|Luca|Everything was still the same. Although, there were some neat and beautiful touches on the flowers, lawns and the garden, it was pretty much the same way I had left the place. I left for Florida five year ago and permanently relocated there after setting up my horticulture company.Father saw my love for gardening as I grew up and he decided to groom it. I was the one that groomed the garden till I left the house permanently ten years ago to live on my own. It was just a regular garden for him but when I made some touches, planted some flowers and trees, and made all necessary touch ups, he would proudly flaunt it to his guests.“You have too delicate hands. I fear you might not be able to do this job,” he once expressed his concern one evening as we took a walk in the garden.He had always wanted me to take over the family’s business but I had no business with guns and using my brain vigorously. I just wanted to live and breathe with flowers. That was all I wanted and my fathe
|Irena|I didn’t let the strange visitor trample over me and just stood my ground even at gun point. Although I was scared, I didn’t let it get obvious. There was no way he would pull the trigger carelessly, he only wanted to scare me and I would never be generous enough to give him that satisfaction.Thankfully, Rocco walked in on the scene and a word from him got them shivering. He was the one they needed to call them to order. I disappeared from the scene with immediate effect, running to my room without bothering to find out who the visitor was.Finally, I found out from Abby that he was the elder brother of Rocco, who had left home for a while to pursue his own passion.“Isn’t he cool? How come he’s not interested in the family’s occupation? He’s a free bird,” I wowed when she told me, but she only scoffed“You should be glad that he’s not around. He’s always a pain in the ass. Seeing how he’s still quiet, I wonder what kind of trouble he will cause in the next few hours or minut
I couldn’t stop admiring the wrist band I got from Martins. It was a proof of my membership and also a token from a crush. I liked the way he flexes his muscles during training, his overall aura, and how gentle he was with me.During the training period, he was careful enough not to wound me and handled me with respect. He also made me understand some things about attacks and defense.It was fun packed.Rocco had a very packed schedule for the month so I had every freedom of going to the gym and coming back when I wanted. I didn’t even know that he was back that very afternoon. All I wanted to do was show off my gift to Abby.Since the steps were wide enough to not make me trip and I was already used to them, I just raced up without paying too much attention because I was drowned in the admiration of my wrist band. I didn’t know Rocco was at the upper end of the stairs.It was not a normal time for him to be at home. Never would anyone think he would be around at that moment. I looked
I didn’t know if I should just sleep there or leave the room. The whole house was silent, nobody was home. Even Bojana didn’t come back with him.“Why are you doing this to me?” I mumbled as I stared at his sleeping face. His features were well-defined. Everything about him was handsome and sharp. His nose was sharp and long, his lips were full and thick at a moderate size. Even his eyebrows were neatly arranged in a way that was extremely pleasing.“It feels like a dream, having you in my bed,” I added, continued staring for a while as I was tempted to steal a kiss, but kicked against it and decided to leave the bed before he woke up in the morning and let hell loose.As soon as I stood on my feet, a hand pulled me back to the bed and rolled me inside his huge embrace. In a great shock, I got dissolved and helpless in his arms. His eyes were not opened, but it seemed like he knew what he was doing.His musky wood scent filled my nostrils as I almost suffocated in his tight embrace,
|Rocco|I had missed her like crazy. I didn’t realize how much she had occupied my heart until Luca pointed it out. She had crept her way in, but I wasn’t sure if whatever I was feeling for her was love, or she was just rubbing on her because she had been by my side for quite a while.I brought her to my side because of her talent. Aside from her seeing ability that she claimed to have, which she had confirmed for me on two different occasions, she was also extra intelligent. Her background check showed that she was once a top student at her university where she was studying law before she dropped out of school, thanks to the lack of funds.I also dug into her mother. She had been behind bars for years and all Irena’s efforts to prove her innocence had been in vain. Something smelt quite fishy from the case, but I didn’t have any reason to dig deeper till further notice.“She has a way of making me think about her,” an inaudible mumble played on my lips as I smoked the stress away on
|Irena|My mouth parted open at his words. The warmness I experienced a few minutes ago evaporated into the thin air. His voice was cold and icy as he agreed with my take. I also didn’t understand why I was annoyed when he mentioned that I was his.“You and your stupid short temper! He didn’t mean it in a bad way,” I scolded myself, biting into my finger as I paced up and down.I felt so stupid for yelling at him that way and got hurt in return. I should have known that he would never let his ego get dragged in the mud. He was petty as well and admitted that we shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.A wave of my job’s realization hit me and I had to put the brawl aside. He just informed me that I would be working as his consigliere. I knew them to be people who settles dispute in the mafia family and also close business deals on their behalf.“Does that mean I will be going with him to meetings? I can’t do that. I will have to know other mafias and their families. I will have to study
