My target is easy to find, easy to get on board with Father's plan and I'm pissed at Father for sending me out to do trivial work. Tormenting a man with threats is not something worth risking my life for. Still, I send a clear message by sending a severed limb in a box, I don't have to spell it out but he won't walk free if he doesn't switch sides and betray Enzo.
The day seems to go smoothly on Sofia's end, with only Luna noticing she's not me thanks to her name and the way she flinches when children try to touch her with dirty hands. Gianna doesn't pick up on the switch and that's good. Soon, I'm able to get back home but I'm beyond exhausted, I think it comes from trying to hide my secrets. Enzo isn't home when I get there, I can't express how happy I am. I take a shower but the moment I get out, my husband arrives. He's got this wide smile on his lips and a boxed telescope? “Found a new hobby?” I ask, half serious aEnzo I think I just had the longest ride of my life. The ten-hour flights and six-hour drives I have had to endure in the past are nothing in comparison to the forty-five minutes it took me to drive home today. Doc has been with Alessandra in the guest room for the last minutes, which feel like hours to me, but Alessio swears it couldn't have been more than ten minutes. He keeps saying that, and even though he never lies to me, I'm inclined to believe that I'm being lied to right now. I don’t pray again. I already gave God everything I had in the car. He knows the deal. He can have us both or none at all. I wanted to be in the room while Doc fixed her up, but he kicked me out because he didn't want me giving orders, and now I sit here cluelessly, hearing echoes of him giving orders to his daughter, the next him. “She is going to be fine,” Alessio says, cutting through the raging storm in my head right now. Will she? I don't know for certain that she will be just as she was
That comment earns him a gunshot to the leg, or more accurately a graze because the bullet does not entirely hit him. “Call me a bitch one more time,” she nos at him, adjusting his gun. “I dare you.” “Bit-” I lunge at him before he can get the full words out, and now we're both punching each other, tussling while Sasha screams at me to stop. Sang-Yeon used to be a worthy opponent but then he joined the cowards in the shadows of betrayal, and he's hiding behind a gun like a scared little boy. “My wife is off limits,” I tell him, punching him in the face repeatedly. “Not so much since I already touched her,” he laughs. My ears ring and a newfound rage seeps into my bones, my mind spiralling with the possibilities. “You what?” “He's lying,” I hear Sasha say. “He never touched me. Please stop, forget him, we have to get out of here, they're going to kill you.” I pause, shoving Sang-Yeon away as I turn to look at her. “You knew?” Her face pales and she nods, “I— just…leave
“They’re going to kill him soon, Please help me tell him, get him out of there Ale, he’s going to die! Please, Ale, please—” “Okay,” he says firmly, his tone shifting into command. “Okay, calm down. I’m going to call security and Enzo. Just breathe, Ale.” he tells me, and then the line goes dead. He says to breathe but I can't, my chest aches with each breath that I take knowing I've possibly helped them take his away. I keep trying to call his phone, over and over again, ignoring the rapid flood of texts coming in from Sofia. SOFIA: What’s going on? SOFIA: Are you okay? SOFIA: Why are you ending my calls??? Hello, Sasha?! SOFIA: Everyone is worried, can you say something, or just send that thumbs up emoji you like so much… I don't respond to her, I'm too busy trying to find Enzo, watching my calls go unanswered as the photo beside his name blurs and blurs until I realise it’s because I’m crying. My stomach is twists so violently that I think I might throw up, “Ser
“She's kidding,” Gianna says, playfully smacking her shoulder. “I wanted it so that I could be related to Gia,” she sighs. And I relax at that, I was ready to blacklist her. I know that my husband is very attractive but it still doesn't stop this feeling of wanting to kill every woman that so much as touches him wrong. “Same,” Sofia sighs. “Only to become legal sisters with my soul sister.” “That's sweet,” I smile, genuinely smile, their friend group is utterly wholesome. They love each other just like blood siblings and perhaps more. “Except Renata, she didn't want to be Mrs Valenti or Moretti, or anything, all she wanted was Dominic.” Eva mocks. “They're so cute,” Emerson swoons. “It's a shame his brothers are annoying or I would have married one.” “Are you ready to order?” That voice comes from behind me, I turn to find a waitress smiling warmly at us. Eva goes first, she orders pasta, and everyone else orders their usuals but having not come out with them as often, I
Alessandra This morning, Enzo decided he was actually going to work outside the house but he got caught up in the gym with me. I've put on a little extra weight from all the sweets that Renata has been feeding me and now that I know she's pregnant, it makes sense that she's so into sweets. She's usually the kind to freak out about what she puts in her body but the pregnancy is apparently a free pass. I would have loved for Renata to join us today but she says she can't be around that much chaos, someone is bound to notice that she's pregnant and she doesn't want anyone to know yet. I'm very honoured that she picked me as one of the first ones to know, I never get picked first for anything outside of the job. I am on my way to lunch with Gianna, Vittoria, Eva, Emerson and Sofia when my phone begins to ring, I reach for it and Father's name flashes on the screen. My heart begins to pound as I slide it to answer. “Father,” I answer, clearing my throat. “Hello my dear,” he says
“Bruised Hope,” I lie, I plan on going somewhere I can find some bad men who deserve to get their lives ended, and I know exactly where to find them. “You're in no position to be running up and down with a bunch of children, sit down,” he says, his eyes still on his laptop. And I do. I sit my ass down like a toddler who was just scolded by her dad, and it’s only because I feel a wave of nausea hit me, hard. “Ty vlastnyy.” (You’re controlling.) I hiss, purposefully switching to Russian. “Ty lyubish’, kogda ya vlastnyy.” (You love it when I’m controlling.) Enzo retorts, and I click my tongue. I forget I’m not the only one who speaks over twenty languages. “Tol’ko kogda ty menya trakhaesh’.” (Only when I’m getting fucked.) I argue. “A ne kogda ya pytayus’ snyat’ napryazhenie.” (And not while I’m trying to relieve tension.) “Khochesh’, chtoby ya tebya trakhnul?” (Would you like to be fucked?) I pause—his Russian has an accent, but he speaks it better than my father, who ha