"My mother-in-law?" I echoed."Yes. I haven't had the privilege of meeting her yet, nor did I get to assess my dominance. She has been avoiding our gatherings like the plague," Cilvia commented.I could see Ella rolling her eyes at her mother-in-law. The gesture was so playful that it made me wonder just how close they were to each other."What is she like?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me."Who knows?" Cilvia replied. "She's never around. None of us had met her at any formal gathering, but words about her often travel among our groups. Some of the men of the web like venting to their wives and their wives like sharing information with each other. That is how we know fractions of the woman Attiwood Nicolo is.""That's true." Ella called out from her sitting spot. "A lot of people think she is nice, at least nice enough to have a good rumor circling about her in our group.""I don't buy it," Cilvia cuts in. "I heard she's quite a handful behind closed doors. And you two nee
Jacopo Nicolo...I stood in front of the closed doors of the elevator, recalling the way Connor spoke to Ezabella Viper.I knew that Cane's twin brother grew up in the web after the two were separated. And until very recently, Connor was working for the Vipers, while Cane was working for the web.Everybody thought Connor would return to the Viper city. But he chose to remain.While I had no reason to doubt him since the so-called peace was in place, I still had this feeling deep in my gut. I didn't trust Victor Viper, which meant that I couldn't trust anyone associated with him. I assumed Connod was no longer in contact with anyone from the Vipers, let alone Victor Viper himself. But it seems I was miserably wrong.Was Connor someone else I need to be worried about as well?Were the two working together?I put my pass code in to stop the elevator from coming up to my floor and walked away.I had a lot on my mind. I've been going around town with Cane looking for more clues that
I laid on my back, my eyes closed, yet my mind sharper than ever.Before I decided to give my mind some rest and slid under the cover, I'd sat on the edge of the bed, casting my eyes over to the bathroom door once in a while. I wondered what the heck she was doing there. Since Connor dropped her off at the apartment, Ezabella Viper had not walked out of the bathroom.For an instant, I'd wondered if she had slipped in a bar of soap and fell to ger death. That would have made a lot of things easier for both the web and I. Yet I would once in a while see a shadow cast underneath the bathroom door, her shadow giving her away.It felt like she ws giving me time to settle in and fall asleep so she would be able to sneak around.I'd waited for an hour to see what she was going to do, and when I realized that she was playing a long game, I decided to go to sleep.Of course, I was not stupid enough to rest my head on my pillow without making sure that I would be able to defend myself.I'd re
Ezabella Viper...I slept in.I don't know why I had such a peaceful sleep, but it was the best rest I have had in a very long time. Maybe it was because I had such a nice day with the Smiths. Maybe it was because they successfully drew the bad energy out of me. Or maybe it was because I had such a good hair day.Either way, I woke up totally refreshed, and the first thing I did was run both of my hands through my hair, my fingers effortlessly parting the strands.I threw the covers off my legs and stood up, stretched my arms over my head. A yawn split my lips wide open.I looked around the dark living room, trying to see if there were any signs of the man I married. I glanced down the dark hall and saw that the door to his office was closed. I reached for my phone that I had tucked between the cushions and checked what time it was. That was when I realized that I had slept in. I was sure Jacopo wouldn't be at the apartment this late, and that gave me a sense of relief.I che
Jacopo Nicolo...I looked down at Ezabella Viper with pure amusement. She looked scared, terrified for her life even. Yet she didn't take a step away from me as I had assumed she would."You don't think I can use force, Ezabella Viper?" I asked again, but this time around, she didn't give me a reply.She just pressed her lips in a tight line and continued to stare at me through her lashes, clearly terrified to speak up again.The previous night was horrible.After I had my nightmare, I returned to my home office and thought about what I was going to do. The nightmare I had reminded me of just how much I hated the man I had become. It made me realize just how selfish I grew to be at wanting to keep my space clean from anyone. It also made me realize just how cruel I had become, considering how I treated the woman I recently married on the night of our wedding. I almost died the night of my wedding, and I kind of tried to take it out on Ezabella Viper. No matter what my reason wa
