~MARIO~ "Gia? Hello? Fuck!" I punched the air when I could no longer find her on the line. She hung up the call on me before she could tell me where she was. "Did you get anything?" I asked Marco, who was trying to trace Gia's location through the call. He shrugged and answered, "I couldn't get her location. It looks like she used a banner phone." "She called me with her damn phone, Marco!" I snapped. I was frustrated that we couldn't find her location. Elio's whereabouts couldn't be detected, even though the call that Andrea made to him was a bit long. "My brother is a very smart guy. He could be anywhere," Andrea answered. Not helping at all. We needed to find the guy's location. "We need to try harder -" I got cut off by my cell phone ringing. I picked it up because I wanted to hear if the truck that I took from Bruno was not detected by the police and searched when heading out of Italy. "Yes, talk to me," I answered. "We've arrived at the destination, boss." "Yes,
~MARIO~ The jail I was sent into was by far the worst unhygienic and inhumane one I had ever been into. My first night there was so horrible. There were cockroaches everywhere. Some were even crawling up on me while I was sleeping. Mosquitoes bit me all night. It was torture that never allowed me time to think of my next plan. The windows were open and could not be closed. The night cold breeze made sleep impossible for me. I kept tossing and turning on the little mattress that I was provided to sleep on. The blanket could not even do me any good as it had holes and was not warm. It was so ironic how I was in such a place that was similar to my dungeons. The realization of it broke me to my core. I was certainly sure that Gia was happy wherever she was. She finally got revenge for the death of her parents, and that of Anna I shot in front of her. She might have been rejoicing with Elio that I was looking at a life sentence in here. I wanted to curse the day I met G
~GIA~ "You had a miscarriage," Sofia said. "What did you just say?" I asked her. That couldn't be. I didn't even know that I was pregnant to be told now that I had lost the baby. "You had a miscarriage, the doctor said that -" I interjected before she could finish her sentence, "I am pregnant?" "You were, and then you lost the baby," she answered. Ignoring my question altogether. "Am I pregnant?" I asked again. "You were, Gia, and then you lost the baby," she replied. I didn't want to believe her. If I was pregnant and then lost it, I would have known. But there were no signs that I had lost the baby. They were wrong. This baby was all that Mario and I would need to mend our relationship. It was the only way for me to make up for betraying him when he wanted to avenge his unborn child for being killed. I was the only person who could determine that I was pregnant and had lost the baby because this was my body that we were talking about. If it meant us running a
~GIA~ "Gia. It's Mario," he said on the other end of the line. "Mario?" I said as I quickly sat up on the bed. My heart raced. I wondered if he was out and on his way home. I wondered why he called me and if he missed me as well. I wondered a lot of things, hoping and praying in my heart that he had forgiven me. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked. "Yes, I'm fine. I feel so much better now," I answered. A smile formed on my face. "Andrea told me about the pregnancy," he sounded sad. "I didn't lose the baby, Mario," I assured him. "He told me that the doctor confirmed that you miscarried, Gia," he protested. Andrea honestly had no right to discuss my pregnancy with Mario. He had no right to discourage him from us being the family that he always wanted to have. He was supposed to keep quiet about this until it was confirmed that I truly lost the baby, which I did not lose. I was still pregnant, and that doctor was wrong. "I did not miscarry our baby, Mario. I took pregna
~MARIO~ "Are you sure that she lost the baby, Andrea?" I asked him as we crawled down under the tunnel from the bathroom that led outside of the prison premises to the woods. "I'm positive. I was there when the doctor confirmed it with a scan," he answered as he crawled behind me. Marco found the bathroom tunnel through a foundation sketch of the prison that he found on the internet. We had to walk over bathroom water, feces, and pee to go through to the other end of the tunnel. It was so dark, but we had to keep moving and not stop because of anything that moved under the water. "She thinks that she's still pregnant," I replied to him. I was worried about Gia. Wondering how she was feeling and why she would insist that she was still pregnant when she was diagnosed that she lost the baby. But that didn't matter. She was out of her coma, and I wanted to be there for her until she got through the loss of our baby. "It's not surprising that she would think that. Finding o
~MARIO~ A few hours later, we arrived at our destination, and Marco's private jet was waiting for us in the countryside. It was so hard for me to get inside it and leave. I thought of Andrea's body. If it was going to decompose in the woods and get eaten by wild animals. If I was not on the run, I would have insisted that we go back for his body and get him a proper burial at home. I wanted him to rest knowing that he was going to have his grave visited every other month or so. "Are you ready to go?" Marco asked me as I stood over the hill, looking over the woods that covered the prison's view. I thought of how my life almost ended there, but Andrea came for me. For the millionth time, even though I was now doubting his loyalty, he came for me. He didn't give up on me even though I almost killed him in that electric chair. No one was going to have my back more than he had mine. No one was going to save my life more than he had. He was gone now when I needed him th
