Nicole was mesmerized by Salvatore when he was looking after the two newborn babies that had come into the world.
She can recall how Serafina's water broke when they all had come together to welcome Stephan, the poor guy fainted at the sight, while Alessio stood in shock, having dropped his glass and broken it. Salvatore was the one who took command of the situation, telling one man to bring the car around, another to go upstairs and get the baby bag he had kept for Serafina in case something like this happened while another called the hospital to let them know that they were coming.
Once they got to the hospital Serafina was wheeled into the maternity ward and then the delivery room. The transition was a long time so Salvatore suggested that some people go home and they'd inform everyone of the situation. In the end, Salvatore remained back with his parents and Alessio while the rest went home. The next morni
Nicole had been playing fetch with the dogs when the car pulled up into the porch. She didn't need to turn around to know it was her husband, the guards standing to attention around her was evident enough of an indicator.Persephone had once more snatched the ball from Hades, who let her take it back to Nicole. The woman watching the husky with amusement as it came trotting up to her and released the ball at her feet."Cheater," She chuckled under her breath before picking up the ball and put it into the call launcher to throw it across the yard with both the dogs standing to a ready before her."Nicole," A voice called from behind her causing her to turn around and find Salvatore standing in a three-piece grey tweed suit with a white undershirt and black tie; a black overcoat on top of his suit and gloves on his finger, his entire ensemble had Nicole lick her lips at how g
Tazio drove through the open metal gates, the land beneath the tires leveling out to be a dusty stretch of soil; large enclosures surrounded by white fences on either side with beautiful beasts running in the area or grazing on the grass. A beautiful white structure erected before him with triangular roofs and a large porch opening out to the front of the ranch where a black Range Rover and a matte black Lamborghini Aventador stood in the shade not too far away.Putting the car into park before the farmhouse, Tazio stepped out in beige dress pants paired with a white button-up covered by an olive green blazer. Rubbing his hands together against the cold he looked up to see two men standing against the patio posts, one of them smoking while the other looked out at the horses in the enclosure."Where is he?" He directed the question to the two men."Riding Ebony," Both of them responded in syn
Salvatore hovered over Nicole's unconscious body, his hands and clothes smeared in blood as he couldn't bring himself to settle down.His doctor, Michi, patched her up and informed him that she had suffered a blow to the head, bruising across the ribs, and a flesh wound by the gunshot in her thigh; and had passed out due to the blow. When Salvatore had learned that information; he couldn't help but brace himself against the wall and laugh at his wife and her misconceptions – leading him to believe that she was dying."Hey," Stephan placed a hand on his shoulder as Salvatore sat on the seat next to his bed, hunched forward and utterly exhausted. "You're covered in blood, why don't you go and take a shower?"Looking over his shoulder at his best friend, the Mafia Boss nodded, taking a moment to gather his scattered thoughts before standing up, stumbling a little but bei
Nicole's leg had begun to heal, but she was still confined to bed rest. Salvatore tried to spend as much time with her as he could, but generally, within 3 minutes of his arrival, an urgent matter needed his attention. She would chuckle then, but in all honesty, she just wanted him beside her, not even talking if he didn't want to, but just there beside her. Nicole found herself spending a lot of time with the dogs, her Husky begging for belly rubs as the Wolf-hybrid would just yap at her or play with her white beast.She laughed as Persephone licked her face, Hades sitting at the foot of the bed, watching the two."Scendere," A voice commanded her husky bounding off the bed and towards Salvatore, yelping up at him as he tossed a treat her way. Walking towards Hades, he lowered his hand before the dog instantly nibbled the treat on his palm. After rubbing him behind the ear, he came and settled on his side
Upon her return from work, Nicole bought a bouquet of flowers, putting them in a vase and at the center of their bedroom. She had the bed sheets changed and the entire room cleaned, the curtains were drawn open and the lounge set up. Once that was done she sat down to finish the pending work before grabbing a notepad to doodle on it. Eventually, she got tired of sitting and went to shower before dinner.Entering with the Bluetooth in his ear, Salvatore greeted the two dogs that came bounding to him as he removed the leather gloves, followed by his scarf and coat."How are the kids?" He asked his sister, sitting down on the sofa and throwing back his head as she spoke about her babies. "That's good to hear, and how are you doing? No postpartum depression or anything, right?"He rubbed a hand over his forehead and glanced at the tabletop, his eyebrows furrowing at the sight of the
