★LUCIANO★Since I have to visit Maria Beatrice's hospital in Florence today, I woke up earlier than usual. Those darn birds kept chirping behind my window, signaling it was morning, and I had no choice but to get out of bed. Not that I was being zealous of burying my mother. Infact, my heart was clenching in fistfuls of anguish. She was my precious jewel until death snatched her away from me. I tried so hard to make sure she survived. Wanting to see her smile at me one more time, but she never did.Alongside my sister, Luciana. Ramos Ashton's days are numbered on Earth. He should enjoy everything he has now, because the moment I set my eyes and hands on him, that would be the last time air would pass through his lungs. I'd make sure he beg me profusely to kill him. Still, I would. However, the only difference would be that— his death would be painfully slow and bloody. Perhaps the most brutal murder I'd ever commit. After taking a quick shower, I wore the Hugo Boss, three-piece bla
★LUCIANO★Guilt slammed me in the gut as soon as my eyes flung open. Reminiscing the way I spoke to Janie yesterday, my stomach tightened into a knot. She doesn't deserve that. Raising my voice at a lady was not part of my ethics since my mother groomed me into being a well-cultured lad. So I rubbed my eyelids and proceeded to shuffle out of the bed.Once again, those darn birds made it a routine to chirp their morning songs behind my window. Fuming, I jolted to my feet, shoved the window blind up, and watched in silence. If I wasn't an animal lover, putting a bullet through each one of their stupid fluffy body should be icing on the cake. “Figlio di puttana!" I cursed under my breath before strutting out of my room, straight to Janie's room. On getting there, I was about to press down the knob but I refrained from doing so. Instead, I knocked twice and waited patiently for her to respond to me. Yet, there was no response.“Janie,” I called softly before knocking again. Still,
★LUCIANO★Gripping Janie's tiny hand with all my might, I ran towards the SUV and thankfully, her short legs were doing just fine compared to mine. My brain was evaluating numerous strategies to utilize as I opened the door to the SUV and shoved Janie inside, then I entered too. Gerald and Glenn were swift behind us.Glenn managed to hop into the passenger's front seat, while Gerald made for the driver's seat. Just as he was about to open the door, a loud gunshot pierced through the atmosphere. “For fuck sake!” Gerald cried out in agony and I instantly noticed the bloodstains seeping out of his cotton beige shirt. A bullet went through his right arm! With haste, I removed my pistol and fired in the direction of Luigi and his henchmen, so Gerald could make it into the SUV. Even after he managed to, I didn't relent because they had to swap seats since Gerald was no longer in a good condition to drive. Alas, my gun helped in slowing them down a little because they scurried for prot
★LUCIANO★“Aaargh!” I shrieked aloud, extremely furious this happened to me. Never in my life, have I been in such a helpless situation and I couldn't even fight back. With my chest heaving spontaneously, I reached for my cell phone in my pocket. “Boss, stop moving. You are more hurt than I am. You took four bullets, I don't think you should be moving around.” Gerald advised, still bleeding profusely from his arm as he tried to tear his shirt and tie his wound. However, I didn't pay any attention to him. With a loud grunt, I hauled myself to a sitting position then brought out my phone and dialed Romano's digit. “Boss.” Romano's voice filled my ears after one beep. “Is something wrong?" I could hear the concern and curiosity in his voice, while I tried to steady my breathing pace. “Yes.” “Tell me what it is. The moment I saw your call, I knew something was wrong because you hardly call when on a few days' trips.” He added. “Luigi happened.” I wheezed. I heard Romano gasp in
★LUCIANO★★THE NEXT MORNING★The doorbell rang, startling us all. I immediately cocked a pistol and tossed it to Glenn, then signaled him to find out who was at the door. Meanwhile, Gerald and I held onto our guns as we took our hiding position, ready to shoot if need be. “It's Romano!” Glenn announced before opening the door. Almost at once, Romano's voice filled the whole lounge. “Where is the Boss?" I heard his worried tone demand then I rolled out my wheelchair, so he could see me. As soon as his eyes landed on me, his jaw dropped, and his face paled shortly. With trembling lips, he took a few calculated steps towards me then paused when he was three feet away. “What the hell happened to you, Luciano?" “I got shot," I responded as if it didn't mean anything. “Of course, I can see that. Look at the bandages around your arms and legs, yet you didn't deem it fit to discuss it with me over the phone?" His voice sounded more hurt than worried. “You are here now. You found out
★LUCIANO★“Janie!” I called for the umpteenth time, still tapping her cheek as lightly as I could. Yet there was no response. My mind was starting to run amok. Looking at her pale face and dried parched lips, I wanted to tear Luigi limb to limb. She doesn't deserve any ill-treatment. Whatever happened between us, stayed between us. So why did she have to suffer? “I have brought him, Boss." I heard Romano's voice and then looked up to see him standing behind a bleeding Luigi. A small devilish smirk tugged the corner of my lips. Turned out Romano never disappoints when it comes to torturing animals like Luigi. My eyes traveled from Romano to Luigi's battered face, and the smirk on my face vanished into thin air. Only to be soon replaced with a scowl. With a fit of fury, I clenched my fist and thought of the best way to punish him. “Kneel, you motherfucker!" Romano shoved Luigi to his knees violently, while I watched in silence. It was taking every bit of self-control I had left