Ezabella Viper...It would be an understatement to say that Jacopo Nicolo was becoming unbearable to live with.The first week of our marriage, I was terrified of him. I did my best to avoid him, and I mostly kept my complaints to myself, too afraid to speak to him and cause him to react in a way that would cost me my life.However, after he suggested that he wanted to negotiate with me to take the metal flash my father gave me, he was insufferable.Jacopo must have really wanted me to give him the flash myself. I couldn't begin to understand his tactics or why he wanted me to give in and hand over the flash to him, when he could snatch it away from me using the obvious strengths advantage he has over me.But whatever his reason was, he was out for the flash, and I was not willing to give it to him.At first, it was all about wanting to keep the one thing my father wore around his neck safe. It must have been precious enough to wear and then give to me as a gift. There was no way
Jacopo Nicolo..."Have you forgotten that I've put you in charge of my biggest casino?" Dante asked, annoyance evident in his voice.Dante had the right to be upset with me. Yes, I had a job to do back at the casino, and no, I was not doing the job I needed to do back at the casino.I have been too busy trying to get the flash out of Ezabella Vipers grip, while also proving to myself that I was not as sick and twisted as I thought I had become.I was also neglecting the mission Dante had given Cane and I to find out what the heck was going on with Alex Fimbar and the case the detectives were trying to build against him.Cane never called me. I assumed he was always the kind to work solo better, but Dante was not as optimistic as Cane and I were no longer working together."I have been busy," I replied."Busy doing what?" Dante snapped back. "Busy rotting away in your apartment when you have important things to do and a case to fix?"I let out another sigh."Listen Nicolo, I have be
Ezabella Viper...I watched as Jacopo Nicolo walked away from the bed and stood across from me, his back pressed against the drape-covered window."Go ahead," he commented.I placed a laptop on my lap and waited for it to finish powering up. Anticipation was making my guts twist, that along with the fear of finding something horrible.I truly didn't know what to expect and why my father kept the flash close to himself.But I was going to find out very soon. I plugged the flash in, and within seconds, it automatically opened.I narrowed my eyes and leaned closer, trying to see what it was.There was a single video, one that was seven hours long.Goodness, why the heck was my father carrying around a video seven hours long? To what end?Confusion clouded my head as I pointed the arrow in the video and double-clicked it, ready to see the secret my father was wearing around his neck and my husband was desperate to find out about.The video started, and the first thing I heard was the
"Helena, hi..." Ella finally spoke into the phone, and it was obvious from her voice that she did not expect Helena to answer the phone."Hi." Helena chuckled at how awkward Ella sounded."How have you been?" Ella asked."I've been better. But honestly, I'm fine. More than fine, actually. I feel like I'm finally finding my footing again, you know, getting back on my feet. I feel like I can finally breathe again." Helena replied.Her enthusiastic voice and manner rubbed me the wrong way, and it was obvious that the other ladies were feeling the same way as well."The last time I saw you was at the Fimbar Mansion, and you really didn't want to look at us anymore, let alone speak to us. What changed?" Ella slowly asked, trying her best not to upset Helena."Well... I was a bit mean back then, weren't I?" Helena chuckled. "I was just a hit under pressure...""Under pressure from what?' Cilvia spoke up, and we looked at her. The three of us had agreed that if by some miracle the phone is
Ezabella Viper...I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, and it was not because I had the bed sleep ever of because I had the long sleep my body craved. No. It was because of what Jacopo did the previous night, and how he stepped into the shower knowing it was something his body didn't want him to do.This man was constantly putting his body in the line for me, and I don't know what more proof I could possibly need to know just how much he loves me.First it was running into a burning building for me, and then it was choosing to save me first, and then it was stepping in front of a bullet for me the previous night, and then on the same night, it was stepping under the warm water knowing he would have a bad reaction to it because of his horrible experience.It felt like I truly don't deserve the amount of love he has for me, like I haven't given him enough as much as he has given me.Waking up next to him after we had a scary night and then an amazing moment in the shower f
Jacopo Nicolo..."What are you doing, Jacopo?" Eza asked as she watched me push my shoes off my feet and then lean down to take my socks off."I just told you..." I softly replied. "I don't want to stay away. I can't stay away."Once the socks were off, I pushed myself to my feet.I shrugged the suit jacket off my back before dropping it to the floor."Jacopo?" Eza whispered, realizing what I wanted to do.I carried on to unbutton my shirt no matter how hard the shaking of my hands tried to sabotage me. To succeed in taking my shirt off before I carried on to my suit pants.Once I was done peeling my clothes off, I looked towards Eza and the steam that was coming out of the shower from the hot shower.The second I started stepping closer to the shower, Eza reached for the shower nob to turn it towards the colder side."Don't, Eza." I called out, stopping her from turning the water off and then on to cold.I stood just outside of the shower, just out of the reach of the hot water.
