ZAVERIO’S POV “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Alma yelled at me, rushing over to the man I’d knocked over, the odd familiarity between them made me clench my jaw.“I should be asking that question, shouldn’t I?” The music had stopped, and everyone was looking at us like we were the most interesting things- and we were.“You didn’t ask.” Alma helped him to his feet, “You can’t push people over, it’s rude and disturbing. You should apologize.”I laughed, turning in a circle. “Why should I apologize to your new lover? You’re the one who brought him here to rub it in my face, I didn’t expect this bullshit from you, Alma.”“Are you high?” Alma looked genuinely concerned. “This is Jace, I met him a couple of hours ago and we’re having a great time, or we were until you intruded.”“I didn’t know you went around kissing guys you just met, and I was a fool for not believing you when you told me you were pregnant with my child. What did you think happened after a kiss in the club Alma?” I t
ALMA’S POV“You look like a kid who just discovered a candy store.” Nadine laughed, unboxing my new phone with me. “I’ll you all the fun things you can do with it, and the most important part is it has to be on silent always.”“What does silent mean?” I held the device, carefully inspecting it. “It looks like something I would never use; maybe I should put it back in the box and keep it on my nightstand.”“Bitch, I got this for two hundred dollars. You better start using it or bad things are going to happen.” Nadine took the phone from me, and pressed the button on the side.The next hour was fascinating and confusing. Nadine was not one known for her patience, but she was calm with me, listening to me ask the same question a billion times.After two hours of accumulating information, I’d taken enough. “If I hear one more word, I think my head is going to explode.” I groaned, rubbing my tired eyes. “I didn’t even know you had a phone.”“You don’t know a lot of things happening in the
ALMA’S POVNadine worked her magic on my hair, humming as she did her work. I watched the transformation in the mirror, loving how I looked. “How are you so good at everything? I am so jealous about the amount of talents you have.”Nadine giggled, touching up my very light makeup. “I picked up a little bit of everything from my mother. She was a jack of all trades, always picking up one thing over another. When she’d perfected a craft at any point in time, she’d move to the next and the next and the next.”“She sounds like she was a fun woman.” The sadness in Nadine’s eyes eased a little, and a smile was back on her lips.“You’re so accurate with that, she was the best mom in the world. I would have loved it if she stuck with one thing, it would have allowed us stay in one place for a while, but I was dragged across countries and states, never setting down any roots.”“I don’t think she knew she was going to die so young, or I’m very sure she would have slowed down for you.” “Maybe.”
ALMA’S POVI fell out of the cab, and winced when my knees took the brunt. I heard the cab driver call out to me in concern, but I was too dazed to respond. He probably thought I was high on something, because he drove off shortly after with pity swirling in his eyes.I had lost my heels in a bid to escape the image I couldn’t scrape from my mind, no matter how much I tried. Zaverio killed Jace. He was holding a gun, and he carried Jace’s dead body.My brain was trying to make sense of everything; the shooting, the dead bodies, Jace running to call the police, Jace’s dead body, and Zaverio’s involvement.Why was Zaverio there? Was he stalking us? Did he follow me to the restaurant, and wait to catch Jace alone. Bile rose in my throat, and I vomited into the bushes nearby, dry heaving until I lost the ability to stand.Tears blurred my vision but I wiped them away, dragging myself to my feet. He had seen me, I was sure of it. My paranoia was digging its claws into my skin, telling me t
ZAVERIO’S POVBreaking bad news to the families of my men was my responsibility and I had never shied away from it. I took whatever they threw at me, took the blows and subjected myself to be the object on which they could let out their frustrations.However, Jace was a different matter entirely. He and I were not affiliated; he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When I saw him slumped over the bench in the park gasping for air, I stood by silently, witnessing his last moments.I had asked Von to drop him at the nearest hospital, hopefully his family got informed and he was given a proper burial unlike the other bodies that would burn to teach the other rats in the streets that we were onto them.I was not a fan of Jace, but I knew he had been adamant about seeing Alma. How was I to tell her he was dead? I couldn’t answer her questions if she had any. There was no way I could explain the way he died without implicating myself.I raised my hand to knock, but heard Alma speaking
ALMA’S POVMy throat was dry and I swallowed several times to ease the burn. I hissed as I sat up, holding my pounding head. It felt worse than a hangover, and I waved my hand around trying to find a glass of water.Nadine always made sure to keep one around for me when we went out for one of our wild nights, I needed to sober up quickly if I wanted to work effectively today. The task master already had been in his sight, and he was bursting at the seams waiting for Mrs. Riccardo to return.The table I touched was empty, and I groaned. Nadine was probably as knocked out as I was. It was going to be torture dragging myself out of bed, but I didn’t have a choi-My eyes flew open when I fell off the bed, and reality set in quicker than I could snap my fingers. I wasn’t home and Nadine wasn’t here. I had been kidnapped by Zaverio.My heart pounded as I rushed to my feet, looking left and right. The room was painted plain white; it was wide enough for a bed, and a mini sitting room. There
