《Betrothed To The Mafia Lord》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°Sit, Sofia,¡± Father murmured as he gestured towards the seat positioned before himself and mum, I sank into it gracefully and thanked him before he continued. My heart was already beating fast, it had started racing wildly since the moment our housekeeper came to my room to inform me that my parents would like to have a word with me this very instant. A part of me already kinda figured out why they had summoned me, I¡¯ve been dreading this particr ¡®talk¡¯ since the day I turned eighteen, two months ago. ¡°Do you know why I had you summoned?¡± Father asked and I shook my head immediately, silently praying it wasn¡¯t going to end up being what I was already starting to think it was. Father picked up his whiskey filled ss and took a sip before returning it back to the table. My mother was seated beside him with a nk face as usual, her hair was pinned on her hair neatly and tightly, a single strand wouldn¡¯t be able to slip out until she took out the pin herself. ¡°You¡¯re eighteen years already, Sofia.¡± My father started to say and I felt my heart sink into my stomach with a drop, what he was about to say was already pretty obvious. ¡°You¡¯re ripe for marriage already, which is why we¡¯ve started your wedding preparations the moment you clocked eighteen. You¡¯d be getting married in a week''s time and all you have to do is to rx and do whatever your mum and her sisters ask you to do.¡± ¡°What?¡± I demanded urgently with my heart squeezing tight against the inside of my chest, blinking unbelievably and ncing from father¡¯s face to my mother¡¯s expressionless face. I knew I was going to get married to one of the soldiers or generals'' sons right since I was thirteen, I had been aware and had been brought up to be a good and obedient wife to whoever would end up getting picked out for me. It was tradition for fathers in our own world to marry their daughters to eligible men holding posts worthy enough to benefit them one way or the other. ¡°You¡¯re getting married to Luca Ri in a week''s time.¡± Father stated and my mouth fell open immediately. Luca? Mr Luca Ri? ¡°Um, Mr Luca? The mafia lord?¡± I whispered out with my eyes blown wide and my heart beating wildly against my ribs, my hands were starting to shake due to how close I was to losing control of my emotions and I squeezed my hands together and dragged in deep breath as quietly as I could. ¡°Yes, Sofia. Mr Luca Ri has requested your hand in marriage and everything has been in preparation ever since. You should be really honored that someone as powerful as him would want to marry from our family, despite the fact that there are higher generals with daughters in which he could pick from.¡± My mother finally said from the moment I got into the office and I blinked at her with tears stinging my eyes. ¡°But he¡¯s really older than I am,¡± I tried reasoning with them in a strained whisper, my voice breaking unashamedly, feeling weak and powerless as ever. What could I do? Wasn¡¯t he like fifty? ¡°Age is just a number, and besides he¡¯s just eighteen years older than you are.¡± My father dismissed my protest immediately as he took another sip of his whiskey. ¡°I don¡¯t want to marry him, father.¡± I started to say, knowing that I was digging my own grave by voicing out my own thoughts but having no other choice left, ¡°Anybody but him, father. He¡¯s scary and ruthless,All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org. you¡¯ve said so yourself countless times. I¡¯ve heard so many rumors about him, scary details about him. Please father...¡± ¡°Sofia!¡± My father barked out and I jumped and swallowed emptily, shifting in my seat and staring pointedly at my quaking hands on my thighs. Not him please. Please. ¡°Those are just rumors, and when did you start believing whatever you hear without enough proof?¡± Father snapped and I swallowed again, trying my hardest to blink my tears away. ¡°He¡¯s ruthless because he has to be as the mafia lord, and you¡¯re going to learn to be fierce like him once you be his wife. Nothing¡¯s going to happen to you if you do whatever he demands of you as fast as you can without questions. Luca hates stupid questions and you females are fond of that instead of obediently doing as you are told immediately.¡± ¡°So he wants a ve and not a wife? That¡¯s it? I¡¯m just going to be his ve?¡± I demanded before I could stop myself and father got to his feet immediately and threw his ss which was half filled with whiskey on the wall exactly where my head was positioned a second ago had I not ducked immediately with a panicked scream. I scrambled to my feet instantly and raced to the doorway with tears streaming down my cheeks, mother was on her feet as well, wringing her hands together but not interfering as usual. ¡°This is why you women need a husband with an iron fist, someone to discipline you until you learn how to obey whatever you¡¯ve told to do without stupid, unnecessary questions.¡± Father shouted angrily at me with a finger pointed in my direction and I cried harder. ¡°Knowing how Luca is, I¡¯m sure he would be able to make you obey him without questions a day into the marriage unlike me, it took me years to train your mother into being an obedient wife, because she was just like you are now; stubborn, disrespectful and disobedient.¡± I shook my head with tears still sliding down my cheeks, I didn¡¯t want to end up being like mother, I didn¡¯t want to have to live life the way she did, I didn¡¯t want to have to agree with whatever my husband says without questions, I didn¡¯t want to live like a ve in marriage the way my mother has been doing since the moment she got married to father. I¡¯ve never expected to marry because of love, nor have I thought that I¡¯d be marrying someone of my own choice. But I¡¯ve been hoping I¡¯d marry someone in my own age range who¡¯s already open minded and won¡¯t want to live in the past the way the people in the past generations did. But then I had to get given to someone almost two decades older than I am, it wasn¡¯t even just anybody, it was Luca. Luca Ri. Everyone¡¯s worst nightmare. Everyone was scared of him, including my father. ¡°Get back into your room this instant and don¡¯t leave there until you¡¯re asked to.¡± He ordered before turning around and heading toward the bar hanging off the wall in his office to pour himself another drink. I remained in my current position, knowing it was stupid of me to still hope he¡¯d change his mind. He turned back around with another ss of whiskey and I noticed the way his nose red angrily the moment his eyesnded on me. I nced helplessly at my mother, hoping she¡¯d back me up for once but she only shook her head and nced away from my direction. With another wayward sob bubbling in my throat, I whirled around and fled his office when he started advancing towards me. I flew up the stairs with tears streaming down my cheeks and past the rows of doors upstairs leading to my room. I didn¡¯t stop to acknowledge my younger brother who was standing outside his bedroom door watching me silently and mmed my bedroom door shut the moment I got in. I turned the keys and locked it despite the fact that I knew father has the rest of my door keys and could get the door open anytime he wants before sliding down against it and burying my face in my palms, more tears spilled out and I didn¡¯t bother trying to stop it and instead allowed it to flow out quietly. I was going to be identified as Mrs Ri in a week''s time... The thought of that alone was enough to make me sob even harder, hating life and my parents with so much passion all over again. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Sofia¡¯s POV I sat up on my bed the moment I heard a key turn in my keyhole with my heart pounding in my chest, a part of me thought it was father and that thought was enough to send a chilling fear sliding down my spine. It was currently some minutes after ten in the night and I had no idea who it could be. The door cracked open and I felt the breath I¡¯ve been nervously holding in my throat whoosh out a relived sigh on seeing my younger brother standing at the doorway with a proud grin spread across his face. ¡°Come in fast and shut the door.¡± I urged and he quietly got in and closed the door before turning my keys until the door was locked again. ¡°Did you just pick my lock?¡± I asked once he got to my bedside, he shrugged with a sly grin before hopping on my bed and waving a tiny nail in my face. ¡°New skill unlocked, yes I did.¡± He gushed out and I cracked a small smile at his proud facial expression. ¡°Where did you learn that? I thought you weren¡¯t going to start trailing until next year?¡± I asked because he was only fifteen and training for boys in the mafia officially starts once they clock sixteen. ¡°I figured it out myself, I¡¯ve been trying it on my door for a while now until I perfected the skill, how cool is that?¡± He gushed again and I shrugged, learning how to pick locks wasn¡¯t something people were supposed to be proud of, but it was a huge deal for boys in the mafia since they were going to be needing all the sly skills they cany their hands on to be someone big in the mafia, and for someone to master that skill on their own was a pretty big deal since they were still going to officially taught this particr skill once training officially starts for them. ¡°That¡¯s really amazing,¡± I praised him because it really was and he smiled shyly, his dimples peaking out cutely, that was one of the few features we shared as siblings. ¡°I brought you a few snacks to eat since father ordered food to not be brought up to you so you could reflect on your disrespectful act which you carried out in his office,¡± He rolled his eyes towards the end of his sentence and dug out the said snacks from his pockets before pushing them into my hands. I grabbed his wrist before he could pull away, ¡°Won¡¯t you get into trouble for this?¡± I asked warily, my stomach picked that moment to growl loudly and I flushed red when he gave my a sidelong look, picked one of the cookies on my thighs, tore it open before pressing it into my hands again. I epted it and took a bite, the milky taste melting against my tongue almost immediately. ¡°Thank you so much, Angelo.¡± I said to my younger brother and he only smiled at me before reaching up patting my cheeks lightly. I sometimes wonder how my brother was already this matured at such a young age, when I was fifteen, I sure as hell wasn¡¯t this smart and matured... I guess it was a guys thing? ¡°How do you feel about getting married?¡± He asked and I paused the piece of cookie I was about to insert in my mouth at thest second and breathed out a sigh before returning the cookie back into its bag. ¡°I feel scared, nauseated, creeped out and hurt as hell.¡± I replied honestly, my heart feeling sad and heavy in my chest. I ran my fingers against the cookie bag half heartedly, trying to imagine how it was going to feel like to be married to Luca Ri. All I could think of was him pping and hitting me if I dare question any of his decisions and that thought alone was enough to make me shiver slightly, feeling tiny goosebumps cover my arms. ¡°I¡¯m sorry father is such a selfish man, it¡¯s not your fault he had to stupidly lose mr Luca¡¯s money, then why the hell did he had to purpose to give you to him in recement for the debt he owed.¡± Angelo snapped out angrily and I blinked at him shockingly, my heart finding it hard to grasp unto what he was saying. ¡°What?¡± I asked, a loud ringing noise echoing in my ears. Angelo¡¯s mouth fell open for a few seconds, ¡°Oh, he didn¡¯t tell you?¡± I shook my head slowly, feeling my eyes bite with the telling signs of iing tears. ¡°I heard him talking about it with a few of his men a few weeks ago while I was eavesdropping, I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d actually give you to Mr Luca since he himself was extremely scared of him. I had thought he was already looking for the money in which he could use to pay off his debt.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± I mumbled, not knowing how best to respond to this new piece of information. I felt numb. Numbness everywhere. There was nothing I could do, it wasn¡¯t like I could refuse to marry Luca. Was I even given a choice? ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m so sorry, Sofia.¡± He whispered quietly and I sniffed quietly before digging out a piece of cookie and threw it into my mouth. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s not your fault and there was nothing you could have done.¡± ¡°You could have run away assuming I had told you this immediately I heard about it...¡± Angelo started to say and I shook my head vehemently, stopping him almost instantly. ¡°Run away to where? You¡¯re speaking like you¡¯ve suddenly forgotten how father is, he¡¯d find me immediately and only God knows what he¡¯d do to me then. And besides, now that I¡¯m Luca¡¯s property, he could have the whole mafia looking for me and they¡¯d find me in a few minutes... knowing who mr Luca is, he could blow my head off out of irritation.¡± ¡°No, Mr Luca wouldn¡¯t be involved since you¡¯re not married to him yet, it¡¯s going to be just father. I think running away is way better than getting married to the mafia lord.¡± Angelo argued but I only shook my head with a small, resigned sigh. I wasn¡¯t as courageous as he was neither was it as easy as he was making it sound, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to run away into a world I knew nothing about. I¡¯ve been shielded all my life and never go anywhere without the guards for my own safety, I didn¡¯t know any ce nor anyone, nor do I have any money I could use without my father¡¯s awareness since he always get notified each time we make use of the atm card which was directly connected to his bank. My friends were totally useless as well since they were just like me, powerless in a world like ours. Being a girl in this world was one of the worst things that can ever happen to a person. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do and you know it,¡± I said quietly after a while and Angelo reached out and took my hand in his warm ones. ¡°What was mother¡¯s reaction?¡± He asked and I let out a quiet snort, ¡°The usual; expressionless, unbothered.¡± ¡°I hate that woman so much, y¡¯know?¡± Angelo continued with a frown and I nodded my head, agreeing with him instantly, ¡°I hate her so much as well.¡± ¡°Sometimes I wonder if she¡¯s our real mother. I mean, aren¡¯t mothers supposed to be extremely in love with their children and would almost never stand by and watch their children suffer unnecessarily?¡± Angelo continued and I breathed out another small sigh, not knowing what to think anymore. I¡¯ve made up a thousand excuse for her in my head while growing up as to why she was the way she was. I¡¯ve watched my friends talking about their mother with so much love and gratitude dripping off their voice, about how they could ask to their mum to help them convince their fathers on an issue... my own case was quiet different from theirs. Mother never bothers trying to convince father on anything, whatever father said was final and that¡¯s that. All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org. I¡¯ve always tried to understand the fact that she also doesn¡¯t have any power when ites to decisions making in the household... but what about being a mother? Being there when we needed her the most? Being there emotionally? ¡°I don¡¯t know, Angelo,¡± ¡°I seriously don¡¯t think she¡¯s out real mother, I think our mother died or something and this is just our stepmom.¡± Angelo continued and I smiled sadly before reaching up with my free hand and brushing his blond away from his face, he ducked away from my touch almost immediately and mock red at me, silently reminding me that he wasn¡¯t the kid he used to be before. ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, y¡¯know we both got our hairs and dimples from her, that¡¯s proof enough that her blood definitely runs in our veins.¡± I admonished him because it was the truth. I knew when mother got pregnant with Angelo, I was barely three but I remembered it faintly so she was definitely our mother. ¡°I don¡¯t know, all I know is that I hate her and father so much.¡± He finally muttered and I sighed. I think I hated them more than he did at this point. ¡°You know once you get married, we won¡¯t be able to see ourselves a lot again.¡± Angelo muttered quietly, reminding me again about how matured he was now. ¡°Yeah, I know. But I won¡¯t stop loving you and having your back, you know that, right?¡± ¡°I do... it¡¯s just wouldn¡¯t be the same here without you.¡± He continued as he slightly squeezed my hand in his, making my eyes prickle with tears once again. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be the same without you in my life physically anymore,¡± I whispered, sniffing back tears and blinking away the teardrop clinging to my eyshes. ¡°We¡¯d stillmunicate through the phone and would try to meet up anytime we can, I promise.¡± I whispered, my voice breaking at thest two words with a small sob, leaving my brother behind was heart wrenching than I used to think it would be while growing up. Now it was actually happening so fast and there was nothing I could about it than to hope Luca wouldn¡¯t be against me meeting up with my brother. Angelo tugged my hand forward and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, I slipped my hand around his waist and silently cried against his broad chest in the quiet room. Out of nowhere, my younger brother was all grown up and acting like the elder sibling I never had. We remained in that position for a long while with me crying silently and him patting my hair and squeezing my shoulders tight, offering me more emotional strength than I¡¯ve ever received from anyone else throughout my whole life, the opened bag of cookies long forgotten. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Sofia¡¯s POV The housekeeper brought me breakfast the next morning which made me assume father wasn¡¯t as angry with me as he wasst night. I told her I wasn¡¯t hungry and she returned the breakfast tray back downstairs, leaving me to myself once again. I wasn¡¯t hungry since I ate a bit of the snacks Angelo left mest night, the rest was currently in my closet since I wasn¡¯t feeling hungry one bit. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g I closed the book I¡¯ve been trying to read to no avail out of frustration and sat up on my bed, staring at the rack of gold and silver medals which I had won throughout high school in the far end of my room. Father thought medals were not as important as award cups, which means the medals I won while growing up stayed in my room, while the award cups I won got ced in his office. I let my mind wander aimlessly like it has been wanting to do since the moment I woke up from the thirty minutes sleep I managed to catch after staying up and talking with my brother from ten pm to two am, and then lying awake and just thinking how doomed I was from two am to six am in the morning. The sound of my door getting pushed open made me jolt and dart a fearful gaze at the doorway, my mother¡¯s familiar frame filled the doorway and I got off the bed instantly, ¡°Good morning, mother.¡± I mumbled quietly as respectfully as I could before sliding back on my bed. ¡°Did you sleep well, Sofia?¡± She asked and I almost rolled my eyes in irritation. ¡°Yes, I did.¡± I replied, wondering what it was that has made her take some minutes from her precious time toe all the way to my room. ¡°The housekeeper reported that you refused to eat this morning,¡± She continued, still standing in the doorway like a stranger that she was in my life. ¡°I wasn¡¯t hungry.¡± ¡°Your father wouldn¡¯t be happy when he hears,¡± She continued and I remained silent, staring at my fingersying motionless on my thighs. ¡°I came to inform you about some important ns concerning your wedding.¡± My head snapped up the moment the words left her mouth. ¡°You¡¯d be going to the designer¡¯s lounge in a few hours time to pick a dress, shoes and flowers. Your aunt Gianna would be going with you.¡± She continued and I swallowed emptily, feeling my heart sink into my stomach again, what was I hoping she¡¯d say anyways? For her to inform me the wedding wouldn¡¯t be hoping anymore? ¡°Yes mother,¡± I acknowledged, thankful she wouldn¡¯t being with me, perhaps I¡¯d be able to pick a dress of my own choice at least. ****** ¡°What do you mean I can¡¯t pick that dress?¡± I demanded of the two women working at the Designer¡¯s lounge. I had fallen in love with the dress the moment I set my eyes on it, it was small and almost resembled a regr, white dress, it was short sleeved with flower prints all over the re of the dress, it was simple looking and would hopefully allow me blend in with the bride maids and decorations at least. I wanted little to no attention on me during the wedding and this dress was going to help a long way... that was until the owners of the lounge had killed that thought immediately with their next words. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Miss Giuliani but we¡¯ve been given orders as to a particr style you can pick from, if you¡¯d kindly allow me, I¡¯ll show you to them.¡± The woman who had weed my aunt and I into the lounge said smoothly with quirk of her lips, a list of what I was going to need for my wedding sped in her right hand. ¡°Why can¡¯t I pick what I want? It¡¯s my own wedding not yours.¡± I argued, scowling at the women whose stance almost appeared as if bored of the drama I was putting up. ¡°We received strict orders from your mother, Miss Giuliani and there¡¯s nothing we can do about it,¡± The spokesman of the two women replied smoothly and I nced at father¡¯s youngest sister who has been quiet throughout the whole outburst, ¡°Why can¡¯t I pick what I want, Aunt Gianna? Tell them that¡¯s the one I want.¡± ¡°Your mother wants you to pick something else, Sofia, they are way better than what you picked out here.¡± Aunt Gianna replied and I huffed out a resigned sigh, my hopes about me getting a dress of my choice disappearing into thin air. I followed the women deeper into the lounge until we arrived at arge room housingrge, sparkling looking dresses with thousands ofyers and diamonds. ¡°If you¡¯d pick any one of your choice, miss Giuliani, we¡¯d get to the measurements part as soon as we can.¡± The woman announced while waving her hand around the whole room. It was pointless of me to try searching for a small dress when everything here were the same size and almost the same style. ¡°I¡¯d go with anyone you feel like,¡± I replied, feeling emotional drained all over again. I just wanted to get it over with at this point. ¡°Perfect.¡± The woman nodded her head and with the assistance of two more women, they managed to pull off one of the huge dress off the mannequin. Thirty minutester, I was in the dress, in the changing room filled with a floor length mirror on a part of the wall. The dress hugged my waist snugly but was slipping off my chest a little due to the cups being a bit bigger than my breasts, other than that, it was perfectly fine in everyone¡¯s eyes. It was armless and transparent in the waist¡¯s area. Tiny sparkling stones were used to form different intricate designs on the transparent part of the dress, while the re got designed with bigger stones. All in all, it was a really beautiful dress, a dress meant to make everyone¡¯s head turn, a dress meant to steal the full attention of the groom, a dress made to create a dramatic entrance, a dress that was made for the spotlight, all of which I was trying to avoid from the very start. I breathed out a small sigh as I took in my appearance in the mirror, I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that I looked good in the dress. I hate my life. ****** The days came and went by in a blur, making me dread the wedding day as it got nearer. I barely saw father throughout the week except at dinner once and we¡¯d barely exchanged a few words. I spent most night talking to my younger brother, trying my very best to treasure every moment spent with him. He had apanied me to get my hair and nails done while the guards hovered around as usual, I was already used to doing almost everything with them breathing down my neck at this point. A day to the wedding, mother has apanied me to get my whole body waxed after a quick breakfast, we didn¡¯t speak to each other until she asked if I was hungry at a point, which I wasn¡¯t and that was it. I was sitting beside my window that evening, looking up advices for a virgin having sex for the first time on myptop, my mother and I never talked about anything personal and the only time this topic has been mentioned to me was in school during studies and that¡¯s that. Different options came forth, all of which revolved around the girl being extrafortable to begin with around the man- something I definitely wasn¡¯t around Luca... heck, I haven¡¯t been officially introduced to him, I had no idea what he looked like up close except for a few times that I¡¯ve seen him during some gatherings. Another option was lube for much needed lubrication, an option I knew was out of the question. With a resigned sigh, I closed theptop and leaned my head against the cold wall, there was so many emotions running through my head. I blinked once before squeezing my eyes tight. I¡¯ve shed a lot of tears since I got told I was getting married to Luca to the extent of my eyes running out of extra tears. This time tomorrow I was going to be sitting beside my husband while everyone wined and dined around me, then an hourter we were going to head to his house where he was going to... I breathed out another sigh and forced my eyes open, refusing toplete the thought in my head. My clothes have already been packed by the house helps, I had no idea what was packed and what wasn¡¯t, mother supervised it so I was sure all what I was going to need was going to be in it. Father said I couldn¡¯t take any of my books since apparently a wife wasn¡¯t supposed to be wasting time away by reading stupid books. I pushed away from the floor and made my way towards my adjoining bathroom, I stood before my mirror and stared at my reflection, my hair was done high on my head to hold the tiara and veil tightly, the skincare I had received today made my face glow, but my eyes looked empty and sunken. I cleaned my teeth and headed back into my room, sliding beneath my covers and hugging to my chest, my favorite book which I had reread a countless times since I knew I wouldn¡¯t be seeing it again after tonight. It was going to be a long day tomorrow and the makeup artist and designers were going to be here by seven. With that in mind, I fell into a dreamless sleep with tears clinging to my curly eyshes. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°Remember to smile once he unveils your face, hm?¡± Father said as he handed me a bunch of blue flowers which were as big as the dress I was currently in. ¡°Yes, father.¡± I replied with my heart racing uncontrobly, I was going to be walking down the aisle in a few minutes time with my father and I was about to have a panic attack to my utmost horror. ¡°I am going to miss you so much, Sofia.¡± Father continued as he pulled my veil over my face, I would have quietly snorted at his words had I not been silently trying to fight the panic attack back. Father stepped out of the car and held his hand out for me but I hesitated, afraid my legs was going to give out on me if I dare stand up. ¡°What are you doing, Sofia? We¡¯re going to be called in a minute.¡± Father demanded impatiently and I tried really hard to push the dizzy feeling back but it was only getting more intense and threatening to pull me under its waves. ¡°Can you get me water please?¡± I whispered and father cursed angrily before walking off and returned with a bottle of water almost immediately. I sipped the water and dragged in deep breaths, echoing the same words in my head continuously. ¡®You¡¯ve got this, Sofia¡¯ I slipped my hand in father¡¯s and was out of the car instantly. Father didn¡¯t looked happy but couldn¡¯t do a thing about it like hit me or scream at me since we had an audience, he only squeezed my hand harder than necessary for a few seconds while ring at me before rxing his hold and wearing a smile on his face as the paparazzi surrounded us and started clicking away. The guards were around us in a instant, pushing the paparazzi away from us and leading us into tip of the hall before standing at the doorway to keep the paparazzi away. I dragged in a deep breath and unconsciously squeezed father¡¯s hand as we made our way into the hall, a long red rug led the way into the gathering, all the way to the front of the hall where the groom was most definitely waiting at, along with the priest. I refused to nce up and instead stared at my feet as we walked slowly, trying to block the fact that thousands of faces were watching me walk down the aisle out of my mind- and failing miserably since I could feel a panic attack building up in my head once again. We arrived at the end of aisle and I finally nced up slowly as my father slipped my glove covered hand into Luca¡¯s hand, making the breath hang in my throat for a few seconds before whooshing out slowly and quickening uncontrobly. I stared up but refused to look directly into Luca¡¯s face and instead focused on his neck which a blue colored tie clung unto as the priest started the sermon. He held my hand although, the warmth of his palm seeping through the silky material of my hand glove. All what the priest preached about barely made it into my ears as I was worked up to the extent that the thumping of my loud heartbeats was echoing loudly in my ears, leaving a continuous ringing sound behind. The ring bearer, who was a cute little girl in a blue dress which I¡¯ve never seen before, brought forth the rings and I picked up the bigger one and slipped the ring on Luca¡¯s ring finger while repeating the traditional vows along with the priest. Luca did the same, hisrge palms almost swallowing my left fingerpletely as he slipped the ring on my fourth finger- and then the priest dered us man and wife, without asking the crowd if there was anybody that would like to object to the marriage- not like anyone would even dare. ¡°You may now kiss the bride.¡± The priest called out and I felt blood rush in my face and my pulse race uncontrobly as Luca¡¯s fingers reached for the edge of my veil as if on slow motion mode and unveiled my face before nudging my face up with a light grip on my jaw, leaving me no option than to All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org. finally stare into his face. Our eyes locked for the first time and my heart stutter slowly as his grey eyes framed with curly, dark brushing his lips against mine. My eyes slid shut before his lips touched mine and I felt him press his lips firmly against mine, sending chills sliding down my spine and my heart thumping nervously against my chest as he brushed his lips against mine over and over again before pulling away as everyone started cheering loudly. I blinked my eyes open and our eyes locked again for a few seconds before I ducked my head the moment he released his light hold on my chin. ...and there goes my first kiss. My heart was beating loudly and my lips felt tingly, I wanted to wipe the feeling off with the back of my palm but couldn¡¯t since we were before a huge crowd, and I wouldn¡¯t dare ruin my makeup. Luca took my hand in his and turned around to face the crowd- and the cheers went up even more. I caught sight of my brother who was standing beside father on the front row of the crowd, a scowl on his face with his hands at his sides. I puffed out a breath and focused on the fact that Luca was leading me down the aisle this time- as his wife. I was legally married to Luca Ri. My name was no longer ''Sofia Giuliani'' anymore. It was now automatically ''Sofia Ri''. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Sofia¡¯s POV The crowd cheered loudly as Luca and I got called to the dance floor for our first couple¡¯s dance. He took my hand and led me into the middle of the dance floor. My veil and tiara had been taken away All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org. from me by the designer the moment we arrived at the reception hall, leaving my shoulders and upper backpletely bare. Luca ced my hand on his shoulder and slid his left hand around my waist before sping my left hand in his right one and proceeded to lead me in a slow dance. My head was barely reaching his sharp looking jawline despite the fact that I was in tall heels, our eyes locked for the fourth time today as we moved from side to side. He moved his hand over my waist ever so lightly and I puffed out a flustered breath and ducked my head immediately. I felt another shiver slid down my spine when he pulled me closer to him, our clothes brushing against each other¡¯s. ¡°Look at me.¡± He rumbled quietly, his vibrating, deep voice eliciting goosebumps over my bare arms. I nced back up almost instantly, locking eyes with him again. His grey eyes bored into my blue ones, holding my gaze captive and leaving me no choice but to drown in his deep eyes. ¡°You¡¯re so beautiful,¡± He murmured and I blinked a few times before swallowing emptily. I wanted to duck my head in embarrassment but couldn¡¯t find the power to break the eye contact despite the fact that my cheeks were flushed in embarrassment. ¡°Um, thank you,¡± I whispered before ducking my head and puffing out a deep breath. I was super d he didn¡¯t ask me to raise my head up again. His voice was quiet, yet so firm and I couldn¡¯t bring myself to ignore it. I¡¯ve caught a few nces of him a few times while growing up, and none of those peaks prepared me for the man I met today. I prayed and wished he¡¯d be ugly looking up close with a mouth and body odor so as to give me more reasons to hate him. I definitely wasn¡¯t expecting him to have eyes deep enough to make me feel like I was sinking into it each time our gaze locked. I couldn¡¯t deny the fact that he was extremely good looking with dark curls framing his face and neck, a nicely curved nose, a light trimmed and neat looking beard hugging his outlined jaw sexily, making him appear way younger than I expected. I couldn¡¯t believe the fact that I was married to the mafia lord, so many people were watching us dancing and I didn¡¯t miss the way some of the girls from the bridal train had looked at him with longing in their eyes. A bunch of clueless girls. They coulde have him though, it wasn¡¯t like I wanted to get married to him in the first ce. I definitely wasn¡¯t looking forward to tonight as well. ****** I mopped my face and body with the fluffy towels in the bathroom before slipping on the lingerie set I was supposed to wear on my wedding night. Aunt Gianna had told me I was supposed to present myself to my husband on the wedding night this way two days ago. I felt like a sacrificial animal getting all cleaned up in preparation for the sacrifice. My heart was beating fast and my pulse was running faster than my heartbeat as I slipped my robe over the sheer material of the lingerie and made it exit the bathroom. I paused beside the door and puffed out a breath before giving myself a little pep talk and pulling the door open. Luca was sitting on the bed and I paused outside the closed bathroom door as my eyesnded on him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed and speaking quietly to someone on the phone, he was only in a ck pants and I blinked a few times as my eyesnded on his naked, toned chest and skittered away almost immediately. He looked so huge and tallpared to me, I knew it wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to render me powerless if he wanted to. His eyes lifted up andnded on me and I watched as the top of his lips twitched a little before he ended the call and ced the phone on the bed side table, I nced at the bedside table and felt my heart jump in my chest with a jolt of fear as I took in the two guns positioned beside his phone. I¡¯ve seen a lot of guns while growing up, on father and his men, I¡¯ve seen some in his office as well on some asions. But never have I been this close to one and that thought alone was making me nervous all over again. What if he doesn¡¯t like my body and shoots me out of disappointment? What if... ¡°Come over here,¡± He said, cutting into my jumbled up thoughts and I dragged in a deep breath and closed the distance between us without wasting any time to avoid him from getting mad at me. He wrapped hisrge hand around my wrist and tugged me down on the bed the moment I got to his side and I sat wide-eyed beside him with my heart sitting in my mouth, our eyes staring into each other¡¯s. I could feel my own heartbeat in my ear and my blood was currently boiling over due to how nervous I was feeling. I broke eye contact and stared down at my robe covered thighs, wondering how he was going to go about everything tonight. Was he going to lift me up and throw me on the bed before getting on with it? Was he going to tear my robe and underwear off if I hesitated on taking them off myself? Was he going to kiss me again the way he did at the wedding today? The way he had brushed his lips ever so lightly against mine... The kiss had left a shivery, confusing feeling behind and I didn¡¯t know if I wanted to experience it again or not. He grasp my chin and tugged my face up, making our gazes lock, we¡¯ve locked eyes a lot today that I had lost count due to the amounts of things on my mind and each time he stared into my eyes with his grey eyes. It felt like he was staring right into my soul and trying to hypnotize me. He leaned down and I squeezed my eyes shut immediately, my heart hammering hard against my chest. I felt soft lips faintly ghost against the edge of my lips ever so slowly before dragging over my cheek. ¡°Let me see those blue eyes, Sofia.¡± His lips moved over my cheek as he whispered those words and my eyes fluttered open slowly, I tried to duck my head unconsciously but his sudden grip on my jaw prevented that. I was covered with my robe but that didn¡¯t stop shivers from sliding down my spine when his eyes raked over my facial features beforeing back to connect with mine. ¡°You look way more beautiful without makeup on,¡± He murmured against my cheek and I puffed out a slow breath as his voice rumbled against my cheek. Oh. I didn¡¯t know what to say to that so I remained quiet and tried not to close my eyes as his lips lightly traced my jawline. ¡°You look so innocent,¡± He murmured as his lips traced a line down my neck, warm breath hitting my skin as each word left his mouth and I gasped a little with my eyes fluttering unconsciously. ¡°Um...¡± I started to say but trailed when he pressed a soft kiss on the spot beneath my ear and I puffed out another tiny breath as another confusing shiver slithered down my spine slowly. ¡°But you are not, are you?¡± He lightly bit into the spot beneath my ear as the next words left his lips and an unintelligible sound slipped out of my lips, resulting in sparks flying around in my head. What was happening? Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Sofia¡¯s POV My heart was hammering hard against the insides of my chest and my rib cages, my pulse rate has spiked high up to the level of me feeling it vibrating fast on my throat. I shivered slightly as fear started to crept into my veins once again and stubbly leaned back when Luca¡¯s fingers started to slow trail over my robe covered arm. To my surprise¨C and in the very next second, horror, Luca pulled his fingers away from my arm almost immediately. My eyes widened in horror as I realized what I just did and I held my breath fearfully, my whole body going numb as I waited on the p that was surely going to hit me any second from now. A few seconds passed, and¡­ nothing. I blinked a few times and turned my head around and¨C locked eyes with Luca. He was staring at me the same way he had been staring at me since the start of my wedding, there was nothing standing out about his facial expression. I silently prayed he wasn¡¯t already thinking up different ways in which he could use to ¡®discipline¡¯ me ¡°I¡¯m s¨C sorry,¡± I whispered in a quiet breath, my voice wavering and stuttering fearfully as I averted my gaze from staring into his gray eyes and instead focused them on my robe covered thighs. My hands were starting to shake due to how scared and worked up I am, and I sped my two hands together and ced them on myps to try to slow my heartbeat down which would then automatically calm the bubbling nerves that was causing my hands to shake. A startled sound suddenly flew out of my mouth as Luca suddenly grasped my chin and tugged my face around until I was staring into his eyes once again, I tried to stare in a spot that wasn¡¯t his face¨C his grey eyes in particr, but his firm hold on my chin didn¡¯t waver for a fleeting second and I wouldn¡¯t ever dare try to pull my face out of his hold¨C because I wasn¡¯t ready to meet my end yet. ¡°You¡¯re so skittish,¡± He suddenly said, his voice deep and sounding all growly despite how quiet it sounded. I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment, making me duck my head almost immediately¨C or tried to, but couldn¡¯t because my new husband was still holding my chin captive in his hand, his eyes trailing over every feature of my face. ¡°Um,¡± I whispered and bit my lips in concentration as I tried to think up a word that would be a good reply to what he said a few seconds ago. I couldn¡¯t say ¡®thank you¡¯ to that because that was most definitely not apliment, now could I? But then I couldn¡¯t leave his words hanging in the air like that because that would be just rude, and I didn¡¯t want him to think I was slow, something I most definitely wasn¡¯t. ¡°I, um¡­¡± I started to say again without knowing what exactly I was going to say, my eyes stayed focused on his nose and cheeks, that was a way safer ce for my eyes to peacefully stay glued to, I trailed off immediately and stared wide eyed at him as he started to lower his head towards mine once again, his face was only a breath away from grazing mine and I was fully aware of myself slowly leaning away from him, his grip on my chin to only thing keeping me from outrightly pulling away from him. I was trying to plead with my body to stay still, to avoid angering him, but for some reasons, my body was doing a different thing from what my mind was telling it to. It was most definitely going to get me in trouble tonight. He pressed his lips lightly pressed against my throat and at the same time brushed one part of my robe off my left shoulder. I gasped audibly and willed my body to remain still as his warm lips ghosted over my bare throat and was now lightly trailing over my corbone, his grip choose that moment to thankfully leave my chin and I dragged in a deep breath and did my possible best to keep my body still as I refilled my empty lungs, my fingers twitching and slightly trembling on my tights. The deep breaths that I took into my lungs a moment ago whooshed out the very next second when he unexpectedly pushed on my shoulders until my back was t on the bed. I tightly fisted the white, fluffy bed sheets as my mind started to register the fact that it was finally time for what was his to be taken. My virginity was going to be non-existent before he pull himself away from me tonight. My eyes started to sting and the back of my throat started to hurt as tears threatened to spill out the sides of my eyes and I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to anger him further since I knew I had angered him a few times tonight by my actions. All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Look at me, sprawled out fearfully on the bed as I awaited my dreadful fate which was to have my privates invaded against my will, by this man¨C who was now my new husband, whom I had no doubt would definitely hurt me when doing the said act. I couldn¡¯t stop the set of tears that managed to ept my tightly closed eyes and I held my breath and tightened my hold on the sheets even more as I awaited the smack that was going to hit the side of my face now. But¡­ nothing. My heartbeat continued to pound and I was extremely scared to peel my eyes open in fear of what I was going to find. What if he was staring at me with so much anger pouring off those unnerving eyes of his? Or what if he had already gottenpletely naked in preparation for what was going to take ce between us tonight? Or what if... A quiet stuttered breath puffed out my lips as I felt him pull my hands off the sheets I had tightly fisted a few minutes ago, and next thing I knew, I was being moved on the bed. To the center? Where he was going to do it? I couldn¡¯t help the second set of tears that spilled out the sides of my eyes and I tightly bit into my lower lips to stop a sob from slipping out unconsciously. I felt my head being ced on a pillow before I finally stopped being moved and I held my breath again and awaited the worst. ¡°Open your eyes,¡± Luca¡¯s voicemanded, the voice sounding close to my face and slipping into my ears immediately. I blinked my wet eyes open the next second as I couldn¡¯t bring myself to disobey him despite the amount of fright stifling my fast pumping heart. I blinked a couple of times before finally locking eyes with Luca, the whole surroundings of the room feeling bright and blurry because of the tears clinging to myshes, as I stared into his grey eyes and unconsciously pressed my head into the pillow for there to be space between us, than there currently was. ¡°How old are you?¡± He asked, slightly moving above me, which was when I noticed that he was slightly kneeling above me, his arms were on either side of my head and his face was a few inches away from mine. I ignored the way his big shoulders and biceps were making me feel extremely tinypared to him as I tried to focus my overheating brain on his question. ¡°I¡¯m eighteen years of age,¡± I whispered my answer, silently impressed in myself for not stuttering in between the words. ¡°Fuck.¡± He quietly eximed above me and I flinched, immediately trying to figure out if I had done something to anger him at this very moment anding up with nothing. He broke eye contact this time, staring at a spot above my head and I noticed the way his throat moved a few times in a swallowing motion while the protruding Adam apple protruding and way more more outlined than any one I¡¯ve ever set my eyes on. Father had something like that, but it was mostly covered in fat since he started putting on weight while my brother and I were growing up. I had no one else¡¯s topare with Luca''s since I had never seen any man¡¯s throat in this kind of close proximity¨C except my brother¡¯s, and his was barely outlined as he¡¯s still growing up. ¡°Sleep.¡± He instructed the moment his gaze locked with mine once again and I blinked at him a couple of times, trying to confirm if I had heard him correctly. Sleep? Sleep as in, go into an unconscious state and lose all control of my body, leaving me in an extremely vulnerable state and leaving my body at risk of it being vited by him? But sleep? He wanted me to sleep? Or he wanted to wait until I went to sleep before pouncing? I watched as he pulled his hands from either sides of my head and rolled his whole body over to the other side of the huge bed, keeping a wide space between us- which was when I noticed that he had pulled my body over to the very left side of the bed, instead of the middle I had thought. My eyes followed his every move while my heart stay pounding hard against the insides of my chest and I watched as he sat on the other side of the bed with his elbows on his thighs. I blinked as my eyes took in the whole expanse of his back, the upper side of his back was very wide and my eyes immediately zeroed in on a scar in the left lower side of his back. It looked jagged and shrieked tightly together like the actual wound was way bigger but the scar then chose to not be as big as the initial wound. I had no idea what kind of wound the scar was form, I have seen quite enough gunshot wounds while growing up to be able to identify a wound from a bullet on first nce, but this one was quite¡­ confusing andplex looking. Wait, why was I suddenly analyzing his scar? Luca choose that particr moment to nce behind him and I flushed red on mortification as his eyes locked with mine, I averted my gaze immediately and turned around on the bed, facing the other side of the room and silently praying that he had gone back to staring at his fists and meditating instead of staring at my awkwardly, curled position. My knees were tucked behind my thighs and I was very aware that my robe had rode upwards on my thighs along the line, but I was too frozen and scared to do a thing about it. I felt very vulnerable and wanted nothing more than to curl into a small ball beneath the nket that I was currently on¨C but I wouldn¡¯t dare move around on the bed just to get beneath the nket. Luca had asked me to sleep which my over analyzing mind had broken down into multiple meanings even though it only had one actual meaning. It could be that he actually wanted me to sleep, because maybe he had suddenly lost interest in my body like I had feared¨C and hoped. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Sofia¡¯s POV Luca had asked me to sleep which my over analyzing mind had broken down into multiple meanings even though it only had one actual meaning. I had hoped he wouldn¡¯t find me attractive, so he wouldn¡¯t have to take me against my will because there was no way I¡¯d ever consent to¡­ Was the word ¡®consent¡¯ even avable in the vocabries of the men in the mafia? There was no way my mind could even be rxed enough to the point of me falling asleep, that fact was sparkling clear in my head. I puffed out a slow breath, not wanting to make unnecessary sound since I was supposed to be sleeping like an obedient wife like I was asked to. The lights suddenly got turned off and i sucked in a harsh, audible breath before widening my eyes and pping my hand over my mouth in the next second. The feeling of the bed dipping made my heart pound even harder and faster against my chest and I inched towards the edge of the bed until I was lying on the very tip, any further and I¡¯d find myself on the floor. I stared into the darkness and waited, and waited. Nothing happened, not a sound was heard in the room and had I not felt the bed dip beside me and the sound of a head pressing into a pillow, I might have been able to convince myself that I was the only one alone in the room. But that wasn¡¯t the case, Luca was most definitely lying on the other side of the bed and if he was already asleep orying awake and nning to pounce on me was totally up to me. Time went by, but I was still awake. The air conditioner started to make me shiver and I carefully pulled my robe against my neck and curled into myself even more, wishing for nothing more than to slip beneath a warm nket. My mouth twisted to the side as the thoughts of my parent house, my former home, slowly started to fill my head, I miss home. I¡¯d have been fast asleep by this time if I wasn¡¯t buried in my nkets reading one of my books. Speaking of which, I wonder how I was going to survive life without that bit of my life that was one of the things that kept me sane till date. My mind drifted off to my brother, Angelo. The angry expression he wore when I got announced as Luca¡¯s wife was still printed boldly in my head, I could remember the I was called to dance with my brother and we barely spoke until when the dance was almost over. He just loosely held me in his arms and moved me along with him until I whispered his name and my voice cracked along the line due to the tears threatening to spill over my cheeks. ¡°Who¡¯s going to protect you from him, Sofia?¡± He had then asked on a whisper which dropped with so much pain and sadness, the angry expression that had been on his face since the start of the day was gone and it in was a dejected, saddening expression which I had a feeling would be perfectly mirroring mine had I not had make up on. ¡°I am going to be fine, Angelo.¡± I said to him with as much reassurance I could muster and inject into those words, but jokes on me because my voice had cracked again oh those words. He didn¡¯t buy my words for a moment and instead squeezed my wrist and I squeezed his in return immediately. ¡°Sofia,¡± He paused and nced over my head towards where Luca and I were standing before I had been called to the dance floor, then he continued in a voice and a tune I had never heard him use until that very moment. ¡°I promise to kill him if he hurts you, I swear it to you.¡± I blinked fast to stop the tears that were threatening to slip out as his wordsced with so much pain and bitterness hacked at my weakened heart. Angelo was only fifteen for heaven¡¯s sake, but he was suddenly acting all grown up in the twinkle of an eye, the little brother I was used to looking out for and covering up, nowhere to be found. ¡°Angelo, please¡­ Please, take care of yourself for me. Promise me¡± I whispered fiercely as I stared up at him, we were barely moving in a circle anymore and were only moving our feet at this point. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of myself, but I can¡¯t promise what I cannot keep. Which was why I promised what I was sure of, like I said, I¡¯ll kill him if he hurts you.¡± I shook my head immediately, ¡°No, Angelo. Don¡¯t think like that, I won¡¯t get hurt. And even if I do get hurt, it won¡¯t be something I cannot handle.¡± ¡°Promise me then.¡± He challenged and I ducked my head and quickly sniffed back the teardrops threatening to fall out. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°See? I can¡¯t promise to take care of myself either, I don¡¯t even know how to take care of myself without you in the picture.¡± He continued, his voice getting fiercer and lower as he poured out his heart, with mine weeping dejectedly in reply. ¡°I love you, Angelo.¡± I whispered when the song suddenly stopped. ¡°I love you, Sofia,¡± He replied in a heartbeat, squeezing my fingers tightly and I returned the squeeze with my whole heart in it. We couldn¡¯t hug because it wasn¡¯t reasonable for men in the mafia to show unnecessary, stupid emotions like women does. So we settled for squeezing each other¡¯s fingers one My right side was starting to hurt and slowly go numb fromying in a particr spot for hours but I was too scared to turn around on the bed. This side of the bed was the part I detest the most, I preferred lying on my left hand side, but since I was on the left side of the bed, I¡¯d have to face the inside of the All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. bed if I want to sleep on my right hand side¨C and risk brushing my body with Luca¡¯s, or just facing his direction in particr. I pressed my head into the pillow and breathed out a long sigh, my dder was starting to fill up and I¡¯d be pressed to empty it any moment from now, which means I was going to have to get up from the bed¡­ Ugh, my life is so shitty. I curled into myself even more and tried to imagine how my life was going to look now that I was officially a wife. Would I have to start acting all mature like how a wife was supposed to? Was Luca going to want to put a baby in me immediately? Or was he going to wait? I stretched out my cramped legs and puffed out a slow sigh before tugging my robe around me even more, to shield my arms and shoulders from the cold air blowing around in the room. Different thoughts continued to flood into my mind and my mind kept drifting from one thing to the other until the whole thoughts became jumbled at a point. I blinked my eyes a couple to blink the sleep off the moment I realized that I was dozing off. The bed suddenly dipped beside me and I jolted fearfully and gripped the sheets beneath my pillow as different dreadful thoughts started to flood my head. I felt Luca get off the bed and after a few seconds, the bathroom door got pulled open, letting a flood of light into the dark room for a fleeting second before it got quietly closed. My breath finally whooshed out loudly and without any hitch for the first time since I got on the bed beside himst night. I was still too scared and frozen with fright to think about turning my head around and ncing into his side of the bed. I prayed my fast beating heartbeat which was echoing loudly in my head wasn¡¯t sounding loudly around the whole room because I was supposed to be asleep and not still awake with so many thoughts floating around in my head. I squeezed the sheets and curled into myself even more as the bathroom door got pulled open once again, spilling a ray of bright light into the room which onlysted for a few seconds before the whole room got plunged into darkness. The other side of the bed dipped and I instinctively shifted towards the very edge of the bed again, my whole body pulled tight and my heart racing fast. I waited and waited, expecting the worst. Once nothing happened again, I was able to start breathing more fully after a while, unlike how I was only taking in tiny breaths while waiting for Luca to pounce. I started thinking about different things again, and again. Slightly moving my legs forward to take out the numbness that was starting to spread out. My thoughts started to jumble up and blend into each other confusingly at a point, I tried to sort the thoughts out and figure out which one was which, but they kept mixing up and blending into each other until I finally fell asleep, my fingers still clutching the sheets beneath my pillow tightly. ****** When I slowly came back to consciousness, I refused to peel my eyes open until after waiting a few minutes for some unknown reason. My heart was pounding against the walls of my chest as I slowly blinked my eyes open. The first thing I did was to slowly turn my head around on the pillow to check the other side of the bed. The empty spot I was greeted made a harsh, relived breath whoosh out of my mouth. I fell back against my pillow and dragged in a long breath as everything started to register in my head. I cannot believe I have been able to fall asleep. I slowly sat up and the loud ringing in my head made mey my head back against the pillow for a few more minutes before finally lifting into a sitting position, more slowly. I pulled open my robe to check if everything was still in ce and breathed out a tiny sigh on noticing no difference on how it was now,pared to how it wasst night. So he ended up not doing a thing to me. That¡¯s¡­ new. I pushed myself off the bed and quickly headed to the bathroom to offload my dder which I had been holding onto since the middle of the night. I paused outside the door and held my breath as a thought suddenly popped into my head. What if he was currently using the bathroom? I waited behind the door for a few slow seconds before lifting my hand and quietly knocking against the door. I repeated the motion a few more times until I was sure the bathroom was empty before making my way into it and carefully shutting it behind me. Once I was done offloading my dder, I stood before the huge mirror in the bathroom and twisted my lips from side to side. Compared to the smaller, rectangr mirror in the bathrooms back at home, the one I was currently staring into was almost floor length, starting from the high roof, anding down to the ends of my knees. I lifted my hands and watched myself in the mirror as I slowly braided my hair into a single piece before tying it up in the middle of my head to keep it from getting soaked in the shower I nned on taking in a few minutes. Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Sofia¡¯s POV I slowly ascended the row of stairs and paused three stairs to the finalnding on seeing two men standing there. I stared confusingly at them, wondering what it was that they were looking for. My eyes zeroed in on their weapons strapped on their simr attire as I brushed my hair out of my face. Oh, Luca¡¯s guards. But Luca wasn¡¯t home¡­ or was he? ¡°Good morning, ma¡¯am.¡± They both echoed at the same time and in sync, bowed their heads down a little. My mouth widened and I shook my head immediately with a wave of my hand. ¡°No, no¡­ are you sure I am the one you actually want to speak with?¡± I asked in confusion. ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am. We were ordered here by Mr Ri and starting from this moment, the both of us are officially your two bodyguards.¡± One of the two men responded immediately and I breathed out a small sigh, of course I was going to be assigned body guards immediately who were going to monitor every bit of my life starting from this moment, like they said. ¡°Don¡¯t address me as ¡®Ma¡¯am¡¯ please, ¡®Sofia¡¯ is fine.¡± I informed them in the next second as the term ¡®ma¡¯am¡¯ sounded really weird for me to be addressed as. It also sounded like it was used to address really older women, and not an eighteen year old girl. ¡°I am afraid we wouldn¡¯t be able to do that, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s our duty to thoroughly respect and protect you. We addressing you as your first name is a taboo, we¡¯re so sorry ma¡¯am.¡± The second guard said this time and they both bowed their heads down a little at the apology at the end of the sentence. I watched them silently for a few seconds before nodding my head in understanding, of course our rules and beliefs just have to be extra toxic as well. ¡°The housekeeper is already here and the cook has been patiently waiting for you toe down so you could tell her what it is you want to be prepared for you.¡± The second guard continued and I blinked a couple of times before nodding my head as a sign that I was listening to him. ¡°Mr Ri asked us to ry a few messages to you.¡± He paused and my heartbeat quicked for a fleeting moment. ¡°Oh, he isn¡¯t around?¡± I asked the guard because I was starting to get confused. The guard thankfully answered immediately unlike the guards back at home who would have rolled their eyes had my brother and I ask them any kind of question. ¡°He already left for work, ma¡¯am, which was why he called us over at the wee hours of today.¡± He answered and once I gave a nod of my head, he continued. ¡°Mr Ri said we are to apany you to the electronics so you can get a phone, he also said we should head to the bank where you would be assigned a ck card in his name with no limit and¡­ is something wrong, Mrs Ri?¡± The guard suddenly trailed off to ask and I blinked my eyes a few times to take off the tiny daze that came over me a few seconds ago. ¡°No, there¡¯s nothing wrong. Everything''s fine.¡± I replied and sped my hands together as I slowly dragged in deep breaths into my lungs. I was going to get a new phone today? That means I could reach my younger brother? I had no idea I was going to be given a phone so fast into the marriage, after all, the one I had been using before got seized before the wedding because my father believes I wouldn¡¯t be needing that piece of device while going into marriage, and that if I please my husband and do whatever he requests of me, then maybe he¡¯d decide to get me a phone. And so I had not been hoping for a phone to be given to me any time soon, and that thought definitely didn¡¯t cross my mind one bit this morning since I couldn¡¯t even please himst night, now did I? ¡°Mrs Ri? Would you like to sit down for a bit?¡± The second guard asked and I blinked again on realizing that I had unconsciously zoned out on them once again. I tightened my hold on my hands, feeling a little uneasy around them and also reassuring myself that they wouldn¡¯t dare do a thing to me because of how badly Luca was feared. ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± I replied so as not toe off as a rude person to them, and because my legs were starting to hurt. I ascended thest of the stairs and they immediately parted for me to walk through their midst. I hesitated for a few moments before I left walking past them, fully aware that they were like giants beside me. I walked further into the unfamiliar but extremely beautiful and expensive house until I arrived at the sitting room. The sitting room was a really wide room that contained white and blue colored couches and a few small throw pillows on each particr couch. Even the couch was expensive looking as the edge of each one has some kind of golden intricate carved into each shiny wood in different swiny designs. It was really beautiful. I sank into one and breathed out a sigh, this ce which looked so much like the hotels I¡¯ve seen in a few movies. My parents'' house wasn¡¯t small, mind you. It was big, and really sophisticated. But But then Luca was the mafia lord, what was I expecting? The guards didn¡¯t sit down on the couch like I expected and instead stood on different parts of the couch which I was currently sitting on. ¡°Are youfortable, ma¡¯am?¡± The guard who has suggested I sit down asked and I let out a tiny smile at him in appreciation. ¡°Yes, I am. Thank you very much.¡± I replied, wishing I didn¡¯t have to be referred to with so much formality and respect. ¡°So as I was saying before, Mr Ri said we are to apany you to the bank where you would be Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. assigned a ck card with no limit to the card, which means you can spend whatever amount you want from the card without¡­¡± He continued to exin but trailed off immediately when I started speaking. ¡°I know what a ck card is.¡± I informed him because I didn¡¯t want them to think I was a dumb, little girl which might give them the impression that I most definitely didn¡¯t want them to have of me. ¡°Oh, my bad. I¡¯m sorry, ma¡¯am.¡± He apologized immediately and I waved my right hand, brushing his apology off. ¡°It¡¯s alright, er¡­ what are your names?¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Ethan, ma¡¯am.¡± The first guard replied with a little bow of his head and the second guard took over from him almost immediately. ¡°And I am Ryan, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you guys.¡± I answered, turning their names around in my head. It wouldn¡¯t be weird if I ask them to refer to me as ¡®Sofia¡¯ again, would it? I guess it would. ¡°Nice to meet you too, ma¡¯am.¡± They replied in sync and I sucked in a small breath and blew it out slowly. This would need some getting used to as it is a lot weird to me. ****** I walked into the said kitchen which the guards had pointed me to because I waspletely clueless as to where was where in the whole house. Apparently the house keeper was also going to show me around today, thankfully. ¡°Good morning, Mrs Ri. I am Sarah, the house keeper of the house.¡± The woman greeted me the moment she noticed my entrance into the kitchen. She looked like a woman in her early forties and if I was ufortable with the guards addressing me with so much respect, then I was down right feeling uneasy watching a woman way older than I am addressing me with so much respect. ¡°Hello Sarah, please address me as Sofia.¡± I replied to her and rified immediately. She was definitely older than my mother and there was no way I was going to be alright with her addressing me with ¡®ma¡¯am¡¯. ¡°Oh no, ma¡¯am, that would be me disrespecting you.¡± She argued back instantly but I shook my head as her words sank into my head. ¡°I Insist, Sarah.¡± I continued and she stared at me quietly for a few seconds before finally nodding her head with a small sigh leaving her lips. ¡°Alright, Sofia. Although, I honestly don¡¯t know how Mr Ri is going to feel about this.¡± She expressed her thoughts and I shook my head, effortlessly dismissing her worry for my own confort. ¡°I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great then. Wee home, Sofia.¡± Sarah started to say and my stomach twisted sourly, this most definitely doesn¡¯t feel one bit like home. What even is home? ¡°Thank you, Sarah.¡± I replied to her, grateful that at least the people I¡¯ve been introduced to since the start of today had all been nice people. Our house keeper back home wasn¡¯t all that bad, but then she wasn¡¯t all that good either. She was just¡­ there. Like mother, just there. ¡°Matilda would be back soon, she went to retrieve the master¡¯s suits jackets from theundry room. Once she arrives here, she¡¯d start up whatever it is that you¡¯re interested in eating.¡± Sarah said as she moved around in the wide kitchen and immediately started up the coffee machine. ¡°Would you like coffee, ma¡¯am? I mean, Sofia.¡± I smiled softly at the little slip, grateful that she was at least trying to make mefortable. ¡°Yes, please.¡± I answered despite the fact that my stomach was churning badly but in no state for food to be given to it. ¡°Have a seat, please.¡± She gestured towards the few set of high chairs surrounding the counter and I slowly hopped on one while thoroughly checking out the kitchen. Like I said, the whole house was expensive and beautiful, the kitchen was no different. Starting from this set of high chairs, we didn¡¯t have these back at home and I¡¯ve only seen it in movies and read about it in stories. The counter was so long and wide, I wondered what it was that could even want to be prepared here that would ever warrant this amount of space for just a counter. The cupboards were never ending and I could spot three to five microwaves and ovens on the other side of the kitchen. I nced around again but didn¡¯t see a fridge anywhere. Perhaps Luca doesn¡¯t like anything cold and had therefore seen no need for it to be in the kitchen? ¡°How long have you been a house keeper here, Sarah?¡± I asked Sarah when she dropped off the cup of coffee she had prepared for me, before me on the counter and was about to walk away from me. I watched as her lips twitched in the obvious fight of her trying to hold back her telling smile which could be clearly seen in her eyes as well, due to how extremely crinkled up it currently was. ¡°Oh, for over a decade now.¡± She answered and I lifted up my steaming cup of coffee and blew over the top for a few seconds before taking a small sip from it. The hot liquid slid into my mouth and down my throat slowly, the coffee tasted nice, but not the way I liked mine. It wasn¡¯t sugary enough. ¡°That¡¯s really amazing, Sarah. How has it been so far? ¡°Oh, thank you, Sofia. It¡¯s been a whirlwind of emotions and honestly soothing for me. Nothing pleases me like housekeeping does, and I¡¯ve been really happy since I started working here.¡± Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°Matilda, Mrs Ri has been waiting on you for a while now.¡± Sarah, the housekeeper admonished the young woman who just walked into the kitchen. The said woman footsteps slowed down as soon as she spotted me sitting by the counter. ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine, Sarah. I don¡¯t mind.¡± I quickly added once Sarah was done admonishing the Chef, Matilda. And also because I didn¡¯t mind waiting here in the kitchen for the chef to arrive since for one, I didn¡¯t have any else to do and forcing down a cup of coffee while exchanging a few, polite words with Sarah was way better than me sitting on my own, doing nothing. ¡°Hello, Mrs Ri. I¡¯m so sorry I took so long, theundry wasn¡¯t dried off yet so I thought I could wait there until it dries off finish, because I thought you¡¯d still be in bed, tired from all the stress from the wedding ceremony, and your wedding night¨C¡± Matilda choose the moment to mention my wedding night when I was about to force down another mouthful of coffee, which made the coffee go down the wrong pipe that finally resulted in me choking and coughing on the counter while Sarah and Matilda watched wide eyed. ¡°Matilda!¡± Sarah smacked Matilda¡¯s arm and I watched as Matilda¡¯s eyes widened in horror for a second before she started apologizing immediately. ¡°Oh my gosh, I¡¯m so sorry, ma¡¯am. I didn¡¯t mean toe off as rude or nosy, the part about your wedding night which was none of my business and it just slipped out of nowhere, I really am sorry, ma¡¯am.¡± Matilda started to apologize and each time she mentioned my ¡®wedding night¡¯, my stomach was always tightening up nervously and guiltily. Sarah offered me a ss of warm water and I epted it gratefully and quickly swallowed a little down, to wash the rest of the coffee away from the wrong part of my lungs. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Matilda. It really is.¡± I finally answered Matilda on a small sigh and she thankfully stopped apologizing. Atst. ¡°I really am sorry, ma¡¯am.¡± She said again after a few seconds, a guilty expression on her matured but wless looking face. Whelps, spoke up too soon. ¡°Please refer to me as Sofia, and like I said, it really is fine.¡± ¡°Oh, no, I can¡¯t do that, ma¡¯am. Can I do that?¡± Matilda mumbled thest part to Sarah who was currently mopping the few drops of coffee that had spilled during my coughing and choking fits. ¡°I guess, it¡¯s what the mistress wants, we have to do as she pleases.¡± Sarah replied with a small shrug of her shoulders without ncing up. ¡°Oh, if that¡¯s what you really want then, ma¡¯am Sofia.¡± I shook my head with a tiny twitch of my lips, ¡°No ¡®ma¡¯am¡¯, just ¡®Sofia¡¯.¡± ¡°Noted, Sofia.¡± ¡°So what would you like for breakfast, m- Sofia?¡± She paused and nced at me before proceeding to list a variety of a thousand dishes that she could perfectly prepare, and all I had to do to get one of those dishes for breakfast was to request it. ¡°How about waffles?¡± I asked and she hesitated before continuing. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s what you want? You can request for something that isn¡¯t as basic as waffles if you really want it, you don¡¯t have to think about putting me to any trouble seeing as this is my job, and it is my job to go to any ¡®trouble¡¯ just to prepare you what you want.¡± She tried reassuring me while probably thinking I had only requested something as simple as waffles because I didn¡¯t want to put her through unnecessary stress. She had no idea I had requested for waffles because that was something I was used to eating, and probably the only food I could stomach now without throwing up. ¡°Yes, Matilda. Not to worry, I¡¯ll keep in mind what you¡¯ve said and would most definitely request for whatever I want, whenever I want it since you¡¯re here to prepare it.¡± I started to say and watched as she nodded her head immediately before confirming again. ¡°So, waffles? Just waffles?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± I answered and stretched out my arms on the counter. ¡°It will be ready in a few minutes.¡± And she proceeded to prepare the said waffles, the familiar, soothing smell clouding the whole kitchen some timeter. ****** Sarah ended up taking me on a tour of the whole house once I was done forcing down the food. Matilda had unreasonably heaped my te very high, making me wonder where she wanted me to store that huge amount of food in. I only ended up stomaching a few of the waffles before giving up forcing it down when I started to feel nauseous. Matilda had not looked happy when she saw the amount of leftover food on my te, it looked like I had barely eaten a piece of the food, the crestfallen look making me feel guilty for a fleeting moment. I¡¯d have eaten more if I could, but I couldn¡¯t because my stomach said ¡®nope¡¯. Sarah and I, along with Matilda who looked like a woman in her early thirties, started the tour right from the kitchen. We stopped at the dining room first and I noticed how sophisticated and sparkling, clean and beautifully expensive everything looked. The dining room was widely spaced and there was a huge television on the wall directly facing the long table which was surrounded by lots of identical chairs. We left the dining room and went into the food store, a door which adjoined the kitchen. The store contained lots and lots of food, and more ovens. There was small sized transparent ss jars which contained different kinds of seasonings and preservatives. There were some bigger cupboards in the store as well, in which lots of grain food was safely stored. We left that ce and headed into the second andst adjoining door which led into the kitchen and I wondered why there was any need for another whole different room here in this kitchen. The door led into¡­ a freezer. No, A frozen room. A frozen room which housed a lot of frozen food like different kinds of meats, vegetables, beverages, lots of frozen, liquid seasonings, and a lot more things which I didn¡¯t bother checking out in there. Matilda and Sarah had looked at me like I had suddenly grown two heads when I asked them If I coulde into the frozen room anytime. ¡°This is your house, Mrs Ri. Of course you can go into every part of the house whenever you like.¡± Matilda eximed like she thought I¡¯d have figured that part out on my own since I was now married to Luca. ¡°Oh,¡± I stated, not knowing what else to say. Matilda and Sarah had thankfully only smiled softly at me before turning back around and showing me different angles and corners in the frozen room. We finally left the frozen room and went from the first sitting room, to the second¨C and third sitting room. I had no idea people had more than one or two sitting rooms. We toured the whole house and ended the tour beside a tall ck door which had tiny designs in gold and silver lining the four corners of the door. There was also a small note in anguage that looked so much like Spanish, carved into the middle of the door. ¡°I know I said you¡¯re free to go to anywhere in this house, but this office is limited to my Ri only. I¡¯m sorry, ma¡¯am.¡± Matilda suddenly blurted out, rephrasing the words she said to me in the frozen room. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Matilda. I have no interest in going in there anyway. Also, it¡¯s ¡®Sofia¡¯ and not ¡®Ma¡¯am¡¯.¡± I reassured Matilda, which was totally true. I was goingpletely stay oof this particr room each time Luca stay home to avoid mistakenly running into him. ****** The car gradually slowed down then came to a stop and Ethan, the guard that wasn¡¯t behind the wheels quickly walked around the car to pull my door open for me, but not before thoroughly ncing around the surroundings to ensure there wasn¡¯t any lurking danger. ¡°Thank you, Ethan.