I took a deep breath as the car drove past the large iron gates. The familiar scent of a home hit me hard as I took a long look at the large house in front of me. I felt a little bit strange to be away from where I grew up for a period longer than a week, but I was no longer a Salvatore anymore. The car pulled to a stop and the door was opened by a guard standing outside, I nodded briskly as he bowed slightly. The mansion was still as busy as ever, business seemed to be good. My father wasn’t here to welcome me home and I knew it was probably because he was attending to business in the comfort of his private study. I spared a few minutes to chat with the maids I had grown up with before scaling up the stairs and taking the long walk to my father’s study. I knocked twice and waited for a second or two before twisting the door handle and making my way inside. My father sat behind his large mahogany table, a phone pressed between his ear and shoulder while his other hand clicked fu
My relationship with Alessandro was extremely sexual and it was pretty difficult for us to do anything aside from having sex whenever we were nearby. If we weren’t having sex anywhere and everywhere, we were having a heated argument and tonight was one of those nights. “Delight has been sulking all day after you yelled at her in the dining room, Alessandro. She has locked herself in the room and has refused to eat since it happened. You have to go talk to her." I said, crossing my arms across my chest. “Tell me you’re kidding.” Alessandro stared at me with an amused expression on his face. “She’s only a child, Alessandro. Did you have to be that harsh?” Delight had spilled a little bit of water while she tried to fill Alessandro’s glass and he had given her an earful. A number of the staff had caught the flu so Delight had to step in but I knew she wished she never did. As soon as she ran out of the dining room crying, I followed after her. I made my way to her room to find it lo
My nagging eventually paid off when Alessandro caved in and decided to grant my request to follow him to his general meetings. Lying in bed all day and doing nothing was driving me to the brink of madness and I couldn’t take it any longer. I didn’t suit the stay-at-home wife tag, I wanted to be busy—to get my hands soiled and that was the kind of person I was. Realistically, I never expected Alessandro to say yes because I’d heard rumors before meeting him about how he was a misogynistic bastard but it turned out to be a lie. Alessandro was ruthless with his decisions, I had to give him that but if he gave me this chance, it meant that he had a hidden amount of respect for me. He was a lot more invested in this than I had imagined and for reasons best known to him. Notwithstanding, it was nice to see that we were all on the same page. I hoped that he wouldn’t make any other decision without informing me. If we were going to be in this together, we had to be a team and teammates ca
A man stood in front of the large building to welcome us, a huge smile plastered on his face.“Welcome to our home, Don Ale—““Shut the fuck up and take me to your boss. I will not stand here and listen to your silly voice.” Alessandro cut him short as he walked up the stairs and I followed behind. The man simply nodded and scurried to the front door to lead us to his Don. On our way here, Alessandro had picked out a six-man team—myself included, to lead the negotiations while he instructed everyone else to stay outside and keep watch. “Right this way,” The man mumbled under his breath as he led us through the hallway. I felt we were a little bit too much, two or three people would have sufficed but I didn’t know how to put it across to Alessandro without making it seem like I was undermining his authority. Some things were always better left unsaid and it was better I remained mute for the sake of this meeting, I wouldn’t be thoroughly pissed with myself if I jeopardized it. The
“Before we bring out our subordinates and our guns to fight for what we believe is ours, I have a suggestion that would benefit both parties,” I said, raising my voice and forcing everyone to go silent and turn their heads toward me. “Gianna, what the fuck are you doing?” Alessandro whispered harshly as he grabbed my thigh underneath the table but I ignored the pain and kept my head up. “I know you’re married to Don Alessandro, but you’re not licensed to speak in a gathering of men,” Angelo said, narrowing his eyes at me. I turned towards Alessandro and simply stared at him, daring him not to back me up. I could see his eyes burning with anger but I didn’t care. If he thought he married a meek woman, he had it all wrong.I had a plan that would greatly benefit us without any bloodshed and I was going to make him give me the platform to speak or I would force his hand myself. “She’s my wife and the only daughter of Don Salvatore. She’s allowed to speak wherever and whenever the fuc
Alessandro was vivid when we got into the car and I had no idea why. I had gotten what he came here for in the first place without any bloodshed. Any other person would be delighted with my approach but not him. “You should never have done that, Gianna,” Alessandro said, his voice cold, as he stared out of the moving car. “I was only trying to help and I didn’t want things to end on a sour note, Alessandro,” I said, trying to plead my case. “You shouldn’t have done that. Your years learning under your father should’ve let you know that there’s a hierarchy that should always be respected.” There was another man in the limousine with us and he gave me a look that I couldn’t decipher. I’d been living with Alessandro for a few weeks now but I’ve never seen him around. “Yoda is right, Gianna. You should’ve shut the fuck up and allowed me to take care of business in there. I didn’t hearken to your pleas to have you undermine the importance of my authority. I brought you in there with a
