AURORA’S POV“Is Sofia back?” I ask myself and my husband looks at me with a look of confusion then back at his tablet. “I haven’t seen her since I got back from work myself, you would go check her room maybe she’s back.” He replies and goes back to scrolling.Am I overthinking it but she was acting really strange this afternoon in the kitchen. I mean what sort of period pain will jab at you and you’ll drop a glass? Is something bothering her and she can’t seem to talk about it? “Babe, did you know Sofia could shoot a gun?” I ask Matteo. “Shoot a gun? She can’t even hurt a fly Aurora why then should she know how to shoot a gun.” He’s sarcastic with his response which I would reply same if anyone had asked me such a question before today.“You know we went to the shooting range today, myself, Bella and Sofia…” This time Matteo’s full focus was on me, he loved to hear about my day, “and Sofia was legit shooting a gun like a fucken pro, even Bella was surprised. Myself too.”Matteo’s lo
SOFIA’S POV.Storming out from the car into Alfredo’s hideout, the door wasn’t locked as if he knew I was coming. Well I mean I did tell him I was going to come. “The fuck do you think you’re playing at?” I shout at his tall shirtless frame which was backing me from the table where he stood pouring a glass of whiskey. “I fucken talking to you Alfredo or should I say, Uncle Fred?” I add the last part with much more emphasis. He turns to me with a grin on his face I wish nothing but to wipe off with a bullet to his head. “Oh, my little friend spoke about me I take? He’s such a cool child too bad he’s born to the wrong parents.” He shoves a glass of whiskey my way and I glare at him before taking it and downing the content in one go. He takes a sit and keeps his gaze on me. A teasing gaze if I may add which only fueled my anger but I had to calm down. This was Alfredo I was working with and he was dangerous. “What was the stupid plan you had going to my nephew’s school in broad daylig
AURORA’S POVIt’s 8:30 am and no signs of Sofia being back home, pretty sure she didn’t sleep at home last night as I didn’t see her bodyguard as well. Tried calling and she’s been unavailable.Bella strolls in lazily and plumps herself into a seat at the dining table where I, Matteo and Anthony are seated. “What’s for breakfast.” Her voice was patched and I passed her a glass of water. “Thanks, sweet girl.” She gulps down her water in one go. Anthony loads her plate with some food while Bella’s eyes scan the table questioningly, “Uhmm…where’s Soph? Has anyone checked in on her, she complained of cramps yesterday.” She noted. “I doubt she’s home, knocked on her door several times and nothing. Her phone’s not available as well.” I point out and just after I spoke we hear someone walk in and all heads turn simultaneously. There she is.Raising from my seat and grabbing a plate and spoon for her to use I query her “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for and just spoke about you ju
MATTEO’S POVAlfredo. Dead. A supposed suicide. It didn’t add up.Alfredo was anything but he wasn’t a chicken head that would deliberately kill himself over a prison time. He would rather serve time and come out to continue his supposed revenge than die like a chicken.Anthony and I walked behind an attendant and a doctor who led the way into the morgue in the prison where the bodies are kept till consumed by the family of the deceased. “He’s he is.” The attendant says stopping in front of the freezer used to store the bodies before pulling it out for us to examine.Stepping closer to take a closer look, his face was totally disfigured almost to the point of no recognition. A burn? Did he set himself on fire? Why wasn’t this said over the phone before we got here?Dr. Hughes, the forensic pathologist, gestured toward the covered body on the steel table. “We received him early this morning. The official report states self-immolation inside his cell. Burned beyond recognition.”My jaw
SOFIA'S POV“Damn it.” I screamed jamming the door against its hinges as I stepped into my room. Fuck all of them, Fuck this family. After years of sidelining me, cause they thought of me as incapable of being in the family’s business, they’re still treating me like shit trying to boss me around. Breathing in and out I try to control my breath as I breathe in and out to calm my nerves. “Once I’m done with you guys, you’ll know better than mess me.” I throw myself back into bed and remain in that position looking at the ceiling for almost an hour when my phone notification beeps signaling a message.My hands trembled as I gripped my phone, staring at the last message Dawson sent me. He’s been pulling strings for me in prison in exchange for money to settle his wife’s hospital bills.“They’re questioning the body. Matteo ordered a DNA test. He’s insisting the body isn’t Alfredo’s.”Damn it.This wasn’t part of the plan. I never told Alfredo about this particular plan because I didn’t
AURORA’S POVMatteo picked up on the third ring."What is it?" His voice was sharp and edgy. I guess his meeting at the morgue didn’t go well. Today was just one drama after another."Sofia just left the house," I said quickly. "She stormed out after a fight with Bella. I don’t know where she’s going, but she looked…dangerous Matteo, I’ve never seen her that way even when she was mad at someone. It didn’t feel right."A pause. "How long ago?" His voice came back on the line. "Minutes. She took her car, alone. Didn’t wait for her bodyguard.""Stay put. I’m coming back.""What? I thought you were still at the morgue?""I’m done there and heading home. I’ll be there soon. Don’t let Bella do anything reckless, she’s not the type that will let Sofia off the hook easily after a fight just because they’re siblings."He hung up before I could ask more. Typical.I turned to Bella, who was still fuming from the fight. She had a split lip, and her hands were shaking. Infact her whole body was v