¡± I thanked him as I alighted the car and clutched my small purse against my gown, feeling a bit uneasy. I¡¯d have appreciated the fact that this was my first time being here, and that the whole scenery surrounding here looked really weing, had my stomach not been in an ufortable knot. I was already used to this kind of routine all through my life while growing up. Although I was already used to the guard and my I and my brother¡¯s driver, I most definitely wasn¡¯t being treated like this back then. These guards were treating me like I was as fragile as an egg. Which I definitely wasn¡¯t. Ok, maybe I am fragile. But not fragile, fragile. The dress I had changed into when the guards had announced that it was time to go get me a phone, was a warm summer dress. It went high a few inches above my knees and was a stunning ck and white color. I had added a light coat of lip gloss, eyeliner and mascara to the attire. I had been wearing makeup since when I was fifteen, the age in which I had started getting treated as a part of society. Ethan led the way into the huge building we pulled up in while Ryan slowly followed closely behind. We all got into an elevator together and they kept a respective distance between our bodies while standing on both sides of my body. The elevator started it¡¯s journey upwards and I scowled at our reflection in the elevator walls. The fact that I was in a three inches heeled sandals could only bring my head to both men¡¯s shoulders, they were also so broad and wide looking like I appeared really petite between them. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g We stepped out the elevator once it stopped and made our way into an office tagged ¡®High ss¡¯ and everyone in there immediately turned around to stare at us as we made our way deeper through the racks and walls of different kinds of phones, before finally arriving at the counter. ¡°Good afternoon, Mrs Ri.¡± The man standing behind the counter quickly rushed around it to stand a few feet before us and greet me. I flushed in embarrassment as the mention of the word ¡®Mrs Ri¡¯ made more people throw more curious nces our way before everyone started murmuring all at once. Just how many people knew about my marriage that urred yesterday? The man quickly ushered us into a smaller but very ssy looking office, but not before a few people started taking pictures and videos of me. I had turned into a celebrity overnight. We were offered seats but I was the only one who ended up taking a seat, while the guards had remained standing out of respect. I declined all offers of refreshments and asked if we could quickly start checking out some of the phones. I fell in love with the iPhone 13, but shrink back away from it on hearing how much it was. I hesitated some more before shrugging off the small feeling of guilt that I was spending that much of Luca¡¯s money, a day into the marriage when I remembered that he was a freaking billionaire and wouldn¡¯t even feel a thing at this amount of money being debited from his bank. I ended up getting the iPhone 13 pro max, and made sure I could understand all the important basics of the phone before finally exiting the office with my two guards nking my front and back protectively. The price of the phone was directly mailed to Luca¡¯s direct inbox, on his request. We headed straight to the bank and on alighting the car, a few paparazzis were on us immediately, trying to get me to tell them how I honestly felt about my new marriage and whatnot. Ethan dealt with them immediately, shoving them harshly to the side since they themselves never cared whether they were invading a person¡¯s privacy or not, while Ryan led me into the bank. We made it to thest floor of the bank which was exclusively for VIPs only, and after spending about thirty minutes on signing and reviewing lots of documents and information, I finally exited the exclusive office with a sparkling ck card. I headed back home that evening, with a new phone, and a ck card that has no limit. Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Sofia¡¯s POV I slowly ran myb through my long, dark hair. My hair was a midnight ck color and it stood out pointedly against my skin. It was also unreasonably long, but I wasn¡¯tining. I wasn¡¯t too keen about it either becausebing it was so stressful. Other than that, I love my hair so much and wouldn¡¯t trade it for anything. I got the hair for my mother¡¯s mother, a woman whom I had only been opportuned to meet once, while I was five years, before she passed away. She was a really beautiful woman who had lost her whole hair due to cancer, leaving her bald at the time I had met with her. I could vividly remember her feeding Angelo his bottle while telling me different stories of her childhood days. That particr day was extremely special to me because that was the first time I had met with any of my grandparents, and the Ibed the remaining untouched part of my hair as fast as possible before carefully braiding it into a long braid and tying the tip with a small ribbon. Once I was done, I quickly changed into a night wear which I had blindly grabbed. It consists of a knee length night gown and a knee length jacket like robe, it was a new, sexier setpared to the one I had back at home and I grimaced as I stared at myself in the mirror and noticed the way the neckline was dropping so low, half of my breasts were peaking out. The material was so silky, and sheerlike and it was almostpletely clinging to my whole body. The part from the middle of the thighs downwards, waspletely transparent and I breathed out a sigh as I tried to guess who had picked out this kind of night wear for me between my mother and Aunt Gianna. After taking onest long look at it, I turned around and headed towards the cupboard in the bathroom where my nightwears had been stored in to check if I¡¯d see a different, more decent type. I thankfully saw one that was like the type I had at home, free and extremely decent, the remaining were all seductive types of night gowns. I quickly changed out of the overly revealing nightgown I was in and wore the one I¡¯d feel the most I headed into the room once I was done in the bathroom and sat on my own side of the bed. The lights in the room were set to ¡®low¡¯ and I love the way the led lights around the wall above the bed head illuminated a beautiful, calm yellow. The bedroom, my new bedroom that I had officially started to share with Luca, starting from yesterday¡¯s night The room was extremely wide and the bed was also extremely big, the walls of the room were painted to a dark blue, the roofs of the room were also very high and a few indoor heaters were located on the roof of the room. The room adjoining this bedroom which was also for Luca and I was widely spaced and is used as a dressing room. In there lies all my clothes, arranged and separated out of each other and already ced in different positions, thanks to the housekeeper. I picked up my new phone and thumbed it for a few minutes, scrolling through the inbuilt apps and literally trying to keep myself upied to avoid myself from starting to think about how tonight was going to go down. I haven¡¯t contacted my brother yet, I had no idea if Luca was going to approve of memunicating with my sibling or if he was going to bepletely against it. I decided to wait until after receiving rification from Luca, to avoid myself from doing something to piss him off, without even realizing. I carefully ced my phone on the bedside table on my side andid down on my side of the bed as tiredness started to creep into my bones. I had forced myself to put in a small amount of spaghetti in my stomach without vomiting it back, and now that the time was slowly ticking by, the insides of my stomach was knotting up badly, making me feel extremely uneasy and nauseous. Once I remembered how cold, awkward and ufortable I had feltst night without cuddling myself in a nket, I quickly slipped my legs beneath the thick and warm nket and pulled it up against my chin, feeling like I suddenly got cocooned in a ball of calming warmth. My whole body was still sore and cramping from the amount of stress I had gone through since the moment I got informed that I was getting married to Luca, a week and a day ago. I wanted to do nothing more than to fall asleep and calm my fast beating heart, but the thought of Lucaing back home any moment from now and deciding to have his way with me whether I wanted him to me not, made me stay wide awake while my mind was starting to imagine up different senerios of him taking me against my will, each one worse than the other. All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. I willed myself to remain awake as the time went by, but as hours blended into hours, I lost the fight against my sore muscles and finally got pulled under a deep sleep, against my own will ******. I slowly blinked my eyes open and quietly groaned beneath my breath as my head started ringing, my morning migraines was starting to return back once again. Thanks to the excessive stress I¡¯ve been going through for over a week. I slowly sat up on the bed and squinted my eyes while yawning tiredly for a few seconds, I had literally just woken up, but for some weird reason, I was feeling tired as ever. Thanks to who? Yeah, you guessed right, stress. I threw a slow nce into the side of the bed and as expected, it was empty. Luca had definitelye back homest night, it was obvious enough from the way the nket was positioned on his side,pared to how it wasst night after I had slipped myself beneath it. So, nothing has happened, again. Andst night was the second night into my marriage. Was I happy? Relived? Yes, absolutely But¡­ I blinked and absent mindedly bit on my lower lips as my mind started to wander. Nah, no buts, I was relieved he had not done a thing to me. It was just really surprising and unexpected. I was sure no one is going to believe me if I tell them about how my husband, the mafia lord, still hasn''t taken what was his, yet. Luca, who was known for beingpletely ruthless and brutal, hadn''t done more than brush his lips against mine before a huge crowd after we got pronounced as man and wife, and that was all. I wasn¡¯tining though, just worked up and still extremely nervous, because it was Luca we¡¯re talking about, and he¡¯s¡­ him. He is Luca. I slowly pushed myself out of the bed and was super d the room was without a huge window. It would have been really annoying and tiring because the said window would most definitely be left wide open in the morning, spilling direct sunlight onto a newly awake person. If that isn¡¯t instant death, I didn¡¯t know what it was. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to wake up and the first thing my eyes saw was harsh sunlight rays, coupled with my contract early morning migraines, I was bound to die an early death that way. I made my way into the bathroom and did my normal routine, getting dressed up in a set of small shorts and a tank top because I was most definitely going to spend my whole day in the house. I made my way out of the room, the slight throbbing in my head reminding me to ask Sarah where I could find the first aid box. The kind woman had shown me where it was yesterday while taking me on a full house tour, but I had forgotten where it was located. ¡°Good morning, Sarah.¡± I greeted the housekeeper as soon as i made my way into the kitchen and Sarah answered me almost immediately with a small smile ying at the corners of her lips, ¡°Good morning, Sofia.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Matilda?¡± I asked as I absentmindedly nced around the wide kitchen. ¡°Oh, she isn¡¯t avable until an hourter as she went on an errand, would you like me to quickly make you something to eat?¡± Sarah asked immediately and I shook my head, ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I just decided to ask her whereabouts because I didn¡¯t see her here. I¡¯d have breakfast once she returns.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± She tried inquiring again but I dismissed her worries instantly. ¡°Yes, I am. Although I¡¯d like to make my own cup of coffee myself. Also, can you please get me a pack of Advil, or any other pain relieving drugs?¡± Sarah nodded her head and gave a single reply before exiting the kitchen to God¡¯s knows where the first aid box was at. I walked towards the coffee making machine, grateful that there was already a cup of freshly made coffee in the machine. I prepared it the exact way I liked, getting it very creamy with lots of milk and sugar. Sarah finally returned to the kitchen when I had hopped on a seat around the counter while slowly sipping on my beverage. ¡°Here you go.¡± Sarah handed me the said drug with a small grin tugging around the corners of her lips and blinked confusingly at her as I collected the drug and ced it on the counter beside me, a steaming cup of coffee. ¡°I¡¯d advise you to take this drug this afternoon, and also before you go to bed tonight, to make the pain from Y¡¯know, vanish quickly.¡± ¡°What?¡± I muttered quietly as I felt my cheeks heat up embarrassingly, the fact that she was stylishly referring to my wedding night and whatever pain I must still be supposedly going through, didn¡¯t go past my head. Everyone is so meddling here, ugh. ¡°Never mind, Sofia.¡± She answered before practically disappearing into one of the adjoining doors in the kitchen. I drank the coffee halfway before giving up on it and washing the drugs down with water. Once I was done, I left for the sitting room and sank into one of the couches, my eyes once again taking in the whole exoticism. The television in here was a really big one, the length and breath way longer than what I¡¯d term a regr television. I guess this was what my life was all about now. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Luca¡¯s POV The fire had almost escted into something way huge and tragic, but had been thankfully put off before it got to that point. Thick ck smoke thickened the whole arena of the two story building which belonged to Philip, the assistant head general handling one of my numerous warehouses. From what I¡¯ve been told, the top building had been set on fire in the middle of the night and the upants there had all been able to get out and alert the ones living downstairs before the fire grew bigger. The firearms took extra long to arrive due to an ident that urred on the road this early morning. I turned towards Philip who was doing a very shitty job towards shielding how shaken up he was by what had urred. His face was set in a harsh scowl, showing how pissed off he was, while his body ¡°Philip.¡± I said quietly and as expected, he jolted upwards a little and puffed out his shoulders before turning toward me and lowering his head respectively. ¡°Mr Ri.¡± ¡°Who do you think could be behind this?¡± I questioned him after throwing another nce at the house and the wholemotion going on there as burnt up stuffs were currently being cleared out, while the ones worth saving were being positioned in a different position. ¡°I don¡¯t know, boss. I haven¡¯t been into any recent disagreements with anybody that I see as a serious threat.¡± He replied with a sigh and I watched as he ran his fingers through his hair and puffed out another harsh breath from his mouth. He was so shaken up. ¡°But you do know everybody is a threat, right?¡± I said in a t voice with my eyebrows raised to the top of my forehead and I watched as his eyes widened for a few seconds before clouding up as he quickly masked that tiny slip in his emotions and stared pointedly at the ground. ¡°I do, boss.¡± ¡°Where were the guards when it happened?¡± I inquired and he answered immediately, ¡°They were not behind the house when it happened.¡± ¡°So what do you think could be behind this?¡± I rephrased again before shoving my hands into my pants pocket and waiting for him to give me a reply. ¡°I think the two men who tried to bribe me into letting them into the inner part of the warehouse, a few days ago.¡± Philip finally said before ncing up at me. ¡°Who are they?¡± ¡°I have no idea about who they are, or where they came from. I held them hostage for a few hours because they had the audacity to think I¡¯d let them into something like that. We had them searched but didn¡¯t find a damn thing on them, then we ended up releasing them.¡± Philip exined and my brain started analyzing the whole situation, they might be behind this, and they might not. It might be someone else entirely who¡¯d be behind this, it might be someone he trusted in. That¡¯s one of the mostplex things about being in the mafia, you cannotpletely trust someone. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g ¡°How sure are you that this wasn¡¯t done by someone you¡¯re close to? Someone here in the Mafia¡­¡± I demanded and quickly nced at my wristwatch, the time was already some minutes after eight in the morning, meaning I¡¯d be leaving here in a few minutes. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, boss. I¡¯m not close to a lot of people, and I guess it could only be done by someone who¡¯s jealous of me or someone who just wants to see my downfall.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have people look into it. You make sure to ce more guards around the house, and your wife and kids shouldy low for a while. Whoever the person or people behind this could currently be nning another way in which they could use to get you or your family.¡± I said to him and he bowed his head a little. ¡°Thank you, Mr Ri.¡± He echoed in respect and gratitude and I nodded my head at him before heading towards my car and settling into the back seat once the door got pulled open by one of the guards. The car pulled out of Phillip¡¯spound and into the busy express road in a few minutes, the second car with the rest of the bodyguards tailing the one I was currently in, for extra protection. It was my duty as the mafia lord to protect everybody working beneath me, as we were supposed to be one huge family. We¡¯d have been that if I could see everyone¡¯s mine and read everyone¡¯s thoughts. But since I couldn¡¯t do any of that, I couldn¡¯t fully trust any of the men working for me in the Mafia. Except James, that is. I couldn¡¯t trust anyone else, but to protect them I could, and I¡¯d always do my best to keep them all save and in that process, keep the whole Mafia enemies free. I dug out my phone from my pocket and quickly went over my whole schedule for the day, the whole day was fully booked with different meetings and official gatherings. The car gradually pulled into the office''s hugepound and I alighted the car once the door got pulled open. My briefcase got carried by one of my four guards and we all made our way into the building, and then into the elevator. Two of the guards made their way into my office first, to thoroughly check if there was anything out of ce beforeing back out after a few minutes to give me the ¡®go ahead¡¯ sign. This has been my routine since I took after my father¡¯s position in the Mafia, in order to avoid any danger or trap that might have been set down by one of the numerous enemies that I had automatically inherited the moment I took over from my father. I epted my briefcase from the guard¡¯s grip before making my way into the office and closing the door behind me. Once I had sunk into my chair and rested for a little bit, I pulled one of therge files still in need of my signature and quickly went through it. Once I was done with cross checking and signing it, I sent a text message to James, since the first three meetings I had scheduled for today involved him as well. James and I had known each other since we were kids, our fathers were just the way we both were now. My father had been the Mafia lord while his father had been my fathers right hand man. I wouldn¡¯t say his father was as close to my father the way James was close to me though. Because my father took the whole ¡®do not trust anybody¡¯ quote to the deepest part of his heart and never fully trusted his right hand man, the way I did mine. Whereas, I also took those words which he had instilled into my head while growing up to heart, but James was exempted from that quote. I know damn well that he¡¯d never bepletely pleased with most of the decisions I¡¯ve made in life after bing a mafia lord, but it is what it is. A knock resounded on the door and I lifted my head and stared at the door for a few seconds. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°It¡¯s James.¡± The familiar voice of James filtered into the office through the door and I called out for him toe in, which he did in the next second. ¡°Dude, where the heck have you been since morning? We¡¯re almost runningte already.¡± I said to him once the door closed behind him and he quickly sank into one of the seat before my desk and breathed out a long, harsh breath. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, man. I was held back at the site by a bug. Can you believe the ?trishs are still so dumb to think they can nt a bug in our midst and we wouldn¡¯t notice? Despite how brutally we dealt with them thest time they tried this same thing.¡± James started to say with a small shake of his head like he expected the said gang of people to be able to at least do better than that. ¡°I¡¯m honestly not surprised, everyone cannot be as smart as we are.¡± I said with a smug grin and James snorted out augh. ¡°Did you take care of it yet?¡± ¡°Yeah, immediately. Hopefully after this, they won''t dare think about trying to nt a bug here again.¡± James continued to say as he dug out his phone and stared at it pointedly when it suddenly started ringing. ¡°What did you do to it?¡± I asked and James nced up at me with a nk expression on his face. ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say it wouldn¡¯t be able to walk anymore.¡± James answered with a dismissive shrug. ****** James and I slowly made our way into the elevator which wasbeled for only exclusive people, two of my guards apanied James and I into the elevator while the remaining two stayed behind to guide the cars and be on the lookout for anything suspicious. I was here with the sole purpose of ending a long time feud that started since the time my father ruled themunity. Ever since I became the new leader, I¡¯d have to shoulder so many problems which my father has carried all through his life, and automatically passed unto me. I made investigations a year ago and had beenpletely aware that this particr leader of this mafia whom we hade to visit today, hasn¡¯t been the one at fault. I had hesitated at first at the thought of reaching out and settling misunderstandings between both neighboring mafias because of the amount of advantages and disadvantages surrounding that decision. I finally made that decision to reach out to them and try to fix a date for us to meet up and discuss. They had taken longer than necessary to give me a particr date for us to meet up, to the utmost annoyance of James who had been against the whole thing from the very start. There was nothing pleasant about having a thousand enemies, in which I had no idea about what caused the issue between both parties in eighty percent out of the amount of enemies I have. It is a very unpleasant and ufortable feeling. And because of that, I patiently waited until they finally got back to me with a fix date and time. The elevator automatically stopped and the doors slid open to reveal to us a ss room¨C the walls of the whole room was made of ss and I made my way into the room with James by my side. The room was empty, safe for two people ¨Ca man was stood on the far end of the room, his back facing the whole inside of the room and a ss of drink in his left hand, and another man who was sitting in a rxed position in the room, his leg ced on his other leg while he slowly slipped from his own ss of drink, his dark and sharp eyes quickly assessing us from head to toe. Our eyes locked and neither of us averted our gazes, my left hand was shoved in my pocket and the side of my lips twitched. I knew I appeared extremely unbothered at the moment with my shoulders lifted high and a bored and amused expression on my face, it was a pose I had perfected ever since I was a teenager. ¡°No guards in here.¡± The one sipping on a drink in the chair said without taking his eyes away from mine. ¡°No! The guards stay. You can bring in your own guards if it would make you feel safer.¡± Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°No! The guards stay. You can bring in your own guards if it would make you feel safer.¡± James answered in a smooth voice before I could begin to answer to him and I watched as the man¡¯s eyes narrowed at me for a fleeting moment before breaking the contact and focusing his eyes on James instead. ¡°You thought you ate that, didn¡¯t you?¡± The man asked James in a t voice with a raised eyebrow and James only snorted not so quietly, which made the man''s face morph into a slight scowl which only He turned back to me and raised his drink in the direction of the guards standing a few feet behind James and I, ¡°The guards need to leave.¡± I didn¡¯t take my eyes away from his face as I spoke audibly to my guards, ¡°Leave us.¡± I didn¡¯t need to nce over my shoulder to know that they¡¯d immediately bowed their heads a little in respect before leaving quietly as instructed. The guards left and the sound of the elevator going back down faintly drifted into the office. The man then got to his feet and walked towards us only to stop a few feet away, he was almost as tall as James and I, his head was hairless, while the broadness of his shoulders and chest was really impressive all the authoritative vibe he was trying really hard to give off. He was buff, yes. But I had no doubts about the fact that I could easily take him out in a moment. I might not be as broad as he was, but I was as fast as a hare and my reflexes were a direct gift from God with how smooth they were. Why was I even thinking about taking him out in a fight when I was here to create peace in the first ce? ¡°Wee to the Manzo mafia. I am Morris.¡± He said and picked up the conversation from there. ¡°I am Luca, and this is my right hand man, James.¡± None of us offered our hands out for an invitation of handshakes and I watched as he stared at us quietly before pointing to the couch a few feet away from the chair he was sitting in before, ¡°Have a seat, please.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I answered smoothly as James and I proceeded to slowly perch on the tip of the couch, our elbows ced on our knees as our eyes trailed over the whole office. From what I could see from my position here on the couch through the transparent ss walls, everything was extremely tiny on the ground and it looked like we were almost in the sky. My eyes drifted away from the window to once again take notice of the tiny cameras on different sides of the roof, a bunch of devices which I had noticed the moment I stepped foot in here, but acted like I hadn¡¯t. I ended up my survey with my eyes fixed on the man still backing the office, he was in a white suit and had a white hat on his head. His drink was still filled up in his left hand and I had no doubt that he was indeed the man I hade to see, and not the one we¡¯ve been exchanging words with. ¡°When¡¯s the leader himself finally gonnae speak to me himself?¡± I asked Morris, my gaze burning into his. Morris¡¯s mouth opened and closed with nothing but air slipping out and James quietly snorted beside me. The man in white finally turned around and slowly made his way forward, his forehead was shielded by his hat which casted a shadow over his face. ¡°Hello, Mr Ri, it¡¯s an honor to have you here.¡± The man said once he got to the middle of the office, a few feet away from Morris¡¯s seat. I stood to my feet instantly, along with James. ¡°Thank you for agreeing to have us, Mr Manzo.¡± I answered, my hands sped behind my back. There was a good amount of feet between the couch James and I were standing in front of, and the couch Morris was sitting in, which made a reasonable excuse for none of us to exchange handshakes. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g I¡¯d never offer a handshake to an enemy first, and would almost never ept one until we¡¯ve settled our ongoing feud, so it was pretty sensible that he wasn¡¯t offering me a handshake. ¡°It¡¯s about time, I guess?¡± Was his reply as he finally lifted his head high to stare me in the eyes, my eyes twitched a little as I took a quick look at his face, there was a thin lined scar running from the top of his cheek, down to the edge of his jaw. He was just as buff as Morris, or perhaps a tad buffer. ¡°This is my immediate younger brother, Morris.¡± He pointed at Morris who was back to leaning on the back of the couch with his drink in his hand once again. ¡°Let¡¯s all sit?¡± He asked and we all took our seats, James and I still perched on the edge of the couch once again. ¡°It¡¯s been a really long time since both mafias have been in a feud, for reasons we the leaders now, had no hand in it.¡± I started to say and Morris immediately sat up straight, his facial expression morphing into that of a serious one, a sharp contrast to the rxed one he had been wearing moments ago. ¡°My father only wanted a friend¡­¡± Mr Manzo started to say in a gravelly voice and I tightened my grip on my hands, my heart constricting in guilt on behalf of my father. My father had been a really selfish and emotionless man, he along with his father, my grandfather- were the sole reasons the mafia had so much enemies in every nook and cranny of Italy. ¡°All he did was to mistakenly trust your father, a mistake which he and his innocent family paid gravely for¡­ all because he ced hisplete trust in your father.¡± Mr Manzo continued and I pulled in slow breaths from my nose while letting it out slowly in order to remain seated a still as I¡¯ve remained for the past minutes. ¡°Like I said, it wasn¡¯t any of our faults concerning what happened between our fathers. I know, my father should never have done that, and me apologizing on his behalf wouldn¡¯t mean shit because the deed has been done a long time ago¨C¡± I began to say before Morris rudely cut into what I was saying. ¡°Damn right, apologizing wouldn¡¯t do shit.¡± I stared at Morris quietly for a few seconds until he finally swallowed emptily and looked away, down at his sped fingers. I fixed my gaze back on Manzo before continuing, ¡°I want to try fixing what my father has ruined years ago, I believe it is fixable seeing as none of what happened directly involved us, except to lead us into carrying on the feud.¡± ¡°Your father was such a greedy bastard.¡± Manzo stated quietly, his lips pulled into a thin line, the white of his suit perfectly catching the sun from where he was seated. ¡°Your father wasn¡¯t any better, he was a greedy bastard as well.¡± I answered immediately with the edge of my lips twitching, my voice still standing on the same octavo it has been on before. ¡°At least he wasn¡¯t greedy when ites to his friends, unlike your father. Hepletely trusted your father, but what did he get back in return? A fucking bullet in his brains.¡± Manzo''s voice went higher a few pitches at the end of his sentence and I watched as he instantly got to his feet, once he was done and turned towards the nearest window, showing his back to us once again. ¡°I agree that my father was a greedy bastard, only that your father wasn¡¯t any better. They had after all nned to raid a huge warehouse which wasn¡¯t theirs in the first ce, and to kill the owners, together. Stop trying to make it sound like your father waspletely innocent, because he wasn¡¯t.¡± I paused and exchanged a look with James who had a wary expression on, before continuing, ¡°My father was the bad guy, agreed. But your father was definitely not the good guy in the story. There was no good guy in it, everyone in it was bad.¡± ¡°I wished I had a chance to kill your father myself.¡± Manzo said without turning around from the window and James immediately got to his feet daringly, Morris stood up instantly on seeing James on his feet, both men giving each other death stares. ¡°He got killed by someone else who got the chance earlier, I am sorry.¡± I supplied an answer immediately, totally unfazed by his said wish. I¡¯ve had a lot of enemies which started in my father¡¯s time, say that statement to me a lot, so it didn¡¯t do anything to me at this point. ¡°You sound way nicer than the amount of things I¡¯ve heard about you.¡± Manzo continued, his back still facing us, but I noticed the way his once tense shoulders rxed visibly. I let out a quiet chuckle, my eyespletely humorless, ¡°Believe me, I¡¯m not. I might sound nice right now, but I really am not.¡± ¡°I never expected you to ever want to end the feud yourself, to think I¡¯ve been nning a revenge for a while now, I guess I¡¯ll have to cancel all my ns now.¡± James exchanged a fast nce with me and I got to my feet and shoved my hands into my pants pockets before saying, ¡°I¡¯d have been prepared nevertheless, assuming you had decided toe attack us way earlier before I came to make peace today.¡± I replied, still not fazed by what he had just revealed. This was one of the thousand reasons why the whole security surrounding me on a normal day was more than a couple of body guards. Dangers was literally lying in every corners and parts, waiting for me in the whole of Italy, thanks to my over ambitious father. ¡°I¡¯ve heard you¡¯ve never been caught unfresh, I never doubted that for a second.¡± He mused as he turned back around and faced us once again and I stared into his eyes which looked so simr to his brother¡¯s, without saying a thing. ¡°So, peace?¡± I finally inquired with a small lift of my shoulders and I watched as Manzo and Morris nced at each other at the same time, their eyes remaining locked for long seconds before Manzo finally broke the contact and focused his gaze on me once again. He took a couple of steps and stopped in the middle of the office before holding his hand out, I closed the distance with only a few inches separating us before taking his offered hand in mine and shaking it firmly. ¡°Peace.¡± I said, and he echoed after me. ¡°Peace.¡± We pulled away and I returned back to my spot beside James who still looked like he wanted to smack Morris over the face because Morris was still didn¡¯t look happy about his brother¡¯s decision to make peace between the two mafias. ¡°Would you like a drink?¡± Manzo asked and I shook my head immediately, my hands once again back to being buried in my pockets. ¡°No, thank you. We''ll be on our way in a few minutes now.¡± I replied, declining his offer smoothly. There was no way I¡¯d actually ept a drink from someone who had admitted to nning my death, some minutes ago. At least not yet. ¡°Very well then. It was an honor once again, Mr Ri.¡± Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°That went better than I expected,¡± James stated as the car slowly pulled out of the Monte¡¯s premises, into the busy streets once again. I stared straight at my flexing fingers on my thighs,pletely agreeing with James. ¡°It did go better than I expected. I half expected him to insist on not wanting to make peace, or even pull a gun out on us after requesting I send the guards out of the office.¡± I mused audibly with a small shake of my head before letting my head fall back against the soft, leather seat¡¯s headrest. ¡°He admitted to having already nned to attack you¡­¡± James said slowly before slowly trailing off, leaving the unfinished sentence hanging. ¡°He knows he¡¯d still never have been able to catch me unprepared.¡± I reminded James who only shrugged and threw his head against the head rest before pulling his tie loose and popping open his first three buttons. The tinted ss demarcation between our side of the car and the driver¡¯s part gave us all the privacy we could even need. ¡°He still had the audacity to admit it to your face, he sure does have some guts on him.¡± James continued and I brushed him off with a wave of my hand. ¡°Everyone in the mafia has different ways of trying to leave an impact on other people, perhaps that was his own way of leaving an impact behind.¡± ¡°Hm. I¡¯d still kept an eye on him for a while, starting from tonight.¡± James informed me and I nodded my head once. ¡°You do that, for everyone¡¯s good.¡± ¡°How¡¯s your little wife?¡± James suddenly asked and I blinked once,pletely taken aback by the randomness of the question. I watched him as he turned his head around to stare more clearly at me before inquiring again.. ¡°How is she?¡± ¡°She¡¯s alright.¡± I replied, because she actually was. Ryan, one of the two guards I had ced on hera her personal bodyguards the very next day after our wedding, had been sending me daily tabs about her, on mymand. ¡°Alright?¡± James pushed and I sighed out slowly before turning around until I waspletely facing him. ¡°Yes, she is.¡± I echoed after him and I watched as he rolled his eyes for a few seconds before proceeding to continue questioning me. ¡°How was it?¡± I knew exactly what he was referring to and my mouth pulled into a thin line almost immediately. ¡°I didn¡¯t do a thing to her, man.¡± I informed him and James looked at me as if I had suddenly grown two heads. ¡°You didn¡¯t? At all?¡± He echoed quietly and I nodded my head once before turning back around and leaning my head back against the car seat¡¯s headrest. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t touch her, man.¡± I admitted after a few seconds of none of us saying a thing. The silence that followed my admissionsted for about a solid minute before James broke it with his next words. ¡°I¨C Are you serious, man?¡± He demanded, soundingpletely bewildered. I allowed my eyes to slide close while dragging in deep breaths from my nose and mouth, my lungs sucking up the breaths intakes hungrily. I nodded once again without replying and James said something I didn¡¯t catch but couldn¡¯t bother asking him to repeat himself when I knew he¡¯d rephrase his sentence to me some minutester, if it was important. ¡°Why?¡± He asked again, after about two minutes of the car rendered inplete silence. ¡°I don¡¯t know, man.¡± I replied honestly, lifting my hand towards my throat to stroke the sides muscles of my neck where knotted up muscles were lining up there. I breathed out a long, satisfying sign as my fingers dug into my sore muscles, massaging into the stiff muscles and tendons. ¡°But she¡¯s now your wife.¡± James reminded me, like I had no idea she was my wife and had been waiting for him to wave that realization into my face. ¡°She¡¯s still so young. Extremely young, man.¡± I started to say and I heard James grunt quietly beside me. ¡°That¡¯s how it is in our lives, and you know it. Girls have been married off to lots of men in the mafia once they clock eighteen years of age. That¡¯s how it has been working since forever.¡± James exined and Moved my lips around but refused to say a thing as the sentence he just said slowly drifted into my head. ¡°I know that, James. I just didn¡¯t ever imagine that I¡¯d ever be faced with that same fate, had it not been for the amount of pressure I was starting to receive from my father¡¯s brothers who were all thirsty for an heir.¡± I exin to James, my head feeling like it was about to burst due to the amount of pounding that was taking ce in it. ¡°And how do you n on producing the said heir¡­ without touching your wife?¡± James continued and I felt like smacking the back of his head by how judgmental he sounded. ¡°I don¡¯t know man,¡± I paused and puffed out a slow breath from one part of my nose. Assuming I smoked, I¡¯d have been extremely good at it, ¡°I think marrying her was a mistake.¡± I finally continued to say, my tie and top buttons were starting to feel really tight but I refused to adjust or loosen it. ¡°The fuck, man? You just married her for God¡¯s sake.¡± James quietly exined and I almost chuckled by the inquiring tone of his question. Don¡¯t I know it? ¡°She started fucking crying on the wedding night, and she was so skittish and jumpish like a little bunny. I couldn¡¯t even bring myself to try anything with her that night.¡± I admitted to James who was currently staring and listening to me with so much attention. ¡°Oh.¡± James quietly stated. ¡°Yeah, oh.¡± I echoed after him, sliding my eyes close and slowly breathing deeply. ¡°That was definitely unexpected¡­ I mean, she did look really mature on the wedding day.¡± James said I couldn¡¯t agree more. ¡°That¡¯s the thing, the make up and way too fucking exposed gown made her look way matured that how she actually was. I should have gone to see her once at least, before getting married to her. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g Maybe I¡¯d have seen how tiny and skittish she was and save myself the stress of all these.¡± I sighed out, a small yawning out from my mouth almost immediately. ¡°So what are you going to do now?¡± James asked and my mouth pulled into another thin line. ¡°I have no idea, man. I cannot touch her, she looked way too innocent for me to even think of touching intimately.¡± ¡°You know you¡¯re going to have to end up touching her at a particr point, you know?¡± James continued and I let out a dry chuckle. ¡°Not if I call off the marriage.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do that, man.¡± James argued immediately. ¡°I can.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t. It¡¯s going to be the biggest news in the mafia. Imagine the made up scandal stories, imagine the rumors, imagine the shing headlines on televisions and the newspaper.¡± James started to say, which made my face morph into a scowl, because he was right. News spread like wide fire here in the mafia and almost everyone is ready to formte anything, just so they could feel like they belonged in the society. I had only spent two nights with her, and here I was, already thinking if there¡¯s a way I could send her back to her parents and look for a more suitable bride that would fit into my¡­ tastes. For one, I was into thick women, that has always been my taste and preference since I was a teenager. I liked it when they had enough curves on every necessary part. I also find it extremely hot when they are bold and hot, when they know what they want and directly go for it. I was used to the type of women who were outspoken, I wasn¡¯t used to the type of women who nervously stutters her words out and couldn¡¯t maintain eye contact for the life of hers. Sofia was a petite, little thing. And way too fucking innocent. She was so fucking stunning, it almost hurt to stare at her bare face when she had walked out of the bathroom stiffly on our wedding night, in a robe which was supposed to give her a sexy aura, had she not been clutching the robe¡¯s thin ropes like her life depended on it. I had returned home extremelytest night and Sofia had been in a deep sleep when I made my way into the room, her face was so rxed despite the fact that her hands was tightly clutching the nkets like she wanted to use that piece of weapon to protect herself against me. I didn¡¯t need a magician to let me know that she barely got any sleep, on the night of our wedding. Her body had been so stiff like a rock, and the amount of awkwardness that emitted off her stiff position on the bed in waves, had been a great lot. It was a good thing she was fully sleeping soundly when I made my way into the roomst night. I had been transfixed in a spot for a few seconds as I did nothing but drink her up. Lord, she was really something else¡­ but also really petite, and definitely not my type. How tall was she? ¡°You¡¯re right, I can¡¯t possibly call off the marriage.¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± James echoed after me before proceeding to ask. ¡°So, what are you going to do now? ¡°I don¡¯t know, man.¡± I replied tly, because I honestly had no idea about what I was going to do. ****** I dug my fingers into her long blonde hair and tugged on the roots before thrusting into her throat and she moaned around my length with her eyes staring up into mine, the tiny sound she made around my length sent a slow, vibrating feeling into the heart of my cock from the dripping tip. ¡°Oh fuck, suck harder.¡± I breathed from in between my teeth and I pulled out and slowly thrusted in, my length slowly easing its way into her willing, hungry throat. ¡°I¡¯m going to fuck your throat raw, Janelle.¡± I promised the big breasted woman kneeling between my thighs in my office, her top long gone and only a thincy bra held her boobs together against her chest. ¡°It¡¯s Lisa, honey.¡± The woman corrected me with a small grin, not being put off with the fact that I couldn¡¯t manage to remember her name even though we¡¯ve hooked up more than once. ¡°My bad, Lisa¡­ I¡¯m going to choke you on my dick right now. You want that, don¡¯t you?¡± I continued in a husky voice, the wet head of my hard nudging against the side of her sloppy, parted lips. ¡°Yes, please. Please.¡± She moaned hungrily, lust filling her eyespletely as she used her mouth to chase my dick around, a move that was really hard due to the fact that my fingers were still buried in her hair. She finally ended up catching the head in between her lips and I hissed in pleasure as she sucked strongly on the cap and alternated between sucking the mushroom head and digging her tongue into the leaking slit. ¡°Now take me deeper,¡± I groaned and she obliged, almost swallowing me down to the hilt in a go, her mouth was only a few feet away from touching my pelvic bone. She hummed low in her throat and I threw my head back and cursed as white hot pleasure washed over me. She was one of the few people that had been able to almost take my full length into their throat and suck it like they mean it, the rest hadn¡¯t been able to take it past its seventh inch. Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Luca¡¯s POV I typed in myplete schedule for the next day into my phone and set rms on each one just as the car stopped outside the huge gates of the building in which I lived. A few seconds after the guards N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. behind the other side of the gate confirmed who it was at this side of the gates, the gate slowly automatically started to slide open by a button and the driver eased into thepound while the gates slid close and got locked. It was some minutes away from twelve a.m and I had no doubts that Sofia would have already been fast asleep by now I had been held back in the office by a lot of things, andstly, the chick that had first sucked me off before riding me like her life depended on it, right there on my office chair. The door got pulled open by one of the guards and I stepped out of the car and stood outside the door while scanning my eyes around the parking lot for a few seconds before flicking my wrist towards one of the guards in request for my briefcase which got handed to me in an instant. The driver got down from his side of the car and came to stand a few feet away from me. He was a lean and tall dude who was a little over twenty five. A few years ago, his father, a friend of myte father, had pleaded with me to let him work directly with me. I had refused at first butter reconsidered and decided to grant him a post as my personal driver since I couldn¡¯t possibly give him a job as one of my bodyguards. Bodyguards who worked for me had to be well trained and pass a whole lot of tests before they could be dered as a bodyguard. It was a huge honor for any man to be a bodyguard here in the mafia and almost everyone wants to be one, but only a few manage to pass theplete tests. ¡°Same time tomorrow, Mr Ri?¡± He asked me and I watched as he rubbed his hands against themselves while puffing out a long breath as he waited for my reply. ¡°Six a.m, yes.¡± I replied as I turned around and made my way away from the parking lot, towards the main house. The building was a huge duplex which consists of extremely wild rooms. I had built the house myself some time after I had clocked twenty five, and moved right in immediately. The house I had grown up in, my father¡¯s house, was big but not as big as this, it was currently empty as I already had it reserved for a certain purpose. The guards standing around the front of the house bowed their heads in greeting the moment I made my appearance, I nodded at them without replying and slipped through the opened door leading into the house before closing and locking the doors shut behind me. I paused outside the door and flicked the lights on before making my way into the middle of the wee room, there wasn¡¯t any appliances in which someone could make use of hiding in here but I still thoroughly scanned the whole room before making my way into the living room and throwing a scrutinizing nce around. Once I was sure nobody was lurking behind any of the couches in the living room, I made my way towards the kitchen and dropped my briefcase on the counter. Popping open my suit jacket and shrugging it off in an instant, I made my way into the walk-in freezer and fetched myself a bottle of vodka from one of the mini fridges located inside the cold room. I unscrewed the bottle and took a long swing directly from the bottle. The cold, soothing substance filled my mouth and rushed directly into my throat immediately, leaving a cool, heady feeling lingering over my throat. I ced the drink on the counter andpletely unbuttoned my white shirt which I had worked beneath my suit jacket throughout the whole day, the cool air around the kitchen flooded my lungs and I breathed out a long sigh before picking up the bottle of vodka and taking in another mouthful. My phone suddenly beeped and I returned the bottle of drink back on the counter and fished out my phone from my suit jacket¡¯s deep pockets. A text hade in from James. James: You''re home already? I dropped the jacket back on the counter and quickly took another mouthful of the alcohol before typing in my reply to James'' text. Luca: Yes, I am. James: So you¡¯re going to finally do it to your wife tonight or has Matilda satisfied you enough back at the office? I snorted quietly and took a swig of the bottle of alcohol beside me before typing in my reply. Luca: It wasn¡¯t Matilda, it was Lisa. Also, mind your own business. I knew he was only going to roll his eyes at myst sentence as I hit on the ¡®send¡¯ arrow. I haven¡¯t had dinner yet but I was too drained to think of throwing something around and making a small dinner to eat. I should have eaten at the office like I usually do, but for some reason, I had choosen to have sex at the office instead. Oh well. It wasn¡¯t like I couldn¡¯t cook a thing, I just wasn¡¯t in the mood to make a thing tonight. I leaned against the counter and took another mouthful of the almost empty bottle as I scrolled through my socials. Only a few people had ess to my private socials and I replied to some really important texts,pletely ignoring the rest. A text from James popped up at the top of the screen and I pulled it down immediately to read its content James: Matilda¡­ Lisa¡­ whatever. I snorted out a smallugh and typed back a reply immediately. Luca: I called her Janelle when she was sucking me off. James: Haha, just don¡¯t call your wife some chick¡¯s name when she¡¯d be sucking you off. I nched inwards as I read James¡¯ text the moment it popped up. The thought of calling her Someone¡¯s else¡¯s name alone was revolting. How could I even? Her name alone was living rent free in my head and this is only the third night since we¡¯ve only been married. Luca: She won¡¯t being close to my cock any time soon, thank you very much. I hit the ¡®send¡¯ arrow and threw thest content of the bottle into my throat and dropped the bottle into the trash can, some feet away from the counter. A beep from my phone signaled that a reply from James hade in and I picked up my phone and ghosted my eyes over the text. James: She won¡¯t? Luca: She won¡¯t. I reply to James and picked up my briefcase and suit jacket before making my way out of the kitchen and climbing up the stairs which led into our room. She won¡¯t. I echoed in my head once again as I stepped into our room and silently closed the door behind me, my eyes took in how tiny she looked cocooned in the thick nkets with only her head poking out. Yup. Too innocent, too pure, too everything toe close to my dick. I walked into the room and paused at my side of the bed to stare down at her more clearly. Her long, ck curls was beneath the nkets as well but a few whisps of her hair framed the shape of her face and my heart constricted at how innocent and soft she looked. With long curlyshes fanning her cheeks, and skin proim white and smooth like that of a baby. I had touched her face a few times during our wedding day and night, and the softness of her skin alone had taken me aback for a few seconds. Her lips were a light sheen of pink and were in a pouty shape which gave her a more innocent and cute look. The nkets were bunched up at her neck and I had no doubts that she had been clutching tightly to it before finally giving in to sleep, along the way. Feeling like a creep, I dragged my eyes away from her face and made my way into the closet and changed out of my work clothes, into a loose pair of joggers before making my way back into the living room. I was used to sleeping in just my boxer shorts for a long time, but ever since I got married, it had felt wrong sleeping that way beside my very scared wife, making me opt for something more covered to sleep in. I walked into the bathroom and emptied my dders before cleaning up and making my way towards the small skin to clean my teeth. Once I was done, I sshed water onto my face and mopped it off with one of the towels in the drawers beneath the sink. Already sure the time was some minutes after one a.m in the morning, I made my way out of the bathroom and paused on seeing Sofia start to rise from the bed. She was taken aback on seeing me and I didn¡¯t miss the way fear had shed over her once nk face the moment her mind had pieced together the fact that I was indeed there in person. I made my way away from the doorway of the bathroom and sank into the bed before pulling the nkets upwards and sliding beneath it. I watched as she blinked those huge eyes at her hands sped on her tights for a few seconds before finally pushing the nkets off her shoulders and rising up on her feet. My eyes took in the nightwear she had on and the moment my eyes settled on the small swell of her breasts and the two nipples poking out of it, I breathed out a harsh breath from my nose and turned away from her,ying on my side immediately. I heard and felt as the nkets rustled as she climbed off the bed and made her way towards the bathroom, I was facing away from I side of the bed, which left me with no choice than to stare at her as she made her way into the bathroom as fast as she could and closed the door behind her like she thought I was going toe after her in the next second. Was this how it was going to go on now? She was my wife and we¡¯ve not exchanged any words ever since our wedding day and night. We were going to end up working something out but I had no enthusiasm towards that decision. Time went by as my mind wandered and wandered. I didn¡¯t check the time, but I knew she had spent over four minutes there in the bathroom, probably in hopes of me being fast asleep when she¡¯d finally decided toe out. At this point, if she didn¡¯te out any time soon, I was going to go in there and get her out myself. She needs her beauty sleep, I¡¯m sure she¡¯s been getting more than enough sleep back at home and wouldn¡¯t like that to change just because she got married to me. She also didn¡¯t need to be afraid of me. I wasn¡¯t going to tell her that though, it wasn¡¯t like she was going to believe me. As if on cue, the bathroom door got slowly pulled open and out stepped Sofia, the first thing she did was to nce in my direction even before she pulled the bathroom door close and our eyes locked immediately. She blinked a few times and wet her lips by sliding her tongue over her lower lip in a fast second before ncing away and slowly pulling the bathroom door close behind her, I didn¡¯t have to look any harder to see the slight tremble that went through her body the second after our eyes locked. Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Luca¡¯s POV I didn¡¯t have to look any harder to see the slight tremor that went through her body the second after our eyes locked. . She hesitated and fidgeted in the same spot for a few more seconds before stiffly making her way past my sight and towards her side of the bed, I didn¡¯t want to overwhelm her any further than she already was, which was why I refused to turn around and keep on staring at her the way my mind was trying to coerce me into doing. I faintly felt her pull the nkets upwards and slid beneath it. The bed barely moved as her weight was nothingpared to mine and also because she had most definitely remained in a stiffened spot out of nervousness. The dim lights were quite distracting seeing as I was used to sleeping in the dark, but I hadn¡¯t bothered switching it off for some unknown reasons. When I had walked into the roomst night and saw Sofia¡¯s curled up body with the dim lights illuminating her face, I had figured that she had left it on in order to feel a little bit safe¡­ not like I was going to do a thing to her, which was why I also hadn¡¯t bothered to turn it off tonight. I had an early start in the morning which was only but in a few hours and I was supposed to be fast All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. asleep already, but my curious mind wanted nothing more than to take onest look at Sofia¡¯s face before anything else. I shifted on my side and pushed the nkets off my bare shoulder until it was bunched up around my waist. My mind started to wander only to end up returning to the girl on the other side of my bed. I slowly turned around on the bed until I was lying on the side of my body, giving me a much needed view of Sofia¡¯s side of the bed. To say I was surprised that she was still awake would be an understatement, it¡¯s been over an hour since she came back from the bathroom and I was already expecting her to be fast asleep¡­ only for my eyes to focus on her face, and for her eyes to flutter open and lock with mine almost immediately. Her eyes fluttered again and she lowered her head in the next second, shielding those blue eyes of her away from me and shifting in her stiffened spot. I noticed the way she curled into herself even more, if that was even possible with how tightly she was curled up before. She pulled the sheets tightly around her even more andid still beneath the wrappers. I didn¡¯t need a soothsayer to point out the fact that she was still very much awake to me, her body was barely moving beneath the nkets which means she was only taking in a little amount of breath into her lungs. A part of me wanted to demand her reason for being so scared and jumpish but I ignored that part of my mind and instead focused on her face, the only part of her body which was visible to me. Her eyes suddenly squeezed tight like she was curious to peak her eyes open but was too scared to encounter whatever it is that was out here in the open¡­ not like anything was out here that could be so frightening. I puffed out a long breath and finally tore my eyes off her face before turning around and facing my side of the bed once again. I might just be seeing too much into it but it felt like she exhaled a deep breath almost immediately. I settled into my pillow and didn¡¯t bother with the nkets anymore as I finally got some much needed sleep. It was probably some minutes after three a.m. Which meant I had about three hours to sleep, and wake up without an rm. With that, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. ****** I blinked my eyes open and sat up on the bed, my eyes felt mmy and I massaged the sides with my fingers as I kicked the nkets off and pushed out of the bed. I picked up my phone and the phone automatically unlocked due to the Face ID application installed into the phone. I winced and pull the phone out of my face the moment the brightness of my phone hit my sore eyes with so much intensity, I felt my eyes get more sore in an instant. I squinted and lowered the brightnesspletely before bringing the phone back up and checking the time. It was some minutes to six a.m in the morning, leaving me with enough time to work out and get coffee before leaving for work. With that in mind, I headed into the bathroom and did my business. Once I was done, I brushed my teeth and cleaned my face before making my way out of the bathroom, towards the doorway leading outside the bedroom. I paused in my tracks as my eyesnded on the bed, and the human huddled on the far end of the bed. She was on the very edge of the bed and would automatically roll off the bed if she tried moving in that particr spot. Her face was nowhere to be seen, meaning it was also beneath the sheets, like the rest of her body. I contemted walking around towards her side of the bed and lifting her up to ce her further in the middle of the bed, or leaving her be to with the hopes of her not moving an inch from the particr spot¨C because if she did it towards the wrong direction, she was going to find herself on her ass or her face immediately. I decided on thetter and made my way out of the room, closing the door quietly behind me. The gym was here on the second floor and I threw the door open and made my way into it. It was extremely spacious and equipped just to my taste. I shut the doors, set my timer on my phone, ced the phone on a chair beside the treadmill and got to work immediately. Sweat was dripping off my body profusely by the time I was almost done with my exercise but I didn¡¯t relent, never did. Once I was done with the treadmill, I switched to the barbell after a few minutes pause and started lifting them up, counting carefully in my head. Age was nothing but a number and I could prove it, starting from my appearance. I was thirty three years old, but didn¡¯t need anyone to tell me that I looked seven to ten years younger. I was never hugely built from the very start, which made me look even younger than I¡¯d have liked on some days. Some people who had been well into the mafia world would only take a nce at me and unconsciously dismiss me in their heads because of how ¡®young and calm¡¯ I looked at first nce though. That was where it mostly ends though, one go with them in an exchange of fists and they¡¯d be rephrasing their thoughts about me in the very next second. Once I was done with two rounds and still having twenty minutes left before my rm was supposed to go off, I headed towards the punching bag and got into the punching protective gloves before starting to punch away in the next instance. I got lost in my head as I punched at the punching bag like it was an enemy I was trying to kill off with my fists. Sweat was literally pouring off my whole body and matting my curls to the back of my throat but I ignored it and continued to deliver harsh punch upon punch until the rm went off. Panting hard and fast with my chest heaving deeply as I pulled in breaths into my long empty lungs, i tugged off the punching gloves and fell into one of the neatest chairs. I reached for the bottle of water which I had ced there earlier on and unscrewed the cap to chrug down half of its content in a go. I was still panting hard but at least I wasn¡¯t gasping for breath anymore like I was doing some moments ago. Staying in shape wasn¡¯t a thing in my dictionary because I had been working out since I was a teenager and was used to gyming almost everyday. I was never not in shape, my abs were extremely defined and my biceps were bulging so big, it wasn¡¯t something frequent you see on a lean muscled man. I wasn¡¯t that lean muscled though, but I also wasn¡¯t all buffness. My shoulders were very broad, likewise my chest. My pecs were very tight and my breasts were bulging. It lifted my clothes and made it seem like my shirt buttons were always holding on for dear life each time I stretched while in one of my undershirts. I made my way out of the gym and back into my bedroom, closing the door quietly behind me once again. Sofia was still in the spot in which I hadst seen her in, making me slightly impressed at how well she could sleep without moving an inch. It was normal for me to sleep that way, but I¡¯ve heard a lot of things about girls being unable to sleep neatly and would always roll for spot to spot on the bed. I hadn¡¯t been able to experience that because I haven¡¯t even slept in the same bed with a girl¡­ until Sofia, that is. With that, I made my way into the bathroom and quickly shaved the unwanted hair growing above the line I wanted on my face. I¡¯ve been growing beards on my face ever since I clocked twenty five. It was a neat and very light sheen of facial hair running from the tip of my hair line on the sides of my face, down to my jawline. It was extremely light and just the way I liked. To avoid it from over growing, i trim it every blessed day¡­ or cursed day. Once I was done, I made my way into the showers and got out of the pants in which I had slept and worked out in, before proceeding to take my bath. I made my way directly into the walk-in closet once I was done in the showers and randomly picked out my undershirt and a brand of suit which I couldn¡¯t ce my fingers on, at the moment. Once I was dressed up, I stood before the floor length mirror in the closet and sized myself up for a few seconds. I walked towards the dresser and ran ab through my still wet curls, the curls were as dark as night, it had been that exact color and curls right since I was born. I had tried straightening the curls out of my hair at a certain point in my life while growing up because I felt it made me appear less manly than I¡¯d have liked. Despite how much I had it straightened out, it always ended up curling back into its natural curves after a few days. Ipletely gave up on having it straightened out when out of frustration, I had left my hair in the straighteningb for too long, which resulted in a certain part of my hair getting burnt and chomped off by the hotb. Ever since then, I hadpletely steered away from it, and alsoe to terms with the fact that I was stuck with my curly hair. It started growing on me at a point and till date, I was in love with it as it added more appeal to my facials and made me appear even younger than I¡¯d have thought, throughout when I was wishing I had straight hair and hating my father for giving me his kind of hair. I sprayed my hair treatments over it and colorless gel to make it all the more expensive before exiting the walk in closet and making my way out of the bedroom. A quick nce at the bed revealed to me that Sofia was still in that same position she had been in, right as I quietly pulled the door shut. I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen, starting up the coffee machine almost immediately. It was almost a few minutes to seven a.m and my driver would be here right on the dot. Once the coffee got ready, I downed a cup, straight ck, and was out the door once the clock hit seven. Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Sofia¡¯s POV I blinked my eyes open slowly and rubbed my fingers against my eyelids as I tried to register where I was for a few seconds before remembering where exactly I was in¨C Luca¡¯s bed¡­ well technically, my bed now. I nced sideways and found the space beside me empty like it had been before I had fallen asleep. It was a little after three a.m in the morning and I had been woken up by my filled up dder. I hesitated in my spot on the bed and allowed my mind to roam free for a moment. Luca didn¡¯te homest night? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be in bed at the moment if he had ended uping homest night. It wasn¡¯t like I was keen on himing home, I wasn¡¯t looking forward to it one bit, but he was supposed to be here nevertheless. Unless he was home, but not here at the moment. Perhaps he has decided to sleep in a different room tonight seeing as they¡¯re a lot of rooms in the house. Which was totally fine by me. I wished I didn¡¯t have to share a room with him in the first ce. For someone that had been sleeping alone since she was very little, and was used to her own privacy and space, this was all a lot to take in and I was yet to take it all in. I pushed out of the bed and allowed the nket to slide down my shoulders to pull around my feet on the bed right before Ipletely hopped off the bed and stood beside it for a few moments. Izily made my way towards the bathroom, my mind wandering around aimlessly and my eyes not I ced my hand on the bathroom¡¯s door knob and was about to pull the door open, only for it to be pushed back against my grip and for Luca to be standing on the other side of the bathroom door, his hand on the other side of the door knob. I swallowed emptily and pulled my hand away from the door knob as if suddenly burned and froze right there, not knowing what I was supposed to do or say to him as he quietly watched me. The first thing I noticed against my own will, was that he was naked waist up. There was just no way I could ignore that bit of information about him at the moment even if I wanted to, not when he was standing right in my face and staring down at me, with his wide shoulders looking huge as ever. I swallowed again and ducked my head the moment it registered to me that I was watching him¨C staring at his naked shoulders to be more precise. I felt embarrassed color flood into my cheeks and heaved a relieved sigh when he walked past me, into the room¡­ Leaving me standing right there like a statue for a few frozen seconds before finally regaining myself and rushing into the bathroom, tugging the door closed as fast as I could. I leaned against the closed door and heaved a deep, relieved sigh as I felt the tension drain out of my shoulders and limbs, the knots in my stomach slowly starting to lose up as I dragged in deep breaths into my empty lungs. I made my way into the toilet and did my business, once I was done, I washed my hands for long minutes, slowly scratching each finger and cleaning my very clean nails thoroughly just to buy myself more time. Once my fingers started to feel sore from too much scrubbing and washing, I turned off the Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. running tap and just leaned against the white, porcin sink, feeling the cold surface seep into my skin through the thin material of my nightwear. I sat on one of the shaped, built in chairs on one part of the bathroom and pulled my legs against my chest on the seat, hugging my chest to myself and cing my chin on my knees, I prepared to wait an hour or so out, to be sure that Luca would have already been fast asleep before before I have to pull the door open once again and head back into the bedroom. I lifted up from the shaped, built in chairs in the bathroom when I suddenly jolted awake, making me realize that I had unconsciously started to fall asleep at a point. Thinking and hoping that hours had already gone by since I had been in the bathroom and that Luca would have been fast asleep, I carefully pulled the door open and started making my way into the room. I halted in my tracks the moment my eyes locked with Luca¡¯s, who was on his side of the bed this time. I puffed out a slow breath and contemted going back into the bathroom and just passing the night in there, on the cold tiles. But then I remembered that Luca was going to go out in the morning and would make use of the bathroom to get ready for work. With that in mind, I pulled the bathroom door close behind me as a small tremor went through my body. I couldn¡¯t help it, I was nervous. I unconsciously flicked my tongue over my parched lower lips as my heart thudded against my rib cages. I was extremely nervous. And his firm stare was making me all the more nervous. It felt like he was promising to do whatever he wanted to do with me and that there was nothing I could about it, by just staring at me deeply without blinking for once. It could also be that I was reading much into it. I hesitantly made my way around the room, towards my side of the room and I couldn¡¯t help but feel like his deep gaze was biting and burning into my skin and he followed my every move until I was out of his line of sight, straight into the other side of the room. I puffed out a slow breath, my chest undting as I repeated the motion a few times before finally pulling the nkets upwards and crawling beneath it. I¡¯d have been morefortable facing my side of the room and turning my back to him the way he was currently doing to me¨C since he was facing the other side and staring at the bathroom¡¯s doorway when I came back into the room. But I¡¯d be extremely nervous, scared and disturbed if I had to turn my back to him and try to get some sleep. I¡¯d rather be facing him when whatever that was going to happen, happens. At least it wouldn¡¯t feel like I was stabbed in the back, since I was facing that direction and can somehow say that I saw iting and expected it to end up happening at a point. I pulled the nkets around me and burrowed into the warm sheets, tugging the nkets more firmly around my neck and folding myself into a small ball. I inched towards the edge of the bed even more, not wanting to ever mistakenly touch my legs against his. I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed out a slow sigh. It was already some time since I had returned back from the bathroom and the whole room was rang in my ears. I sucked in a sharp breath and stopped breathing as I felt him move around on the other side of the bed, my side of the bed slightly dipped as he moved around for a few more seconds before stopping. It felt like he was moving around in his sleep and unconsciously changing sleeping positions. Once everything was settled and curiosity was digging its ws into my mind, I slowly peaked my eyes open and was taken aback when my eyes locked with grey once instantly. I blinked once and ducked my head immediately, squeezing my eyes back close and slowly dragging in deep breaths into my lungs. Why was he facing this side of the bed? He never faced this side. Although I had only slept in the same bed with him a few times and had no idea about all that went down through outst night since I waspletely out until the morning. What if he reaches out and tug the nkets down before tugging me upwards to have his way with my body, all of a sudden? I felt a tiny shudder wash over me and I pulled the nk around me even more as dread filled the depths of my stomach. I shuddered once again as a disturbing image threatened to fill up my head, pulling the nkets even more tightly against me and curling into myself, I froze once again as I felt Luca move on the bed again. I winced and bit on my lower lips as I unconsciously prepared myself for when the nkets would be tugged off my body, to reveal me to his dirty gaze. But after a while and nothing happened, I started to loosen my tense up limbs and release the hold I had on my muscles and the wince since painted on my face. Nothing happened, again. I didn¡¯t know what to make of all these. If I was given my own personal room, I wouldn¡¯t have to be so paranoid and worked up each time he moved, because I wouldn¡¯t even be beside him to be able to tell. But then I was married to him and expected to share a room with him as his wife. What a sad world I live in. ****** I knew Luca wasn¡¯t in the bed anymore when I peeled my eyes open, ncing in the spot beside me just to be sure, it was confirmed to me that he was indeed not in bed anymore. I sat up on the bed and stretched my hands out, wincing as my limbs stretched out and cracked audibly. My whole left arm felt swollen and sore seeing as I had slept on it throughout the night, and in that way, barely allowing enough blood to flood through the limb. I stretched my hand out and tried to retrieve my phone from the bedside table¨C but fell off the side of the bed almost immediately. ¡°Ow.¡± I winced and breathed out a quiet scream as pain shot up my right shoulder the next second. Sitting up slowly and leaning against the bed, I cradled my right elbow in my left hand and bit my lips to stop the pained cry from slipping out. I should have remembered that I was literally lying at the very edge of the bed before. I pushed up from the floor and carefully flopped on the bed, feeling like a bunch of needles were piercing into my right hand, elbow upwards, all the way to my right shoulder¡¯s joint. I leaned forward and picked up my phone from the bedside table sessfully this time. Touching the phone screen lightly, the screen lit up and I was finally able to see the time. It was some minutes after eight a.m in the morning, and I had stupidly started my day by injuring my right and. I am so clumsy, it¡¯s embarrassing and disgustingly irritating. Pushing out of the bed and slowly making my way to the bathroom with my right hand being carefully cradled by my left hand, I paused in front of the sink and stared at my reflection. My eyes look sunken and I looked he ridiculous standing there with my left hand supporting my right hand. I slowly removed my left hand from supporting my right arm and couldn¡¯t hold back the pained cry that tore out of my mouth and echoed around the bathroom. I stared wide eyed at my arm and wished I could turn back time and not try to retrieve my phone when I tried to. I carefully tried to move my right hand again and another strained cry bubbled out of my throat, echoing around the bathroom again. Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Sofia¡¯s POV My arm was broken? I swallowed emptily and winced at myself in the mirror before staring down at my arm, the sides at the corner of my elbow was throbbing red and starting to swell irritatingly. I made use of my left hand to make my way around squinting a little amount of toothpaste on my toothbrush and using it to clean my teeth, all the while trying my best to not move an inch to avoid pain from shooting into my right arm. Taking off my night dress was harder than I expected and already dreading the thought of pulling it upwards from my head like I normally did, I stretched the neckline of the gown until it was cked and stretched enough to slide off my shoulders. It didn¡¯t stop pain from zinging through my arm the moment I mistakenly moved the arm forward. How would I go about things now? How was I supposed to do things now? It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯ve gotten a lot of things done ever since I got married, but I already knew I was still kind of in a honeymoon phase and would be shown my actual duties as a wife as the week went by¡­ and now this was going to hinder me from starting. Luca was definitely going to get mad at me for being this clumsy. He seemed like the type to detest clumsy people with deep passion, I could tell. My life is so done, I¡¯m so done. I moved into the shower and opened the tap for warm water to pour down my whole body,pletely soaking me up in an instant from how intense the spray was. My wet hair felt really heavy against my face and I felt like throwing it back, but I wouldn¡¯t dare move my neck around to avoid the motion from pulling painfully on the muscles connecting to my right shoulder. I shook my head around slightly until the wet hair was out of my eyes before reaching for the liquid soap and squinting a little in my palm which I used to wash off. Once I was done, I exited the shower and awkwardly wrapped the towel around myself. Making my way into the walk-in closet, I sat on the chair before the dresser and panted slowly. The air around the walk-in closet felt really cold and I shivered uncontrobly as I pulled the towel off my right arm to take a more clearer look at it. It had gotten way more swollen than before and the whole area around my elbow to my shoulder was really red. I lightly prodded a spot on my elbow again and winced almost immediately as an intense pain shot deep into my bones. Lifting up from the chair, I made my way towards the wardrobe where my clothes were stored in and fished out a pair of shorts, a sleeveless top and a pair of underwear. Shimmering into the panties was a lot harder than I expected but I ended up getting it on, before pulling on my shorts over it. I gave up on getting the bra on when a sharp pain shot into my elbow when I had tried to lift my arm up in order to hook the arm of my bra over it. I discarded the bra and wore the sleeveless top over my naked chest andbed my fingers through my hair before making my way out of the closet once again. The pain in my arm was getting more intense as the seconds went by and I was starting to think it was something really serious than I thought. Picking up my phone and inserting it into my pocket, I made my way out of the bedroom and climbed down the stairs carefully. With each step I took, my arm got jolted, resulting in pain shooting into my bones every next second. By the time I made it to the end of the stairs, the pain was so intense, tears were starting to prickle the back of my eyes and the back of my throat was starting to hurt from the urge to burst into tears. But I wasn¡¯t a child anymore. I am an adult and adults do not cry over a little pain. Alright, this was definitely not a little bit of pain¡­ but still. I made my way through the overlyrge house and headed straight for the kitchen in search of Sarah. ¡°Sarah?¡± I called out as soon as I made my way into the kitchen which was surprisingly empty. I sank against the counter, too scared to try hopping on one of the high chairs and risk my arm getting jolted around painfully. ¡°Sarah?¡± I called out again, a little louder this time. The pain was getting even more intense and I was starting to panic at this point. ¡°Sarah? Matilda?!¡± I called out again, and got no response. ¡°Sar-¡° I started to call out again but trailed off when someone suddenly stood at the doorway, which was empty a moment ago. I blinked once and felt my heart start to squeeze up nervously right before my mind started to register who the person was. It was one of Luca¡¯s¡­ I mean, my bodyguards. My new bodyguards. ¡°Good morning, Mrs Ri. Is there a problem?¡± The guard asked after greeting me respectfully, a gesture which still made me feel uneasy despite my current situation. ¡°Um, where¡¯s Sarah? Or Matilda?¡± I asked while ncing around the wide kitchen once again as I tried racking my brain thoroughly for his name which I was sure I was told yesterday, but for some reason, couldn¡¯t bring myself to remember at the moment. ¡°Matilda went on an errand for some foodstuffs and Sarah is currently doing some chores upstairs. Would you like me to get Sarah for you?¡± He informed me in a smooth voice before asking and I shook my head and nodded my head at the same time. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Mrs Ri?¡± He asked again, a little softly this time and I watched as he slowly made his way past the line separating the kitchen from the passageway and slowly started making his way towards me. I nced down at my right arm which I was still cradling in my left arm for a few seconds before ncing back up at him to notice his eyes following my gaze to settle on my cradled arm. ¡°Something happened to your arm?¡± He demanded, his voice still dripping with way too much respect and a hint of concern and panic. ¡°Um, I mistakenly fell on it upstairs but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that big of a deal.¡± I started to say it but it didn¡¯t seem like he heard what I had said because he was walking towards me and finally stopped a few feet away from me. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like nothing.¡± He finally said and I flushed red when he crouched down beside me and was about to touch my right arm before suddenly pausing with his palm a few feet away from my skin. He nced up at me and then towards my arms beforeing to rest his eyes on my face once again. ¡°Is it alright if I take a look at it, Ma¡¯am?¡± He inquired and color flooded into my cheeks before I could bother trying to fight it off. I nodded my head at him and ducked my head instantly, focusing my eyes on my right arm. His hand was a little bit cold as it touched my skin and I winced and unconsciously took a step away from him as a bolt of pain shot into the bones around that particr area. ¡°Did that hurt, ma¡¯am?¡± He asked immediately, ncing up at me with an unreadable expression on his face. ¡°Yes, um, it did hurt.¡± I replied after hesitating for a few moments. He closed the distance between us once again and reached for my arm once again. I winced and bit on my lower lip in preparation for the pain that was most definitely going to follow his touch, and cried out when he grasped my elbow and lifted it up slightly. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry ma¡¯am, but I am afraid you¡¯re going to have to visit the hospital. I think you¡¯ve broken your arm or sprained it.¡± He informed me as he pushed himself back to his feet and towered over me once again. ¡°What?¡± I demanded as soon as his words started to sink in. To think I was hoping to just ask for a pain killer from Sarah and hope to sleep the pain off. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to visit the hospital, ma¡¯am.¡± He repeated himself and at the same time whipped out his phone and started typing on it immediately. ¡°Can you please get Sarah for me?¡± I asked in a small voice. I didn¡¯t like the way the small quiver in my voice was that obvious. I don¡¯t want to go to the hospital¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll go get her right now, ma¡¯am. It would be best if you sit down and rest for a bit before we leave for the hospital.¡± The guard whom I was still yet to remember his name suggested to me before turning around and exiting the kitchen to go get Sarah like I requested. I didn¡¯t bother pointing out to him that I couldn¡¯t sit on the high chair at the moment because I¡¯d have to All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. hop to get on it, I couldn¡¯t hop in my current situation. But he was right, I do need to sit down. After waiting in the kitchen for a few more minutes in hopes of Sarah showing up instantly to no avail, I made my way towards the living room and sank into one of the soft sofas. Sifting softly in grateful relief as I leaned against the back of the sofa with one part of my shoulder, I closed my eyes and counted one to ten in my head in a ruse to slow my fast beating heart. ¡°Oh my gosh, Sofia. What happened to you?¡± Sarah''s airy but warm voice washed over me from the other side of the room and I peeled my eyes open and stared up at her once she got to the couch where I was sitting, worried shining brightly in her eyes. ¡°I fell off the bed, dumb me.¡± I mumbled quietly, breaking eye contact and ncing down at my arm for emphasis. ¡°Oh, that wasn¡¯t your fault. You most definitely didn¡¯t injure yourself on purpose so it¡¯s in no way, your fault.¡± Sarah argued immediately before reaching out and touching my bicep. I sucked in a harsh breath and pulled away, wincing painfully as pain rushed into my veins almost immediately. ¡°You poor child.¡± I heard her whisper quietly beneath her breath right before she turned around and nced at the guard standing a few feet away from her, whom I was just noticing now. ¡°Have you informed Mr Ri?¡± Sarah asked the guard immediately and I blinked confusingly at her words as I sat up more properly on the couch. ¡°Yes, I have ma¡¯am. He said to apany her to the hospital immediately.¡± The guard replied to Sarah immediately and I waved my good arm in the air to catch their attention; which was a useless move, by the way. ¡°Why was he informed? It¡¯s just a slight injury. You shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡± I said to the bodyguard, wondering why he had to inform Luca about something that he just got to know about some moments ago. It wasn¡¯t like Luca was a doctor, or that he cared about me to want to know whatever¡¯s happening with me. ¡°It¡¯s definitely more than a slight injury, ma¡¯am. And Mr Ri is supposed to know about whatever¡¯s happening with you.¡± The bodyguard replied immediately and I huffed out a small breath without supplying a reply. What could I do? What was I supposed to say to that? Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Sofia¡¯s POV What could I do? What was I supposed to say to that? Sarah and the bodyguard exchanged a few more words together but I didn¡¯t pay any more attention to them as I got lost to some thoughts flowing around aimlessly in my head. ¡°Are you ready to leave, ma¡¯am?¡± I blinked my eyes open and focused it in the direction in which the guard¡¯s voice hade from. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but what¡¯s your name again?¡± I finally asked after staring long at him without saying anything while trying to remember his name again. ¡°It¡¯s Ryan, ma¡¯am.¡± He replied without missing a beat and I slightly nodded my head as I pushed his name around in my head, hoping I would remember it from now on and wouldn¡¯t have to ask him for his name again. ¡°Ryan.¡± I muttered absentmindedly, rolling the name around in my tongue. ¡°So are you ready to leave for the hospital now?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s the other bodyguard? What¡¯s his name again?¡± I inquired instead, because I was a bad person who couldn¡¯t for the life of hers, remember the people¡¯s names who she had been introduced to, some days ago. ¡°Oh, Ethan? He¡¯s at the back of the house with the other guards. doing a survey. He¡¯s currently bringing the car over to the front of the house and would apany us to the hospital. ¡°Oh, alright.¡± I replied, storing the other bodyguard¡¯s name in a part of my mind and promising myself to always remember both guards'' names from now on. I shifted in my spot on the couch and winced as a slight amount of pain washed over my shoulder de. Just how hurt was my right arm and shoulder? ¡°Ma¡¯am, the hospital. Are you ready to go?¡± Ryan asked again after a few seconds and I hesitated for long seconds before shaking my head slowly, wishing I could lift my legs onto the couch and curling into myself¡­ but I wouldn''t be there because my wounded arm would most definitely be against that move. ¡°But you have to go to the hospital, ma¡¯am.¡± Ryan started to say but I only shook my head and shifted a little on my seat. The living room was airily quiet and it felt like I could hear my own breaths eching loudly in my own ears. ¡°I don¡¯t want to. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I informed him, knowing fully well that I was being absurd but not wanting to go to the hospital nevertheless. I¡¯ve always hated going to the hospital for reasons best known by me, and nobody was going to understand. ¡°But you have to get checked up, scanned and given proper medications.¡± Ryan said again but I only pursed my lips together without replying. I wanted to ask him to leave me alone and mind his business but I know I couldn¡¯t do that because that would be so childish of me, an impact I never want to ever leave on him. And so I remained silent and stared pointedly at the nk television and pretended as if I wasn¡¯t feeling his deep stare on me the whole time. Sarah came back into the room and pped her arms audibly. ¡°You¡¯re still here? I thought you¡¯d have left for the hospital already.¡± Sarah started to say as she made her way into the living room and headed directly to where I was sitting. I remained silent and she turned towards Ryan after a few seconds and demanded what the problem was, from him. ¡°Mrs Ri is refusing to visit the hospital.¡± Ryan informed her and I pursed my lips even more, wiggling my toes into the soft rugs on the ground. ¡°But you have to visit the hospital, Sofia. It¡¯s for your own good.¡± Sarah started to say as she turned towards me and I breathed out a long sigh without saying a thing. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go.¡± I replied to her quietly, turning my head around and staring straight at the empty couches on the other side of where I was seated. ¡°Is there a reason for you refusing to go?¡± Sarah asked with genuine concern brewing in her eyes and I watched as sheid a hand on the couch, a few feet forward and that hand would be on mine. I hesitated for a few seconds before shaking my head, knowing there was no way I could just speak to her right now about something like that. We were not close or anything, she¡¯s just being nice to me because she¡¯s paid and expected to. ¡°I think I should call Mr Ri and inform him.¡± Ryan suddenly started to say and I whipped my eyes towards him to watch him dig out his phone from his pocket and started to type away on it. ¡°No, no¡­ don¡¯t inform Luca.¡± I said to him before he could dial Luca¡¯s number and both heads in the room turn towards me instantly. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the hospital.¡± I said and pushed myself to my feet with some difficulty. I winced a little at the little jolt I encountered and stared at the both of them. ¡°I¡¯ll need some¡­¡± I started to say but Sarah already magically knew about what I was going to say before I couldplete my sentence. She held up a finger and nodded her head instantly before rifying. ¡°Footwears, right? Let me go get them right now, I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes.¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± I rified and she exited the living room in an instant, leaving me to Ryan in the living room. We remained silent and I shifted from foot to foot, wondering about if Ryan was probably looking at me like I was a little, stubborn child. I shoved the thought out of my head and focused on standing still without jolting my arm as I wanted for Sarah to arrive. ¡°Good morning, Mrs Ri.¡± An unexpected loud voice echoed from the doorway which made me jolt unconsciously and let out a small, pained cry as pain shot into the bones in my right arm. Matilda made her way into the living room and the bright smile fell off her face the moment she took in my situation. ¡°What happened to you, Mrs Ri?¡± She asked immediately she stopped some feet away from me with wide blown eyes. ¡°I fell off the bed this morning and might have broken my arm, so now I have to visit the hospital.¡± I informed her in a small, sad sigh and I watched as she clutched her heart dramatically for a few moments before reaching for my cradled arm. I took a step away from her and shook my head immediately. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it, Matilda.¡± I said with a shake of my head, vividly aware of the bodyguard¡¯s eyes watching the cinematic exchange between the both of us. ¡°Why?¡± She asked, looking genuinely confused for a moment and I bit my lips before nodding at my arm. ¡°It hurts.¡± ¡°Oh, my bad! I¡¯m so sorry, Mrs Ri.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I paused for a few seconds before continuing. ¡°Also, it¡¯s Sofia and not Mrs Ri.¡± I reminded her, my teeth unconsciously tugging on the side of my lips. ¡°My bad, Mrs Ri. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± She started to apologize before trailing off on realizing her slip up again. ¡°I mean, Sofia. I¡¯m so sorry, Sofia.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Matilda.¡± I reassured her with a tiny, forced smile. I was feeling like crap at the moment but I didn¡¯t want her to feel bad any longer. Sarah chose that moment to arrive back in the room with a pair of white sandals in her hand. She handed it to Ryan before I could reach for it and I stared in horror as he crouched down beside my legs with a sandal held in his grip. ¡°I can wear my own sandals myself, thank you.¡± I started to say as I took a step away from him, feeling color flood my cheeks at the amount of eyes that focused on my face the moment the words I said sank into their heads. ¡°Your arm is currently injured, so you cannot wear it yourself for now. If you¡¯d allow me, ma¡¯am.¡± Ryan answered smoothly and I didn¡¯t know if there was a way I could grow redder than I already was. He moved towards me and reached for my foot once again before wrapping his fingers around my leg and slowly lifting it up. ¡°Ow.¡± I whispered as that move made my body shake and in the process, jolted my right hand around. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Sofia. Once you get to the hospital, everything will be alright.¡± Sarah reassured me and I nodded my head at her despite the fact that I knew she was just bluffing. I wasn¡¯t a dumb child. Everything doesn¡¯t automatically be better once you get to the hospital. Ryan inserted my left foot into the white sandal and buckled it up immediately and I did my best to pretend like I wasn¡¯tpletely aware of him touching my feet and doing up my sandals like it was suddenly a normal thing. Or perhaps, it was a normal thing for him. He moved towards my right foot and I bit my lips when he wrapped his fingers around it and slightly raised it up. Feeling like I was suddenly about to lose my bnce and fall down, my left hand found itself on Ryan¡¯s shoulder before I even realized it and I waited awkwardly with color flooding my cheeks once again, as he did up my second sandals. I lifted my hand off his shoulder once he was done and took a step back as he started to rise unto his feet. He dug out his phone from his pocket and started tapping away on it in the next instant. ¡°Can you please get me a ss of water?¡± I turned towards Matilda who nodded her head immediately ¨C a little too enthusiastically before turning around on her heels and exiting the living room to go fetch me a ss of water. ¡°How are you feeling now, Sofia?¡± Sarah came to stand beside me as she inquired. ¡°It hurts really bad.¡± I replied honestly and she shook her head sadly with a small smile that was almost sympathetic. ¡°It¡¯s going to be alright, Sofia. It¡¯s going to be alright.¡± Was her reply just as Matilda returned back into the room with a ss of water. ¡®It wasn¡¯t going to be alright, stop lying.¡¯ I wanted to say in reply to Sarah immediately but I bit my tongue and swallowed my words back down, what use would it be off anyway? I collected the water from Matilda and expressed my gratitude before drinking the clear liquid. I was grateful that the cold water was sliding smoothly into my throat and cooling down my insides almost immediately. ¡°The car is outside the house already, we can leave for the hospital now.¡± Ryan suddenly spoke up and we all nced towards him. He was still staring at something on his phone for a few more seconds before turning towards us and pocketing his phone instantly. ¡°Are you ready to go now, Mrs Ri?¡± I nodded my head without saying anything and handed my half filled ss of water back to Matilda before patting the back of my shorts in search of my phone, only to find it empty. I turned around and nced at the spot on the couch where I had been sitting down before to find my phoneying there. I walked back towards it and picked it up and holding it in my hand this time. The shorts I had picked out this morning was a blue colored one and it wasn¡¯t all that long, it wasn¡¯t all that short either. It stopped a few inches down my thighs and that was it. The sleeveless white top I had on hand had tiny hands which left both my arms bare. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to go out in something like this back at home, as it would seem like I was revealing my future husband¡¯s property to the public. I was only allowed to wear slightly revealing dresses to some of the official gatherings since when I was sixteen and that was all. But now that I am married, the majority of the new clothes which my mother and her sisters had packed for me were a bunch of small, revealing stuff. Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Sofia¡¯s POV But now that I was married, the majority of the new clothes which my mother and her sisters had packed for me were a bunch of small, revealing stuff which I wasn¡¯t sure I was going to be able to wear most of them. It still feels weird.. adapting to being an adult, that is. Ryan pulled the door open and I walked out followed by Sarah and Matilda, before Ryan who closed the door himself beforeing down the few stairs to stand a few feet away from us. The car in which I had used in purchasing my phone and activating a ck card slowly pulled up beside us and Ethan alighted the car once the car engine got turned off. ¡°Good morning, Mrs Ri.¡± Ethan said to me with a tilt of his head and it was at the edge of my tongue to insist on him calling me by my name but I bit the words back because I knew it was useless, they were hell bent on referring to me formally and there wasn¡¯t a thing I could do about it. ¡°Good morning, Ethan.¡± I replied with a small pull on the side of my lips. Ethan¡¯s eyes lowered and focused on my left hand wrapped around my right elbow before focusing back on my face almost immediately. ¡°I am sorry about your arm.¡± He said and pointed at my arm with a flick of his head and I shook my head dismissively, they were all making it into something it most definitely wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t that big of a deal. Jeez. ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s nothing. Thank you.¡± I replied to him with a wave of my left hand and winced when a wave of pain washed over me. He thankfully didn¡¯t mention that wince and instead headed towards the back of the car to tug the door wide open. I slid into the car carefully and cradled my elbow on my tight and waved to Sarah and Matilda who were huddled beside themselves as they watched all what was happening unfold before their curious eyes. Ethan closed the door silently just as Ryan slid into the driver¡¯s seat, Ethan was in the passenger¡¯s seat in an instant and the car was getting started in the next moment. ¡°Put on your seatbelt, ma¡¯am.¡± Ryan called out without turning around and I bit on my lip and slightly turned around to tug on the seatbelt. It was harder for me to insert the belt hook into it¡¯s house with one hand than I expected and I fought with it for over a minute before my left hand started to grow weak. I was about to give up and release my hold on the seat belt right before Ryan turned around to face me and do the seat belt for me himself. His fingers mistakenly brushed against my fingers and I grew still until he was done and had tugged his hand away and was turning back around to face the front of the car, before I was able to move my fingers around again. The car started moving slowly and I quickly cradled my injured arm against myself once again. The first jolt of the car drew a startled cry out of the depths of my throat and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly as the pain lingered for long moments before finally ebbing away. I was sweating and panting when I peeled my eyes open. A nce at my injured arm showed me that it had be way more swollen than It was back at home. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Mrs Ri.¡± Ryan called out and I shook my head instantly. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± The very next moment, the car jolted hard and I cried out again as my injured arm pressed into the side of the door. Tears threatened to slide down my cheeks any moment from now but I shoved the feeling back down and was determined to live this moment out like an adult that I am. Me bursting out into tears would be a childish behavior. And with that in mind, I bit my lips and winced and cried out and squeezed my thighs together until we reached the hospital. ****** ¡°Mrs Ri, I am afraid your right arm is sprained badly from the fall you thought was little. It would have been broken assuming you had fallen a little bit harder than you did, which you thankfully didn¡¯t.¡± The doctor who was a man that looked like he was in his early sixties said to me the moment he made his way into the hospital room I was currently held hostage in. He had on a doctor¡¯s coat, and aplete suit inside the white coat. A stethoscope hung off his neck and the hair that was graying around the edge of his head as well as a little dusting of grey color in his breads made him appear really alluring. ¡°Oh.¡± I echoed slowly as his words sank into my head. I nced down at my arm which had been prodded and touched and pressed ever since I got to the hospital. Ryan and Ethan had to step outside and give the doctors and I some excuse. A scan got carried out as well as a series of tests, and this doctor¡ª standing a few feet away from my bed with a couple of papers which I felt were the results of my test¡ª was informing me about it. ¡°I am afraid you¡¯re going to be given a couple of injections today and you¡¯re also going to have to have your arm in a protective sling for a couple of weeks. Jolting the arm around would only end up worsening the sprain and would most assuredly hinder the internal injury from healing up.¡± The doctor continued and I chewed absentmindedly oh my lower lips as I digested all what he was saying to me. I have to have my arm in a sling? For weeks? Urgh. My life is so unbnced. ¡°Can¡¯t I do without the sling? I promise not to move it around as much as possible.¡± I started to say but the doctor only shook his head beforeing to stare pointedly at my injured arm¡ª a piece of limb which was swollen and shiny because of the balm that got massaged into it some time again by one of the nurses¡ª and shook his head again as he reached for my arm and suddenly lifted it up. ¡°Ouch.¡± I cried out in horror as a sharp pain shot into my veins at the sudden, painful moment. I wanted to wrench my arm away from the doctor¡¯s grip but couldn¡¯t do that because it would only cause me more pain. ¡°See what I¡¯m talking about? This is more severe than you think and it will do you good if you take it seriously and don¡¯t try to ever take the sling off yourself.¡± The doctor stated, his eyes studying my arm intently like it was a science project he was trying to unravel. I nodded my head and let out a relieved sigh as he slowly let go of my arm and took a step back away from me. ¡°Um, did you say I mustn¡¯t take the sling off myself?¡± I rephrased to the doctor the moment the words sank deep into my head. ¡°Yes, Mrs Ri. Someone would have to help you take it off and put it back on. In order to avoid you not moving the injured limb unnecessarily.¡± The doctor exined, no longer staring at my arm but at the perplexed expression on my face at the moment. ¡°But¡­¡±. I started to say but the doctor didn¡¯t let me finish and I swallowed my tongue instantly. ¡°No buts. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard. After all, it¡¯s for your own good.¡± And then he proceeded to write a couple of reports on my file which was on the table in the hospital room o was currently in, before bidding me a good day and exiting the room before I could begin to process everything that was happening. I sighed and settled morefortably against the bed I was currently made to lie down in, to no avail. I was told to sleep, ever since I got given a shot to help ease the pain I was feeling, the moment I got here. But as expected, sleep hadn¡¯t been able toe and I didn¡¯t bother trying to force sleep into I was he ufortable, I didn¡¯t want to be here and couldn¡¯t wait to be out of here. Hospitals hold one of my darkest memories and I hated anything that involved it. A knock suddenly sounded on the door and got pushed open before I could respond, making me me N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. wonder to myself why the person had even bothered to knock in the first ce. The scowl I had focused on the door turned into a look of shock and I quickly sat up¡ª and winced immediately as pain shot into my arm. Luca made his way into the hospital room and pushed the door shut behind him, making the room somehow smaller with his presence in it. ¡°Um,¡± I started to say before biting my lips and trailing off to nce away when Luca finally stopped beside my bed without saying a thing. I felt embarrassed color flood into my cheeks as I started to imagine just how dumb and stupid I was be looking to him. I felt extremely naked and venerable and wanted to crawl away and hide away from him, but there was really nothing I could do at the moment. I had, after all, given myself the broken arm. ¡°You sure do sleep crazily.¡± Was the first thing Luca said since he made his way into the room and I sucked in a small breath as more shade of color flood into my cheeks. It wasn¡¯t my fault that I was so ufortable around him, now was it? The words were at the tip of my tongue but I swallowed it back down and finally turned my head around to stare up at him. Our eyes locked and I blinked once, feeling like I was slowly sinking into the depths of his grey eyes once again. Gosh, for a man as deadly as him, he sure do have the most beautiful eyes I¡¯ve ever seen. I broke the eye contact after a few seconds, which felt like long hours to focus it on my twiddling fingers on my sheets covered thighs. I whipped my head around the moment I felt Luca¡¯s finger lightly trailing over my right hand, I nce up at him to find his eyes focused on my injured arm. ¡°Does it hurt?¡± He asked in a voice that sounded very different from the voice in which he had used in growling at me¡ª that kind of voice which makes me react to it in a stupid kind of way. Not like I find his voice attractive or anything. No. ¡°Sofia?¡± I breathed out a small puff of air and nced up at him with my lips a little bit parted on hearing him suddenly calling out my name. ¡°I asked if it hurts.¡± He rephrased with a nk expression on his face and I blinked again, willing myself to not end up breaking eye contact again like a scared cat. ¡°Oh. Um, it didn¡¯t hurt because you didn¡¯t touch where was actually injured.¡± I replied after managing to gather my wandering thoughts. ¡°Where exactly did you get injured?¡± He inquired, his finger still lightly grazing the skin around my right wrist and I tried my very best to concentrate on what was happening and not the warmth of his finger slipping into my cold skin. ¡°My elbow, upwards.¡± I replied and blinked again. My lips parted unconsciously and my eyes widened as his finger dragged upwards, all the way from my wrist, slowly towards my elbow and I held my breath as a tingling sensation infused into the depths of my skin at that confusing touch. Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°My elbow, upwards.¡± I replied and blinked again. My lips parted unconsciously and my eyes widened Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g as his finger dragged upwards, all the way from my wrist, slowly towards my elbow and I held my breath as a tingling sensation infused into the depths of my skin at that confusing touch. His finger lightly grazed over my elbow and my eyes fluttered, before ncing down instantly and sucking in a sharp breath just before a rush of pain flooded into my veins as his finger glided over a spot on my elbow where it was really hurting. ¡°That¡¯s the spot?¡± He asked and I nodded my head, feeling a weird kind of feeling gathering in the depths of my stomach. It was most definitely fear. I was, after all, scared of him. He continued his journey and I puffed out a tiny breath when his finger continued, the touch light as a feather as he grazed another injured spot on the edge of my shoulder. ¡°Ow.¡± I whispered on a quiet puff when he passed another spot a tiny space away from the previous spot. He pulled his hand away and inserted his hands into his pockets immediately¡­ to my disappointment. I mean, his finger felt really delicate on my arm, like it could never hurt a fly, even though he could hurt even the most biggest human in the whole world, in reality. That didn¡¯t stop me from silently missing the warmth of his finger on my cold skin. I had been in an armless cloth since morning and was starting to feel cold. It was totally normal for me to wee a warm human¡¯s touch. Yup. That¡¯s totally it. And we were literally in the hospital room, where nothing could happen¡­ because it wasn¡¯t the privacy of our house. My arm was also sprained as well. So nothing could happen to me, at least that was what I hoped. I shifted in my spot on the bed and suddenly felt confused at the kind of thoughts floating around in my head at the moment. I nced at Luca who was also staring at me and our eyes locked once again. His hands were buried deep in his suit pockets and he looked really calm and and rxed, something I most definitely wasn¡¯t at the moment. To cut the long story short, I was theplete opposite. My insides were slowly starting to knot up without me realizing it. ¡°How are you feeling now?¡± He inquired and I stared down at my injured arm before shrugging my good shoulder. ¡°Hurting. My arm is hurting really bad.¡± I replied honestly because it felt like he wouldn¡¯t believe me if I told him that I was fine, so i opted for honesty instead. ¡°Have you been given anything for it yet?¡± He continued to ask and I nodded my head instantly. ¡°Yeah. I still have a couple of injections to go through, and then I''ll hopefully be free to go home.¡± I replied and nced up at him to find him watching my arm the way I was doing a moment ago. He nced up at me the very next second and our eyes locked once again to my embarrassment. ¡°That¡¯s a good thing then. Be sure to use the medications given to you properly,¡± He started to say, which sounded so much like he was nning to leave anytime soon. ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡± I asked before I could stop myself and shook my head immediately, rephrasing my sentence instantly. ¡°I meant, yes. I will, sir. I mean, um¡­¡± I trailed off on realizing that I was starting to ramble. ¡°Yes, I am. I¡¯ll see you tonight when I return from work. Also, be a good girl and do as I say.¡± He replied in a voice which sounded smooth and almost growly. I sucked in a breath and nced up at him immediately as hisst words sank into my head. ¡°Um,¡± I started to say without knowing what I was actually going to say. After a few moments of staring up at him and feeling like I was burning up from the insides due to how deeply he was staring into my eyes, I ducked my head with color flooding into my cheeks and an unknown, weird like feeling gathering in the depths of my stomach. ¡°Sofia?¡± He started to say again and I dragged in a slow breath before staring up at him, I was starting to feel sweaty despite how cold I was feeling. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked softly and I swallowed emptily and nced around the hospital room which was empty of any other person except from Luca and I, before settling my gaze on his face after some time. ¡°Um, I-¡° I started to say before trailing off again, not knowing what to actually say. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Sofia?¡± He asked once again after waiting for me to say something, to no avail. ¡°Um, nothing. Nothing¡¯s wrong.¡± I finally breathed out after a long minute. Luca didn¡¯t say anything after that and I blinked down at my finger on my thighs, wondering why it felt like I had said the wrong answer. Like I had said something I wasn¡¯t supposed to. Like¡­ like I had lied. My eyes widened and I breathed out a quiet gasp when his hand suddenly wrapped around my chin tugged my face upwards until I was staring into his face. His face was nk, the grey eyes feeling like it was about to swallow me up. My eyelids slid lower and my gaze passed over his moving lips for a fleeting second before I pulled my eyes open and was once again staring him straight in the eyes like he wanted me to. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He echoed, his voice still as quiet and calm as before, and maybe a breath lower than it sounded before because I shivered slightly as the two words settled over me slowly. I shivered again when his gaze roamed over my face and dropped downwards to focus on whatever had held his attention for a few seconds before dragging his gaze back towards my face. ¡°I¡¯m cold.¡± I blurted out the first two words that popped into my head, seeing as it was the best and only exnation for what was currently happening to me. What else could be causing me to feel this kind of way if not cold? The air conditioner was blowing with full force and I was in a sleeveless top, so of course I was feeling cold. That was also why stupid, embarrassing shivers kept slithering over my body. Yeah¡­ that¡¯s why. It was kind of¡­ weird. Yeah, it was weird. He held my chin and continued to stare quietly at me for a few seconds more before slowly losing his hold from my chin and pulling his hand away. I sucked in a relieved breath and ducked my head immediately, feeling my chest and lungs expand as I dragged in slow breaths into it. I didn¡¯t know what to make out of what just happened and so I focused on my fingers, wishing different unintelligible thoughts weren''t swimming around in my head at the same time. A rustling sound made me slowly peek upwards, only to find Luca unbuttoning his suit jacket. I felt color flood into my cheeks the moment what he was about to do registered in my mind. ¡°Um, you don¡¯t have to.¡± I mumbled feebly, my embarrassment making my voice echo quietly. I wasn¡¯t all that cold, and it wasn¡¯t even right for him to hand over his suit jacket to me. I mean, maybe I was a little bit cold¡­ or a lot cold. But I hadn¡¯t expected him to offer me his jacket. I had only blurted out those words just to satisfy him, not because I wanted him to care for me or something. I watched as he shrugged out of his suit jacket and bit on my lower lips a tiny ck button in the middle of his chest strained as he bent his arm to tug his arms out of the jacket. Gosh, he was so big¡­ and his inner shirt looked like it was struggling with life with the way it strained back there. He sessfully pulled the jacket off and nced down at me once again, I ducked my head the moment our eyes locked and flushed in embarrassment. I watched from the corner of my eyes as he closed the small distance between us and draped the suit jacket over my shoulder. I breathed out a deep, slow sigh and burrowed into the texture of the suit without even realizing it. It was extra softer than I expected it to feel like and smelt really, really nice. It smelt so much like the bed sheets and nkets back at home, it smelt like our bedroom¡­ it smelt like Luca. Luca was the owner of the smell which I hade to love profusely without knowing who actually owns it at the very start. I¨C wow. Wow. I had no idea. I¡¯ve had no reason to go really close to him after our wedding day and have barely exchanged words with him since our wedding day, four days ago¡­ until today. All because I had sprained my arm. Dumb me. ¡°Thank you.¡± I whispered up at him and gratefully burrowed more closely into the jacket. It was really big and swallowed me up instantly. I really was small,pared to him. He stared down at me without saying a thing and instead reached forward to tug his jacket more closely around my injured arm and I muttered a silent ¡®thank you¡¯ to him, feeling self conscious as ever. Being the center of his attention was really unnerving and it was leaving weird feelings behind in my stomach. My stomach was starting to knot up due to how I was slowly starting to be nervous. A knock suddenly resounded on the hospital door, breaking through the hazy aura surrounding me and I jolted a little and stared straight at it, chewing on my lower lips and wondering if I was supposed to invite whoever it was that was knocking, in. Luca thankfully stepped in before I could proceed to overthink it and spoke up, his voice firm and still managing to be quiet. I shivered slightly and tugged the suit tighter around me as the next words echoed around the hospital room. ¡°Who is it?¡± Those words were regr, simple words, but I had no idea why they were suddenly making me feel weird thoughts once they rolled off Luca¡¯s tongue. ¡°It¡¯s the doctor.¡± An unfamiliar voice echoed back from behind the closed hospital door. ¡°Come in.¡± Luca echoed back and I blinked confusingly as to why he suddenly inserted his hands back into his pocket. The moment the door got pushed open and the said doctor made his way inside, the tiny bubble that it felt like I was in, vanished immediately. ¡°How are you feeling, Mrs Ri?¡± The doctor who was a lot younger than the doctor who had pronounced my arm not broken but badly sprained, said in greetings as he made his way into the room and closed the door a little too loudly for my liking behind him. ¡°Good day, Mr Ri.¡± He bowed his head a little at Luca in respect. I didn¡¯t catch what Luca said in reply to him but it felt like he only nodded his head at him in response. I wasn¡¯t looking at Luca so I couldn¡¯t tell. ¡°I¡¯m here to give you your remaining injections medications and write your prescriptions for you and also to sling up your arm.¡± The doctor informed me and I swallowed emptily, shifting uneasily on the bed and feeling extremely cold all over again, despite the fact that I was thoroughly cocooned in Luca¡¯s suit. ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way now,¡± Luca suddenly said beside me and I nced up at him immediately and nodded my head, not knowing if the feelings suddenly floating through my veins were that of relief or something close to disappointment. Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way now,¡± Luca suddenly said beside me and I nced up at him immediately and nodded my head, not knowing if the feelings suddenly floating through my veins were that of relief or something close to disappointment. It has got to be disappointment, because for some unexpected reason, I was kinda enjoying his presence here with me. It¡¯s probably because we¡¯ve barely exchanged words since we got married, until today. ¡°I¡¯ll see youter.¡± He murmured quietly as he stared down at me and I nodded my head slowly, my teeth tugging on one side of my lower lips one sidedly. I watched as Luca turned around and faced the doctor who was staring at Luca and I from the top of the sheets he was obviously pretending to be going through. ¡°How much is everything?¡± Luca asked without taking his eyes off me and my lips moved in protest immediately. ¡°But um, I can pay myself. I have my card with me.¡± I mumbled quietly in disagreement and flushed in embarrassment a momentter as the words I said a second ago registered in my head. But it was his money that was in the ck card¡­ which means it was still the same thing. Luca ignored my feebly protest without batting an eye and my mouth dropped open the moment the doctor called out the amount of my hospital bills in total. ¡°You¡¯ve got a checkbook on you at the moment?¡± He demanded of the doctor almost immediately and the doctor nodded his head immediately and whipped out what resembled a receipt book from one of the pockets of his white coat before handing it to Luca. Luca stared at the doctor''s face silently for a fleeting second before epting the checkbook and writing something on it before returning it back to the doctor who pocketed it without ncing at it. Luca pocketed one of his hands in his pants pocket and was out of the hospital a few secondster¡­ and he didn¡¯t give me another look before finally leaving and shutting the door behind him. Making me start to question myself almost immediately. What was I expecting in the first ce? For him to suddenly start being all nice and mushy? It sounds stupid even in my own head. The doctor rubbed his hands together and stared down at me with a small grin which made him appear almost creepy and I shuddered in irritation and pulled the suit jacket more tightly around me just as the doctor murmured beneath his breath. ¡°Where were we?¡± ****** Sitting on the chilled tiles on the balcony overlook the busy streets of Venice, I dragged in a slow, deep breath and burrowed into Luca¡¯s jacket which I currently had around me. I had left the hospital hours ago with my bodyguards and I had a little thing to eat some hours after I got back home, then I had tried to sleep because the doctors had been reminding me to make sure I get enough sleep seeing as it would apparently hasten my recovery. I managed to get an hour of sleep and that was it, I gave up trying after that. It was currently some minutes after seven a.m and I had decided toe out to the balcony and sit by myself and the cold evening air for a while. At the veryst moment, I had decided toe out here with Luca¡¯s suit jacket because it was still so warm¡ª surprisingly and still smelt so much like him. I had nned to put the jacket away once I got back from the hospital and return the jacket to him whenever I get to exchange some words with him, because I had a feeling I¡¯d have been fast asleep before he return home tonight¡­ and I was going to try my possible best to drink a little water as possible so as not to have any reason to get up in the middle of the night to empty my dder. But me using it one more time, right now, before returning it to him wouldn¡¯t hurt. It wasn¡¯t like he had to know. I shifted a little on the floor and moved my sling up my arm a little, as expected, it didn¡¯t budge on me a bit¡ª which I was really grateful for. Assuming it had still been able to move despite the fact that it was in a sling, I¡¯d have just been hurting throughout. But I thankfully didn¡¯t feel any pain now ¡ª I haven¡¯t actually felt any pain in that arm since I returned home, I knew it was because of something that got injected into me and I knew that that arm was going to hurt really badly tomorrow morning. I picked up my phone and it automatically got unlocked once my face got scanned. I couldn¡¯t still properly operate it despite the fact that the guys who had sold the phone to me showed me so many ways in which I could use in operating the phone, they also made it seem like it wasn¡¯t going to be I didn¡¯t know who I could ask to assist me a little. I could ask one of the guards but I didn¡¯t know if that was a part of their jobs¡­ after all, their job was to watch over me and apany me wherever I wanted to go. My mind wandered around for some time and settled on my brother after a few seconds. I breathed out Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. a slow, deep sigh and leaned more freely against the balcony. Without the beautiful protective bars around the balcony, I¡¯d have found myself on the ground in a second if I had trieding out here and sitting out here. But thanks to the supportive banister, it almost gave me no choice to attempt anything stupid. Like to jump over the balcony and see what was going to happen. If I was going to still be alive, that is. I shoved the dark thoughts that were about to start overwhelming me out of my mind and hastily dragged in deep breaths into my lungs. I wonder what Angelo was up to at the moment¡­ I wonder what he had been up to these past few days after I got married, four days ago. He must probably be thinking I was suffering and being treated badly¡­ He most probably didn¡¯t get any sleep the night I got married because he¡¯d be thinking my husband had forced himself on me, he had probably spent that night nning Luca¡¯s death. If only he knew that Luca hasn''t done a thing to me since that day. I mean, I knew expecting him to do something ¨C anything he wanted to do to me¨C to get it done and over with, but for reasons unknown to me, he hadn¡¯t done one damn thing to me. And I couldn¡¯t believe it on some days. I was extremely happy he hadn''t pounced¡­ yet, but that was the thing. He was unknowingly making me grow more nervous day after day, because I¡¯d always be unconsciously expecting him to just get it over with and do whatever he wanted with me¡ª I¡¯d forever be thinking it was going to happen, until it ends up happening, that is. And that¡¯s the thing. It was most definitely going to end up happening. We were married and were expected to be one that way. I was also expected to birth him a child ¡ª an heir ¡ª a thought which I¡¯d rather not house in my head for the time being. I still felt like a child on most days and wouldn¡¯t know what to do with a child in moments like this. I sighed and moved into a different, morefortable position until I wasying on the cold tiles on the ground in the balcony. I wonder what my mother and father''s first thoughts were after they returned home from my wedding ceremony without me. Happy? Relieved? My lips twisted into a line and I squeezed my eyes shut for a while as my mind wandered and traveled. They had probably been relieved, thankful and happy that their daughter had been sessfully married off to the mafia lord¡ª a man whom my father owed a ridiculously huge amount of money and had chosen to exchange me off for his own greedy use. And my mother had folded her hands behind her back and watched silently as her daughter got used as a sacrificialmb¡­ she hadn¡¯t even bothered putting up a fight. She had been excited about the wedding even, and had been disappointed that I wasn¡¯t jumping up in excitement when they had broken the sickening news to me. Can I hate both of them any more than I do? Kids loving their parents profusely and trusting them so much, children being so in love and feeling extremely safe around their parents¡­ never happened here in the mafia. There was almost nothing like love between kids and their parents, except a few of my former friends back in school who had been really close with their mothers, unlike me, back then. Parents only get super protective over their children here because their children were an asset to them ¡ª for them to either marry off for their own selfish reasons, or for them to strengthen a bond between two families, or to secure a spot in a higher ranking family¡­ everything all burned down to them doing everything they do, including putting tight security on their daughters and never giving them any kind of breathing space while growing up ¡ª all just so they could be protected and kept safe until they¡¯de of age and finally be of use. The sound of the balcony sliding door getting pulled open made my eyes snap open immediately and I sat up and blinked up at the figure standing at the doorway. The sky had darkened more than I expected which made it really hard for me to figure out who it was that was standing there. I shivered and tugged the jacket tight around me like it was suddenly an amour and tried to think of what I could say in a situation like this. ¡°Mrs Ri?¡± The quiet voice got carried around by the evening breeze and the breath I had been holding whooshed out of my lungs on a relieved sigh as I registered the owner of the voice almost immediately. ¡°Ryan?¡± I breathed out, my hands still clutching the jacketpels tightly. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s Ryan.¡± He replied, his voice sounding a little louder than it was a moment ago and I puffed out another breath again. ¡°You scared me back there, for a second.¡± I breathed out as I moved into a more upright position and leaned my back against the cold banister once again. ¡°I never intended to do that, please pardon me, ma¡¯am.¡± He replied almost immediately, his voice bing more familiar in my head even more. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I replied in a reassuring tone, brushing his apology off instantly even though he had managed to scar me really well, moments ago. ¡°How¡¯s your arm?¡± He asked and my left fingers automatically found their way over my right arm and I allowed my cold fingertips to graze lightly against the skin of my right arm, starting from my wrist¡ª the way Luca had done in the hospital. ¡°It feels numb, I can barely feel it so it¡¯s pretty good that way.¡± I answered Ryan after a little while and at the same time bit on my lower lip as I pulled my fingers off my skin in the very next moment before I could proceed. Just what was that? Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°It feels numb, I can barely feel it so it¡¯s pretty good that way.¡± I answered Ryan after a little while and at the same time bit on my lower lip as I pulled my fingers off my skin in the very next moment before I could proceed. Just what was that? A quick image of Luca running his finger against my skin shed in my head for a fleeting second and I shook my head to get the image out of my head as I slowly pushed myself to my feet. I¡¯m not going to think about that anymore. It was just him trying to figure out where I was hurting, and nothing more. ¡°Did you want anything, Ryan?¡± I asked once I was standing on my feet and sliding my feet carefully into my fluffy, warm slippers. ¡°Oh, no I didn¡¯t. I just wanted to check how you were faring.¡± He replied and I felt a small smile tug at the corner of my lips. ¡°I¡¯m doing just fine, there¡¯s no need to worry about me.¡± I dismissed his worry immediately even though it has warmed my heart that he has cared enough to stille check how I was doing. At least there were some people who still cared about me¡­ or act like they do at least, apart from my younger brother who was back at home. ¡°Thank you though.¡± I addedstly before crouching and picking my phone up and slowly making my way towards the doorway where he was still standing. The clouds were full of darkness now and the stars were out already, twinkling and sparkling in the dark sky. I¡¯d have loved to sit by myself some more and enjoy the beautiful sight, but after being interrupted and scared by Ryan, I surprisingly wasn¡¯t in the mood anymore. He took some steps back once I got to the doorway and I stepped through the walkway, into the mansion once again. Ryan walked around me and shut the door behind me through the wide space where we were both standing. The lights turned on here were a bright white color which burned into my eyes for a few moments after I made my way in here. I tugged the suit jacket around me with my good arm and nced up at him as he locked the door and imputed a pin in the lock pad securely. Everything in here was that ssy. He turned around once he was done and I ducked my head instantly, not wanting to meet his eyes for any reason. I made my way down the hall and ascended the stairs carefully, being fully aware of Ryan walking a few feet away from me. I made my way directly into the kitchen and smiled softly who beamed brightly the moment she spotted me. ¡°Good evening, Sofia!¡± She gushed out excitedly and I waved at her a little with my left hand. She had been cooking something a moment ago but left it and walked towards me, concern emerging on her face and mingling with the excited expression that upied her whole face, a second ago. ¡°How¡¯s your arm, ma¡¯am?¡± She asked as she unconsciously reached for the suitpels still wrapped around my shoulder. I took a step back and shook my head which made her snap back into reality and throw her hands up apologetically. ¡°Oh my, I¡¯m so sorry, ma¡¯am. I got carried away again, I remember you not wanting me to touch it this morning as well.¡± She apologized immediately and I nodded my head as I gnawed on my lower lips while ncing over my shoulder at Ryan who was still hovering around. ¡°Yes, that. It was because it was hurting then, that was why.¡± I started to exin, leaving the part that it was also because she was always too high spirited and energized and might jolt my arm too much, this morning, to myself as I continued. ¡°And now, I don¡¯t really wanna pull this jacket off my shoulder because I¡¯m feeling a little bit cold.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this Mr Ri¡¯s suit jacket?¡± Matilda suddenly asked as she stared pointedly at the suit jacket like she was just recognizing it. ¡°Yes, it is. He came over to the hospital and ended up giving it to her before leaving.¡± Ryan replied over my shoulder before I could start thinking up what to say in reply to Matilda and I watched as a smile started to spread out across her rosy cheeks. ¡°Oh my god, that¡¯s like the sweetest thing he has ever done, and he did it to you!¡± Matilda cried out, excitement shining brightly in the depths of her eyes. I shook my head immediately, trying to make sense out of what she was saying. ¡°No, no. It wasn¡¯t like that. He only gave it to me because I was feeling cold, that¡¯s all.¡± I exined to her but she shook her head and waved my argument off with her fingers. ¡°That¡¯s the thing! He never does that. He¡¯s not that kind of person.¡± Matilda continued to argue but I shook my head adamantly as I walked around her and stopped against the counter to lean against it. ¡°It¡¯s probably because he has never gotten a wife before, so he has never felt obligated to her before. That¡¯s the thing. There¡¯s nothing behind his gesture, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± I said from my spot against the counter and I watched as Matilda remained quiet for a few minutes before puffing out a slow breath. Ryan remained quiet as well,leaning against the door way. Matilda made her way towards the stove and stired whatever it was that she was making. It smelt really nice and I was starting to get hungrier than I expected, seeing as I¡¯ve only had a little thing to eat since I got back from the hospital, for the whole day. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Matilda started to say once she was done stirring what she was making and I decided to cut in, not wanting her to continue to ess what was never there in the first ce. ¡°What are you making for dinner?¡± I inquired and that did the trick immediately because Matilda beamed widely and started exining the dish she was making and how she has decided to make it specially just for me. She went on and on and I wasn¡¯tining, it was exhrating watching the joy on her face as she talked about something she obviously loved with this much passion. I¡¯ve never loved something with this much zeal and passion before, so it was beautiful watching the smile and excite take over every space on her face and she gushed and exined everything there was to know about the dish she was preparing. She suddenly stopped as she was washing her hands at the sink and turned around slowly with a sheepish expression on her face. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, ma¡¯am. I got carried away back there.¡± She apologized meekly but I smiled at her and shook my head. ¡°No, no. I don¡¯t mind. Watching you talk about something you love that much was beautiful. You are beautiful, and when you talked about your passion for cooking back there, your face just seemed like it was lighting and glowing. It was beautiful, really.¡± I said to her softly and I watched as shock passed over her face at first, before happiness, surprise and then satisfaction. ¡°Oh wow, I had no idea you could see me in that kind of light.¡± She started to say, her voiceing out softer than it usually was. ¡°I mean, everyone used to think I was just bbing and making unnecessary noises each time I start to talk about cooking and everything that involves it.¡± She paused andughed softly but her voice caught and broke at the end of thetch like she was about to cry, ¡°Except Sarah, that is.¡± She continued with a smallugh and full on sniffed this time before turning around and facing the sinking once again. ¡°The people who don''t see you in that light have no idea about the kind of goodness they¡¯ve missed out in this life. I meant it when I said you glowed back then, it was really beautiful and I wished more people would be able to see it the way I did.¡± I said again, d that I had made her feel good about herself tonight and bummed that there were some kind of people in this world who thought she was just making noises and bbing each time she started talking about her passion. Matilda could be loud and too much sometimes, the few days I¡¯ve spent here with her made me realize that. But she was also a free spirited human who deserved all the good things in this world and I wished everyone could see that as well. ¡°How can you be eighteen and sound really smarter than almost everyone I¡¯ve met?¡± She asked without turning around and I cracked a smile, taking what she said as apliment because it sounded so much like one. She turned back around before I could say something else and started apologizing. ¡°That was rude of me and I shouldn¡¯t have said that.¡± Matilda started to say but I cut into her apology before she could ¡°It¡¯s alright, I don¡¯t mind.¡± I reassured her and I watched as a small smile finally appeared on her face after a few moments before she continued to stir what she was making on the stove. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to have a seat, ma¡¯am? Your legs must be starting to hurt.¡± Matilda paused in the throes of what she was stirring again and turned around to say to me. ¡°Oh, I do. But the high chairs are too high for me and I¡¯d have to jump to get on one of them¡­ and I can¡¯t do that with my arm in a sling now. So¡­¡± I trailed off and shrugged my good shoulder before shifting my weight from foot to foot. Matilda only stood still for a few seconds before turning towards the doorway and speaking to Ryan whom I had already forgotten was still standing there. ¡°Can you please get a chair from one of the chairs in the dining room and Mrs Ri?¡± She asked and Ryan agreed and was out of the kitchen, into the door adjoining the kitchen and the dining room together, before I could say a thing. I pursed my lips to stop the argument that was about to tumble out from my mouth back down since my legs were actually starting to hurt and I wanted to sit down so bad. Ryan returned with the chair and ced it against the counter, a few feet away from the spot I was standing in. ¡°Thank you.¡± I said quietly as I hesitated for a few seconds for an unknown reason before gratefully sinking into the seat and trying to ignore the way the two other people in the room were staring at me. ¡°I¡¯ll be outside with Ethan, we want to check out some things together.¡± Ryan said to me before turning All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. around and heading towards the doorway of the kitchen. ¡°Wait.¡± I said before I could stop myself. He paused in his tracks and turned back around to stare at me quietly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you and Ethan have dinner with us? Matilda prepared enough, didn¡¯t you Matilda?¡± I referred thest part to Matilda and turned my head around to stare at her while waiting for her rification. ¡°Unfortunately not, I¡¯m so sorry, ma¡¯am. I had no idea you wanted them to eat with us so I only made a small potion for you, Sarah and I.¡± She exined with a dejected expression and I bit my lips as an embarrassed color flooded my cheeks. Just how dumb was I to purpose some people stay behind to eat dinner with us, without checking first and confirming that there was enough for everyone. I¡¯m so dumb. ¡°It¡¯s alright, I guess.¡± I replied to her before turning back to Ryan who had an unreadable expression on his face. He always has this same expression on his face so there was no way someone could be able to figure out what he was thinking or how he was feeling by just ncing at his face. Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°It¡¯s alright, I guess.¡± I replied to her before turning back to Ryan who had an unreadable expression on his face. He always had this same expression on his face so there was no way someone would be able to figure out what he was thinking or how he was feeling by just ncing at his face. ¡°Um, how about tomorrow? It would be really nice if the both of you could have dinner here, so when you leave here at almost midnight, you wouldn¡¯t have to get dinner again.¡± I proposed to him and watched as he leaned against the kitchen¡¯s door before replying. ¡°I am afraid that won¡¯t be possible, ma¡¯am. Mr Ri wouldn¡¯t be cool with it.¡± ¡°Why not? There¡¯s no harm there, is there?¡± I demanded, bbergasted by the amount of unspoken rules that were in the mafia. ¡°I don¡¯t know, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s kind of a disrespectful act from us to you if we eat together.¡± Ryan exined and I gaped at him unbelievably for a few seconds. ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± I demanded before turning around to nce at Matilda to confirm if she had heard what I had heard. She didn¡¯t seem unfazed one bit, she only shrugged like it was a normal thing everyone was suddenly supposed to know. ¡°That¡¯s the truth, ma¡¯am.¡± He echoed once again and I puffed out a deep breath. Which made me start to reminisce back to my life growing up how the guards had never sat with us to eat at the table. But I had never been fond of any of them so it has never really urred to me why they never ever sat with us. But this was totally different. ¡°I¡¯ll speak to Luca about it, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I finally ended up saying as my teeth worked my lower lip around and my fingers fiddled with themselves inside the warmth of the jacket. I didn¡¯t know how I was actually going to speak to Luca about it, since he had after all only been returning home from workte in the night when I¡¯d have been fast asleep. I was going to find a way though. Ryan finally left for where he said he was going to and I exchanged a few words with Matilda until the food was ready. ¡°Where¡¯s Sarah?¡± I asked her once she started dishing the food and setting up the table. ¡°Oh, she¡¯d be down soon. In a few minutes, probably. She went to take a nap.¡± Matilda exined and I nodded my head slowly in understanding as a quiet ¡®oh¡¯ escaped my parted lips. ¡°You know she isn¡¯t all that strong anymore, like the way she used to be¡­ long before you came here.¡± Matilda continued and I watched her glide effortlessly across the kitchen, into the dining room and back to the kitchen once again. ¡°How long have you worked here?¡± I asked her as I stood up from my seat, tired of watching her working and making me feel idle as ever. She smiled knowingly at me and picked the bottles of water before I could reach for them and made her way past me, straight into the dining room. I pouted at her when she came back into the room and she grinned while shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re injured, and shouldn¡¯t stress yourself one bit. Just stay here, the table would bepletely set up in a few minutes and we¡¯d all have dinner together. I sighed and sank back into my seat, grateful that she had insisted I don¡¯t do a thing. I was starting to feel weaker than I expected I¡¯d ever get just from a sprained arm. Who knew a sprained arm could weaken someone¡¯s whole system? ¡°So when did you start working here?¡± I asked again, needing something to talk about so I don¡¯t sink into my lonely thoughts swirling around in my mind. ¡°I started working here five years ago.¡± She replied and I waited patiently before she continued. ¡°When I started working here, Sarah guided me so much because it was all new to me back then. She was also really healthy back then,pared to now.¡± I wanted to ask about Sarah¡¯s health and if what was wrong with her was really severe, and if she was going to be alright but I swallowed the worry and words that was on the tip of my tongue. I had a feeling that despite how loud Matilda was and how she loved talking, she wasn¡¯t going to want to talk to me about whatever it was that was wrong with Sarah. I was going to have to end up asking her myself. I made my way to the dining room with Matilda leaving the way once she done settling the table and sank into one of the seats. Matilda excused herself to go get Sarah and I nodded my head and waited on them. It took longer than I expected for them to emerge back to the dining room and I stared pointedly at Sarah as secretive as I could without being too obvious while trying to see if there was a way I could figure out what was wrong with her health by just staring at her. Unfortunately for me, it only looked like she still looked a little bit sleepy as sank into the seat opposite mine. She smiled at me once she noticed my face and shielded her mouth with the back of her hand as she coughed into it before putting her hand away and staring back at me. ¡°Is something the matter, Sarah.¡± I inquired, feeling genuinely concerned as I took in her facial expression and tried to figure out if there was anything off about how she looked at the moment. But she looked pretty much the same¡­ except for the sleep still lingering in her somewhat dim eyes. It could only be because she wasn¡¯t fully awake yet. ¡°No, there¡¯s nothing wrong, Sofia. Everything¡¯s alright with me. I just decided to get ate nap because I was feeling tired this evening, that¡¯s all.¡± Sarah exined with a small smile tugging at the sides of her lips. I was almost about to believe her had it been I hadn¡¯t caught the nce Matilda and she had exchanged just as she dismissed my worry. Which pinged my radar in my head immediately. Something was definitely wrong, somewhere. But she didn¡¯t want me to know¡­ yet, at least. And I wasn¡¯t going to force it out of her. ¡°How¡¯s your arm now? Is it still hurting the way it was this morning?¡± She asked, changing the topic immediately and moving it towards my direction. I acted like I didn¡¯t know what she was trying to do and shook my head with a dismissive wave of my left hand which was peeking out of the jacket I still had around me. ¡°It¡¯s better now, I guess? And no, it doesn¡¯t hurt anymore. It doesn¡¯t even feel anything for now, so I have a feeling I am going to feel the actual pain tomorrow morning once the drugs injected into me must have probably waned off.¡± I replied as I slowly shrugged the jacket off my shoulder and ced it in the empty seat beside me. ¡°That¡¯s the master¡¯s suit jacket.¡± Matilda said to Sarah while pointing at the discarded jacket and a quiet ¡°It is? She took it from his closet because she was cold? Would the master be cool with that?¡± Sarah asked Matilda with a worried expression covering her face in her instant. I made to reply but Matilda beat me to it. ¡°That¡¯s the thing! The Master gave it to her himself.¡± Matilda continued and Sarah just looked confused once Matilda¡¯s words sank into her head. ¡°He came back home while I was taking a nap? And you coulde wake me up.¡± Sarah said thest few words to Matilda as she hit her arm and I watched as Matilda scowled and rubbed her wrist before continuing. ¡°No, he didn¡¯t. He went to see The young Mistress in the hospital, and he gave the jacket to her himself because she was feeling cold.¡± Matilda exined further and I watched as Sarah smiled softly before turning towards me. I started to shake my head before she could start to say something. ¡°He only gave me the jacket because I was feeling cold and was only in a sleeveless top. That¡¯s all.¡± I said to her but her smile only widened, making me groan silently in my head. ¡°Sounds like someone¡¯s starting to be a favourite of the master.¡± Sarah murmured as she reached for her bottle of water and unscrewed the cap before pouring a little of it into a ss cup. I wonder what their reactions would be if they realized that it wasn¡¯t what they were both thinking because we barely talk. How did I be his favorite without us talking at all? Back there at the hospital was the only ce where we had both talked, apart from our wedding night¡­ I wonder what their reactions would be like if they realized that I was still a virgin and that their master dto haven¡¯t taken what was his from me¡­ just how would I be his favorite without him doing that to me at least? Did he even seem like the type to keep favorites? Do I even look like I want to be tagged as his favorite? No, thank you. They were both huge, ridiculous romantics. ¡°It¡¯s not like that, believe me. He just felt obligated, that¡¯s all.¡± I reassured Sarah as I reached for my fork and tugged the te of food before me. ¡°You do know that the master doesn¡¯t ever feel obligated to anyone or anything. He only ever does something if he wants to.¡± Sarah said in reply and I paused my fork midway with the food clinging to it. Lowering the fork slowly back on my te, I unscrewed my bottle of water and filled up my ss cup before picking it up and taking a huge gulp from it. ¡°Oh.¡± I mumbled quietly after I had taken at least two mouthfuls of water. Matilda only shrugged with a small smile and Sarah sat still while watching me quietly as well. I ignored their gazes, not knowing what to say and finally settled on pretending like I didn¡¯t know they were waiting on my reply as I picked up my fork of food and shoved it into my mouth. They thankfully dropped the subject and focused on eating their foods. After a while, everyone was done eating and Sarah along with Matilda cleared off the table. I tugged the suit jacket over my shoulders once again, pointedly ignoring Sarah and Matilda¡¯s long, knowing stares as I made my way into the cold room to grab a small carton of juice. The meal Matilda had prepared consisted of spicy beefsteaks and spicy sauce. It wasn¡¯t something I couldn¡¯t handle and I was kind of d it was spicy, as it had managed to chase the cold that had managed to seep into my body through the pores on my skin, in the form of perspiration. I wasn¡¯t feeling cold any longer but for some selfish reasons, had still decided to hang Luca¡¯s jacket around me once I was done eating. It was probably because I was going to return it to him tonight and would most definitely never get to feel the warm texture of his jacket against my skin. So I was savoring myst moments with it. Making my way into the cold room, I weed the cold which seeped into my skin and through the jacket around my shoulder before picking up a pack of juice from the row of juice arranged in a small fridge located in one part of the cold room before exiting it. I bid Sarah and Matilda a good night, thanked them for taking care of me and the nice dinner before N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. making my way straight to my bedroom and shutting the door quietly behind me. Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Luca¡¯s POV I walked out of the hospital room and closed the door quietly behind me, the ever distracting facial expression of Sofia when I had informed her that I was leaving, and the look she had worn throughout the small conversation that urred between us before the doctor came in, was still brightly imprinted on the front of my mind. I inserted my hands deep into my pants pockets and nced at the roof of the hallway of the hospital, directly staring into the security cameras located on the four corners of the roof. I got into one of the empty elevators and sighed silently when someone ced his foot in between the doors, stopping it from sliding close, and it slid back open after a fleeting seconds to reveal the face of someone I¡¯d rather not see at the moment. ¡°Good day, Luca.¡± ¡°What are you doing here, Richie?¡± I sighed out in a voice void of any emotion a few minutes after he had made his way into the elevator to stand on the other side of the elevator, keeping a wide amount of space between us. Richie and I had been friends, once. It was a long time ago, when we were still kids. Identifying him as one of my ex friends seemed too far-fetched. Richie and I were never all that close, we were both involved in the mafia somehow, that was one of the many things that made us start talking at first. Being in the mafia from birth and getting brought up in a particr lifestyle, meant even the school I went to while growing up, knew the kind of lifestyle their kids'' parents were into. The school had its own bodyguards which was to keep the whole students safe and protected from anyone and anything¨C their mantra was: once your childes into our school, their well-being and safety is automatically entrusted into our arms, right until they leave the school premises. If anything was to befall any of the students while in the school premises, the school would get sued and would have to pay whatever due requested by the child¡¯s parents. Richie and I met one day during break, in the yground. I could remember everything as clear as day, it might have happened decades ago, but my retentive memory was sharp as fuck. ¡°Visiting the hospital, obviously.¡± Richie replied in a low voice and I studied him from our reflections in the mirrors of the elevator doors. ¡°Could have fooled me, thought you were tailing me and wanting to all up in my business.¡± I mused after a few seconds, my voice carrying a air of authority like it normally does. Despite all that has gone down between us in the past, he¡¯d always have to be respectful to me, whether he wants to or not. ¡°I can¡¯t do that, I have more¡­ important things up on my sleeves.¡± He replied and I watched as a scowl crept into his once rxed facial expression, making the lines in his forehead more prominent and outlined. I didn¡¯t bother giving him any other reply, I was obviously bigger than him mentally and would be acting like the bigger person here, because that was usual style and I wasn¡¯t going to be changing that because of Richie. The elevator finallynded on thest floor and slide open, I puffed my chest out and moved my shoulders around a little without taking my hands out of my pants pocket as I made my way out of the elevator, vividly aware of Richie falling into steps behind me. ¡°Er, a word, Luca?¡± His voice finally drifted up from his spot behind me and I slowed down before pausing in my tracks. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I demanded without bothering to face him, I wasn¡¯t worried about Richie trying anything stupid on me like stabbing me in my neck now that my back was turned to him, or blowing my brains off because I wasn¡¯t looking at him. Richie and I might have a past together, but that didn¡¯t stop him from being automatically part of the mafia family. Not like I trusted anybody in the mafia. ¡°I want to talk to you about something, I might need your help for something important and¡­¡± He started to say almost immediately, in a voice low and barely audible. Only a few people were walking around here on thest floor and some of those said people were throwing me curious nces, while some were openly looking at me and drinking me up. I was used to getting this kind of attention wherever I go, here in the mafia, and in some neighboring mafias. I wasn¡¯t popr in the states and I was extremely thankful and grateful for that. People in the states were not aware of the fact that this kind of lifestyle we live out here was indeed a reality here and not a fictional story like they used to think it only was. Only a few people who were also involved in the underground business were aware of the kind of things our lifestyle entails, which was a really good thing. ¡°Make an appointment with my secretaries ande see me, we will discuss whatever you want us to discuss then.¡± I said to Richie who was still standing behind my shoulder, my voice just as low as his was, moments ago. ¡°I...¡± He wanted to say something else at first, it was obvious in the stall in his voice before he finally replied, ¡°Alright, thank you. I didn¡¯t say a thing to that, nor acted like I noticed the stall in his voice as I made my way away from the stop I was in for a few minutes, all the way outside the hospital this time, and I was aware throughout that he didn¡¯t continue to walk in my footsteps, like he did at first the moment we exited the elevator together. The guards situated outside the hospital doors bowed their heads respectively as I made a way out the doorway, into the afternoon sun and the cool breeze of Venice. Two of my personal bodyguards, which I had assigned over to Sofia the day after we got married, lifted up from their reclined position from the car they were once leaning against and discussed quietly the moment they sighted my presence. I paused a few feet away from the car with my hands still lodged deep in my pockets and both guards bowed their heads down slightly in respect, and in sync. ¡°Good afternoon, Mr Ri.¡± ¡°Ethan, Ryan.¡± I murmured as they lifted their heads up and kept their hands behind their backs, their heads raised high. ¡°How did you find out about Sofia¡¯s injured arm?¡± I asked, because the territorial part of me had been in The part of me that had been next to dead inside of me throughout my whole life. ¡°Mrs Ri came into the kitchen and started calling out for the housekeeper, I heard her from the sitting room and went to meet her when it was obvious the housekeeper wasn¡¯t going to be replying to her.¡± Ryan, one of the two guards started to say and I nodded my head once as I silently questioned myself why I was suddenly concerned about all these? ¡°And so i went in there and asked her if there was anything I could help her with since it was obvious to me that she needed something, she told me she didn¡¯t need anything, but then I noticed that she was clutching her right elbow and her skin was paler than normal, which was what spiked my attention. I asked her if there was something wrong with her arm, she said there wasn¡¯t anything wrong with it at first but changed her mind and told me she fell off the bed this morning.¡± ¡°I inspected it, and by the look of it, it seemed really serious, and so I informed her that we were going to be visiting the hospital for her to get her hand checked out.¡± Ryan finally paused and flexed his fingers before continuing. I tugged out my phone from my pocket and texted my driver toe pick me up. After dropping me off at the hospital, he had driven off with James in it to a meeting which James and I were supposed to attend together, but I had asked James to go on without me and drop me off here at the hospital because a nagging part of my mind just wouldn¡¯t be at rest if I hadn¡¯t satisfied it by going to see Sofia and confirming that she was indeed fine, by myself. As ¡°She refused to go to a hospital at first though, for reasons best known to her because she didn¡¯t share her reasons for not wanting to get checked up at a hospital.¡± ¡°She refused?¡± I echoed quietly, my mind turning the particr detail around in my head, perhaps she was afraid of hospitals¡­ ¡°She did at first, but agreed toe to the hospital the moment I said I was going to give you a call and let you know that she didn¡¯t want to visit the clinic.¡± Ryan exined while Ethan remained quiet throughout, making me guess that he wasn¡¯t any where around them when the whole thing had unfolded. Oh? Interesting¡­ ¡°The doctors would be done with her in some minutes, go wait for her upstairs. Once she¡¯s done, get her home safely and tell Sarah I said to make sure she get some sleep.¡± I instructed Ryan and once he indicated copying my instructions, I turned around and walked away from them, towards the wide open gates of the hospital. The Masaretti which I had ridden this in morning in slowly drove towards me before finally stopping a few feet away from me. The front doors got pushed open and the driver along with one of the guards who had ridden with James and I stepped out from the car. I pulled the door open before they could step around and get to it before briskly sliding into the back seat and mming the door shut. The car slowly pulled away from the hospital premises and into the busy roads. James was on a call with someone so he only eyed me from the corner of his eyes, looking at me with a look that judged silently. I ignored him and turned towards the front of the car before leaning forward and tapping on the button which rolled the demarcation ss upwards to seclude the backspace to ourselves, giving us more than enough privacy. ¡°How did the meeting go?¡± I asked James the moment after he ended the call with whoever it was that he was talking to. ¡°It was alright, the majority of the ns have been changed though. The list has been retouched a little All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. as well. The map and the list would be sent over in a few days.¡± James started to say and I listened attentively, not having any problems with the fact that some changes had been made to the n without my consent, James wasn¡¯t just someone closer than a best friend to me, James was also my right hand man and someone¡¯s judgment I trust so much. I don¡¯t ever have to worry about him making a bad decision without me in the picture, that was how good of a right hand man he was. ¡°That¡¯s nice. They didn¡¯t mind my absence, did they?¡± I asked and james shook his head before replying. ¡°Nah, they weren¡¯t too bothered about it because I was there at least.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good thing then.¡± James eyed me from the side of his eyes this time, his eyes ghosting over my body in a fast second. I narrowed my eyes at him when he didn¡¯t look away yet. ¡°What?¡± I demanded. ¡°Where¡¯s your suit jacket?¡± He asked and the side of my lips twitched once before I slowly nced down at myself and took in my appearance. Oh. ¡°I gave it to Sofia.¡± Chapter 25 Chapter 25 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°I gave it to Sofia.¡± James eyed me from the corners of his eyes and remained silent for a while longer before turning his face around to look me properly in the eye. ¡°You gave your suit jacket to your wife?¡± He inquired, sounding almost shocked and confused¡­ even I was starting to rethink that particr gesture of mine now that it was starting to sink in. ¡°Yes, I did.¡± I replied and turned away from him, staring straight at the dark ss demarcation with half lidded eyes. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°She was feeling cold, so I decided to give it to her.¡± I exined, having no idea why it slowly started to feel like I was defending myself for what I did. ¡°That¡¯s a very intriguing information.¡± James mused in a throaty voice and I absentmindedly scrubbed my right hand over the material of my suit pants. ¡°Oh, shut up.¡± I drawled out and James barked out a smallugh. ¡°What? Did I say anything?¡± James demanded as he picked up his phone from on top of his pants when it started to vibrate against his thigh, a signal of an iing call. ¡°Your eyes are judging.¡± I informed him, because that part was very true. He had been staring at the side of my face ever since I informed him about my jacket being with Sofia and I could literally feel his stare dig and sear into my skin on the side of my face. ¡°I wasn¡¯t judging you, I can¡¯t do that.¡± James replied with an amused tone as he returned the phone back to its former position on his thigh without answering the call. ¡°I was only surprised, that¡¯s all.¡± James started to say before pausing for a few seconds only to continue again when I thought he had thankfully dropped the subject. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s so unlike you. This is the first time you¡¯re doing something like that.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a first time for everything, isn¡¯t there?¡± I replied to him and I allowed my head to fall against the headrest of the car, as I did my possible best not to think about how soft Sofia¡¯s skin had felt beneath my fingers and James was thankfully keeping my mind preupied. ¡°Why not? There is.¡± ¡°How¡¯s her injured arm though? Is she going to be released today?¡± James after some minutes of the car being totally silent, except for when his phone started vibrating again ¨C which he still didn¡¯t answer to and instead cut off the iing call almost immediately. ¡°It¡¯s sprained and not broken like I had thought at first, she¡¯d also be released in a while, if she hasn''t been discharged yet, that is.¡± I informed him and dragged my fingers through my dark curls, the air conditioner in the car was blowing around nicely and keeping the car in a much needed amount of chill, but for some reason, my shirt felt a little bit sweaty and I have this sudden urge to take my shirt off and allow the air conditioner to directly ghost over my chest. ¡°Ohhh. How did she get the injury? Didn¡¯t you say she was perfectly fine and still fast asleep when you left home this morning?¡± I shook my head with a small twitch of my hand which wasying on my suit pants. ¡°She was. She was. But she was at the very edge of the bed when I got out of bed this morning, and when I went to gym andter went to get ready and shit before finally leaving for work.¡± ¡°She was in one position the whole time?¡± James asked and I nodded my head with a small snort sliding out my nose and mouth. ¡°I know, right? In the same spot. I wanted to put her in the middle of the bed or wake her up and ask her to move away from the very edge of the bed, but I didn¡¯t want to disturb her because she looked so peacefully sleeping there and clutching on the nkets, and also because she didn¡¯t get enough sleep throughout the night. ¡°She didn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Mhhm.¡± I nodded my head absentmindedly, my mind wandering around and finally settling on the way she had shivered slightly at first when my index finger had met with the soft skin on her wrist. ¡°So y¡¯all finally did it? And here I was thinking you were bing way softer than I ever expected, not knowing that you had already finally done it with her.¡± James started to say again and I forced my mind away from the direction it was going to and forced it back here into the present and on what James was saying. ¡°So how was it?¡± ¡°How was what?¡± I demanded and watched as he sat up and turned around until he was leaning against the locked door on his side of his car and was now fully looking at me this time. ¡°The sex, obviously. Didn¡¯t the both of you end up doing itst night?¡± I shook my head once and tugged on the roots of my curls, ¡°Nah, we didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± James demanded again and I stared at him quietly without saying a thing for a few seconds before finally ncing away from him. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t she get enough sleepst night, you said so yourself, don¡¯t try to take your world back, fucker.¡± I barked out a smallugh, James was impossible. ¡°Oh, that. ¡°It was because she was nervous around me. She¡¯s always nervous around me and get little to no sleep each time she wakes up in the middle of the night to find me beside her. Last night wasn¡¯t even like that, I went straight into the bathroom and wasing back out when she had woken up and was the bathroom as well.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t grab her and kiss her?¡± James asked and I shot him a long look. ¡°Why would I do that?¡± ¡°Because you can? And I¡¯m also sure she¡¯d give in to your touch almost immediately.¡± James informed me like those particr words haven¡¯t crossed my mind a countless times ever since I had ghosted my lips ever so lightly over his cheeks, oh our wedding night. And lord, her response had been real and passionate at first, catching her off guard at first before the mask of fear and fright had reced that startled and pure expression on her face. ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡± I reminded James in case he might have forgotten about the conversation we had which was so simr to this, a few days ago. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°She¡¯s very young and too innocent¡­ that¡¯s a no for me.¡± I said in a low voice, wondering why thatst few words felt like a bitter lie on my tongue. ¡°Fuck you mean? That makes it all better and you know it. It¡¯s so much better when you¡¯re the one that¡¯s going to introduce them to how the body works with pleasure, how intense orgasms can be, how intoxicating the feeling can be, how their every reaction would be pure and totally natural because it would being out onplete instinct, and not because they¡¯re trying to set the mood up.¡± I tugged on the roots of my curls as James words poured out of his mouth, directly into my head and mind. The whole thoughts I¡¯ve been trying my damnest not to think about and imagine were right there in my face before I could stop it and I stared powerlessly as different images which left the same scotching effect on my body, formed around in my head. Different scenarios took ce in my head and all of them involved ke doing bad, bad things to her ever willing body. I could perfectly imagine her voice breaking on a moan as I sucked and tongue her nipples until the ability to form wordspletely desert her. I didn¡¯t need to try harder before a scenario of me pressing her against the wall and silencing her moans with my lips as I swallowed those tiny sounds down, with my hand wrapped around her throat, lightly squeezing but firmly gripping and¡­ I shook my head and blinked once,ing back to reality in the next second. The car was quiet and James was no longer speaking. I ran my hands through my hair once again, work due to the amount of time I had run my fingers through it since the start to today. Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. I nced at James to see him staring at me quietly, our eyes held for a few seconds before I dragged my gaze away, leaning my head against the headrest and sighing out slowly as my eyes slid close. ¡°What?¡± I demanded after a little while when he was still staring at me quietly without saying a thing, I didn¡¯t need to look at him to know that he was still watching me, feeling his eyes burning into the side of my face was more than enough. ¡°You were thinking about it, weren¡¯t you?¡± He asked knowingly, amusement evident in the low ting of his voice. ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t.¡± I answered, shamelessly lying through my teeth and he knew that, because he didn¡¯t buy my reply for a second and didn¡¯t bother to hide it. ¡°You horny fuck.¡± He drawled out and I flipped him off without bothering to drag my eyes open. ¡°If you ask me, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything stopping you though. I know you¡¯re a good person, the most amazing person I know, after myself, obviously. But that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re a good person who never want to hurt his new wife. I get the fact that you feel she¡¯s innocent¡­ I mean, like I said before, o my girls who don¡¯t get married off to any potential husband picked out by their father are the ones that are most likely to explore however they want. While those that are married off to whoever get picked for them in most cases and young and innocent as fuck.¡± James pushed for a little while before continuing. ¡°She is eighteen years old, she¡¯s legal enough to get married. There¡¯s nothing wrong with you finding her attractive or wanting to do dirty things to her innocent body¡­ that¡¯s totally normal.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not even my type.¡± I mumbled quietly, knowing that I was once again shamelessly lying to myself and once again trying not to think about the way a tiny breath had escaped her lips after hitching in her throat for a fleeting second when I had tugged on her chin and forced her to stare up at me with those big, baby blues of hers. ¡°With the way you were thinking about her moments ago in a not so pure and innocent way, I beg to differ.¡± James mused and I flipped him the bird as I moved my head around on the head rest my head was currently Leaning against. ¡°What¡¯s our next schedule for today?¡± I asked and James remained quiet for a few seconds which made me think he was probably going through our schedule on his phone and essing it thoroughly. ¡°A celebration ceremony. We don¡¯t have to go because it¡¯s not that important. I would send over a few bottles of champagne, flowers and a congrattion note once we get to the office.¡± James finally said and I peeled my eyes open and stared at him from the corner of my eyes without bothering to lift my head up. ¡°It¡¯s not that important?¡± ¡°Yup. It¡¯s De Salva. They¡¯re celebrating their twin sons'' graduation from the army, we got an invitation at the office a few days ago.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that important then, we¡¯ve got better and more important things to do than to go to a gathering to start associating with other people I¡¯d rather not see and talk to at the moment.¡± I said to James as I allowed my eyes to slide back close. The speed of the car started to slow down, signaling the fact that we were almost arriving at our destination which was the office. ¡°Which reminds me, I met Richie today, at the hospital.¡± Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°Which reminds me, I met Richie today, at the hospital.¡± The car finally came to a stop and I breathed out a sope and long sigh as I lifted my head from the car¡¯s head rest and turned my head around for a few seconds before proceeding to quickly dig my fingers into my left shoulder cord which felt stiff and cramped up as fuck. ¡°The fuck was he doing there, he spoke to you?¡± ¡°Yeah. We rode the same elevator down and as I was leaving, he informed me that he needed my help with something.¡± The car door got pulled open by the guard and I stepped out of the car with my phone deep in my pocket once again. I didn¡¯t shove my hands into my pocket this time and instead allowed it to drop on my sides as James came to stand beside me, his suit jacketpletely unbuttoned, and his undershirt first few buttons currently undone. ¡°What did he need your help with?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing. He sounded really secretive like he didn¡¯t want anybody to mistakenly overhear what he was saying, despite the fact that only a few people were currently on that floor and were way too far away from us to be able to overhear a thing.¡± I nodded my head at a few guards who were at the huge gate of mypany as James and I made our way into thepany¡¯s premises. ¡°And so I cut him off before he could finish talking, and advised him to arrange an appointment with one of my secretaries if he¡¯d like to speak with me. And then I left him standing there.¡± ¡°That fucker, what could he need your help with?¡± James swore after a while and I only shrugged a little, having no clue whatsoever. Once we arrived at my office, I sank into the seat behind the table and James took the seat on the other side of the table. I unbuttoned the first two buttons of my shirt and noticed that James was already shrugging his suit jacket off his shoulders and wasying it against the back of the seat he was sitting in. I pushed the checkbooks towards him and tugged the files holding important details towards me and we both got down to work after a little while, working in a veryfortable silence and passing each sheet to each other once we were done, like we were supposed to. He wrote checks and stamped them before passing them over to me for my signature, while I signed every area for my signatures to be in after thoroughly going through each piece of file, before passing it over to him to stamp and write in dates. Ever since we took over from our fathers, being best friends for a long time helped a lot. Because we understood each other the most and were already used to doing almost everything together ever since we became best friends, a long time ago. James and I were age mates but I knew he wasn¡¯t going to be getting married any time soon. His family members were already on his neck for him to pick a wife and produce offspring that would carry on their family name. But James wasn¡¯t in a hurry, James didn¡¯t really need an heir, at least it wasn¡¯t as important for him to get a wife, the way it was for me. Which was why I had gotten married despite the fact that I didn¡¯t want to but had to, and he was still living the single life and still obviously enjoying it to the fullest. We were done with the whole sorting and arranging of files in a few hours and both stretched and yawned tiredly. James stood up and quickly arranged the whole thing we¡¯ve worked on, in a particr neat order on the edge of the table where he was sitting, for my secretaries to easily pick upter today, and distribute them to their much needed ces. ¡°You hungry?¡± I asked James who was currently shielding a yawn with the back of his right palm. He nodded his head twice before tugging his hand away from against his mouth once he was done yawning and answered, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be really cool, I¡¯m famished, man.¡± And so we left for a restaurant which was a ten minute drive away from the office. James had driven the car he came to the office in and I had ridden with him, sitting in the passenger seat beside him as he drove to the restaurant, to get our empty stomachs filled up. ****** ¡°We have an early start tomorrow and we¡¯re also visiting your thirdpany tomorrow, so please put these in your schedule now, so as to have the whole of tomorrow¡¯s schedule with you.¡± James said to me as I started packing up, obviously ready to go home. It was currently some minutes after eleven p.m, James and I had worked ourselveste into the night the way we mostly do everyday. ¡°Are all the appointments scheduled for tomorrow extremely important?¡± I asked him as I dug my phone out from my back pocket. He nodded his head without ncing up from his phone which his fingers were currently flying over with a speed faster than normal. ¡°Oh.¡± He suddenly said after a few seconds, there¡¯s one not all that important, we can totally have this rescheduled. The rest are allpletely important and we have to see every one of it tomorrow. Knowing how it goes sometimes, we¡¯ll end up spending more than a scheduled time at a particr appointment, thereby disrupting the whole or our schedule because we¡¯ll have to shift the schedules remaining for the rest of the day, forward and forward. ¡°We¡¯ll try our best to be on time throughout each appointment tomorrow.¡± I said to him as I handed him my phone with the schedule app opened and ready on the screen. He took the phone out of my hand and ced his phone on the table before him, and then he proceeded to type in the information on his schedule app, into my phone. I rolled my sleeves until my whole biceps was bare and the material of the suit bunched up against my elbow. My first few shirt buttons were still unbuttoned and I wasn¡¯t doing a damn thing about it. James held my phone out to me after a few seconds and I epted the phone and scrolled through the appointments, wincing and slightly tugging on the inside of my cheeks with my teeth because I realized that I didn¡¯t remember what over half of the appointments staring back at me were. I shoved my phone into my pocket and thanked James who was also pushing himself unto his feet and dropping his phone down on the table to pick up his jacket from the back of his chair where it has been on since this afternoon, and shrugged it on without bothering to the the few buttons up, and finally picking his phone back up. We made our way out of the office, through the empty and quiet hallway, down the elevator and out of thepany main doors which led into the first floor of the whole building. The first floor wasn¡¯t as empty as the rest of the floor, a few people were still doing different things here. We made our way outside and over to our cars. My driver was standing beside the back door, ready to tug it open for me to slide in and sink into the car seat. I paused outside james¡¯ ck slick Audi along with James. ¡°My regards to your wife.¡± James started to say at first before barking out augh when I narrowed my eyes at him daringly. ¡°Oh, my bad. I forgot that she¡¯d have been currently fast asleep and the both of you might probably not exchange any words until you leave for work tomorrow morning, before she wakes up.¡± ¡°Fuck you, James.¡± I breathed out with a small shake of my head as I flipped him the bed. James, totally unfazed, pped his palm against the driver¡¯s door of his Audi before tugging the door All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. open and sliding smoothing into the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Just how sexy was that spank to this sexy baby?¡± James drawled out. ¡°You¡¯re sick, James.¡± I said around a smallugh ache only rolled his eyes at my response. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow, mate.¡± I bidded him as I started to turn around, towards my own car. ¡°Yeah, yeah. You too. Have a good night.¡± He called out right before he mmed his Audi¡¯s door shut and started to pull out of the parking lot, just as I was sliding into my car¡¯s seat and the driver was mming the door close and making his way into the driver¡¯s seat almost immediately. The car pulled out of the parking lot and into the busy streets. It was almost twelve midnight but that didn¡¯t stop the roads of Venice from being busy and rowdy as fuck. The second car containing some of my personal guards which always tail mine was in its usual spot when I checked through the rear view mirror. I breathed out a long sigh and reclined the car seat with a button unt it was stretched out and could make a make short bed for someone whose body wasn¡¯t as big as mine. Iid down on the seat and stretched my legs out in front of me, to see how far they could go, before allowing my eyes to slide shut. ****** I peeled my eyes open, already aware of the fact that we were currently slowly pulling into my button, returning the seat back to its former position. I groaned quietly again as I moved my neck around and a few of the countless tensed up muscles cracked and loosened out, offering a sudden feeling of relief in that particr spot. The door got pulled open by one of my men and I stepped out of the car and paused outside the car to stretch out my arms a little, loving the way the muscles in my shoulders and neck loosened out and cracked loudly. Lord, I needed a cold shower¡­ and a drink. And sleep. Lots of sleep. At least six hours of sleep at least. The thought about how I barely got enough sleepst night drifted around in my head and I also remembered the sole reason as to why I barely got enough sleepst night. Sofia. Only to end up receiving a call from one of her personal bodyguards a few hours after I had left home, and getting informed that my wife had sustained an arm injury and would be visiting the hospital. I made my way into the house and rying my first schedule of the day to my driver who promised to be here on time, the way he always does, before he zoomed out of thepound in his own car, a car he drove all the way from his house over to here, every morning, and to go back home in it, every night. Heading straight for the kitchen and feeling a little bit hungry, I made my way into the frozen room and roamed around, searching for something simple and light to prepare. I ended up picking a couple of noodles, some sausages, red peppers, seasoning and most importantly, a chilled bottle of vodka. Turning on the cooker the minute I was out the frozen room, I ced a pot of water on the stove and left it to boil before getting my bottle of vodka open and directly drinking from the bottle. I almost never bother with a ss cup when I¡¯m alone, it is more enjoyable and easier to consume this way. Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Luca¡¯s POV Taking another huge gulp of the vodka and letting the chilled liquid to slide down my throat and into my lungs, I ced the bottle on the counter once again and reached for the knife and chopping board on the other side of the counter beforeying it on the table along with the knife. And then I began to slice the sausages into small dices but not into too tiny shapes. Once I was done, I scraped it all into a small bowl and pushed it aside before rinsing the red peppers with warm water and proceeded to chop them into extremely tiny pieces, and scraped it all into a smaller te once I was done. The water was already boiled and so I opened the lid and inserted the two noodles into the steaming water, adding a few seasons and covering it to start boiling once again. I reached for my bottle of vodka and chugged in two mouthfuls before fishing around in one of the cupboards for onions. Once I found a small sized one, I peeled and washed it before slicing and chopping it until they were in a moon shaped tiny pieces each. I open the lid off the pot and empty the tiny peppers into the noodles. The onion followed suit almost immediately and a tiny drop of vegetable oil. Cooking wasn¡¯t something I engaged in frequently because of how busy I was and how I almost never got any time for myself. I have been cooking even since I became a teenager. I know how to prepare a variety of dishes well. Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org. Practically bringing up your younger brother yourself would make you master a skill you have no business leaning, just to satisfy that said urge to care for your brother. I leaned against the counter and unbuttoned the remaining buttons of my white undershirt before shrugging out of it and cing it on a spot on the far end of the counter. I picked up my bottle of vodka and took a small sip, allowing the chilled liquid to flow around my tongue, the strong taste seeping into my tongue almost immediately the way I loved it. I raised the bottle and stared at it for a few seconds without doing a thing, before finally lifting it to my lips and taking a huge mouthful from it. The cold liquid chilled my teeth out my throat constantly, the burn of the alcohol following suit immediately, leaving a heated feeling behind in between my chest and around my lungs. I wasn¡¯t an alcoholic, I almost never drink any kind of alcohol for several weeks straight, but I definitely loved a good, chilled drink. It helps me rx, it calms me in a weird kind of way only men or people who drink can be able to understand. And the hot feeling thates back up your throat after you swallow a mouthful of alcohol¡­ that¡¯s I returned the bottle of drink to the counter and made my way towards the boiling pot. Opening the lid and cing it on the sink beside it, I lowered the heat of the noodles when I noticed that the content of the pot was starting to dry up, a sign that the food was almost ready. I walked towards the counter and picked up the sausages and emptied the whole content into the pot before stirring everything together andying out a te on the sink a few feet away from the cooking pot. Once I was satisfied with how the noodles looked, I turned the cooker off and turned the pot over, into the te I alreadyid out minutes ago. The heated smell rose up in the kitchen and drifted directly into my nose, making my mouth water hungrily. Damn. Perhaps I was hungrier than I thought at first. I carried the food over to the counter and ced it before one of the high chairs in the kitchen. Fetching warm water for the tap into a ss cup, I ced it on the spot near my te, dragged my bottle of vodka towards where I was going to be eating every bit and piece of my food, before sitting on the chair and digging into the hot food. I dug out my phone from my pocket and tinkered around with it, scrolling through my socials and I was fucking verified on Instagram, as well as on Facebook and a few other social tforms. Owning I posted a picture I had taken yesterday at the office and put in an emoji that indicated night time and a rainy weather before going out of Instagram and going through my business emails. A fewpanies and individuals mailed me about interest in working for me, with me and also to merge with me. I didn¡¯t reply to any of the mail and promised myself that I was going to remember to give the password of this particr mail to my secretaries so they could do their findings on every one of them and get back to me in a few days time. I shoved in another forkful of noodles into my mouth and another, chewing fast and trying to be done with eating as fast as possible the moment I noticed that it was already one a.m I should have just had either cereal or a little snack, I had no idea it was going to get thiste for the food I prepared to be ready. Once I was done, I emptied my ss of water and downed some more of my vodka before closing the remaining content of the bottle and throwing it into the trash. I cleared where I prepared food in, took the litters into the trash and rinsed the tes before organizing it on the counter, Sarah would load them into the dishwasher tomorrow morning and wash it off for me. I picked up my shirt and phone as I made my way out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into the bedroom which was once mine and mine alone for a long while, until I got married. Now it was a shared room and I was sure my wife was going to be fast asleep, I thought to myself and with relief as I pulled the bedroom¡¯s door open and stepped into it before closing it softly behind me. My eyes focused and zoomed on the figure huddled beneath the nkets, but not taking only a little of the whole space of the bed like she always does. I stepped away from the door and walked into the room, which was when I noticed that one of the pillows on the bed was in the middle of the bed, in part of the space which demarcated the two of us from ever mistakenly touching each other in bed. I ¡®ohh-ed¡¯ in my head the moment I figured out the reason as to why a pillow was suddenly in the middle of the bed. Her injured right hand was in a sling, but that hand was ced on the pillow, to probably enable it enoughfort and so she wouldn¡¯t mistakenly roll over it or jarr it around while sleeping. I noticed her usually rxed face which in most cases would be currently almost hidden in the amount of nkets she¡¯d be holding tightly to, against her throat and face. But now, it was quite different. Her face was scrunched up in an almost cute way, as if she was in pain or just still in trauma about her visit to the hospital. The sudden urge to sooth that scrunch on her face away with kisses took me out of nowhere and I exited the room so fast, usain bolt would be impressed, straight into the bathroom. I tugged my pants off and made my way into the showers immediately. The cold water washed over me in fast moves, soaking up my hair and whole body instantly. I washed off with soap and was out of the bathroom in the next few seconds, drying off with a towel and tugging out a sweatpant from one of the drawers in the bathroom ¨C or trying to tug out a pair of sweatpants from one of the drawers in the bathroom, because the drawer I pulled out and started roaming my hands around in, with my head buried in a smaller towel as I vigorously try to rub off the water from my curls. My hand slowly stopped moving around in the drawer and my other hand which was mopping water out of my hair slowed down before the towel came off my face to rest on my shoulder. I nced into the drawer I was currently ruminating for some time now and literally stopped breathing. I tugged my hand out from the drawer and shook my hand a little when one of the soft, silky materials of Sofia¡¯s undies clung onto my little finger. Gosh. She had a fucking drawer of sexy panties, right here in my bathroom and I had mistakenly, unintentionally searched through it because I thought that was where my sweatpants were packed in. God. I could have gone the whole week, and the next, and the next, without knowing that Sofia wears underwear as sexy as these. How was I going to be able to concentrate now, knowing that my wife had something as mouth watering as these beneath her clothes. Fuck. I slid the drawer shut without looking into it again and groaned as I got to my feet and moved to the next drawer which my sweatpants were thankfully in, this time. Getting into it as fast as I could, I made my way out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. I sank into my side of the bed and first of all checked the time. It was twenty eight minutes to two a.m and I was still awake. My shoulders muscles magically felt lighter after the cold shower I took, which I was really grateful for. I ced my phone on the bed side table after setting an rm as usual. Turning around on the bed and taking a fleeting nce at Sofia, I tried to imagine the type of underwear she had on at the moment¡­ After a couple of dirty thoughts flooded my head, I shook the thought out the window, not wanting to feel like a creep even to myself. I slid beneath the nkets and tucked the nket against my waist before turning around on my side until I was facing her. And then I proceeded to watch her and just think. I allowed my mind to wander around as I took in her facial shape and drank in every detail. Each time her expression changed in her sleep, this sudden yearning to make everything better and take all her worries away from her kept increasing and increasing. The feeling was a weird one as I had never experienced nor gotten this kind of feeling towards anyone before. It was weird, kinda. It felt weird that I wanted to take care of her and make everything all better for her. It should feel weird, because I had no idea if it was a normal feeling or something else entirely. She moved in her sleep and groaned softly, the sound quiet and still audible to me, as she moved a little in her sleep and I noticed exactly when she unconsciously moved her injured arm a little, and as her face got scrunched up in obvious pain. Why was she even still feeling pain? Weren¡¯t the doctors supposed to have taken care off all these? She moved again in her sleep and I winced as she moved her injured arm once again, sending another pang of pain through her body and resulting in the scrunched up facial expression getting more prominent and defined on her face. Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Luca¡¯s POV Why was she even still feeling pain? Weren¡¯t the doctors supposed to have taken care off all these? She moved again in her sleep and I winced as she moved her injured arm once again, sending another pang of pain through her body and resulting in the scrunched up facial expression getting more prominent and defined on her face. I watched as her eyelids fluttered once before her face eased into a rxed expression, right before it fluttered again and finally slid open after two more flutters. I watched as her sleepy lidded eyes blinked open and I watched for a second longer, marking herst facial expression in my head right as I allowed my eyes to slide shut as if I was already fast asleep. I didn¡¯t hear any other sound that would signal that she was either trying to get out of the bed to probably go the bathroom, but nothing sounded after a few minutes. I didn¡¯t bother giving in to my curiosity to peel my eyes open to take onest look at her and instead moved in my spot on the bed until I wasying down morefortably. And then I slowly fell into a deep sleep, the feeling of Sofia¡¯s silky underwear crossing my mind, thest thing I remember. ****** I was up a few seconds before my rm could go off and quickly shut it off before it started ringing and woke Sofia. Dragging myself out of the bed, I stretched for a few minutes, feeling my muscles release and hold only to release again. Not feeling in any mood to exercise at the gym this morning, I crouched down and decided to do a few push ups right there beside my bed. And so I started moving up and down, counting silently in my head and finally stopping once I had gotten to fifty. Feeling as if I had sweated out some of the worked up feeling I had in my chest, I made my way into the bathroom and took a quick shower, the icy cold water cascading down on me in a quick rush, washing the sweat and soap off my body. I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to rub myself dry. I got into a pair of boxer shorts before making my way into the walk in closet to pick out something to wear. It was a Thursday, the fifth day into my new marriage and I picked out a dark blue suit and a white inner shirt. Picking a tie to match my suit, I dressed up and was taking care of my hair a few minutester, standing before the mirror and tending to my hair, rubbing the usuals into it and running myb through it before finally blowing it out and slightly patting it down with my hands. I didn¡¯t need to carry a briefcase or a bag around which was supposed to be holding aptop and some very important files because most of the important files I work with are there at the office and I almost never take my work from the office all the way home toplete it. I have an office here at home and I also never take any work from there all the way to the office at thepany. I shrugged on my suit jacket once I was done and made my way out of the walk in closet, out the bedroom and only paused to pick up my phone, to run my eyes over Sofia¡¯s sleeping form and also checked to make sure she wasn¡¯t on the edge of the bed this time before finally making my way out of the bedroom and shutting the door quietly behind me. I ascended the staircase and made my way out of the door, not bothering with coffee this morning. I¡¯ll get one when I get to the office. And with that in mind, I stepped out of the house door and nodded at the guards standing outside the house. Sofia¡¯s personal guards were outside the house as well and I motioned my finger for them to climb down the few stairs at the front of the house. ¡°How was your night?¡± I asked after they greeted me once again. ¡°It was nice, thank you.¡± The one named Ethan replied while the other guard remained quiet. Perhaps something happened to himst night and he was already thinking about it again because of my question. ¡°You¡¯re to monitor Sofia¡¯s injury. If the pain is still as intense as it was yesterday, get her to the hospital and have her checked up.¡± I said to them, directly eyeing the guard named Ryan who had checked Sofia¡¯s injury yesterday. He''s the one good for this assignment because he knew how intense it was yesterday morning. ¡°We¡¯ll see to it sir.¡± They both replied in sync and I nodded my head once before starting to say again, this time, directly speaking to Ryan. ¡°You saw how intense the pain was when she moved the arm around, monitor it today again and then if it ends up being as intense as it was yesterday, give me a call like you did and take her to the hospital.¡± ¡°Will do, sir.¡± Ryan replied with a small bow of his head and I nodded my head once before dismissing them by waving a hand at them and watched as they both turned around and went to stand outside the house with the other guards. It wasn¡¯t time for them to be able to go into the house yet, that would be until half an hourter. The gates got rolled open by the workers in that department here in the house and my driver drove through the open gates, parking perfectly in one try. He stepped out of the car and jogged towards me, his face eased in an easy expression. ¡°Good morning, Mr Ri.¡± He greeted the moment he stopped beside me and I nodded my head at him, looking him up and down and wondering why he appeared so hyper this morning. I wasn¡¯t one to dependpletely on coffee to wake my brains up in the morning, but coffee helps to wake my system up way faster than it would do automatically. ¡°Good morning. How are you feeling?¡± I murmured and watched as he threw his head back before starting to reply to me, it was obvious that he was high on coffee or molly at this point. Nobody was ever this excited in this early hour of the day where the day wasn¡¯t fully broken yet. ¡°I¡¯m doing quite alright, sir. How is Mrs Ri doing?¡± He asked back and I cracked a grin, no because he was never the one to try to start a conversation or ask a question for a question. ¡°What did you take?¡± I asked and watched as he blinked once at me before licking his lips once. He cleaned his palms on his pants material and licked his lips again. ¡°Um, coffee. I had coffee this morning.¡± He replied and I stared at him pointedly, my eyes finally picking on the effects I¡¯ve been silently looking for for a little while now. His eyes were zed over and he looked quite normal, but it was obvious he was high on something. I reached out and wrapped my hand around his tie on his neck and used it to jerk him forward until he was only a few feet away from me. His eyes widened and the zness in his eyes was more obvious to me now due to how close he was to me. His mouth open but nothing came out and I watched as the fearful expression deepened when I tightened my hold on the tie. ¡°What did you take?¡± ¡°Um, nothing.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t ask you this question after thisst time.¡± I paused and tightened my hold on him even more and watched as he quaked in my grip, sweat gathering on his forehead and sliding down his skin slowly. I knew without turning my head around that the guards at the front of the house were most definitely watching the whole silent drama unfold between my driver and I. I wasn¡¯t raising my voice one bit, so there was no way they¡¯d be able to know what was actually going on. ¡°What did you take?¡± I asked again, grinding each word out and making sure they came out lower than normal and I watched as he puffed out a slow breath which indeed smelled of coffee like he imed to have only taken at first. ¡°I took Drugs, I¡¯m so sorry, boss.¡± He finally confessed, his eyelids drooping as shame washed over him. I knew I wasn¡¯t wrong. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g ¡°What kind?¡± ¡°Molly, and a few other ones.¡± He confessed in a quiet voice, the most quiet voice I¡¯ve ever heard used ever since he started working with me, barely able to stare into my eyes at this point. ¡°Why did you take drugs this morning? You wanna crash my car with all of us in it this morning?¡± I demanded, shaking him a little for emphasis and he shook his head immediately. ¡°No sir, that was never my intention. I¡¯d never crash your car or put your life in danger.¡± He started to say which made me snort not so quietly. Do people who crash cars or get into idents ever agree that they¡¯d ever do it beforehand? ¡°Go home,¡± I said to him as I watched as he started shaking his head almost immediately. I released my home on his tie and took a step back away from him, he reached forward immediately and clutched on my wrist as desperate pleas fell out of his lips. I nced down at his hands gripping my wrist and back up at his face and he released his hold on my wrist a few secondster, but never ceasing the pleas and excuses. ¡°Go home, bute see me at the officeter today. You and I need to have a word or two.¡± I said to him before inserting my hands into my pocket and turning around to stare at the guards who all dragged their eyes away from our direction like they weren¡¯t just staring over here, a moment ago. ¡°What about my job sir?¡± His voice sounded behind my back and he continued almost immediately, his voice a thread away from breaking and cracking. ¡°Am I fired? My Ri?¡± He continued and I turned around to face him and watched as he took an hesitant step away from me, dread clouding his zed eyes. ¡°Go home. Now.¡± I said instead and watched as he nodded his head once and made to walk towards the car in which he hade in. ¡°No, no. Leave it here. Go without it, call someone toe pick you up once you leave here or take public transport, but leave the car here.¡± He stared wide eyed at me for a few seconds before nodding his head jerkily and turning around to do as I had instructed. I turned around once again to stare at the guards still standing in front of the house, noticing immediately that Ryan and Ethan were nowhere to be found, making me figure out that they had most definitely gone into the house to check around the house and ensure it was a hundred percent safe. I dug my phone out from my pants pocket and dialed James'' number. He answered the call on the second ring and demanded where I was immediately. ¡°I¡¯m still at home. Are you at the office yet?¡± I asked him, ncing up at the sky and noticing that the day was almostpletely breaking. ¡°No, but I¡¯m almost there. Why are you still at home? I swear to God, Luca-¡° He started to say but I cut him off, not put off one bit with the way he was speaking to me. We¡¯ve been best friends since forever, what did you expect? ¡°I sent the kid home a few minutes ago, and I¡¯m currently without a driver. I¡¯ll drive my car myself today and be with you in a little while. Start sorting out the files we¡¯re going to be taking along with us once you get there. ¡°What happened to him? He showed up with fight wounds?¡± James asked and I made my way towards the car and opened it immediately before sliding in and starting the car. ¡°Worse. He was floating on molly and some other shits.¡± I replied to him and nced sideways as the bodyguard who usually rides with us in the first car tugged the door open and slid into the passenger¡¯s seat. ¡°Jesus. This early?¡± ¡°I can fucking rte, man.¡± I replied as I started to slowly ease the car out of where it was parked. Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°What happened to him? He showed up with fight wounds?¡± James asked and I made my way towards the car and opened it immediately before sliding in and starting the car. ¡°Worse. He was floating on molly and some other shits.¡± I replied to him and nced sideways as the Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g bodyguard who usually rides with us in the first car tugged the door open and slid into the passenger¡¯s seat. ¡°Jesus. This early?¡± ¡°I can fucking rte, man.¡± I replied as I started to slowly ease the car out of where it was parked. I ended the call with james after exchanging a few more with me and dropped the phone into the console as I drove the car towards the gates which slide open after a few seconds of me waiting behind it and I drove out of thepound immediately, easing into the busy roads and navigating through the traffic as it permitted. I wasn¡¯t used to driving because I always had a driver on me almost every time, but that doesn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t know how to drive. I might not be texting my driving skills very frequently but I still knew how to drive a car just fine. It was like a bike. Once you learnt how to ride one, it doesn¡¯t matter how long you¡¯ve rode one, that skill was forever in your brains and veins¡­ that was the same with driving a car. I wished I had at least calmed down a little and prepared a cup of coffee assuming I had known beforehand that I was going to be driving the car to the office this morning myself. Now I was feeling half dead and with barely enough sleep as I handled the wheels like a pro that was. I finally pulled into thepany¡¯s premises and parked the car in its usual spot in the part marked out for only really important people. I noticed James¡¯ Ferrari parked a little space away from mine as I alighted the car and mmed the door shut. The one in control of all the cars came around and halted in his spot for a few seconds on seeing me stepping out of the driver¡¯s seat today. ¡°Good morning, Mr Ri.¡± He finally greeted one he regained himself as he remained a few steps away from me. ¡°How are you, Henry?¡± I inquired as I ensured my phone was deep in my pocket before I mmed the door shut and locked it with a button on the car¡¯s key. ¡°I- I¡¯m fine, sir. Very fine.¡± He replied almost immediately, a little bit too fast and too rushed with gave away the fact that he was a tad bit afraid of me, and also nervous around me. Everyone was just so afraid of me, it gets annoying sometimes. ¡°Here are the keys.¡± I said to him with the keys raised up and he reduced the distance between us before reaching up and collecting the key from my grip. Henry was a young adult of either twenty one or twenty two years of age but had the height of a teenager. He epted the keys, muttered his ¡®thank you¡¯ and was whirling around and away from me almost immediately. I made my way into thepany and into the elevator, all the way to the highest floor where my office was located. Making my way into the office, past my three secretaries which consists of two men and a woman, all in their early andte twenties who were currently huddled over a particr file they were trying to figure out, and into my office. James lifted his head up and stared at me before going back to the files he was currently counting on one part of the first shelf in the office. ¡°Hey man, good morning.¡± I called out to him as I sank into my seat and quickly dug out my handkerchief to wipe off the perspiration that had gathered on my forehead, or tried to, because I rxed at thest second that I was without any. ¡°You have an handkerchief with you, James?¡± I called out as I stifled an unexpected yawn that tumbled into my mouth from my throat. ¡°Oh yeah, look into my suit jacket¡¯s pocket.¡± James called out and I stood up and turned around to pick up his jacket which was currently handing on its usual spot which was the back of the chair opposite mine. I checked the first pocket and found a fresh handkerchief there, before tugging it out with a relieved sigh and using it to mop my face almost immediately as I made my way back to my seat. ¡°Gosh, I need coffee so bad, I might faint if I don¡¯t get one in the next few minutes.¡± I said aloud as I picked up the new set of files my secretaries had sorted out and had submitted here for me to go through, sign and stamp. I couldn¡¯t do any of that shit now without getting coffee into my system. ¡°Call the secretaries and have one of them bring you coffee, to wake your brain up.¡± James'' voice started to get closer before he came to stand at the side of the table and stare down at me. ¡°You look like shit, Luca. Is this because you drove yourself to the office this morning?¡± James murmured with a slow grin and I puffed out a breath and flipped him off before picking up the wired connected phone on the wall beside my table and put a call through to the room after mine, which was the secretaries¡¯ office. One of the two men answered the call and I requested to be brought coffee. He agreed to go get it immediately and I ended the call immediately and ced the phone back on the wall, hooking it up carefully so it wouldn''t fall off the wall after a little while. ¡°You looked really rough man, like you had a really bad morning. Did something happened? James inquired in a voice void of all yfulness this time. I ran my fingers through my hair and moved the finger down to the veins on the back of my head to massage it slowly with my fingers. I was in desperate need of a thorough muscle massage at this point. ¡°I don¡¯t know, man. I haven¡¯t been sleeping that well for the past few days as well so I guess that was part of why I feel like shit at the moment.¡± I exined to James, staring straight to him now that he was finally sitting in the chair before me, a bunch of files in his hands which he settled on the table and pushed it to the other side of the table and ced a couple of pens on it the way we always do to avoid mixing up files that shouldn¡¯t be mixed, together. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you been getting enough sleep? Is it because of your little wife?¡± James demanded, narrowing his eyes at me and I rolled my eyes at him as I made to supply him with an answer. ¡°It wasn¡¯t because of her, she didn¡¯t do a thing.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± He demanded and I nodded my head immediately in a quick move. ¡°Positive.¡± ¡°But this not getting enough sleep of yours literally only started after you got married, five days ago.¡± James started to say and I sighed a little as I silently begged the secretary to return with my coffee as fast as possible. ¡°Man, I¡¯m really getting more and more convinced to steer clear of marriage,¡± James continued to say and Ipletely ignored him as I started to massage my shoulders muscles with my fingers. A knock sounded on the door and I quickly gave whoever it was permission toe in because I was sure it was my coffee. The door got pushed open and in walked Loki, one of the two men amongst my secretaries. Loki was in his early twenties but was smart as fuck. He walked into the room and ced the coffee on the table before asking me if there was anything else I¡¯d like him to do for me. I dismissed him, reassuring him that there was nothing else I needed from him and started to loosen the whole packaging given to the coffee even before he was out of the door and was swallowing a hot mouthful of coffee a momentter. I leaned against the back of my seat and slowly savoured the taste of the coffee, loving the way the hot liquid slightly burned my tongue. That was part of the trill of drinking coffee early in the morning. While it is going to be doing its job in waking your system up in the morning, the burn it would leave behind on his tongue alone would snap your brain awake. ¡°Where to first?¡± I asked James once I already had almost half of the liquid in my system and I could already thankfully start to feel more like a human and less like a zombie. ¡°The diamond gathering. It¡¯s pretty stupid as to why a gathering is set this early in the morning, if you ask me.¡± James said with an eye roll as he started flipping through one one of the files he was searching for when I came in here, some time ago. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound that important, is it really, really important?¡± I asked with a small grimace as I quietly swallowed a mouthful of my coffee and allowed it to slowly slide into my throat this time. ¡°It is and it isn¡¯t. It depends on how you look at it. Looking at it from our perspective, it¡¯s important to us. It¡¯s about an auction and we¡¯re all going to be bidding for diamonds.¡± James paused and I leaned further in my seat as my mind started to pick out where I had heard about this particr thing before. ¡°We received an invitation to the gathering about a month ago, right?¡± I asked, the thought still feeling foggy as fuck in my head. ¡°You received the invitation a month ago, yup.¡± James rified and I rolled my eyes and massaged my hands against one another on the table. ¡°So we have to go bidding for a diamond we have no use for?¡± I demanded and James cracked a smile before shaking his head and leaning forward in his seat as well. ¡°First off all, a lot of high people are going to be there. In Fact, I heard The Manzo mafia were also invited, which means a lot of other huge mafias around the whole of Italy were probably invited.¡± James paused and reached for my coffee, which I picked up and downed the remaining content without missing a beat. James continued without making a fuss, as if he didn¡¯t just try to casually drink from my coffee. ¡°It also means every mafia is going to want to prove a point that they were the richest mafia in the whole of mafias invited by bidding and bidding. It means we¡¯re also going to bid and bid and not give up until we get one of the most priced diamonds there.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± I paused and rolled all what he just said around in my head. ¡°All that just to prove a point? Who cares if we¡¯re seen as the richest or not?¡± ¡°A lot of people do. If we don¡¯t emerge as one of the best there, we¡¯ll loose a lot of respect and some dumb people might get into their head to directlye attack you after a while.¡± James exined on and on and I nodded my head, finally seeing sense in what he was saying. My mafia was one of the most respected of the Italy and I wouldn¡¯t want that to change, to avoid us falling to the bottom drastically. ¡°So, how are we going to do it?¡± Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Luca¡¯s POV My mafia was one of the most respected of the Italy and I wouldn¡¯t want that to change, to avoid us falling to the bottom drastically. ¡°So, how are we going to do it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing! We¡¯re going to observe and observe as if the prices of the first set of diamonds showcased were all way too expensive. We¡¯ll onlye in when it¡¯s at the veryst diamond and then, we¡¯ll drop a higher price. If the person that was about to receive the diamond before wee in decides to up his price, we¡¯d up ours with millions immediately, and on and on until the person gives up and the diamond would finally be handed over to us.¡± James started to say and I nodded my head in understanding as he went on and on until he arrived at thest part. ¡°Wait. When we finally get the diamond, what¡¯s going to happen? I won¡¯t pour that much amount of money on a diamond only to keep it with me and set myself as a trap to hungry, shameless thieves. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen is that, we¡¯re going to sell the diamond back to the people that organized the auction. They¡¯re going to buy it back with a higher price than what you bought it with, so you¡¯re going to N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. end up gaining.¡± I stared at James, not following up with all what he saying. ¡°Wait¡­ the same people that organized it would buy it back from us?¡± James nodded his head with a grin and leaned forward in his seat once again, ¡°It¡¯s not actually those particr people. It¡¯s some group of people that the organizers of the auction would arrange themselves, that way if anything goes wrong with the selling of the diamond, you¡¯ll hold them guilty and get them sued.¡± James exined, serious as ever and his eyes shining the way it usually does each time he was talking about something that really intrigue him. ¡°How do you know so much about this?¡± I asked him in awe of how he know so much about an auction I was invited to, and hasn¡¯t bothered to look it up and make researches all those while. ¡°I made researches and lots of findings like a normal human before sending back a message indicating that we had received the invitation and would be gracing them with our presence.¡± James said with an eye roll and I didn¡¯t miss theugh tugging at the side of his lips right before he dropped his head down and stared at his hand on the table instead while shaking his head a little. ¡°That¡¯s really amazing, really. You¡¯re really amazing.¡± I paused and waited until he nced back up at me, an readable expression on his face, before I continued. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t think I appreciate you enough. You do so much and not once, not twice, I sometimes wonder how your knowledge of things is so broad. You do so much for the mafia and want little to no credit on most days¡­ like? How did I get this lucky tond someone as amazing as you as my right hand man?¡± I paused once again and puffed out a sharp breath, my heart constricting in my heart as it all started to dawn on me all over again, about James was just¡­ James and how he was such an amazing and selfless human. James stared at me without saying a thing and finally allowed his head back down once again as he absorbed the whole emotions stifling the air. ¡°James?¡± I called out after some time and he raised his hand up and murmured in a quiet, gravely voice, ¡°Give me a minute, man.¡± When he finally raised his head up, his face was nk of any emotion like I had expected and he moved his fingers against the table for a few seconds before starting to say in a low voice. ¡°You know, for someone who¡¯s known as the most brutal and emotionless person all around Italy, you sure are a mushy idiot.¡± I grinned knowingly, already expecting the angle he had decided to use in handling his emotions. ¡°I am not mushy, I just want you know how amazing you are and how much I appreciate you.¡± I replied without missing a beat and watched as a tiny sound escaped his mouth before he leaned forward in his seat and sighed slowly, all sign of yfulness gone from his face. ¡°That was a whole lot to offload on me without any warning, do you know that?¡± James finally started to say and I shrugged my shoulders, not feeling one bit remorseful. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, man. It wasn¡¯t intentional.¡± I drawled out and reached for the capture cup of coffee and started to tap my finger lightly against it. ¡°At least give me a warning next time.¡± He continued and I snorted while nodding my head in understanding, he was shits when ites to handling his emotions. It was almost hrious to watch. ¡°I really appreciate the fact that you see me in that kind of light.¡± James finally started to say and I stared at him without saying a thing until he continued. ¡°I mean, I know you know I am really amazing, because hello? It¡¯s me, amazingness.¡± He paused again, an unknown emotion shining in his eyes. ¡°But it really means a lot, hearing you tell it to me. ¡°But just offload everything to me at once next time and give me a head ups next time please¡­ I mean, you don¡¯t want me breaking down in tears because of the amount of emotions you offload on me without warning, do you?¡± James demanded this time, a small scowl on his face but you couldn¡¯t miss the way his eyes was shining with emotion and the way he cheeks was almost spreading into a smile. ¡°Actually, I¡¯d like to see something like that. You, James, breaking down in tears would be a really intriguing sight to behold.¡± I started to say and I watched as he shook his head from side to side right before he flipped me off and whispered a low ¡®fuck you¡¯ to me. ¡°Now what?¡± I said as I pushed myself to my feet and out of my seat. I stretched my arms out and moved from side to side as I felt the muscles of my shoulders stretched out. ¡°Now, we sort these files which we¡¯re going to need for our third appointment today, there¡¯d be no time to this after our second appointment and we most definitely won¡¯t being back to the office from our second appointment. We¡¯d instead head straight to the third appointment.¡± I paused in my thores of stretches I was performing and turned around until I was staring at him¨C or at his head rather, because he was once again going through the said files we were supposed to sort out together. ¡°Where is the third appointment holding at? The AMAs, right?¡± ¡°Yeahhhhhh. That particr sharespany. They wanted to merge with us because they¡¯re in debts. But once we merge and we pay off their debts, the whole shares would be divided equally between bothpanies, and then we¡¯d be automatically receiving twenty percent of their own shares every month. So once the whole iees in for the month, we get seventy and they get thirty. That is after we take back the money we used in paying off their debts though.¡± James paused and nced up at me to check if I was still with me. After confirming, he dropped his head back down and continued what he was doing to the files right before he continued what he was saying. ¡°So now we¡¯re merging theirpany with my fourth sharespany because it was my most smallestpany but wasn¡¯t doing all that bad either.¡± I said to him and he nodded his head immediately. ¡°Exactly. So that¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen. The auction is going to be taking ce in an hour and so minutes and we¡¯d have to leave for there any moment from now.¡± James informed me and I nodded my head at him even though he couldn¡¯t see me. I made my way towards the restroom in my office and washed my hands in the sink. I stared at myself in the mirror once I was done and took in how red my eyes looked and how bags were starting to gather beneath my eyes. I didn¡¯t need anyone to point out to me that I was stressed the fuck out. My facial expression was more than enough exnation for anyone. I made my way back into the office and sank into my seat before taking each file james had already set aside and quickly nced through it before stamping and putting my signature down on it. We were both done in a few minutes time and together rounded up before making our way out of the office together. We made our way into the empty elevator together and started talking about one thing or the other in there, almost immediately. ¡°You don¡¯t n on driving us there, do you?¡± James asked and I narrowed my eyes at him. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°I meant that, you¡¯re in no state to drive.¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± I replied him with a scowl and he onlyughed in my face as the elevator doors slowly slid open. We made our way out of the elevator and were out thepany¡¯s main door in a few minutes time. We decided to take my car since it was bigger and James insisted on driving because apparently I looked way too stressed out to consider driving, and also because I wasn¡¯t used to frequently driving the way he obviously was. We drove out of thepany¡¯s premises with the other car containing my bodyguards, tailing the car as usual. After a really long while, quite longer than I expected, we finally pulled up against arge building painted in white. The gate got thrown open after we were confirmed and cleared as one of the people that were officially invited, which means people who didn¡¯t receive an official invitation wouldn¡¯t be allowed to go in. We parked in an empty spot on one part of the wild looking expanse of space were a lot of other cars were parked in. A few people were moving around and beside each car, stood a guard or two in different attire which would each signify each particr mafia by just staring at their guards clothes. James removed the keys from the ingenator and turned around slightly until he was facing me. I slowly did my bottoms back up and made sure my tie was in ce as a feeling of weakness slowly washed over my body. I needed sleep. I needed to rest. I¡¯d have rather not be here at this moment, but because it was important for our mafia, here I was, attending the auction and hopefully existing therge hall room where the ceremony was going to be taking ce, with the most biggest auctioned antique. ¡°You ready?¡± James asked and I nodded my head before unconsciously reaching upwards and yanking on my tie. ¡°Whoa, there. You¡¯re supposed to be making yourself more presentable, not doing this.¡± James signed out beside me as he ran his fingers through his hair and patted it down, he aligned and arranged himself until he was looking neat and sleek as fuck. I, on the other hand, felt like crap. It felt like the coffee I had taken this morning at the morning has this morning as I drove all the way to work, from the house. I arranged my tie once again and patted it down until it wasying smoothly against my chest. I knew I was only being unconsciously difficult to myself, because the reflection of myself staring back at me through the rear view mirror and the side mirror, was that of me on a normal day. I didn¡¯t look sick or weird or lifeless Iike I was currently feeling, my face still looked sexy as fuck, except for small the eye bags beneath my eyes. My hair was also not as slicked back and curly as it used to be like on a normal day, now it was fluffed out, the curls appearing even more prominent this way. I wasn¡¯t all that bad looking, at the moment, the way I had been feeling at first. Chapter 31 Chapter 31 Luca¡¯s POV I alighted the car the moment one of the guards who had ridden in the other car pulled open the door for me on noticing that I was about to leave the car. James got down from the vehicle as well and we both stood at the side of the car while quickly scanning our eyes over the whole premises. I beckoned the three guards forward and they stood around James and I in the next second. ¡°You¡¯re going in there with us.¡± I pointed to the guard in the middle and watched as he nodded briskly, his hands folded behind his back. ¡°The rest of you are to stand beside the two cars the way every other guard is doing, huh?¡± I continued and they both nodded their heads in understanding. ¡°Be alert and do not leave your various spots for any reason.¡± I paused and stared pointedly at the two guards I was referring to. ¡°If you notice anything strange and weird going on here during the auction, give me a text, and a call if I don¡¯t reply to the text immediately. Got it?¡± I brushed my hair backwards that was falling into my face as I waited for their reply which came a secondter. ¡°Got it, boss.¡± ¡°Noted, boss.¡± James and I started walking side by side as we slowly made our way towards therge hall where the auction was supposed to take ce at. The invitation card was deep in my pockets, along with my phone and the hand kerchief I had collected from James this morning. The fucker surprisingly had another new piece of hand kerchief in his bag, which he had brought along with him to the auction. ¡°Hope it won¡¯t be extremely rowdy, because it sounds like it¡¯s really noisy in there.¡± I grumbled beneath my breath to James as we neared the entrance of the hall with every slow step we both took in sync. ¡°I hope so too. But I do have a feeling that it would be filled but still arranged neatly and ordingly, nevertheless. An event as ssy as this cannot afford to be tagged as rowdy.¡± James murmured back to me and whistled lowly as I finally stepped into the hall which was guided by a bunch of security guards. ¡°Damn.¡± I said beneath my breath as my eyes traveled over the whole crowd who were seated in rows and rows of chairs and tables. What took my breath away was the front of the hall. It was a huge space with a stage put away in the middle of it, but at the full length wall at the front of the wall, disyed different kinds of diamonds in different shapes and sizes, through the aid of a bright and sharp projector. ¡°That¡¯s some really hot pieces of diamonds, damn.¡± I said to James without taking my eyes off the disy which kept changing to reveal a different kind and style, every two seconds. ¡°I know, right? It¡¯s somehow sexy¡­¡± James trailed off with a smallugh and I nced at him immediately. ¡°I never knew diamonds could be ssified as hot until this very moment.¡± I said to him as I turned back to the pictures being disyed on the wall. James nudged my side with his shoulder and I looked at him questioningly, but he only wiggled his brow without saying a thing while a grin tugged at the side of his lips. I ignored him and was about to turn back to what I was watching before until I felt a very light tap on my back. I turned around and stared at the man dressed in security attire that had tapped me, moments ago. ¡°If I may show you to your seats, sir.¡± He said after a few seconds and I nced at James without saying a thing, silently asking him if this was how it was done. He only shrugged at me before focusing his gaze on the security man once again. I followed the lead of the security, ignoring the way a few people couldn¡¯t help but follow my footsteps with their whole faces, while the rest only trailed my footsteps with the movement of their eyes¡­ until the security finally stopped in a spot on the right side of the room, a few steps away from the front of the hall. I grimaced for a few moments before sinking down into the seat that was apparently mine¡­ because it even had my name on it, with James¡¯s name on the seat beside mine. I breathed out a long sigh and nced around the people sitting around where I was currently sitting and fortunately didn¡¯t recognize any of the men sitting around here. They were either too far for my mafia to know about or I might have heard their names before without knowing what they looked like. ¡°Well, this event seems really collected and organized, don¡¯t you think?¡± James leaned into my side and whispered a few feet directly away from my ear. ¡°They haven¡¯t even started yet, James, so I wouldn¡¯t know.¡± I said to him and noticed the way he rolled his eyes immediately before I continued, ¡°Also why did we get assigned to the row almost at the very front of the room? Everyone is going to be watching us without us knowing who it was.¡± I demanded and watched as he shrugged his shoulders right before he quickly scrubbed his hand over his face. ¡°I think it¡¯s out of respect for you.¡± James murmured to me in reply after a while and I turned his words around in my head as I nced from feces to faces more carefully this time, which was when I noticed that I had met some of these people at other social gatherings without mingling or getting to know each other, and that I had most definitely seen a few of those faces on television, one way or the other. Maybe they weren¡¯t as unknown as I thought they were at first. I lifted my hands up and ran it through my curls, stifling a yawn with my fingers almost instantly. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. The tables and chairs were arranged in a way that nobody would be able to obstruct another one¡¯s view of the whole event that was going to go down. The floor of the hall itself was in stairs, going all the way, from the very top of the hall. Which means that each row or tables and chairs were on each of the stairs. Everyone also sat in twos and threes, depending on the amount of people youe with, and nothing more. The low music that has been ying even before we got here started getting lower and lower before finally turning off. I watched the stage closely as ady in a yellow dress which had a slit right from the top of her thigh, all the way down, walked towards the front of the hall from the far end of the wall which I knew held a door that lead into somewhere private for the workers. She was a talldy and the shoes she had on made her way more taller as she climbed on the stage and waved her right hand which clicked a white card in the air while speaking into the microphone in her left hand, at the same time. ¡°Hello everyone!