Alessandro hadn’t been lying. The whole was giving me the cold shoulder after I disrespected him in front of Angelo. Despite getting the supplier back, it wasn’t enough to cover what they all took to be a blatant violation of the hierarchy law in the mafia. It had taken me quite a while but I was finally able to negotiate my position with Alessandro and I was being demoted to his secretary, taking down notes while being forbidden to speak at meetings. It wasn’t what I wanted but I had no other choice but to start working from the bottom to make my way back to the top. Being a secretary wasn’t an entirely bad spot, I was able to make a little bit of contribution during general meetings and I was starting to gain traction as well. “I’m not sure anyone quite sees it, but, Don Alessandro is lucky to have you in his corner.” I whipped my neck up so fast that it hurt. Andra and Adrien were standing in front of me, wearing similar smiles on their faces. “Sorry?” I said, not quite wrap
Maya’s wedding had been the talk of the town for a week after it ended. Alessandro spared no cost in making sure that she had the best of everything and he had booked Maya and Mike, a two-week vacation in Santorini. Alessandro had promised to buy them a house wherever they’d want in Los Angeles but Maya turned down his offer, preferring to live here in the mansion with us. Alessandro had no issues with Maya’s choice, the mansion was large enough to accommodate over a hundred people while I had to bite down on my tongue in order not to cause a scene. I’d gotten over Mike’s betrayal rather quickly, much to my surprise. Maybe it was because I never loved him like I thought I did or maybe it was because of Alessandro. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it but I knew that what I felt whenever I saw him prancing around the mansion was disgust. “You walked in on Mike having sex with Maya?” Andra stared at me, her eyes bulging from her face. We’d gotten closer over the past couple of wee
I walked briskly into the large room, it was a typical, bleak coffee-stained room with dirty walls. The scent of sweat, cigarettes and musky cologne hung in the air like a chandelier, there were pictures on the wall which were some kind of modern art, the furniture looked plain, uncomfortable, leather and black. My eyes landed on a large man sitting at the center of the room. A long metal table with paper strewn across the surface, separated me from who I assumed to be the boss, he was flanked by men holding mean-looking guns, some I hadn't seen before in my life and that said a lot about the kind of people I was dealing with here. I took a close look at him as I approached the table, my gaze wary as it darted from face to face trying to pick up a hint. The skin on his body looked like grade-three sandpaper, the consistency was unreal. He lifted his face and pushed away his bowl of cereal as he saw me coming towards him. His face was badly burnt, the hair on his head was charred an
Lying down on the raw concrete, I could feel the walls closing in around me. I felt the vicious pounding of my heart banging repeatedly against my ribcage.I shut my eyes tightly. I could still hear myself yelling their names over the cacophony of a billion shards of glass as my head slammed into the mirror. I couldn't bring myself to bask in the pain I felt. I had little to no time to do what these men wanted or my son would be dead. Instinctively, I touched where a shard of glass had cut me. The wound had been bandaged expertly. I had to give it to them, they had thought everything through before they made their first attack. I was like a recruit thrust into the heat of a raging war, I needed to find a safe place before I was blown to bits out here in the open.I groaned as I struggled to sit up, I had no idea on how I got here but I didn't care about that right now. I had more important things to worry about, I needed to be up on my feet, thinking. I needed my brain working overt
I had lost my touch. That's what happens when you become docile after years of being on guard."Do exactly what I say or you die." I could feel my heart racing despite my best attempts to compose myself.I knew I was walking into a trap but I had no choice. I wasn’t entirely sure that the letter came from Syrius, maybe it was only a silly joke being played by some crazy maniac but what I was certain of was that whoever sent the letter had my son and I was willing to do anything to get my child back. The accent was masculine and Eastern European. There was no quake or tremor in the man's voice. His tone sounded calm and detailed. This was no hoax, if I went out of line, I would die.I tried to remember if either Alessandro or myself had any issues with any mafia from that part of the world but I couldn’t come up with anything. "What do you want?"I asked fearfully as the cold steel of his gun pressed into the small of my back.I needed a distraction. My first instinct was to lean
