OCTAVIA Bree gasped, clutching her chest like she was genuinely offended. “What’s wrong with it? Everything! You’re about to meet the cutthroat people in the Mafia, and you’re dressed like you’re going to a grocery store!”“Ohh, I thought this was fine,” I muttered, feeling a bit self-conscious.“No, no, no,” she said, shaking her head as she grabbed my hand. “Come on. We’re fixing this. Right now.”Before I could protest, she got in front of me and grabbed my hand again.“But Bree, is it really necessary?” I tried to argue as she pulled me down the hallway that leads to the rooms.“Trust me, it’s very necessary,” she insisted, practically yanking me toward her room.When we finally reached her door, she flung it open. This is my first time entering her room, and as I stepped inside, I immediately noticed how different her room is from mine. The layout is very similar, but where my room has a minimalistic and neutral decor, Bree’s room is an explosion of color and her personality. So
OCTAVIA'S POV I just finished dropping my coffee mug inside the dishwasher when I heard someone walk into the kitchen. I turned back to see Aaron walking casually into the kitchen. My eyes widened slightly at the sight of him. He was dressed in a crisp black suit; his broad shoulders filled it out even more perfectly than a mannequin would, and he completed the look with black shades. Even though I have seen him in suits before, something about him today was different. He looked more polished, intimidating, and, as much as I don't want to admit it, exceptionally handsome. “Are you ready?” he asked in his usual low, calm tone. I made to clean my hands over my pants before I remembered that it is leather, and I let it hang awkwardly on my side and gave him a small nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” “Good,” he said. “It’s time to go.” Without another word, he turned and headed for the door. I followed him outside, my heart pounding a little faster with each step. The sight that greet
OCTAVIA'S POVEvery person we passed as we walked by stopped what they were doing and nodded their heads in respect to my father. Lionel walked ahead with his usual commanding presence, and I followed closely; Aaron walked silently to my left like an unshakable shadow, while Mikel trailed slightly behind. It was hard not to notice the curious, borderline scrutinizing stares of everyone. They weren’t even trying to be subtle. I told myself it wasn’t personal and held my head high, not betraying my nervousness. I'm just an unfamiliar face in a world where everyone is practically like family. But still the whole attention made my skin prickle, and this is just the start; I almost laughed to myself. The man leading us, he is a huge man, and he had a complicated tattoo that covered his arms and part of his jaw. He was the one that welcomed us, and he seemed to be the head of the warehouse. His eyes kept darting to me, and I'm not sure if it is just in curiosity. Either way, it made me wa
OCTAVIA'S POV My eyes met Aaron's from across the room, and the buzz, the murmurs, and the quiet conversation—all of it faded to the background. He was leaning casually against the back wall, arms crossed over his broad chest, his face, as usual, was unreadable and stoic, as though nothing in the room interested him. But then, his mouth quirked ever so slightly into the faintest hint of a smile. I blinked, taken aback by the subtle change in his expression. Something flickered in his eyes, something very similar to...pride? Approval? Whatever it was, it made my heart race. For a moment, it feels as if the weight of the day has lifted; I don't feel the stares of the people looking at me; I feel at ease. I held his gaze, the corners of my lips tugging upward instinctively. The room and everyone in it blurred into insignificance, and for a fleeting moment, it felt like it was just the two of us in the world. Wait! What was that?I broke the eye contact, looking around the room to make
OCTAVIA'S POVMy body moved swiftly with a practiced ease that I still find fascinating as I kept punching the bag, my fists almost in sync with the beat of the music blasting in my ear, I didn't hear the sound of anyone come in but I saw the door of the gym open through the side of my eye making me still for a brief second. My breath came out in soft pants and I looked at the entrance to see Aaron coming in still in his outfit from earlier. He walked inside and leaned causally again the wall opposite me, his stoic expression still intact as he watched my watch him, he raised a questioning eyebrow at me when I didn't do anything. I felt a bit self conscious under his steady gaze, but I ignored him and turned back to the bag and threw another punch, trying to shake the. But the weight of his presence and his silence was unnerving, and I found myself slowing down. "Are you done?" He asked flatly, his voice breaking the silence. I stopped mid punch and lowered my fists. My knuckles
OCTAVIA'S POV The first thing I remembered when I woke up was Zion's text from yesterday; I had completely forgotten to reply to his message after I got home. The sunlight streamed through the curtain, and I checked the clock on the wall, and it was already past nine am. I didn't know I still slept in till this late; it's been a while. I blinked and sat up, rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes, and groaned as I stretched out across the bed. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table, and I opened my messenger app and saw the text. I started typing a reply, "Good morning, Zion. I'm sorry I didn't," I deleted the whole thing and decided to give him a call instead. I took a deep breath, dialed his number, and pressed the phone to my ear. The dialed twice before he picked up “Octavia?” Zion’s familiar deep voice came through, and my heart squeezed slightly; hearing his voice stirred up a mix of emotions. We have spoken properly since… well, since things fell apart between us. "Hi," I
