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
MenaLeaning against the door, I closed my eyes as I waited impatiently. The silence from inside was killing me, and with each minute ticking by—I had yet to hear a reaction from Alessio.My mind raced with all sorts of thoughts about what he might be doing, what he might be thinking, and so on. I only knew one thing, and that was that a reaction would come.It had to because describing Alessio as anything but a hothead would be an understatement.I had already concluded he was crazy, and that was putting it mildly.As more minutes passed, my anxiety grew. The longer the silence, the worse I feared his outburst would be. Now that I sat on my own, I had time to think about my feelings and once again realized that bothering him with this news, especially tonight after he had a few drinks, might not have been a smart decision.After my talk with Gian in the car, it became obvious that the topic of betrayal was something sensitive to this family. It was for that reason that Grandpa Fanucc
Mena“Before and after,” I spoke without a second thought. “I told you, we might not always agree—but I love you, and I’ll have your back, no matter what.”In that moment, I realized I had already made my decision—and this time I hoped he could hear my sincerity. This was the path I chose—to stand by Alessio no matter what, and I would not go back on my word ever again.“I’m with you.”Alessio released a relieved sigh. "And you’ll have to be patient with me because I clearly still have a lot to learn—but I do know that I have to stop you from whatever you planned on doing because I can’t lose you," I continued, my voice softening.The gun might’ve been lowered, but his rage wasn’t. His breaths were heavy, and I could sense it took him every bone in his body to stay calm.I reached up and cupped his face, gently forcing him to look at me. "I know it’s difficult, but you need to relax.”I slowly took his hand and led it to my stomach, reminding him of the other news I had just shared wi