ZAVERIO’S POV“How is she doing?” I asked Von“She’s doing as fine as any kidnapped woman would; I think she’s doing quite well.” The sarcastic is Von’s voice was thick. “I’ll take a few board games to her later.”“What’s wrong with the TV? She can watch anything she wants on it.” “Yea, watching TV is going to be the solution to her problems. Alma thinks you’re waiting for the right time to kill her like you killed her boyfriend.”Von was pushing my buttons and he knew it. “We both know I had nothing to do with Jace’s death.” Deep down I was glad he was dead, and if that made me a bad person I didn’t care.“You need to figure something out quickly, she can’t live here for the rest of her life, she’s not about this life.”“Since when did you care for anyone other than your family?” It was a genuine question I really wanted the answer to. Von was not the kind of man that was moved by a lot of things.“She was dragged into this hell because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
ALMA’S POVLife in Zaverio’s world was like an image of the estate, nothing new ever happened. It was the same sequence happening over and over again, day in day out.Von came to get me every morning, and he left me to my devices, but I knew he kept his eyes on me throughout the day. He was my baby sitter, and I loved the space he awarded me.It was fascinating to watch the men work on the white stuff that got brought in every day; they measured and packed it in little bags. I had asked Von what it was but he told me I didn’t need to know, and I was only there to see not touch or taste.I didn’t have the urge to taste the substance, and he said it was dangerous for pregnant women, so I steered clear from it.The gun area was more frightening, but I had touched a few and nothing had happened, some were heavier than some, and I blushed when some of the men watched me struggle to lift them.I knew these men were here to make a living, and in a way I understood why they had chosen the lif
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 POVRose 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 your legs pi
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
ZAVERIO’S POV“The next shipment is scheduled to fall next week.” Von said, tapping on the screen of the tab in his hands. He wasn’t a man used to advanced gadgets, but he had to get used to them seeing as our whole organization was leaving the paper trail era.“What about Ambrose? Did he like the guns we shipped to him the other day? If he did then he needs to finish paying for them.” I threw the tennis ball in my hand into the air and caught it. “Alvaro said he was going to drop by today, I have no idea what he wants to discuss, do you?”Von shook his head, “Our little bird is also back in her nest.” He was referring to Gio who had been incognito for some days. We tracked her to a rundown bar but kept our distance, leaving the overall surveillance to her bodyguard who acknowledged our presence but didn’t give room for any slip-ins. Rose was impressive, and if she decided to join the dark side, I would hire her.“We will find out what happened when she is ready to come back in, we ca
GIO’S POVMy phone vibrated on the bedside table in the shitty hotel I had found to hole myself into. I ignored it like I had for three days, staring at the ceiling until my eyes felt raw. It was my morning routine before I proceeded to drown myself in alcohol at night.I didn’t know how far I had walked after I left Rose but when I came to my senses, it was raining, I was soaked and as the universe pointed out, in front of a seedy hotel with lights that blinked haphazardly. I didn’t think twice about walking in, the girl manning the register took one look at my suit and sneered.“We don’t give rooms to cops.” She looked like she was ready to spit in my face.I blinked, looked down at my corporate attire. “I am not a cop, I work well with numbers.”She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She snatched a key from the few on the rack and threw it at me. “Keep the noise to a minimum, don’t expect any breakfast in bed and be gone in the morning.”Her eyes bore a hole in my back as I walked away.
GIO’S POVI avoided eye contact with everyone I walked past, hiding my shame in my eyes. If they looked hard enough, they would know what I had done, who I had chosen and whose blood was going to be on my hands.The pounding headache was the retribution I needed, it was a result to the restless night I had had. The five files Emily had given to me held information of a few powerful people in the world.Their deaths would shake the core of what they were heading, and that was the reason Emily was asking me to take my pick from the litter. Norma’s face had haunted my dreams, making it extremely hard to sleep.She may not have ratted me out to Emily and Rose had said she would keep my other business in strict confidence but I couldn’t trust her. I couldn’t trust anyone, not even myself.File one, Norma- Prime minister of Spain, married and divorced three times before she was elected, finally, she got married to her childhood sweetheart and they were the couple of the year. She and her on
ZAVERIO’S POVMy new shipment was being repackaged by my men; I watched them unload the new guns we were selling to a new contact on our turf across the river. The assault rifles were A grade, our buyer was going to be very happy to be getting his money’s worth.The drugs were on another table getting weighed by the new women we had hired. I had thought they would be a huge distraction to the men, but it was a morale booster instead. They worked harder to impress the women and the women stroked their ego in return.Nadine’s idea had been a hit and I made sure to compensate her heavily from the profit we were getting. After the bullet she took for Alma, she was under my protection for the rest of her life, and if my life ended, the Riccardo Empire was standing behind her.The phone in my hand burned my skin but I kept staring at it. I hadn’t reached out to Alma since I returned, it was too hard, and every time I thought about it, I froze up.“Are you going to grow some balls and call h