LEONARDO I knew this dinner was a bad idea. Since the moment Valentina stepped into our house, my wife and her friends have been giving me death glares capable of killing a weakling. Good thing I wasn't as they thought, so I simply ignored their pointed looks and focused on my food. After all, I wasn't the one who invited her enemy to dine with us. But somehow, I ended up being the punching bag instead. “Are you sure this marriage arrangement is a good idea?” Dante whispered once Alessandra stood up to fetch the pasta. He held up his hands in the air when he saw my glare and added, “Look, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this because I don't want to marry her; it's just that I'm worried about her safety. You know how your wife gets when another woman tries to threaten her position.”My wife. I was very well aware of Alessandra's maddening jealousy when it came to me, something that she would never admit to herself even if she was held at gunpoint. She was the kind of person who
LEONARDO An hour later... Keith emerged from the room, wiping his face with a handkerchief before he closed the door. Once his eyes landed on me, he scowled and pulled me to a corner while Dante and Rocco dealt with the panicked women. “Damn it, Leo." He glanced around us before he spoke, “What the hell is wrong with your family? This is the fifth time I have treated you guys in a month.” I shrugged noncommittally. “Well, you knew what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to be my in-house doctor. These little mishaps are something you should get used to from now on.” My doctor ran a hand down his face, clearly worried, so I tried to reassure him a bit, “I'll make sure this doesn't happen again.” “Are you sure about that?” Keith shot me a look. “Because from what I can tell, you can't do shit about your wife.” Something in me bristled at his tone. “Watch your fucking mouth when you speak about my woman, Keith.” “Look, I don't mean any disrespect, but you know what I
LEONARDO After taking care of my wife, I held an emergency meeting with my mafia lieutenants in my office. The fact that I had summoned them at night made everything seem so serious when it actually really wasn't. Honestly, I had already mapped out a plan since my wife poisoned her ex-best friend. I just didn't want to be alone tonight. “So that means we'll have to switch to another plan.” One of my men, Cortez, spoke after he heard about the unexpected development concerning our plans. “Our men have already started messing with Patrizio's operations, but I'm afraid he'll be alerted by Valentina's current condition. We'll have to take him down with one strike if we really want to succeed.”Something about his tone lightened my mood for some unknown reason. There was no reaction or judgment in his voice when he spoke about what happened in my house, and that's what made him a close favorite of mine. He was one of my men embedded in the police ranks, and his loyalty was unwavering.
ALESSANDRA After ten hours...I woke to the sound of my alarm ringing in the background. A soft groan escaped my lips as I rolled over, stretching my body like a cat. My eyebrows furrowed against the persistent throbbing in my head.With the headache came the flood of sour memories from last night. It was the same ones I'd tried hard to drown with the wine bottle by my bedside table.Valentina's bold declaration... My sweet revenge... Leonardo's furious argument... And then he locked me up in our bedroom.I struggled to hold back my tears for the umpteenth time tonight. My eyes went straight to my phone to check the time. It was five in the morning, and I don't even remember why I'd set such an alarm in the first place. I got up from bed and went straight to the bathroom to pee. When I returned, my eyes fell on the closed door, causing me to pause for a moment.The only reason why I had not screamed for help last night was because I didn't want to worry, Mia. She wouldn't have stood
ALESSANDRA The next day, Leo and I escorted our siblings to the airport terminal. The air between us was filled with tense silence as we exchanged hugs. Leo and Dante simply patted each other's backs while Mia and I brawled our eyes out, not caring about the attention we attracted with our cries. Although I had tried my best not to cry, the sight of my sister holding her bag made me emotional once again. Frankly, I couldn't imagine being so far away from her, but I knew this was for her own good. The last thing I wanted was for my father to hurt her too just because she was staying with me. “Call me when you land.” I forced myself to release her. She looked so tiny in her oversized hoodie and sweatpants, making my heart ache with reluctance. “Take care of yourself, and don't let Father force you into doing anything you don't want to do.”Mia nodded obediently and replied. “You should also take care of yourself. Don't allow anyone to bully you just because they think they own you.”
