Daphnée groaned as she grew conscious.Opening her eyes, she stared at someone and when she realised who it was; she yelled and rolled off the bed.Dante leaned up on his elbow and asked, “Why are you on the floor?”Daphnée sat up and turned to him. She almost asked him why he was so ugly but asked instead, “Why are you in my bed?”“Your bed? This is my house,” he said. She got up and was embarrassed. She was still naked. They hadn’t given her anything to wear, but at least she was eating now.Dante sat up, saying, “I have something for you.”She looked at him as she covered herself up to her breast.Narrowing his eyes, he yanked the blanket away. “I’ve seen you naked so many times. Why are you hiding?”Looking down, she pulled the blanket back, saying, “I’m still a woman.”He scoffed. He reached to the night table and brought over a cup. Holding it in front of her, he said, “Drink it.”She hesitantly took the cup and looked inside.“What is it?” She asked, gazing at the white substa
Mario printed all the documents he received through his email from Dante’s office and all that was needed to do. Stacking everything up, he got up from his seat and made it to Daphnée’s office, passing Alessandro on his way.Alessandro saw Mario had a glare on his face but asked nothing. Things have been hard for the two of them since Daphnée’s escape, and Dante was still punishing them for it.He walked into the office without knocking and looked at Daphnée, who just placed her glass of water down.He hadn’t spoken to her today unless it was work related and now; he needed to speak to her again.He walked up to the desk and chucked the stack of papers on it.The stack of papers dropped between the keyboard and her glass, hitting the glass, making it tip over.Daphnée stood up and glared at him, but she saw he was glaring at her. She knew she was in the wrong, but Mario was going far right now.He didn’t even care about messing with her and said, “There’s all the shit you need to do.”
Alessandro was swapped out with a new bodyguard named Gabriele, who was warned to keep his distance from Daphnée. Alessandro was to monitor her at the club, but other than that, the life she once had here in Italy was far worse.Daphnée closed the door as she stared at Gabriele, who was watching her ever move. SHe made her way to the kitchen after placing her bag down on the island and looked around for something to make.She had ready-made meals and popped one in the microwave, then made her way to the bathroom. Climbing in the shower, she stood there until the water turned cold, running the conversations she had with Mario and Alessandro.Tears started falling and her calm heart became chaotic. Her breathing became frantic.Daphnée crouched and hugged her knees, screaming at the top of her lungs as her body retraced the torture Dante had put her through.Gabriele heard the screaming from outside and opened the door with the code he got from Alessandro. He made his way to the bathroo
Daphnée’s eyes fluttered open.‘Where am I?’ She wondered as she looked at the unfamiliar ceiling. Lifting her hand to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead, she saw something and paused.There was an IV drip stuck in her right hand. She looked at it, then slowly sat up and looked around.On her left-hand side sat Dante, fast asleep on a chair, and at the door, Raffael stood. He smiled at her, and it was easy to see that she didn’t know what was going on.Sitting all the way back, she looked around and saw that she was in a hospital room. Looking at Raffael, she tried to speak, but the oxygen mask that she had just noticed hindered her.Pulling it down to her neck, she looked at Raffael and tried to speak, but her throat was burning.Raffael walked over to her and poured a glass of water. Handing it he said, “Take it easy, you’ve been poisoned.”She raised a brow as she looked at him, then drank the water. She could feel that the dryness was easing up, but it still hurt.“Wh, what do
Placing the gun down in her hand on the table in front of her, Daphnée sighed and took off the ear protection muffs. Alessandro pressed the button which brought the target paper forward. He looked at her and said, “You are getting good but it works differently on a moving target.”Daphnée nodded her head, “Hopefully I don’t have to use it.”She adjusted her pants feeling very uncomfortable. Over the course of the few months that she’s been level-headed, she’s lost a lot of weight and she wasn’t happy about it.He saw the frown on her face and asked, “What’s wrong?”Daphnée glanced at him then looked away and said, “Nothing. Are you going to show me how to hit a moving target?”He nodded his head, “Sure but not now. The boss wants to see you.”It’s been months since the poison incident and that was the last she saw and heard from him.Shaking her head, she mumbled, “Can’t he just send a message?”Alessandro scoffed, Daphnée seemed to not want to be involved with him.“He didn’t give m
“I, I didn’t know there was a Mrs. Bardi. I’m Igor Koval,” he said and kissed her hand.Daphnée smiled at him, then looked over at Daryna and sat down. “This is my girlfriend, Daryna,” Igor said as he sat down.Flattening the napkin over her legs, she looked at him, saying, “I know.”Dante sat down and the first thing Daphnée did was hold his hand. Dante looked at her hand, then at her, and asked, “Where were you?”She turned to him, smiling. “My nail appointment went over time.”Dante raised a brow. He looked down at her nails and saw that they were done nicely with butterflies, moons, and glitter.The new ring he got her with an enormous diamond on it looked good against her nails.Lifting her hand to his lips, he placed a kiss on it and rubbed the inside of her palm.Daphnée looked at Igor and asked, “Shall we eat?”After placing a creamy shrimp in her mouth, the men started talking again. Daphnée picked up that they were talking about working together.She glanced over at Daryna.
