Riccardo's POV.I saw the glint of the gun before it went off. I moved as fast as I could and threw my weight on Emilia while pulling her to the ground immediately. I mentally thank my stars that I had yet to take off my gun and knives. I pulled them out and quickly fired two shots in the direction that the bullet came from. Emilia writhed under me trying to get out and somehow my dick managed to remain hard even though a bullet just went off. “Jesus Christ woman, fucking stay still,” I said harshly. “Aria, I need to check on Aria.” She cried. “No, you are going to stay right there until I ask you to move. Aria is safe, Raffaele will make sure of it.” I told her and miraculously, that managed to calm her down and she stopped moving. She remained silent for a while then she laughed softly. I don’t know but I think my wife might be a little bit crazy. “I love the fact that you have managed to find humor in this situation we are in,” I said. She chuckled. “How is your dick still
Emilia's POV. It has been weeks and this house has been annoyingly silent. Too quiet. Riccardo changed so much after that night. My sweet husband was gone and he somehow managed to go back to the Riccardo that I had met in New York. He didn't torture me or anything. He doesn't even stress me out. He agrees to everything I ask without question— unless it has to do with my security details. I have security details following me every fucking where. The number went from two to seven. I don't mind having them around because their presences seem to put Riccardo at ease a little bit. I miss him though. I miss him like crazy. We barely talk now. We always have breakfast together with Aria and Aria is always the one chatting and keeping the table lively. He listens to her and responds when he is supposed to, he even manages to smile at her sometimes but he has withdrawn from me, both physically and emotionally. The last time he touched me was that night, oh, he kisses me sometimes. A fleetin
Riccardo's POV. I wanted to stay. I wanted it badly but I can't. I can't allow myself to be weak now. Not when hers and Aria's lives depend on my actions. I know how distant I have been since that day. I needed to do it, to pull back. It was very necessary. I just didn't realize that it would hurt her that much. She fucking cried. I felt like a bastard. I wanted to go on my knees right there and beg for her forgiveness but I couldn't. Oh, I will beg, I will grovel if I have to but first I need to get rid of this bastard. The only advantage the bastard has on us is the fact that we don't know who he/she is. We have been doing a lot of digging. Enzo already ran a background check on every single staff I have and they all came out clean, all of their activities have been tracked but we didn't find anything suspicious and that just made me feel more uncomfortable. If it isn't my staff, if it is not one of them then who the fuck is this person and what on earth does the person want from
Emilia's POV. I woke up feeling the same way that I have been feeling for days now. Not sad, not happy. Just there. I put on a smile for my baby girl and got her ready for school. She of course asked for her daddy and I managed to come up with some excuse for him, I can't even remember what I said to her anymore but I know it was enough to cause she didn't question it. I dropped her off at school and Raffaele and some other bodyguards stayed with her. I drove to my workplace to pick Riley up. I have my doctor's appointment this morning and she offered to come with me and from there, we will go to the mall to get some things that we would need for Aria's party tomorrow. The party will be held in the garden, the event planner will be coming over in the evening to put everything up. I just needed to get a few things at the mall. Riley made mine and Aria's dress for the party tomorrow. Aria is yet to see the dress but I am pretty sure that she would love it. I stopped outside the shop
Emilia's POV. We spent hours in the mall. We ended up buying more things than we needed. Okay, let me correct that, I ended up buying more things than I needed. Don't blame me, shopping was a nice distraction. I found that I stopped worrying so much about everything that was currently going wrong with my life and just shopped. I bought some maternity dresses and clothes. It was already obvious that I would grow about three times my normal size to accommodate the little peanut in my stomach. When I was pregnant with Aria, I didn't get so big. My bump did not even start showing until I was about six months along.We picked Aria up on our way back home and she was very excited to see us especially when she saw the car loaded with party supplies and bags. We chatted all the way back home. She kept talking about how excited she was and how she had invited the entire school to the party— I exaggerated that part a little bit but she did say something about inviting all her classmates. I was
Riccardo's POV. Gabriella? I couldn't wrap my head around it. Gabriella has always been around. She was there for me for a while after I lost my parents before he father had her shipped off to study Maybe Riley is right, I have been so blind but...fuck it, it is Gabriella. I wasn't sure what went down after Riley's story. I know she and Emilia had a talk and I think they are still friends. Weird that, I never thought I would see the day when my ex and my wife would be friends and good ones at that. "The party can't hold," I said out loud. "What no. What are you going to tell, Aria?" Emilia exclaimed. "Her birthday party is all she has been talking about for weeks now, Riccardo."Enzo already left us in the living room and he was somewhere in my office trying to track Gabriella. "I can't keep you two safe if..." "Get more security. Lock the gates, search every single person if you have to but the party is going to happen." Emilia said. "Emilia..." "If you are going to canc
Emilia's POV.I woke up with a start and found Riley and Isabella on either side of me. It took about one second for me to remember what had happened. "I need to go," I said immediately and tried to get out of bed. Riley held me down. "You are going to stay in bed, Emilia." "Excuse me? My daughter is out there somewhere. She is alone with that crazy bitch and you are asking me to stay in bed? Are you being real?" "Riccardo is already out there trying to find her..." "And I should be out there with him trying to find our daughter. She is my daughter too for fuck sake. I can't just sit down here and do nothing." "What do you plan to do then?" Isabella asked. I got out of bed faster than I had ever done. "I don't know but I won't just sit down here and do nothing." "You should think about the baby, Emilia. This is..." "The baby is fine. I am fine. I was just shocked earlier and that is it." I said. "I have to go find my daughter." I started heading for the door and Isabella qui
Riccardo's POV. I would probably dwell on the fact that I just signed my divorce papers if I didn't have a daughter to save. I tried to wave it off but I knew something wasn't right. It is impossible for things to just go haywire like that. She has had the papers for a while? Like hell. I just signed the fucking papers to make her happy for now. After I have this whole was sorted out, I will get to the bottom of things. After I have brought Aria back home safe and sound. If she thinks she can just put an end to our marriage because she wants to then she should think again. I have every intention to win my wife back. "Riccardo..." Enzo called softly. He was probably feeling bad for me or something but I trust him not to mention it. "Do we have anything yet?" I asked him. He nodded. "I got a code. I am just going to get it interpreted." "Okay." We are close. I just need Aria to be safe. "Are you okay, Ric?" Enzo asked. "I am fine. Let's find Aria." It took him another ten minu