★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
★JANIE★ Clutching the bag tighter to my chest, I made sure to run like my life depended on it because it does.In no time, Luciano would have caught onto my escape and soon, his men would be combing through the woods for me. So no matter how sore my feet became, I did not stop for a little rest. How dare he? Listening to how Luciano spewed those distasteful, appalling words to my face wreaked havoc on my soul. He stirred back up a lot of memories I have tried to suppress. So much that created a world of agony deep inside me and then left me in dismal. How my Father deceived me by selling me off to him? How worse my life would become from now and so much more miseries I tried so hard to evade. Tears pooled in my eyes as my heart clenched in a fistful of anguish— And I didn't want to reflect on the moment. The stoic expression coupled with the hostility in his tone as he spoke. As soon as he left with Romano, I had to come to a final resolution that it was high time I left his
★LUCIANO★Unable to believe what I just heard, my jaw hardened. And with my fist clenched, I snatched the nurse's hand violently and then bellowed; “She told you that and you believed her?" Shuddering beneath my touch, the nurse seemed edgy and perplexed. However, the fury pulsating through my veins was enough to send her into a world of oblivion forever, but I restrained myself for a moment. “I I—I had nothing to believe, Mr Pavarotti. I didn't know if Janie had an ulterior plan. Please can you just tell me what exactly is going on?" She inquired with a stutter. Good, now she aims to play the innocent card! But on the contrary, a part of me wanted to settle with the fact that she had no idea about Janie's situation from the onset. Fuck! Today wasn't my day at all. “Janie has escaped. Dammit!" I boomed at her and she flinched. Her expression briefly morphed from terror to confusion then to shock in the short span of five seconds. “I did nothing wrong, Mr Pavarotti. How was I sup
★JANIE★My right toe collided against a small rock and I found myself toppling over to the ground, face flat. “Ouch!" I expelled a wail of pain as my knees throbbed and my whole body ached. Tears instantly pooled in my eyes. I could not explain the amount of anguish overwhelming my guts at the moment. Yet, this was all for the best. I expected that escaping from Luciano would come with a daring price. Infact, I knew it would. Having injuries like this, the risk of getting kidnapped by yet another gang, or perhaps never making it out of here alive. But it was worth giving it a shot anyway. "You can do this, girl," I muttered to myself as I gathered every ounce of strength left in me and then thrust my body upward. "Oww!" I groaned again from the shock that gripped the region of my knee, down to my legs. When I looked down at my throbbing knee, terror engulfed me as I watched the crimson-red blood trickle down. No wonder both of my knees hurt like crap. Breathing heavily, I deci
★LUCIANO★While waiting impatiently for those that went to search for Janie, Romano left me for a second to tend to the ones that had just returned from delivering my merchandise to a prospective client. Whereas, I thrummed my fingers loudly, wondering why it was taking my men so long to find Janie and bring her back to me. Screw this wheelchair! Screw everything! Luigi would pay for doing this to me, but I was waiting until my wounds were completely healed, and I'm back on my feet before snuffing the last breath out of his damn body. I detest being in a vulnerable condition just like I was now, but I knew deep down that with time, my body would recuperate fast. It always does. Four bullets weren't enough to put me down. For someone like me, it would take lots and lots of effort. Once, I had received eight bullets that almost rendered me incapacitated for life, if it wasn't because of my influence, money, and power.....Luciano would have become a name from the past. “Boss, the
★JANIE★I remained in the backseat, quietly engaged in my raging thought. What if Luciano never stops looking for me? Would he kill this family if he finds out they were the ones that rescued me? Chills surged down my spine at the thought of that. For a fact, Luciano was still a ruthless mafia king, irrespective of being stuck in a wheelchair. He had lots and lots of lapdogs, willing to bark at the snap of his fingers. But a part of me was pretty sure he would never get to find me again. L.A. was quite large, as long as I stayed out of his territory, it would be like- going on a wild goose chase for him. "We are home!" The middle-aged man announced as he pulled the truck to a halt in front of a Mediterranean-styled mansion and then switched off its engine. "Get your things out of the trunk, Noel."I watched the boy addressed as Noel alighted the trunk, picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder then closed the door. Hence, my attention was averted as soon as the middle-aged
★JANIE★As we ate, Alan's wife didn't stop stealing glances at me. I knew there were a lot of questions scratching the back of her throat, aching to spill out. Sooner or later, she would be forced to...“Where are your parents, Janie?" There it was. The major question she intended to ask all along. Predicting her right like some sort of bet, I smiled inwardly to myself and then bit on my lower lip. There was no way I'd tell them about what my father did to me. That was personal and it had to remain that way until I was ready to leave. At this point, I needed fewer pity parties in my life. The past should forever be buried in the past!“They are both dead," I announced and their expression laced with sympathy and regret. I didn't like the look they were giving me, but I maintained my poise. If I wanted to stay at their house, perhaps, their pity would help in letting me stay a little while longer. “Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry." Alan chimed. “This is so heartbreaking." His wi
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