Alma’S POV It was another day, and Zaverio’s laboured breath fanned my neck as I let my tired legs drop from his waist. We were on the floor in his study, not completely naked, but had just finished having sex. It was harder to meet up due to the paranoia I was experiencing. The house was a station of gossip, and I kept my ears glued to the wall, trying to pick up pieces of information. No one was talking about the little affair I was having with Zaverio. They were more interested in my fight with Nadine. It hadn’t been a public fight, but anyone could feel the heated tension between us whenever we were in the same space. Nadine had kept to herself after our exchange, barely sparing me a glance. It hurt more than I would ever admit; she had always been my safe space, and I realized how selfish I was to ever think she would throw herself into Zaverio’s arms. I had practised my apology a million times in my head, but whenever I saw her, the words evaporated. She had also asked
ALMA’S POV “How’s Mrs. Riccardo?” I asked Zaverio, buttoning his shirt. Our morning routine consisted of us showering together in my room, and we would get ready for the day together. He always insisted I helped him with his shirts or tie. I never admitted to him that the little ritual soothed my nerves.Recently, I’d been feeling sick every morning, and I knew it was the anxiety eating its way to the forefront of my mind. I had also kept my eyes on Elaine, and anyone who looked suspicious.That strategy didn’t work well, because I retired every night with a pounding headache, and the intense need to throw up every morning. The feeling eased after I had breakfast, but returned every time I felt anyone staring at me.Zaverio supported me silently which eased a little of the overwhelming emotions that’s had been clogging my chest. I didn’t know what to do with myself, I was all over the place, trying to keep our love a well hidden secret and also do my job properly.“You’re overthink
Alma's Pov“These tests have to be wrong.” My hands trembled and I gripped the bathroom sink, staring blankly at the pregnancy tests scattered on the surface. Nadine had snuck out to buy a few for me.I had peed on everything, because I was in deep disbelief. There was no way I was pregnant. “It’s impossible.”My heart skipped numerous beats. Nadine snorted, fishing out another pack. “Would you like to pee on these too? It’s not impossible for you to be pregnant, honey.”“How is that even possible?” I knew I was asking the same questions, my brain hadn’t clicked on to reality and I felt like I was in a loop.“I feel like you’re asking the wrong questions.” Nadine picked up the tests I’d used with a tissue, and placed them into one of the empty box. “Pregnancy tests might lie once or twice, but seven sticks saying positive? It’s unlikely to be negative.”I snatched a new stick, and bent over the toilet seat. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do? What do people usually do in this situ
ZAVERIO’S POV“Who’s got your panties in a twist?” Von asked from the driver’s seat. I looked up from the cigarette I’d been staring at and found him watching me through the rearview mirror.“What makes you think my pants are in a twist?” I flicked the lit butt end of the cigarette, enjoying the brief burn.“You’re moody, you’ve barely smoked any cigarettes and you haven’t ordered me to kill anyone in a week,” Von revealed. I laughed, tossing the stick out of the open window. We were staking the house of the man-boy that had wanted to take over my club, we had had the pleasure of meeting, and I saw a future with him.“I don’t order you to kill people every Thursday, Von. You’re talking about it like this is taco bell or something. There’s nothing bothering me. Is anything wrong if I want some peace and quiet to stake someone’s house?”“Exactly my point.” Von took a huge bite of his mega sized burger. “Why the fuck are you here? You took the place of the new recruit and offered to foll
ZAVERIO’S POVI growled from my position, covering my head with my arm from the glass flying everywhere. I unlocked the car door facing away from the chaos and stumbled out, sitting with my back to the tire.The shooting stopped and I chanced a look at the driver’s seat, cursing under my breath when I saw Von slumped over the steering wheel. He was bleeding profusely from his head.The two men who I had seen hanging around were the ones opening heavy attack on us. There were reloading their guns, which gave me ample time to drag Von across the seat so he was lying down.I lay on the ground when they started shooting again, dipping my hand into my pants to bring out my gun. I barely used the glinting metal, more comfortable with knifes and anything else that had a handle.I aimed for a feet from under the vehicle, and pulled the trigger. I pulled the trigger again when he fell, putting a bullet into his head. I jumped to my feet, aiming above the car at the last man.He noticed me too
ZAVERIO’S POV“Yesterday we got attacked by two men from Don Favelo’s gang, Von got shot four times in the abdomen, and another grazed his skull.” I addressed my men, letting my words sink in. “He is currently at Dr. Hassan’s; I want five men who will volunteer to stand guard.”More than five hands went up and my heart swelled with pride. “I’ll choose from all of you later, tonight is a night for another agenda. I want Don Favelo to understand he messed with the wrong person.”They all yelled, banging their fists on whatever they could get their hands on. “We will go to war tonight, but I cannot guarantee the safety of anyone. I’d rather you got caught by the police than caught a bullet that killed you.”“Anywhere you go we go boss.” One of the recruits yelled, inciting the others. The recruits were more eager than others to head into war. There were no war virgins in my gang. Everyone standing before me had taken a life, intentionally or otherwise.“Alvaro will be joining us, he is a