¡± The crowd murmured a hello back but it wasn¡¯t as enthusiastic as she preferred because she repeated her greeting a little more loudly and the crowd voice went up a little more this time. ¡°How was everyone''s journey here? I¡¯m hoping it wasn¡¯t a lot stressful. Forgive us for hosting this asion in an area so far from all of the most popr ces here in Venice.¡± She paused and smiled a little, the cameras were focused on her now because a huge screen of her and the gestures she was making was being disyed on the wall behind her. ¡°But that was because this was the most safest ce for us, seeing as we¡¯d be in a really risky situation and be pulling ourselves out there in the middle of the gun by doing something like that. Forgive us once again.¡± ¡°I want to thank everyone of you, for honoring our invitations and making time to grace us with your presence.¡± She paused and waited for a few moments before continuing. ¡°So Thank you and be expecting to be wowed and blown by our pretty diamonds itching to be in his grasps and grips.¡± ¡°My name is Hayley, and I¡¯d be your host for tonight, along with¡­ Jake!¡± She called out and everyone pped their hands as the said Jake came directly from the direction she hade from as well, bouncing into the hall and jumping on the stage to stand beside her immediately. ¡°What¡¯s up everyone?¡± Jake demanded loudly and loud noises erupted in the crowd, the sound going shades high than when it was for the girl. ¡°The name¡¯s Jake and you¡¯re looking at the assistant host for the day.¡± Jake introduced himself with a wide grin painted across his face and the noise in the crowd went a tab higher, making me sit up in my seat and properly nce around the hall. By the look of things, it was obvious that there were a lot of females in here, who were all simping big time for Jake. I had a feeling this said Jake was into modeling and something that made him famous to the girls, anyone could be able to tell with the way shouts went up the crowd the moment he walked into the room, that the women were quite familiar with him. ¡°Drinks would be served to everyone, if it still hasn''t gotten to you yet. Our staff are seeing to it already.¡± James said once the noise died down and I rolled my eyes, wishing they could get on with the main reason for the gathering, after all. ¡°So¡­¡± Hayley started to say this time before dramatically pausing only to continue after a few seconds. ¡°Who¡¯s ready to bag some dope ass diamonds?¡± She asked and the noises in the crown went high and Finally. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the tiny but still beautiful as fuck ones thst would most definitely sweep your girl off her feet immediately!¡± Jake said and everyone pped loudly and I noticed that some things were being wheeled into the front of the stage, from the direction in which both hosts hade out from. The hosts got down from the stage and came to stand before the cart that got wheeled in, a moment ago. As said by James, small diamonds were the first course of the event and I watched as Hayley lifted up a small diamond earring into the air and held it out for everyone to stare at. The cameras zoomed in on the diamond to reveal it more clearly to the crowd. It was a small studded earring, but you didn¡¯t need to touch it to confirm that it was real diamond. ¡°Anyone want this baby?¡± Jake asked and a lot of hands went up, mostly females. Heughed into the mic before he continued, ¡°Well you know it cannot be going for free of charge, so let¡¯s get to bargaining!!¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be going for ten thousand dors. Any one want this baby? Let¡¯s see those hands up.¡± Jake said and multiple hands went up. ¡°Whoever offers the most can have it.¡± Hayley informed them and a woman with sses on got to feet almost immediately. ¡°Twelve thousand dors! Give it to me.¡± ¡°No, I have fifteen thousand dors, can I have it? Another woman got to her feet and demanded, throwing the woman in sses a pointed look. They were one the edge of the left hand side of the hall so I could see everything clearly. ¡°Going for fifteen thousand dors¡­ going, going¡­ sold!¡± Everyone pped their hands as bothdy slide back into their seats a few secondster, making me wonder how costly the big diamonds were going to be and just how packed and prepared everyone was. Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°Thirty thousand dors for the ocean drop ne.¡± Jake announced into the mic with the said ne raised high in the air by his index finger. ¡°Going to the Darta mafia¡­ going¡­¡± ¡°Thirty one thousand dors!¡± An average height man called out immediately he got to his feet and the leader of the said Darta mafia scowled at him before adding an extra thousand dors to it, topping the average height man¡¯s bargaining price. It ended up getting sold to the Darta mafia and he sat back down with so much pride oozing off his body, I didn¡¯t miss the way he threw a scowl at the man that had attempted to get the ne at a higher price. It went on and on and with time, I started to imagine Sofia in all the disyed diamond essories and how it would look like on her. It was hard to concentrate and pay attention to whatever the Jake dude was saying because an image of Sofia wearing one of the ocean drop nes that just got sold out was messing with my head. The image was of her in her silk, sexy underwear with this ne dropping all the way to rest on those small and firm boobs of hers that I wanted to fondle and thumb despite how much I¡¯ve been trying to convince myself to not want that¡­ because it was Sofia, and I shouldn¡¯t be thinking about her that way. ¡°And now, we¡¯re going to be moving to the second level now that we¡¯re done with the third level.¡± Harley announced into the mic before throwing her hand in air and waving it around. ¡°Who¡¯s excited??¡± The crowd cheered loudly and the music got turned on at the same time, making the get even louder. I nced at James just as he was starting to turn his head towards my direction. ¡°We¡¯ve still got time on us, right?¡± I asked him as I quickly nced at my wrist watch on my left wrist and he whipped out his phone and quickly started scrolling through it. ¡°Yes, we do. I shifted our second appointment for today a hour forward than scheduled at first, because I knew this was going to take so much time.¡± James exined without ncing up from his phone which he was scrolling through, he leaned towards me and shoved his phone in my face. I blinked and squinted at it as I tried to read what he was showing me. ¡°They want to see us?! You managed to get an appointment with them?¡± I paused and nced at James who had a wide, knowing grin on his face. ¡°The fuck man? How did you do it? This is so insane?¡± I continued, leaning into him to stare at the phone from over his shoulder to see him replying to the email he showed me moments ago. ¡°I have my ways.¡± He said and I groaned lowly and try to stop the smile from spreading out on my face, can James get any more amazing? I¡¯ve been trying to schedule an appointment with the owner of one of the biggest sharespanies in America, to no avail¡­ but once James got involved, it happened in a week. Now, wasn¡¯t that insane? A loud noise erupted in the crowd, resulting in James ncing away from his phone, to the front of the crowd where it seemed was the cause of the noise. The Jake dude had taken his shirt off and had worn one of the diamonds they were auctioning, making the crowd go wild. ¡°Now, this piece of cake, worn by this piece of candy, is going for a hundred thousand dors. Let¡¯s see those hands if you¡¯re interested.¡± A lot of hands went up almost immediately and I narrowed my eyes at the crowd, and there I was, moments ago, thinking that the majority of crowds didn¡¯te with enough money. A man spoke up first and everyone turned around to stare at him. ¡°I¡¯ll have him for one hundred and fifty thousand dors.¡± The man said and the crowd erupted in screams, while Jake doubled over in ¡°That was really smooth, man.¡± Jake hooted into the mic and everyone went crazy, squealing again again. ¡°Thank you. My throat is way smoother than that, by the way.¡± The man replied calmly and Jake stared at him this time withoutughing, he was biting on his lips and toying with the ne on his neck while still staring at the man who was boldly hitting on the Jake dude without any care for what anybody was going to think. And the crowd was such a vibe, eager for more sexual innuendos from the man. ¡°You can have me then, I mean, you can have the ne.¡± Jake started to say, shamelessly flirting back and the crowd went crazy immediately, banging on their tables and hooting loudly. ¡°Man, these people don¡¯t even give a damn about what people who aren¡¯t a fan of the lgbtqmunity would think of this.¡± James leaned into me and murmured quietly, and I couldn¡¯t agree more. ¡°I know, right? It¡¯s a good thing the majority of the crowd are enthusiasts for that kind of thing. It¡¯s also a good thing that they don¡¯t need to live inplete silence anymore, now that the world and its beliefs are getting more advanced and their knowledge, getting more broadened. ¡°Anyone else wants to bargain for the ne?¡± Hayley asked and waited a few beats before lowering her mic and Jake took over immediately. ¡°Alright then, Mr sexy with a smooth tongue and throat gets the¡­ ne.¡± Jake said and the crowd went loud, taking all at once and disagreeing all at once. ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Jake called out loudly with a dramatic sigh before starting to speak into his mic, while thumbing the ne on his neck once again and looking everywhere but in the still standing man¡¯s direction. ¡°The fine man gets the ne¡­ and me.¡± Jake finally announced and the crowd literally cheered loudly like they all won the lottery or something really important. ¡°Thank you, sexy.¡± The men called out loudly and slowly sank into his seat, everyone openly staring at him once he got seated. And the auction continued until the second finally got over. ¡°And now, for the first and final level, the best, the extras, the most exquisite of them all¡­ has all been added into this set.¡± Hayley paused dramatically for a few seconds before continuing, excitement obvious in the way her voice kept changing tune after each word. ¡°You know how they say the best gets saved for thest, that is what exactly happened here today.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not limited to only a particr person, any one of you can love one of the items that¡¯s going to be disyed in a few minutes time and decide to buy it immediately, that¡¯s how it works here. All you have to do is to bargain until nobody decides to top your price, that¡¯s all.¡± Jake said All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. smoothly, the diamond he had worn on his neck, nowhere to be found. He hadn¡¯t bothered to wear his shirt back, probably because he wanted to drive the man who had flirted with him, some time ago. ¡°With that said, let¡¯s watch a preview of the items thst are going to be disyed, shall we?¡± Hayley said just as the whole lights in therge hall dimmed slowly before finally going out without a sound. A few people in the crowd started murmuring but their voices got silenced by themselves when the wall of the front of the wall lit up brightly, and the next second, different pictures started popping on the wall. Diamonds rings, diamond waistbeads, diamond anklet and bracelets, diamond wrist watches, earrings, a thin diamond ne, and finally a diamond pyramid shaped gem. Everyone cheered as the screen went dark for a few seconds only toe back on secondster to some people modeling the wristwatches and rings. The screen went dark and turned back on after a few seconds to reveal Jake modeling the thin ne, anklets and bracelets. The crowd went crazy on seeing who it was, almost everyone of them was smitten with Jake and it was almost hrious to watch. A new screen came on to reveal a girl in bikini modeling more ne and earrings, as well as the waistbeads clinging to her waist and I sat up almost immediately, wondering why I suddenly loved the way the waistbeads was hanging loosely against her small waist. The screen went dark and the lights finally got restored back into the room and an apuse went through the crowd. ¡°What do you think of waist beads?¡± I leaned into James'' seat and quietly asked him. He nced around towards me and lifted a brow upzily. ¡°Why are you asking? You¡¯re suddenly interested in them?¡± He asked and I felt the side of my lips twitch once, pondering over what he said just now. I was never interested in them, I knew waistbeads beautify people the way normal essories would do¡­ I¡¯ve just never looked at it through this light, through the fact that I might it quite intriguing and perhaps a little bit hot and sexy. ¡°I was never interested in them, because I never knew it could look so hot.¡± I finally admitted quietly to James who remained quiet for a long minute before reply, ¡°Honestly, you¡¯re not the only one. A lot of men would definitely want to get that waistbeads.¡± James paused and nced around slowly. ¡°It was never my thing, I don¡¯t have a problem with it though. But after the small preview that just got shown to us, moments ago, I am really starting to rethink that thought. Me too bro, me too. The cart got wheeled in and everyone started cheering even before the wheel got to the middle of the room. ¡°The wristwatch is going to open the ground for this round, and it¡¯s going for¡­¡± Jake started to say and trailed off at thest moment, making everyone groan around the crowd. He raised the wristwatch up and the camera focused on it, zooming in on it and bringing it closer to our gazes, which made me remember at that moment that I had this exact kind of wrist watch at home. I have a whole lot of wristwatches in different colors and designs, so it was understandable that I didn¡¯t remember it on the spot, before. ¡°The wristwatch is going for nine hundred dors. Let me see those people who love wearing ice. Let me see those hands in the air if you know you want to get this watch.¡± Hayley gushed into the microphone and james leaned into my side and snorted quietly. ¡°Don¡¯t you want the wristwatch? You¡¯ve been real quiet ever since we got here and started seeing different kinds of diamond essories. I know how much you love wristwatches, you love wearing ice, don¡¯t you?¡± I said to James who only rolled his eyes before flipping me the bird. ¡°You have something like this, don¡¯t you? I think I¡¯ve seen it on you a few times.¡± James started to say and I nodded my head immediately. ¡°Yeah, I do. You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°I have one of those.¡± James continued and I stared at the side of his face pointedly, not because it was unusual for him to have a wristwatch as cost as that. Because it wasn¡¯t. James was loaded, he was loaded really well, financially. It was how he said it that spiked my attention. ¡°It was given to me by my ex-girlfriend, months ago.¡± He replied and I nodded my head instantly. ¡°That¡¯s a good thing, or a bad thing?¡± ¡°Man, I don¡¯t even know. I haven¡¯t worn it yet, it¡¯s still at the house.¡± ¡°Is there anything I should know?¡± I asked and he shook his head immediately, not meeting my eyes like he had been doing before. ¡°Not really. There isn''t''.¡± Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Luca¡¯s POV This first and final level was indeed tough like Hayley had exined. The lowest piece of jewelry that has gone for the cheapest price was the earrings, and thst has gone for one and a half million dors after over fifteen people started bargaining for it all at once. The wrist watch ended up going to a man sitting a seat away from mine, and it ended up going for two million dors. I watched as so many stood up for the waist bead. It was one and a half million at first, because it consisted of a lot of diamond crafted into beads shapes, hence the price. Over twenty people started bargaining for it and it finally got handed to a man whose mafia wasn¡¯t all that far from mine, although we were not in good times for as long as I could remember. It ended up going for four million dors. And now, we are currently in the top three. The remaining items consist of the pyramid shaped gem, a diamond ring and the tiny chain. James nudged my arm and I leaned into him instantly to listen to wherever he was saying, ¡°This is where you¡¯lle in. This particr moment is ours.¡± ¡°It really is.¡± I agreed with him immediately while tuning out the noises around us due to Jake flirting with that same man once again. ¡°I am gonna be going for the pyramid shaped gem, it looks like the most priced and what I want to purchase.¡± I murmured to James who stared at the said gem before nodding his head without taking his eyes over the three remaining items. ¡°I¡¯ve got this.¡± I said to him as I leaned back into my seat and prepared myself for when it was going to be time for me to stand and bargain. I wasn¡¯t nervous. Nervousness was thest thing on my mind, I never feel nervous. I was used to carefully nning everything I do and every n I make¡­ unlike James, that was one of the characteristics that differentiate us. James, on the other hand, was the kind of person that is bound to put off nning since he knows how to just go with the flow of things without any problem. I could never do that, I was already used to nning ahead, analyzing my steps and going through my ns over and over in my head. Our different preferences favored us differently, so it was both fine by us. ¡°And now, we¡¯re going to start the main top three rounds by taking out the thin ne.¡± Hayley said loudly into the microphone and the murmurs in the crowd subdued almost immediately. I watched as she unhooked the ne and hooked it around Jake¡¯s neck. The cameras zoomed in on him, showing his face and sweaty throat which the thin ne clung unto, on the wall behind them and as expected, the crowd went wild. At this point, they didn¡¯t care if he was gay and didn¡¯t y for their team, all they knew and cared about was that he was drop dead gorgeous and that alone, was making them go crazy. ¡°Do you all see the baby?¡± Hayley screamed into the microphone with his hand against the ne, N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. on Jake''s throat and the crowd screamed in reply. Hayley leaned against Jake asughter shook through her body, Jake himself was barely holding his amusement together. ¡°You know what? I love how everyone is appreciating Jake so much, it makes me so happy, really.¡± Hayley said into the microphone after a little while once the crowd started to get quiet, and then, everyone stopped talking and watched them closely. ¡°And because of the amount of love and affection you¡¯ve shown him today, I¡¯m going to let someone from the crowd stand up and call a price they feel the ne, against Jake¡¯s throat, is worth. A man stood up from our side of the crowd and all eyes turned into our direction almost instantly. I turned around in my seat and looked the person up from the corner of my eyes, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen this man right here before. ¡°Three million dors.¡± The man said and the crowd went loud, screaming and talking all at once. I knew without a doubt that I was going to develop a head atter today. The ss of wine distributed to us ever since we got here was still untouched on my table, like James¡¯. We do not ept food or drinks from everyone, most especially people we don¡¯t know. Anything could be in it, either to kill us, make us drowsy or fall asleep, giving them a much better and easier ess to us. Prevention is way better and advisable than cure, and we¡¯ve both sticked to this phrase ever since we knew about it. ¡°Whoaaaaaaaaaaa! That¡¯s a lot, don¡¯t you think so?¡± Hayley started to say before directing thest question to the crowd and a murmur rose almost immediately before another man got to his feet and raised his hand slightly. ¡°I think it¡¯s a bit cheap, how about three and a half million dors?¡± The crowd went berserk and Jake only stared into the crowd with a wide grin, looking genuinely shocked and bbergasted all at once. ¡°How about four million?¡± A woman stood up and called out from the other side of the crowd and everyone turned around to stare at her as she waved at Jake who waved back with a wide grin. ¡°Four million¡­ going!¡± Hayley called out and the crowd roared along with her. ¡°Going!¡± She called out again and again before finally selling it to the woman who had a wide grin on her face. It was nice to see a woman win this one against two men. They moved to the second item on the list which ended up going for seven million dors, after so much bargain, that is. And now, it was finally time for the pyramid shaped diamond. ¡°Finally, we¡¯ve arrived at the veryst item of today and the most prized of them all.¡± Jake started saying this time as picked up the piece they were referring to and lifted it high up in the air. The camera zoomed in on it, and the surface alone was so shiny and gleaming despite the fact that it was in a thin transparent foil covering. ¡°That''s really icy man.¡± James leaned into my side to murmur and I nodded my head absentmindedly without taking my eyes off the exquisite diamond. ¡°This is called bloom.¡± Hayley started to say into the microphone and the crowd suddenly grew quiet. After a few minutes, she continued. ¡°¡±It¡¯s one of the rare pieces that has been passed down from generations to generations because for some weird reasons, the news experts had tried remaking and creating more replicas of it, countless times, but it just never turned out this way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a really huge diamond which countless bloods had been spilled for because of their stupid greed which had led them into thinking they could be able to steal it from their owners, back then in the days.¡± Jake took up from where Hayley stopped immediately, spitting his own facts out without any pauses in between. Now, everyone was staring intently at the diamond like they could magically see all that had just been exined by the two hosts, by just looking intently at it. ¡°Now, we¡¯re going to say the price the diamond is going to be going for.¡± A dramatic pause, and, ¡°It¡¯s going to be going for ten million dors!¡± Hayley announced and the whole crowd remained quiet, probably all in shock with how cost it was,pared to before where they''d have been screaming after each price of every item got announced. ¡°Who¡¯s going to take it?¡± Jakes asked while looking intently into the crowd and ncing around. ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± A man from the other side of the crowd stood up and lifted his hand up a little. Everyone¡¯s eyes traveled andnded on him before the crowd went up with tons of apuse. ¡°Anyone else want it?¡± Hayley asked as she looked from crowd to crowd, trying to see if there was going to be someone who¡¯d stand up and bargain for it. ¡°Eleven million dors.¡± Someone called out from my side of the crowd and everyone focused on him immediately, pping and cheering loudly. ¡°Going¡­ going¡­¡± Jake called out and the man who had stood up first, increased the price with a million without hesitating. ¡°I slowly got to my feet and I didn¡¯t need to nce around to tell that everyone was watching me pointedly at the moment. A murmur rose up almost immediately and I knew a lot of people in the crowd recognized me immediately. ¡°Twenty million dors.¡± I called out quietly and watched as Jake¡¯s mouth hung open for a few seconds before he went back into character and waved his mic into the air for a few seconds. ¡°Twenty million¡­ whoa.¡± Hayley breathed into the mic and augh echoed around the crowd. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Hayley apologized immediately before continuing. ¡°Going to Mr Ri.¡± Jake called out and the whole crowd grew quiet immediately, I had no idea the Jake dude knew who I was, but I guess it was because I was pretty popr. Now, those people who only knew my name without knowing what I actually looked like, would have gotten a good look at my face now¡­ thanks to Jake. ¡°Going? Going?¡± Jake called out before finally raising the diamond up, and this time, it was in arge cube shaped package, with the top still open, in order to still give the crowd a nice view of the diamond. ¡°Sold! To Mr Ri!¡± Jake called out and the whole crowd went crazy immediately. I snorted and nced down at James who had a grin on his face. He shrugged lightly and winked at me, a move which made me roll my eyes as I slowly sank into the seat beside him once again. The crowd was yet to quiet down and I knew everyone was no doubt impressed out of their mind, the exact reaction was aimed to get in the first ce. The crowd took some time to quieten down and I knew without a doubt that not everyone here in the crowd was a crowd, more than half of them are probably or most definitely enemies. And those who had only heard about me for a while before acting getting the opportunity to set their eyes on me today, might be impressed as fuck or might instantly grow a deep jealousy for me, in their hearts. But, that¡¯s their businesses and problems. Jake and Hayley started giving an appreciative speech once the crowd finally grew quiet and James leaned into me the next instant. ¡°You¡¯re growing more popr day after day, bro.¡± He said and I shrugged with a small grin tugging at the sides of my lips. Yeah, I guess I was. ¡°To think you were thest to stand up, I was almost thinking you were starting to lose your touch on crowds for a moment back there.¡± James said with augh and I shook my head while answering his observation, ¡°Nah, it¡¯s working just fine. A little too fine, if you ask me.¡± ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve undoubtedly created over a thousand more enemies right here today.¡± I reminded him and his face took on an unknown look for a few seconds before he replied, ¡°Yeah, sadly.¡± ¡°You know you¡¯re bound to get more enemies from another ce, even if this asion didn¡¯t ur, one way or the other. It¡¯s for a good cause because we did achieve something really good here today, a few more enemies won¡¯t hurt. ******* We left the auction premises a good thirty minutes after the asion ended, because everyone wanted to make transactions, collect receipts and acquire their different purchased essories. James and I got ushered into an office where we were offered seats and a drink¨C which we refused politely. The jewelry got weighed by three men whoter got introduced to me as the group of men that buys diamonds from people. Surprisingly, after it got weighed, it got bought back from us for twenty five million dors, making it extra. James sure wasn¡¯t bluffing when he said people earns from reselling it to these set of people, a lot of people definitely didn¡¯t know about this, if not they¡¯d find a way to even borrow some money from people, just to be able to get one of the essories, resell it and take the extra added money as theirs. People are greedy like that. Chapter 34 Chapter 34 Luca¡¯s POV I signed as I sank into my seat at the office. After a few seconds of me just sitting and catching my breath, I stood up and took off my suit jacket before hanging it on the back of my seat. I thumbed open my first few buttons and sighed out again. It¡¯s been a really stressful day and the day isn''t over yet. I was super thankful the appointments for the day were over, and that all that¡¯s left for me to do is to create proposals and timetables, a chore which I¡¯ve been putting off for about a week now. All in all, the auction was the most stressful of all the appointments today and like I predicted while I was still there, I had slowly developed a headache as the day slowly went by. It was currently a little bit after eight in the night and I¡¯ve already had something to eat on the way back from myst appointment for the day. Now, all I wanted to do was to go home, take a cold shower and fall asleep¡­ preferably pressed up against a certain woman who has been upying my bed for the past few days without any sort of body contact of any form. I wasn¡¯t even thinking dirty or sexual at the moment, I just needed to get a deep and long, much needed sleep, and I was sure it would feel nice to have her small body curled up into my side even though I¡¯ve never had a body that wasn¡¯t mine, in my bed, apart from my younger brother, while we were still growing up. He¡¯de into my room on some nights, too scared to be able to fall back asleep on his own after waking up to the sound of our father arguing loudly with someone and threatening the fuck out of them. I could remember how disgusted and disappointed dad had looked at him on the day he found out his second son was apparently ¡®too girly¡¯ and ¡®a cry baby¡¯ that was too soft to act like a man and remain in strong risky situations like he was supposed to know how to do. I wonder how Sofia would react if gunshots suddenly echo around the house in the middle of the night. Would she curl up into my side immediately like she was trying to dig a hole into my skin and hide away in it? Or would she remain curled into herself, shivering in fear while staring at me with those wide blue eyes of hers, while fear and terror swim through it. I had a feeling it was going to be the second option, because knowing how Sofia was, and how she was always so scared and jumpy around me, I knew she was extremely scared of me, probably due to all the horrors she has heard about me before she got married to me, which I was sure would make it a lot hard for her to trust me to that extent. From the look of things, it was going to take a really long while before we¡¯d be able to get to that stage, because she was always so tense and worked up around me. I¡¯ve been tempted to ask her the reason for those reactions a few times but had decided to drop it because I didn¡¯t want to give her a reason to stress about. Not like I was ever going to be able to hurt her even if I wanted to, I couldn¡¯t even bring myself to imagine doing something to her that could make her cry. All I want to do to her is to take her into my arms and feel the nervousness drain out of her muscles as I stroke my fingers through her dark hair which feels just as soft as her skin, leaving her ck and rxed on myps. I reached for my phone and the screen lit up immediately the Face ID got automatically scanned over my face. The time was already at nine, a few minutes past eight , and I still haven¡¯t started what I wanted to do. By the looks of things, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll still be able to get any of the work I had nned to get back to, tonight. James had headed somewhere else after ourst appointment since he didn¡¯t have any work done that couldn¡¯t wait, but I had decided toe back to the office. Not because the work couldn¡¯t wait, because the sure way hell could. I was the owner of thepany and if I still haven¡¯t gotten a thing ready even when it was needed, no one was going to question me, no one could. Except James, that is. That clown. I¡¯d have headed home on a normal day, but because I was already married and almost didn¡¯t know how I was going to act around Sofia, I had silently agreed with myself that I¡¯ll only head home when it¡¯s almost midnight, by then, I am a hundred percent sure she¡¯d have been fast asleep. I dragged my fingers through my hair as I felt air whoosh out from my lungs, I was beyond stressed and wasn¡¯t too sure I¡¯d being to the office tomorrow, by the look of things. But then immediately I remembered that my little wife was going to be around the house throughout tomorrow, the ns about staying into tomorrow and noting to work dwindled into nothing, desting into thin air almost instantly. That¡¯s a huge no, no for me. I mean, how would I survive staying at the house tomorrow, knowing she wears sexy as fuck underwear, knowing her skin was so soft and milky, the urge to lean my head down and drag my tongue over a spot on her neck, while talking to her yesterday at the hospital and watching color flood her cheeks every few minutes. I wanted to suck skin into my mouth and dig my nose into the side of my throat, to sniff her smell and kiss it softly. She¡¯d always smelled nice, I knew that particr information about her from the time I had grasped her chin on the bed, on our wedding night and jerked her face sideways to ghost my lips over the skin on her throat. My, my, my¡­ I wanted to choke her so bad, the strong urge to do exactly that to her was making it more risky to spend even a few minutes with her and watch her stutter and flutter her eyelids every few minutes like she was in the throes of an intense shower of pleasure. It was still quite unusual to me, because one moment, I really disliked the thought of doing anything sexual to her because she looked so small,pared to people I¡¯ve been with. It wasn¡¯t like I wasn¡¯t attracted to her from the very start¡­ Hell, when I had unveiled her face and tugged her face upwards to press my lips against her and seal our marriage, my breath had hitched in my throat. I had asked James to make some enquiries for me, a day before the marriage and he had said she was as beautiful as a doll, but he wasn¡¯t too sure if I¡¯d like what I¡¯d get because of how she was built. I had demanded of him to tell me what she looked like immediately, but he ignored me throughout, telling me that it was going to be a surprise to me, a good one at that. And when our eyes had locked, the moment I unveiled her face, I knew at that very moment that despite how beautiful she looked, I wasn¡¯t going to like what I got. And she proved my point when fear was always crossing her face every moment. I was still nning on going with the flow and trying to understand her since she had only just clocked eighteen years a few months ago, and must be scared asf about the thought of marrying a man way older than you. My stomach had dropped into my stomachpletely when I had tried to initiate something sexual on our wedding night, because as expected, we were supposed to consummate our marriage that night, and I figured she knew as well because she changed out of her wedding gown, into something I knew was sexy, before covering it with a robe anding out of the bathroom quaking in fear. I had been able to overlook that bit, but then she had bursted out crying, some momentster, making me hate myself for even attempting toe unto someone this small, despite the fact that she was already over eighteen. And so I decided to stay clear of touching her or even breathing near her from that moment, a little thankful that she was stayingpletely off the middle of the bed and clinging to her side of the bed, which made our bodies never ever mistakenly touch each other on the bed. And then I had gone ahead and dug my fingers into her panties without realizing it, which made me wonder if she hadter figured out the fact that Someone¡¯s hands that weren''t hers nor the house keeper¡¯s, had ran through it. Ever since that moment, my mind had one way or the other tried to make me imagine her in any of those silky pieces of lingeries. And to worsen it even more, James had talked about some things about how reactions would be unhinged and purely on instinct, and ever since then, all that had been able to visit my mind the moment I lose a little control over it, was about Sofia¡­ over and over again. I had been absent mindedly expecting a call from one of Sofia¡¯s guards throughout the day, to indicate that Sofia¡¯s arm injury pains has indeed worsened and that they¡¯d be visiting the hospital, because I¡¯d been unable to not think about her and how she was fairing with the pains and if she was doing alright. The daily tab about Sofia came into my phone around two pm in the afternoon and I had been in an important meeting by then, when the text came in. But that didn¡¯t stop me from unlocking my phone beneath the desk and going through the tab. Ethan had been the one to deliver the tab today and it was the most brisk one I¡¯ve gotten from them since the first day they became her bodyguards. ¡°Mrs Ri¡¯s arm didn¡¯t hurt like it did yesterday, but it still hurt nevertheless this morning. Along the line, after she ate breakfast and made use of her drugs, the pain reduced drastically. Once she woke up after a long nap which she decided to take on the couch in the sitting room, she informed us that the pain was starting toe back. She ate a little thing and made use of her afternoon dosage, it kicked in after a few minutes and the pain reduced once again. She¡¯s doing quite alright and isn¡¯t staying all by herselfpared to the way she used to do at first.¡± Ethan I ced the phone on my thigh in the meeting once I was done reading and nced up, only to see James looking into my phone, which made me realize that he had read every word of the tab I had just received, moments ago. ~~ I stood up from my seat and stretched a little, I didn¡¯t know if I needed to fuck someone or just needed my dick sucked. My balls feels heavy as fuck and I was also tired as hell. My hookups with a few girls in which I alternated in between, we¡¯re starting to get quite boring to me. It was a good thing that I¡¯d never nned on starting anything serious with those girls at the beginning, that would have made things so messed up andplicated¡­ not like I could even develop any real feelings for any of those girls even if I wanted to.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. Chapter 35 Chapter 35 Luca¡¯s POV I exited the office after a little while without ending up getting any bit of work down, it was of no use, my mind was too unfocused to get any more work for the day and I ended up giving up trying. It was currently some minutes after ten pm and I was making my way through the office building and into the empty elevator. I massaged my fingers through my hair and tugged on the roots a little just as the elevator doors slid open and I got out in an instant. I headed outside the building and nodded my head at the receptionist who greeted me good night as I walked past her desk, all the way outside the office building. ¡°Get in the driver¡¯s seat, you¡¯re driving me home tonight.¡± I said to the guard who usually follows my car, and sat in the passenger¡¯s seat, beside the driver. ¡°On it, sir.¡± He replied and tugged the back seat¡¯s door open for me, I got in and tugged the door close myself. I knew he knew how to drive really well so I didn¡¯t need to worry about him crashing the car with me in it. The car pulled out of thepany¡¯s premises, into the busy express roads of Venice and I slumped the chair a little in order to give my back muscles a much needed stretching. The cars windows were pulled wide up and I stared out the window, wondering if there was anyone out there from the auction who was currently monitoring my movement and following my second car containing the rest of the guards. I¡¯d have to be extra careful than I used to be on a normal day, from now on. I¡¯ve always had guns on me everyday, and a knife, Incase anything happens unexpectedly. There were also different weapons in the office, we¡¯ve only been attacked there once, one certain morning, in the winter. Everyone had suddenly poured out of their different offices the moment they heard the loud sound of a gunshot going off, instead of them remaining right there in their office like normal, sensible people. The people who had caused themotion had made use of that time to get on different floors, deactivating the whole elevators from moving from one floor to another. Once it got fixed by those people, a crowd of people dressed in orange poured into the hallways immediately. Worst, I hadn¡¯t been at the office at that moment, which made everyone finallye to the conclusion that they were too scared toe when I was in thepany¡¯s premises and had monitored and waited on me until I left for somewhere else. It was a good thing James was here at the office then, he had raced through the long rows of staircases because the elevators were currently not functioning at that moment. Once he got there, he fought with the dude controlling the elevator and had it fixed immediately, which had automatically soiled the people¡¯s ns because they had hoped the workers would remain in there without any option of leaving. The guards and security guards were finally able to intervene together with the supervision and help of James and together, those that actually organized that attack caught before they could escape. The police got involved because everything that happened waspletely legal, and ever since then, we¡¯ve upped our security even more in the office, and I had done the same for the house. Which was why I had ced two guards on Sofia the very next day after we got married, because I knew how risky it was being without a guard, in this world of ours where almost everyone with greed in their minds are brutal as hell and had no care for anyone and anything, all that matters to them was finding what they came to get and taking what they want. I sighed and tugged my phone out from my pocket when it suddenly started vibrating against my thigh. I epted the call on seeing who it was. ¡°Where are you, man?¡± James¡¯ voice came up immediately. I ced the phone against my ear and I Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g stared at my fingers while the car moved at a steady pace, barely jostling me around, thanks to good roads. ¡°What is it?¡± I demanded, feeling emotionally drained and having no strength in me to entertain James for so long, at the moment. ¡°I hope my ears aren¡¯t deceiving me right now, and that I am indeed hearing faint sounds of moving cars and homes and the sound of someone in a moving vehicle, and not someone still sitting still in an office, working himself to death.¡± James said calmly without any pauses and I patiently waited for him to get it outpletely. ¡°I¡¯m hanging up on you right now.¡± I informed him and heard as he chuckled quietly for a few seconds. ¡°You still haven¡¯t hung up, by the way.¡± James¡¯ voice drifted into my ear after about a minute and I rolled my eyes, knowing that he had only said that to try to goad me into losing it. ¡°What do you want, James?¡± I echoed again after a few more minutes. I dragged my fingers through my hair once again and breathed out a slow sigh. I leaned my head against the headrest and allowed my eyes to slid close, with the phone still pressed against my ear. ¡°I just wanted to check on you, and how you¡¯re doing and shit¡­ and most importantly, if you¡¯re still at the office or heading home.¡± James replied, all traces of yfulnesspletely out of his voice this time. I scrubbed my hand over my face for a few seconds, the demarcation between the front and the back of the car wasn¡¯t closed at the moment, which automatically means I won¡¯t be able to reply to him In details. I¡¯ve always put up a font in front of the whole guards ¨C in front of everybody, rather, except James. ¡°Luca?¡± James'' voice nudged me back to the present moment once again and I breathed out another sigh, my head was starting to pound really badly at this point. ¡°I¡¯m heading home, at the moment. I¡¯ll text you once I get home tonight.¡± I replied to him and heard his mind move, without him saying a thing. ¡°The guard¡¯s driving,¡± I added and heard something that resembled a relieved sigh escaping his lips. ¡°That¡¯s good, I guess. Please text me when you get home.¡± He answered back and I nodded my head despite the fact that he couldn¡¯t see me and ended the call almost immediately. I dropped my head onto the headrest once again as my head pounded strongly on one part of my head. I really needed to get something into me, make use of some drugs and get some sleep. I wasn¡¯t even sure if Sofia was still going to be awake at the moment, but I really hoped she wouldn¡¯t be. This was the earliest I was going to get home since I got married. I had wanted to still stay behind at the office until an hour to midnight, but the heaviness in my heart, which I had no idea where it actually came from, and the pounding of my head, including the tiredness in my bones, made me reconsider after a few minutes. The car drove on and on and I wished my problems could drive themselves out of my life, head and mind at that same speed. Another small sigh escaped my parted lips. ****** I headed into the house, climbing up a few stairs slowly to avoid my headache from going up a few more notches. I stood outside the door and waited for a few seconds, I knew Sofia¡¯s guards would have left for their homes by now since it was already some minutes to eleven pm. I fished out my keys and inserted it into the door before turning it around and getting the door open. I let myself and closed the door silently before locking it up once again. The lights in the lounge were still turned on and I turned it off as I walked past it, into the living room. The living room was empty as I had expected, and I made my way towards the kitchen slowly. I stood at the doorway and stared at Matilda who was the only upant of the kitchen at the moment. She was currently washing some kitchen utensils while rinsing the rest of the things in the sink and carefully stacking them into the dishwasher. I watched as she wetted a small cloth and carried a bowl of water in another hand before turning around and pausing in her tracks. A shocked sound slipped out of her mouth just as the things in her hands slipped out her cked grip and she proceeded to grab her chest, whine breathing deeply, heaving deep breaths in and out of her lungs. ¡°Oh my gosh, I¡¯m so sorry, Mr Ri, you scared me so much just now!¡± She cried out and I chuckled quietly before staring away from her, down to my feet. I was still standing at the kitchen¡¯s entrance and was currently leaning into the wall beside the doorway. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to, you shouldn¡¯t be that jumpy because no one cane into the house once it¡¯ste except me.¡± I finally said to her before ncing back up at her. She had picked up the empty bowl and wet towel and was cleaning up the spilled water when I finally replied to her and I watched as she paused in her tracks and nced up at me. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about that, I¡¯m sorry.¡± She replied and I nodded my head as I started to slowly make my way into the kitchen. ¡°It¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I answered her as I paused beside the counter. My gazended on the other side of the counter and noticed that it was still a bit dirty with little bits of food here and there, and a little spilled water on another part, I guess that''s what she had wanted to go clean up when she had sighted me. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about this mess, I had meant to clean it immediately we had dinner.¡± She said as she started to mop the whole spot clean. Matilda and I hadn¡¯t really gotten along the way Sarah and I did. It was probably because I¡¯ve barely got any time on my hand for chit chats and she had only gotten here about two to three years ago,pared to Sarah who had been working here for over ten years. ¡°It¡¯s alright, you can clean up the kitchen whenever you want,¡± I said to her, because it was true. I¡¯ve never had toin about her ever since she got employed, and I¡¯ve never ever dictated when her chores were supposed to be done, that was none of my business and all that was supposed to matter to me was that she does her job well, which she has always done. It wasn¡¯t like I also make use of the kitchen frequently. ¡°You and who had dinner here?¡± I asked her as I headed towards the tap and picked up a cup from neatly stacked racks of cups before proceeding to fetch cool water from the kitchen¡¯s tap. ¡°Oh, Sarah, Sofi¨C I mean, Mrs Ri and I.¡± She replied and I didn¡¯t miss the way her eyes had widened at the tiny slip she had made around Sofia¡¯s name. My eyes narrowed at her immediately as my brain started to work. Were Sarah and Matilda disrespecting Sofia because she was so youngpared to them? That particr thought echoed in my head and I ced my half filled cup of water on the counter behind me before leaning against it and staring straight at her. ¡°Have you been disrespecting my wife all these while¡­ because she¡¯s quite younger than you?¡± Chapter 36 Chapter 36 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°Have you been disrespecting my wife all these while¡­ because she¡¯s quite younger than you?¡± I demanded in a quiet voice, purposely making use of the word ¡®quite¡¯ despite the fact that she was way younger than Sofia. But she has never, ever mattered here in the mafia. It doesn''t matter how old you are and how old the rest of the people are. Once you are in a spot or position that demands people to automatically give you respect, then that¡¯s what they were supposed to give you without any questions or hesitations. ¡°What? No sir, it isn¡¯t as it seemed. I never intended for it toe off as disrespectful.¡± She started exining herself immediately, and I could see the fear surrounding her whole bodynguage. Like I could even do a thing to her¡­ if she hadn¡¯t been disrespecting Sofia all these while, that is. ¡°I only asked if you¡¯ve been disrespecting her, that¡¯s all.¡± I rephrased calmly and watched her eyes widened fearfully once again. ¡°I haven¡¯t.¡± She replied and I nodded my head before inquiring, ¡°Why did you sound guilty back then?¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± She said as she rubbed her palms which I had a feeling we¡¯re wet with sweat, against the material of the dress she had on. ¡°It¡¯s because,¡± She paused and swallowed before continuing after a few seconds, ¡°It¡¯s because Mrs Ri had insisted on us referring to her as her first name, ever since the first day we got introduced to each other.¡± Matilda exined and I stared at her quietly without saying a thing at first. ¡°She did?¡± I inquired and she nodded her head immediately. ¡°Yes, she did. I insisted at first, I told her it was disrespectful for us to refer to her in such an informal manner but she had insisted and insisted, until I had no choice but to give in.¡± She exined and paused to drag in a slow breath before continuing again, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry if that had offered you, like I predicted. I¡¯ll go back to referring to her the right way and inform her about how you weren¡¯t pleased about it, like I had told her at first ¨C¡° she continued before suddenly pausing in the middle of what she was saying when I raised my hand up. ¡°Since she asked you to refer to her that way, then it¡¯s alright.¡± I finally said and watched as she blinked as if she hadn¡¯t gotten what I said at firstly. ¡°Are you sure, sir?¡± She asked and nodded her head a few secondster when I didn¡¯t reply to her and instead continued to stare at her. ¡°When did you all finish having dinner?¡± I asked as I dug my phone out from my pocket and turned my data on instantly to watch as multiple notifications flooded my phone immediately. I was hoping it would have been really long since they had dinner, that way, Sofia would have been hopefully asleep before I made my way into our bedroom. ¡°Not too long away.¡± She replied immediately, ¡°Would you like me to fetch Sarah for you?¡± She asked almost immediately and I was d she wasn¡¯t still shaking in unnecessary fear, moments ago. ¡°No, there¡¯s no need for that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll need you to help me make something I can have for dinner though.¡± I started to say once again and watched as Matilda nodded her head immediately, appearing almost too eager to still make something else tonight, like she hasn¡¯t scheduled to do tonight. ¡°What would you want me to make?¡± She asked and I shrugged my right shoulder once. ¡°Something really light and quick. I have a very bad headache and want to make use of some drugs once I have what you¡¯re going to be making, so I¡¯ll appreciate it if you whip it up as fast as you can.¡± She nodded her head and was already cracking eggs into the mixing machine before I was done. I got on one of the chairs in the kitchen against the counter and shrugged out of my suit jacket. I discarded it on the chair beside me and proceeded to unbutton the first five buttons of my shirt. Once it felt like I could drag in more deep breaths without my suit buttons dragging and scratching against the line in the middle of my chest and abs. A couple of texts had arrived from James when I picked my phone back up from the counter and started going through the notifications. James: Yo fucker. James: You home yet? James: Text me when you finally get home. And then, thirty minutester. James: You bastard, you¡¯re currently online without checking my texts?! James: I¡¯m beating your ass up tomorrow whenever you see tomorrow. I snorted as I started typing out a reply for his over dramatic self. Luca: You know you cannot win me in a hand to hand fight. James: Bullshit, I¡¯ve gotten countless more training just because of that. I¡¯m definitely beating your ass up tomorrow, you little wife wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize you once I¡¯m done with you. I barked out a smallugh as my eyes quickly ghosted over his text. Luca: Shut the hell up, James. Also I am not sure if I¡¯ll being to work tomorrow. I sent in my reply and reached behind my head to caress my neck, a few feet away from the spot behind my hair. My muscles hurt. My whole muscles. It hurts everywhere. I think I might seriously need a full body massage at this point, with how the pains and cracks in different parts of my muscles were only getting worse, day after day. The smell of what Matilda was preparing wafted into my nose and I breathed in the scent of the food without thinking right before my phone dinged on the counter. It was a text message from James, and more notifications pop ups from a couple of apps which I haven¡¯t opened throughout the whole of today. James: What? Why? I typed back a reply immediately, feeling the pounding in my head increase a little bit. Luca: I honestly don¡¯t have a particr idea. I¡¯ve been feeling really ill, like I¡¯m about to fall sick, which I cannot afford to, at the time being, at least. I sent in the reply and continued to type another message without stopping. Luca: And I don¡¯t want my body to force me to finally take a break by falling sick, which was why I had decided to take the day off tomorrow and just sleep in. I tapped on the send button just as a text from James popped up on the screen, after showing the three dots at the side of the phone where a new text from him was going to appear, seconds ago. James: Did you say you¡¯re feeling ill? Were you feeling sick throughout the whole of today without bothering to tell me? I sighed as I proceeded to reply to James¡¯ text. Luca: I didn¡¯t think it was a serious headache at first, until it increased as the hours went by. James: Luca! I had no idea, I¡¯d have insisted you leave for home even before we finish all or scheduled appointments, those are not as important as your health. I could just imagine saying these same words directly in my face in a serious voice and a face void of yfulness, not caring that I was his leader at that particr moment. Luca: It¡¯s a good thing I didn¡¯t tell you about it then. Also, it¡¯s no big deal, ok? That¡¯s why I¡¯m deciding to stay in tomorrow. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. I sent the message the moment I had typed it and ced the phone on the counter before reaching from the cuffs link on my right wrist and undoing it immediately. I reached for the left one and I did the same thing to it, and then I rolled the right sleeve up my arm once I was done, and did the same thing for the other arm. A reply from James came in just as I was lifting the phone up from its spot on the counter. James: I¡¯de see you tomorrow once I¡¯m done in the office. You stay home and get as much sleep as you need. Forget about the office throughout the whole of tonight and tomorrow, I¡¯ll take care of the ones I can and leave the ones I can¡¯t for you, whenever you get well enough toe back to the hospital. I started to type in james¡¯ reply even before I hadpletely read his text. I shifted in my seat absentmindedly, nced up to see Matilda dishing the food she had prepared onto a te. Luca: You will note here tomorrow. I sent in the first message before continuing to type in another reply. Luca: I¡¯m not dying, stop sounding like this. Tomorrow is Friday, which means I have the weekend to stay at home and continue to rest. I''ll definitely be at work on Monday. I typed and sent the message across just as his own message popped in here. James: Damn, right I wouldn¡¯t. I¡¯m worried about you. Luca: Fuck you, James. Luca: Don¡¯t you daree here tomorrow. James: Are you sure, man? I rolled my eyes at that, James could be overbearing sometimes, and this was a perfect example. Luca: I am. Quit fretting. James: I can''t help it. Luca: Well you better find a way to help it, it¡¯s getting annoying and assuming we were having this same conversation in person, I¡¯d have punched you in the face, a long while ago. James: And I am the dramatic one. Luca: I¡¯m ignoring you after this particr text. I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t blow my phone up incase I don¡¯t reply to any of your texts tomorrow because I most definitely won¡¯te online until I¡¯ve gotten enough rest. I dropped my phone and cradled my head in my palm when it started to pound really badly for a second. ¡°Here¡¯s your meal, Mr Ri.¡± I looked up at Matilda standing on the side of the counter with a tray in her hands. Her eyes widened as she took in my facial expression and she dropped the tray on the counter and blinked once. ¡°Oh my God, your eyes look really red and almost swollen, is the headache getting worse every now and then?¡± She asked and I nodded my head after a few seconds of remaining silent. She pushed the tray towards me and I pulled it towards mepletely and nced up at her as the enticing taste wafted and danced its way into my nose. ¡°Thank you for this, Matilda.¡± I said to her and watched as a small smile found its way on her cheeks. ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± She replied before fetching me a bottle of water and a ss cup. ¡°Would you like a drink with it, sir?¡± She asked and I shook my head immediately as I picked up the fork knife that was aligned neatly on one part of the tray. ¡°No, don¡¯t bother about that.¡± I didn¡¯t tell her about the fact that I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d be able topletely stomach the food she had prepared, not because of her cooking was bad or something, but because I think the sickness was starting to affect my appetite, so I wouldn¡¯t to stomach a drink at the moment wouldn¡¯t because it would most definitely sound reasonable to anyone¡¯s ear. I forked a little piece of the scrambled egg on one part of the te and was thankful that it had gone down my throat without any hassle. Matilda appeared beside me with a few drugs in her hands which she set on the table beside me immediately. ¡°This right here is the regr pain killer, just a little bit stronger than the regr ones.¡± She paused and touched the second tablet pack. ¡°This one is more focused on fighting body pains, I noticed you massaging your neck countless times while preparing your dinner, so I figured out that you¡¯re also battling with body pains.¡± ¡°You have no idea.¡± I said right before I inserted another forkful of food into my mouth and almost rolled my eyes when she stared at me fondly, like the way Sarah would look at me assuming she had been the one in ce of Matilda, at the moment. Chapter 37 Chapter 37 Luca¡¯s POV I forced each forkful of food into my mouth even though I knew it was supposed to taste way better than how it was tasting at the moment, due to my sudden loss of appetite. Swallowing the food was the hard part, trying not to havee right back out was the hard part, which made me sip a little bit of water after each forkful off food. After clearing off the te, I shoved the tray away from me and dragged the tablets towards me on the counter. I picked up the first pack and stared at with without reading a thing off it. A sudden beep suddenly vibrated from my phone which was on my side of the counter, a few feet away from me, along with the screen of the phone lightening up at the same time, signaling the iing of a text. I dropped the pack of tablet back on the counter and picked up the phone which unlocked immediately once my face got scanned. I clicked on my iMessage and saw who the most recent text was from. My cousin, Aria. Aria and I had a weird rtionship. One moment, we¡¯d been talking for a while and suddenly we wouldn''t hear from each other for months. Aria: Hey Ri, did I meet you at a good time? I dropped the phone back on the counter and picked up the first pack of tablet which I had picked up before but dropped when a text came into my phone. I opened the pack and shook a couple of tablets into my palm and washed it down with a mouthful of water. I did the same for the two remaining packs of tablets on the counter before using a mouthful of water to chase the whole thing downpletely. I felt really weak. I bent my head from side to side and started massaging my forehead when it started to pound really badly. I sighed Matilda when she walked into the kitchen once again, from the corner of my eyes. She walked around the counter to stand at the spot opposite me where she could watch me openly. I raised my head up and nodded at the empty te on the piece of tray where the food got served to me on. ¡°Thank you for the meal, Matilda.¡± I said to her and watched as she shook her head with a small smile before reaching forward and tugging the tray towards her to cradle it carefully in her hands. ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± I picked up my phone once again and opened Aria¡¯s text once again just as Matilda started washing my dirty te and cutleries. I stared at the text once again before finally typing in a reply, an honest one at that. Luca: You honestly didn¡¯t. What¡¯s up with you? I might be feeling like I fall on my face or on my ass if I dare try anything that doesn''t involve¡ª taking a shower and falling into bed to get a long ass sleep¡ª tonight. But nevertheless, if Aria needed me urgently, then I¡¯d go to her aid immediately. Her reply came in almost immediately, even before I could exit her direct messages. Aria: Is it a really, really bad time? I rolled my eyes slightly and scrubbed my left hand over my face instantly ¡ª and regretted doing that immediately, because my left hand which smelled of tablets had been pressed against my nose, a moment ago, making me sniff in the nauseating smell into my lungs, and upsetting my insides in that process. I sucked in a deep breath and puffed it out slowly, and repeated the action a couple of times more before finally starting to type back a reply for Aria. Luca: It really is. I sent the message over, because it was true. Now was a really horrible time. I started typing back another reply immediately. Luca: Do you need my help with something? I nced up to find Matilda leaning against the spot beside the dishwasher while staring at me. She jolted the moment our eyes met and whirled around almost immediately, facing the dishwasher and turning her back to me. I nced back down towards my phone, dismissing her out of my head that same moment. A text from Aria was already waiting for me. Aria: I did before, but never mind since this is a bad time. Just as I was starting in a message, another text from Aria popped on the screen. Aria: What about tomorrow? Is tomorrow also a bad time? I squinted down at the phone when my eyes suddenly started to sting slowly as I typed in a reply. Luca: What¡¯s wrong? I waited a few minutes before my phone vibrated oh the counter beside my elbow, signaling the iing of a text. I lifted my head from my hands and picked up the phone which opened immediately to allow me ess to read the text. Aria: I have a huge problem, which I don¡¯t know how to solve at this point. I read the message and let out a small sigh, why couldn¡¯t girls learn the act of going straight to the point without beating around the bush unnecessarily. Luca: I know you have a problem tf. Just tell me what it is. I sent the text over and dropped the phone on the counter before sliding over the chair I had been sitting in. I moved from side to side, stretching my shoulders muscles a little while I waited for Aria¡¯s reply. I needed to know if she needed the said help tonight, or if she would be able to wait until tomorrow ¡ª hopefully, because I feel like shit at the moment and wasn¡¯t sure I could go out tonight, with how bad my muscles were hurting and how my head was still pounding intensely. The moment my phone vibrated on the counter, I reached for it immediately and slid it open. Aria: I might have offered some huge people from one of the neighboring mafias, and now they are searching for me. I blinked as I slowly went through her text, after reading it the first time. Luca: What?! Aria! I swear to God, my cousins would not be the end of me. Her reply came in a few secondster and I slid the phone open and swept my eyes over the text. Aria: I know, I know. It sounds really bad, but it isn¡¯t as bad as it sounds. A second text from her came in right after, a secondter. Aria: It¡¯s actually really bad. I wouldn¡¯t be reaching out to you if it isn¡¯t. I sighed out slowly, dragging in another deep breath to puff it out slowly. A third text came in before I could start to type in a reply into the phone. Aria: I¡¯m so dumb, I¡¯m sorry. I started typing in a reply after her third message, and sending it over immediately. Luca: Rx, it¡¯s fine. It actually wasn¡¯t, I should have had my bath by now, but here I was, seeing my cousin and one of her problems. Luca: Where are you at the moment? I sent in the second message once I was done typing. Aria had also started typing, a secondter. Aria: At the house of one of my friend¡¯s. A secondter, another text from her came in. Aria: I can¡¯t stay at home anymore, I heard they raided there this afternoon in search of me. I was thankfully not at home when it happened. Just what the hell has she gotten herself into now? I thought to myself as I started typing in a message. Luca: Is your friend¡¯s ce safe for now at least? Aria: Yeah, I really hope so. Nobody saw me when I wasing here tonight with my friends, so I think All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. it¡¯s pretty safe for now. Luca: Good. I continued to type in another text almost immediately. Luca: What did you do? Aria: I might have angered the future lord of a mafia, but it was for a really good cause. Right as I was reading the first message and wondering why she still hadn''t informed me about what she had done, another text came in. Aria: I went out with him, and then while returning. He started kissing me in the car and I went along with it at first, because I found him hot from the start, which was why I had epted to go out with him in the first ce. My eyes skimmed over the text and my lips thinned almost immediately, a part of my mind already knew where this was going. Aria: But then, the kiss was just so off and horrible. I slowed and broke the kiss after a few minutes and told him to drive me back home. He got pissed and started informing me that I had wasted his precious time and that I should have told him that I wasn¡¯t going to be willing to go all the way with him when I had epted to go out. Luca: Jesus. The fuck? Was the only thing I could type as I carefully read her text message, those were the same words that echoed in my head. I looked up in the kitchen and noticed that Matilda wasn¡¯t in here anymore and had most definitely exited in the kitchen when I was on the phone. I slid into my seat once again when my feet started to slowly hurt after I had shifted my weight from foot to foot. Aria¡¯s text chooses that moment toe in. Aria: I told him that he was being stupid and dumb, and then I demanded he take me home immediately. Which was when he decided to teach me a lesson by taking me against my will. My stomach squeezed tight in an ufortable manner the moment I was done reading her text and I felt my heart painfully squeeze in my chest. No. No. Another text came in from Aria. Aria: I fought back instantly, but was no match for him, when he was almost having his way with me, I pulled out my knife which was always strapped against my right thigh and stabbed him. ¡­ so this was the crime shemitted? Standing up for herself? Luca: The fuck was wrong with him? Where the hell did he hear about women only going out with men to end up in their bed? I sent in the reply and started typing in another one immediately, I was currently seething. This stupid dude and his gang are going to get it from me. Luca: Are you sure he didn¡¯t end up doing a thing to you? I massaged my fingers against my forehead when it started pounding strongly again. When were the damn pills going to finally kick in? I thought to myself as I breathed out a deep sigh. My curls were getting into my face due to how I was moving and I brushed it back with my fingers. Aria: He didn¡¯t do any serious damage to me, I stopped him before he could go further. Fuck. Aria: I stabbed him first, on the thigh. He reared back and struck me across my face. I used that moment to kick against his chest with my heels and was sure I bursted his chin with one of my heels. When I reached for me again, I stabbed his arm twice until he let me go. I read the text that had juste in and shook my head from side to side, I was going to be paying some piece of shit a visit tomorrow. Most definitely. Aria: And then I took my purse and stepped out of the car. None of the guards were around us at that moment so I ran and ran and stopped a taxi once I got to the bus stop or his street. Luca: Who the fuck is he? What is his name and what mafia family is he from? I started typing in another text message immediately. Luca: I am going to be paying him a visit tomorrow, and you¡¯reing with me. Chapter 38 Chapter 38 Luca¡¯s POV Picking up my suit jacket and phone from the counter and the chair beside the one I was sitting on, a moment ago, I draped the jacket against my shoulder as I made my way out of the empty kitchen. I paused beside the entrance of the kitchen and switched off the light before heading straight for the stairs. The pounding in my head was thankfully starting to decrease, which was why I didn¡¯t feel a lot of pain echoing in my head as I climbed my way up the stairs that would lead me to the second floor of the house. I paused outside the door of the bedroom and waited a few minutes. A quick nce at the screen of my phone showed that the time was some minutes past twelve a.m in the morning. I pulled on the door knob and pushed the door open before letting myself in and pushing the door shut behind me. The main lights in here were turned off and only the low dim led lights were turned on, casting a shadowy look upon the quiet room. I flicked the lights on and nced towards the bed in the center of the room to find Sofia staring wide eyed at me, from her position on her side of the bed with her body tucked into the nkets, leaving her head and arm outside of it. ¡°You awake?¡± I asked softly while still staring at her and watched as she blinked once before letting her tongue slide out to swipe over her lower lip slowly, leaving it glistening and shiny¡ª before she nodded her head a couple of times in reply to my question. I nced away from her and puffed out a deep breath, I could have gone through the whole night N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. perfectly without having to see that right now. I didn¡¯t think she was asleep when I came in, she was most definitely still awake. I know this because the amount of times I¡¯ve spent sharing this room with her, made me understand the fact that she was a heavy sleeper and has never evere awake each time I open the bedroom¡¯s door in the midnight, she was most definitely still awake before and had been busy doing something on her phone or just staying up and thinking. I made my way towards my side of the bed and paused once I got to that part: I sank unto the bed and cradled my head in my hands with my elbows suppositing my head up by cing its arm strongly on my thighs. My head was starting to pound again and I was seriously contemting not taking a shower tonight and just going to sleep this way. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that a cold shower was most definitely going to help me with the pains in the sore muscles around my body, and that it was going to make me feel fresher and stronger by giving it to me full force. I tugged my suit jacket that was hanging on my shoulder and dropped it on the floor, beside the bed. I unbuttoned the rest of the buttons of my shirt before shoving it off and cing it on the piece of cloth which I had already ced there. I was feeling tired as fuck and I slowly massaged my fingers against my eyes. I pushed myself to my feet tiredly and ced my phone on the bed side table before starting to unbuckle my pants belt, once I was done, I started to shove the annoying piece of clothing down before remembering that I wasn¡¯t the only one making use of the room anymore and that it was now for Sofia and I, Sofia who was still very much awake when I came into the bedroom, minutes ago. I held onto one side of my belt and nced behind me to find Sofia watching me, she dragged her eyes away immediately, our eyes locked and stared hard at her good arm which was on top of the nket. With a small shake of my head, I removed my gun from the top of my pants and ced it on the side table beside my phone, once I was done with that, I pushed my hair out of my face and bent down to pick up my pieces of discarded clothes before making my way into the bathroom and closing the door behind me. Refusing to think about what Sofia might be wearing underneath her nightwear¨C which I didn¡¯t really see much of, I shoved my pants off in the privacy of the bathroom and headed straight into the showers. The cold water came out with full force, hitting my back in harsh sprays and digging into those muscles on my shoulders and upper back immediately. I groaned quietly and allowed my head to drop sideways in order to allow the water to do its job of smoothing out some of the pain away from my sore muscles for tonight at least. After a few minutes of me standing still in the showers as the water did its thing, I soaped up my body and washed my hair with its soap as well. Once I was done, the water rinsed the soap off my body and out of my hair, leaving me clean and my muscles feeling less sore than it was when I made my way into the bathroom, minutes ago. Toweling myself dry with a white fluffy towel, I squeezed the water out of my hair with a different, smaller towel and left it on my head in order for it to keep on sucking out the water still clinging to the different strands of my hair. I nced sideways, looking directly into the mirror in the bathroom. I looked dead. With a small sigh leaving my partned lips, I reached up to the towel on my head and used it to massage the roots of my head thoroughly. Sleeping with wet hair wasn¡¯t cool because you¡¯d wake up with your pillows wet or cold and that shit wasn¡¯t my thing one bit. I walked towards the wash hard closet and stared at myself in the mirror once again, grazing my fingers against my beards which were starting to have some unwanted hair on the edges, I promised myself to trim and reshape itter in the day ¡ª since it was already a new day. I ced the towel I was using to mop my hair on the counter and dragged a part of the towel which was wrapped around my waist¨C and started using it to mop the wet spots around my chests and stomachs, when a small knock resounded on the door. I almost missed it, but it resounded again, a few seconds space apart. I stared at it pointedly before calling out in a nk, calm voice. ¡°Come in.¡± The door got pulled open after a small secondter and Sofia hesitantly poked her head in at first before letting herself in and staying glued against the side of the opened bathroom door which she still left open¨C on purpose, I was sure. She was in a gown the stopped on around the part above her knees, the gown didn¡¯t seem like something she¡¯d enjoy sleeping in¨C I had always imagined her as the kind to sleep in night gowns that were boring and filled with cotton materials and flowers designs all over it ¨C not this material that looked so soft and smooth. It was also a little bit transparent but I refused to stare hard at it and dragged my eyes away from the length of her gown. Her hair cascaded downwards around her face and shoulders and I wondered if she wasn¡¯t ufortable sleeping with her hair scratching against all parts of her back, face and neck. Her right hand was in a ck sling, but it wasn¡¯t the sling of those with broken arms, it was a smaller kind because it was only there to support the muscles of the arm and make the dislocated bone move back into its right ce as soon as possible. I remember breaking my arm when I was ten years old, when trying to save my younger brother from falling off a bike. Father had been pissed as hell, because I had sustained an injury when I was supposed to be acting like a reasonable young man and a role model to my younger brother, and even more pissed because I had refused to tell him how I got the injury. It had hurt like a bitch and I had to wear the ufortable sling for a month and learn to do a lot of things with my left hand, since I had acquired the injury in my right arm. I watched her drag in a deep breath, knowing that it took her a lot to manage toe in here while I was still in it. ¡°Um, I am sorry foring in here while you¡¯re still in it, but I- I really need to make use of the restroom, I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡± She started to say, looking everywhere but at me and I noticed just how deeply her cheeks was burning up. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± I said softly before gesturing towards the closed door of the toilet behind me, ¡°It¡¯s all yours.