OCTAVIA'S POV Bree popped out of nowhere, startling me as Aaron and I stepped out of Lionel’s office; she had clearly been eavesdropping, and now she is practically bouncing on her toes with excitement. "Was that really Dimitri, like the main Dimitri, leader of the Russian mob?!" She gushed. I almost laughed at her facial expression and her enthusiasm. "Yeah," I said. "You know him?" Her look turned dreamy, "Well, not personally, but that can be rectified, she sighed. "Dimitri is the youngest vor v zakone there has ever been and the most dangerous too. He took power from his uncle when he was just twenty years old, and he is feared by everyone in Russia." Bree continued as we all made our way to the living room."I have only seen him in pictures; he is the most handsome man ever," she shot Aaron a look. No offense to you, Aaron, but we are talking about Dimitri here." Aaron just looked bored. "I wonder if he wants to get married anytime soon," she continued dreamily, and I burst
OCTAVIA'S POV My heart raced slightly as I stepped into the restaurant, and my eyes immediately scanned the room until they landed on Zion. He sat at a table at one corner of the resturant doing something on his phone and nursing a glass of water. My heart clenched as I drank in the sight of him, he still looks almost exactly the same, the same messy brown hair but he now has a faint stubble along his jaw. It made him look darker and more mature and his piercing green eyes popped even more. It suited him though because I can point out why but he has gotten even more handsome. I quickly reminded myself that this is not a date. Yet, as I watched his gaze move upwards and his lips curve in a smile as he looked at me, i felt my heart squeeze again. Memories of everything we used to have flooded my mind, the late night talks, our share jokes the laughter, even when we used to fight, the way he used to look at me like I was his entire world, the memories of the hurt and betrayed look on
< Rose >The windows of the car were tinted and i couldn’t see anyone within as i passed beside it. I wondered if the owner of the car was inside, watching me. Was there a reason for me to be scared? The truck was definitely expensive. I knew a lot about cars and the chrome accents and oversized tires were features of the recent model. Ii noticed the silver stripe that ran along the side of the car. Octavia had never visited me in such an expensive ride.I walked quickly into the cafe and shut the door behind me. As I walked inside, I scanned the lounge area for any new faces. There were none. I met Phil behind the counter.‘’How long has that truck been parked out there?’’He looked out through the transparent door. ‘’A couple of minutes,’’ he said.I pulled out a stool and sat on it. ‘’Has anyone come out o
My phone buzzed again. I knew it was another message from Liam. I hissed and ignored it. After weeks of silence, he was finally texting me. I knew he would have a billion reasons as to why he had been incommunicado, but I was not interested one bit. I was ready to move on with my life. I thought of Zion. The feeling of guilt because he was Octavia’s ex was gone. We had every right to be happy, just as she did. She also owed us the favour of accepting us, just as we had accepted her new life.Worry crept in again. His call last night had been unsettling. He sounded unlike him and he had not returned his call yet even though he had said he would. He was also not picking up his calls. I was trying to not dwell on my paranoia, but it kept creeping in every moment. I picked up my phone and swiped Liam’s message from the screen. His phone was still ringing but unanswered. I checked the temperature of the oven. It was 375 degrees. I pulled myself up from the chair and began to mix
I arrived at the security room before Rory, going through some strategy. Taking down Marcelo before the weekend gave us just three days, including that day. If we discussed strategy and finalised on one, we could start our move that very day.The door opened and I looked up from the desk. Aaron walked in with Rory. I could see that she hadn’t changed her clothes from what she was putting on last night and even though she looked animated, I could tell she had barely slept a wink. I could imagine being in her situation too.‘’Welcome,’’ I said pointing to a seat in front of me.. ‘’Come sit.’’She nodded slightly and walked to the other side of the table. The chair made scraping sounds on the metal as she pulled it out.‘’Sorry,’’ she said, smiling slightly.I stretched my arms on the table and leaned forward. ‘’Must have been a rough night,’’ I said.She sighed. ‘’Extremely. Marcelo’s men were there just a few seconds ahead of your men.’’I looked at her, waiting for more in