ZAVERIO’S POV“Have a seat.” I told Alvaro when we walked into my office, now was the best time for the meeting he wanted. I didn’t want him to think I went back on my word. I knew what he wanted to say, and the least I could do was listen to him.Alvaro took a good look around my office before he sat. “I don’t think I’ll ever be a sit behind the desk guy.”I smiled, pouring two cups of whiskey, offering him one. “You’ll say that now, because you’re still thrilled by the life in the streets. It’s invigorating to have men turn up for you at any time and reach for a gun when someone moves funny.”“My father worked for Favelo, and he could barely keep us afloat. I hated how loyal he was to him, even when it was glaringly obvious he was getting cheated every day.”“This war was personal for you too.” I raised my glass, “What happened with your father?”Alvaro’s face darkened with the kind of pain I was familiar with. “He got shot one day on his way back home. A bullet to the back of the h
ZAVERIO’S POV“My coffee is cold.” Dr. Hassan grumbled, looking at me over his glasses. “You should treat me right because of my age, boy; nobody wants cold snacks or cold coffee.”“You live in the middle of nowhere Dr. Hassan, I can’t bring in anything hot for you. Have you considered living close by like a normal human being? What if there’s an emergency and I need to get to you?”He licked the sugar dusting his fingers, “The only emergency knocking on my door is you or one of your boys. How about you stay away from bullets? Nobody is going to come out here to shoot me.”“Not even your ex-wife?” I smiled, remembering the robust woman who had died a few years back. Everyone thought Dr. Hassan would close down his practice, but he buried his grief and pushed on. He had our unwavering loyalty for that.“Aliya is the only woman I know who would shoot herself in the foot if she held a gun.” Dr. Hassan’s face lifted when he smiled, showing the rugged handsomeness he had in his younger day
ZAVERIO’S POVDespite my selfish wishes, I couldn’t keep this news from Alma. She and her mother needed to know Lucas Diablo had been playing for their side. I hated the air of importance around the man but it wasn’t my business to like him.“Hi” I spoke softly into the phone when Alma picked up, I would understand if she was angry with me, I always fucked things up.“I want to say I’m surprised you finally called but honestly I’m relieved, how has it been back there.”“Quiet.” I smiled when my fingers played with the papers on my desk. “I’m not used to quiet in my world, and I keep waiting for the second pin to drop. It’s a war zone out here on a daily basis so peace makes us skittish.”“I can tell.” I heard her shuffle in the background and I knew she was getting comfortable; my call probably came in when she was getting ready for bed. “How’s my angel? I would have called earlier but I didn’t know which lines were secure and because I am a coward.”“The first one I agree with but t
ZAVERIO’S POVVon and I were dressed for a fight, unlike the last time when we were there for information. I didn’t care who knew who I was, it was better that they knew. Alvaro was managing the turf but it was mine and they were under my control, if anyone was moving funny, I wanted to know who.“Is the plan to go in there guns blazing? I haven’t shot at anyone in a while so it’s going to be sketchy.”I laughed, slapping von on the back. “As long as you don’t shoot yourself, I can’t explain that to your wife. If we get what we need then we won’t need to shoot anyone.”“Are you sure this is our guy?” Von rechecked the gun he picked, if it was jammed, it wasn’t going to be any use and I couldn’t cover for two people if we got into a pinch.“No idea, but you know how coincidences don’t fit into our world. A few weeks ago we heard of a certain someone who has been keeping tabs on Alma, and now there’s a certain someone who we’ve met before.”“I always wondered why he helped us with Alvar
ALMA’S POVIt wasn’t possible, there was no way Martha was the shooter. I refused to believe it because believing it meant I had slept under the same roof with someone that could have killed me any time.“What do we know about her?” Ava seemed unbothered by the discovery, almost relieved that she had something to chase. “She doesn’t look like she belongs to any of the gangs around here, she’s old enough that I would have noticed her if she was someone of importance.”“She could be a hired mercenary” Big Mac waved the tech away, and he happily skipped out of the room, holding his laptop tight. “There are people who still want to pick a fight with you.”Ava sniffed. “Anyone who would have been a threat to me was taken of years ago, and if there was anyone in the streets who thought differently, word would have gotten to me first before she had a chance to put a bullet inside me.”He sighed, rubbing his abundant beards. “I can ask lanky to check her out, it’ll take a while but not the wh
