ANTONIO.I made a promise to her, and I had every intention of keeping it. Not just for her, but also for our son, Carlo. He deserved to grow up with his mother, and with the impending war between the Romanos and the Petrovs, there was every possible chance that she’d lose her life if she became part of the Romano family.After leaving Rosalinda’s room, I made my way to Carlo’s room to visit him; unfortunately, he was sleeping when I arrived. But I didn’t leave immediately. I couldn’t resist staring at him, a soothing warmth filling my heart. I had always liked him, but that feeling doubled after discovering that he was my blood and flesh. I never knew what it felt like to have a son, and that feeling was still new to me. But one thing was sure: It was the best feeling ever. And as I continued staring at him with love, I knew I'd do anything to protect him—my sweet little boy.After a few minutes of contemplative observation, I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his forehead before l
ROSALINDA. I was seated on the front porch, gazing at nothingness and deep in thought, when Papà’s car pulled up in the driveway, grasping my attention. He scrambled out of the car and walked hastily towards the front door. Noticing his disheveled appearance, my eyes widened, and I jumped full steam on the worry train.He looked like a total mess—clothes were stained with dust and debris, hair disheveled, and skin covered in soot. What the hell happened?!Without hesitation, I jumped to my feet and inched closer to him. “Papà.” I called, concerned, as my eyes travelled all over his body. “What happened?" He opened his mouth to talk, but his words died on his lips when the sound of a car revving distracted him. We both drifted our gazes to the source of the noise, and my eyes squinted when I saw Antonio slipping out of his car. He was here earlier; what was he doing here again?“Holy shit!” Antonio took a sudden pause, his eyes roaming over Papà, when he noticed the state he was in.
ROSALINDA. Reliving the mesmerising kiss with Antonio was something I couldn’t stop doing. Once our lips connected, everything else ceased to matter. I didn’t even know what I was doing until the kiss ended—the deep, long kiss punctuated with our shared breaths and occasional gasps. We had crossed a line. And as much as I tried convincing myself that he wasn’t engaged to Sofia anymore, the guilt of kissing him still clung tightly to my chest. But did I regret kissing him? A smile curled on my lips as the sweet memory of the kiss flooded my head for the hundredth time today. “You’ve been smiling from ear to ear. Did something good happen?” Sofia asked, cutting through my torrents of thoughts. I shook my head slightly as I turned to look at her. “I’m just excited to see the baby.” I lied. Sofia, Matteo, and I were at the hospital. We accompanied her for her first pregnancy ultrasound. The baby was sixteen weeks old. Apparently, Sofia had been pregnant even before the failed weddi
ROSALINDA.“Do you even care about my life at all?" I asked Papà, deciding to confront him.“What do you mean?” He questioned me, studying my face as if awaiting a solution to a puzzle.Taking a step forward, I enlightened him. “I know about your plan to sign an agreement with the Romanos.”His forehead creased into multiple lines, and before he could speak, I continued. "Papà, he’s at war with a Russian family, and they blew up his car right in your presence. Yet, here you are, still willing to sell me off to that family. Did you ever love me?”“Who told you that? I can’t remember telling you about a marriage alliance with the Romanos. Who told you that?” He questioned, tilting his head to the side.“Uhm…” I trailed off, scratching the back of my head. Marco was the one who told me before Antonio confirmed it, and I couldn’t let Papà know about my encounter with Marco, as telling him would lead to more questions.Questions that I couldn’t answer.“Who told you?“ he repeated authorita
ROSALINDA.“Calm down.” Antonio said from the other end of the line. That was one thing I was incapable of doing at that moment, until I knew why he had Ruby’s phone and if she was safe.“Why are you on Ruby’s phone?" I impatiently questioned.He sighed. “Ruby got into an accident, and I followed the ambulance to the hospital.”My stomach twisted unpleasantly as fear began to crawl up my spine. I desperately hoped Ruby was okay.“Which hospital?” I asked urgently.“You don’t have to worry; she’s stable. Just stay at home and—““Which hospital?” I insisted, cutting him off. I was extremely worried already, and he had no right to tell me what to do.After he revealed the hospital, I sneaked out of the house and rushed down there, not before narrowly escaping being caught by one of Papà’s men.Antonio was patrolling in the hospital corridor when I got there, and a wave of emotions washed over me the second I sighted him. Above all those emotions was fury. “Where is she?” I demanded as I
ROSALINDA.Everything happened in a blur. From the moment Antonio pushed me into the back seat to when he jumped inside the car and started driving. It all felt like a dream. I couldn’t understand what was going on.“Get down and hold onto something tightly.” Antonio growled as he slammed his leg on the gas and started speeding.I turned back to see a car following us with speed, and the fear already flooding through my body intensified.“Rosalinda I said, Get down!” He yelled.He kept moving at a dangerously high speed, sprinting past all the cars on the highway. Suddenly, gunshots started flying towards the car, violently piercing through the glasses.“Who are they? What do they want?” I yelled, my heart pounding so loudly that I could hear it.“I am as clueless as you are. I don’t know who they are.” Antonio replied as he swerved frantically, trying to dodge the bullets. The more he tried to dodge them, the more they came piercing through.Antonio kept driving really fast, barging
ROSALINDA.I had been anxiously waiting for a call or anything that'd assure me that Antonio was okay. I was crazily worried about him. He should have just kept driving and gotten us both to safety. But he didn't. Instead, he stupidly chose to stay back and fight them.He was a skilled Mafia boss, and I had no doubt that he would be able to fight them all by himself. But anything could go wrong, and that was what I was worried about.I wondered who the attackers were and what they wanted. Panic surged through me when my mind went to Diego Romano. What if he found out about Antonio’s atrocity and decided to retaliate?“No. no. no.” I repeated, vehemently shaking my head. It couldn't be.Antonio would be screwed if Diego Romano ever found out. A feud will begin, and lots of lives will be lost. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that ever happened, because every single life lost would be on my head. He blew up his car just to protect me. I still wondered why he went to such an ext
ROSALINDA.Papà was skimming through a file when we entered his office. The second he saw us, he set it aside, focusing his attention on us.“My lovely daughters.” He beamed, a face-splitting grin tugging his lips apart, surprising us.Sofia and I flicked our gazes at each other, confusion roaming our features, before returning our gazes to Papà.He had been stern with us since the whole pregnancy and Oliver issue. So, seeing him talk to us cheerfully was quite surprising and suspicious.“You asked for us.” I muttered, approaching his desk.“Yes, I did.” He leapt to his feet and walked around his desk, stopping before us.“Rosalinda, Sofia.” He continued, darting his gaze between us. “I know I’ve not been the best father. Looking back at what happened, I realised I should have handled things differently.”Sofia and I looked at each other once again, our confusion deepening. Those were the last words I had expected to slip off Papà’s lips.“What? Are you dying?” Sofia was the first to