★JANIE★As soon as Luciano's lips crashed down on mine, I couldn't resist the urge to kiss him back. Whenever he claimed my lips, there was this sweet possessiveness. Like I was the only thing that mattered to him in the whole world. And I relished that feeling. The kiss was intense, slow, and warm. A small moan escaped my lips when his tongue brushed through the walls of my lips, begging for an entry. Letting out another moan, I trailed my fingers on his arm, wanting to pull him in for more, but he pulled away instantly with a grunt. “Ahh!" I heard his heavy breath gushing through my ears and I promptly tossed him a worried look. “What is it?" “You touched my injured arm." My eyes drifted to the bandages around both of his bulging arms and a soft gasp emanated from the back of my throat. “I am so sorry. I didn't mean to—” “Shhh!" He placed a finger on my lips. “It's fine. plus it seems you like kissing me a lot these days." My eyes shot from his arms to his face in shock and
★LUCIANO★“I think there is a traitor in our midst because Luigi has disappeared from his cell,” Romano informed me, rendering my jaw to drop in disbelief. I could not believe my ears. How the hell did Luigi escape from the damn cell? And who was the dimwit that let him out? A fit of rage instantly seeped into my guts. Furious to bits, I clenched my fist in fury, and twitched my jaws before declaring between gritted teeth; “Let's go and find that bastard.”Romano nodded, then he turned towards the door, proceeding to lead the way out. However, as I made to follow him, the urge to apologize for the insensitive utterances I recounted about Janie's circumstances, overwhelmed me, but because of the rage coursing through my veins, I tossed it aside for later. Beyond reasonable doubt, it was better to solve the issue at hand first— find Luigi and whoever helped him out of that cell. Later on, I would attend to her. So I pressed the 'move' button on my wheelchair and left the room, righ
SEBASTIAN’s POV“Now, the choice is yours. I want to leave here this instant with Janie or the van blows up and your girl alongside your right-hand man dies."The moment those threats left my lips, my heart jammed painfully into my chest and I did not know the reason why. Maybe because standing in front of Luciano after all these years brought back some nostalgia or because I wanted to see him cave in. I want to see him through defense. I want him to be broken up until the extent of going on his knees to beg for my mercy. But fucking Luciano seemed to remain unwavering despite being in a distressful situation. With a gunshot wound on his arm oozing out blood and running in fine lines down his arms and cascading in droplets to the ground, he still stood as though he had the whole situation under control. Fucking hell…I mean that’s what I have always admired in the man. All those times I worked alongside him, I wanted to be him so bad. However, when I realized I’d never measured up t
*LUCIANO*As I stepped out of the van, I dipped my hand into my back pocket, ready to pull out my pistol and start blowing off the heads of these motherfuckers obstructing my way. But before I could, a voice cut through the atmosphere. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Immediately, I froze.Even without seeing the face of the person who had just spoken, I knew. That voice was all too familiar for me to miss. I grew up with him, dined with him, joked with him, cried because of him when he lost his parents, and mostly especially tortured myself for days after supposedly ending his life. I clenched and unclenched my jaw as I sharply got a grip on myself and looked around, searching for the face of the bastard who intended to stab me in the back years back but he was nowhere to be found. Not in the mood for silly games, I hollered. "Come out wherever you are and face me!" With my fingers still curled around my gun, I waited hoping little Sebastian would be man enough to stand in fro
“But Sir-" The nurse began to say only to shut her mouth as she noticed the dead gripping glare Luciano issued her. She seemed perturbed. She didn't feel it was right to move someone who had just regained consciousness, and for reasons she wasn't sure of."Why are you still standing there?" Luciano growled, "Get her dressed, I am moving her now!” He commanded before lowering his head back to the cell phone in his hand and typing ferociously on it. Still, the nurse stood her ground. She did not make an effort to move. Deep down, I could have warned her not to mess around with Luciano, but I did not understand the situation also and was as confused as the nurse. A few seconds later, Luciano raised his head from the phone to look at the nurse. When he noticed she hadn’t made a move yet, he clenched his jaw and reached for his back pocket. Before I knew it, he brought out a pistol, cocked it, and then aimed it at the nurse. “I do not like to repeat myself over and over again.” Terri