Dante woke up from a nap and felt slightly dizzy. The sound in his ears told him they were still in the jet on their way to Ukraine.Turning to his left, he saw Daphnée was asleep beside him and she had the oxygen mask on.Sitting up, he pulled the blanket off of himself and covered her with it. Looking behind them at Gabriele, he asked, “How long does she still have until the treatment is over?”Gabriele sat up and fixed his jacket, answering respectfully. “About two to three months left.”Dante nodded and faced forward, looking at Alessandro and Raffael, who were smirking.“What?” He asked.Alessandro shook his head and looked away.“Nothing, it just looks like you are starting to like her,” Raffael teased.Dante scoffed. He sat back and closed his eyes, saying, “It’s all in your imagination.&rdqu
Dante walked into the bedroom Igor arranged for them and saw that Daphnée was lying on the bed wearing a silk nightgown with a robe covering her loosely. The bedroom was warm, and there was no need for her to cover herself.She had beautiful legs. He admired them as they moved in the air. Each leg had a gold anklet.Daphnée felt a shiver and looked behind her. She took out the earphones and asked, “Did you say something?”He shook his head. “No. What are you busy with?”“Studying,” she answered, sitting up and switching the tab off. She placed it on the side table and turned back to him, asking, “Do you want to sleep?”He nodded his head. “I want to, but I don’t think I’m tired enough.”She looked at him as he sat down on the bed and thought of an idea. Getting up, she walked over to him and stood in front o
A few months later…Giovanni and Aurora climbed into the back of a limo. Facing Aleksandr, the twins could tell that something was wrong. Aleksandr looked at Aurora, “Aren’t you going to greet me?”She smirked. “Do you seriously want to do this in front of my brother? You know he doesn’t like you.”“Cut the crap Aleks, why did you call me here? Wouldn’t it be better if it was only Aurora?”“Well, I wouldn’t call you for anything. You know we don’t get along, but I’m doing this for Aurora.”He looked at her and saw that she was confused. “So I know the story and I find it strange that your father doesn’t want to talk about it, so I did my research.”Pulling out an envelope, he handed it to Giovanni.Giovanni took the envelope cautiously and opened it. Aurora placed her hand on his. Her heart was beating incredibly fast, and she was unable to fathom what was on those papers. Looking at her brother, she shook her head. “I thought you didn’t care.”Staring at his sister, he hook his head
Aurora felt guilty from the depths of her soul and heart. She could feel that her brother was staring at her and she didn’t know if she wanted to look at him or dig a hole and die. “Why are you staring at me?” she asked as she finally got the courage to look back at him.To her surprise, Giovanni wore what seemed to be a bored expression on his face. He should be freaked out by this information, but he didn’t seem to be bothered at all. “Why do you look like you don’t care?”“It’s not that I don’t care. You’re just making a big deal about nothing. I already told you that you shouldn’t listen to those girls, but it looks like you’ll jump into a fire if they mentioned it a bunch of times.”Aurora sighed. “It’s not like that. I don’t know why, but it’s like something told me to look into it.”“And what did you get out of it? A broken heart, red eyes and me glaring at you? You even made momma cry with your stupidity! Just because you have the resources to do shit doesn’t always mean that
Aurora walked into the house with heavy steps. Suddenly, it felt like there was a heavy load on her shoulders with all the information she now knew.‘Don’t worry about it. Just forget it,’ Aleksandr told her before he dropped her off, but how could she? I dug my grave. How am I going to face them now? “Oh, you’re here?” Giovanni said as he walked out of the living room, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked at him and saw that he was typing away on his phone as he walked round shirtless and in green socks. “She’s got presents again for us. You took so damn long. I want to find out what she got us.” Walking up to him, she asked, “Why didn’t you just open yours?”“Did you forget? We always open our shit together. What’s wrong with you? Forgetting your own rules like a damn idiot.”She nodded her head as he walked away, following behind him as she put some distance between them.From head to toe, she looked at her brother. ‘How did I not see it? But how am I going to live witho
“So when are you going to be my girlfriend?” Aleksandr Novikov said as he stared across the table at Aurora, who was picking at her plate of food.Aurora glanced over at him and smiled. They had been going on dates for the past three months, getting to know one another. He was three years older than her and somewhat of a hostage in the Bardi Familia. It wasn’t a secret that Aleksandr had a thing for her. He made sure everyone knew she was untouchable.Pouting, she said, “Aleks, you know I’m not allowed to date.”He reached over the table and moved her plate to the side. Taking her hands in his, he looked into her beautiful hazel orbs saying, “And I want no one but you. I’ve spoken to your father already–”“But has he agreed? I also told you I’d consider it.”He raised a brow and squeezed her hand firmly, minding not to hurt her. “I know what we spoke about.”She smiled weakly with a shake of her head.“So tell me, what’s bothering you?”Aurora stared at him, and immediately her eyes