I felt the sour taste in my tongue and pain by the side of my head as I stirred awake. The pain intensified. I can hear some voices around me but as I try to lift my head, dizziness sends me crashing back to the floor. I try to open my eyes. My vision is blurry but just then I see her hovering over me. Blonde hair. Octavia?In an instant, she was gone.I groaned, closing my eyes and was about to fall into the clouds of unconsciousness again. Something was buzzing, jarring me awake. I opened my eyes and my vision is better. I can see that I am lying on the ground. The vision of the masked man flashed before me and my heart raced. Memories truckled in. I was just leaving Rose’s house and heading for my office. I recalled the man striking me on my head with his gun.I tried to move my hands, and it did so grudgingly. I touched the side of my head and I winced at the pain that shot through my entire body. As I brought my fingers to my face I saw that they were stained with blood
Zion is hard to track. He doesn’t stay in one place for too long but today is a perfect day to follow him and spend a few minutes around him.I heard them in the cafe. They were going to Rose’s house. I knew what was going to happen there because the tension between them was enough to slice a bread. One of the waiters walked to me, and I quickly swapped the screen on my laptop and pretended to be engrossed in the book in front of me.‘’Hello,’’ he said, smiling as politely as he could.I returned a smile and pretended to be annoyed that I was being distracted from my book.‘’I’m sorry to bother you, but we are closing up in the next five minutes.’’I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall even though I knew exactly what time it was. ‘’Why? It’s only past 8pm and you don’t close up until 9.’’He was a young boy. Most likely one of those high school boys who worked there part time to earn a little money. He seemed shy too and he was a bit flustered by my question. I saw him t
We both saw the car at the same time and we were both thinking about the possible reasons why it could be there. It was a black car, too sleek for the environment. From the side of my eyes, I could see Victor look at me. ‘’Could this be from Marcello?’’I said nothing as I killed the engine. It could be from Marcello. It could also be that Rory had invited someone to see her. If that was the case, that would be a stupid move from her. There was also the possibility that the car had nothing to do with her.We alighted from the truck and I took in the surroundings. It was a good place to hide. Too dirty for a princess to live in. The streets reeked of poverty and I was familiar with it all. I had grown up on the streets, and fed on trash for weeks before I was picked up by the Don.The building was old and the unpainted wall was covered with algae. An old sign announced the name of the inn, and we walked in. The reception consisted of a counter with a chair behind it and two
The vibrating sound of my phone woke me up from my tired sleep. I had barely slept a wink the previous night, disgusted by my surroundings and afraid that Marcello would find me. I reached for it under my pillow and looked at the caller ID. I hoped it was not a set up to find my location.‘’Hello?’’ I said, pressing the phone to my ear as my heart raced.‘’Hello.’’ It was the voice of a female. ‘’This is Octavia da Vinci.’’I almost let out a sigh of relief. I felt the tiredness in my bones wash out immediately and I pushed myself to a sitting position.‘’Oh my God. Octavia!’’ I exclaimed. ‘’It’s great to hear from you.’’I hoped she had something important she wanted to discuss with me. My eyes travelled to the uncovered plate of food that had been delivered to my room. There was no way in hell that I was going to eat it. My stomach growled in agreement.‘’How are you faring?’’ she asked.I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. ‘’Just surviving.’’ I was able to see the room even
I saw little of Bree over the next few days. She was up very early to attend a preparatory class for college, and she returned late. I heard she slept in the library sometimes. I wasn’t sure if she was doing this to avoid me or she was just really concerned about passing her exams.Aaron was back by my side, cold and silent as ever. I was eaten with guilt anytime I looked at him because I knew it was extreme for me to send him to the Icebox. I seemed to be making more enemies than allies. I hadn’t heard from Rory Morano either. I wondered what she thought of me now, or what Lorenz would make her think of me. Things were not working out as I planned at all. I had led the most casualty the group has witnessed in a long while - ten dead men. And i was scared there were going to be more deaths. I had to somehow convince my father to let go of the bad blood with Marcello for now. His room is on the fourth floor of the mansion, two floors above mine. It was the first time I wou
I remained frozen for a few second, internalising what i had just heard. It wasn’t supposed to be such a shock to me because I had thought of the possibilities of it being the case but I was not prepared at all for this answer. She dumped the napkin she was fiddling with on the counter and walked away into the kitchenette. I watched her leave, my mind reeling. What did this mean to us now? I wanted us to address it completely.I flipped through my phone as I waited for her. Octavia had not responded to any of my messages and with each passing day, it was hurting less. Perhaps knowing that my family had caused her so much pain was the most important factor. She returned about five minutes later, and I could tell she was avoiding eye contact.‘’Rose,’’ I said, ‘’we need to address that.’’She shrugged her shoulders. ‘’What do you want us to say? It didn’t mean anything to either of us. We were both drunk and you can’t even remember it.’’ she was gesturing with her hands and mak