AlessioAll gazes were fixed on me, waiting to hear about the big problem. As always, Dad was the first one to cut to the chase. “What is it?” he demanded.“The search for Anson is off,” I stated. “I know where he is, he has Mena—but don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Throughout all this mess, my voice remained calm.Everyone in the room reacted. “Then we’ll go over there right now,” Dad spoke, moving toward the door, the others ready to follow his lead. I blocked their steps and raised my hand, signaling them to stop—and they did.They shared puzzled gazes amongst themselves, then looked back at me. Even though I had been doing it quite a lot this week, it was still rare for me to counter Dad’s decisions, but this situation was different. This was about Mena, and I couldn’t risk her life as she had risked her own, not even for a second.“I’ll go by myself,” I decided, locking eyes with Dad to show him how serious I was.He opened his mouth to protest, but I continued, "He’s armed, h
TW/: sexual assault/abuse-MenaSome time had passed since Anson began pacing the room again. An uneasy energy surrounded him as I was still tied up, and my worries began to grow by the minute.His behavior had reached a peak that was even something new to me. I knew he could switch, but not this quickly. Anson was not himself and spoke and argued with nothing but air. I had seen him angry, I had seen him make a fool of himself—but this was sick.I had kept my gaze low, avoiding eye contact as much as possible because it felt like the safest thing to do—but as time went by, I felt an urge of something I would not be able to hold back for much longer.“Anson,” I spoke above a whisper, mustering courage. My voice sounded hoarse from the lack of talking. “I have to pee.”He stood still, but didn’t respond. Anson was out of it, utterly zoned out and lost in his own world, kind of like a zombie. It was as if my words just floated through the air because they didn’t seem to have gotten thr
MenaAnson groaned in pain as he fell to the floor and clutched his leg. He had been shot, and through my state of fear, I noticed Alessio was unharmed.He had dodged Anson's bullet. Of course, he had. All of this was nothing new to him, and I bet he had found himself in these kinds of situations about a hundred times. One on one, he could easily take Anson.His pace was calm as he walked closer to Anson and kicked his gun aside. Now he had eliminated any way for Anson to defend himself. Anson's eyes narrowed with defeat, and so did mine.As Alessio towered over him, I braced myself for the gunshot I was sure would come, but instead, he placed his foot on Anson's throat. It was not enough to choke him, but enough to hurt him. "The keys?" Alessio spoke.Anson struggled against the pain, but his gaze shifted to his pocket. Alessio grabbed the key with a swift motion, then made his way toward me.He didn't say a word as he removed the cuffs from my wrist. Then he pulled my jeans back up
MenaAlessio pushed the gun into my hands, but I stepped back, shaking my head. “I can’t,” my voice trembled. “You can’t ask that of me.”“Why not?”I had no idea if he was being serious, but I believed he wasn’t. Of course, I wouldn’t kill anyone. What the hell did he think I looked like?I was so anti-murder that I couldn’t even kill a bug and insisted on gently leading them outside the house.“I know he’s a bad person and he’s made a lot of bad decisions—but we can still get him the help he needs,” I suggested. No wonder he told me to kill him. It was most likely because he had the feeling that this kind of crap would leave my mouth.Alessio chuckled at my plea before a frustrated sigh left his lips. “He killed my uncle. I’m not doing shit,” he stated. “I’ll give him the help he needs right now.”He raised his gun, but before he could do something, I ran in front of Anson and spread my arms. “No, please,” I shook my head, trying to protect him. Despite everything, I didn’t want him
MenaWhen I got home, the first thing I did was walk straight to the bedroom and take a long shower. I needed to wash away the blood and refused to even look in a mirror before I had done so. After the shower, I called Naty to check up on her. Hearing her voice, still innocent and unaffected, was a small relief. She was doing fine and was more than happy to go on a trip with Giulia and Melody.I stayed upstairs, mainly because I didn’t feel like seeing anyone. I wasn’t even sure if they knew where I had been this entire time. It almost seemed like they didn’t care, or maybe they did but Alessio told them to ignore it. Anything was possible.My thoughts kept drifting back to Alessio, who was now completely immersed in planning what he called a ‘victory feast.’ It disgusted me to think of celebrating anything after what had just happened.He had been standoffish since we got back, and I knew he would continue to be that way until I could give him an answer about our future. But how coul
MenaThe party was in full swing, and the ballroom of the mansion filled with music, loud chatter and laughter from everyone who had come to celebrate.As the only normal person in this room, I wasn’t feeling it and found myself in a corner with my arms folded. Not that Alessio gave a damn since he hadn’t even glanced at my direction.No. He was too busy mingling, laughing and clearly having a good time with everyone else while I had to do it with his ‘give me an answer’ attitude.Worse than seeing him pretend like everyone was fine, was seeing Isaac amongst everyone as if he hadn’t played a huge part in all of this. His fake smile and his fake kindness made me just want to…“Urgh!” I groaned in frustration before I went back to observing Alessio.It was good that I had decided to come because Alessio had the audacity to invite a couple of escorts, including the one he was particularly close to—Estelle. I had looked her up before, like a crazy girlfriend might, scrolling through her p
MenaEstelle’s lips curled, and I had the sudden urge to smack that smirk right off her face. “I think you know what the deal is,” she said. “I do want you to know that it was a one-time thing, and it won’t happen again.”I eyed her strangely. The information matched what Alessio had told me, and I believed him. Their encounter had occurred during a time when we weren’t officially together—but I couldn’t get myself to trust her.I chuckled to myself. Here I was, worrying about Estelle damaging the relationship which was already hanging by a thread."I work for him, and that’s it. You don’t have to worry about me," Estelle reassured me, but I could see through her fakeness.“I wasn’t worrying about you,” I snorted. “I have other things to worry about. You weren’t even on my mind.”At least not until I had laid my eyes on her.Worst case scenario, Alessio might decide she fit in his world way better than I ever could, and settle for her by the evening. He could make me pack my bags and
MenaI remained quiet as Alessio led me through the garden back to the ballroom. Meanwhile, my mind raced, wondering what he was planning to do, and what he so desperately needed to show me to convince me that we would not be able to push our issues aside.His hand was still wrapped around mine as he walked to the back and he raised his hand to ask for attention. “Everyone,” he called out loudly.Anxiety filled my stomach as I tried to prepare myself for whatever was about to happen. Why would he need an audience to prove me wrong?The music stopped abruptly, and all eyes turned in our direction. It was silent, and everyone was curious. "Dad, come here," Alessio beckoned.Domenico, along with the rest of the Fanuccis, including Gian and Dante, made their way over. As they gathered around, I noticed a large curtain behind us. I wondered what would be behind it, and it added to my worries.Why were we standing in front of it?"I can give you a speech, but I won’t because there’s no need