SOFIA’S POV.I had to get Matteo off my tail and getting rid of my car was the first part. I parked it at the hotel where we usually hosted our family events, flashed a fake smile at the concierge, booked a room under my name, and took the requested to go out through the back exit and took a taxi to Alfredo’s hideout. I knew Matteo will track my car and it would be easy to find me. It’s been three days since our fall out and it was time to get plans rolling. Dawson has been on my neck cause of the pressure from Matteo and I had asked for three days. Damn it! I hate rushed things. "Ricardo, where's Matteo now?" I whisper, pacing Alfredo’s dimly lit apartment. My fingers drum against my thigh as I hold the phone tight to my ear. Leaving Riccardo behind wasn't part of my plan but worked in my favor as I could keep track of what my brother was up to."Still on the DNA results. He's pressing hard as Dawson is stalling to buy time for you. Anthony is headed to the forensics right now to
MATTEO’S POVDay three into Sofia’s disappearance and Alfredo's supposed death. That was how long it had been then. Three days, and we still had nothing except her abandoned car in the hotel parking lot. She checked in and never came out leaving everyone fucking worried.And as if that isn't enough, the damn DNA results were still being delayed by Hughes and Dawson. "I want those results on my desk in an hour," I snapped into the phone talking to Dawson, pacing the length of my office. "I don't care what the holdup is. Make it happen. And don’t bring up that crap that he was burnt beyond recognition else I'll Have you burnt as well."The man on the other end stammered, trying to feed me more excuses. I hung up before I lost my temper completely. This was already getting me on edge as it's been days and we've still had nothing from the forensics or the CCTV footage.I turned to Anthony, who was leaning against the desk, his eyes glued to the screen monitoring the CCTV footage. "Go p
AURORA’S POV I took a slow step forward, never once taking my eyes off Sofia. I swear to God I just wanted to kill her at the very moment not caring if she was my husband’s sister. HOW DARE SHE USE MY SON AS BAIT?! She stumbled back, her spine hitting the wall with a soft thud, but I kept moving toward her, each step burning with rage, betrayal, and disgust. The very sight of her made my stomach churn. “You know,” I said, my voice shaking from the fury I could barely contain, “I feel so damn stupid for ever trusting you. And I won’t even lie, I want to pass a bullet through that head of yours but for all time's sake…” Sofia’s face paled even more. “I thought you cared about family. About Liam. About your brother. You were my first friend ever aside from my sister. My throat tightened and tears threatened to spill but I forced myself to keep going. “But all you ever cared about was yourself. You just wanted to hurt us. To hurt my son, a five-year-old— because you’re nothing but a
MATTEO’S POVThe second I turned around, my heart almost stopped.Alfredo had Bella with a gun to her temple. Talk about going from one problem to an even bigger problem. Her hands were trembling and her eyes were wide with shock, not fear but shock.“Alfredo,” I forced out, raising my hands slightly. “You don’t have to do this.”Anthony shifted beside me, tense, trying to gauge the situation. I felt his anger ready to burst, but we both knew one wrong move could get Bella killed.“Finally caught your attention, Rocco,” Alfredo sneered, pressing the gun harder against Bella’s head. She winced at the impact but didn’t make a sound.And then, Sophia stepped forward, arms crossed, an almost bored expression on her face and blood dripping across from her forehead from where Aurora had hit her against the wall.“Oh, Brother,” she drawled mock sympathy dripping from her voice. “Still trying to save everyone, aren’t you? Still pretending you have control?”“You don’t want to do this,” I sai
MATTEO’S POV"No."That was the first word out of my mouth the moment Aurora stepped into the room. I had thought about how I would try to talk her out of joining us in meeting Sofia but seeing how she looked right now told me that if I didn’t stop her, she would pull up something reckless when we got there. Dressed in a black leather jumpsuit paired with a pair of black boots, Her eyes still had that mechanical look to them and she just looked… DANGEROUS."You're not coming with us," I said again, louder this time.She didn’t flinch. "I am." She bent down to adjust the laces of her boots as if I wasn’t talking to her. Bella blinked. "Aurora… you look like you're heading to kill someone.""I might.""Absolutely not," I snapped, moving toward her. "You’re not going into that place dressed like—""Like someone ready to get her son back?" she interrupted.Anthony stood behind me, arms folded and just stared at Aurora before he spoke up. "This isn't a battlefield, Aurora.""Isn’t it? My
