was my sister? No. I shook my head. No, it couldn't be."What the hell do you mean, Dad? What do you mean by children? Do you mean...?" Bianca trailed off, disbelief etched on her face."Of course, Bianca. You are a very intelligent girl—catch up quickly. I am your father, and I am Alora's father. Just a few years apart and two different women, and I got both of you." He explained calmly, as if discussing the weather."Wait... so, all my life, when you left saying you were going on business trips, you were with her?" Bianca cried, tears slipping from her eyes.For me, shock was all I could feel—no other emotion. He ha
Alora's POVI ran my hands over the delicate ends of the mask I was wearing. Black. Paired with a black dress, black shoes. Everything on me was black. The dress was floor-length and hugged my curves.This was never me. I don't think I had ever dressed like this before. But Vittoria said, "The sexier, the wiser." Whatever that meant.I was coming in with Luciano as his date so that no one would suspect who I really was.My black hair was covered up by a blonde wig. Everything about me had changed, and only someone who knew me extremely well would even suspect I was still the same person.Black lip gloss as well. I didn't know if I was going for a Halloween party or a masked party.This ball was by Bianca's father, Giovanni—to celebrate his daughter's engagement to the Italian mafia don. How he thought that was going to happen baffled me.Grand. Elegant. Those were the words to describe the hall. The crowds were gathered, showing off their finest. And thankfully, Vittoria's choice of m
Alora's POV"Hey, little man, don't scare us like that again," I told Gianni as soon as I sat down by his hospital bed, where he was receiving his last infusion before being discharged.All in the same house."I didn't scare you, but that scary aunt—gosh, I hate her now. She just told me she wanted to show me something, and I followed, a-and—"My heart broke alongside his voice."It's okay, it's okay, don't say any more," I whispered, trying to stop him from talking. That kind of memory should be left behind. How was it that she had planned to kill a kid? It baffled me."Are you feeling any pain? Are you strong? Do you want something? I can get anything for you."Gianni rolled his eyes. Yes, he rolled his eyes at me. Again."Come on, Alora, I'm not dying. I'm just a bit weak, but I'll sleep, and I'll get stronger when I wake up.""If you're weak again, you should eat something. Let me go get something for you, alright?""No, I won't eat now. I'll eat later. Let's just—"A knock on the
Dante's POVI strolled into the dungeon, a small smile on my face.They thought they had won. They thought we would never know. Unfortunately for them, it was too late.Luca, upon seeing me, smirked, making Carlos turn to me with a smug smile. They had been chatting as if they were in seventh heaven, not knowing what fate awaited them. Or maybe they knew, but they thought they would take my happiness away with it.Hell no."Nice to meet you again, guys. How are you coping in this beautiful place?" I asked as they dangled from the chains in the ceiling."We are enjoying it just fine, aren't we?" Carlos sneered. "Making funeral arrangements already?"They had no idea that we had caught Rosa yet, and it was going to be painfully exciting to watch them see her drown in the same way she had planned to drown Gianni. Fortunately, something had distracted her, and she left the bathroom. That was how—why—we met him still fine."Oh, no, no, no. Don't worry. There's no need for a funeral. Why sh
Alora's POVThe world was falling apart, and it was all my fault. I shouldn't have kept quiet. I should have said something. All of this would have been avoided if I hadn't been such a scaredy cat. Now lives were endangered, including Gianni's. The one person I swore to take care of.As we ran down towards Vittoria's room, as the cameras had shown us, my heart was almost beating louder than the numerous footsteps hitting hard on the floor.Since the kid hadn't placed cameras in people's rooms, well, private areas, none of us knew what we'd find there.It could be an unconscious boy. A badly beaten one or, worst-case scenario—a corpse.I would never forgive myself if he was killed because of my stupidity.My nerves spiked as we ran in. Dante kicked down the locked bathroom door and went inside. Marco held me back from following them.I was the nurse. I was the one who was supposed to go in first. I glared at him. He probably thought he was safe. Ha! There was no way I was going to keep
Dante's POVEver felt like your heart was going to be ripped out of your chest? Or that it was beating at 250 beats per minute? That was exactly how I felt as we ran down towards Gianni's room. I had been a fool.The signs were there, but I chose not to believe them. I should have been wiser. I am the Don, for goodness' sake. If anything happens to Gianni, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself.The moment we barged into the room, it was all chaos, making my mind buzz even more. Clothes were scattered around, his gaming instruments lay on the floor, and blood—so much blood that I couldn't comprehend what my eyes were seeing.Worst of all, there was no Gianni in sight."Gianni? Gianni?"Silence.Utter silence. Except for the noise from the corridor as everyone ran around, trying to spot him or the shooters, if they were still around."Gianni!"Alora's voice was shaky. When I looked at her, my heart clenched even more at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes. Marco stood beside he