Ezabella Viper..."So, you decide to create a club of your own?" Cilvia asked, her back hunches and her elbows pressed against her knees as she attentively listened to the three women speak one at a time about their stories.I didn't even realize when it happened, but we were all suddenly talking to each other about our lives, sharing moments that we usually would not share with strangers."Yes." Red replied. "It was the only logical next step. We were able to find a fee working bikes from the last house we escaped from, and on the road, we were able to learn more and grow as a team. We got to take revenge and acquire more wealth from those men, which led us to get ourselves a small club house in a small town. People started hearing about us, and women and little girls started coming to us for help. Some needed help getting rid of people who were troubling them while others needed a place to stay. And so it all started. A small club grew bigger and bigger until we had to move to
Jacopo Nicolo...I sat in the passanger sit of Victor's car, while Elijah and Dante followed us in Elijah's car. My heart refused to settle down, my head still filled with the image of that red dot on my wife's forehead.There goes my heart again, almost beating out of my chest with fear, fear that I could have lost her.My hands refused to stop shaking, itching for a trigger to squeeze, my nose desperate for the scent of the blood of whoever tried to kill my wife right in front of me despite my own blood already attacking my nostrils.I had to tuck my hands into my pockets to stop them from visibly shaking."Heard you stepped in front of a bullet." Victor commented. "Pretty brave of you." "Not now, Victor." I mumbled.I couldn't deal with the voice in my head, let alone get nagged by my father-in-law."I am trying to thank you for saving Bella's life." He said, forcing my eyes towards him."It's the bare minimum. I am her husband. That's what I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to
Jacopo was sitting in the sitting room the ladies of the web and I were chatting in earlier while the members of the web were having their meeting. I had calmed him enough to forget about his gun, and someone had suggested that we moved to the sitting room until a thorough search has been made around the area to make sure that there were no more shooters so it would be safe enough for the rest of us to leave.The only people left in the villa besides Jacopo and I were Ella and Elijah, Connor and Cane, the three women of the Motorcycle club, and Cilvia and Dante, along with my father, who was apartment in one of the bathrooms while everything was happening and only came the join the chaos while Jacopo and I were in each other's arms.I was sitting right next to Jacopo, his right arms around me while his left was balled into a fist as if he was trying to stop himself from reaching for him gun again."Dante?" My father called out. "Did thay have anything to do with this,""We are standi
Ezabella Viper...Most of the conversations after Piper Fimbar left were smooth. I tried to stay engaged in the conversation, but my mind kept going back to the conversation Ella and Cilvia had with Piper. I kept dissecting every single word she had said, every reaction she made to the mention of the Fimbar blood line, and I tried to piece everything together.But why Helena?Why was she trying to keep Helena away? Piper never liked Helena to begin with, and it was not like she hid it to anyone. So shouldn't she be the first to send Helena out of the house the second her son died?I was pulled out of my train of thoughts when the door was pushed in, and the men started pouring in."So, brunch tomorrow?" One of the ladies said before the men came closer.I wasn't aware that we were discussing brunch to begin with."Of course. I will look for a nice place and let you ladies know." Ella replied.I looked towards the door, waiting for Jacopo to come. But he didn't. It took him a whil
Dante ended in meeting by adding a little more detail in the Elizabeth case."We will be initiating our attack two weeks from now once everything on our side is settled. If we need extra man power, then please expect some of your own people to be chosen to join the attack. That will be all for today." A stillness went around the room at the people of the web glanced at each other. They didn't like how he just said some of their own people might be ordered to join the attack, but I didn't like how he had extended the time of our attack by a week and a half. Unless ge is only saying this because he truly believes that there is someone in here who had truly betrayed the web and would relay this massage to Elizabeth so they would get distracted by the length of time the preparation for the attack would take.Seeing as Elijah didn't seem surprised by that announcement, I just assumed he too knows about this, and so does Victor.The men started leaving the office once Dante announced that
Jacopo Nicolo...I was amongst the last members of the web to enter the office. Dante had already taken his place behind the large desk, his arms crossed and his face covered with hard lines as he nodded his head towards the one man standing by the door so he would close it.Harvey had taken his usual spot standing behind Dante, and Elijah had taken a seat by the window, his eyes more focused in A.J Fimbar than the three women of the club. I guessed his wife gave him an assignment as mine did."Well, now that everyone is here, shall we begin?" Dante said, looking around and stopping for a few seconds to allow anyone to speak their minds first before he started the meeting. Here is the thing. Dante usually gives the people of the web time to speak their minds first before him, but he is well known for killing anyone who dared to raise a single point before he does. So, everyone usually remains quiet and waits for him to start the meeting."Alright then." He started. "As a lot of