It was wild. The bump was fucking crazy. I couldn’t control myself and jumped right into his arms since it was so unexpected. To my own uttermost surprise, he didn’t even react. He was as calm as ever.The suddenness left me shocked at his body even after the car balanced. A sheepish “Mi dispiace capo (I’m sorry Boss)” fell of the driver’s lips as he continued the journey, but I had yet to recover from the shock.Several thoughts ran through my mind in those few minutes. His rock hard and broad chest accommodated my small frame perfectly as I arched my back, pushing my chest right into him.My hand was solidly placed behind his head, pushing into the head of his seat. It was the reflex action of protecting myself from falling if the car happened to bump into another hole at that moment.His eyes slowly opened when my hot breath grazed his neck. The sharpness of his subtle mustache was visible, sticking right into my face. All the features I had seen from afar just a few seconds ago we
My right hand flew to the back in an attempt to attack whoever dragged me that way all of a sudden. The person was also skilled in martial arts because they kept blocking all my attacks. I used all the skills Martins taught me but they were a bit faster than me. That got me mad and persistent, I wanted to see their face so badly. “Who are you?” I hissed, twisting myself to face him and he resisted for a split second before leaving my shoulders and I got to turn and see Rocco standing behind me. I suspected that he was the one but since I wasn’t sure, I needed to be careful and fight back. I didn’t want to die in the hands of a stranger. “Why are you here?” my chest heaving as I tried to control my breath "Ssshhh,” his hand rose to his lips and several bullets rained at the other side of the room, in the hallway We both lied down with immediate effect, my chest thumping against the floor as I tried to figure out what was happening. He crawled to my side and fished out his gun by t
I just realized that we haven’t really discussed Auntie and who exactly she was. She got introduced to me by my mother, and I grew up relying on her when we moved to the town. She helped me so much and brought me to stay with her when my mother got arrested for murder.We didn’t have any situation or opportunity to talk deeper about her, and I had always felt too comfortable to be bothered by all that. All Auntie did in her entire life was cook. She would cook even on days when she was sick to the bones.There was a time she collapsed while cooking because she was doing it nonstop. The funniest thing was that there was no customer to eat all that she had cooked because it was midnight. I came out to have a glass of water and saw her cooking aggressively before she passed out.“You should have just taken it slow. Why were you cooking this hard?” I scolded her as I attended to her in her room“I have to prepare it for them. If not, they might stay hungry the entire year,” she groaned in
The stare of horror on their faces showed how scary my screams and dripping palms were. We all stood there looking at each other, my body trembling with hatred and disbelief. I couldn’t comprehend all that I had just watched. A head banging headache swept me off my feet as my chest rose and fell.Before I knew it, I was on the floor with dim eyes. My body couldn’t bear the weight of oppression from my emotions. I had broken down once again.“Let’s help her up! Irena!” Auntie’s scream barely kept me awake before I passed out finally.I woke up to the fluid being passed in my body and saw the same doctor that treated Rocco during the first gunshot standing close to the door and discussing with the men. I couldn’t hear what they were discussing, and I wasn’t even in the right frame of mind to eavesdrop.“We will talk more about it when she wakes up,” was another line I heard before I slept off again.I woke up to see everyone having dinner, and they all rushed to my side when they saw me
|Irena|I realized they were trying to distract us as I cried in the morgue. My mother’s body was filled with several marks that had come from bullying and torturing. It was then it dawned on me that all those bruises I saw when I last visited her were from the maltreatment she had been facing in the correctional center.“What a foolish daughter I am. I didn’t even think deeply into what the bruises could mean. How did I end up believing that she only tripped and wounded herself?” several thoughts filled my mind as we headed to the center to get the rest of her thingRocco held me in his arms as Paul drove the car silently to the location. His soft but huge arms were rubbing my shoulder to keep me calm, but I had so much going on in my head even though my mouth was not moving.The guards at the center were taking longer than usual to attend to my request until Rocco stepped in. I had previously told him to wait for me in the car while I go alone to get her things but when I saw that t