I felt dejected as I searched each room hoping to find him in there but I knew the truth, he was gone and I had no idea where he had gone to. The wardrobe was empty as well, he had packed his bags and he was probably halfway across the world for all she could know. Despite sitting in our room for hours, I knew I missed him and I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes. This wasn’t how I had envisaged my life a few weeks and it hurt now that I was faced with this shitty reality. Our first conversation after he’d been discharged from the hospital didn’t go too well. I couldn’t stop myself from blaming him for the disappearance of our son. I categorically told him that I believed our son was kidnapped because of the ties he has to him and the mafia. Alessandro had tried to reason with me but I didn’t want to hear any of it, all I wanted was my son. My phone rang and I retrieved it from my pocket, it was Tiffany. She had promised to call back after a couple of hours.“Hey
I had lost my touch. That's what happens when you become docile after years of being on guard."Do exactly what I say or you die." I could feel my heart racing despite my best attempts to compose myself.I knew I was walking into a trap but I had no choice. I wasn’t entirely sure that the letter came from Syrius, maybe it was only a silly joke being played by some crazy maniac but what I was certain of was that whoever sent the letter had my son and I was willing to do anything to get my child back. The accent was masculine and Eastern European. There was no quake or tremor in the man's voice. His tone sounded calm and detailed. This was no hoax, if I went out of line, I would die.I tried to remember if either Alessandro or myself had any issues with any mafia from that part of the world but I couldn’t come up with anything. "What do you want?"I asked fearfully as the cold steel of his gun pressed into the small of my back.I needed a distraction. My first instinct was to lean
I felt dejected as I searched each room hoping to find him in there but I knew the truth, he was gone and I had no idea where he had gone to. The wardrobe was empty as well, he had packed his bags and he was probably halfway across the world for all she could know. Despite sitting in our room for hours, I knew I missed him and I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes. This wasn’t how I had envisaged my life a few weeks and it hurt now that I was faced with this shitty reality. Our first conversation after he’d been discharged from the hospital didn’t go too well. I couldn’t stop myself from blaming him for the disappearance of our son. I categorically told him that I believed our son was kidnapped because of the ties he has to him and the mafia. Alessandro had tried to reason with me but I didn’t want to hear any of it, all I wanted was my son. My phone rang and I retrieved it from my pocket, it was Tiffany. She had promised to call back after a couple of hours.“Hey
It’s been a week since the ugly incident and Alessandro hadn’t woken up yet. I was struggling to pull it together but I knew that I didn’t have any other option, I couldn’t afford to break down right now not when I had to look after myself and Alessandro as well. I needed him to be up and running if we were going to get to the bottom of this tragic incident that had befallen us. The doctor urged me to give him time and be patient till he decided to come around. His vitals were good and his condition was improving, he was going to wake up any moment from now, the doctor would always say giving her a warm smile in return. The conviction in his voice always seemed to calm my nerves so I waited calmly until Alessandro decided to come around.I was in his hospital room, sitting on a chair next to the hospital bed, my knees were pulled up under my chin with my face buried between the latest reports from the investigators who were handling the case until Alessandro took over. Reading help
“Are you sure it’s safe to go on this trip?” I asked, nibbling on my lower lips as I shuffled from one foot to another, unable to be at peace. Alessandro had offered to take me on a three-day trip while Tiffany and the maids we hired would look after our son until we were back. “I had to spend three days convincing Ethan to let you go, Gianna. Do you think I’m not going to take you out to celebrate accomplishing the biggest goal I’ve ever set for myself?” Alessandro chuckled. “Tone down with your flattery, dude.” I laughed, playfully smacking his arm. “I’m only worried about the safety of our son and I hope you can understand that.” Alessandro pulled me close and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I understand why you’re worried and you have every right to be. You’ve never been away from him for more than a few hours and now, I’m asking you to spend three days without him.” “He’s been through so much already, I don’t want him to suffer anymore.” I sighed, placing my head on his
I didn’t exactly know how long it had been but a few hours had passed since Alessandro left the house after our heated argument about him going out despite the doctor’s advice. Unable to bring myself to do anything tangible, I had spent the rest of the afternoons wandering around the house and counting the hours until he would return while taking care of Ethan as well. He had called me earlier but I wasn’t in the mood to talk, else I would break down and I didn’t want that to happen. For my sake, it would be best if I remained silent until I regained every trace of my composure before tackling everything Alessandro had disregarded. I couldn't be worried about him and our son simultaneously, my poor heart wouldn’t be able to take it. Alessandro had assured me that he would be back early enough and I couldn’t wait, the suspense already had me in a chokehold.As soon as she heard Alessandro’s car pull up in the driveway, I bolted off the couch where I had been sitting and rushed out