~MARIO~ It has finally been 6 months since I married Gia. Her father's company was legally hers, and I planned to take it and make it mine. I was going to make a deal with her in exchange for her company. I called her family's lawyer for Gia to sign the necessary papers for the company to be in her name. She agreed, and there were no hustles when it came to that arrangement. "So, you are married to Mario Montez, Gia?" The lawyer asked, looking sternly at Gia through his eyeglasses, trying to make sure that I was not holding her against her will to claim the company as my own. He wanted to spot any discomfort from her that would prove that she was forced to be at the meeting. "Yes, we are married," she answered with a smile. "Do you understand that your husband will have a 50% share of the company?" "I understand completely," she answered. "Do you understand that at the time of your death, he will have a 100% share of the company?" She looked at me and answered, "I und
~GIA~ Two days later, Mario bought me a house in Milan. It was a small, modern apartment that I fell in love with instantly. He also bought me a car and gave me a great start to my new life as a free woman. He also bought me furniture and insisted that I don't use the cheques that he gave me. Sofia begged to come with me, but Mario did not approve because he wanted to cut all ties with me. He also made me change my cell phone and lose all the contacts that I could use to get hold of him. He told me not to think of them again. To move on with my life and be happy. He promised that he was going to take care of Arianna and continue with the reading practices that I did with her. Well, my transition in Milan was not that bad. I registered myself for an online course and befriended an old lady who lived opposite my apartment. She was such a nice lady and made my life there adjustable. A few days later, I was used to living on my own. I had my morning coffee at this new
~GIA~ A week later. I was asleep in my bed, still mad at Mario, for carelessly ordering his man to kill someone else when I thought that he had changed. I didn't want to utter a single word to him even after we moved to the new house. When I heard a door knock early this morning, I groaned, sat up on my bed, and told the person outside to come in. It was Mario. "I hope I didn't wake you up." He said when our eyes met. I didn't want to pay attention to the pace of my heartbeat. So, instead, I looked him in the eye and pretended that I was still mad at him. Seeing him did not make me want to jump out of bed and bury my face in his neck, and let him kiss me until we were both out of breath and lusting for one another. "No. But what do you want? Are you here to ask me when I am leaving your house?" I folded my arms across my chest. "No. I am here to give you this," he came forward and handed me a document. 'Conti Logistics' was boldly written on top of the document. I to
~GIA~ I woke up from Mario's chest and looked at him sleeping. He looked so peaceful and beautiful. I remembered the first night we spent together, and I could not get over how peaceful he looked when he looked angry and annoyed almost all the time. I wanted to touch his face and lean up and kiss him. "Why are you not sleeping?" I almost jumped out of the bed when he asked me. He startled me. "Why are you spying on me? I thought you were sleeping." I got off the bed and put on my gown. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back to the bed. "Where are you going?" He asked. I giggled. "I'm going to bathe and then go and check up on Bella." "I didn't hear Sofia complain that Bella needs you to check up on her," he kissed my neck. "I'm sure she misses me and trying to be a good girl to Sofia!" I giggled while Mario turned me on with his neck kisses. "Then let them bond!" He stripped off my gown, covered us inside the sheets, and then whispered. "I have plenty of surprises fo
~MARIO~ "Where is she?" Gia asked beside me. "We will find her," I took her hands, trying to get her to calm down and not panic. "Someone took Bella, Mario! What are we going to do?!" Her eyes looked terrified and were filled with tears. "I need you to trust me. She's still in the house," I answered her. "Is it Charlotte? Is she back?" She cried. I kissed her forehead. "She's not going to take Bella from us, okay?" She gave me the tiniest of nods. I turned towards the door and ran down the stairs and was stunned when I saw a woman holding my baby in the living room. The guards had guns on their heads. We were surrounded by Charlotte and her men. I could only wonder how she was able to get inside the house and hold all my guards at gunpoint. "Charlotte," I said her name as I walked slowly to where she was sitting with Bella in her arms. She chuckled when I said her name. "Surprise, surprise, Mario. I told you we would meet." I walked closer to her. Bella was sound
