Daphnée let out a yawn as she stretched her body and screamed, “Aah!” She sniffed and said, “Florence smells nice, but the water is fucking with my stomach.”
Tommaso turned to look at her and said, “Isn’t it because you ate everything on the menu?”
Daphnée looked at him and chuckled, “The food was free, I am sorry and if you haven’t noticed, those little portions will never satisfy this big girl.”
“Well, I am glad you enjoyed the food. Now, you see the limousine over there. It will take us to the house, but you will only meet our boss tomorrow. The room is already prepared for you and you are welcome to take advantage of our kitchen, but stay away from the madam’s tin of cookies,” Lorenzo explained to her. He took her hand in his and guided her to the limousine while he explained this and she just couldn’t take her eyes off of their hands.
When they climbed into the limousine, she asked, “So is the madam his wife?”
They both looked at her, and Lorenzo smirked. “You will see when you run into her.”
Daphnée nodded her head and said, “Well, wake me up when we get there and excuse me if I snore, my best friend just loves the sound.”
Thinking about Gerald, she wondered about him. He must be so worried that she went missing and was probably getting d*cked down by his cheating ass boyfriend.
This whole situation she was in was because of her mother, that she had grown to hate. It had been two years already since her death and just as she forgot about her, her troubles came running towards her.
She let out a sigh and muffled her sob. Tommaso and Lorenzo glanced at her and saw that she had tears falling down her cheeks while her eyes were closed. They looked at each other but said nothing.
*
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Tommaso asked Lorenzo.
Lorenzo looked at his partner and asked, “Did you give her a tranquilizer?”
“I am not picking her up,” he said and walked away.
Lorenzo sighed and shook her hard. “Miss Daphnée, we are here. Please get up because I do not want to pick you up!”
Daphnée frowned as she woke up and felt shaking again. She turned her head to look at him and yelped. They both stared at each other and he said, “We’re here.”
Daphnée nodded her head slowly, then climbed out after him and said, “I forgot about you. I thought this was a dream.”
“Oh no, this is not a dream, Miss Daphnée,” Lorenzo smirked.
She looked at the house in front of her and squealed, “This is a fucking mansion, not a house!”
Lorenzo nodded his head in conflict. “This is a house compared to the mansion the boss owns.”
“Well…” she just said and followed them in. After five minutes of walking around inside the cold mansion, she asked, “Where are you taking me?”
He turned back to her and said, “As I said before, Tommaso and I are assigned to you and we are taking you to the room you will stay in, which is in the south wing. All the doors we are passing currently belong to those in the organisation stationed here. You will not be living here and will live in your own residence once the boss is done having a conversation with you over coffee.”
“Ha ha hilarious,” she said and recalled what he said. She looked at his back, thinking about it, and said, “So you already know what my job is?”
They both looked at her and nodded. She could tell that they weren’t interested in talking about it and so she let it be. About ten minutes later, they arrived at her room and she was very uncomfortable. She flopped down on the king-sized bed and kicked off her shoes.
“You cannot sleep again, dinner will be served at six-thirty and you do not know the way. We have to show you and we cannot if you are asleep,” Lorenzo pleaded with her.
Daphnée turned her head and said to him, “I just walked for fifteen minutes because this place is so fucking huge. Now if you will please be patient with me. I am big and I need to catch my breath. What is the fucking time, anyway?”
Lorenzo licked his teeth, irritated, and said, “It is five o’clock.”
Daphnée just looked at him and said nothing. Lorenzo said something to Tommaso, who agreed with him and they left after he said, “I will be back to fetch you for dinner at six. It’s a long walk and I will not make you rush.”
“Thank you,” she said and sighed as she sunk into the bed. She blew out her lips and soon from down the passage, those staying near her room could hear her crying her heart and frustrations out.
When she collected herself, she got up from the bed and walked around, looking at everything. The decorations looked vintage and needed an acquired taste that she did not have. She walked over to the closet out of curiosity and opened it. To her surprise, there were five dresses hanging in it and below them were sandals and heels if she preferred it.
She frowned and took one hanger off the bar and held the dress up to her chest, and turned to look in the mirror. It was a three shaded dress. The first two shades split down the middle of her chest area joining and were cream and light grey and the rest of the dress that stopped at her thighs were in the shade black.
She looked at the other four dresses in the closet and there was one she could wear to meet the boss with, another to wear to a formal gathering and two more maxi dresses.
She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Hanging it back up, she thought, ‘They are well prepared. I guess it’s time to get ready for dinner.’
One door split open and there was a bathroom behind it. There she found underwear, a toothbrush, shampoo and conditioner, lotion and more.
After washing up in a lot of water, she got dressed in a knitted sweater like maxi dress and looked at the shoe options. She chose beige sandals and looked at herself in the mirror. She was a natural beauty and her hair that got wet was frizzing up. Looking at her hair, she said, “I’m not in the mood for you.”
She walked towards the door and opened it. Looking around after closing it she felt out of place, “I should just wait for Lorenzo to come get me,” she said, but something told her she should start walking and that’s what she did.
She slowly made her way down the passage and looked around. Around the corner came Lorenzo, and he stopped in his steps, stunned. Tommaso was right behind him and frowned, not happy about almost bumping into him, then saw Daphnée too and said, “Wow, she cleans up well.”
They smirked and Lorenzo called her, “Miss Daphnée, this way please, or we’ll be late.”
She snapped out of her thoughts and smiled when she saw them. She rushed over to them on her toes and said, “I am so happy to see you two. This place makes me feel lost.”
“It is a big place,” Tommaso commented. Daphnée wrapped her arm around his and said when she saw his questioning look, “This is just so that you don’t leave me behind. I’m not stupid. You walk faster than Lorenzo here.”