*JANIE*My eyes flung open to the blinding light in the room but I was forced to shut them back momentarily. Letting out a small groan, I let my mind dwell on my Parent's disappearance and then Mr Luciano being shot. "Mr Luciano?" I tried to say but it came out in a hushed whisper. Tears gathered in my eyes as I tried to move, but found it quite difficult. Have I been shot too? Am I going to die? "Janie!" I heard someone's voice call out to me. It was a familiar one. Straining my neck toward the direction of the voice, I saw a worried Mr Luciano walking across the room to me. But. . . But he was just,Was that all a dream? His hand touched my arm and it was surprisingly soothing. "Don't try to move, just lay down," he urged me, as I lay down trying to comprehend what was going on. "Luciano?" I found myself repeating, obviously surprised to find him in good shape when he had just been shot a few minutes back. "I'm here," he said, his hands squeezing mine softly.For some reaso
*LUCIANO*For every second I pondered on it, I felt more confused than the last. The truth is, I barely know what to believe. As I paced around in Janie's room, thinking about the letter I had received. The thought of Sebastiano being alive was something I couldn't understand. "It can't be him," I mumbled to myself, trying hard to disregard the fact in front of me; his letter. His death was something I could vividly remember, and it had no survival plot, no means of escaping death.I remember never wanting his death to occur, never wanting to path ways with him being family, but his jealousy was something I couldn't comprehend. He changed overnight, or maybe I didn't notice on time. Sebastiano was a lying, sneaky, and cunning bastard who wanted to take over my empire, disguising himself as a trusted ally.Three years ago, Seb, as I liked to call him, and I worked hand in hand. He was my cousin, and a trusted accomplice. Apart from Romano, I could count on him whenever I needed some
*JANIE*Exhausted from another day at school, I rushed back home. My dad was sitting in the living room, on the black couch that I had dribbled writings on as a child. He said he wasn't going to get rid of it because he wanted a lasting memory. Cute. He had his eyes fixed on the TV, perhaps watching the ABC Entertainment channel he loved so much, with the remote in his hands.He greeted me with a smile on his face the moment he realized I was at the door, and with that I quickly rushed over to where he sat and gave him a hug, a nice warm embrace."So, how was school today? Any trouble?" He asked, as we both pulled apart from the hug "It was fine," I replied with a little smile on my face. I guess it wasn't that convincing because he decided to ask me again."Are you sure?" I could notice the hint of worry on his face."I'm being serious Dad. It's actually going well. The school's environment is unique, and blending in has really been good," I explained, but he still shot me a weird l
*Luciano*I stared at the evidence in my hand continuously, finding it hard to agree that my most vile enemy had nothing to do with Janie's situation. There have to be some loopholes. I killed Ramos Ashton's henchmen a few days back for attempting to kidnap Janie, and this must have been the way he decided to get back to me after all. After moments of silence, I watched Romano pace around the room, probably thinking exactly what I was. It was very simple. We were trying to figure out what other rivals I could have. One who was as smart as to aim from a long distance, whose contentment was my death. Even though I had few other enemies, none seemed to match my description of ruthless killing. I had considered this rival a coward because he was scared to come out and face me. Pfft."If he wasn't the one, then who the fuck is?" Romano voiced his thoughts aloud, asking rhetorically."Another rival that we barely know about isn't good, but I will find him and make sure he pays for everythi
LucianoStaring at Janie as I sat on the chair next to her bed, I could feel my heart ache even more. Three days had gone and she hadn't moved a muscle, different from her usual persona of running away and making sure her presence was known. Ramos Ashton was going to pay for his carelessness, and I was going to make sure of it. For every single day, she laid on this bed without a movement, it would be the same amount of bullet I'd put through his chest the moment I saw him.For a couple of minutes, I looked at every inch of Janie's body, hoping to get a sign of her body moving at any point, but I couldn't. I had seen in movies where a patient or loved one would move their fingers after the patient's loved one beckoned on them to get better and they would, but I had been waiting relentlessly for the past three days, hoping she would do the same, an act I had never done for anyone in a long time."It's been three days Janie, please open your eyes," I spoke as I squeezed her right hand s
★...X...★"Boss, please please I'm begging you, I didn't mean to shoot the young lady, she just popped out of nowhere." The idiot begged profusely. Saliva oozing out of the corner of his mouth, irritating the shit out of me. Cocking the gun, I placed the metal on his skull and spat without remorse. "Say your last prayers.""Boss, please... I'm begging you with everything I own. You know I've been serving you for quite a while now and I won't just slack off, but the whole thing was a miss calculation. I had my gun out for Luciano. I was aiming for his chest as you instructed before she emerged out of nowhere and got in the middle of it all." He cried helplessly. My chest tightened. How could this idiot ruin the plan I've been strategizing for months? Months! What was so difficult in shooting someone? Aim, pull the trigger, fire. And down, the person goes. Fucking asshole, I cussed at him. These past few months, I have spent it, cooped up in my hole, strategizing on ways to make L