LEIGH-ARI
“What?” The word escaped my lips in a whisper. I was too shocked to even speak out loud. I took a small step backward, not knowing how to react, what to feel or what to do.
“Are… Are you sure it’s her? There has to be a mistake. I mean Val and I are cool.” I rattled in a small fading voice, trying to turn the table. There was no way it could be her. I mean we were cool, we were on good books with each other, and never would she think of hurting me.
“Sorry Tesoro. But everything points at her. From the day you fainted in the steam room, she was the one who came to report to us. How did she know that you fainted from too much heat unless she was the one who turned the heat on? She has been working in the dark since. And we wouldn’t have caught her if Verzi didn’t retrieve the deleted footage.
Looks like Val is off the hook! Who could it be? Guess Guess Guess! Love, RARE
LORENZO POVThings had not turned out as we had hoped. After calling in Ciello to prove Val’s words, we found out that we had caught the wrong guy, and that Val was well innocent and had nothing to do with the imposter. Verzi was a bit skeptical at letting the whole thing just slide, but Ciello had provided us with a few videos of them shagging, of which we clearly had no interest in. I felt bad after that, especially because they even pledged their loyalty to us. They were literally on their knees with faces down as they swore to serve us, even their children and their children after them. Getting three generations of loyal servants was something I didn’t see happening, especially in a moment like that.The things had gotten a little heated and Verzi had slapped Val a few times, pricking a bit of blood. He was never someone to do well with backstabbers. And the idea of being betrayed always tipped him off the edge. But my presence had saved Val’s life because had I not be
VERNERO POVA few days had passed on and the swindler stayed hidden in the shadows. To avoid attracting unnecessary attention, Enzo had to leave for work and come back at his usual time. And that meant working out the rorter case late at night. It was so infuriating knowing that there was someone who could harm us and our girl just right under our nose, but then still managed to stay so well and hidden.To ensure Leigh’s safety, I doubled up yet again on the security, guards, and systems. Although we were battling some kind of unknown force here, I didn’t want to bet with her safety. She was my whole world and I couldn’t risk anything happening to her. But I continued digging, hard and very attentive. One thing that was for sure was that if I found him, good heavens. Just the mere thought of it tore a very violent shudder from me, the excitement and that thrill of inflicting pain! Sitting in my office, I was going over all the possible people that could be involved in
LEIGH-ARIThe gun training didn’t work out as planned. Although I had been thrilled by the idea of learning how to use a real gun without shitting myself, it was safe to say I sucked in all ways possible when it came to it. I mean I didn’t even know the basics. Apparently, there was a badass way of holding a gun and how you should deal with it. Such as rolling it with on hands and fingers and shit. And man Verzi looked so damn hot when demonstrating. I had managed to drop my pistol on my toes at least a few thousand times that Verzi had to put something to protect my poor feet.I sucked so bad that I didn’t know how to hold a pistol, I didn’t when it was the right time to cork it, pull the trigger, and shit. At times I pulled the trigger without corking it, and then nothing happened. I even gave up on myself after trying forever. I was thankful that Verzi was so patient and lenient with me. He cradled me gently and tutored me without even feeling drained. But damn! In
LEIGH-ARIFrom the deep slumber of stupor, I felt I wave of icy coldness covering me. It took a second for my mind to register that my body was completely drenched. The biting cold caused wild shivers to erupt intensely, pulling me back from the dark world. My senses slowly connected with my body, my mind regaining itself. My ears were ringing loud, and my head felt like it had been banged against a hard concrete for at least a million times. My body was pinioned in a very cramped position making me immobile in all ways. I tried to move my arms, but what felt like cold chains held me back in place, and that explained why I felt like I was tied down.An aggrieved groan escaped my much-patched throat, causing it to hurt even more. I willed my heavy eyes to open but everything was just so blurry and unclear.“Rise and shine princess.” A voice called out from somewhere behind me, ringing painfully in my already disturbed ears. The unending throbbing in my head made it feel
XANDER POVFeeling utterly spent, I plopped myself on the lush bed in a hotel room which was rented under the name of some innocent citizen who had no idea how cruel this world is. Although I was a prick who felt guilty for not feeling guilty, pointing a gun and threatening the poor lady didn’t sit well with me. But I couldn’t use my own name; else the renowned Cattanio Twins would find me in a split second and eunuchize me without a second thought. Toying with them had been the best thing ever. I knew the east was well off gone, and as much as I hated to admit it, they did a good job at running the underworld shit. I was tired honestly. The blood on my hands was crying out loud, haunting me every day and night. I knew I couldn’t just leave; I was part of this world now and there was no going back. It was that kind of a thing that once you are in, there’s no going back. It was a vicious hole where you just kept falling and falling and falling deeper into the bottomless ab
LORENZO POVThe trepidation piled up with each heartbeat, my knee kept bouncing rapidly against the hard ground and my muscles clenched so tight I felt like I was going to have dead ass cramps all over my body. I didn’t even want to look at Verzi to know how he was, I already knew. He was a whole bughouse with emotions sending him over the edge. A lot of things flashed through my mind like a tape recorder, the otiose trip to Milan, had it been Xander’s plan? To get us away from Ari so that he can take her? And my girl, where was she? Was she still... God forbid that.I couldn't even begin to imagine what I was going to be if anything happened to her. The loud rumbling of our Chevy Camaro sounded from a distance. I looked to Verzi to find him already gathering his paraphernalia with a very angry face. I felt for him, in more ways than he could ever imagine. I wasn't being a dick for not being his shoulder. It wasn't that and it would never be that. But I wasn't the stro
VERNERO POV"SHE IS DYING!" Valerie's scream jolted me out of my daze pulling me to the moment. My body trembled at the sight of Leigh-Ari who laid limp in our arms, her head cradled in my blood-covered hands."You have to let the paramedics take her." Someone called out pushing me to the side. I robotically stood up and absent-mindedly watched as they strapped Leigh-Ari on the stretcher, rolled it out of the warehouse, and placed her in the back of the ambulance.The heavy sense of nothingness settled heavy on me, numbing everything from the inside. At that time, my heart stopped beating, my mind stopped running, everything stopped and I seized breathing. In that anathematized minute, I was dead. I wasn't living. The fire burning inside me had been extinguished, breaking to the ground the very remaining stem of my being when Leigh's body went limp in our arms. A very weak, tired hand clasped my shoulder,"Are you coming?" Enzo inquired in a very broken voice. My
LORENZO POV"Sir, you can't go into the ER while the doctors are treating the patient. Kindly wait here and we will get back to you." A very stern nurse called out trying to push me from the doors which were engraved with huge block red letters.I robotically just stared ahead, staring into nothing in particular."Hey..." Someone gently tugged on my shirt, I looked back to find Val looking at me with a very concern-filled stare, she wasn't judging. She was being the stronghold I needed at the very moment."She's is going to be alright. She is a fighter." She informed in a small voice, adding a little bit of smile. I turned my head and looked at the door yet again. Everything just felt so hallucinatory. Nothing about this whole vendetta made sense. It was as if someone had just pulled a cruel prank on us, and I was still recovering from the aftershocks. Or I had been too happy and caught up in the moment forgetting how cruel and unforgiving life actually is.I just cou