ALMA’S POV“The men I sent to the house didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and the shop is empty and untouched. Martha wasn’t snatched from your home or the shop, so I’ll have to dig deeper and ask some people a few questions.”I nodded, half listening to what my mother was saying. I was riddled with guilt over the fact that Martha was missing, she could be anywhere with anyone who wanted to hurt me or use me to get to my mother.The endless circle of looking over my shoulders even when I hadn’t left the house was exhausting to say the least. If I had somehow dragged Martha into my family’s mess, I would never forgive myself.“You don’t have to get too worried about it, Alma. I can’t promise that nothing will happen to her because we don’t know who has her, but I can promise to bring her back safely when we find out who does.”“What if she’s dead and we’re running in circles chasing our tail.” That question hung heavily in my mind; I lost sleep thinking of Martha drowning or gett
GIO’S POVI watched the way her fingers tightened around the steering wheel and I feared she would rip it off. Her question hung in the air like a harsh noise, and I opened my mouth to answer several times but the words died in my throat.“Is this a new way to throw someone off, you send them to get breakfast and then go on a date with someone else?” Rose flexed her fingers again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”“I was going to tell you and it wasn’t a date.” The words didn’t sound believable to my own ears. “It’s not what you think I promise, I would never try to get rid of you like that.”“You’re saying what you’re saying but I saw something else, I waited outside that fucking restaurant for hours Gio with my phone in my hand, you couldn’t even shoot me a sympathy text?”I closed my eyes, “I was going to text you I swear, I calculated the time it would take you- Look, I didn’t want to you to get home and panic when you couldn’t find me but I didn’t want to be rude.”Rose nodded. “Right, y
GIO’S POV Rose and I were passing a bowl of popcorn while we watched a re-run of Grey’s Anatomy in the living room. We had been holed up in this space for almost three days; it would be obvious to anyone who walked in that we were in our honeymoon phase. I smelt like her and she smelt like sin. Rose was right when she said I was the initiator in this relationship. I had never doubted my stamina but with Rose, I knew that was a battle I was never going to win. She was always ready when I reached for her, and she fucked me so good, it made me crave more like a sex junkie. Rose had turned me into a sex addict and it wasn’t even up to a week. “Do you think they are going to wrap up this series one day?” Rose asked around a mouth filled with popcorn. “Do you know when the world is going to end? If you do then maybe when the world is ending, because Grey’s Anatomy is going to be here until all the current actors die and they recruit new ones.” Rose chuckled. “I love popcorn and y
GIO’S POVI uncrossed and crossed my leg for the fifth time, trying to focus on the file I was supposed to be reading. My subordinates were going to dish their case out to me and I needed to be updated, it wouldn’t help me make up my mind, but it would paint a picture for me.I had twenty minutes to drag my brain from the high Rose had kept me in all morning to the present. Like the kiss, we didn’t talk about the fact that we had had sex. When I walked out of my bedroom, dressed for the hour, she was back to being my bodyguard.The heat lingered in her eyes but they didn’t reach mine, not when we were in a space that clearly defined our positions. I was her boss and she was my employee- not directly but if she looked at me the way she did this morning, I wouldn’t mind if she took me on my table.I bit my finger hard, it did the job of centering my focus. Why was I thinking of Rose’s fingers and the way they felt inside me, how they moved and how full I-“Miss Gio.”The file in my hand
GIO’S POVI heard the light footsteps of Rose walking past my door to the kitchen, then the telltale sound of water filling the coffee pot, she never drank coffee the way I do, but she always put a pot on for me to drink away.I hadn’t slept a wink but I didn’t feel tired. I was confused about our current situation. Was the kiss a figment of my imagination? I touched my lips and pulled my hand back when they tingled. Was that normal?What were supposed to do now that it had happened? Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing and she had forgotten about it. Energized by that thought, I jumped out of bed with a light spring in my step.I was going to go out there and behave normally; there was no need to make anything awkward she had probably just kissed me in passing or something, pushing the painful squeeze in my chest away I opened my door and stopped short.Rose was sitting at the dining table, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her hair was wet which meant she had taken a shower and
ALMA’S POVMy mother pushed the food in her plate around, more focused on the file she was reading. I didn’t want to interrupt so I kept my movements silent; eyeing her in case she needed space.We hadn’t spoken much since her checkup with the doctor. Big Mac had tried to make me more at home in my mother’s huge house. I used the excess time on my hands to explore the many rooms that were unoccupied.Big Mac kept Zara entertained when I was busy keeping myself from losing my mind. He didn’t communicate much with me about anything, and I didn’t mind much since we didn’t have a lot to talk about.My main worry was with Martha, she hadn’t answered any of my calls since I left with Big Mac after my mother was shot. I was too worried to function properly. What if something had happened to her? I shook my head, printing the details of that day into focus.Martha hadn’t been in the house when my mother arrived, she had convinced me to let her check the store, it had been closed indefinitely