“Something in the Air” ElisaThe dinner wound down in a slow hush, like the final notes of a symphony fading into silence. One by one, conversations shifted to murmurs, glasses emptied, chairs scraped back. Laughter lingered like smoke, but something in the air or in my mind I wasn't sure, had turned heavier now, dull around the edges.I rose carefully from my seat, trying not to draw attention. My limbs felt strange, slightly delayed in their movement, like I was wading through thick honey. No one stopped me, not even Antonio, though I felt his eyes follow me partway through the room.The hallway outside was dim, lit only by wall sconces that threw shadows long and low across the marble floor. I walked slowly, telling myself the dizziness was just the wine or maybe the heat, maybe the nerves. But the corridor felt off tonight, as if the house itself was holding its breath.A whisper of a footstep echoed behind me, I stopped, but all I heard was silence. I glanced over my shoulder
“What’s Mine”AntonioThe smiles and laughter of the dinner guests had finally faded, leaving behind a heavy silence in the grand dining room. Elisa had sat beside me, her composure unwavering despite the subtle pallor that had begun to creep into her complexion towards the end of the meal. I had noticed, I noticed everything about her.I watched as Elisa rose from the table, the subtle unsteadiness in her step was not lost on me. There was something off about the way she steadied herself against the back of the chair. It wasn’t a stumble, but it wasn’t right, either, there was carefulness to her movement.I didn’t stop her, though. I watched, letting the feeling settle in my gut, something about her had changed.Georgia’s clumsy attempt at asserting dominance all evening had been irritating, her laugh right now sounded too sharp, a brittle burst that cut through the skin. She lifted her wine glass, swirling the last of it like she was savoring a victory no one else had noticed.The
"Two Sides to Everything"ElisaThere was something in the air, a silence beneath the noise, a shift in the way people looked at me.It started the morning after dinner. The walls of the Romano estate hadn’t changed, but the way they echoed did. The servants’ smiles whenever they saw me were tighter, their eyes dropped quicker, Conversations stilled when I entered the room.The whispers clung to me like perfume I hadn’t chosen.“She did it to herself,” someone muttered as I passed by the kitchen. A laugh followed softly, “She has always been an attention-seeker, or maybe she's even unstable, with everything that has happened to her.”Their words stabbed sharper than I expected.I didn’t stop, I continued walking. But an ache settled beneath my ribs, their words, reminded me of when I was still living in Naples at the bianchi family compound, this was how my father's staff saw me. My disappearance from dinner, and everything that happened after, none of it had gone unnoticed. But
"The Unmasking"AntonioGeorgia’s eyes met Dario’s across the table, her fingers tapped the crystal stem of her wine glass, slow and deliberate, an act I was now sure was a signal. Then came the coaxing, her voice wasn’t recorded, but I remembered her leaning toward Elisa, pressing her to have a drink.And then that glimmer of satisfaction as the glass reached Elisa’s lips, I had thought nothing of it at the time, my mistake almost costing Elisa that night.I didn’t blink as the footage ran again, I sat still, elbows on the desk, hands folded. The silence of my office rang louder than any explosion.Betrayal didn’t surprise me, but this? Under my roof, at my table of all places, and from her. This wasn’t just treachery. It was a recklessness and sloppiness beneath the standards I’d built my empire on.I leaned back in my chair and let the silence settle, my jaw locked, my body tensed. I wanted to believe it was desperation, that it wasn’t Georgia’s true nature showing, but I wasn’t
"Control"ElisaThe knock came just after noon, “Antonio wants to see you,” Marcello said, his voice as blank as his expression.I didn’t ask why.I followed him in silence, footsteps echoing off the marble floor. The corridors of the Romano estate felt colder than usual, and my mind churned with possibilities. Matteo’s confirmation two nights ago had told me all I needed to know, Antonio had seen the footage, he knew what Georgia had done.But how far would he go, what would he do with that truth, more importantly… What would he do with me? These were questions I kept asking myself.My pulse quickened as we neared Antonio’s study, Georgia had made her move and now the board was shifting.Marcello opened the door and stepped aside.Antonio stood by the tall window, hands behind his back, staring out at the garden like it might offer answers he couldn’t find inside.“Close the door,” he said without turning, the latch clicked softly behind me, the silence between us stretched.Finall
