AlessioFor a second, the car was filled with silence, but then Donni broke into laughter. "You must be fucking joking. Levi, are you hearing this guy?" I couldn’t tell whether he was amused or just extremely concerned.He had known me the longest, knew how much I enjoyed the presence of various women without tying myself down to one. I always said the thought of falling in love made me want to puke—so I understood why he was weirded out.The idea of me, Alessio Fanucci, falling in love was too absurd to accept.“Bro, that just doesn’t make sense,” Donni reacted, not even trying to accept the situation. “It’s clear the two of you have been fucking like rabbits all day, but love? That’s a big word.”"I know. I’m not the type of person to just randomly say shit. You know that," I spoke, irritated. It wasn’t something that came out of the blue. It was something that had been on my mind for days, and now I could finally come to term with it.I was in love with Mena. Deeply in love.I love
JimenaI sat at a table near the pool, braiding Naty’s hair. She was about to take her first horseback riding class, something she had been eager to try after hearing about Melody’s stories.Her request had come out of the blue, and I was against it at first. Of course, Alessio was on her side and managed to persuade me to let her go. He promised Melody had the best instructors, and Naty would be in safe hands.Truthfully, Naty deserved it—there was no question about it. She adjusted well in school and had quickly become one of the best in her class. Her teachers often praised her for her artistic talents and said she was a fast learner.Letting her go on a horse was the least I could do. As always, Alessio was busy with work but by now I was used to it.“Mommy?” Naty called for my attention, her tone sounding serious.“Yes, baby?” I replied, wondering what she could be asking me about."You like spending time with Alessio, but you never liked spending time with Daddy," she concluded.
JimenaWe ended up grabbing some fast food through the drive-thru, and were now parked in a spot near the woods, eating our food.It was more awkward than it had to be from both sides—and it was all because we had yet to discuss the situation."Did you bring me here so you could kill me and bury my body in case I say something terrible?" I joked, trying to ease into the conversation with a bit of humor."You got me," Alessio played along, taking a bit from his burger.We shared a laugh. He and I both shared the same humor that no one else seemed to understand.He put down his food and twisted his body to take a better look at me. His smile fainted, and had changed to a look of concern. “Now tell me what’s on your mind,” he said, and I realized it was now or never.He was not on his phone, he didn’t had to run to an appointment, there was no one else around us—the woods were quiet and he was entirely focused on me. If I was going to do this, I had to do this now.I drew in a breath. "W
Alessio“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you—at least for the first two?” I asked Uncle Stefano, watching him as he prepared for the day. He was planning go check out the new, still empty Fanucci warehouses. Originally, I was supposed to join him—but plans had changed.Melody and Naty had their art exhibition at school, something they had been talking about for a while. Naty and Mena asked me to be there, and I couldn’t let them down. Plus, it would take some burden off mom as well."I need you to be serious today, Gian. Be useful," I told my brother, who would be joining him instead. This was not like the usual small runs he was used to. Making sure the warehouses were in good state was important to our business.Gian scrunched his nose, looking at Uncle, “Is he my dad or brother?”I dismissed his words with a scoff. There was only a year between him and Dante, and then another year between me and him. Despite our close ages, I had always felt a sense of responsibility to
AlessioThe man gestured towards a young girl standing alone in front of a board, displaying her art. She looked lonely, and a sad smile was stuck on her face. There was no friend by her side, and everyone walked past her art."Sure, we’ll take a look," the words left my mouth before I could truly think about it. The situation just looked fucked up, and despite me being an asshole, I did have somewhat of a sympathy for unfairly treated children.I pulled Mena with me, and we made our way towards the girl’s display. Instantly, she grew a big toothy grin on her face.Mena knelt down to the girl’s level and shook her hand."What is your name?""Lily," the girl replied.Mena was quiet for a second, pushing a few strands of Lily’s hair behind her ear. “I like your dress, Lily,” she had her way of making people feel special. "What do you have to show us?" The girl quickly reacted to Mena’s question, giving her an explanation of her art while I stepped back and watched.I ‘just relaxed and
MenaAfter the art exhibition ended, Alessio suggested to buy the children some ice cream. Well, Melody forced him—and he agreed.Naty and Melody were over at the playground, eating their ice cream, while Alessio and I watched them from a bench nearby.Same as Naty, I was surprised that he had shown up. When it came to Naty, I was used to doing everything on my own, without any support and without expectations, because Anson had shown us not to have them.Naty really wanted him to come, and I initially wanted to tell her not to ask him, as I was scared of rejection, but also she might've felt like she had nothing to lose.Thank God he came, because the parents there were not my crowd. It also brought back a reminder of how different we were from each other—but until now, we had made it work.“We left at a good time,” Alessio broke the peaceful silence. “I couldn’t stand being around those children any longer.”I chuckled at his words. During the exhibition, the children all tried to g
AlessioRushing through the halls of the mansion, I made my way to Dad’s office. Once in a while I nodded at some of the guys hanging around, trying to remain as calmly as possible.During a meeting, Dad called me, his voice full of worry as he told me to come over right away. As I approached his office door, Dante turned the corner, heading in the same direction. We stopped, facing each other."He called you too?" Dante asked after a short while."Yeah?” I replied, surprised to see him there. Dad rarely bothered my brothers because he had made me his target for life."And Gian?" he asked, glancing around as if he would appear any second.I reached for the doorknob. "Don’t know—haven’t seen him all day. I thought he was with you.""Me neither. I thought he was with you," Dante spoke.With a push, I opened the door as we stepped inside together. We were instantly met with Dad who was pacing back and forth, rubbing his chin with his fingers as he did so.He stopped walking and our eye
Alessio"Just look around the place real quick, we have two more to go," I instructed, turning to the guys."Levi and Donni, you're with me. You two take the other side.”We walked inside, and the first thing I noticed were the flickering, dimmed lights. The warehouse had a smell of a musty scent, and the only noise was the sound of dripping water, probably from a leak.“Where were you guys yesterday?” I attempted to lead a conversation, trying to remain as casual as I could as we looked through the warehouse."I took a jet, flew this hot babe to a hotel," Donni boasted proudly. "At the beginning of the day, her mouth worked like a damn machine, at the end of the day—she couldn’t talk anymore."“Good for you,” I said, expecting nothing less from Donni. Women and work, that’s what his life was—and what my life used to be.From the corner of my eye, I caught Levi bending down to grab something from the floor. As he was about to put it in his jacket, I grabbed his arm to stop him. “What