ALESSANDRA When we were younger, I was scared by Leonardo's intense thoughts. Although I enjoyed dating him in front of my friends and family, not many people knew how difficult he was to deal with. He had always been very possessive and short-tempered, but there was nothing that prepared me for his unique line of thoughts. There were times when I couldn't understand what he was thinking or the reasoning behind them. Like now. I stared at him, trying to understand what he was trying to say, but he refused to even make eye contact with me. He seemed pretty serious, which made the situation even scarier. He wants us to make a baby? Now? What the hell was he thinking?!“Having a baby is not going to solve our issues, Leonardo.” I said softly. Something about his deposition made my heart clench, but I didn't want to waver now. “If you're worried about me running again, that's not going to happen.”Leonardo spared me a glance for the second time during our car ride, and the pain in his
LEONARDO Shit. My mind raced, searching for a solution to remedy the situation, but nothing seemed to wipe away the look of horror on my wife's face. She had somehow discovered the truth, and now she kept staring at me like I was a monster. The very same thing I had dreaded since the day I put a ring on her finger. I wanted to tell her to stop looking at me like that, but my pride didn't allow it. So I let my lips pull into a maniacal grin as I said, “It's what he deserves for showing up in my house to mock me. There's no way I'm going to let him breathe the same air as me again, Alessandra.”My wife parted her lips for a split second before she closed them again. I could tell she was also thinking something, but I needed her to understand me. He was the reason why she lost our baby, and if it wasn't for the fact that I had to stay behind, I would kill him myself. “Why do you have to be the person to finish him?” Her voice was low, soft like a whisper when she pleaded with me. “M
ALESSANDRA As soon as we entered the apartment, Leonardo pulled me against his body and covered my lips with his own. I moaned softly and buried my hands into his hair, needing to touch him skin to skin. He kissed me like I was his air, the only thing he needed to survive. My skin felt feverishly hot as he ran his hands all over my body. He had no idea how much I had been craving him since the night he forgave me. All I wanted was his mouth and arms on me, kissing and touching me just the way I wanted. “These clothes need to come off, baby,” he coaxed.I stepped away from him and started stripping, getting rid of my skirt and panties, followed by my shirt and bra. I knew this was him trying to be considerate since he had always ruined my clothes in the past when we had sex. But the thing is that I didn't want him to be gentle today. I needed to feel his breath on my skin and his hands in my hair. It was a bit ironic how I couldn't wait to escape from him in the past, but now all I
LEONARDO After making the phone call, I got up from the bed and grabbed a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from the bedside table. I walked to the balcony to clear my thoughts and plan my next steps for handling some unfinished business. The night sky was starless, clouds covering half of the bright moon.I lit a cigarette in my mouth and took a long drag. The nicotine sent a heady rush to my brain, making me feel much light-headed than before. The throbbing headache began to fade away as I released a puff of smoke into the air. Giovanni, my dear stepbrother. I had to admit he had done a very good job hiding in the dark like a cockroach. But if he thought he could reap my pained efforts and take over my mafia organization, then he clearly had a death wish. Now that I have talked to Charles, one of my clients who worked in the city's administrative office, there was no way he was going to survive past the week. As the mayor's defense secretary, Charles had major connections with
ALESSANDRA A week later...I ate breakfast and was reading a novel when I suddenly received a phone call from Rocco. Anxiety gripped my heart as I picked up the call and said. “Hello, Rocco.”“Leo has woken up, and he's been asking for you.” He announced. “I'll text you the address so you can come visit him immediately.”I shot up from my seat. “Really? I'm coming!”My heart pounded in my chest as I changed my clothes and rushed into the waiting car. When we finally arrived at the location Rocco sent us, I was already a bit dizzy from anticipation as I entered the house, ignoring the guards’ greetings. I just wanted to confirm it myself. I needed to see him with my two eyes and touch him with my fingers to convince myself that he was truly awake. After taking several turns in the large house, I finally found Isabella in the hallway. As I closed the distance between us with hurried steps, I called out to her. “Isabella, where's he?”Isabella pointed at the door near her with a smile
ALESSANDRA By a few minutes before six in the morning, Henrietta finally emerged from Leonardo's room, wiping her hands with a white handkerchief. She and Cortez looked exhausted, though Cortez tried to hide it better than Henrietta.She yawned and said, “He's out of danger for now. But he still needs to be checked for any other internal injuries and broken bones.”I turned to Cortez. “Is there something you can do about this?”“I'll make some calls to find someone in the city to help us,” Cortez replied grimly. “But that means we'll have to move him if possible.”I suddenly understood why they had been beating around the bush when speaking to me. The thought of Leonardo not being nearby sent a cold shiver down my spine. I needed him close, and I couldn't trust anyone else right now. I didn't want him out of my sight until he regained consciousness.A undercurrent of tension and unspoken words passed between me and my enforcer as we stared at each other. Henrietta's eyes darted betwe