¡± She nced towards me without meeting her eyes¨C because she just wouldn¡¯t raise her head upwards, and nodded her head gratefully before slowly making her way past me. I didn¡¯t miss the way her eye dropped to my chest and stomach before it got dragged away as more color infused her heated cheeks, making me connect the dots as to why she was almost turning into a tomato. The towel around my waist wasn¡¯t tied up, it hung loosely on my hips and one part was high on my stomach with the aid of my hand, giving anyone interested in looking, a really dirty sh, and in this case, Sofia has been given an eye full¡­ because my dick was imprinted against the towel as well. I made my way out of the bathroom almost immediately. She made her way past me, into the restroom and closed the bathroom door which she had left open, giving her much needed privacy before making my way into the walk-in closet and shrugging on a loose pair of dark brown pants. Ibed my hair with my fingers to avoid it frompletely drying up and getting all tangled together before making my way out of the walk-in closet once again. I sank into my side of the bed and picked up my phone, knowing I had to start making ns because I wasn¡¯t going to be staying in and resting like I had thought while I was still at the office, but was going to be saving my cousin from a stupid dude and dealing with the fucker for even daring to attempt something like that on my cousin. Aria was from my father¡¯s side of the family and my father¡¯s younger brother had been the one to birth her, when I was already a teenager. Aria looked up to me, had always looked up to me ever since she was a toddler. She¡¯d walk up to me the moment her parents let her feet touch the ground and raise her arms to me in a gesture that always pulled on my heartstrings everytime. I¡¯d lift her into my arms immediately and she¡¯d stay there, and not make a fuse until whenever it was time for her to go home¨C and then she would start crying, not wanting to leave my embrace. It continued to happen until she got into school, then she¡¯d follow me everywhere and stare intently at the screen whenever I yed video games, despite the fact that she didn¡¯t understand a thing that was going on in it. She had been very fond of me and had been my most fav cousin despite the fact that we weren¡¯t in the same age grade¡­ but then her father and mine got into a fight one time, in our house. I held her to my chest as she sobbed in fear on listening to both men scream and argue with themselves, the noises managing to pass through the tiny space in my bedroom. After some time, the shouting stopped and her father came towards my room and knocked once. I opened the door and he had pulled Aria out of the room and out of the house, with her crying and refusing to leave, until her father had swung her unwilling body into his arms. And that was thest I saw of her. Father said they were no longer family and had dissuaded me from daring to go to them first. Chapter 39 Chapter 39 Luca¡¯s POV And that was thest I saw of her. Father said they were no longer family and had dissuaded me from daring to go to them first. I had listened to him, despite the way a part of me suspected that my father might have been the one at fault and the cause of the fight between the two of them. Aria had reached out to me first, she had texted me when I least expected it, a few days after my father got killed and I was still finding it hard to grasp everything that has happened. We had agreed to meet up here at home and I almost didn¡¯t recognize her when she walked through the doors. She was already a grown woman¨C something my mind and head found extremely hard to adapt to because I have only been imagining four years old Aria in my head throughout the years, only to be met with a very matured looking replica of the little girl I had grown to adore, years ago. We had talked a little that particr evening, the air had been tense as hell and I was little to no help towards lightening the mood because I was still mourning at that very moment. We texted on and off after then, we met up a few more times and developed our rtionship a lot more, but it never got to that stage where it was when she was still a little kid. We never exchanged hugs either, but I had brushed my fingers against her hair and stroked it a little, thest time we had met up¨C which was close to a year, and watched as a huge smile and filled her face at that gesture which might have looked like a little thing to someone else, but was a huge thing between Aria and I. And that was it. We texted on and off and she always came to me whenever she needed my help, and I always turned up for her immediately because she was family and because I still felt like I should have tried harder towards going to see her when my father had ordered me from doing that. I scrolled through my phone and sent a quick text to the head of one of my security team. I was going to be needing him and his team to look into the dude and his mafia for me. The quiet sound of the bathroom door being pushed open made me lift my head away from the phone I was staring at to stare at it as Sofia made her way out of it and pushed the door closed behind her. She didn¡¯t look in my direction one bit as she made her way past my side of the bed, towards her side and I nced back down at my phone when my eyes started to stare at her legs a little bit longer than necessary. But then now I couldn¡¯t remember what it was that I wanted to tell one of my security leads because the thoughts that were dancing and floating around in my head were those of Sofia¡¯s slender legs wrapped around my head as Iy between her thighs, swiping my tongue ever so lightly against the edges of her dripping core. I shook my head a little to clear it and immediately sent the text over to the security lead, with all the necessary details before turning off my data, and turning off my rm as well. Once I was done, I ced my phone on the side table and stood up to my feet on feeling how dried up and parched up my throat was. I walked towards the water dispenser here in the bedroom and filled a cut with cold water which I poured into my throat immediately. Walking back towards the bed and noticing how Sofia was backing my side of the bed, with her slinged up arm ced on her side. I dropped into my side of the bed and stayed on the nkets as I tried to lure sleep upon me. After a few minutes of just staring at the bright lights, I facepalmed myself mentally as I made my way out of the bed and towards the lights which were situated on the wall, beside the bedroom door. I switched off the white lights instantly, leaving the dim led ones turned on, like the way it was when I had made my way into the room, like an hour ago. I fell into the bed and dragged in a deep breath before letting it slide out slowly. My head was still pounding, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as it was when I hadn¡¯t use of any of the drugs. The sleep I had been longing for ever since I had been at the auction and at the office since the start of the day was refusing toe towards me now that I wasying in bed and willing it toe to take me in. I turned around on my side and backed Sofia with my eyes closed as I tried to will on sleep. It was currently some minutes after one a.m and my mind started to slowly wonder why I was always sleeping thiste, for a while now. I was going to have to cut this habit off as soon as possible before it starts to seriously affect my health. I work hard almost every day of the week and deserve to give my body a good night rest at least, since I neglect it enough already by not eating up to three square meal a day due to I always get little to no time for meal breaks while working, and how I over work it without barely enough rest¡­ I think it deserves to get enough night sleep at least, that was why my muscles were hurting really bad and cramping a lot more, day after day. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g I turned around andy on my stomach with my head pillowed on my arms which were folded on the pillow, I looked towards the other side of the bed where sofia was sleeping in and watched as her chest moved ever so lightly against the nkets. I couldn¡¯t see her face properly because she had it turned towards the other side of the room. This was the quickest she had fallen asleep since the day we got married ¨C to today, made it the fifth day we were sleeping in bed together, and she fell asleep on a couple of those days before I return from work. Perhaps she had finally worked it out in her mind that I wasn¡¯t going to be doing shit to her and had finally calmed down around me, or she was just too tired to stay awake before finally giving in to sleep. I turned towards my face the other side of the room once again and let out a small yawn. I didn¡¯t exactly know when I got pulled into a deep sleep, all I remember faintly was that I yawned and yawned again and buried my head into my arms even more before everything darkened uppletely. ****** I moved around in my sleep, knowing I was awake but refusing to open my eyes yet. Stretching my legs out and tensing my arms up only to release them and tighten them up a few more times before allowing my eyes to fall open. The white lights were turned off like the way I had left itst night before returning back to bed, but light prated into the room from a small space in between the curtains, bright as it could go with this little amount of light. I slowly sat up and groaned when my back muscles protested loudly, cracking and falling back into ces, the ones on top of my shoulders following suit almost immediately. I closed my eyes and winced before stretching my hands out and lifting it up fast¨C which resulted in some of the bones in my left shoulder from pulling out and popping back in instantly. I repeated the motion for my right arm before running my fingers through my hair which I didn¡¯t need to look into a mirror to tell that it was hanging on all corners of my face and looking wide as ever. I threw a nce towards the side of the bed and noticed that it was empty, making me squint my eyes at it and wonder what it was that my brain just wasn¡¯t starting to connect together yet. I reached towards the side of the bed and searched blindly on the table until my hands finally touched my phone which I picked up and retracted my hand immediately. A low, jarring sound echoed from the side of the bed and I quickly turned towards the sound has resonated, and saw my gun on the floor¨C my hand must have blindly pushed it off the table when I had fetched my phone from that same table, moments ago. Stretching downwards and picking it up to ce it in its right position sounds like really hard work for my sore muscles so I dragged my eyes away from it, leaving it there and returning to scrubbing my hands over my face. I tapped on the screen of my phone and it light up immediately and I got taken aback the moment my eyes focused on what the time says. It was currently some minutes towards ten p.m, of course Sofia would have gotten out of bed long before now. Come to think of it¡­ when have I ever slept to this extent? It had been a really long time seeing as I almost never give myself any rest, which was really bad of me. I unlocked the phone and went straight into my messages once my brain started to slowly boot up. I''d want nothing more than to be served coffee right now, here in bed, but I really hated taking anything into my stomach without cleaning my teeth and if possible, taking my bath as well. I clicked on the only message which I was concerned about, which was that of one of my security team leads whom I had assigned a job to,st night before I had finally fallen asleep. There were already a bunch of replies waiting for me, the important details which I had requested for were all there. So, the unfortunate dude was from the Vante mafia¡­ I have heard a little thing about them, they were pretty popr here in Venice, but not to the point of being popr enough to the point of being known and respected all over thepany, Italy. His name was Ivan and he was the future heir of his father¡¯s mafia, he wasn¡¯t even the mafia leader yet and he was already acting this stupid. I am going to have to pay him a visit today. I didn¡¯t want to tell James about it because I was already feeling guilty enough for taking a day off, while James got to shoulder both our piles of work together and figure out how he was going to deal with all the scheduled appointments for today. I didn¡¯t want to make him want to leave the office to It wasn¡¯t like my secretaries couldn¡¯t handle the office for a day and reschedule all my appointments, they could do that perfectly. I just didn¡¯t like the idea of leaving those at the office alone without either James and I being present there. The dude¡¯s name was Ivan. Ivan Vante. It feels like there was a feud going on between their mafia and mine, I wasn¡¯t so sure. Being in bad times with a lot of mafia would make you forget some of the ones you¡¯re in fued with, if the reason for the fued wasn¡¯t asrge or as serious as the rest of the mafia¡¯s reasons. Chapter 40 Chapter 40 Luca¡¯s POV With that, I rolled out of the bed and stretched for a little while before making my way towards the bathroom. I ced my phone on the sink before the mirror and stared into it for a few seconds, the unwanted hair that was starting to grow on my face reminding me that I had promised myself I was going to trim my beardst night. I picked up my tooth brush and cleaned my teeth thoroughly before proceeding to line out my shaving necessities on the counter, in the bathroom. I sprayed a thickyer of the shaving cream over the whole edges of my jaw before starting to lightly and carefully trim the edges. The mirror on the wall has always been the perfect guide and I changed the des and scrubbed over my light beard, knowing it was only going to trim it and render everything into a particr look without one part looking higher with the other part looking really low. Once I was done, I cleaned the shaving cream off and washed my face a couple of times before finally burying my head in a towel and patting my beard dry. I pulled the towel away after a few minutes and stared at myself in the mirror, noticing the change in it immediately and also noticing how pale my cheeks were. Feeling the strong urge to go to the gym and knowing that It wasn¡¯t all that good for people with muscle pain to carry out the kind of exercises I indulge in, but I was going to do it anyway¡­ I just wouldn¡¯t do too much if it anyway. I exited the bathroom with my phone in hand and nothing more as I made my way towards the bed side table of my side of the bed to pick the gun up and ce it back on the table. I made my way out of the empty bathroom and walked down the hall until I got to the gym. I let myself in immediately and ced a hand on my waist as I stared around the whole room, noticing that almost all equipment was calling to me at the same time. Not wanting to do something overlyplex, I walked over to the left part of the room and sat on the chair before lifting up the first barbell there and moving it around. I lifted it forward and downwards and upwards and downwards again, repeating the motion and allowing it to go on and on and on. When I switched to my second hand, I was already panting heavily. I lifted the barbell. I repeated the motion, making sure I lifted it up to the furthest height it could go before finally leaving it be and watching it drop down immediately. Once I felt like I had done enough of that particr exercise, I moved to the one of weights lifting and started lifting the size next to the biggest size, moving from a bent position into a standing position with the weight held high in a way that would make it seem so easy to a newbie, like I was doing it effortlessly and not straining myself one bit. I did a couple of things more before deciding that I had done enough of the whole exercising thing for the day. I sank into one of the chairs in the gym and panted deeply, my shoulders muscles were not hurting all that much and my headache, although notpletely gone, was so manageable now and I was still going to make use of the drugs which I had usedst night, so it was going topletely vanish today, hopefully. I stood up from my seat and picked my phone up while stretching my arms out a little, sweat was dripping off my face, down towards my shoulders and all over my chest. A quick nce downwards showed how glistening my chest was, a good thing that I haven¡¯t showered this morning yet. Damning myself for noting in here with a towel, and not wanting to make use of the ones in the gym, I made my way out of the gym room and closed the door tightly behind me. I made my way down the hall, back towards the bedroom in hopes of showering and dressing up as fast as I could. I pulled the bedroom¡¯s door open and paused in my tracks, outside the bedroom¡¯s door, in the hallway¨C when I heard a quiet, startled gasp from the room the moment I had pulled open the door. There stood Sofia, standing on the other side of the once closed door, and it looked so much like she had been about to push the door open as well but I had beaten her to it. I stared down at her and craned my head to the side, sliding my gaze over her face and our eyes locked almost immediately, my gray eyes staring straight into her wide blown, blue eyes which stared back up into mine. My eyes lowered, ghosted over her cheeks which were a light shade of pink and down towards her set of lips which always seemed like it was in a pout. The lower one looked almost swollen and shiny, like she had bitten and sucked on it countless times since the start of today. She was in a white skirt that looked too small from what I had imagined she wears around the house whenever I had left for work. I thought all her clothes were going to be a bunch of boring outfits, but she had proven me wrong twice¡­ the first time was in the hospital, two days ago. There, she hadn¡¯t even bothered with a bra and it had taken extra concentration to not allow my eyes to linger on the puckered nipples of hers which were pressed against the material of the small sleeveless top she had on, at the hospital. And today, she was wearing a shirt which revealed enough skin on her thighs for me to be able to tell that the rest of her thighs were going to be even more creamy looking than what the lower parts of her thighs looked like. She had on a big, grey top and hadn¡¯t bothered to bring out her strapped up arm from the second side of the shirt. Her feet were in a small, hairy pair of slippers that blended more into what I¡¯d associate her with. I nced back up and focused my gaze on her face which had darkened a few shades more, her eyes skidded away the moment our eyes locked again and my eyes darkened as my mind took on a dangerous part as it started bringing up different images of Sofia¡¯s ass and thighs on the bed, glowing even redder than her face, after I had given her an intense spanking which she had begged me for. ¡°How are you this morning?¡± I finally said to her and slightly winced when my voice came out rougher and growler than I had expected and wanted it to. I watched as her lips parted and her eyes widened for a few seconds before she blinked once and made to reply to me. ¡°I¡¯m good, thank you.¡± She nodded her head along to the words that left her mouth and I started to wonder why her voice sounded so perfect. ¡°How¡¯s your arm?¡± I asked again and she lightly bit on her lower lip, making me wonder if she¡¯d find it weird if I tug her lower lip out from between the light grip her teeth had on it and insert my thumb into her mouth since she wanted something to nibble on so bad. She¡¯d most definitely find it weird¡­ I might find it weird too, because just where were these thoughts suddenlying out from? ¡°It¡¯s getting better, thank you¡± She replied as she stared down at the shape of her arm through the shirt she had on. ¡°Is it still hurting really bad?¡± I continued and she shook her head in reply, her lower lip still trapped between her teeth. I quickly nced at my phone and noticed the time immediately, knowing I had to get going already since the time was already past eleven a.m. I walked into the room and watched as Sofia¡¯s eyes widened just as she took some steps backwards immediately. I reached out and grasped into her good elbow, steadying her from falling and almost rolling my eyes at the way her mind works. Was I nning on doing something to her? Did I even look like I had thought about something like that this morning? Alright, maybe I had thought about that and even more, but I wasn¡¯t nning on carrying any of those things out. She flushed red and took another step back the moment I freed her elbow. I stared at her without saying a thing and watched as she sucked one part of her lower lips into her mouth, which was my cue to get going before I end up doing something pretty stupid. I left her where she was standing and headed towards the bed where I dropped my phone immediately. A silent sound made me nce towards the door to find out that Sofia had exited the room as fast as she could. Yeah, run kitten. Even though no one was chasing you, yet. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g ****** I showered and dressed up in a suit, taking care of my hair and face in front of the mirror in the closet before finally stepping out. I had strapped some guns in the inside of my suit jacket while getting ready, since I knew I was going to be getting into a few fights. Once I was done, I sprayed my deodorant and cologne over me before finally exiting the room and making my way down the stairs, into the kitchen. Matilda and Sarah were there when I made my way into it and I nodded my head when they both greeted me. ¡°How are you, Sarah?¡± I asked, focused on Sarah and noticing again, like I had started to notice for a while that she was getting paler and paler each day. ¡°Oh, I am doing just alright. How is your health this morning? Matilda told me about the whole headache thing.¡± She replied, diverting the topic from her side and pushing it towards mine immediately, the way she always does. I nced towards Matilda and nodded my head towards the coffee making machine, ¡°Can you help me make a cup of coffee?¡± She nodded her head immediately and got to work, before I turned my face back towards Sarah and shrugged my shoulders a little. ¡°The drugs helped a lot, thanks to Matilda.¡± I dug out my phone from my pocket and swiped it open, checking to see if I¡¯ve gotten a message from anyone really important this morning. My driver was going to be driving me over there, along with all of my bodyguards that usually follow me around. They were all trained and qualified bodyguards who could go into a ruthless and blood starved mood when needed. I wasn¡¯t going to be needing any extra hand today. I had a talk with my driver yesterday, I had asked him toe see me at the office and he finally showed up some minutes past two p.m. He confessed to surrendering to a lot of peer pressure from his bunch of friends and I didn¡¯t hide the fact that I was extremely disappointed in him. Drugs were notpletely illegal here in Venice, it only depended on the parts where it was located and how people hid it. It wasn¡¯t illegal, yes. But then it wasn¡¯t a normal thing either. People that deal in it always do it in hiding to avoid unnecessary problems from higher agents around the world. Almost all the mafia here in Italy were dealing with drugs, that was where the majority of them got their money from. Only a few other mafias deal in other things like creating warehouses, owning shares of A text from Aria suddenly popped in just when I was about to drop my phone on the counter and I opened it immediately, my eyes skimming over the message in seconds. Aria: I need help, immediately. Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Luca¡¯s POV Aria: I need help, immediately. I rose up to my full height immediately and started to type in a reply immediately. I faintly heard Matilda informing me that the coffee was ready as she ced it on the counter, a few feet away from where I was standing but I paid her no attention as I immediately sent the text I had typed down. Luca: What¡¯s happening??? On getting no reply after a minute, I sent another one over immediately. Luca: Where the fuck are you? I dragged my left fingers through my hair and turned around, heading out of the kitchen and heading towards the door leading outside immediately. I sent another text as I stepped outside the house and mmed the door close behind me. Luca: Aria? Fucking reply my texts right now. ¡°Good morning, Mr Ri.¡± Two voices echoed beside me and I nced sideways to lock gazes with the two guarded whom I had assigned to Sofia. I nodded my head at them and alighted the small amount of stairs immediately. My driver was already thankfully waiting for me outside the car and a guard instantly tugged open the back seat¡¯s door for me and I slid into the car immediately, already typing in another text for Aria, my head was starting to pound once again. Luca: C¡¯mon! Where are you? My mind was already tightening up as so many emotions swamped me up at once, regret was the leading emotion amongst the other emotions. Regret that I had failed her when she was little, and might end up failing her again now that she was all grown up and had reached out to me for help. Just why didn¡¯t I ask for her friend¡¯s address yesterday? And now it was either I head over to the Vante¡¯s mafia directly, or head over to one of my warehouses where one of my security leads can trace her location from my phone through thetest text that had ¡°Where to, boss?¡± The driver had asked without ncing behind me and after contemting and weighing the pros and cons, I asked him to drive me over to the warehouse. Sending a quick text over to the guys at the warehouse to get all the needed equipments ready, l kept on sending Aria texts while trying hard not to think about anything really bad happening to her. We arrived at the warehouse and I alighted the car even before it got fully parked and was making my way into the warehouse immediately. A lot of greetings echoed around me as I made my way into the warehouse and I nodded my head absentmindedly as I walked deeper into it until I arrived at where I was looking for. Letting myself in immediately, I handed my phone over to one of the guys which he quickly connected to a long wire while the one sitting behind the lots ofputers started tapping away, his fingers moving fast against the keyboard while his eyes never left the screens for a second ¨C the only time his eyes moved behind his sses was to nce towards another screen which had on a nk image with something that looked like a thin white like moving around on the screen. ¡°Something happened, boss?¡± One of the three guys that were currently in here asked me and I shook my head while tugging on the roots of my hair. The one who had asked the question pushed a chair towards my way and I grabbed it and sinked into it gratefully. ¡°I¡¯ve almost gotten it¡­ the location is moving, it¡¯s currently moving.¡± John, the lead guy of the security team which was based onputers operating and everything that involves it¨C suddenly said and I perked up in my seat, staring at the screen to see a red glowing circle that kept moving towards a really long line. ¡°This is the person you were looking for, and they¡¯re moving at a really fast speed, which means the person is either running from you, or the person is being kidnapped¡­?¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± I mutter loudly and tug on the roots of my hair hard, scrubbing that same hand downwards, over my face. ¡°Is it someone you¡¯re after, boss?¡± I and a few of the guards could go after the person and bring them to you.¡± The third guy who had offered me the chair to sit on started to say and I shook my head as a small sigh escaped my lips, going directly into my palm which was still covering my mouth. ¡°It¡¯s someone I need to find immediately, some bunch of assholes have most definitely kidnapped her, which was why she sent me thatst text before the phone probably got seized from her.¡± I said to him, knowing the rest of the team were all listening in. ¡°The object has stopped moving, boss, I think they¡¯ve either gotten to their destination or have probably tossed the phone out of the window¡­ I¡¯m trying to see if there¡¯s a way I can sense exactly where they are, but the connection is way too weak for me to connect to.¡± John sighed out, his fingers never ceasing his movements on the keyboards he has been tapping away on, even before I got here. ¡°Just give me the location, I am going to follow it and track it down.¡± I paused and turned towards the third guy once again, ¡°You¡¯reing with me, with some equipment which we can use to keep track of the phone.¡± ¡°Alright, boss.¡± He nodded his head and got to his feet immediately, picking up an iPad from the tons of iPads lining up neatly in a row, on one part of the table in here. He moved it towards the system and plugged it to the system john was working on, and then he started to tap on a few buttons on a touchscreen keyboard, before the details on the screen started duplicating and transferring into the iPad. I nced away from what they were doing and stared down at my phone, typing in another text to Aria and hoping deep down that she was fine. Luca: I''ming for you, I swear it. ****** ¡°Has the phone moved from its former position?¡± I asked the kid named Victor, the third guy in the security team which I had ordered toe along with me. I hadn¡¯t been the one to hire him, as well as sixty percent of the people that worked, James did most of those and supervised them perfectly to not need my involvement at all. The kid shook his head before ncing up from the iPad he had been staring intently at since we made our way into the car and he had taken the space beside me in the back seat. ¡°Unfortunately, it hasn¡¯t. It¡¯s still in the same spot it has been in, for the past five minutes.¡± I silently nodded my head at him and forced my hands to stay still on my thighs when the urge to tug on the roots of my hair frustratingly and to scrub my hand over my face started to get way too much. At this point, it was getting too hard to not think about all the bad, unfortunate things that might have happened to Aria, or that was going to happen to her. The car started moving, driving extremely fast like I had ordered and we had been following the address on the iPad, but it was so freaking far, making me start to consider the fact that what if she was currently being held hostage in his mafia while he had ordered his men to take her phone along with them along the way once they were really far from around here, before dropping it on the side of the road. I moved my hands over my pants material, drying of the sweat that had gathered on it while the cold air of the air conditioner drifted into my body through the first two buttons which I had unbuttoned back in the warehouse. My head was starting to pound again, to my disappointment and I lifted my fingers and massaged it against my temple, knowing that the fact that I didn¡¯t remember to make use of the tablets which I had made use ofst night, this morning again¨C was going to affect me, like it was current doing now. ¡°The phone moved¨C it moved a little,¡± Victor suddenly called out and I quickly nced sideways to stare at him, watching the screen confusingly for long seconds before turning his face towards me and pointing at the iPad¡¯s screen. ¡°I could have sworn that it moved a minute ago, like someone moved it or something¡­ are you sure the person you¡¯re looking for isn¡¯t somewhere sleeping, with their phone turned off and lying motionlessly beside them.¡± I stared at him quietly without saying a thing and he turned back towards the iPad¡¯s screen almost immediately when I didn¡¯t say a thing, leavin me to my own thoughts once again. I fished out my phone from my pocket and unlocked the phone with my automatic face identification and would open my messages in hopes of seeing a reply from Aria, only to be greeted with a ton of my unanswered messages. ¡°Look at this screen, boss. It¡¯s fucking moving, it wasn¡¯t moving in that fast as fuck pace which we had All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. found it in, but in a small pace which was too slow to attract any panic whatsoever. I nced straight at the screen which Victor currently had a few feet away from my face and indeed, the object was starting to get away from its position where it was in before, and was slowly moving towards another position entirely. ¡°Let¡¯s just follow this trail and everything around it to wherever it leads us to.¡± I said to victor who nodded his head immediately before leaning towards the front of the car from the space in the front seats, and said something to the driver who nodded his head in and stretched his hand backwards ¨C and victor handed him the iPad which he handed to the bodyguard sitting in the second front seat. The bodyguard plugged the phone into the cord of the car and they finally connected the GPS to the trail while I watched them absentmindedly, since I was trying really hard to not think about anything bad that might have happened to Aria. A beep unexpectedly sounded from my phone and I jolted a little as I picked it from my thigh and watched as it opened to reveal to me that the text hadn''t been from Aria like I had expected and hoped at first, but from james. James: Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re still asleep at this moment, it¡¯s already past one in the afternoon. I shook my head as a small sigh escaped my lips and quickly ghosted my fingers over my shoulders and the back of my throat to massage into some parts of my muscles that were starting to hurt again as well. Now wasn¡¯t the time, James. Another text came in after a few more minutes and I didn¡¯t need to confirm first to know that it was from James himself, I didn¡¯t want to give in and check but I was almost starting to go crazy and needed something to focus my mind on. I opened the message and wasn¡¯t surprised about the whole context of the text. James: Now, just why would you leave me on delivered? I get that today is your day off, but I am suffering here in the office while you sleep in and get nasty with your little wife. I contemted sending him a quick reply for him to shut the hell up and chill until I give him a callter today, but the sharp breath victor took beside me made me jerk my head up and stare at him¨C before following his gaze which was focused outside the car¡¯s window. Chapter 42 Chapter 42 Luca¡¯s POV James: Now, just why would you leave me on delivered? I get that today is your day off, but I am suffering here in the office while you sleep in and get nasty with your little wife. I contemted sending him a quick reply for him to shut the hell up and chill until I give him a callter today, but the sharp breath victor took beside me made me jerk my head up and stare at him¨C before following his gaze which was focused outside the car¡¯s window. My gaze hardened the moment I noticed what it was that has made him react that way¨C a bunch of guards in their uniform walked past our car in their uniforms, making my brains start to rack immediately. That could mean a lot of things but I wasn¡¯t letting any detail that might end up being important, slip off my fingers. The car started to slow down after a few more minutes and Victor leaned forward towards the front of the car to ask the driver if we were already where the phone was. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s probably in one of those buildings.¡± The driver replied before finally stopping the car and unplugging the iPad from the cord of the car and handing it back to Victor. I looked into the screen of the iPad once victor was sitting once again and noticed that the red button that has signified Aria¡¯s phone all through our journey was kinda glowing, the shape getting bigger and wider despite the fact that it still haven¡¯t moved from it¡¯s particr spot. Which only signified one thing, the phone was indeed around here. All I had to do is to hope the phone was still on her and that nothing had been done to her. The driver came down from the car and pulled my door open a few secondster. I took in a deep, slow breath before climbing out of the car and inserting my phone into my pocket, just as the car got mmed shut. I nced behind my car which I had just alighted and nodded my head once on seeing my second car filled with some of my guards, already parking their own car, a few feet away from where ours was parked. Victor came to stand beside me, his heading up to stop exactly at my shoulder level. He lifted the iPad and pointed at the red button on the screen. ¡°My bet is one of these two buildings. They¡¯re the two most biggest ones around here, and they¡¯re close to each other, and the arrow is catching more signals when pointed in their direction.¡± Victor started to say immediately and I collected the iPad from him and moved towards the first building which was a little bit bigger than the second one, and surprisingly, the red arrow did catch some more signal. I moved towards the second building, with the iPad cradled against my chest like I was reading something off it and wasn¡¯t trying to see if they have my cousin in here, with the help of the said iPad in my hands. Once I got a few feet closer, the signal became stronger and stronger. I moved a few steps closer just to be sure and the signal got so strong and firm, and stronger and it might start beeping. I walked back towards Victor, my driver and the guard and puffed out a slow breath as I handed the iPad back to Victor. Victor nced down at the iPad before ncing up towards the second building which I was beside, a few seconds ago. ¡°You¡¯ll have to go back to the warehouse now, Victor. You¡¯ve done enough at this point.¡± I said to Victor who quickly nced up from the iPad he was tweedling with and stared at me like he was about to argue. ¡°But Mr Ri, I can stay behind¡­¡± I raised up my left hand and he trailed off immediately like I expected. ¡°This is a really dangerous situation and I won¡¯t be dragging you into it. You don¡¯t know how to defend yourself physically because this isn¡¯t your strongest fort, you¡¯ve helped in what you¡¯re good at and that¡¯s what matters.¡± I said to him and watched as the fire in his eyes dimmed a little before he lowered his head and stared down at the iPad before slowly nodding his head after a few seconds of hesitation. ¡°Get back in the car now, my driver is going to drive you to a certain point, where another car is going to block you guys and take you back to the warehouse from there, got it?¡± He nodded his head before lifting his head back up once again and saying in a small voice, ¡°I enjoyed working with you.¡± I nodded my head once and pointed towards the car with my left hand and watched as he walked towards it with little to no enthusiasm as he pulled the door open and sank into the spot I was in, when we got here. I was about to tell him about how I had enjoyed working him too¨C even though that wasn¡¯t true, but just to satisfy some of the hero worship which I had picked off from him right from the moment we were still back at the warehouse before deciding against it and watching as the door got mmed shut by the driver. A few minutester and the car was pulling out of its parking spot, and speeding off on the same road we had been on, some moments ago. I turned towards the guard standing a few feet away from me with his hands folded at his back and his head raised up in a confident stance. I jerked my head sideways and he walked towards me immediately, standing a few feet away from me. ¡°Go get the rest of the guards.¡± I said to him and he instantly went off to do just that, leaving me to my thoughts once again until the whole guards were standing a few feet away from me, barely making any noise and fuss like the professionals that they were. ¡°We¡¯re going in there immediately, through the front gate.¡± I started to say before pausing and throwing a nce at the said building, from over my right shoulder and silently contemted with myself if my initial n was going to work. But then we were running out of time, a quick nce at my wrist showed that the time was some minutes before it reaches three p.m in the afternoon and there was only little time left at hand. We could have nned to first of all check if there was another way we could get into thepound, either from the back of the house or something else, but there was no time left for us to wait until a few guards go around to check how the back of the building was located at¨C which was going to take more than a few minutes for the guards to be able to get to the back of the building and get some confirmation done. ¡°We are not drawing out weapons yet, and hopefully won¡¯t draw out any weapons first.¡± I paused and nced over every one of their faces before continuing, ¡°All you¡¯re going to do is to follow my lead and be on the lookout for any attack that might being my way from all corners. Got it?¡± They all murmured their replies and I nodded my head before reaching out and pping my hand on the guard nearest to me. I noticed the way he flinched with fear before my hand connected with his back and the way the rest of the guards had different looks in their eyes almost immediately. ¡°You¡¯re staying behind, outside here. To watch the cars and make sure no onees out from the building toe shoot at the tires, do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± He replied almost immediately, his voice sounding way higher than necessary and I almost shook my head at how scared of me he was. Almost all the guards I work with had little to no balls each time I did as much as breathe into their direction. I lifted my hand off his back and took a step backwards before turning around and staring intently at the huge ck gates. I patted both sides of my pants and felt the guns which I had inserted in there lightly dig into the sides of my hips. After taking in a deep breath and pushing my hair out of my face with my left fingers, flicked a hand at the guards behind me and started to walk towards the building, faintly aware that the guards had fallen into steps behind me almost immediately. I paused outside the gate and reached for the smaller gate to try pushing it open¡ª and surprisingly, it gave way immediately, opening immediately to reveal the wild, emptypound. I paused in my footsteps, not knowing how to go on about the whole thing again from this new finding, at this very moment . Knowing it was either I go in and figure out what was in there or stay out here and weigh out different other probability which there was only about a small amount of little to no guarantee on those other options. I pushed the gate more open and stepped into thepound after doing a fast sweep of the whole expanse with my eyes. A few cars were parked around different areas in thepound and that was it. I didn¡¯t need to tell the guards not to close the small gate once they¡¯ve all made their way into the a two story building. I paused a few steps away from it just as the front door opened to reveal two guards with guns raised, pointed at me. Unsurprisingly, they were in the same uniform as the one I had seen those bodyguards in, when they had walked past my car, about half an hour ago. I didn¡¯t need to nce behind my shoulders to confirm that my guards had already drawn out their weapons as well. I watched as the eyes of the first guard widened the moment our eyes locked before he nced towards his partner and whispered something to him, and then the two of them disappeared into the house and mmed the door shut behind them. Just¡­ What the hell was that? I nced over my shoulder as the particr guard that usually follows me in my car, every fucking day and pointed towards the door which the two guards had disappeared into. ¡°Go knock on the door.¡± The guard did as I say, covering the few feet towards the house and knocking loudly on the door. He repeated the motion a few more times before the door finally got pulled open by a dude in a ck jumpsuit. ¡°What the hell do you all want? This is the wrong house.¡± The dude said to us,pletely avoiding my gaze pathetically. I stepped forward with my hands folded behind my back before I started to say. ¡°I am here for the girl whom y¡¯all had kidnapped hours ago and would appreciate it if you bring her out to me this very instant, with not a single scratch on her body.¡± I said to the dude in a jumpsuit and All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. watched as he tried his very best to hide the fear that had crossed his face andsted a few seconds there, before disappearing into thin air. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, we- I haven¡¯t seen any girl, please leave our premises immediately, you¡¯re trespassing private property.¡± The dude said and I stepped forward once again, closing the distance between us until only a few feet separated us from being in each other¡¯s private space. ¡°Did you hear what I said clearly? I said ``get me the girl right this instant!¡± Chapter 43 Chapter 43 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, we- I haven¡¯t seen any girl, please leave our premises immediately, you¡¯re trespassing private property.¡± The dude said and I stepped forward once again, closing the distance between us until only a few feet separated us from being in each other¡¯s private space. ¡°Did you hear what I said clearly? I said ``get me the girl right this instant!¡± I repeated again, but in a really quiet voice this time. The guard took a step back like he was contemting going back into the house which he hade out from or to stand and continue to act like he didn¡¯t know what I was talking about. I took two more steps closer to him and watched as he shifted backwards, the movement was barely noticeable but I noticed just fine, my eyes narrowing at him. ¡°Where is the girl?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no¨C umph¡­¡± The dude started to say again but gargled out something stupid when I grabbed him by the front of his jumpsuit and jerked him forward. ¡°Where¡¯s the girl?¡± I demanded again but got nothing from him as he only stared at me with so much fear in his eyes, his mouth opening and closing while nothing came out. I released my hold on him and dragged him sideways, pushing his out of the doorway and making my way into the house, feeling my guards falling into steps behind me as I made my way into the house and felt anger re out in my brains on seeing two men, with some bodyguards, including the two which I had seen outside, a moment ago, there in the first room of the house. The two men we¡¯re sitting side by side, both shirtless and sniffing a whitish powder spread out on their index fingers, straight into their noses. Coke. They visibly jolted on seeing me and I threw them a dirty look before folding my hands behind my back once again and repeating myself to the two men who looked high as fuck, but not too high to not have a firm grasp on everything that was going on around them. ¡°Where is the girl you kidnapped?¡± I demanded and both men exchanged nces as they both got to their feet, a tad bit of fright passing their faces. ¡°Er, Mr Ri, you¡¯re probably at the wrong house, we¡¯d never tamper with something that¡¯s yours.¡± Of course they knew who I was. Great. Oh, but they didn¡¯t know Aria was my cousin¡­ which was what gave them the audacity to think they could do whatever they want with her. I think not. ¡°Where is the girl you kidnapped?¡± I echoed again and watched as the first dude swallowed before nudging his partner at his side, his partner nudged him back immediately, a lot harder than necessary, while scowling at his feet. ¡°We didn¡¯t kidnap any girl, but there¡¯s a girl here who we brought over here, some hours ago.¡± The second dude started to say before pausing when his partner nudged him once again. After a few minutes, he continued, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you think we had any girl kidnapped, but we didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°We¡¯re sorry you had to stress yourself bying over here, you¡¯re most definitely at the wrong house.¡± The second one finally rounded with his speech and I slightly corked my head to the side before gesturing to two of the guards and pointing towards the stairs which was visible at the corner of the sitting room which we were all currently upying. ¡°Go search for the girl upstairs and bring her to me.¡± I said to them and they disappeared upstairs immediately, the guards along with the shirtless guys staring after them in horror. The first dude nudged the second dude once again and the second dude turned around to face him and whispered something harshly in his face which made him turn pale immediately. ¡°You¡¯re the Vante, right?¡± I started to say and both men''s eyes jumped towards me immediately. The first dude shook his head after a few seconds while the first dude remained quiet, with a nk facial expression covering his face. ¡°You¡¯re Ivan, Ivan Vante.¡± I said to the second dude who was now wearing a scowl on his face, he remained quiet, not replying to my question. Oh, they were so fucked today. The two guards who had gone upstairs to fetch Aria started to ascend the stairs, supporting Aria¡¯s weight as they climbed down and my teeth clenched tight against each other and started grinding down in my mouth when they got to thestnding and Aria¡¯s head moved around weakly before finally I turned back towards the two men, the amount of rage I was currently feeling boiling in me could be obvious on my face as I whipped out my gun, cocked it and pointed it at them without hesitations. They visibly flinched and exchanged a quick, disturbed nce. I watched their guards whip out their guards and point it towards me immediately and the very next second, their owners were asking them to put their damn guns away because they knew how deep the amount of shit they were in was. ¡°Who did that to her? Why the hell did you drug her up?¡± I started to say, my voice theplete opposite of the calmness which I had been using to address them from the beginning. ¡°I swear to you sir, we had no idea she was one of yours.¡± The first one started to say while the second one remained quiet, getting me angrier as the seconds passed. ¡°Step forward, Ivan.¡± I said, moving the gun from the middle of the two men towards the second dude. I watched him swallow visibly and clench his empty hands at his sides tight for a few seconds before stepping forward and trying really hard to hold my gaze. The first thing I did was to deliver a harsh p on his face which whipped his face around and echoed really loudly, shocking the first dude as well as their guards. Ivan being the sensible dude that shook his head a little before turning his head back to face me, he leaned his head sideways and spit out blood before ncing back up to stare at me. The cool facial expression he was trying to put on was really proving hard to do because he was breathing hard as fuck and had a huge hand print on his right cheek. I had a mean weight on my palms, which was I never lifted my hands on a man unless it was necessary. Like right now. ¡°What did you drug her up with?¡± I asked quietly, feeling the anger and rage bubble up in my chest ever more as I spat out that question. His eyes wavered and he took a step backwards, or tried, because I closed the distance between us almost immediately. ¡°I- it was just a little of what we use to get excited, nothing harmful or anything.¡± He said with a small shrug and I reached out and delivered another p on the same cheek I had hit before and like before, his head whipped to the side, leaving a sharp, tingling feeling in the middle of my palm. He whipped his head back to face me after a minute and spit out another mouthful of blood and a small groan leaving his mouth before he finally got to stare back up at me. ¡°She went out on a date with you, and you wanted to have your way by all means, which was very stupid of you.¡± I said to him and he pushed out a harsh breath from his nose without saying a thing. ¡°Why did you kidnap her? Give me your reasons.¡± I snapped out and watched as Ivan took a step backwards, to my annoyance. ¡°If you take one more step backwards again, I am going to blow your brains off.¡± I said to him in warning and watched as his teeth clench in his mouth before a tiny wince covered his face. ¡°Answer my question, you piece of shit.¡± I reminded him and watched as he slightly shifted his weight from feet to feet before ncing up from the ground to stare at me, his left cheek was glowing red with tworge hand prints on each other¡¯s. ¡°We just wanted to have a little fun with her¨C¡° Stupid Ivan started to say before the first dude cut in before he could finish what he was about to say. ¡°No, hell no. It was your idea for us to go get her and I was against it but ended up agreeing because it was you.¡± The second dude disagreed with the Ivan dude immediately, from his spot beside the couch they¡¯ve both been sitting in when I made my way into the house. ¡°But you were in love with the idea as well, you wanted to have her as well, stop trying to deny it now.¡± Ivan spat back to the first dude, calling him out immediately as well. ¡°But you suggested the idea first, it was all your idea and you nned everything, I only went along with all your ns.¡± The first dude snapped back at the Ivan dude immediately, denying all what he was being used of and turning it all back on Ivan. ¡°The both of you are sick.¡± I said in low voice and both dudes swallowed whatever it was that they wanted to say and stared back at me almost immediately, the first dude still at the same as he was before had the audacity to look shameful, he was lucky he wasn¡¯t he wasn¡¯t as close to me the way Ivan was, I¡¯d have delivered a couple of ps on the side of his face as well. ¡°I should probably shoot the two of you in the balls so you won¡¯t ever be opportune to want to have fun with a woman that¡¯s unwillingly.¡± I started to say and the first real trace of fear crossed Ivan¡¯s face as soon as those words settled into his head, a secondter. The first dude started to say something quietly but I cut him off instantly with a raised finger, ¡°But I am not going to do that, I am instead going to see your father so he¡¯d be aware of the kind of disappointment you are.¡± I paused as I allowed the words to sink into their empty heads before continuing, ¡°All expenses would be way billed to you, as well as whatever cost the therapists which she is going to be seeing are going to demand for, you¡¯re going to pay off everything, are we clear?¡± They nodded their heads in response, the first one quite eager than Ivan. I reached my hand out andnded it hard on Ivan¡¯s shoulder and he grunted quietly, his eyes glued to his feet but I closed the distance between us and spoke quietly to him so no one overheard except him. ¡°I am going to put eyes on you, if something like this repeats itself, with any other unwilling girl, you''re a dead rat immediately.¡± I paused before pping his shoulder again and feeling him flinch against my p before continuing loudly this time, ¡°Got it?¡± He nodded his head in response and I squeezed hard on his shoulders instantly, making him rethink his decision about not making use of his words. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± He finally mumbled, his face beet red with embarrassment and shame at being put into his ce before his people. Which served him right¡­ he should be thankful he didn¡¯t do anything to Aria yet. I removed hand from his shoulder and gestured to the first dude toe over. His eyes widened for a second before he started to walk towards me. ¡°It was all his n, I swea¨C¡° He started to say immediately he got to the same line Ivan was standing in and I pulled him forward with my hand on his shoulder, making his eyes widen with fright immediately. ¡°You¡¯re a Vante too, right?¡± All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. He nodded his head once, the fright still swimming around in his eyes. ¡°You do know you¡¯re not supposed to out your own blood that fast, the way you did, hm?¡± I started to say and his eyes widened even more. He began to say something but I lifted my hand andnded it on his shoulder and he flinched and winced at the same time like I had expected. ¡°But because I had been the one in question, it was a good thing you had started saying your part of the story before I got to you. You¡¯re smart and also dumb¡­ really, really dumb.¡± He swallowed without saying anything, his face beet red like that of his brother¡¯s or cousin¡¯s. ¡°This should never repeat itself without any other person, understood?¡± I said to him and he nodded his head immediately, flinching when I lifted my hand off his shoulder like he expected it toe down on his shoulder hard one more time, but I only took a step away from them and folded my arms behind my back. I took onest, long look at them before turning around, my eyes locking with that of Ivan¡¯s before I backed thempletely and headed for the two guards who were still holding Aria up. She thankfully wasn¡¯t slipping in and out of consciousness anymore, but her eyes weren''t still staying open for long. I wonder what kind of drug they had injected in her, and how much of the drug was currently swimming through her blood. I touched her forehead and she flinched, pulling away from my touch and trying to escape my hand. ¡°Shh, it¡¯s me.¡± I whispered to her as I touched her forehead once again and stroked the pounding pulse on her forehead lightly. Her eyes fluttered a little, ¡°Luca?¡± She mumbled quietly and my heart tightened in my heart, hating how weak and helpless she sounded, it made me want to turn around and bury a bullet in the skull of the fool named Ivan. ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me.¡± I replied and my heart swelled when she leaned into my touch even more. I grabbed her and pulled her more into my body and the guards stepped away from her since they were no longer holding her up. ¡°You came.¡± She mumbled quietly, her head moving slowly against my chest, almost too weakly. I didn¡¯t bother replying to her as I bent to her height and lifted her into my arms, wrapping my arms firmly around her thighs and back before turning back around and giving Ivan and his family member a hard stare, Ivan ducked his head while the other dude flinched and turned aroundpletely. The dude in a jumpsuit who had tried to stop me from getting into the house turned around the moment our eyes met. I made my way out of the building with the guards tailing me, and Aria tucked in my arms. She wasn¡¯t totally fine at the moment, but she was safe. I had saved her. I hadn¡¯t let her down, and that was all that matters. ¡°Thank you, Lulu.¡± I faintly heard her whisper against my chest and I pulled her tighter into my arms. Chapter 44 Chapter 44 Sofia¡¯s POV ¡°Can you tell me a little about Mexico?¡± I said to Ryan after a few minutes and he nced up from my phone that he was currently helping me reset some things on the¨C a phone which I had no idea was going to be thatplex to operate. It was past two p.m in the afternoon and I had asked him this afternoon if he could help me with a few things on my phone. He had agreed immediately, sinking into the same couch I was sitting in after I had patted it on invitation, when he had wanted to remain standing while operating the phone. He had disagreed at first, and tried to argue but ended up giving in, he was sitting almost too tensely on the tip of the couch, making me wonder about this whole thing between them and Luca. Speaking of Luca, I could already feel my cheeks start to heat up, and my mouth dry up as I remembered all too vividly how he had raked his intense grey eyes over my whole body, but still not touching me. It had felt like he was brushing his finger over my whole body ever so lightly, the way he had touched my wrist, two days ago in the hospital, and as ashamed and embarrassed as I was, when I think about it now, I had felt goosebumps appear over whole my skin this morning, right there in the entrance of our bedroom. My heart had been beating extremely fast when I had finally flown out of the bedroom, this morning, to the extent that I had to seriously try hard to calm myself down as the thought of me developing a heart attack all because of the little encounter we had ¨C without no kind of physical contact¨C echoed in my head. I shook my head and blinked once, when Ryan started to talk beside me¨C pulling me out of the thousand of thoughts floating around in my head, like it always does. ¡°Well, technically, I was born in Australia.¡± Ryan started to say and I nced up from his fingers moving over my phone ¨C to his face, to find him still staring intently at my phone screen. ¡°Oh? That¡¯s a good thing, right?¡± I asked and watched as he shrugged one of his big shoulders ever so slowly. ¡°It is, I guess. It also isn¡¯t. It all depends on the way you see it and what point of view you¡¯d like to understand it from.¡± He continued and I blinked once before staring back down at my phone. He lifted the phone and handed it to me, which I took from his head, a fast secondter. Our fingers brushed lightly, his nails which I just noticed were really long ¨C lightly scraped my thumb but I ignored the fleeting jolt I felt from the tip of my thumb and instead focused on the work at hand, which was me figuring out theplexity of my phone. ¡°Can you tell me about those two particr points of view? I am sure I would be able to understand it perfectly from both points of view.¡± I said to him as I thumbed my phone open and noticed that there was now a small square shaped thing on the Home Screen of my phone. I clicked on the dark square shaped box and it opened to reveal different arrows, buttons and other quite confusing things. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mrs Ri but No, I cannot.¡± He replied after a few seconds and I pursed my lips as I nodded my head once, it was of no use. No matter how hard I try to get the body guards talking, they only respond for a few minutes before shutting down. I had tried this same thing with Ethan, trying to see if he¡¯d share a few things with me, but Ethan was so much worse than Ryan, he had told me that it wasn¡¯t sporophyte for me to be asking that question of him. When I had insisted, he ended up giving in, but stopped after answering the first question, which was a simple ¡®where were you born?¡¯ My reasons for trying to get closer to my body guards was because I was trying to see if we could develop a bond together and get to know each other more and be really familiar with each other ¨C that way, I won¡¯t be getting bored out of my mind, every damn day, since I literally only spend the days with Sarah , Matilda and my two bodyguards. ¡°What is this square shaped box thing called and why is it here?¡± I asked Ryan after a few seconds of me examining it over and over again. He leaned towards the phone a little and pointed to the dark box before starting to exin, ¡°That¡¯s your assistive touch.¡± He paused for a few seconds, and when I nodded my head in understanding, he continued, ¡°It is mostly All content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. activated when a person¡¯s iPhone keys, like the hole keys, the swipe button which would let you move from a particr app to a different app withoutpletelying out of one.¡± ¡°But there¡¯s nothing wrong with my phone, all the parts of it are working perfectly well.¡± I started to say as soon as his words sank into my head and I watched as he nodded his head once before continuing, ¡°Yes, which was why I said some iPhone users. While some, like your own case for instance, activate that option to enable them to be able to make use of the phone in a more easier way, and way less revealing the same thing it had done before. I clicked on the app switcher and watched as all the whole apps which had been left open on my phone¨C moved backwards, all that¡¯s left for me to do is to click on one, which I did immediately and it did take me to where I expected, without any stress this time. ¡°Oh, thank you so much. I could have never thought of this, thank you!¡± I said to him with all earnesty before lifting my head up to stare at him. He nodded his head once and assured me that I was weed before ncing back down at the phone and lightly tapping the phone screen with his index finger. ¡°But then, if you want to make a screen record, it is going to be visible in it that your assistive button is turned on.¡± He said to me and I stared at the phone screen confusingly before ncing up at him from the screen of the phone to blink at him as I echoed out the first thought that popped into my head. ¡°Um, what¡¯s a screen record?¡± Ryan stared down at me silently for a few seconds at first, before he cracked a small smile ¨C the first smile I¡¯ve ever seen him wear since the day he had be my bodyguard. Dare I say he appeared really cute in that particr moment? Cute in a bunny way. Weird, right? I know, I know. ¡°A screen record can be carried out when you tap on the button and it records whatever it was that was currently showing on your screen, at that moment.¡± He started to exin, his mouth moving fast, voice a quiet rumble as if he didn¡¯t want anyone else to overhear what it was that we were talking about. ¡°You do have a screen record app on your phone right? I could show you how it works, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± He said to me and I nodded my head before shaking my head almost immediately ¨C remembering that I wasn¡¯tpletely sure if I had it on my phone, or not. ¡°I am not all that sure, but I can check right now.¡± I said to him as I started scrolling through my long rows of apps, wondering why the phone had toe with so many apps that most appearpletely useless. ¡°Just swipe to the right and type in whatever app it is that you¡¯re looking for, it saves time and unnecessarily stress.¡± He said from above my head and I felt a little color start to flood into my cheeks at how dumb and slow he must be thinking I was now since I couldn¡¯t even figure my way around a phone without requiring assistance. ¡°Thank you.¡± I whispered quietly as I did as told, typing in the name of the app I was looking for¨C which turns out that the app wasn¡¯t avable on my phone at the moment. I was grateful he was currently assisting me with it, because I was sure I¡¯d end up running crazy assuming I had kept on continuing to figure my way around it. I went directly into the App Store before he could suggest that same thing and started downloading the app, I knew what it was, since the attendant at where I had bought the phone from, four days ago, had exined a few basic things about the phone, and the App Store and it uses had been a part of it. Once itpleted downloading, Ryan took the phone back and set the newly downloaded app while I carefully watched all what he was doing, trying my damnest to not feel like a dumb and slow person at that very moment. He showed me a few examples of a screen record, navigated through the phone more and more, and showed me how to deal with a few more things before finally handing the phone to me and rising to his feet, the very next second. ¡°Thank you so much, again. I really appreciate it, really.¡± I said to him as I got up on my feet almost immediately, clutching my phone carefully in my left hand while my right one was currently feeling ¡°You¡¯re wee, ma¡¯am. I am just doing my job.¡± He replied immediately, sping his hands behind his back as he stared down at me, making me feel as small as possible. ¡°Would you like a drink before you go back outside at least? It¡¯s just me saying thank you. You¡¯ve helped me so much with this particr thing that has been making my head pound ever since I got the phone and I¡¯d really appreciate it if you agree to have a drink, at least.¡± I said to him as I moved my weight from foot to foot, feeling my small skirt move around my thighs. My mother and aunts had shipped so absurdly for me, getting me only skimpy clothes, a huge contrast to the type of clothes I wore when I was still unmarried, and at my father¡¯s house. Ryan had started to shake his head even before I couldplete my sentence, making me mentally huff and stomp my feet on the ground in irritation. ¡°There¡¯s no need to stress, ma¡¯am. Like I said, it is nothing. You feeling this much gratitude is more than enough.¡± He exined and surprisingly cracked another small smile at the end of his sentence, whichsted for only a tiny second,pared to the first one I had seen him wear some long minutes ago. ¡°Alright, if you insist.¡± I finally sighed out, taking a few steps backwards and wincing when my sudden movements had jarred my arm which was in a sling¨C around a little. ¡°Are you alright, ma¡¯am?¡± Ryan asked almost immediately and I nodded my head instantly, not wanting him to start to worry about me again when he was literally just helping me with my phone, moments ago. ¡°Yes, I am. I just jolted a little too hard.¡± I replied to him with a wave of my good arm, dismissing his worry even though he still looked a bit worried. ¡°Please make use of your afternoon dosage of drugs, to reduce whatever pain you¡¯re still feeling.¡± Ryan started to say after a moment and I nodded my head immediately as I turned around and made my way out of the living room, up the stairs and into the mine and Luca¡¯s bedroom. Chapter 45 Chapter 45 Sofia¡¯s POV I puffed out a quiet breath of air as I slowly and carefully massaged my injured arm with an ointment given to me at the hospital. The pain wasn¡¯t as intense as it was on the first and second day after I had sustained the injury, but nevertheless, it still sent me a little jolt of pain through the veins around the spot where my bone had shifted. I dug my index finger into the ointment and smeared the wetness which had a mild smell that reminded me of a certain Vaseline which I had made use of a lot while growing up. I massaged the injury some more until the whole part of my arm was glistening and shining due to the almost slippery substance of the ointment. I lifted my arm up and stared at the spot below my elbow, it didn¡¯t look swollen the way it did on the first, second and even third day, which I was extremely grateful for. I tried stretching the arm out and went a couple of milie before a sharp jolt of pain flew into the socket connecting my arm to the sockets of my shoulders. I winced and mouthed a quiet cry as I carefully cradled my arm to myself once again and slightly massaged the part of my arm that had been stressed when I had stretched my arm out, moments ago. Maybe I wasn¡¯t alreadypletely healed like I had been starting to convince myself, since the start of today when I had waken up with only a little pain throbbing in the spot above my elbow. I shifted on my spot on the bed and reached forward for my sling which I had discarded, when I had started the daily ritual on my arm. Wrapping the sling around my arm and bucking it together as firmly as they¡¯d have done in the hospital ¨C be I knew damn well that it was for my own good¨C before making sure it was sling firmly around my neck. I had never had my arm broken or sprained throughout my whole life, so I had no idea how a sling feels on Someone¡¯s arm, until after I had managed to stupidly fall off the bed and sprain my arm. I could remember when my younger and only brother, Angelo had managed to break his arm while practicing high jump in the garden, with me watching him at the very moment. It had all happened in slow motion, like a really slow dream. One moment I wasughing along with him and cheering him on as his jumps got more perfect ¨C the most perfect he had ever gotten tond, since the moment he started practicing the whole thing¡ª and the next, he was jumping and fall down theplete wrong way, his arm and neck bending in a really awkward position. I had been really, really scared then because he went into unconsciousness after that dreadful thing happened and I stared at him with terror swimming in my eyes and veins when he didn¡¯t move from his awkward looking position and instead remained in that same position, without a sound leaving his mouth. To think that I had winced after he hadnded down in a bad way, thinking it was just one of those tiny slip offs, not knowing it was something extremely serious. After he still didn¡¯t move from his position a few secondster, I screamed loudly and went to get the guards who were alreadying straight into the garden before I could take five more steps out of the garden in order to go get them. I had been eleven years old when that dreadful incident, and Angelo had been eight years old¨C an extremely rough and reckless eight years old boy. Our two bodyguards had l checked if he was still breathing, and after confirming, the first thing they did was to call my father¨C to my horror. I was shocked because they hadn¡¯t bothered to even move him into a better position or try to revive him, all they did was to check his pulse and once they were satisfied with what they saw, a call was ced to my father immediately. I didn¡¯t listen in to the conversation that went down between one of the two guards and my father, all I did was to stand a few feet away from an unconscious Angelo ¨C on themand of the second guard who had ordered me to give Angelo space and not jolt him for his own good. Tears were falling out my eyes and over my cheeks at the moment because I had been a lot scared, coupled with the fact that I was asked to not touch Angelo and give him space by the guard who looked genuinely worried ¨C a look which was extremely rare to cross their faces. Once the guard was done discussing with my father, they ced a call on an ambnce and we all waited for it to arrive. The guard who had ced the call to the ambnce carefully moved Angelo¡¯s until it wasn¡¯t in a really awkward looking position like the way it had been in for a while then. The ambnce finally arrived and we all left for the hospital with one of the guards sitting in the ambnce with an unconscious Angelo and I while the other one followed us in one of my father¡¯s cars which was used to drive Angelo and I around. While we were in the ambnce, I watched as they moved Angelo carefully on the bed and inserted a needle into the vein on his right arm before connecting it into a drip bag and I watched, with tears still running quietly down my cheeks as the whitish liquid substance in the drip bag slowly slid down the tiny nose, and into his veins, through the aid of the needle. Angelo finally came back into a conscious state after some minutes and I felt a deep wave of relief flood into my whole body immediately. The nurse tending to Angelo had nced up at me at that moment and given me a reassuring smile¨C a smile which I badly wanted to believe in at all cost, at that very moment. We finally arrived at the hospital and Angelo got wheeled out of the ambnce carefully, and into the hospital while I stayed behind with the guard who had apanied us at the back of the ambnce, in All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. the hallway in the premises of the hospital. I wasn¡¯tpletely hoping on my mother to show up in the hospital, but a part of my heart had wished she could show up looking flustered and heartbroken or like someone who cared about her young son undergoing an arm surgery, but she never showed up¨C as well as our father, to myplete disappointment. I haven¡¯t beenpletely hoping for them to show up, but a part of my mind had been wishing they had shown up or acted like they cared a little by showing up and offering emotional conformity at that very moment at least, but none of them showed up. I could still understand the fact that my father was a busy man and wouldn¡¯t be able to squeeze out time toe see his dumb son at the hospital, but I couldn¡¯t quite understand my mother¡¯s own. She wasn¡¯t doing anything, she was aplete house wife but I had no idea what it could be that she wouldn¡¯t even be able to squeeze out a little bit of time to shower her kids with a little bit of love, at least. That had been the final straw on Angelo and had also made him hate our mother so much. I¡¯ve always tried to make excuses for her to him but he had ignored all myme excuses I made for our mother, like I knew he would. After the arm operation, the doctor said he had broken his arm and had almost sprained his neck in the same process. And so he had to also have his neck be shifted into ce, and at the end of the day¨C had to have a sling on his arm and a neck supporting cor on his throat and shoulders. He had to spend a few days at the hospital, and the guards had to return him home on the first night after Angelo had been sessfully out of surgery and was still in an unconscious state. I couldn¡¯t stomach any of my dinner and had ended up vomiting all that I had eaten that night, the moment I got to my room that night, after exiting the dining room. Mother had only asked me if Angelo was fine that night before forcing me to finish up my dinner. I had been irritated at her question because I started to ask myself again what it was that kept her so busy that she couldn¡¯te to the hospital herself toe check up on her son by herself. And with that, I had told her he was fine before forcing myself to eat all of my dinner, before puking everything back out once I got to my bedroom. Father had been disappointed in me like it was my fault for Angelo breaking his arm and hadn¡¯t bothered trying to hide his feelings as usual. He had stated that I had acted irresponsible again like I always do by watching Angelo injure himself without doing a thing, like there was something I could do to stop him from getting injured at the moment when it had happened. It was awful. I had felt really awful after the whole encounter I faced with both my parents that night and had ended up crying myself to sleep that night because of the amount of guilt that ate up the inside of my stomach and chest that night, thanks to the words my father had managed to instill into my head. The next day, I had to attend school alone and I felt like crying again as I sat alone at the back of the car as I got driven to school by the guards. The whole activities I had contributed and participated in, went by in a blur until school period got over and I had to sit in the car all alone again as I got driven home that afternoon. I did my homework as soon as I got home, arranged my bedroom and some other things I was supposed to do before asking for permission from my mother if I could get driven to the hospital to go check on Angelo ¨C whom had been at the hospital all alone throughoutst night, and the start of today to this very moment, because my parents still didn¡¯t it would my eight year old brother a lot of good if they show up there in the hospital. Mother had agreed for me to go, thankfully, and I got driven over to the hospital. Angelo was awake and ring into nothing when I had made my way into his room ¨C after knocking quietly on his door for a few seconds and receiving nothing in reply. His face had lit up immediately he sighted who it was that had made their way into the hospital room and I had hugged him as carefully as I could without jolting him as tears slid down my cheeks. He had reached up with his good arm and stroked his fingers through my wet cheeks, before whining for me to dab my tears away since he was perfectly fine and wouldn¡¯t die on me. I had puffed out a small chuckle at hisst words and sniffed while wiping at my cheeks and eyes with a handkerchief from my pocket. I went to see him everyday in the hospital until he got discharged. One of the nurses who changed his bandages and cleaned him up had asked me why I was the only oneing to see Angelo on the third day. I shrugged with an embarrassed chuckle as I told her that our parents were both too busy to make time toe to the hospital. She had stared at me quietly with something that looked so much like pity in the depths of her eyes before leaning down to give me a hug. I had stood stiffly in her embrace for a few seconds before sinking into it and squeezing her tight despite the fact that she smelled so much like a hospital, a smell that made me really anxious and nervous each time it drifted into my nose and curled around in my stomach. I hadn¡¯t hugged anyone else that way, except my brother and a friend of mine in high school, which was why I had epted and sank into the hug immediately. Father had nodded at Angelo after taking a long nce at him before asking him how he was feeling. Angelo had pursed his lips and hadn¡¯t bothered replying to father¡¯s question until he had repeated himself a second time. He hadn¡¯t bothered answering mum''s question about how he was feeling and had ignored all of her questions until she had breathed out a frustrated sigh and left him to himself on the dining table. I had apanied him to his bedroom and assisted him with the taking off of his clothes and had helped him into bed the way the nurse had been kind and thoughtful enough to think of showing me after breaking our rxing hug. I had listened carefully as she showed me a few ways in which his arm injury could get worse and made sure to take notes of ways in which I was going to be taking care of his injury without hurting him further. ¡°I love you, Sofia.