~GIA~ I was up all night. Contemplating the idea of going back to Mario. It sounded absurd that I came all this way to keep Bella and me safe, and yet, I found myself wondering every single minute if it was the right thing for me to do. I didn't want to keep Bella away from her father, even though that meant keeping her safe. I wanted him there. I wanted him there with me. It bugged me every single day that we were miles away. And so, I needed to make a choice. To leave Milan and go back to him. "Well, after everything you've told me about your baby daddy, I think you should stay as far away from him as possible. For Bella's sake, of course," Aurora voiced out her opinion after I ran to her to ask for her advice. But I knew that was just going to be impossible. I loved Mario. I didn't know why or how, but I fell in love with him and could no longer be far away from him. It felt like I was being torn from the inside when I had to imagine my life without him. "He needs to
~MARIO~ "I will give you 48 hours to get here, or I will kill the last of the men you sent to take my daughters away," she answered. I was about to speak when she hung up the call on me. "FUCK!" I snapped and punched the steering wheel. I slipped my cell phone inside my pocket and thought of what to do for a second. It was true that Charlotte had outplayed us. We underestimated her, and now, we had lost men to her. Andries was one of my best men, so I had to find a way to save him. But first, I had to go and get Gia. Without thinking or hesitating, I pushed the key into the ignition and drove to Milan. I didn't know where or how I was going to find Gia, but I knew in my heart that I could not go any longer without her. It was a long and tiring road trip to Milan. I was alone in the car and just thinking about how I was going to feel to see her and our baby. I was, of course, going to be mad at her for leaving without thinking that I had every right as she had to be
~MARIO~ "Did you find the kids?" I asked on the phone. I was talking with Andries. "Yes. But we have a problem," he stated. I sighed. "What kind of a problem?" "We are going to be outnumbered. There are so many guards here than we estimated," he explained. Of course. We should have known that. They were Charlotte's kids, and she would place the kids' safety first, considering that she knew that we were after her and knew who she was. "I will send more men to you. We need those kids by the end of the day," I provided a solution. "Yes, boss," Andrea answered. I hung up the call and turned to Marco. "What do we do now? We need more men. Andries and his guys are outnumbered," I folded my arms across my chest. Marco sighed and scratched his head. "I see. Okay... I guess I will have to talk with Vince and see if he won't be able to organize about 30 men to join Andries. What do you think?" Well, it was better than less than 30. "That's a great number," I bit my lower lip, try
~GIA~ No one told me that my whole life would have such dramatic events. I wished that my parents had told me how life out there was. I was always cooped up in the house because it was not safe. My father believed that there were people out there who were after him and would use me to hurt him. Of course, I loved my father so much and could not imagine him being hurt all because I wanted to be a part of the real world and go to school like every normal kid did. Besides, I was fond of my home-school teacher. She made it easy for me. I was able to use my wild imagination and see myself in a real school. With kids and making friends, having a silly crush on a boy who was not interested in me, but in my friend. It helped to imagine those scenarios because I felt like I was not kept away from the real world. My teacher would always bring pictures of people in the mall, movies, and dates. It was that bad for me. Talking about being the daughter of a serial assassin. But my ho
~MARIO~ "Boss, Gia ran away," Dante said after I answered his call in the morning. "What?" I sat up straight on the bed. "She left a note that she was going to give Bella a better future elsewhere. Away from all the chaos going on," he explained. I sighed. Shocked. I was relieved at the same time that she was not kidnapped. I thought that Charlotte had taken her away. "Thank you for the heads up, Dante," I answered him and then hung up. I threw myself on the bed and released a sigh. "Do you need me to take away all the tension, Daddy?" The hooker next to me asked. I had forgotten that I bought one last night when I went to the club to clear my mind. I looked at her, smirked, and pushed her head underneath the sheets to my dick. I wanted her to suck it until I released myself inside her mouth. She giggled when her mouth finally met with my dick. When she started working her mouth around it, I groaned. She was so good. "You taste so good, Daddy," she gagged on it. I
~GIA~ Two months later, there was still no word about Charlotte. Dante tried to keep us out of every detail about her until he was able to confirm with Mario that she was gone. For good. Mario sent Dante money every other week to buy us groceries and to also take us shopping. During those two months, he did not come to see his daughter because he was trying to protect her and keep Charlotte from finding out where we were. I didn't complain. I thought and believed that Mario and I were better off without each other. We only brought out the worst in each other and put each other in danger. If we were going to reconcile, Bella would be caught in the middle and get hurt. And that was not what we both wanted. “Are you okay, Gia?” Debbie asked in the car. We were on our way to shopping. I smiled. “Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking that Bella would be 2 months old tomorrow.” She squealed. “We should definitely have a little photo shoot today,” she looked at the rear mirror a