“We have to move faster than their investigations. We have done a lot to keep this buried for years. They cannot just come to ruin all our hard work at this point,” one of the men sitting at a round table with sushi and several sashimi dishes glaring at them.“That’s why we have been taking them out one after the other. We cannot allow any loophole in this operation. One of our men is on the way to give us the report on the progress of the operation,” another responded, reaching for his cup for a drinkThe other men released a uniform groan as they released their ties, buttering their frustrations. They had all been unsettled ever since Irena found the files they had been searching for all year. They had turned the house upside down over and over but none of them could find where her mother kept it.“We already concluded that she didn’t have the file. I don’t understand how that bitch managed to hide the file till her daughter found it. We even had the inmates bully and beat her just
|Irena|I couldn’t believe all that I had just heard. My head tried to process it over and over but it felt like it would explode if I thought about it too much. What in the world happened to Rocco? How did he manage to stay calm in all of that? What was the reason behind him keeping quiet and holding back for so long? I had millions of questions running through my head but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him any.“You smart fool!” those were the only words that flew out of my mouth softly. I couldn’t begin to imagine the pain he had been enduringThe day I showed him the picture of my father, his father was also there. How did he not react? Why did he not explain to me and bore the hatred from me? I had hurt him with my words and actions but he never for once tried to bail himself out.“Why did you not tell me? Why did you not point it out that your father was also a victim of Bruno? How did you even manage to stay in that hell and pretend as if nothing was happening?” my tears flowed
It was around the fourth year of my stay in Italy. At that time, I had bonded with everyone in the villa and became a legal member of the family. My father had started taking me to meetings and made me handle some of his tasks because of how good I was.I couldn’t hide my extreme hatred and disgust at first. It was too hard to pretend. The person that killed my mother was the one I had been adoring, worshipping, and calling father all these while. No doubt, he was also the one that killed my father. He ruined me and my family and also had the nerve to play on my memory.“Is something wrong? You haven’t said anything much or even trained for days ever since you woke up. Are you mad at me for hitting your head on the pole?”Bojana couldn’t stop feeling bad because she thought my attitude changed due to the incident but after assuring her that the accident was not the issue and that I just needed some time to myself, she decided to let me be till I would come around by myself.It took me
Of course, he was happy at the proposal but he was also someone else’s slave so the uncertainty of his master releasing him was the biggest obstacle.“Thank you..” His eyes lit up with happiness; everyone could tell that the offer gladdened his heart so there was no way he could even turn down the offer or say he wasn’t pleased with it“Once again, thank you for the offer but.. I don’t know… I am” his stuttering got in the line of his statement as he hesitatedHe didn’t want to upset both his master and his new savior. Thankfully, the person he saved already knew what the problem was so he came to the rescue“What? Are you afraid of your master? Do you think he won’t let you go?” he asked and Kovac nodded immediatelyHe had just said what was bothering him and with the look of things, it seemed like the Savior already thought of it too and how he would handle it.The man’s huge hands brushed his hair slightly in adoration as his lips curled into a smile for the first time he had ever
He woke up to find the ship fighting for balance in the middle of the sea and after a slight interrogation from two people, he found out that the ship had been sailing for almost a full day and he had been out the whole time.Rushing to the other side of the ship, he tried checking everywhere to see if there would be any face he could recognize but no one seemed familiar until he ran into one of the men that came to Mateha’s house. If he had his memories intact, he would have bolted from the scene before the man saw him, but unfortunately, he got captured before he could even say a word and was locked in the storage for the rest of the day without any food or water.The second day, he was dragged out by one of the hefty men, with his face looking like an overgrown garden because of the multitude of beards attached to his chin. His head was long and high in the center, making everything about his visuals traumatizing.“You think you can go anywhere? We own you now! We are your boss!” h
They marched back into the town and were led by the boy in the hood who knew Marko’s house. Unknown to them, Andrej had told his wife that if he doesn’t come back within the hours of one and two in the morning, she should flee with her son, Kovac.“I think something must have happened; we need to escape right now,” she tapped Irena’s mom, who had dozed off while waiting with her.They didn’t waste any time and rushed up to pack after waking the kids. Thanks to Kovac’s mom, they were able to escape before Bruno’s men came to the house.“Find them! Don’t ever let them get away!” His voice trembled with every word that came out of them as he gulped down the alcohol from the bottle in his hand every minute.They searched for them but couldn’t find them until they had to withdraw at daybreak. Unknown to them, they were hiding at the grandma’s house till the coast was clear. Early at dawn, they rushed to the dock, Marko told them, and took the first boat to Kovac’s town, where they settled