¡± Angelo had signed out after I had tucked him into his bed that night. I leaned down and pressed my lips lightly against his cheek while squeezing his fingers tight on my hand. ¡°I love you too, Angelo.¡± Chapter 46 Chapter 46 Sofia¡¯s POV The next day came all too quickly and again, I had to go to school without Angelo because the doctor had ordered him to stay off school and anything that involved moving his neck around and moving his arm around, for the next one to two weeks. Because I had left for school the next day, I had taken care of him as best as I could that morning before the time for me to leave for school reached.m I knew our house help was going to see to his needs until I get back from him, but I didn¡¯t know how she was going to see to him, if she was going to be too fast with him instead of being patient with him, if she was going to carefully see to his injury without jolting him unnecessarily. But there was almost nothing I could do because I couldn¡¯t stay home without going to school, father Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g wouldn¡¯t have that, no matter what my reason was. The best I could do was to wake up earlier so I could see to him before leaving for school, which I did. I only had a few friends in school and they had supposed him as best as they could by trying their best to cheer me up in school, knowing how down spirited I was feeling due to my younger brother not attending school with me. The whole day went by until I got home to my only source of happiness at home¨C Angelo. I had taken up from where our house help had stopped and see to him, making himfortable as fast and careful as I could. Angelo was extremely bummed about the fact that he couldn¡¯t attend school with me, and also couldn¡¯t do anything else since almost everything he does involves a lot of neck and arms movements. The days went by in a blur, with the same thing repeating itself for the next couple of days until we had to visit the clinic for a check up and a thorough clean up of his stitch around his surgery. I had apanied him there because that day wasn¡¯t a school day, which I had been really grateful for as I held his fingers tightly in between my hands in the hospital as his injury got cleaned up by a nurse. I blinked my eyes open a few times and shook my head around before pushing my hair off my face with my good arm, wondering the particr moment when I had unconsciously slipped deep into my thoughts and lost myself into them. I felt something hot trickle down my cheeks and swiped my hand over my cheeks to meet with the warm liquid of my tear staining my fingers immediately. I just couldn¡¯t help it, thinking about Angelo and one of the toughest phases which we¡¯ve both faced and ovee together wasn¡¯t a little thing to me and still managed to get me emotional each time I managed to think about it and sinkpletely into that dreadful moment where it had all started from. Which made me start to wonder again, like I¡¯ve been doing everyday since I got married ¨C how was Angelo doing? The thought of me being unable to hear from my brother tugged at the insides of my chest painfully and I sniffed as another trail of tears slid down my cheeks, this time, from both eyes. I sniffed once again and swiped my hand over my cheeks, wiping the tears off immediately. I was aware of the fact that my brother had a phone, the way I did, until I got married and it got taken from me. But there was no way I could reach him because I was just too dumb to remember to try to memorize his phone number in my head, some days before I got married. But then technically, I had no idea my phone was going to be taken from me, if not, I¡¯d have tried really well to write his number down and insert the paper into my bag or something, instead of doing nothing and being unable to reach him after I had gotten married. I had no idea how Luca was going to react if he found out that I was searching vigorously for a way in which I could reach my brother. I had searched all over Facebook but his name brought up a bunch of strangers as a result of what I had looked up, and not an actual result of what I was looking for. It wasn¡¯t right for a new wife to visit her home immediately after getting married, that was a really bad sign in the beliefs of the whole of Italy. Apparently, it signifies the fact that there was a problem going on in your new home for you to want to visit your parents home as soon as you just got married. And seeing as I literally just got married five days ago, there was just no way I could think of asking the guards to drive me over to my parents house, that waspletely out of the question. I moved on the bed and picked up the ointment and cover before covering it tightly and wiggling on the bed until I was sitting almost at the edge of the bed. I leaned sideways and dropped the ointment on the bedside table before sitting back up on the bed. I moved on the bed and stretched my hand out, thanks to the help Ryan had performed on my phone, most of the actions of the phone weren''t looking asplex as I had been seeing it as before I had gotten to ask for help from Ryan. I checked the time and grimaced on seeing that the time was some minutes after four p.m in the evening, way past the time I was supposed to eat lunch and use my afternoon prescriptions like the doctor had instructed me to, at the hospital. I pushed myself out of the bed and shifted my weights from foot to foot, wincing as I tried to stretch both my hands out and a slight pang of pain pulled at the cords of my arms connecting into the socket on my shoulders. I made my way out of the bedroom and shut the door quietly behind me, feeling the cold tiles of the ground press into the smooth soles of my feet as I climbed down the stairs, with my phone clutched in my hand and my white skirt moving slightly around my thighs. I had discarded the grey shirt I had decided to wear this morning when the heat started to get too much in the afternoon and was currently in a blue sleeveless top as I made my way into the kitchen. Matilda was moving around the kitchen and humming quietly beneath her breath as I made my presence known to her while sinking into the high chair in the kitchen. The pain that had jolted through my veins after I had hopped on the high chair was only a little and pretty bearable,pared to the first and second day after I had sustained the injury. That was more than enough proof of the fact that I was healing fast, something which I was really grateful for. ¡°Hi Sofia.¡± Matilda gushed out after turning around and blessing me with a wide beam of one of her beautiful smiles. She was holding a turning spoon in her hand and by the enticing smell filling the whole kitchen, I had no doubt that once again, she was going to end up making something really nice. ¡°Hey Matilda.¡± I greeted her with a small wave of my fingers and a small smile as I moved again in my seat, trying to get into afortable posture. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± She asked and I shrugged my good shoulder as I tapped against the screen of my phone lightly without looking down at it. I was still feeling really gloomy from the whole thought about my brother that hade to visit me, upstairs, this afternoon and wasn¡¯t really feeling alive, but Matilda¡¯s bubbly aura was most definitely having an effect on my mood, by lifting it up a little. ¡°A little bit better, my hand doesn¡¯t hurt that much, which I am really garter for.¡± I paused and grimaced for no reason as I ced my slinged up atm on the counter and ced my phone on the counter before pointing towards it. ¡°I can¡¯t wait topletely get it off without having to wear it, it¡¯s sofortable doing everything in it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, dear. But at least it¡¯s getting better, which means you¡¯re on the way to getting out of it really soon.¡± Matilda replied and I nodded my head while I traced a small line over the sling, agreeing with her immediately. I moved in my seat once again, the cold surface of the high chair pressing into my bare thigh and making me press my thighs tightly against each other as I tried getting in a position that wouldn¡¯t feel so ufortable and kind of weird. ¡°So what do you want for lunch, even though you should have already have your lunch before now, because I was about toe check up on you as to why you still haven¡¯te down for lunch, but ended fed up dismissing the thought when it urred to me that you were probably upstairs, sleeping¡­¡± I watched as she trailed off what she was saying and stared at me before questioning, ¡°You were sleeping, right?¡± I nodded my head in reply to her question despite the fact that I was shamelessly telling a lie, and had spend the whole time upstairs applying ointment on my arm and losing myself into my thoughts swaying around in my head. ¡°What would you like to eat? I already prepared lunch and left yours separately, but I didn¡¯t know if you¡¯d be up for it, so what would you want to have? I¡¯d get it done and ready as fast as I can.¡± Matilda started to say again, moving her hands around and tapping her fingers against the edge of the counter which she was still leaning against. ¡°You¡¯ve already prepared lunch? I think I¡¯ll just have that.¡± I replied to her and brushed my hair out of my face again. One of the things I spent almost all my day doing, was to move my hair and push my hair and brush my hair out of my face. ¡°Are you sure? I could throw something quick together if you want.¡± Matilda pressed on and I shook my head with a small chuckle. If I didn¡¯t know better, which I wasn¡¯t all too sure I did ¨C I¡¯d have said Matilda just needed excuses to prepare lots of food, but I didn¡¯t think she liked any extra stress to herself on a normal day, so I wasn¡¯tpletely sure. ¡°I am. It¡¯s going to most definitely be good since you made it yourself, don¡¯t worry about anything else, I¡¯ll have the one you¡¯ve already prepared.¡± I said to her and watched as a smile slowly crept on her face as soon as my words sank into her head. She coughed awkwardly and turned back around towards the counter where she was preparing something on and I chuckled quietly as I shook my head and nced down at my phone, the time ¡®4:34 p.m¡¯ staring me back in my face, printed out boldly on the screen of the phone. Once Matilda moved around the kitchen and got the whole food ready in a te, she microwaved it and brought it out and moved it into a different te before bringing it towards me and cing it on the counter before me. I murmured my thanks to her as I slowly dug in, sighing beneath my breath as the soft mashed potatoes melted on my tongue immediately I ced a forkful of food into my mouth. Chapter 47 Chapter 47 Sofia¡¯s POV I stared at the images ying on the television in the sitting room and felt my cheeks start to heat up as the girl showing in the huge screen on the wall danced in really provocative way against a man who was standing behind her. The song ying on the television sounded like a pop genre but I couldn¡¯t be so sure because I haven¡¯t been able to listen to a lot of music throughout my life. The girl still showing on the screen¨C who was a redhead, bent downwards and ced her hands which were in a ck, transparent gloves, against her bare knees before she started moving vigorously against the man who had a strong grip on her waist. My cheeks were on fire and my stomach was tightening up as I watched the girl move against the man standing behind her, pressing her crotch against his in such a tight way, I started to wonder if she wasn¡¯t hurting him with how hard her butt was moving against him. I nced down at my fingers on my tights and wiggled the fingers around a little, my cheeks still feeling like they were on fire. We don¡¯t have this back at home, what could show on the television was supervised by father and set to a particr age. These kinds of songs and music videos could never appear on our television back at home due to the settings already on it. But here I was, free to watch whatever I wanted to watch, whenever I felt like. It made me start to slowly question myself¨C if I really liked this life revolving around me doing all what I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to have it done, without having someone to tell me what to do and not to do, without someone taking the reins and stopping me from over thinking a particr thing¡­ I cut off my trail of thoughts and shook my head from side to side, my heart pounding really hard against my chest as I started to ask myself why in the world was I thinking about that, which I just thought about, moments ago. I curled my legs beneath myself on one part of the couch I was currently sitting in as I tried to focus on the television and what was currently showing on the screen once again. The music video that was showing before ended and a new one started to y. It was a man sitting beside a piano in a garden, singing slowly and ying his instrument along. I picked up the remote control from the spot on the couch and increased the volume of the television and heard his voice increase and fill the sitting room which was currently empty, except for my presence in it. The song he was singing sounded so much like a song you¡¯d find in a fairytale and the fact that a few Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g birds came out of nowhere and started flying around the man who was ying his piano in an open garden, giving it such a magical aura. I signed softly and massaged my eyes with my fingers for a few seconds, only to blink my eyes open and see a girl in a huge white dress, sitting on the edge of the man¡¯s piano and singing along with him. The dress wasn¡¯t shaped like a wedding dress, but it was sparking white and coupled with the fact that the man was dressed in a ck suit, it made my heart - which waspletely soft for fairytales and the happily ever after a that only novels could produce¡ª melt almost immediately and I couldn¡¯t hold in the smile that bloomed on my face as I watched the man and woman stare into each other¡¯s eyes as they both sang a particr line of the song, their voices blending beautifully ¨C hers a feathery light voice and his, a deep one filled with a thick base. I wasn¡¯t a music genius and have in my been able to listen to a few music, but I knew what sounded nice to the ears, and what doesn¡¯t ¡ª and this? Sounded really nice, without the fact that the music video was so perfectly portrayed and acted out. The song ended and I moved in my seat, absentmindedly brushing my hair out of my lips and I watched as another one came on. This one was a lot of guys jumping around themselves and throwing up different signs with their fingers in a room while the one standing in the middle rapped in the music video. It looked like a genre I was sure I wasn¡¯t going to be into, which made me change the channel of the television, promising myself that I was going toe back to it after a few minutes. Inded on another channel that was showing apetition that was centered on voices. Settling morefortably in my seat, I lowered the volume of the television and prepared myself to watch thepetition unfold. The time on the wall above the television on the wall showed that the time was a little bit after seven p.m in the evening and I rested my good arm on the arm rest on the couch as I started to get engrossed in thepetition, my mind still loosely hanging on the fact that I was nning on going back to the channel showing music videos. After staying behind for a few minutes more and realizing the fact that thepetition had already gone a long way before I had gotten to it, which made it really hard to grasp and understand, I changed the channel and headed back to the channel showing music videos. A video was showing a bunch of boys singing in anguage that wasn¡¯t English. I didn¡¯t mind the fact that it wasn¡¯t in English because the song was still sounding so good. The name ¡®BTS¡¯ showed up at the end of the video as the boy band¡¯s name and I promised myself I was going to look them up tonight before going to bed. I yawned slowly and squinted my eyes when it started to feel a bit mmy for a few seconds. Another music video came up that looked and sounded so much like that genre which I was sure I wasn¡¯t going to be into, but feeling little to no strength to start to change the music channel, I lowered the volume of the sounding out of the television and stretched out my feet on the soft couch. It felt really smooth and soothing against each foot and I wiggled my toes into the soft airy feeling of the hairs on the couch. I allowed my eyes to slide close as a small sigh escaped my parted lips as I moved a little on the couch, gettingpletely on my back and wiggling my toes into the couch even more. My heart felt heavy but I was determined to not dwell on that fact tonight, which was why I had decided toe down into the sitting room and watch the television in order to distract myself a little, hopefully. And distracted me, it did. Which I was thankful for. I didn¡¯t need to check the clock on the wall above the television, or the time on my phone to know that the time was almost eight p.m, if it wasn¡¯t already eight p.m yet, that is. I also didn¡¯t need to walk towards one of the windows in the sitting room to look out the wonder to be able to tell that everywhere waspletely dark at the point. I blinked my eyes open when a cool and airy voice started to sing from the television and quickly picked up the remote control to increase the volume of the sound and nodded once when the sound filled the whole living room. The voice was that of a man, who had a ginger colored beard and hair, a cute smile and eyes that resembled that of a cat¡¯s or that of a tiger¡¯s. I leaned into the couch and slid my eyes close and allowed the man¡¯s voice to wash me, the echoes of his voice sent a small graze of goosebumps to wash over my skin, and it made me remember a certain person¡¯s voice even though I really shouldn¡¯t be thinking about the person at the moment. I shouldn¡¯t even be thinking about the person at all. I mean, when did thinking about Luca start getting allowed in my head? I asked myself quietly as I sat up on the couch and folded my legs against my body on the couch as my mind slowly started to wander against my own will. This man singing on the television has got nothing on Luca, whether I¡¯d like to admit it or not. Was it the eyes? The man singing had yellowish eyes that looked so much like a cat¡¯s ¡ªpared to that of Luca which was a dark grey color. The fact that I had never seen that color of eyes on any other person made it really more unique to me, and coupled with the fact that it suited him so well, fitting so perfectly well with his eyes, and making his gaze appear more intense, more sharper and more hypnotizing than any other eyes I¡¯ve ever seen ore across. We could move from there, towards the nose. While the man singing had a nose which looked a little too big for his face, Luca¡¯s own just looked perfect in the middle of his face ¡ª it was the right amount of pointed and curved, giving him the most perfect side view of a man that I¡¯ve ever seen. I puffed out a small breath, wondering why I was suddenly thinking about all these tiny facts about Luca¡¯s appearance and why I wasparing it with the man still singing on the television, with so many details involved. Heck, I shouldn¡¯t even be thinking about Luca, and most importantly, I shouldn¡¯t be thinking about how good looking he was and how every feature of his whole appearance appeared absurdly perfect. But I couldn¡¯t stop the thoughts from flowing in, once they had started. Was it his lips? Compared to the man singing in the television, who had a lips that looked too tiny, whereas Luca¡¯s own was the perfect amount of lower fullness and upper thinness. Or we could move towards the whole face shape in general, the way Luca had a symmetrical face and could look really good from any direction, and the way a dark shade of light dusting of beards clung to his jaw. Luca looked too good, ridiculously good, and the fact that he had been theplete opposite of what I had been thinking he was going to be to me, before I had gotten married to him¡ª in and out of the bedroom, made all those thoughts about him flow into my head more unhinged, and stifling up my mind a lot. The sound of the door leading into the house getting pushed open made up jolt up on the couch a little and I quickly lowered the volume of the television which was currently showing a different person, as a small feeling of fear flowed through my mind for a few seconds before it started to ebb away when it crossed my mind that it was most definitely one of the guards who were don¡¯t their usual night check around the whole house. Still feeling skeptical despite the fact that my mind was nudging me to let go the tiny amount of fear I was still unconsciously clinging unto, I stared at the doorway leading in and out of the living room, hoping one of the guards would pop their heads in through the doorway and apologize for disturbing me like they¡¯d have done, if they had been the one who had opened the door so loudly, some moments ago. I wasn¡¯t expecting the head that would pop in through the doorway to be Luca¡¯s, and our eyes locked and held immediately. There was a deep heat brewing in the depths of his eyes and he looked pissed¨C and almost enraged even. He broke eye contact and left the doorway, a few secondster, disappearing in a sh, the same way he had shown up. I allowed the breath I had held trapped in the depths of my throat to slide out ever so slowly, my chest expanding with the slight movement. Why was I suddenly nervous? It wasn¡¯t like I had been the one to cause the anger that was brewing in his eyes. But then, why was I nervous? Oh right, it was because it was Luca¡­ and Luca was just Luca. Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Luca¡¯s POV I ced Aria carefully into the back seat of my car before sliding in and settling in carefully beside her. Her head wobbled around the seat uncontrobly and I held her against my side as the driver started the car and started to pull out of the spot it was packed in, into the busy streets once again. Once the car was moving at a steady pace again, I loosened my arms from around Aria¡¯s body and ced her until she was leaning the side of the door with her head leaning backwards against the headrest, to avoid it from hitting the window of the car incase it jolts up unexpectedly again like it has been doing. Aria mumbled something incoherent and I leaned towards the front of where I was sitting and clicked on a ck button, and a dark ss slid up immediately, demarcating the back side of the car from the front and giving me much needed privacy. Showing any kind of affection before my guards wasn¡¯t something I was used to, and I didn¡¯t want them to start thinking I wasn¡¯t the cold, heartless person they used to think I was, hence the demarcation All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. ss¨C because I was leaning towards Aria in the next second and touching my hand lightly against her forehead to check if she was running temperature, which she thankfully wasn¡¯t. She moved her head around without opening her eyes and I moved my fingers through her hair slowly, watching her deep in announcing state, a deep feeling of restlessness settling above her in such a huge wave, to the extent that I was able to tell myself. ¡°You¡¯re fine now.¡± I whispered quietly as I moved my fingers through her hair once again, feeling my chest squeeze together tightly and tenderly when her face scrunched up for a few seconds before rxing once again. I was hoping none of the drugs those boys had injected into her wasn¡¯t going to have any serious effect on her, feeling anger and rage course through my veins and blood at the thought of Ivan injecting the said drugs into her veins just to have his sick way with her. I was tempted to order the car to be turned back around just so I could get back there and beat his ass up. But Aria was myplete priority now and all that matters now was about me getting her safely to the hospital and ensuring that she was truly fine. I dug out my phone from my pocket and turned my data on almost immediately, wincing and quickly silencing the phone and hearing a thousand pings go off at once, a quick secondter as tons of notifications came into my phone all at once. The plentiest notifications seemed to being in from my gmail app and I tapped on the icon first and it opened immediately. The first thing my eyes captured before the app automatically refreshes itself was that particr share offer from a certainpany ¡ª a particr email which I had promised myself I was going to hand over to my secretaries to check them out and get back to me, but had They might have been thinking about how rude I was and how I hadn¡¯t even bothered gracing them with a single reply. But it definitely wasn¡¯t like that one bit. The tons of emails that hade in all had business-rted headings and I scrolled through everything without bothering to open any of the messages, knowing damn well that I wasn¡¯t going to be opening any of those emails. I was going to have to end up giving this particr email up and handling it over to my secretaries to handle and manage themselves and create a new one once again, the way I had done with myst two emails which I had ended up giving up due to the amount of deals thates in from there, which I was way too busy to handle on my own. I closed the email app without clicking on any of the mails and clicked on my iMessage app,pletely turning a blind app to the rest of the social media rted apps where thousands of notifications were waiting for me. Some messages were waiting for me already like I had expected, and I scrolled through the list of new messages, seeing that James had sent in a couple of new messages¡­ but I wasn¡¯t in the mood to discuss a thing with him yet, so I didn¡¯t bother replying to the text or even clicking it open before scrolling past it. There was a few more messages from one of the heads of one of my warehouses but I ignored it, promising myself I was going to see itter tonight. And with that, I exited the app and clicked on the side of the button on my phone, turning off the screen of the phone before I ced it on one of my thigh and nced upwards from the demarcation ss as I slowing ran my hands through my hair, my curls tangled against each other a little, due to the fact that I hadbed my fingers through it a thousand times today, thereby ruining the curls and whatever hair treatments I had put into it this morning. The car suddenly moved upwards and into a porthole and the back of the car moved upwards unexpectedly. I quickly reached my hand out to steady Aria as she bounced around on the seat before she mistakenly end up hitting her head against the window or the car or worse, the roof. The car got steady once again and I slowly untangled my hand from her arm and watched as she rxed against the backrest of the seat once again. I checked her pulse and ced my fingers against her nose trills to ensure that she was still breathing perfectly, which it seemed like she was doing, thankfully. The car finally slowed down before stopping and parking into a particr spot in the hospital premises. I clicked on the same ck button and the dark ss which had demarcated the car slowly slid down, back into its ce just as my side of the car got pulled open by the driver. ¡°I got out of the car and pulled Aria into my arm as I lifted to my full height and started to make my way into the kitchen. Aria felt extremely light like I had expected and I raised her upwards until she was pressed up against my chest as I carefully but quickly made my way into the hospital building. The doctors and nurses fell around themselves as soon as they sighted me and a stretcher got wheeled out some momentster and I carefullyid her on it, with the help of a male nurse¨C even though I didn¡¯t need any help withying her down on the stretcher¨C I mean, she weighted next to nothing in my arms. She got wheeled into a room upstairs and I waited outside and paced around in the hallway as they busied over her inside the hospital room. Not wanting to stay still because I know I was going to start to imagine different bad things that could end up happening to Aria¡ª and also not wanting to keep on walking about because my whole body was starting to really hurt again and I could already feel my body system start to weaken once again, the way it had almost ended up shutting down,st night. I ended up leaning against a wall and I banged my head against the wall a few times, and feeling my headache grow more intense with every smack and hit against the wall. My phone started to vibrate in my suit pockets and I dug the phone out in the next second. James'' name shed on the screen of the phone but I ended the call and inserted the phone back into my pocket once again. I knew he wasn¡¯t going to call again, which I was grateful and thankful for. I was feeling almost overwhelmed at this moment, the adrenaline¡ª that had been swimming through my whole body since the moment I had received the first andst text from Aria today, was starting to wane off and I was starting to really feel weak and drained. A doctor in a really long, white coat walked out of the room Aria was being taken care of and I watched as he nced around the hallway until he sighted me. He walked towards me and stopped a few feet away from the spot which I was standing in. Be held a hand out with a small tip of his head, ¡°Mr Ri, a good evening to you.¡± There was nothing good about the damn evening. I wanted to snap those same words back to him but fought the urge back down as soon as it popped up into my head before deciding to remain quiet and just stare at him until he dropped his outstretched hand. ¡°How is she?¡± I asked after a few seconds and watched as he moved his shoulders a little in a cost that appeared almost too wide for his shoulders, and too big for his frame. ¡°She is out of immediate danger, thankfully.¡± He paused and sped his hands at the front of his stomach before continuing, ¡°At least, for now.¡± The intense relief that I had started to feel trickled out immediately like a lit candle flickering off the moment a light gush of wind blew by and I stared at him in confusion ¨C which onlysted for a few seconds before a scowl started to form on my face. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± I demanded as I pushed off the wall I was still leaning against and hadn¡¯t bothered pushing off when the doctor had started to talk to me, until this very instant, that is. ¡°It means that, she was in a really grave danger and I super d you had brought her into the hospital when you did, without waiting a moment longer.¡± The doctor started to say again and my mind started to move around in my head as I tried to remember if Aria had acted in any kind of weird way in the car that could have given off the fact that she was in grave danger, but came up with nothing. ¡°Wait¡­ what did she get injected with?¡± I asked after a few minutes and the doctor cleared his throat before starting to reply. ¡°A set of very hard drugs .¡± My eyes widened a tiny fraction, a little ding going off in my head that sent a trill of terror sliding down my spine. Those boys werepletely dead meats at this point. ¡°Which kind of drugs?¡± I rephrased, my chest tightening with the amount of fear that was gripping it. I know the amount of damage a little sniff of injecting hard drugs into the body could cause, but on hearing that more than one drug got injected into her, made my head start to feel like it was spinning a little. ¡°Let¡¯s head into the office, I¡¯ll exin further in there and we can talk about the operation which she is going to be undergoing in an hour.¡± The doctor started to say as he started to move away, towards the end of the hallway which I figured was the way to his said office. ¡°She is going to need surgery?¡± I demanded, the first thing I said after getting into his office and sinking gratefully into the seat on the other side of his table. ¡°A brain surgery, yes. And it is going to be almost fifty/fifty. Which means it could go right or wrong.¡± ¡°The fuck? Why? Is it that bad?¡± I echoed out in a low voice and the doctor nodded his head once before leaning forward in his seat and cing his hands on the empty spot before him, on the table. ¡°It honestly it.¡± He paused and continued a few secondster as he started to search though a pile of files on his table for something. ¡°Her brain suffered a shock, which was a really risky thing. I am amazed that she was still able to breathe without the aid of an oxygen mask when you had gotten her here.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± I whispered, ncing downwards at my feet and breathing out a harsh sigh. ¡°We found ecstasy, heroine and two more hard drugs which we were unable to identify at that moment when we had carried out a test on her. And when the mixture of drugs got injected into her blood, her brain had gone into shock immediately, bruising a very sensitive part of her brain in that same moment.¡± Fuck. Fucking fuck! Just what had those stupid set of useless boys gotten my little cousin into? I was going to end us strangling them to death if anything happens to her. Chapter 49 Chapter 49 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°Do not panic. It is going to be sessful.¡± The doctor said as he stood up and ced his white coat back on his shoulder before stretching his hand out to me once again. ¡°I am not panicking.¡± I said to him with a scowl before throwing a re at his outstretched hand until he dropped it. ¡°Do whatever you can to ensure it ends up sessful.¡± I said to him and he nodded his head as he moved away from me towards the far end of the room where a couple of files sat on a shelf. I watched as he counted the files slowly before pulling out a certain one and picking out a paper out of it and returning the file back to its proper ce. He got back to his seat and sat on it before writing out the form and filling it out until it got to the end of the form. ¡°Sign here, please.¡± He said as he pushed the form towards me and stretched out a pen to me. I epted it and stared down at the form, my eyes quickint skimming over the wordings and slightly widening the moment I realized what the form was all about. ¡°Is thispletely necessary?¡± I asked him, ncing up from the form to stare warily at him, feeling my chest pull tightly together for a slow second. ¡°Yes, it is. It has to be signed before we can be able to carry out a surgery like hers.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± I swear quietly as I nced down at the form once again and ran my eyes over the whole words on the form beforeing to rest on the area where I was supposed to put in my signature. The form was about the fact that I was a hundred percent aware that the surgery about to be performed on the patient is a really risky one and there¡¯s a risk of it noting out sessful because of all the following risks, which the doctor had written down. I stared at him for a few seconds more before finally lifting the pen and writing down my signature, hoping to God that the surgery wouldn¡¯t end up going the wrong way. I pushed the form and the pen back towards the doctor and he epted it midway, staring it at and ensuring I had written in my signature down there before finally lifting his head up and saying. ¡°Thank you.¡± I pushed out of the seat I was in and the doctor did as well, shuffling the papers which we had worked on, into an empty file and stamping it with a stamp before cing it on the small pile of files on one part of his table. ¡°Would you wait around until the surgery getsplete?¡± He asked and I nodded my head once as I turned around and started to make my way out of the his office. ¡°We¡¯ll be back with good results.¡± The doctor said to me as we both stood outside the hospital room where Aria was currently being dressed up in preparation for the surgery. After a little while, I watched as she got wheeled out of the hospital room on a bed, an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. Her face looked ashy white, way whiter than her normalplexion. I leaned over the bed and studied her quietly, sending a quiet word of prayer towards God before stepping away from the bed and watched as she got wheeled into another corner in the hallway, I walked towards the seats in the hallway which was obviously for people to wait in. With a small sigh escaping my lips, I sank into one of the chairs and leaned my head into my palms as I ced my elbows on my knees, supporting my head up. I was stressed. Completely, thoroughly and totally stressed out. I was stressed the fuck out. The whole rest I had indulged in, in which I had woken up reallyte today ¡ª had all gone up in mes as the day slowly went by. Now, my shoulders were fully stiff and my head was pounding hard against my forehead that I could feel the pulse against my forehead beating really fast, way faster than normal. I also almost felt dizzy, due to the fact that I still haven¡¯t eaten a thing throughout the whole of today. A quick nce at the screen of my phone showed that the time was some minutes after six p.m in the evening. Not wanting to think about the fact that Aria was currently undergoing a very risky surgery, I picked up my phone and started to look through my contacts, knowing that at this point, someone directly from her family was supposed to be aware of her current situation. Not wanting to speak to her father because the very tense air still floating around us which was probably due to his hatred for my father ¡ª like I had a thing to do with all what it was that had gone down between them in the past, I decided to speak to her elder brother ¡ª a cousin of mine whom I was extremely distant from as well. I was distant from all of them, including Aria. But Aria and I had a past when she was little, which was why she had been able to reach out to me after I had lost my father, and why we had been able to regain our friendship. The rest of her siblings and I were very distant from each other and I had a deep feeling that they hated me the way their father did for me, it wasn¡¯t like I cared about who hated me and who didn¡¯t. That was And I¡¯d never have been the first to reach out to them, if it wasn¡¯t for the current situation their baby sister was in. I dialed the number of her eldest and first brother, Williams, a man who was almost the same age as I was, only that he was a few months older than I was. He picked up on the second ring and a voice that soundedpletely familiar drifted into my ear a secondter. ¡°Luca?¡± I knew he had my phone number the same way I had his, even though we¡¯ve never exchanged a single word on the phone before. ¡°Williams, yeah. It¡¯s Luca.¡± I replied to him, my voice low and gravely. I shifted into the seat I was sitting in and parted my legs open, feeling the edge of my guns dig into the smooth sides of my hips. ¡°This is really surprising and unexpected.¡± Williams started to say after a few seconds of silence and I moved the phone a little away from my ear on feeling his loud voice fly into my ear to pound against my forehead, increasing the pounding in my head a little. All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. ¡°I never saw thising. What can I help you with?¡± He asked without waiting for me to reply and I rolled my eyes in irritation, in no mood for any exchanging of pleasantries or whatsoever. ¡°Aria got tangled in a risky mess, which got sorted out. But now she¡¯s undergoing a brain surgery which the doctor said was a risky one and could go wrong any moment.¡± I paused and allowed the words I had spew out at a fast pace to slowly sink into his head before continuing after some moments. ¡°She got injected with a ton of hard drugs and it had affected her brain, and it might have affected her heart and kidney as well, but none of that has been confirmed yet.¡± I continued, feeling my finger tighten on my thigh as the words kept flowing out of my mouth, directly into Williams¡¯ ear. ¡°Aria?¡± He managed to echo after about a minute and I signed out loudly, trying to calm the anger that was starting to rise in my chest once again. ¡°Aria.¡± I echoed after him, confirming it for him and he was swearing in Spanish the next moment. ¡°Fuck! How are you aware about it while the rest of her family waspletely left in the dark?¡± He demanded a few momentster and I pulled the phone away from my ear and red at the screen like it was a FaceTime and not a mobile call. ¡°Because she reached out to me, obviously.¡± I replied after a few seconds and heard him curse quietly beneath his breath and a few other sounds in the background like he was moving around at that very moment. ¡°Why did she reach out to you first?¡± He continued and I felt the side of my lips pull into a thin, tight line. ¡°Why didn¡¯t she reach out to you at all?¡± I decided to ask instead, since we were all going to act crazy and stupid for now. ¡°So she¡¯s in surgery now? Who signed the papers and everything?¡± He continued and I felt my patience thin into a very tiny line. ¡°Are you nuts? Of course I signed it. I am family, the fuck?¡± I heard him sign out deeply and waited a few seconds before starting to say again. ¡°Fine. How did it all happen?¡± ¡°I cannot give out details yet, it¡¯s in the privacy of your little sister and I. Perhaps when she gets better, she would be able to brief you about how it all happened herself.¡± I replied to him, feeling my feet moving against the neat tiles of the hospital floor. A silent feeling echoing those few words in my head which managed to make my chest tighten up once again. If she gets better, that is. ¡°Why can¡¯t you give out details? Is it that bad?¡± He demanded almost immediately and I felt my eyes unconsciously roll to the back of my head. ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s my little sister, God damnit!¡± He exploded in my ear, through the phone and I shifted the phone a little bit away from my ear. ¡°Well, she¡¯s my little cousin and she chose to tell me instead¡­¡± I paused for a few seconds before continuing, ¡°Probably because she trusts me more.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but add thest part, feeling prideful of the obvious fact that Aria still trusted me a lot the way she had done when she was still young. ¡°Damn you,¡± He breathed out and I moved my fingers lightly against the material of my suit pants. ¡°Alright. Ry the message to your father and brothers.¡± I said to him and was about to end the call when he started to say once again, ¡°Wait¡­ wait!¡± ¡°What?¡± I demanded, a scowl forming on my face once again. I noticed from the side of my eyes as a tall looking woman came towards where I was sitting and took the seat a few spaces away from the spot I was sitting in. ¡°What hospital is she currently in? I¡¯ll get there as soon as I can.¡± He said and I snorted quietly. ¡°Why should I bother telling you? Not like she bothered letting you know about what was happening when it started to happen.¡± I spat out almost immediately, my voice still on the same tone it was since when I had started the conversation with him. ¡°Please.¡± He grunted out after another few minutes of silence and I rolled my eyes and hesitated a few more minutes before starting to ry the hospital¡¯s address to him. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be there as fast as I can.¡± He started to say after sessfully writing the address down and murmured a few more words to him before finally ending the call and slumping into the seat even more, feeling my head start to pound even more, now that I was off the phone. I nced sideways and caught the tall looking woman staring at me. She dragged her gaze away immediately the moment she noticed I was staring at her and focused her face back on her phone. I nced down at my feet once again, the woman who had obviously been checking me out, the least of my problems at this very moment. Chapter 50 Chapter 50 Luca¡¯s POV I sighted Williams just as I lifted my head up from its bent posture as he was just stepping out of the elevator and ncing around the whole hallways, his eyes lingering on everywhere all at once¨C probably in search of me. I watched as he finally decided to allow his eyes to travel further down the hallway, which was when he noticed me. Our eyes locked for a fleeting moment when he was looking everywhere at once. He paused in his tracks and dragged his eyes back to mind on recognition and was already starting to make his way towards me immediately, down the hallway. He paused a few feet away from me and stared down at me¨C because I was still sitting in the chair I had decided to sit in while waiting for Aria to be done with her surgery. He was in a id shirt and a dark pair of jeans, appearing way more casual than I¡¯d ever imagine him to ever pull off. ¡°Hello Luca.¡± He said after a little while and I nodded my head once at him before uttering a quiet, ¡°Williams.¡± He took a few steps backwards until he was leaning against the wall on that side of the hallway. I watched as he allowed his head to roll and drop back against the wall just as he shoved his hands Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g deep into his pockets. Thest time I could remember when I had seen himst, had to be on the day I officially got into the mafia. Everyone had been present that day, including his fathers and two more brothers of his. Aria had been absent because women were not allowed into something like that seeing as it is a private topic the male gender alone. There, a tattoo got drawn on the skin of the left hand side, of my elbow upwards, around my bicep area ¡ª in the presence of everyone. The ones who had openly objected when themittee for that day had asked the whole crowd if they would like to object to my coronation ¨C had been ordered to exit the premises immediately, by my father, because he had still been alive then. Williams along with his father and his male siblings had all shown up on that day as well, probably because they were undoubtedly hoping a ton of people would choose the fact that Williams should be the new mafia lord instead of me. But things didn¡¯t turn out that way and everybody was a little bit too eager to dere me as the new future mafia lord on that fateful day. ¡°How is she now?¡± He asked quietly from his spot against the wall and I breathed out a slow sigh, feeling my chest expand with the pressure of me letting the breath slip into my lungs and out of it ever so slowly, prolonging the drag of each breath and making itst really long. ¡°Still in surgery.¡± I replied in a quiet voice, my voice sounding almost scratchy to my own ears. I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling the texture of the curls dig into my palm in a way that tells me that my hair was currently in an absolute mess. ¡°Fuck.¡± He cursed quietly, throwing his head back against the wall the same way I had done after being informed of the kind of situation she was in. It was currently some minutes to eight p.m and my head was full of pounding at this point. I knew it takes a lot to weaken me, but I was low on food, water and rest at this particr moment, leaving my system and body vulnerable to a lot of things at this very moment. The doctor who had seen to me and exined all what I need to know about the surgery started to surgery, along with some nurses and other doctors. I got to my feet the moment he got close to where I was sitting and I felt my insides tangle and squeeze tight against each other before dropping deep into my stomach. He finally got to where I was standing and inserted his hands into his too-big coat and grimaced visibly, his shoulders pulled high against his ear for a few seconds before rxing and lowering into its normal posture, a few momentster. ¡°How is she?¡± I demanded a few momentster when it felt like the silence between us was starting to get heavier as the seconds slowly went by. Williams, who had been leaning against the wall of the hospital, pushed off his spot there and closed the small distance between him and the other side of the doctor. ¡°She¡¯s doing fine. The surgery was a sess.¡± The doctor finally announced and there was no way I could stop the relieved, loud sigh that escaped my lips the moment his words sank into my head, sending a huge rush of relief into my head and through my veins. ¡°Thank fuck.¡± I whispered beneath my breath and panted hard a couple more times before finally trying to put my breathing under control. ¡°Hello doctor. I am Williams.¡± Williams started to say from the other side of the doctor and the both of us turned towards him and settled our eyes on him at the same time. ¡°Williams Ri. Aria¡¯s older brother.¡± He continued a few momentster and I almost snorted at that particr moment. The doctor stared at him quietly before turning back to me and taking a long look at me. ¡°Oh, hello Mr Williams.¡± He finally said as he turned back to Williams and offered him a handshake which Williams epted immediately. ¡°How¡¯s my sister doing please?¡± He asked and the doctor brushed his hands lightly against hisrge coat before digging them into the two pockets avable on both sides of his coat. ¡°She¡¯s responding to treatments just fine for now, since she got here. Which is a really good sign.¡± The doctor paused and turned towards me before continuing, ¡°Her body system is really strong for being able to fight off theplete effect for that long. The researches we carried out on her said the substances had been injected into her veins for over three hours. That¡¯s a really long time when it ¡°Is she going to be alright?¡± Williams pressed on once again but the doctor remained quiet, another small grimace making its way unto his face once again. ¡°Should I be having this conversation with him?¡± The doctor nced up at me and asked the question. I didn¡¯t need to nce up at Willows to see the scowl already on his face and the way he was staring at the doctor in an unbelievable manner like he couldn¡¯t believe the guts or the doctor¨C I could feel his deep gaze digging a hole into my head just fine. ¡°Yes. But not the really sensitive details.¡± I replied to the doctor''s question after a few long seconds of the three of us standing in silence. A few people walked around the hallway but didn¡¯t care if they heard a little bit of our conversation since I sure as hell wasn¡¯t saying anything that is supposed to be kept a secret. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®yes, but not the really sensitive details¡¯? I am her brother for God''s sake.¡± Willow cursed out loudly and I nced up at him to see him ring daggers at me from his current position of his standing a few feet away from the wall he had been leaning against, like I had done after I had gotten here as well. ¡°Yes, you might be her brother.¡± I started to say to Williams, before continuing almost immediately. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean she¡¯d want to share every particr detail about her with you, which was why she contacted me in the first ce. Please respect that.¡± Williams only scowled darkly at me for a few seconds before breaking eye contact with me and focusing his whole gaze on the doctor this time. ¡°Once we¡¯re done with her tonight, we¡¯d confirm it tomorrow if she would be needing a heart surgery.¡± The doctor started to say again and out of nowhere, a huge and heavy lump started to grow at the back of my throat. My throat was parched and dried up, which made me trying to swallow the lump which had suddenly lodged itself in the depths of my throat, really hard and ufortable. ¡°It ended up affecting her heart as well?¡± I asked the doctor quietly, feeling more drained and tired than I have been feeling for almost an hour since I sat down to wait for Aria to be brought out from surgery. ¡°I am afraid so, but we¡¯re notpletely sure yet until after we perform some more tests on her once her system is already rested enough for it to be able to go through another stress.¡± To think I was thinking after rescuing her, everything was going to be perfectly alright, not knowing that Aria was already in grave danger throughout the time I used in speaking with Ivan and his brother. Jokes on me because Aria was currently going through something risky, extremely strenuous and something she most definitely didn¡¯t deserve. All she did was to defend herself against a stupid excuse of a man, that¡¯s all. And now, she has to pay for it this way. Sometimes, life just gets way tooplicated for me to even try breaking down or figuring out. Like right now. ¡°You can leave now, or whenever you want to. She¡¯s still in an unconscious state and won¡¯t be awake throughout the whole of tonight for her brain to heal.¡± The doctor started to say again and nodded my head numbly along with all what he was saying, my handsying still against my sides. ¡°You can go take a look at her through the ss walls if you want to. She¡¯s on the floor above this, third room on the left hand side.¡± The doctor proposed and bid us a good night before leaving our side and going down the hall, into his office. I inserted my hands deep into my suit pants pockets and puffed out a deep breath before ncing up at Williams who was leaning against the wall, his right foot tapping away lightly against the wall where his sole was resting against. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading home now.¡± I said to him and he nodded his head before pushing himself off the wall and robbing his palms against each other as he nced from side to side of the hallway. ¡°Are you going up to go see her before you leave?¡± He asked after a little while and I shook my head once, immediately the question left his lips. He blinked once, staring at me confusingly. ¡°I cannot stomach seeing her again tonight, in the situation she¡¯s currently in. I¡¯lle again tomorrow morning.¡± I paused and dragged my fingers through my hair before continuing, ¡°Do have a good night, Ri. ¡°You too, Ri.¡± ******* The car pulled into mypound and I groaned quietly beneath my breath, feeling the pounding in my head go up a few notches. I alighted the car the moment my driver pulled the door open for me and bid him, along with the guards a good night before making my way towards the house and slowly letting myself in with the aid of my keys. I had already seen Sofia¡¯s two guards right outside the house door and I had dismissed them at that moment. I was home already, they weren¡¯t needed anymore for the night. My eyes cked out a little for a few seconds just as I was about to push the house main door quietly shut and my hands slipped forward without me seeing, and pushing the house door harshly close that it echoed loudly, making me wince as my head pounded and vibrated in response to the loud, jarring noise. Once my eyes started to clear, I carefully made my way into the house, my legs vibrating a little due to how tired I was feeling. I paused outside the opened doorway of the sitting room and inserted my head into the room on hearing low noises from it drifting outside the room from it, a sound which was foreign from the living room because it was barely used by anyone in the house since I could remember. Everyone had a television in their respective bedrooms so I didn''t expect anybody to stay down here, watching this one. My eyes locked with Sofia¡¯s the very second after I had inserted my head in through the doorway and I watched as she widened a little in shock. The only thing I allowed my eyes to notice was the way her hair framed her face and how the white skirt she had on this morning had ridden upwards on the couch, revealing more skin than it had done this morning. I turned around and exited the doorway, breaking eye contact with her immediately and making my way deeper into the house while trying not to fall on my face due to how tired and drained out I was feeling. Chapter 51 Chapter 51 Luca¡¯s POV My eyes locked with Sofia¡¯s the very second after I had inserted my head in through the doorway and I watched as her widened a little in shock. The only thing I allowed my eyes to notice was the way her hair framed her face and how the white skirt she had on this morning had ridden upwards on the couch, revealing more skin than it had done this morning. I turned around and exited the doorway, breaking eye contact with her immediately and making my way deeper into the house while trying not to fall on my face due to how tired and drained out I was feeling. I climbed up the stairs with my hands gripping unto the banister of the stair case ever so tightly as I climbed each stair carefully to avoid my eyes from spinning the way it had started to feel like it was about to start spinning, the moment after I have made my way through the house door. I got to the top of the stairs and decided against going into the bedroom Sofia and I shared at thest moment and instead settled for my office ¨C which was located downstairs, which means I¡¯d have to climb down the stairs once again just to get there and I wasn¡¯t sure I could make it there sessfully. With that in mind, I decided to finally go into my bedroom and I was pushing the door open in the next minute, carefully letting myself in and shutting the door quietly beside me. The first thing I did once I got into the room was to switch the bright white lights for slightly dim ones. Once I was still able to see around the room without my eyes feeling like it was being stabbed with light sticks, I got out of my suit jacket and discerned the piece of material on the floor. I unbuttoned my inner shirt, my hands started to shake a little as I got each button open before moving to the next at a really slow pace. Once I was done, I untucked the shirt and shrugged out of it before discarding it on the floor as well. The first thing I did after getting my body from the waist up, bare, was to tug out the two guns which were tucked inside the sides of my suit pants and carefully cing them carefully on the bed side table. I picked up my suit jacket and tugged out a pocket knife from the insides of the dark jacket before cing it on the bedside table alongside the ck guns. I slowly sat on the bed, panting hard as I allowed the cold atmosphere of the bedroom stifle my whole body up, sweat was dripping off my body despite the fact that I was inside a cold temperature room and had been in a cold car as well, while returning back from the hospital. I reached up with my left hand and pushed the curls away from my forehead which were already matted on there, due to the amount of sweat that was dripping off my forehead and sliding down my face and neck. The hand which had brushed my hair off my wet forehead got met with scorching hot and wet skin. I pressed my palm t against my forehead and agreed with myself that my forehead was indeed burning up. A few secondster, I winced when my head chose that particr moment to start pounding heavily against the insides of my forehead, making me wince as the vibrations in my head increased, making me groan out lightly while wincing and scrunching my face up in pain once again. Knowing I had to take care of myself for me to start feeling better as soon as possible, and also because I couldn¡¯t afford to be sick at this particr moment¡ª for the sake of Aria, at least. I shook my head out of my face, trying to ignore the way my head started to throb slightly as I dug out my phone from my pants and sent a quick text to Sarah, informing her about the whole sickness and some other new symptoms that wasn¡¯t visible yet when i had left home to go get Aria, this early afternoon. I threw my phone on the space beside me on the bed as I carefullyid on the bed with my legs still on the floor. I allowed my eyes to slide close, while also willing the whole tiredness I was feeling to go away. My stomach also felt like a thousand tiny nails were being used to pierce different invisible holes into it, which hurt as hell, increasing the ufortable knot in my stomach to tighten up even more. My phone pinged beside me, the sign of an iing message. I ignored it and didn¡¯t bother blinking my eyes open. I remained in that same position until I hear a quiet knock on the bedroom door. My brain felt a little bit sluggish and it was taking me a little longer than necessary to blink my eyes open and make my mouth work the normal way it used to, before I interned in a low voice when the unknown person started to knock all over again. ¡°Come in.¡± I utter in a voice that sounded really low and quiet to my own ears even. The door got pushed open after a few more seconds and I slowly blinked my eyes open, feeling like some part of my body was starting to go numb as my eyes settled on the small but wild frame of the house help, Sarah. She closed the door quietly behind her as she made her way into the bedroom and finally came to stand beside the bed and stand beside me. ¡°Oh my, Luca¡­ you look really awful.¡± She whispered as she slowly sank into a spot beside where I was currently lying in on the bed, and I couldn¡¯t agree more even though I couldn¡¯t see my face right now, I feel very much awful. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± She asked and I forced my eyes open¨C a set of eyes which I didn¡¯t realized had slid shu again, until this moment. ¡°Like shit.¡± I croaked out and winced when my head started throbbing against the sides of my head again. ¡°Have you had something to eat? If you have, then I¡¯ll just go get you some drugs to make use of.¡± Sarah started to say again but I started to push myself up into a sitting position, my sore muscles, throbbing head and burning up head protesting all at once but I ignored everything and sat up, a small groan and huff slipping out of my lips. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t eaten anything yet.¡± I informed her and she started to speak again, obviously not understanding what I was trying to say. ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t had dinner yet? Matilda is throwing something together and I can ¡ª¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten yet today.¡± I cut into what Sarah had started to say again and stared at her as she blinked at me before her mouth fell open in shock. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. ¡°Why? I remember you ignoring your already prepared coffee and leaving the house on an empty stomach.¡± She cried out and I breathed out a loud, slow sigh without saying a thing, my head pounding in a really ufortable way. ¡°I don¡¯t want to eat anything tonight, just fetch me the damn drugs so I could make use of them and get some much needed sleep.¡± I said to her and watched as she started to shake her head in disagreement immediately. ¡°That sounds like a huge disaster. I am sorry I won¡¯t be able to give you some medicine tablets without you getting a little food into your stomach at least.¡± She paused and I scowled at her, wondering why she was going all mother hen mode on me all of a sudden and feeling a warm throb in a certain part of my chest. Not like I find it really endearing or anything. Because I didn¡¯t. ¡°I cannot stomach anything at the moment, it is going toe back out.¡± I argued, feeling like my head was getting stuffy and clouded along with the headache that was getting intense as each minute went by. ¡°¡±You¡¯re going to have to try, even if it¡¯s only a little bit of food and lots of water.¡± She continued before standing on her feet and off the bed. I stared at her hand as it came forward, past my eyes which were starting to slide shut against my own will once again ¨C to rest ever so lightly over my forehead. ¡°You¡¯re burning up, it seems like you¡¯ve caught a fever, although I am notpletely sure about it yet.¡± She murmured as she pressed her palm more firmly against my forehead and moved it upwards until she was brushing the small curls at one edged side of my forehead and pushing it backwards. The whole feeling of her fingers touching my hair in wa way that was almost affectionate was making a weird feeling take ce in my stomach, a kind of feeling which was extremely foreign to me seeing as I¡¯ve never felt that kind of feeling before. I moved my head sideways and she pulled her hand away from my forehead immediately, taking a step back and rubbing her palms together against themselves. ¡°I am going to be back in a few minutes with the food and your medications.¡± She started to say and I nodded my head as I started to lie back down on the bed until her voice sounded in the room again, which made me force my eyes open to stare at her. ¡°Don¡¯t fall asleep on me, Mr Ri. I don¡¯t know how I am going to wake you up or get you to eat your food and make use of your drugs with sleep clouding your eyes and head if you do fall asleep on me,¡± She started to say with a smallugh and I fought the urge to scowl at her, thest thing on my mind was to joke around and I was in a very sore mood, with most of what was happening around me. ¡°I could get Sofia to help in getting you awake and getting you to eat, but¡ª¡° Sarah started to say again and I raised a hand up, not knowing where the strength to do that in such a quick second¡ª hade from before I said slowly, my eyes which had slid close, slided open at that moment. ¡°Don¡¯t get Sofia, don¡¯t tell her a thing about how I am fairing either¡­ leave her to whatever it was that she was seeing on the television, in the sitting room tonight.¡± ¡°Oh, alright.¡± Sarah replied immediately as she turned around and thankfully exited my bedroom this time, shutting the door quietly behind her. I sighed and moved my head a little in the bed, not wanting a sharp jolt of pain to flow through it unexpectedly. My phone started to ring but I ignored it, leaving it to ring and ring until it finally stopped ringing because I felt too weak to reach my hand out and check who it was that was calling, or to silence the phone at least. It started to ring again after a few minutes of blissful silence while I dragged in deep breaths of the cold air in the room, right before my phone started to ring once again, to my utmost displeasure. I lifted up a little from my position on the bed and stretched my hand out until I was touching the phone before moving it towards me with the tip of my fingers and finally being able to wrap my fingers around it¨C which I did, and the first thing I did was to press on the volume button on the side of the phone which automatically silenced the phone which was still ringing. A quick nce at the screen of the phone showed that it was James. A part of me wanted to ignore the call because I was honestly in such a shitty mood and felt too tired to even try to hold a steady conversation with someone at this very moment, but James had been trying to reach me since morning and I hadn¡¯t replied to any of his texts. I was a hundred percent sure he was already starting to get worried at this point and would most definitely end uping here tonight if he still won¡¯t be able to speak with me or hear anything from me tonight. With that, I blindly clicked on the ept button and ced the phone against my ear. ¡°Hey, fucker.¡± Chapter 52 Chapter 52 Luca¡¯s POV A part of me wanted to ignore the call because I was honestly in such a shitty mood and felt too tired to even try to hold a steady conversation with someone at this very moment, but James had been trying to reach me since morning and I hadn¡¯t replied to any of his texts. I was a hundred percent sure he was already starting to get worried at this point and would most definitely end uping here tonight if he still won¡¯t be able to speak with me or hear anything from me tonight. With that, I blindly clicked on the ept button and ced the phone against my ear. ¡°Hey, fucker.¡± I croaked into the phone and heard James cursing loudly in the background before starting to reply. ¡°The fuck man?¡± He said into the phone, his familiar voice echoing loudly out from the phone, directly into my ear which still had the phone pressed against it. ¡°What¡¯s happening? Why are you suddenly ignoring me?¡± He continued before I could even bother starting to think of an answer and I breathed out a small sigh which sounded really tired to my own ears. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± James finally asked after a few minutes of silence floating between us, a lot slower and calmer this time. I could just imagine him asking me this question in person with worry dripping off his voice¡ª with his face in an almost nk expression, a couple of thin lines appearing at the top of his face. ¡°Everything is just so fucked up, bro.¡± I said quietly into the phone before squeezing my eyes tightly shut and moaning quietly when my head started pounding hard once again before the intense pain started to slowly ebb away. ¡°Why? What happened to you?¡± James pressed on, panic tingling the edge of his question this time. ¡°I can¡¯t stay on the phone for too long right now.¡± I informed him, feeling my eyes slide close and a small gush of air blowing around me which made me shiver slightly while sweat still dripped off my face and chest, into the bedsheets I was currently lying on. ¡°Why?¡± James demanded almost immediately, his voice sounding perplexed like. ¡°Did you get shot? You sound really weak.¡± He continued a secondter, worry, concern and curiosity very obvious in his voice now. ¡°I didn¡¯t get shot.¡± I started to say, speaking really slowly because it was getting really strenuous to speak, the whole weakness I was feeling was starting to get into my voice as well. ¡°Then what¡¯s the matter? Why do you sound like this??¡± He demanded again in a panicked tone, his calm voice shifting higher a little bit. ¡°I think I aming down with something really bad, like a flu or something.¡± I replied after about a minute before the sound of James¡¯ relieved sigh drifted into my ear almost immediately. ¡°Ohhh.¡± James finally started to say again, relief dripping off his voice and I nodded my head along with him¡ª even though I was fully aware that he wouldn¡¯t be able to see me visually at the moment since we were obviously not facetiming¡ª because I felt too tired to try speaking again. ¡°You know, I told you something like this weeks ago when you told me you were always having a lot of body pains. I knew it was unusual because it was unlike you, and it wasn¡¯t like you¡¯ve obviously started doing something different that you don¡¯t obviously do.¡± James continued and I sighed out slowly, vividly remembering the particr conversation which James was referring to. We had both finished working out in the gym located in a room in james¡¯ house. I hadined about always waking up with body pains to him and about how spending a few hours at the gym a day helps with the pain a little before it starts to throb again. James had said something about me about catching the flu but I had ignored him and continued punching the punching bag I was at that moment having a huge grudge against, dismissing his words about being about to catch the flu in the very next second. ¡°So you¡¯ve been to the hospital to get yourself treated today, right?¡± James started to say once again, disrupting my train of thoughts pulling me out of my head with his question. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡± I supplied an answer about a minuteter, not bothering to point out the fact that I had been to the hospital today, but for a different reason entirely ¡ª because I was really feeling too weak to start exining all that had gone down today, all because of Aria. ¡°Why man? So you were in bed throughout the whole of today?¡± He demanded in a tone that sounded Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g almost outraged. ¡°I went to take care of some things and just got back home some time ago.¡± I replied to him before continuing a few secondster, ¡°I really can¡¯t stay on the phone for long.¡± ¡°Where did you go to take care of today that made you ignore your own health problems?¡± He started to say again, in an using tone this time,pletely ignoring the part where I said something about me being unable to stay on the phone for long. ¡°Stop questioning me.¡± I said to him in a t voice, my mood turning into a spinning ¡®zero¡¯ once again. ¡°Great. I can juste over then. I¡¯ll be there in about thirty minutes time.¡± James informed me, totally unfazed by the t voice I had used in replying to his question, a moment ago. ¡°Don¡¯t you daree over tonight, there¡¯s no need for you toe, James.¡± I started to say to him but he only snorted into the phone before replying to me. ¡°You¡¯re hiding something from me, Luca.¡± He said in a nk voice and I rolled my eyes behind my lowered eyelids, James can be so dramatic sometimes. ¡°I will tell you about it tomorrow, I am just too weak to bother trying to exin anything to you right now.¡± I said to him and heard him mutter a quiet ¡®oh¡¯. ¡°Is it that bad?¡± He finally asked in a low voice and I croaked out a smallugh that sounded scratchy to my own ears. ¡°You have no idea.¡± I answered him and heard him release a harsh sigh before starting to speak again, and undoubtedly running a hand across his face in frustration. ¡°Alright, fine. Just take something tonight like a couple of drugs and something after having something to eat and try to get some sleep, I am sure a good sleep would make the whole tiredness disappear.¡± He offered in a resigned and worried tone. ¡°I feel like shit. I don¡¯t feel like eating a thing, man.¡± I informed him, repeating the same thing I had said to Sarah when she had suggested I get some food into my stomach before I can be able to make use of some drugs. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry man, but you have to get some food into your stomach to avoid causing harm to your body system.¡± James said again and I remained quietly, breathing quietly and dragging in air into my lung and parted lips when my nose started to feel clogged and a little bit numb. ¡°Or you can just make use of the drugs like that if it hasn¡¯t been really long since youst had something to eat.¡± He suggested again and I let out a tugh before wincing immediately in pain when my head started throbbing once again. ¡°I haven¡¯t had something to eat throughout today,¡± I informed him and waited for him to start cursing, which he did after a slow second. ¡°Why? The fuck? Are you crazy, man? You¡¯re being sick and feeling like shit and like you¡¯re about to die¨C¡± James started to say but I cut into what he was saying, interrupting him with a quiet, ¡°I honestly do feel like I am about to die.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s because you¡¯re sick and also have no food in your stomach at the same time. That¡¯s really harmful bro, what were you thinking? The fuck?¡± ¡°There was no time for me to remember about putting food into my stomach.¡± I said to him in a small sigh, a small shiver once again making its way over my body, another wave of cold finding its way into my body through my skin. ¡°Why? What were you doing that demanded that much of your time?¡± James started to ask again and I ignored him, choosing to remain silent. ¡°Luca, I swear ¡ª I¡¯ve told you countless times to stop overworking yourself but you never listen. I thought today was supposed to be your day off? For you to get some much needed rest end shit?¡± ¡°Something came up, disrupted all the ns I already made. ¡°Well just get something to eat tonight and make use of the necessary drugs and try to get some sleep. You really need it.¡± James admonished before continuing immediately. ¡°You sound really dead, and awful. Really awful.¡± ¡°I feel dead and awful, believe me.