Blood Knows BloodAntonioGeorgia’s departure had changed the atmosphere in the estate, on the surface, things carried on. Routines were followed, but something had shifted, there was tension in the air now, a stillness that buzzed just beneath the surface.But the real change wasn’t just the estate, It was me, I should have felt relief, Instead, all I felt was restlessness.The void she left behind wasn’t a part of my routines. She might have been manipulative, but she was predictable and safe in a way Elisa wasn't, I was beginning to lose the control I had over myself this days.Elisa stirred something more dangerous in me, something I didn’t have a name for yet. A tension that was always on the surface.She was still a threat, a complication. I hated complications, but it was already too late to stop this one. Because every time I saw her, I forgot how to think in a straight line.I was halfway through that thought when Matteo stepped into my study, he had that look, the one he wo
"Ghosts and Silver"ElisaDays passed slowly.l,I was still a prisoner, nothing had changed about that but I could move around the Romano estate now, within limits of course. No one stopped me, but I was always being watched by the guards. The poisoning incident had changed everything.The small blade Antonio had given me the other day, stayed close to me. I kept it hidden in my pocket during the day and under my pillow at night. It wasn’t just a weapon. It also sounded like a warning to me, survive or you die.The staff avoided me now. They spoke less when I entered a room, their eyes dropping quickly. I guess the truth about what Georgia had done was now in the open.Only Bianca still came around, she brought coffee sometimes, or just sat quietly with me, but I could tell something had changed. She was kind, but distant, it was like she was holding something back.One morning, before sunrise, I found a note under my door. There was no name, ust a folded envelope.I looked around
"Faulty Lines"AntonioThe call came just after dawn, I was halfway through my first espresso, standing by the window in my study, shirtless, preparing for the day. Matteo’s voice cut through my phone, tight and serious.“There’s been a breach at warehouse 3, they went through the north side of the compound, One of the guards is dead.”I didn’t respond at first, instead I put the cup down slowly, “What was taken, any damage?” I asked.“It was Severe," Matteo replied. There was an explosion that blew the back gate open, two crates of High-grade weapons are missing.”I straightened. “I’ll handle it,” I said. “Prepare the car.”—----The drive to the port took nearly four hours. I took Matteo and three of my men, there was no need for an entourage right now, I didn't need unnecessary noise.This wasn’t a job for someone else, If they were bold enough to hit us here, they deserved to see me show up in person.Warehouse 3 had been under Romano's family control even before I could walk,
"A Life Stolen"ElisaThe wooden box sat on my desk like a sleeping beast, quiet but unbearable. For days, I had avoided it,locked it away, hidden it under the floor, under my thoughts, under my fears. But tonight, something cracked open inside me, I could no longer ignore the weight pressing against my chest, or the whisper that had grown louder in the back of my mind, I needed to know.My hands trembled as I lifted the top of the box.There was only silence at first, then the smell of old paper dry, musty, and faintly sweet rushed up to meet me like a ghost from another life. Everything inside the box was neatly arranged, there was a bundle of aged documents, tied with a brittle, yellow ribbon, and a scattering of old looking photographs. My breath caught, I reached for the photos first.A man and a woman, young and radiant, smiling under the sun, the woman had dark curls like mine, her eyes kind and familiar. The man was tall and proud he was the man in the photographs I recent
"The Last Night of Silence"AntonioThe sky was already darkening when I drove through the gates of the estate, the last of the client meetings had run longer than expected. I had to endure hours of fake smiles and guarded language, where each word was laced with subtle threats and fake promises. My mind was still occupied with the numbers and timelines we had to go through for the deals to be concluded. I was still think about it all, when I turned toward the main wing of the house.I wasn’t three steps past the corridor when I saw Ricky approaching from the hallway on the other side, his pace quickened as soon as he saw me.“Boss,” he called, his voice low but urgent.I stopped. “Ricky. What is it?”He glanced around briefly before falling into step beside me. “There’s been a situation, I was going to wait till morning before reporting it, but it can’t wait.”“Come to the study,” I said to him, I didn’t like having important conversations out in the open, even within these walls.
