Addressing her as ‘Mrs James’ feels better than I thought. It feels as if I am gifting her the nightmare I lived for three years, thinking I was in love. You know what, I guess I’m happy. “Oh, right, I have to call Matteo.” I say to Blair as we exit the hospital, only for red and blue lights from two police cars parked outside the entrance to attract our attention. My gaze meets Vincent and his fatigued mother, who seem to be speaking to an officer. “Did you-”Blair begins, and rather than answer, I smile. “Wow, you are a crazy bitch.” She remarks. “I'll wait for you in the car.” I nod to her words, and she leaves. Vincent, leaving his mother with the police officer, dashes towards me. Instantly, my bodyguard stands in front of me and presses a hand to his chest to halt him once he is at least three steps from me. "You said you weren't pressing charges?" He asks, desperation lacing his voice to a nauseating degree, “I also said ‘in sickness and in health’, I say a lot of
Matteo D’Amico**A few minutes before the crash**Matteo shook the sudden emotions washing over him as he stood at the base of his brother's grave.He placed the flowers he held in his arms near the headrest before standing and staring at the unreal sight before him.Ten years had passed, and it still felt unreal.Christopher's hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.The woman who killed him was dead; even their entire family lineage had ended, but still, he didn't feel that it was enough.He would never put himself or allow Christoper to be in such a helpless predicament again.No good ever comes from trusting a woman that entirely, if only they had managed to convince him of that.He turned his gaze to Victoria; she smiled at him."You, okay?"She asked.Luca’s death had taught him one of the most important lessons in his life, which led to his breakup with Victoria. His death was the reason he could not be the one to marry someone he loved so dearly.“I’m-”Before he could finish
*Present*Matteo D’AmicoBy the time they went back home, he was covered in crimson from head to toe.A gunfight shouldn't have made him this bloody, but at some point, the rats were dropping bloodied bodies at them from above.To make matters worse, his gun had jammed at the worst possible time; whenever that happened to Luca, he had an odd streak of bad luck for a week.He hoped he wouldn’t have to do the ‘cleansing’ dance to get rid of the bad luck streak if it wasn’t just a coincidence—the dance was embarrassing.Still, they had cleaned up the place he loved most in the world.It was a shame that Christopher's first decision when he rose to his current position was to remove him from the ‘official’ crime family. But he was correct in saying his skills lay elsewhere. Matteo was good at making money, good at deals, and even better at blackmail, and the rich gave him a lot of material.After his shower, he went downstairs to meet with his brother and Victoria, who looked ready to hit
“What?” I didn’t ask so that they would repeat; I asked because it was the only thing I could say. The news sounds like a lie. Is this like the sort of game where they give me worse news in hopes that the bad news feels better? “Where can I see her?” “The family will be coming in to identify the body on-” Identify the body? The ringing in my head turns dangerously loud. Oh God, they are serious…oh… A deep sorrow cuts through my head, blurring my vision and filling my eyes with tears. A sob leaves my lips, doubling down the more I remember her face covered in blood and red and blue lights paired with the glassy look in her eyes. It's my fault...if I hadn't invited her to the wedding, if I hadn't invited her to a sleepover or if we had never been friends. "I had something of a crush towards you, so I always feel the need to put you first, protect you, but I’m scared, Olivia. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to put you before me; I have younger sisters who need me.” For some
Matteo D’AmicoVeronica’s voice was raised, and despite her lack of expression, he could tell how furious she was."I am only-"He tried to explain."Leave. Both of you, do whatever you will with Olivia's things at your house-""Wait, please!"Panic gripped him at her words, but to his plea, she shook her head adamantly."Go home, Mr D'Amico. There is no one here for you.""You can't kick me out. I left Italy for-""I will pay for your flight back. Waste no more resources on us.”Again, Veronica interrupted him as if she knew what he would say and did not wish for the conversation to take place.“If you would just give me a mom-”He stood abruptly, causing Veronica’s men to reach for their weapons, so he moved cautiously.“If you would give me a moment, I'd like to see her and make sure she is okay.”“She is fine.”He was growing tired of her cutting him off. It would be easy for him to use his connections or to barge in, but he wanted the mother of the woman he was fond of to think o
Matteo D’ Amico."That's what you did when I was with Veronica Lawson. You got in the way; you got in my way. Go home."Matteo said, using a tone he never thought he would use toward Victoria."What?"She repeated as if she genuinely could not comprehend what he said."If you are in Italy, you can take over for Christopher while he is here.""Take over for him while he grieves his mistress? What sort of wife do you peg me to be, Matteo?""His."He answered simply."You were the one who made me marry him.""What do you mean 'made you'? What in our break up said, ‘marry my brother’?""Hah! How dare you act as if…”She bit her lower lip.“I just wanted to be part of your family, and you wouldn’t let me in, so how... Anyway, I am not going to Italy."Her voice was low, and it trembled slightly as she spoke.He hated seeing her that way, but with his rising frustration, things didn't seem to be looking up for him mood-wise so he didn’t want to ‘deal with this’."Then can you wait for me in
Olivia B Lawson The man at the centre, the biggest and meanest-looking one, nods. “Is this really the best time to make an appearance?” My mother asks, crossing her hands, and the man nods. “There is a division; there are those who want to serve you as per the will and others who want to serve Sheila, his wife.” “And you want me to believe that you are on my side?” I ask, and he nods. “There are ways to test us.” Test? I'm barely walking on my own. Can I handle grown men who live for the hunt? Why would that bastard leave this to me? Why would he give me his wealth and pin a death flag on me...is this why he wanted me to marry Daniel? “Give me anything you can find on the D'Amico brothers and on the car that collided with mine on the twenty-eighth. If you get me something useful, we'll talk about the corps’ future, your expectations, and my expectations." If anything, my sentence is more of a bluff; I don’t have time to deal with a rift in the mercenary corps, especially whe
“You are joking.”Daniel responds dryly as a worried expression covers his face.“Is that how you respond to my proposal? I’m hurt.”I say, placing my hand on my chest as if I were truly hurt by his words.“Olivia, this is crazy; first of all, I don’t want to die at the hands of a mafia bastard. I've watched Godfather, and I am squeamish; second of all-”“This is the only thing that will work; at least that will buy us time. I don’t want to walk down the aisle pregnant, so we’ll naturally have to push the wedding by two years because I would want my kids to be a part of it, and by that time, the president’s re-election would be just around the corner. With this plan, we can stay engaged for a while and have a way around him, especially if he is convinced you are the father.”I finish explaining my thoughts, but Daniel’s expression remains wild.“You don’t need to answer right away. I will give you until Blair’s funeral.”I add when he still remains silent.“You said ‘my kids’?”He ask