The weather was beautiful; no doubt, however, the beauty of a decrease in temperature came along with Salvatore's wheezing. The outdoor cold made breathing hard on him and if she sat outside with him for an hour, he would take a shot from his inhaler every couple of minutes. The chill was tough on his lungs, she knew, but he didn't complain, as a matter of fact, he didn't say anything about it.As the days progressed, Nicole watched her husband's condition deteriorating. His coughs sounded like there was a dessert in his lungs, and he was slowly beginning to get sick. She knew that if he just rested for a couple of days, he'd feel better, but despite telling him to take a day off, he wouldn't listen. When she realized telling him to take a break wouldn't help, Nicole devised a new method of having him stay in bed."You're still working," Salvatore noted when he stepped out of the walk-in closet in a shirt and trouse
In the first week of December, both Salvatore and Nicole had stayed at home and didn't do any work. He did not deal with the Mafia, nor the company, neither the nightclubs while she didn't deal with the managerial position of her company. The two had just spent time together, reading, talking, playing, and going out.They learned quite a bit about one another by just watching, and it always had a smile form on their lips. The week they spent together, they had developed atastefor the other's presence.However, it was a rather ill-timed vacation given that they had work to get back to before Christmas.Today was Christmas.As per their usual, Rosalie and Arcangelo would host a lavish Christmas dinner for their family and friends, and for this very reason, Nicole stood in her walk-in-closet, a robe over her undergarments as she was kneeling on the
The movie played on mute with the colors of the scene infiltrating the room and illuminating it in a dim glow, every other source of brightness extinguished at 11:50 p.m.Nicole lay on her side, her head propped up on her elbow and ignoring the movie she had chosen and instead admired the sleeping figure of her husband.Salvatore lay on his back beside her, his right arm placed on his chest with his left hand dangling off the bed, his gaze gently tilted away from her with his usually styled black hair an unruly mess. Hesitantly, she reached out to him, running the back of her hand down his prickly jaw, smiling when he didn't stir from his sleep, realizing his sleeping habits were developing.Christmas had been an exhausting expenditure, New Years was full of drinks and parties, and then in the first week of January, they had gone to visit her parents who had been hosting a little get-togethe
18-MONTHS-LATERThe sunlight filtered in through the cracks in the curtains, bathing the room in a limited glow. The illumination showing a master bedroom with an off-white carpet and walls that were half white and half sea-green wooden planks. The window was to the beds right and covered by cream-colored drapes. A grey high backed bed against the center of the wall with white sheets and two leather single benches at the foot of the bed, with an antique ottoman rug beneath the structure.Two people slept in silence, the beeping of the alarm disrupting the peace.A hand poked out from beneath the covers and fiddled with the device before turning it off, her ring glittering in the sunlight pouring in.No soon had she
Nicole choked on her sobs, unable to breathe as she clutched her knees, throwing her head back to inhale deeply, a trembling hand against her chest as she tried to regain her bearings."Nicole," Her father called out behind her softly and tried to lift her off the floor, stumbling back when she lost her footing.The lump and tears made it difficult for her to breathe, forcing her to wheeze as she pulled herself away from her father, making her way forward. Both Marco and Arsenio took a step back, allowing her to walk towards the bed, watching her shoulders shaking with her tears before she fell on his chest, gasping for breath.A hand stroked the back of her hair as she cried into his chest."Breathe," He croaked beneath her, stroking her hair with drips connected to the back of his palm. "Breathe, Nicole,"Shaking her head, she pulled back h
Nicole had gotten discharged a few days ago with a prescription for medicine and instructions stating that she should rest and come for a check-up every month for the next four months. When she signed the forms, she had turned towards her guards, handing one of them the prescription and sending him to get the medicine, while the other was instructed to get her a fresh change of clothes, while she went and settled in Salvatore's room.She slept and woke there, didn't move from the place and always asked the doctor the same question."Have they found a heart yet?"But given that the Mafia Boss was an O-positive, it was difficult to find someone with that blood type and was a donor.His wife decided to speak to him in case she went insane from things left unsaid."You had no right to order Major to pull the plug,"Nico