ALESSANDRA After what happened to Keith, Rocco and Cortez decided to conduct another identity check of every single person staying was in the private house. I stayed behind, personally watching over my unconscious husband alone while they carried out their operations.Although I had been very firm and strong on the surface when facing Keith, the truth was that I was extremely shaken by the extent of my Father's vicious plans. If I had arrived a second later, I would have surely lost Leonardo. So who could I trust now? Who exactly was my ally and my foe here?A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. Since the knocks were light and gentle, I already had an idea who was the visitor was so I called out, “Come in.”Isabella poked her head in and said, “Cortez wanted me to tell you that he's going to personally fetch a doctor to treat Leonardo.”“Alright, thank you.” I replied. After carefully examining Leonardo's injuries, Rocco and I had come to the conclusion that his life w
ALESSANDRA When I finally arrived at the address Isabella sent me, I rushed into the house to see Rocco talking to Cortez. He leaned against the wall, one of his hands holding his abdomen while he chugged down large gulps of whiskey from the bottle. I approached them quickly and asked, "Where's Leonardo? I want to see him right now.”“He's now receiving treatment from Keith.” Cortez replied. With a single glance, he grew alarmed as he pulled me close. “Is something wrong? Were you attacked?”I shook my head. “Not me. But I think Leo's in danger.”Rocco frowned. “What do you mean?”I told them what my younger sister, Mia had told me. The expression on both their faces was not pleasant at all, but then Cortez finally said, “I have already tightened security around the place, but I'll do an extra round just to make sure no one sneaks into the place.”“I'm afraid that person is already in this building,” I snapped, running my hand in through my hair. My mind raced as I thought deeply ab
ALESSANDRA I paced back and forth in the living room of my private residence that evening, waiting for some news from Rocco and the rest. As soon as Sofia gave me that address, we held a meeting as soon as I got home. Rocco folded his arms and stared at the note on the table. “How sure are you that this isn't some sort of trap? We can't afford to have them ambush us.”I smiled reassuringly. “That's why we have Cortez here.”“Yes,” My second mafia lieutenant confirmed, stepping forward. “I'll have a few police officers on standby for backup, so they don't have the upper hand over us.”“But that would actually leave us defenseless here.” Rocco protested. “Well, it's not like they know our new mafia headquarters, and I'll just hide here until you guys return, so don't worry about it.” I assured him. When there were no further objections, Rocco finally fell silent, so we were able to make a very meticulous plan to save Leonardo. That evening, I stayed at home with my phone glued to my
ALESSANDRA On the last day of the ultimatum, I sent word to Sofia to come for a meeting. Isabella and Rocco tried to convince me to wait until the ultimatum was over, but I just couldn't wait anymore. The previous night, I had a frightening nightmare that the couple had delivered Leonardo's corpse to me. That dream had scared the shit out of me that night, so I decided to take care of this mess once and for all. “What am I here, Alessandra?” Sofia questioned. Apparently, she wasn't pleased to be summoned on a Saturday because she had plans with Giovanni to go shopping. “Did you call us to give some good news about our agreement? Where's Dante?”“He's not here, and I didn't tell him anything about the deal you offered me.” I said. The couple's eager faces instantly dropped when they heard my words, but I didn't care. I came here for a mission, so I wasn't going to rest until I fulfilled it. Sofia slammed the table and fumed. “Then it means you are prepared to see your husband again
ALESSANDRA After waiting for several days, Cortez finally returned with news about his investigation. According to him, Sofia was an orphan from the city of San Remo who snuck out the country illegally through a stowaway. She was then caught by a prostitute smuggling ring and worked for them for four years before she met Giovanni, who paid for her freedom. “Are you sure that's all you have about her?” I asked Cortez. A wave of desperation and helplessness gripped my heart when I discovered he had brought nothing useful like I'd hoped. Today was the second day after Giovanni had given us that ultimatum, but I still didn't have anything on him or his woman. The clock was ticking, and I feared Leonardo's life would soon be forfeited if I didn't do something. Cortez glanced away before nodding, “Yes, that's all I could find. You can ask somebody else to search if you'd like.”I observed him for a few more seconds, trying to see if I could actually trust him. After the little disagreem
ALESSANDRA Silence enveloped the room after my confession. Cortez didn't look as surprised as I would have imagined while Rocco's expression darkened as he tried to process what this revelation would mean for his friends. “Your father killed his brother?!” Isabella half-asked, half-screamed. I understood her reaction the most because I had struggled to live with the secret for years. In the mafia, everyone did anything they could for power and money. But there was one concept that was sacred to all, something that allowed them to preserve their last sense of humanity. Family. Both betrayal and murder of one's kin were frowned upon, and if someone dared to touch another's family, then that person was definitely prepared to go to hell and beyond that. That's why most grudges were always settled with a person's death. "I'm so sorry, Alessandra.” Isabella wrapped her arms around me as my vision blurred with tears. Rocking me gently, she added, “Now it makes sense why you didn't wan