MATTEO’S POVThe whole house was thrown into chaos with Liam’s disappearance with Sofia. Aurora hadn’t said a word for hours, as if in a trance and the worst part…Riccardo had insisted on not talking which was nerve-wracking. “All fingers point to Sofia, she has a hand in Alfredo’s disappearance.”Bella pointed out a matter of factly as we tried without end to reach Sofia’s phone but to no avail. “I can’t believe this is happening again and to my son at that. I wish she took me instead.” Aurora’s voice came from the corner of the where she sat in tears. “I really do wish she took me instead of my son, my baby is too young and precious for this.” Loud sobs came at the last part as her body shook violently. I pulled my wife into my arms whispering comforting things to her. Bella and Anthony came close, “Sofia won’t hurt him Aurora, she might be acting this way but would never hurt her nephew. She might be acting up cause of something.” Bella said softly.“But what does she want?” I fi
AURORA’S POV“At this rate, I’ll be late picking up Liam.” I sighed as I took another glance at my watch, it was more than twenty minutes and no sign of Bella. She’d asked to meet but she wasn’t showing up. Dailing her number a couple of times with no response I made to leave the ice cream shop heading towards my car when a message dropped in. Opening my inbox my blood ran cold. “No…no.” I whispered in fear as I looked at the image of my baby boy asleep in the back seat of a car. My mind went black as I jumped into my car and sped up to his kindergarten which was just a three-minute drive from the ice cream shop. “God it better be a prank… not my baby God I beg of you.” I kept praying as my heart slammed against my chest in fear. Immediately I got to the school premises I caught sight of Liam’s homeroom teacher out in the front with some other kids whose parents were yet to pick up. She sees me and waves my way. “Mrs Rocco, what are you doing here?” She asks warmly with a confused
MATTEO’S POVDay three into Sofia’s disappearance and Alfredo's supposed death. That was how long it had been then. Three days, and we still had nothing except her abandoned car in the hotel parking lot. She checked in and never came out leaving everyone fucking worried.And as if that isn't enough, the damn DNA results were still being delayed by Hughes and Dawson. "I want those results on my desk in an hour," I snapped into the phone talking to Dawson, pacing the length of my office. "I don't care what the holdup is. Make it happen. And don’t bring up that crap that he was burnt beyond recognition else I'll Have you burnt as well."The man on the other end stammered, trying to feed me more excuses. I hung up before I lost my temper completely. This was already getting me on edge as it's been days and we've still had nothing from the forensics or the CCTV footage.I turned to Anthony, who was leaning against the desk, his eyes glued to the screen monitoring the CCTV footage. "Go p
SOFIA’S POV.I had to get Matteo off my tail and getting rid of my car was the first part. I parked it at the hotel where we usually hosted our family events, flashed a fake smile at the concierge, booked a room under my name, and took the requested to go out through the back exit and took a taxi to Alfredo’s hideout. I knew Matteo will track my car and it would be easy to find me. It’s been three days since our fall out and it was time to get plans rolling. Dawson has been on my neck cause of the pressure from Matteo and I had asked for three days. Damn it! I hate rushed things. "Ricardo, where's Matteo now?" I whisper, pacing Alfredo’s dimly lit apartment. My fingers drum against my thigh as I hold the phone tight to my ear. Leaving Riccardo behind wasn't part of my plan but worked in my favor as I could keep track of what my brother was up to."Still on the DNA results. He's pressing hard as Dawson is stalling to buy time for you. Anthony is headed to the forensics right now to
AURORA’S POVMatteo picked up on the third ring."What is it?" His voice was sharp and edgy. I guess his meeting at the morgue didn’t go well. Today was just one drama after another."Sofia just left the house," I said quickly. "She stormed out after a fight with Bella. I don’t know where she’s going, but she looked…dangerous Matteo, I’ve never seen her that way even when she was mad at someone. It didn’t feel right."A pause. "How long ago?" His voice came back on the line. "Minutes. She took her car, alone. Didn’t wait for her bodyguard.""Stay put. I’m coming back.""What? I thought you were still at the morgue?""I’m done there and heading home. I’ll be there soon. Don’t let Bella do anything reckless, she’s not the type that will let Sofia off the hook easily after a fight just because they’re siblings."He hung up before I could ask more. Typical.I turned to Bella, who was still fuming from the fight. She had a split lip, and her hands were shaking. Infact her whole body was v
SOFIA'S POV“Damn it.” I screamed jamming the door against its hinges as I stepped into my room. Fuck all of them, Fuck this family. After years of sidelining me, cause they thought of me as incapable of being in the family’s business, they’re still treating me like shit trying to boss me around. Breathing in and out I try to control my breath as I breathe in and out to calm my nerves. “Once I’m done with you guys, you’ll know better than mess me.” I throw myself back into bed and remain in that position looking at the ceiling for almost an hour when my phone notification beeps signaling a message.My hands trembled as I gripped my phone, staring at the last message Dawson sent me. He’s been pulling strings for me in prison in exchange for money to settle his wife’s hospital bills.“They’re questioning the body. Matteo ordered a DNA test. He’s insisting the body isn’t Alfredo’s.”Damn it.This wasn’t part of the plan. I never told Alfredo about this particular plan because I didn’t