No matter how hard the doctors tried, Nicole refused to stay in her room.She would allow them to do their check-ups and would patiently sit through the 6-hour hemodialysis therapy, but the moment they would take her off the machine, she refused to sit in her room; instead, she would go and sit beside Salvatore.Day by day, she was regaining her strength, she began walking around her room, but wasn't strong enough to walk all the way to his room as of yet. So she had insisted that the doctors shift her to a room closer to his and promised to rest more if they did. It had taken a day or two, but eventually, she was moved to the room beside his.She even visited Serafina when the doctors would be in Salvatore's room.Nicole had to wonder, how beautiful and peaceful Serafina looked. Her hair was washed and brushed, her complexion fair, and her eyes closed, she loo
The light overhead is what awoke Nicole, that and the incomprehensible jumble of words swarming around her. Groaning, she blinked open her eyes, shielding them from the harshness of the light, and was surprised to find something tugging at the back of her palm. Turning her hand, she found I.V drips and various wires connecting her to different machines, an oxygen mask over her mouth, and what looked like a dialysis machine purifying her blood through her left arm.Looking towards the large machine to her left, she blinked her eyes, seeing her father seated and hunched over a book, murmuring the words out loud.Straining to listen, sherecognized the words, her eyebrows knitting in confusion before noticing the rosary in his hands."Since have you taken to reciting Holy Scripture?" Nicole asked in a hollow voice, suddenly realizing how parched she felt."Christ!"
A groan escaped Salvatore as he was regaining consciousness and felt himself being dragged against the moss-covered forest floor before the texture changed from the rugged natural terrain to smooth marble. His head lolled from side to side as the stench of death attacked his senses, feeling someone pat him down before taking out all the weapons that he had; his phone included and then took off the bullet proof vest he had been wearing.With his skull pounding, he tried to open his heavy eyelids suppressing shiver when a warm sensation tickling down his nape and down his back.Suddenly he was dropped to the floor without warning and his head hit the marble floor with a grotesque crack that had the Mafia Boss groan in pain, clutching at his skull. A pained moan escaped Salvatore as he rolled onto his stomach, sitting up to be kneeling on the floor, a hand cradling the abused area and slowly cracking open his eye
Rushing down the flight of stairs, Salvatore stepped out into the late October chill as their breath fogged up. Guards creating a circle with their guns pointed at the suit-clad man kneeling on the grass with his hands behind his head and breathing heavily.The man had brown hair that fell into his beady black eyes, a hooked nose with a jutting square jaw and had a rather pale complexion – either that or he was terrified."Who are you?" Salvatore stepped forward and clenched the ring in his palm, the guards stepping to the side with their guns poised."I need to see Salvatore Regnante," He looked up at him, causing the Mafia Boss to raise his eyebrows, realizing he had no idea who Salvatore was. "Please," He pleaded in desperation."Why do you need to see him?""I...God..." He choked out. "They took the ring and I-"
Nicole did not know how long she had been locked away in that holding cell. She did not know what date it was, nor what time it was, but there were two things she was most certain of. One, her husband would come and find her soon; and two, she had a friend.Davide had proven to be quite trustworthy.She had been hesitant at first, but he kept talking to her, and she had been so deprived of human interaction of late that she took what she could get. He had the day duty with her four days of a week, and every time when he came to guard her, he'd bring one game or another and always had the most fascinating stories to share. Nicole laughed every once in a while and sometimes told him stories about herself, granted he didn't know who she was or whom she's married to, and he was very content with not prying.Davide had warmed up to her as well.She felt like a little sist
Nicole remembered how confused she felt when she had woken up in a room that wasn't her own. And her bewilderment had just grown exponentially to see herself dressed in the attire she had worn to the gala. Stumbling out of the bed, she had looked around herself, the room was scarcely furnished, with a wooden platform bed in the center, a wardrobe to her right along with a door leading to the bath, and a window to her left.Gathering her dress in her hands, she looked out, surprised to find it being dark, but her body was awake like it was morning. Walking towards the door, she tried turning it, finding it to be locked."Hey!" Nicole banged on the door with her fist. "Let me out!"The moment she had awoken she had realized she was kidnapped, and she had to wonder what happened to Salvatore, remembering the way he had stopped breathing. Knowing she had no way out, she settled back on the bed,