Hi guys! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.
Unfortunately, my schedule didn't let up and I let school get the most of me. To make up for my inactive time, I'll update regularly through the week.
I also have a huge writer's block rn so the update might take a few days. Nonetheless, I'll try to update as often as possible to satisfy my readers.
Please don't forget to vote, comment, and share. It means a lot to me.
Once again, I apologise for my absence and I will strive to put in more work this week.
Thank you for reading, Hillary.
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINTThe flight to Italy comprised Giovanna and Pietro arguing about who got to see their father first while I had stayed silent, partially lost in my thoughts and listening to their conversation. Apparently, Mr. Donatello was a very reserved man, only permitting two visitors at a time when he wasn’t in their villa, and that rule was not restricted to family. He had them patted down and ran through security measures before they were taken to where he worked, doing what I supposed were illegal activities. Although they claimed not to directly participate in such, it was very hard to believe after my encounter with Igor Bortsov and his mafia. I was still sceptical about what was going to happen to me. I was more than sure this wasn’t just an average introduction. I was surely going to be threatened again and from my experience with the cases my father had brought home, I wouldn’t be able to make it out alive.“W
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT We walked a distance from their private airport to the main building, where her father was waiting. I was nervous to meet him, seeing that he was a mafia leader. The fear faded when I was reassured by Giovanna’s hand holding my bicep for comfort. It made me feel safe and loved. Even during hard times, like now, when her aunties were probing me to feel my torso and insisting that I took off my shirt. I was uncomfortable, and Giovanna was deeply irritated, but there was no stopping the drunken trio when they were determined to take advantage of someone half their ages. They giggled about invading my personal space, slurring swears under their breaths and hissing when they managed to get a feel. Stella looked gravely disappointed but watched anyway while I struggled to cook up a nice way to tell the aunties to fuck off. Thankfully, Pietro came to announce that his father was ready to see us, and took time to put the sisters in their places. He seemed to be the only o
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT Waking up with Giovanna in my arms never felt different, yet the sensation never got old. Her body was always pressed against mine and our hearts would always beat in the same rhythm. Her hair always smelled like heaven, and her expression was always peaceful. What made me want to happily scream into a pillow was that she was much more relaxed than when she slept without me. I liked noticing the difference and knowing that only I could provide utmost comfort for her. I observed everything about her. From what her frantic blinks meant, to her breathing when we were alone, to how she thought; even most of her next moves. I could predict Giovanna to-the-tee. I knew that she was going to wake up soon and ask if staring at her was that interesting. I loved being confident that I knew everything about her that she had to say. “Is staring at me that interesting?” She mumbled, her eyes still closed. I smiled, reaching to take her lips. She grinned into t
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT I was tense and the centre of attention in the room. We had gone back to the Donatello estate after Henry and Orion had given me minor heart attacks by recapping very incriminating delinquent behaviours we had indulged in as teenagers. I soon understood that they were punishing me in the best way they could, sabotaging my future with a woman they saw I was head over heels for. The ‘normal Yves’ they knew wasn’t one to let a woman into his life. I had noticed the shock on Henry’s face when I had told him Giovanna was my fiancée. He had sent me a text message asking if I was sure I wasn’t on something. Among the several other thousands of messages that I read almost every day, that was the only one that had gotten a response from me. I had stated clearly that Giovanna was very important to me and I loved her more than anything. He had only taken it as a cue to get as close as possible to completely ruining my life. “So, where did you guys meet?” He
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT. The dinner went smoothly after that, with a drunken Stella maintaining a tension free environment. I had moved to sit beside Giovanna to hold her hand reassuringly when Hellene had started talking about her achievements and how much better they were than Giovanna’s. It was true that my fiancée wasn’t interested in business or expanding her brand- which she had created for personal purposes, but it didn’t make her a lesser woman than her sister. What made her amazing was that she could do all these things and more if she wanted to. So, it irked her to see her sister working so hard to bring her down. Plus, Giovanna was intelligent. She had sealed several deals for me without having to break a nervous sweat. She had simply listened to my conversations with clients and had completely won them over on meeting them for the first time. I was still baffled by how she was able to convince a whole cooperation that my attack from the Russian mafia had been a fail
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINTMy fiancé grabbed my shirt and pulled me down to kiss her, taking me by surprise. I didn’t fight it though, because who was I to refuse pleasure from Giovanna? Getting to be close to her was more than enough for me and the privilege of getting to kiss her so intimately at random times completely blew my mind. I had only started feeling lightheaded when she pulled away to say something to Hellene. My vision was white but I knew I was looking at Giovanna, unconsciously taking in her beauty. This woman was the reason I had been threatening a mafia leader. It had dawn on me how much courage it had taken when I had conversed a bit more with Hellene. We had both become lost in thought for a while before Giovanna had strutted in wearing the sexiest outfit I could imagine. My lower abdomen had fluttered so much that it had hurt. I had caught Hellene’s disapproving expression and had wondered what their age difference was for her to look s
RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT Stella and I made small talk as we strolled through the streets of Rome. She seemed to know where was going so I followed blindly, my main objective being to get on her good side. I brought up conversations that had depth, even inquiring about her dancing. As I had speculated, she had been in the ballet. She told me that was how she had met Sergio. She and her sister had been in a performance and Sergio had picked interest in them. He had been charming enough to agree to have the sisters go out with him simultaneously. He was wealthy, and his family had a good reputation. They had been presented as a true Italian mafia, who only helped the people of their community and secured business deals around the world. He was highly respected and had known how to spend equal time with both of them. The sisters had danced still, developed their own ballet school and performance hall, hosting shows every month. Sergio had funded it all and supported them selflessly.
GIOVANNA’S VIEW POINT“What do you mean, ‘he left’? I know Ralph! He wouldn’t leave so abruptly! So help me God, if one single hair on his head is hurt, I will burn down this house with all of you in it!” I practically screamed at my parents, who looked devastated, like they weren’t the ones that had caused my fiancé to run away. I had entrusted my mother with his safety and she had allowed her monster of a husband to have him eradicated from the face of the earth. I was on the brink of tears, hanging on to a thin thread of hope that he was alive and safe like they said. Knowing my father, it was highly unlikely that he had merely allowed Ralph to walk away with so much information about the family. It was impossible. And my mother was such a good actor, pretending like she had cared about him all this time, only to lure him into his own demise.“Madam, he’s not answering-.” The staff I had assigned to