"Keys to the Dead"ElisaLorenzo’s words still rattled around in my head, I doubt it was just idle chatter, it felt like a warning, and it bothered me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something, that I had overlooked something important. Trying to find Antonio’s office key had turned into a frustrating exercise. No matter how closely I watched him, or how many times I searched his study, I was always one step behind. I couldn’t trust anyone in the Romano house anymore. The tension in the air was thick, like it was only a matter of time before something would snap.I came back to my room after another day of fruitless observation, my mind preoccupied with all the questions I still couldn’t answer, and that’s when I saw it. There was a small, plain wooden box sitting in the middle of my bed, looking completely out of place. I hadn’t left it there, and I knew it wasn't there when I left this morning.Someone had entered my room when I wasn't around. I froze, instinc
"The Warning"AntonioThe door to my office swung open, and Lorenzo stepped in, but before he could even register the tension in the air, I moved. One swift punch to his face, knocking him backward into the wall.He froze, blinking in disbelief as his hand shot up to his mouth, wiping the blood that dropped from his lip, he wasn't expecting this I could tell from his reaction.“What the hell, Antonio?” he sputtered, his voice filled with surprise and confusion.“Shut the hell up, you idiot,” I barked, my voice cold. “You know exactly why I hit you.”He wiped his mouth again, eyeing me, and then Matteo, who stood by the window, his posture tense, his eyes watching the exchange closely. Matteo wasn’t here to stop me, I asked him to be here so he could see how far I’d go.“What the hell is this about?” Lorenzo spat, still trying to gather himself, “why did you hit me, what did I do?”I stepped closer, my voice low and controlled. “You know exactly what this is about, you really think I
"Snakes Among Us" ElisaDays blurred together, and I noticed that every attempt I made in finding the keys to Antonio’s office had ended in frustration. He moved with an air that made him feel untouchable, he was always one step ahead, it was as if he could sense when I was getting too close, the more I searched, the more elusive it became.Training with Matteo had become my only escape, my outlet for the tension that was growing inside me. Each session in the courtyard was harsh and demanding, and it allowed me to focus on something other than the constant war in my mind. The morning air was crisp today, as I made my way toward the training grounds. The scent of wet and freshly cut grass filled the air, the coolness settling on my skin, it was a small reminder that I was still in control of something, even if it was just my own movements. I walked quickly, my senses sharpened by years of living on alert. The Romano estate had a rhythm, a pulse, and over time, I had learned to
“Judgment Hour”AntonioThe knock on my door came before sunrise, two sharp taps, followed by silence. Matteo never knocked unless it was serious.I pushed the sheets off my body and stood up, barefoot against the cold marble floor and walked to the door. When I opened it, the expression on his face said everything I needed to know, this was definitely an emergency.He didn’t need an invitation, he stepped in and closed it quietly behind him.“What is it?” I asked, already bracing myself.He held up his phone, “Lorenzo moved a shipment through Lucio's port last night.”That woke me up faster than a slap, I stared at him. “Lucio’s port? You’re sure?”Matteo nodded once, “Confirmed, one of our guys on surveillance caught it, there were trucks, cargo, and Lorenzo himself, on-site.”He turned the phone toward me, the screen showed images of last night, three trucks lined up under the cover of night, and the next photo had Lorenzo, his face partially visible, standing near the containe
“Uncovering the Truth”ElisaThe dream had plagued me again, it was the same voice, hoarse, terrified and full of love that was echoing in my ears. “Elisa… run.”Every time I heard it, something in me twisted, it wasn’t just a dream anymore, it was Something real, and it was digging its way out of my memory, piece by piece.The De Luca name, once foreign and meaningless, had started to feel like a coat I was finally learning how to wear. I didn’t know the whole story yet, but I could feel the truth pressing against the surface of my mind, waiting for the right moment to break through.Antonio’s office was always locked, and I knew for a fact that it held answers.That morning, Matteo pushed me harder than usual in training, the secluded courtyard was quiet except for the sound of fists hitting pads and shoes scraping stone. The sun was already hot, but Matteo didn’t ease up, his blows were sharp and fast, and forced me to respond faster. I welcomed the pain, the ache in my arms,
"Her Bloodline"AntonioThe door to the meeting room shut behind me with a soft thud. Inside, the room was quiet but tense, nothing unusual. My capos and senior associates sat around the long polished table, each man alert, waiting for my cue to begin. The scent of strong coffee lingered, mixed with faint traces of leather and paper.This meeting wasn’t just about business, it was about the preparation for the upcoming shipment through Calabria, and it was high-value and high-risked.I stood at the head of the table and got straight to it.“Lorenzo,” I said, eyes meeting him across the table, “Report on the Calabrian arrangements.”He leaned forward, easy confidence on his face. “We’re in good shape, the route’s clear, our contacts have confirmed passage. Local authorities have been... handled, quietly.”His voice was casual, as always, but I watched him closely. Matteo had shared a few things with me recently, I wasn’t jumping to conclusions, but I was listening with sharper ears n
"Heretic Blood"ElisaThe name De Luca no longer felt like a distant curiosity, It had weight now. It was real, heavy, and impossible to ignore. The photograph and the ring weren’t just random things I’d stumbled on, they were pieces of a puzzle I didn’t even know I’d been solving.They were mine, somehow, they were part of me.And if I couldn't get answers from anyone here, it would be Bianca. I’d seen her father in that photograph, the first one I had received, that meant something I was sure. There was a crack in the wall of lies I had lived in all my life, I just needed to keep chipping away at it.I found her in the greenhouse, It was late afternoon, the sky outside glowing with a soft golden hue that filtered through the glass ceiling. The scent of flowers wrapped around me, there were lavender, orchids, something citrusy and wild. The greenhouse was warm, calm, and nothing like the rest of this estate.Bianca stood near the far corner, misting a delicate orchid, her hands mo