Ten years laterAurora stormed into the living room where fifteen-year-old Giovanni was lying on the floor eating popcorn.He looked over at his sister and saw that her eyes were red, her cheeks were swollen, and so was the skin under her eyes.He quickly sat up, asking, “Who should I kill?”She shoved her bag on the floor and walked up to him. She sat down in front of him. “Why don’t we look the same?”“What?”“Isabella said we don’t look like twins,” she said as she broke out in tears. She had been crying for so long already that her eyes were burning, but the tears just wouldn’t stop.Her heart was broken and if what they were saying was the truth–what was she going to do?He shook his head, annoyed. “Why do you still hang out with those idiots? All they do is bad mouth you when an opportunity arises and make you spend money.”“That is not the point!” She took out her phone and went to the gallery and showed a picture to him saying, “Giovanni, you look so much like daddy and I do t
Giovanni was sitting on the staircase watching his mother walk, or you could say waddle up and down the steps. Her stomach had grown over the months, but the relationship between his parents was dour.His father was home every day. He made sure to give them enough attention too but just wished things would go back to the way it was before he met his father but then again; he liked his father too.“You’re making me dizzy.”She stopped next to him and glared. “No one told you to watch me!”“I missed you,” he said.Daphnee chuckled, “You’re supposed to pay attention at school, not miss me.”Giovanni rolled his eyes. “Whatever mommy.”“Where’s your sister?” She asked.He groaned inwardly, “I left her in the playroom, she talks too much.”Daphne chuckled. She worried about him, especially the relationships between Giovanni and his father and him and his sister.Dante had told her he saw what happened that night and for about two months, his relationship with Aurora wasn’t good. They suspec
“What do you mean?”Daphne chuckled. Rolling her eyes, she walked towards her with the sound of heels clicking against the cream tiles. Backing Emelia into a corner, between a cupboard and pillar, she said, “So, there was this woman, and she decided she was going to kidnap my dear husband and take care of him in her own way. So, I killed her.”Emelia’s eyes widened. She recalled the chaos that occurred many years ago and, come to think of it, but the details, “An, Angelica–you killed Angelica?”Daphnee nodded her head slowly with a calming yet canning smile, “I did and I don’t regret it. She played so much in getting me to where I am today, but you—”Emelia pushed her away. “Oh, don’t lie. I know all about you. You killed all those men a few months ago, and that’s why Dante’s here with me. Thanks to you, I am going to b
Daphnee wiped the edges of her mouth as she came up from the toilet—disgusted and nauseous. Walking to the sink, she stared at herself in the mirror—glaring, not at herself but at the future awaiting her.Her gaze slid down to the pregnancy test tube she had just took ten minutes ago. She recalled how Dante man handled her a few weeks ago.Since that night, he didn’t show his face–never even called.The children asked about him and all the lies she spoke. She was slowly starting to believe, living in delusion.Wiping her mouth, she left the bathroom, throwing the test tube in the bin at the corner of her desk.Sitting down behind the desk, she leaned against the chair and closed her eyes as she rubbed her stomach, thinking about the little rat growing inside her womb.Her week had been miserable. She even lashed out at her children for wanting her attention
“Are they going to be okay?” Dante asked her as he watched Daphnee stroke Aurora’s hair. They ended up laying the children down on their bed because they didn’t want to leave Daphnee’s side. She gazed over at him contemplatively, asking, “What happened between the three of you?”His nostrils flared up as he took in a deep breath, recalling what the conversation was about. Rubbing his nose as he paced around the room taking off the clothes, he said, “They can tell that things aren’t okay between us. Aurora said they wanted to go out together as a family, hoping we would make up.”Daphnee raised a brow. She looked down at her children and sighed. She tried her best to not make it obvious that things weren’t well between them, but how was it possible when she herself wanted nothing to do with Dante and he–all he knew was not to come home. “Are you staying or leaving?”“Leaving,” he answered and froze. Turning to Daphnee, he looked at the children and realised that it was because he a