“That’s because I am being considerate of you, Miss Daphnée,” Lorenzo complained.
“Who picked out my clothes?” She asked him, changing the subject.
“We have a specialist in our ranks and he can tell from a video what size you are,” he answered.
“Wow, he sounds like a natural pervert,” she said, shuddering at the thought.
“Not necessarily. He is a fashionista himself,” Lorenzo corrected.
They arrived at the dining area, and Daphnée had to hold herself in from screaming. The dining area was so huge and there were so many people, the majority being men here!They looked at her, who was marvelling at their home, and found it amusing. Lorenzo lead them to the kitchen that was busy, and he yelled, “Everyone, listen up!”They all stopped what they were doing and looked at them, mostly at Daphnée. He turned to Daphnée and said, “Everyone, this is Daphnée. She will be one of our family members from today. Please introduce yourselves to her when you have the time before she leaves tomorrow.”And just like that, they went back to what they were doing. Lorenzo smirked at her disappointed expression and said, “Let’s head into the dining area. Rush hour will begin in five minutes.”Daphn&eac
Daphnée looked at Alessandro and asked, “So, where are we going now?”Alessandro, who she met over two hours ago, frowned. He had given her all the documents on the club that were translated into English on the jet and she had read through everything.They had also been to her apartment, which overlooked Milan, and it was empty. He thought it over and said, “We need to get your shopping done as soon as possible.”She nodded her head slowly and asked, “What is bitch in Italian?”He raised a brow and said, “La Cagna or la puttana.”She pursed her lips and asked, “What about fuck you?”“Vaffanculo,” he aswered.She nodded her head and asked, “How about go kill yourself?”His brows knitted as he answered, “Vai a ucciderti.”“And I will kill you?&rdquo
Daphnée and Alessandro walked hand in hand into a woman’s shoe store. An attendant walked over to them and the first thing she thought was, ‘This fat bitch caught herself a handsome man.’“Welcome sir, how may I help you today?” She asked.Alessandro’s brows knitted, and he said in a not so pleased tone, “The customer is here and she speaks English.”She turned to Daphnée after getting a glare from Alessandro and said, “How may I help you today, madam?”Daphnée was already offended that she ignored her. She walked past her up to another attendant and took off her shoe. She handed it to her and said, “Bring me all your shoes in this size and they better be able to compensate for my weight. She already pissed me off, and I am a few seconds away from closing this place down.”
They entered Diamante Grezzo and, like at the restaurant, the workers had their heads bowed. Daphnée looked at Alessandro and said, “I think I can get used to this.”“You should, but there is the downside to this. The family members would not show respect because they receive the same treatment.” He explained to her.“You all can get back to work and thank you so much for the welcome,” Daphnée said in an unfamiliar accent, almost sounding like a French native. Alessandro looked at her oddly, but did not question her.He led her to the back where the VIP section was and all she could get over her head was that the building was cold. They entered a room, and it felt refreshing. A man walked out from the volt at the back of the room and said, “Welcome, Mrs Bardi, we have been expecting you. Would you like some champagne and truffles?”She gave him her righ
After the ceramic store, they went to buy dresses and other clothes for her at one boutique after she made a ruckus of them not having clothes that fit her.They returned to the apartment after a long day and Daphnèe was unusually silent, and it worried Alessandro.“Anything to eat?” He asked her and she looked over at him.Nodding her head, she asked, “Can you go buy groceries for me?”Alessandro smiled and suggested, “You have the best chefs in Italy at your disposal. Why not get one to move in here?”“I want to cook my own meals, Alessandro,” she said, almost demanding.Alessandro held his hands up and said, “Type out a list on the phone I have for you and send it to your assistant. He’ll make sure it is done and sent here,” he said.She picked up the phone and asked, “I have an assistant?”
Daphnée stood in a towel in front of her clothes that were set up and just couldn’t decide. She wanted to wear them all, but today was just one day. She shook her head and pulled out pale light blue jeans, a white blouse like crop top, white matching underwear and white open toe heels.As she was getting dressed, someone knocked on the door and Alessandro opened it and it was Mario. He frowned and asked, “What are you doing here?”“Queen sent me a message saying she couldn’t get all her shopping done yesterday, and she also wants me to handle the plans for the club while she goes to her hair and nail appointment, as well as the body massage I booked for her,” he answered as he walked in.He looked around the apartment and yelled, “My Queen, I’m here!”Daphnée was busy doing her hair when she heard the unfami
“You should have fucking thought about that before you forced this on me. I am your wife now and I can’t let what you build crumble because you think with your dick and not your head!” She told him.Dante’s jaw ticked and his hands clenched into fists at his side. He frightened Daphnée, but she did not let it show. She continued looking at him and said, “I know you saw it when you looked at the posters that I plan to change the name of this club and I already sent the application in this morning. Once it is approved and drugs are moved in here, your name will be linked to it and no matter how much money you have, being linked to drugs is never a good thing. If you are not happy with this, then send me elsewhere because I will not lower my standards to accommodate you.”Dante opened his mouth to speak, but Mario knocked on the door and said, “Queen, the representative from the adult store
“Dinner?” Daphnée suggested.Dante looked up at her from his phone and processed what she said. “What about dinner?” He asked her after thinking it through.“Weren’t you listening? I asked if we are still going out to dinner,” she repeated herself.He nodded his head while he texted someone, “Yes, is it time already?”“I wouldn’t have asked,” she said and turned around. Dante had been sitting in her chair since he arrived and been on his phone with a mischievous smile. She figured he was dirty texting someone he fucked and left him to do his thing while she sorted things out.She held out her hand when she reached Alessandro and he took it, interlocking their fingers, which made Raffael frown. Dante soon stepped out of the office and walked ahead of Raffael behind Daphnée and, as they were walking down the steps, he sa
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