¡± I replied to him and ended the call a few minutester after exchanging more words with him and promising to take in some food before I make use of the drugs¡­ not like Sarah would even give me some drugs without me putting some food into my stomach. I dropped my phone into the spot beside my head on the bed before rolling around a little on the bed until I wa lying on my stomach, my legs now touching the floor in an awkward way since I was lying on the bed in the wrong way. I could really use a cold shower right now, but I felt too weak to even seriously think about it, because my legs felt too shaky and I might end up falling on my face in the bathroom if I dare try to take a shower. I was also starting to feel a little bit cold and had no idea that having a cold shower wouldn¡¯t worsen the cold I was starting to feel or not. The air conditioner chose that moment to blow directly into my back, making cold melt into my bones through my skin, a small shiver going down my back and arms. I burned my face into the cold sheets as another wave of cold overcame me. I was so fucked. The air conditioner here in this room was always turned on to full force and it has almost never made me shiver in the slightest bit due to cold, except each time I was about to fall sick, or if it was a cold season like winter and all the snow thates with it. I was starting to full on shiver at this point and really needed to get off the bed and turn the air conditioners off before walking into the closet to find a hoodie to wear or something but I felt too tired to try to get any of those done. So instead, I borrowed more into the sheets that was just as cold as the air blowing around in the room, with my head pounding hard again and again and my body burning up. Until a knock sounded against the door. It took two trials before the words I had been imagining up in my head could be able to leave my lips in a voice loud enough for the person behind the door to be able to make out what it was that I had said. ¡°Come in.¡± I allowed my eyes to slide open when the door started to creak open and watched as Sarah, holding a tray in both hands, made her way into the room¡ª without Sofia, thankfully, before closing the door quietly with a small push from her left foot and turning back around until she was facing me. Her eyes widened the moment her eyesnded on my syed body on the bed and I watched as she hurried more into the room and ced the tray on the bed, far away from the spot where I was currentlyying in, beforeing to stand beside me. ¡°Would you like to go to the hospital, sir? It seems like your condition has worsened.¡± Sarah started to say and I slowly and carefully pushed myself to a sitting posture, a small groan leaving my lips as my tired muscles protested loudly and painfully. I haven¡¯t even had the damn drugs yet, of course I was only going to be getting worse. I rolled my eyes a little as those words echoed around in my ear before gesturing towards the part where the switch of the air conditioner was located. ¡°Turn off the air conditioners.¡± I say to her, feeling another ghost of cold air lick against my naked skin, another wave of cold making its way into my bones through my skin, once again. Chapter 53 Chapter 53 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°Would you like to go to the hospital, sir? It seems like your condition has worsened.¡± Sarah started to say and I slowly and carefully pushed myself to a sitting posture, a small groan leaving my lips as my tired muscles protested loudly and painfully. I haven¡¯t even had the damn drugs yet, of course I was only going to be getting worse. I rolled my eyes a little as those words echoed around in my ear before gesturing towards the part where the switch of the air conditioner was located. ¡°Turn off the air conditioners.¡± I say to her, feeling another ghost of cold air lick against my naked skin, another wave of cold making its way into my bones through my skin, once again. She turned around without questions, walking towards the switches to do as I asked before walking back to me and standing before me once again. ¡°I had Matilda make these, because it¡¯s almost tasteless and some soup for you to swallow after the meal, since it helps with any kind of nauseous feelings and is a bit spicy as well.¡± Sarah started to say as she turned around and lifted the tray and brought it forward to ce it on the spot before me, so it was almost touching the side of my pants covered thigh. I nced down at the tray and noticed the amounts of drugs which were ced in a small te on the right side of the tray, the tes of food and bowl of soup upying the remaining space of the tray. I reached for the drugs at first but Sarah reached out and moved it out of my reach before I could get it and threw me a knowing look. ¡°The food first, before the drugs. You¡¯d only hurt yourself if you took any kind of medication into your stomach without having at least a little bit of food in your stomach. I tried scowling at her at first but gave off on a slow, quiet and resigned sigh when it urred to me that she was after all doing this for my own good, and not hers. I reached for the spoon and lifted it up a little before dropping the spoon into the te and flexing my fingers which were starting to feel numb. I picked it up once again and scooped up a little bit of the rice before shoving the spoon into my mouth and chewing on the rice a little to swallow it. My mouth tasted really bitter and was almost at the point of it being tasteless since I couldn¡¯t taste the rice the way I was thinking I¡¯d be able to. It also wasn¡¯t as bad as I had thought it would be, thankfully. I thought as I scooped up another spoonful of rice¨C this time, and shoving it into my mouth. The fact that I haven¡¯t started to feel like I was about to puke was something, the way I had thought it was going to be if I dare to try eating tonight. I managed to eat half of the rice on the te before dropping my spoon back in tray, beside the te before pushing it backwards. I reached forward and picked up the ss of water on the tray, tipping it backwards against my mouth and almost downing the whole content in one go. I dropped the now empty cup on the tray and let out a loud yawn and a burp, before remembering that I wasn¡¯t alone in the room, and that Sarah was still here, on the bed, a few feet away from where the tray was currently in. I nced upwards to find her chuckling quietly as she watched me with a familiar look in her eyes, before ncing away almost immediately and staring back down at the scattered tray before me. I wasn¡¯t feeling as weak as I was feeling before, but then I wasn¡¯t suddenly feeling like hulk, I still felt weak as fuck and stil felt like I couldn¡¯t make it to the walk in closet without grabbing at the walls for support ¡ª but I guess it was better than the ce I was at before I had gotten food into my stomach, whereby it felt like I¡¯d end up on my ass if I had attempted standing up from the bed. ¡°Can you try to get some of the soup into your stomach?¡± Sarah asked from her position on the bed and I shrugged a little without replying to her question. I was going to try some of it though, even though it smelled not so appealing to my nose ¡ª unlike the rice which had zero smell. I picked up the second spoon on the tray which was a brown wooden spoon for scooping up soup and dug it a little into the hand filler bowl of soup before lifting it up and cing it lightly over my tongue. The soup tasted really awful like I had feared, making me retch a little as the smell wafted into my nose for that position and I dropped the spoon back into the tray almost immediately with a squeeze of my face ¡°Is it that bad?¡± Sarah asked with augh and I nodded my head once before reaching for the bottle of water on the tray and uncapping it to take a huge swig directly from the bottle. ¡°You¡¯ve tried, with the amount of rice you were able to get into your stomach, I honestly thought you weren¡¯t going to be able to eat more than a few bites, and was thinking you were going to finish the soup since you¡¯ve always loved the chicken soup on a normal day.¡± Sarah started to say and I pursed my lips a little before starting to say. ¡°So I didn¡¯t need to eat that much? And there I was forcing myself to get mouth bites in until I couldn¡¯t get another spoonful in.¡± I said to her with narrowed eyes, feeling a little bit cheated. But Sarah only let out a smallugh as she sat on the bed beside the tray and reached for the te of drugs which she had tugged out of my reach before. ¡°You needed to eat as much as you ate, and even more.¡± She said and I shook my head before wincing a little in the next second when a sharp stab of pain vibrated in my head because of the small head movement I had made, a small second ago. That was the first pain that had stabbed into my head since I had started eating and I lifted up the still opened bottle water and took in another huge mouthful, swallowing the tasteless content down immediately. ¡°The soup tasted really bad.¡± I said to her as she handed me a couple of white looking tablets which I threw into my mouth and washed down with water immediately. ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re currently feeling sick, your taste buds are wrecked. You¡¯ve always loved this chicken soup.¡± Sarah said with a smallugh as she shook a couple of capsules into my opened palm directly from the packet and I threw it into my mouth, washing it down with another mouthful of water. ¡°Well, I hate it now.¡± I grumbled out as she shook out a ton of other tablets which I couldn¡¯t identify. Sarah and I had been together for a long while. I could trust her the same way I trusted James. I knew she saw me as a son to her which sometimes warmed my chest in a weird way and sometimes overwhelmed the fuck out of me. She calls me my name sometimes, and sometimes addresses me respectfully, which I didn¡¯t have a problem with. I wouldn¡¯t go out of my way and ask her to call me by my name, but then I also didn¡¯t have a problem with her addressing me as ¡®Luca¡¯. It all depended on her. I threw the drugs into my mouth and swallowed it down dryly before washing it down with a mouthful of water, a tiny part of my mind reminding me that I was going to be waking up more than twice this midnight to empty my dder. I ced the almost empty bottle of water back on the tray after I had screwed the cap back on, leaning back a little and resting against the headboard of the bed and one of the pillows on the bed. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes.¡± Sarah said to me as she lifted the tray in her two hands and turned back around, heading towards the bedroom¡¯s door. I called out to her before she could get to the door and croaked out a ¡®thank you¡¯ to her, because I was really thankful to her. Sarah watched out for me a lot and would almost start to dot on me, if I didn¡¯t have this wall around me, almost eighty percent of the time that kept people away froming way too close to me. She let out one of her familiar smiles ¡ª the one that made her face spread wide across her face and made the small wrinkles which were already starting to appear visible on her face as the years went by, disappear and the light in her eyes to be brighter in that moment. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Luca. You¡¯re wee.¡± She replied to me in a warm voice, her smile filled voice making the spot in my chest ache a little before she finally turned around and left the bedroom, quietly pulling the door close behind her¡ª which I was really thankful for because my head was so sensitive at the moment and would start to pound at any kind of noise or movement. I nced around the room and lifted my hand to move my fingers through the curls on my hair. I was still feeling really sweaty and still wanted that shower so bad, but I still wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d be able to N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. handlepletely the shower without falling on my face. The screen of my phone light up from its spot on the bed without vibrating nor ringing out because I had silenced it when James had called me earlier on ¡ª which I was d I did then. I dismissed the thought and nced away from the phone to stare up at the roof to nce at the tiny crafted images on the roof with golden and silver intricate designs on different parts on the roof, looking up absentmindedly as my mind started to slowly drift away. Sarah returnedter with a new bottle of water which she settled on my bedside table beside the guns and knife,pletely unfazed by their appearances on the table, because she was already used to it after seeing that same kind of items around me a lot before and after she started working for me. I asked her to get me a change of clothes and a hoodie since I was starting to feel cold, which she went do while I lifted off the bed and proceeded towards the bathroom, after deciding to take a shower tonight. I knew a shower ¡ª a warm one, was going to help with my sore muscles and would also make me fall asleep faster, despite the fact that I was still feeling a little weak, but not as weak as I had felt after making my way into the house and mistakenly shutting the door quietly. Once I done, I dressed myself up with the clothes which Sarah had set on the counter in the bathroom, feeling extremely warm after putting on the hoodie. I toweled my hair dry before heading out of the bathroom into the empty bedroom. Sarah had changed the bedsheets and nkets, recing them with a ck one and I gratefully got into bed and pulled the nkets over my body, starting to drift into sleep a minute after getting into bed. The reason why Sofia still hadn¡¯t made her way into the room to get some sleep, since it was obviously around the time when she goes to bed, floated around in my slightly pounding head¡ª as the satisfying feeling of sleep pulled me under. Chapter 54 Chapter 54 Luca¡¯s POV I rolled unto my back, feelingpletely drenched like I had stood under a cascading water with my clothes on, therefore drenching my body in the warm water that would feel cold against the body after a few seconds. My neck felt cramped up like I had slept in a wrong position and a part of it has ended up getting numb. I groaned a little as I finally forced my eyes open, my filled up dder waking me from the deep sleep I had fallen into immediately after eating, making use of some drugs and taking a warm shower. I slowly sat on the bed, moaning loudly in pain in my muscles although not hurting the way it had hurt few times, trying to chase thest bits of sleep clinging unto my eyelids. The first thing I did after kicking the nket which was starting to feel ufortable against my body was to pull off my hoodie which was drenched in sweat. I tossed it on the floor beside my bed and puffed out a deep breath, my chest glistening due to the amount of sweat rolling off my shoulders. I was feeling cold anymore, thankfully ¨C which was probably why I had started to sweat heavily in my sleep. I shifted towards the edge of the bed and ced my feet on the floor, getting prepared to get up the bed and head over to the bathroom where I¡¯d offload my filled up dder and wash my face with cold water. I ced my hand against my forehead at thest moment before I got up from the bed, checking to see if I was still burning up. I wasn¡¯t burning up seriously anymore, thankfully. But I was still a little bit feverish and my head¡ª although not pounding painfully and throbbing in a way that almost felt worse than death, it was still pounding a little, nevertheless. I pushed myself off the bed and slowly made my way towards the bathroom, the dim lights which wasn¡¯t as bright as the way it wasst night, it was was really dim this early morning, not like I couldn¡¯t see clearly as I headed towards the bathroom door and that was all that mattered. I got into the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind me before making my way into the restroom and emptying my dder. I was still feeling weak, so I had to lean against the wall of the rest room as I cleaned myself up and tucked myself back into my loose sweatpants, without any underwear, because I was toozy to rummage through my underwear, and I was way more used to goingmando while sleeping. I stepped out of the restroom after flushing the toilet clean, back into the spaciou insides of the bathroom. I stood against the wash hand base and grimaced at the reflection staring back at me from the mirror. My hair was hanging out on all corners and my eyes were a little bit swollen with the inside slightly red. Eyebags stared back at me from the mirror and I hugged out a small breath as I leaned forward and ced my right palm against the mirror to steady myself when it felt like I was about to lose my footing, a few seconds ago. My chest and shoulders were gleaming in the bright lights of the bathroom and I stared at my broad chest and the way sweat glistened off it. It made me grimace a little once again. I was already starting to feel sticky as hell. Your own sweat drying off on your skin can be disgusting if you imagine it up. I leaned forward and turned the tap on the wash hand machine for me before opening my hand as the cold wash of water rushed and sshy towards a lot of corners in the bathroom. I lifted my right hand which was currently cupping water carefully and sshed it against my face, allowing it to purposely dripp towards my neck to slide down over my chest and abs. I repeated the motion until I was satisfied with how my face was feeling less sticky after the whole sshing of water. I also loved the way I allowed lots of water to ssh and slide down my chest, over my slightly feverish body until I was done and turned off the war on. I toweled my face dry and moped the towel against my chest and stomach a little before discarding the towel back on the bathroom counter and making my way back into the sitting room. My eyesnded on a sleeping Sofia as I made my way back into the room and closed the bathroom door quietly behind me, my eyes performing a quick survey of the whole bed room before my eyesnded on the bed and crept towards her side of the bed to find her curled and buttoned up beside my side of the bed. I sank into the bed slowly, groaning a little as I bent my neck from side to side to get the ufortable cramping feeling away from each side of my throat too. I leaned forward and picked up my phone from the bedside table to check the time. It was currently some minutes after three a.m in the morning, reminding myself that I still needed as much sleep as possible in order to help me get healed way faster. I leaned forward the way I had done before when retrieving the phone, a few minutes ago¡ª and ced the phone back on the bed side table where it had been on before I had fallen asleep. I kicked the nkets further down the bed before proceeding to lie down on the bed without a shirt and without the nkets around me. I turned around on my stomach and ced my hands beneath me, on the pillow as I stared at a sleeping Sofia. She had her hands tucked beneath her cheeks as she slept, her lips parting a little as tiny puffs of breaths slipped through, her lips still managing to curve a little into a pouty shape though she was fast asleep. She was facing my side of the bed but was still far away from me, almost at the edge of the bed where she had fallen off and sustained an arm injury. I stared down at her body and felt my throat dry up immediately on seeing what she had on. It wasn¡¯t was still very much visible to my eyes and I drank the sight up with my eyes. When I had kicked down the nketspletely after exiting the bathroom anding back into the sitting room, I had unknowingly kicked down the nkets off her body as well¡ª and now, her small shoulders which tiny sleeves cling unto called unto me tauntingly, showing me what I could see but couldn¡¯t touch, waving it into my face unashamedly. I breathed out a deep breath and sat up on the bed before reaching down and pulling up the nkets which I had kicked down moments ago. I drew the nkets back over Sofia¡¯s body, watching as she moved a little and let out a tiny, unintelligible sound before burrowing more into the pillow her cheek was currently pressed into, rxing visible once the nkets was around her neck once again. I turned around on the bed and faced my side of the bed, another deep, long sigh escaping my lips as I I didn¡¯t know when exactly sleep managed to pull me under, but it didn¡¯t feel like it had taken me really long after that¡­ because one moment I was thinking about how my head hurts, and the rest, I couldn¡¯t remember a thing. ******* I rolled onto my stomach and buried my head into my pillows, not wanting to blink my eyes open after wasn¡¯t the one responsible for my jolting awake, my body had just choose that particr moment to I wiggled in bed and turned my head around,ying my other cheek against the soft sheets against the pillow. I breathed in the familiar scent of tbd bedsheet, the event going into my lungs and filling my whole insides up immediately. I felt a little bit drunk which sounded really absurd to my own ears ¡ª because for one, I didn¡¯t have any alcohol yesterday, and most definitely didn¡¯t get anything into my stomach apart from the food Sarah had fetched me in my roomst night. I also don¡¯t remember the I have had a little too many to drink, if not¨C I wouldn¡¯t get close to feeling tipsy. I wasn¡¯t an alcoholic. Ok, I used to drink a lot in myte teenage and early twenties years. That was how my alcohol tolerance increased and got really strong along the years. But I wasn¡¯t an alcoholic anymore, I had taken care of that addiction in myte twenties and had ended up oveing it, thankfully. I slowly rolled unto my back, feeling my head throbbing lowly behind the back of my head as I carefully sat up on the bed and blinked my eyes open. I blinked a couple of times for my eyes to adjust to the brightness in the room, thankful that the curtains wasn¡¯t open at the moment. God knows I might have dropped dead because of the harshness of the morning sun shining directly into my face and eyes. I nced sideways on the bed and noted that Sofia wasn¡¯t in bed anymore, before rubbing my eyes with my palms a few times to chase the remaining sleep away from my eyes, and the famous stickiness that stick to a person¡¯s eyes each damn day. I reached for my phone on the bedside table and picked it up before holding it before me until it automatically unlocked almost immediately. I nced at the time and parted my mouth a little¨C without realizing it. It was currently past one p.m in the afternoon and I was just getting out of bed. To think I was thinking about hating the early morning sun and expressing my gratitude for the curtains being drawn close when it wasn¡¯t even morning anymore but was way past that already. I ced my phone on the bed and ran my fingers through my hair, noting how the feverish feeling had almost gone downpletely except for the small warm feeling I still felt the moment I ced my hand against my forehead. I stretched my right hands forward to check if it was still going to hurt and winced when a small pain tugged at one of the muscles tugging at the insides of that particr limb which I had raised up into the air in experiments. It wasn¡¯t hurting as much as it had yesterday, especiallyst night, but it was still hurting nevertheless. Fever or not, it still felt like I was going to end up getting a body massage to get this damn soreness out of my muscles once and for all. I pushed out of the bed and stretched my hands out, the muscles at my shoulders protesting painfully and cracking loudly like they had been cramped up really badly for a long while. I did a few more stretchings of my hands before finally making my way into the bathroom to empty my dder and clean my teeth. I was d I wasn¡¯t feeling as sick as I had thought I was still going to be feeling this morning, after N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. making use of the drugs and it took a little longer than expected to kick in, yesterday. I had things to do and thankfully, I was feeling stronger this morning¡ª afternoon and was sure I would be able to pull off leaving the house and getting those things done without straining myself too hard. Like, I had to go see my cousin today. I also had to meet up with my right hand man, James. To tell him about all that had happened with Aria, because he was going to go take care of Ivan and his brother on my behalf. Chapter 55 Chapter 55 Luca¡¯s POV Dressing in casual clothes was hard as hell for me, because being in a suit alone brings a particr kind of aura around you which a casual looking jeans and a nnel shirt wouldn¡¯t be able to bring around you. Dressing in suits had always been like a super power for me, right from after I got ordained to be the new mafia lord after my father, and after I had to officially take over from my father after he had gotten killed. I wasn¡¯tpletely prepared to because a leader of a counter like this and to keep on walking in the footsteps of evil and greed which my father hadid out for me the way his father had did the same for him, but being left with no choice, I had to take the title and position and start leading the people forward from where my father had stopped. I knew a lot of people were not going to give me the due respect they were supposed to give me, because of my young age and because of how everyone in rankings back then were older than I was. All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. And so I had picked out best suits each day, attending mafia rted meetings and attending lots of coronations ceremonies, my suit clinging to my body and giving me a kind of respect. I knew the suit, along with my nk face and smartness, was fetching me. And so, they all grew to respect me as the time went by, but by then, I was already used to wearing different brands of suits seven times a week if the week was fully booked for me with meetings, appointments, discussions and gatherings. I got into a dark colored suit, but the ck color wasn¡¯t as dark as a normal ck colored suit was supposed to look like. This right here which I was currently plucking off its hanger was in a lighter ck color, and I had picked a ck colored undershirt to wear along with it, and a ck colored tie and shoes. If you haven¡¯t guessed yet, I was a huge fan of ck. It was my favorite color because it somehow represents what I was and who I was. It represents the kind of world I was living in and the kind of person I was. I wasn¡¯t a good person. I was a bad person. So, ck. Dark. Darkness. Granted, yes, I wasn¡¯t as bad as others. But I wasn¡¯t not bad either. It was so fucked up to think about sometimes. If someone killed his friends while his brother stands by and watched, the person who had performed the killing and the person who had only stood and watched without doing thing to stop the killing and had instead turned a blind eye to it, are both going to get arrested¡ª and her both guilty for the same thing, murder. There was no such thing as ¡®I wasn¡¯t as bad as him, I had only watched without doing a thing¡¯. It¡¯s still the same thing. That was the same thing that was happening in my life with the whole mafia. They were doing their own thing. Their own bad, bad things which I couldn¡¯t pretend to not know about. But what do I do about it? Turn a blind eye to it, of course. You wouldn¡¯t want me to appear weak and pathetic to them, now would you? And where has it ever been heard in that someone who¡¯s the lord of a mafia is suddenly acting all holy and innocent while trying to change the ways of his people which his forefathers had set down for him ¡ª the evil, selfish and greedy part, which the mafia lord himself, along with his people, are supposed to follow in. I was also going to lose my position as the mafia lord¡ª not that cared so much about it, in the first ce. But, it¡¯s just way deeper than this¡­ than all these. I shoved my foot each into the legs of the suit pants before adding in a belt and doing it up against my waist, my zip following up immediately. I shrugged into the ck inner shirt immediately, doing up the buttons and leaving the first two buttons open because I was still feeling feverish and I wouldn¡¯t like to sweat through my inner shirt throughout the whole of today. I had never been a fan of singlets inside of inner shirts before wearing the suit jacket¡ª for someone that sweats a lot like me, that was a huge no for me. I picked up the suit jacket and pulled it over my arms, doing up the three buttons and running my fingers through my hair a little as I stared at my reflection in the mirror against the dressing table in the walk-in closet where I was currently getting dressed, like I do everyday. I ran myb through my hair, repeating same ritual that I always perform on my hair almost everyday, slicking it back with oil and picking the curls out with a tiny pin likeb until the curls stood out on my hair, glistening with the oil I had used in slicking Ynr whole thing back, moments ago. I added gel and conditioner into the hair and watched as the curls started to froze in ce, glistening sexily ¡ª just the way I liked it, as I started to turn around from the dressing table before remembering a tiny but important detail and turning back around until I was staring back down at the dressing table. I picked up the bottle of perfume which I had gotten as a gift directly from thepany. They had wanted me toe model their perfume for them but my assistants declined the offer politely the way they do some other hundreds of brands andpanies that hade forward toe express their want for me toe model a thing for two for them, wanting me to sign a contract with them and other shits rting to that. But everything gets declined, because I just wasn¡¯t into it and was way too busy to find time in my tight as fuck schedules for photoshoots, video shoots, fan meets and the likes. I was also too busy and most definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to abide by the whole rules and regtions thates with signing with a particr brand. I never bothered with those because I had more than enough money, if I was ever going to be epting a job like that, it was going to be because I was probably bored and wanted to test out how it feels to be the face of a product, that¡¯s all. I sprayed the perfume around me, the thick and strong scent sticking to my clothes and hair thickly as I turned around and finally made my way out of the walk-in closet and back into the bedroom. I picked up my phone and inserted it into my pocket, along with a gun and a pocket knife. I almost never go anywhere unarmed and it has be close to second nature at this moment. I stood before the floor length in the bedroom and stared at myself silently, d that the lotion i had used to massage my eyes before and after I had taken a shower this morning has made the eye bags that was starting to grow beneath my eyes to vanish immediately, leaving only a little of it behind, I knew if I mayuse of the lotion tonight and tomorrow, my eyes would be clear as hell and the eye bags outline would be normal. I made my way out of the bedroom and down the stairs, into the wide hallway downstairs before heading straight for the kitchen. There, Matilda and Sarah were staring at something cooking on the stove, huddled together and Speaking quietly. Sarah nudged Matilda a little her elbow and a small shake of her head after Matilda whispered something and Matilda bursted outughing, covering her mouth with her palm to stifle herughs. ¡°Sarah?¡± I said from the doorway and watched as both women turned around immediately and as expected ¡ª Matilda jolted and dropped the spoon she was holding, staining the floor with a little bit of something that looked like sauce onto the clear tiles of the kitchen floor. ¡°Matilda!¡± Sarah admonished and the said Matilda mutter a fast apology towards me and Sarah before picking up the spoon and cing it into the sink before heading away from where she was standing to go get what to use to clean the stain away. Sarah walked towards me and stood a few feet away me, her eyes ghosting over my whole body as if examining me like I was under a subject she was supposed to study for a test and she was one of the serious students, hell bent on passing the test with flying colors. ¡°Did you sleep well, Mr Ri?¡± She asked after a few seconds of us staring at each other in silence ¡ª her staring at me like she was checking to see it I had magically sustained an invisible injuries while I was staring at her tly, wondering why she wasing onto me with her motherly instinct that would soon start to make a particr spot in the insides of my chest to ache a little once again. ¡°I did, thank you.¡± I replied to her and nced away from her, staring across the whole kitchen for a few seconds. ¡°Are you going to be leaving the house again today without putting any kind of food into your stomach? And also without making use of your drugs.¡± Sarah started to say, making me drag my eyes away from the counterpart of the kitchen, downwards until I was staring into her face once again. ¡°I¡¯ll get something to eat outside.¡± I replied to her and she only snorted like she obviously didn¡¯t what I had just said. ¡°I bet you didn¡¯t even remember that you were supposed to eat and make use of your drugs this afternoon after you¡¯ve woken up from your deep sleep.¡± Sarah started to say once again, sounding a little too true for my liking, and so I pursed my lips without supplying a reply to her. ¡°There¡¯s a couple of toast and bacon amongst other things still warming for you in the microwave, would you like me to get it for you? Just so you¡¯d get to make use of your drugs before you leave the house.¡± Sarah suggested and I scowled a little, my lips turning into a thin line against my lips but she didn¡¯t back down and I breathed out a slow sigh after a little while, turning sideways and heading towards the counter and getting on one of the high chairs. ¡°Fine. Get me the damn breakfast.¡± I said to her and watched as she nodded her head, totally unfazed with the way I was acting. I was acting like I was forced to stay behind to get some food and make use of my drugs before leaving the house, when in reality, it had only been a suggestion from Sarah and I knew fully well that I could refuse to stay behind and leave immediately if I wanted to. But I had stayed behind and acted like I was being forced to¡­ for some weird reason. Perhaps it was a kind of nice feeling to be dotted on and my head and mind was liking it way more than I could have ever expected. Sarah ced the food on before me and I ate a little of everything, still not feeling like my appetite was already back to normal, but still grateful that at least I wasn¡¯t feeling nauseous anymore like I had felt, ¡°Where¡¯s Sofia?¡± I asked Sarah as I started to make my way out of the kitchen after I had made use of my drugs and downed enough water into my body system. I haven¡¯t set eyes on her since I woke up this afternoon and an unusual feeling in my stomach was suddenly wanting nothing more than for me to just set my eyes on her face and watch her eyelids flutter a couple of times as color slowly bloomed into her cheeks. Chapter 56 Chapter 56 Luca¡¯s POV ¡°Where¡¯s Sofia?¡± I asked Sarah as I started to make my way out of the kitchen after I had made use of my drugs and downed enough water into my body system. I haven¡¯t set eyes on her since I woke up this afternoon and an unusual feeling in my stomach was suddenly wanting nothing more than for me to just set my eyes on her face and watch her eyelids flutter a couple of times as color slowly bloomed into her cheeks. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s upstairs, sitting on the balcony. Would you like me to get her for you?¡± Sarah replied immediately, her face somehow lightening up by that question which I had asked her. I shook my head instantly, already making my way out of the kitchen, ¡°Nevermind, don¡¯t think about it anymore.¡± I paused outside the kitchen¡¯s doorway and contemted asking Sarah how Sofia was doing and if her injured arm was still hurting badly, and how she was fairing but thought better against it and nudged the urge away, not wanting Sarah to start to suspect a thing concerning Sofia¡¯s and I marriage. Because it was most definitely going to sound weird and suspicious to her that I was asking her how my wife was fairing instead of me asking Sofia directly like a normal husband was supposed to do. But then, I wasn¡¯t a normal husband. Never felt like a normal husband for a second since the start of our marriage. For one, a husband wouldn¡¯t have gotten married to his wife in a crowd of three thousand people in attendance and not consummate the marriage that same night, here in Italy. Which made me start to wonder if Sarah had suspected if something had happened between Sofia and I on our wedding night or not¡­ because she hadn¡¯t bled on the sheets that night like every bride was supposed to, here in Italy. It was one of the old beliefs that was just total bullshit. Not every girl bleeds at their first time having sex, because obviously every girl¡¯s bodies are different and does not work the same way. But people were not ready to ept that piece of information yet. I finally ended up moving away from the kitchen¡¯s doorway and made my way directly towards the door leading outside the house. I was met with Ethan, one of Sofia¡¯s body guards outside the door along with a few other guards. ¡°Where¡¯s Ryan?¡± I asked Ethan after they¡¯ve all greeted me a good afternoon, bowing their heads in respect for a few seconds before lifting their heads back up. ¡°He¡¯s inside the house, probably helping Mrs Ri with something or¡­¡± Ethan started to say but I cut into what he was saying along the way. ¡°He helps her with some things?¡± I asked confusingly, not knowing my little wife was already familiar with her body guard¡¯s already. I had thought it was going to take a month or more before she¡¯d be able to warm up to them and try to ask them for something by the shy and timid characteristics I¡¯ve picked off from her in waves, countless times. I guess I was wrong¡­ I had thought wrong? ¡°Uh, yeah. He helped with some of the settings of her new phone because some of the buttons were quiteplicated for her to understand.¡± Ethan continued to exin and I nodded my head once before tapping him against his shoulders lightly and climbing down the small row of stairs. I didn¡¯t know how I was supposed to react to that, I mean, I knew nothing was going to happen to Sofia because her two bodyguards were one of my most efficient bodyguards, I trusted them a lot, before I could be able to assign them to watch over Sofia during the day. But then why did I feel some weird feeling inside of my head after being informed that one of her guards had helped her out with a difficulty she had been facing¨C her phone. Christ, when did I start to really bother about these things? What the hell is wrong with me? I walked towards my car where my driver was already waiting in and tugged the back door open by myself and settled into the back of the car just as the driver started the engine of the car. ¡°Good day, boss.¡± He greeted me without turning around and I nodded at him through the rear view mirror. ¡°To the hospital.¡± I said to him before he could ask me of a particr destination and he started to pull out of where he was parked in¨C just as the guard that follows this particr car¨C while the rest of the guards tails ours in a different car¨C pulled open the side of the front door and got into the passenger¡¯s seat, breathing heavily and sounding ragged as he turned around in his seat and greeted me respectively, his hair appearing wet as it fell over his face when he bowed his head a little in greetings before apologizing foringte. ¡°You look rough.¡± I stated, because he did. Which was very much unusual for him. He also almost never arrive herete, he was on most times, already waiting before I¡¯d be done with getting ready for the day. ¡°It was because I had totally forgotten about you wanting to go out today, I thought you weren¡¯t going to leave the house today so I¡­¡± He started to say, breaking off his words and sounding really apologetic and almost nervous. ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s alright.¡± I said to him with a small wave of my hand and watched as he nodded his head before turning back around in the front seat and settling his back against the backrest of the chair.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only I dug out my phone from my pockets and turned my data on before cing it down on the seat beside me, bracing myself for the amount of notifications that were going to spam into my phone all at once. I hadn¡¯t removed my phone from the silence setting which I had left it atst night, so I wasn¡¯t bothered about a thousand dingsing out of nowhere to fill up the whole car loudly. I moved my foot a little in the car, brushing my hands on the material of my pants, brushing my fingers over it and repeating the motion over and over again, trying to resist the urge to run my fingers through the neatly, arranged curls on my head¡ª an obsession of mine that I was really starting to think about seriously and wonder if it wasn¡¯t too obsessive of me to want to always run my fingers through the soft curls. I moved my foot in the car once again, changing their positions and stretching the first one out while the second one stay folded against the seat I was currently sitting in. I nced sideways at my phone and noticed that the screen was still turned on and more messages were stilling in. At this point I was going to have to get a new phone as well¡ª and someone to handle my personal social handles as well, it was now very obvious to me that I was way too busy for these shits. And most importantly, I was going to hand over my current email address to my secretaries on Monday. The amount of work I had already missed out on. The amount of appointments James would have to reschedule, the amount of visits he¡¯d have to put off for next week ¨C because of my absence, was the msin reason why I disliked taking breaks from the office. It always ends up drawing us back and interfering with our other appointments for the next few weeks. I also have a meeting with the generals and the people with titles and those on different high seats here in my mafia, next week. I had no idea about how I was going to juggle everything together next week without rubbing myself to the ground once again¡­ but I was going to end up finding a way, James was going to be a really great help as usual. I¡¯d end up canceling huge appointments next week if I have to, I refuse to overwork myself next week, a freaking few days after I was just starting to recover. Now that I think about it, I really am an extremely busy man. I picked up my phone and ignored the notifications and instead cleared everything up all at once, steering clear off my email and other social media apps and heading straight into my iMessages. There was a new message from an unknown number and I clicked on that message first, my curiosity having no patience of any kind ¡ª which was because my phone number doesn¡¯t get shared by anyone, I¡¯ve warned the people close to my circle about that and they knew just what I was trying to avoid. Unnecessary things. Lots of unnecessary things. The messages were three in number and my eyes ghosted over it super fast, reading the messages all at once ¡ª because they weren¡¯t all that long each. Hello Luca Thanks for doing what you did for Aria. Really appreciate it. ??¡¯ What the fuck? I thought to myself as I reread the text again and again, wondering who it was that had sent this message and how whoever the person was knew about what had happened. And most importantly, how they got my private phone number¡­ where they got it from¡­ Luca: Who the fuck are you? I typed the message in and was about to hit on the send button when a thought urred to me, urging me not to send the message, and after I thought about it for a few minutes, I deleted the typed message and existed the stranger¡¯s direct messages, before proceeding to scroll through my list of messages. I clicked on that of James and as expected, got met with a ton of unread messages which he had been sending since yesterday¡¯s afternoon when I had been in the car, while following the trail we had found, thanks to her phone. Which reminds me¡­ where was the damn phone? Could it be that it has fallen off her in the room where she had been held hostage, in the house of Ivan and his brother¡¯s. Or it could have been in one of her pants pockets? I reminded myself to ask the nurse at the hospital today if she had seen any phone call of Aria''s body while undressing her. I started to type a message to James, a secondter and sending the message over once I was done typing. Luca: Hey man, I¡¯m sorry I ignored your bunch of messages here. I waited for a reply, knowing one wasing as soon as possible because it was James and James was with his phone a lot, almost never turning off his data on most days. Like I had guessed right, he started to type in a reply, a few minutester. James: I wouldn¡¯t dismiss it like it¡¯s fine, because it isn¡¯t. I rolled my eyes as my eyes ghosted over his messages, just as the three dots appeared on his side of the message box, showing that he was typing in a reply again. James: You have better have a good excuse. Also, most importantly, how¡¯s your sick ass doing? I cracked a smallugh as I started to type in a reply almost immediately. Luca: I still feel sick, but I¡¯ll live. And yes, the excuse isn¡¯t even an excuse, it¡¯s something really huge. Can youe to the hospital today? I¡¯ll tell you about everything there. I sent in the reply and nced towards the front of the car, noticing that we were in a little bit of traffic. I lifted my right hand absentmindedly and was about to dig my fingers into my hair before remembering at the veryst second and pulling my fingers back down, pressing them down on my thighs and scratching lightly against the warm material of my suit pants, the hard muscles in my thighs pressing into the tip of my fingers¨C a sharp contrast to the warm, soft and silky curls of my hair which I wanted to badly feel against my fingers. Of everything to unconsciously get obsessed with, it just had to be my hair. Yeah, I knew my hair was perfect¡­ but getting obsessed with it was just too much. I think I have a problem. Chapter 57 Chapter 57 Luca¡¯s POV I nced at my wrist watch clinging on my right wrist and noted what the time says, it was almost four N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. p.m in the afternoon. I made my way into the hospital building, walking past the security who bowed his head a little at me in respect the moment he recognized who I was. I walked into the elevator which wasn¡¯t empty, to my disappointment and stood at the far end of the elevator, staying clear of the three identical children who were chattering the ears of their mother off. ¡°Mummy, look at my bracelets in the mirror.¡± The one standing in the middle of her strikingly identity sisters said, smiling at her mother through the mirror¡ª just as the one standing on the side which was only a few feet away from where I was standing at¨C lifted her hand up and looked up at her mother through the mirror with a small pout which made Sofia¡¯s face pop into my head all of a sudden. ¡°Mummy, mine is the prettiest, right?¡± She asked with a small pout just as the third one chose to turn around to tug at the edge of her mother¡¯s skirt while waving her second hand in the air to show her mother her bracelet ¨C a bracelet which was practically the same type that was on her two sisters wrists, just in different colors. ¡°Oh, blueberries, I love all your bracelets, they¡¯re all the prettiest.¡± The mother finally gushed out with a fond look in her eyes as she stared down at her children. A knowing smile spread out on her face as the girl who had a pout like that of Sofia¡¯s, scowled in such a way that was just too cute to be mean before she shook her head immediately, disagreeing with her mother immediately. ¡°But Mummy, Daddy said mine was the prettiest this morning!¡± She muttered out, a cute scowl still painted across her face and I watched as the girl standing in the middle of the two girls¨C who had first started the whole disagreement about who had the prettiest bracelets¡ª gasped dramatically the moment her sister¡¯s words sank into her small, cute head. ¡°Daddy said mine was the prettiest this morning, which means mine is the prettiest!¡± She eximed to her sister, sounding outraged by her sister¡¯s ims of their father telling her she has the prettiest bracelet. ¡°No, he said mine was the most prettiest this morning, while helping me with my shoes, which means mine is the prettiest.¡± The third girl who had turned around to tug at the edge of her mother¡¯s skirt said to her two sisters almost immediately, sounding way too smug for someone who had been really desperate for the validation of her mother, moments ago. ¡°Daddy said everyone¡¯s bracelets are the prettiest, and you know daddy is always right, hm?¡± The mother started to say to her kids and I watched as they all absorbed her words before finally nodding their small heads slowly. ¡°Which means the three of you have the prettiest bracelets each! Everybody wins.¡± The mother continued with a small smile tingling the edge of her voice, sounding like it was a normal thing for her already, for her to settle silly fights like this on a normal day. I wouldn¡¯t be able to survive¡­ This looks like so much to handle and a whole lot of work. Do I even want kids yet? The elevator stopped moving and dinged, signaling my stop before the doors started to slowly slide open. I started to make my way out of the elevator car but paused when I heard a startled gasp which made me turn back around to peep back into the elevator. The mother of the cute triplets was staring at me with wide eyes and a little bit of fear in her eyes as she quickly ducked her head a little before starting to say, ¡°Oh my god, I¡¯m so sorry, Mr Ri, I didn¡¯t know it was you all along.¡± I nodded my head and waved my hand a little at her, hating the way her knowing who exactly I was had brought her this amount of fear immediately. I stepped out the elevator and was surprised when the girl who had a pout almost simr to that of Sofia¡¯s waved at me just as the elevator started to slide back close, a smile missing a lot of teeth disyed across her face. I cracked a small grin and threw her a small wave just as the elevator doors slide close, genuinely delighted by that little gesture of hers. If only people could be as trusting as that little girl was around me, a few moments ago¨C then they have nothing to be scared of, because if they didn¡¯t do a thing to me, then I most definitely wouldn¡¯t ever dream of hurting them. I made my way down the hallway, finally exiting the entrance of the elevator to walk deeper through the hallway, contemting on if I should see the doctor first or just go ahead and check up on Aria. I decided to head to the doctor¡¯s office first, just to catch up on all what had gone down with her since James had agreed to show up here before an hour time, and then I¡¯ll let him in on all that took ce between Aria and Ivan because most importantly, he was going to pay me a visit to them for me, to teach them an actual lesson. Since Aria was going through so much pain now, they deserve to go through some pain as well, since they had been the one to bring the pain on her. I knocked against the doctor¡¯s office and made my way in after hearing a quiet e in¡¯ from the other side of the door. The doctor weed me and offered his hand to me again today¡ª which I epted, because I wasn¡¯t an asshole, but had been extremely worked up, stressed out and also worried, yesterday¨C which was why I had ignored his offered handshakes. He looked genuinely surprised when I epted the handshake before settling behind the table and moving a few files around the table, before the actual discussion started to take ce between us. I remained silent, my whole mood slowly spiraling into a t zero as he went on and on, pointing out the lists of damages each injected drug had caused to her body and how it was going to have an effect on herter if something is not carried out on her now. I breathed out a deep sigh, feeling useless because there was just nothing I could do at the moment to help ease a little of the amount of pain she was currently going through. ¡°I know it¡¯s a lot to take in at once. Take your time.¡± The doctor started to say in a solemn and my lips after about a minute. ¡°Is she awake?¡± I asked the doctor and he stared at me like I had suddenly groaned two heads before leaning his head down for a few seconds before staring back up at me to say in a slow and low voice. ¡°She undergone another surgeryst night, because a tear urred in her brain when one of the drugs started to react in her system when we were trying to flush it all out¡­ and she went through another one, some hours ago¡ª the heart this time, when it almost went out like a light.¡± The doctor exined slowly and my eyes widened immediately, horror making my heart knot up painfully against the inside of my chest. ¡°The fuck?¡± I whispered, the shock still very visible across my face and in my voice. ¡°That¡¯s really bad.¡± I started to say, ncing down at my slightly parted thighs. ¡°It is. But, we¡¯ve had worst.¡± The doctor replied to what I had said almost immediately and I nced up sharply to re at him. Was that supposed to make me feel better and less worried? ¡°I am serious, you really shouldn¡¯t be too worried, it isn¡¯t all that badpared to some patients we¡¯ve gotten here, and they all ended up surviving the whole thing.¡± I breathed out another deep sigh, feeling really drained all of a sudden. ¡°Am I going to need to pay in another sum of money?¡± I asked him and he nodded his head before opening a file on the desk and swiping through it a little before settling on a particr part. ¡°Here is the newly added sum of money, because she is going to undergo a few more surgeries.¡± The director said as he shifted the file forward until it shifted towards me, before pointing down at a particr price which he had circled with his pen for emphasis. I made the necessary transactions on my phone immediately, the sum of money I¡¯ve been spending on her being the least of problems at the moment, all I wanted and ask of her was for her toe back to me and to get better. The doctor and I shook hands once again as I stood up and made them leave his office, and he offered to see out. ¡°You¡¯re heading towards her ward, right?¡± The doctor asked and I nodded my head once. ¡°We can go together then. She¡¯s still in a room which you¡¯d be unable to go into today, due to the kind of sensitive state she¡¯s currently in, but you can see her just fine from the ss wall on half of the room.¡± The doctor started to say as we made our way towards where Aria was located. My breath catch in my throat and froze as Iid eyes on Aria through the clear as fuck ss walls. An oxygen mask was over her nose and mouth and her eyes were slid close. Her face looked rxed, way too rxedpared to the kind of dangerous situation she was currently in¡ª but it was most definitely because she was still in aa and waspletely knocked out. I didn¡¯t believe I¡¯d ever be doing this ever in my life¡¯s but here I was, about to do it with my forehead leaning against the ss walls. Please be fine, Aria. Come back to me alive, please. I felt embarrassed as hell after what I had just done and threw a quick nce behind my shoulders and around my sides to be sure I wasn¡¯t being watched¨C not like they could suddenly magically read minds to be able to figure out that I had tried to speak to Aria through a mind link that wasn¡¯t even there. Was that even a thing? It seemed like I was getting worse than I thought. ******* ¡°What do you mean she got injected with four to five different types of hard drugs at once?¡± James cut into what I was saying, sounding really outraged before continuing immediately. ¡°How is she still alive after being given that? That¡¯s like an instant death thing, man.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t I know it?¡± I muttered in a t voice before continuing, squeezing my hand on my thigh when the urge to run my fingers through my hair overcame me once again. ¡°So they did all that just to rape her? Are there no longer willing girls in this world?¡± James demanded rhetorically, sounding pissed as fuck. He had only met with Aria once and they''d barely exchanged a few words that day, but I had thought James had been into her at first, before dismissing the thought out of my head. ¡°Nothing hurts me more than the fact that she has to now suffer for something she had no hand in, I mean, all she did was to defend herself.¡± I started to say and James only chuckled darkly, a nk expression on his face as he gripped the steering wheel of his Audi which we were both in, having this conversation. ¡°What do you think their pain limits are? I think I am going to be paying them a visit, and lord knows they¡¯d hurt a lot, and still continue to hurt after she¡¯d have gotten discharged.¡± James said calmly, a little too calmly¨C like he was discussing the weather or what hisst boring date went like¡ª and not sounding like he was nning on torturing the hell and fuck out of two very unfortunate boys. Chapter 58 Chapter 58 Sofia POV When Luca had suddenly broken eye contact with me and disappeared deeper into the house without saying a thing to me¨C not like I was expecting him to, in the first ce, I had thought it was because he was angry with something that he had probably encountered with at work or wherever it was that he went to. I had no idea he was sick at that moment. I should have known, I guess? But when our eyes had connected, I was too busy focusing my whole willpower on not breaking eye contact with him ducking my head in embarrassment, which was probably why I hadn¡¯t noticed how stressed out and tired he looked. When Sarah had suddenlye down from the stairs, straight into the kitchen where I was currently in¨C with Matilda stirring the food she was preparing and quietly humming a Christmas tune beneath her breath, despite the fact that Christmas wasing anything soon¡ª to ask Matilda to increase the heat of the boiling rice and to start the preparation of the chicken soup. She then turned towards me and ced her hands on the counter before informing me, ¡°Your husband is ill upstairs.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± I had asked her after a few seconds, because what she had said made little to no sense to her ears. ¡°Mr Ri is seriously ill upstairs. He¡¯s burning up really badly and can¡¯t even keep his eyes open for a long while. His head is also pounding seriously.¡± Sarah started to say again and I stared at her confusingly for a few seconds before her words started to actually sink into her head. Oh. ¡°I had no idea.¡± I said feebly with a small shrug of left shoulder, my voiceing out slowly. ¡°It¡¯s probably because he¡¯s always overworking himself every time, and almost never eats healthy food. He never gives himself breaks or days off to rest and rx, he also doesn¡¯t give enough thought to his health.¡± Sarah continued to say, sounding like she was scolding Luca through me and I remained quiet, staring nkly at my phone which was on the counter before me. Oh, so he overworks himself? He works? Well¡­ that¡¯s actually unexpected. I never expected him to actually be working or doing anything serious each day he leaves the house in the morning, I just automatically assumed he only leaves the house to have fun and flex with his friends and his multiple girlfriends ¨C because he obviously has more than enough money to hire qualified people that can get whatever work that needed to be done, done for him immediately without stressing himself one bit. All I used to think he did was just drink, have fun and have lots of sex with his numerous girlfriends. So, this was definitely new. And it was kind of making me see him in a whole different light. The picture I used to have of him in my head was starting to slowly change again. At first, it was about me expecting him to be a beast to me on our wedding night who¡¯d tear off my clothes and take what was his forcefully, without caring about how I was fairing, if I wanted it or whatnot... but that particr picture of him in my head started to change when days passed and still, nothing happened. He steered clear of my way, leaves the house before I get to wake up,es back home when I¡¯d have fallen asleep¡­ never, ever holds a conversation with me ¨C except for the time he hade to see me at the hospital, and had ghosted his fingers ever so lightly over the skin of my injured arm ¨C a gesture which made my stomach start to tighten up a little from just thinking about it and imagining that particr moment up again. He had then proceeded to start a little conversation with me, he had also grasped my chin and tugged my face upward to make me stare into his eyes¨C and I had stare, with my eyes trying hard not to flutter while my stomach started to knot itself all over again. It had been a really weird day for me, because of all the unexpected and unusual feelings I had felt jolt through my body that day, there at the hospital. He had also talked to me in that voice of his which was deep and growly, that had sent a tiny shiver sliding down my spine. I tried really hard not to think about how he had called me a ¡®good girl¡¯ there in the hospital. I tried really hard, but I couldn¡¯t deny how those two words, althoughpletely unexpected, had left a confusing feeling behind in my body¨C which I had refused to try to think about after that day, and I still wasn¡¯t going to think about it tonight as well. I nced up from my phone which I had been staring at as I got lost in my thoughts and watched as Sarah prepared a tray, a few feet away from where I was seated on, on the counter. She ced a bottle of water on the tray, a ss cup, a te of steaming rice, a te containing a lot of different kind of drugs, two different types of spoons, and I watched as she walked towards a pot that was boiling over one face of the stove and letting the strong scent of chicken to waft around the kitchen ¨C before scooping some of the content into a brown bowl and walking back towards the tray to ce it on the tray. She stepped back to admire her work before ncing up at me to suggest, ¡°Would you like toe with me? So you can check up on him at once.¡± I started to shake my head even before she was done taking, ¡°Oh, no¡­ no. I can¡¯t.¡± She stared at me confusingly and I noticed Matilda turned around from the rice she was dishing into a huge te, to stare at me curiously the moment she heard my reply to Sarah¡¯s suggestion. ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± Sarah asked and I nodded my head immediately, reaching forward to pick my phone up from the counter to roll it around against my fingers in order to keep my fingers from fidgeting. ¡°Why?¡± She asked and I chewed on my lower lips, the question echoing in my head a little. Why? Well, why should I go see him? It wasn¡¯t like I was a doctor or something. I mean, what would I say if I go in there? ¡®Hey Luca. Heard you¡¯re not feeling all that well, get well soon¡¯? ¡°No reason. I¡¯ll just see him when I go up to bedter tonight.¡± I said to her with a small chuckle, hiding the fact that I was starting to fidget again, for no good reason. Ok, perhaps me not wanting Sarah and Matilda to know the true rtionship level of Luca and I was excuse enough. ¡°Uh, okay.¡± Sarah replied, dropping the subject immediately before lifting up the full tray and exiting the kitchen in the next second, the light sounds her slippers were making as she made her way upstairs, echoed on and on until it got too far away for my ear to still pick up the sounds. Matilda turned around and stared at me like she wanted to say something, but ended up changing her mind when I looked at her pointedly until she turned back around to the soup she was currently stirring. ****** I slowly pushed the bedroom¡¯s door open and peaked my head inside, the first thing I noticed was that All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. the bedsheets were already changed and that Luca was in it already, with one side of the nkets wrapped around his neck. I stepped into the room through the doorway and pushed the door close behind me, making sure it doesn¡¯t make any sound. I made my way deeper into the room and stared down at Luca¡¯s sleeping face. This was the first time I was seeing him asleep throughout the whole week since we got married. Maybe he was actually stressing himself too much. I mean, I fall asleep before him and he gets up cubed before me, and also leaves for work while I maze around and do nothing throughout the day. His face looked extremely peaceful, and smooth. This was the first time I was openly staring at his face for more than a second or two ¡ª because most times, when I stare into his face, I¡¯d be unable to look past his hypnotizing eyes. But now I was looking, and looking, because he was fast asleep. And dare I say that he looked beautiful? His eyshes fanned across his cheeks and I noticed how long and curled up they were. I used to think my brother was the only male that got gifted with long and curly eyshes, but Luca¡¯s right here was proving me wrong because his seemed to be even longer than that of my brother¡¯s. His nose was curved in a way that fitted into the middle of his face perfectly. His lips were small, the lower one fuller than the upper one, and they were a deep shade of pink. I wonder how they¡¯d feel again if he was to graze it against the side of my neck the way he had done on our wedding night. They had felt warm that night, I think? I couldn¡¯t even remember really well because I had been extremely frightened that night. It wasn¡¯t like I wasn¡¯t frightened of him anymore, I was still scared of him because he was human and humans can change at any moment and time, most times, when you least expect them to. I moved forward and paused when he let out a small sigh and my eyes widened when a scowl appeared on his face, like his head was suddenly starting to pound in his sleep and he was unconsciously trying to fight it away. I made my way into the bathroom when he let out another sigh before he ended up opening his eyes and catching me there, standing a few feet away from him while staring down at him like a creep. I closed the bathroom door carefully and cleaned my teeth first, staring at myself in the mirror and watching the way my cheeks were a little bit flushed. I got out of my clothes, pushing the white skirt I had decided to wear this morning, over my hips and taking off the small top I had changed into this evening. I took off my underwear and heaped everything into where I stored all my dirty clothes. Praying Luca doesn¡¯t wake up with the urge to want to make use of the bathroom while I was still currently in it, I made my way into the shower and turned on the hot water, setting the mode until it wasn¡¯t all that scorching before getting under the warm spray and allowing it to soak me up immediately. I dried myself off with a towel and hastily picked out a nightgown to weak to bed. Once I was done, I wore an underwear as well before running my fingers through my hair and staring at myself in the mirror once again. My face looked rxed, a little too rxed for someone that¡¯s in a marriage she doesn¡¯t want to be in. There were no eye bags beneath my eyes, which was most definitely because I haven¡¯t been crying myself to sleep and have been getting enough sleep as well¨C more than enough sleep after I got my arm injured by falling off the bed. I pulled open the bathroom door and stepped back into the bedroom. The first thing I did was to nce at Luca, and he was still in the position he was in before I had left to go take a shower. I walked towards my side of the bed but paused in my tracks and made my way closer to his bed to stare down at him again. There was a light sheen of sweat over his face which wasn¡¯t there before and I wondered if he was still burning up a lot like Sarah had said he was when she hade down the kitchen to inform me about Luca being sick. Perhaps he was starting to sweat the fever out, which was a really good thing. I just didn¡¯t think him wearing something long and still covering himself up with a nket was a good idea since I had no doubt he was going to sweat more and more as the time ticked by. I left his side and walked around the bed until I was getting into my side of the bed. I got underneath the ck nket and pulled it to rest around my waist beforeying my head down on the pillow and turning on my side until I was staring at the mop of curls on Luca¡¯s head since he was currently facing his side of the bed. His hair was very dark, and the curls had always looked very soft to me. Although the looked really rough now, like he had ran ab through it without fixing it back ¡ª it was still looking so good nevertheless and I wanted to touch it, to feel how it would feel between my fingers. But I wasn¡¯t going to do that, that sounded he creepy, and I wasn¡¯t a creepy person. And with that, I drifted off into sleep. ****** The first thing I did after blinking my eyes open and rubbing the remaining sleep away from my eyes with my fingers, was to nce at my side¨C and there was Luca, still fast asleep. Making it the first time I was going to wake up with him still sleeping beside me in bed. So much ¡®first times¡¯ ever since he got sick. A certain voice in my head snickered but I shoved the voice away and rolled out of bed to stretch my hands a little, once I was standing beside my bedside table. A quick nce there reminded me that I had forgotten my phone downstairs, on the couches in the sitting room where I had stayed at, watching televisionte in into the night until I was sure Luca would have already been asleep, before I finally stood up and turned off the television, then making my way upstairs, into our bedroom. I nce down at Luca and noticed this time that he hadpletely kicked off the nket from his body at a certain point in the middle of the night, probably because of how he had started to sweat up, like I knew he would. He was also shirtless from the waist upwards and I swallowed emptily before turning my eyes away from his glistening back which was filled with so many muscles. The scar on his back caught my attention and I wanted to turn back around and stare at it again but thought better against it and instead made my way into the bathroom to empty my filled up dder. I cleaned myself up and grimaced on noticing a few drops of blood stains on my underwear, the telling sign that I was already on my period. It was a good thing that my first day was a really light flow and I barely feel any kind of pain on those days,pared to the second and third day where the real flow was going toe out, and it was going to being with a whole lot of pain. From body pains to mood swings to stomach cramps to a confusing heated feeling in the depths of my stomach that was always tugging at the center of my core¨C a feeling which I still couldn¡¯t understand till date. I took a quick shower, washing my hair thoroughly with shampoos and hair conditioners until the whole bathroom scented heavily with the smell of strawberries. I washed my hair off, squeezing the soap and sods out of it until it wasn¡¯t feeling slippery against my palm anymore. And then I proceeded to take my bath, the warm water hitting my newly washed hair, arms and breasts to slid down my stomach and back, and to slide between my butt cheeks. I soaped my whole body before rinsing off and exiting the shower room with a towel wrapped around my body, and another one wrapped around my hair, a few minutester. I made my way into the bathroom, throwing a nce at the bed to see that although Luca had changed positions, he was still fast asleep, his back moving up and down with the movement of the deep breaths he was dragging into his lungs and body system. I made my way into the walk in closet and picked out a gown to wear. The gown had long sleeves and reached my knees, it was a blue gown and also part of the new clothes mother along with her sisters had gotten for me. I went back into the bathroom, picked out underwears, and also into my toiletries bag which was nestled in a drawer beneath where my underwear were arranged in ¨C to pick out a piece of tampon which I was going to be making use of, for the next couple of days, because of my period. I hate being on my period so damn much. I dressed up and sprayed my little bottle of perfume around me, it was in a small shape, but smelled really heavenly and I know it must have cost a lot. Mother got it for me for my eighteenth birthday, and I¡¯d be lying if I said I didn¡¯t appreciate it. It was rare to receive any kind of kind gesture from her, so each time she does something I do that¨C I always cherish it, despite how I promise myself that I wasn¡¯t going to care if she still cared about me or not. ****** I stared downstairs from my position up in the balcony, with Ryan, a few feet away from me ¨C as Luca, now dressed in a dark suit, entered one of his numerous cars and was driven out of thepound almost immediately by his driver. ¡°Are you sure your arm doesn¡¯t hurt anymore, ma¡¯am? I don¡¯t think the doctor would think it¡¯s fine for you to take off your sling without their permission.¡± Ryan started to say again and I turned away from the banisters of the balcony to stare at him. Sometimes Ryan acted like he was genuinely concerned about me, which honestly warmed my heart. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine. It doesn¡¯t hurt anymore.¡± I said to him again before lifting my right arm and moving it around a little for him to see that I wasn¡¯t bluffing. ¡°And besides I wouldn¡¯t tell the doctors I took it off today when I get there tomorrow.¡± I started to say again with a small grin, staring down at my arm and d that it had healed really faster than I had hoped it would. ¡°What about Mr Ri? Won''t mind?¡± Ryan asked and the smile disappeared off my face immediately. I chewed at the side of my lips absentmindedly. Would Luca mind? Would he be concerned? After all, he had seemed genuinely concerned that day¨C and had even given me his jacket, which I am still yet to return to him. ¡°We won¡¯t let him.¡± I finally said to Ryan who didn¡¯t lookpletelyfortable with my answer. I huffed out a small breath and another tiny smile. ¡°Rx, he doesn¡¯t have to know. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s hurting me or something.¡± Ryan remained quiet after that, but a part of me knew he wasn¡¯t going to tell me to Luca¡­ not like I think Luca was going to do a thing to me because I had taken my sling off, right? I leaned into the cushion on the chair in the balcony and breathed out a slow sigh. Oh well. Chapter 59 Chapter 59 Sofia¡¯s POV I scrolled through my phone, through the list of results that hade up after I had looked up ¡®the things a married woman can do to pass time¡¯ on safari. It had brought forth a bunch of things I had no thought of doing, and most of it contained taking care of babies¨C where would I find a baby to take care off? And that sounds really stressful, I wanted to do something I was going to really, really love doing. It would have been easier for me if I had been allowed to do any of my hobbies back when I was growing up at home, but my father disagreed the moment I had brought the topic up, even before I could finish speaking. And that had been the end of it for me. Until this morning when it urred to me that I could be doing something I like, something I¡¯d have passion and zeal to do¡­ Well, that is it, Luca was going to agree and give me the permission to do it, instead of disagreeing like my father had done instantly, years ago. I wanted to start doing something. It urred to me after I watched Luca drive out of thepound. He has a job to do, lots and lots of work to do. He was really important in his various ces he worked at, and let¡¯s not forget the meetings and appointments and all that. I wanted to feel useful too, even though it¡¯s just for myself for now, because I obviously do not have any friends yet and also don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll have to wait until I get the opportunity to meet and be friends with a girl Ie to like. I shifted from my spot on the couch and rolled onto my stomach before continuing to scroll down a particr answer which google had produced after I had tried looking up another thing which was very simr to the first one. I was super tired of scrolling for hours and finding nothing reasonable on the inte which I could start doing, that I really liked. Most of the things on the list were all about money and I don¡¯t even want people¡¯s money. I wanted to start doing what I loved doing and it isn¡¯t even about me making money off people, I have more than enough money with me, and that wasing from someone who has a ck card that has no limit. I was about to exit safari when it still didn¡¯t end up giving me what I was looking for, when I saw an article on the second to thest row of results and I clicked on it after a few seconds of hesitation. What could it hurt at this point? I started reading the article and sat up from my sprawled out position, a slow feeling of excitement starting to build in the depths of my stomach as I read the article carefully, trying not to skip any of the details in it from my excitement. The article was about young girls who got married off against their will at a young age, and I happen to fall into that particr category, which made me more intrigued in the article. All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. It all started with the person who had written the article exining the pain she suffered in the hands of her husband in the bedroom. I paused when I got to that part and felt my heart stuttered a little, knowing that at this point, I was only lucky to have been married off to Lucapared to someone else in the mafia¨C who might have made my storypletely simr to that of the woman who had written the article. I continued the article, feeling pity for the woman who had written this article down when the bad things she faced in her marriage immediately after she got married only seemed to be lengthening. I was tempted to stop reading the article at a point since I didn¡¯t want to start feeling sad and depressed on behalf of a million other girls that have been married off against their wills, and are currently going through hell in the hands of their husbands,pared to my own story. Now that I think about it, maybe my situation wasn¡¯t as bad as I used to think it was at first. I continued to read the article and was super d I hadn¡¯t stopped reading at one point, because now, the writer was introducing what those young set of girls could do if they¡¯re in that kind of situation she was in at a point. She started off by vividly exining the exact way I used to feel on most days after I got married. About how I¡¯d be feeling useless on most days and how it would seem like my life was slowlying to an end when all we had to do was to wake up, eat, prepare ourselves for your husband in the night. My own story wasn¡¯tpletely simr to the writer¡¯s, but the feeling of me seeing myself as something useless and disposable because I was off no use had never left my mindpletely, after our wedding night when he hadn¡¯t taken my virginity. I mean, if he had done that at least, I¡¯d have known that he probably wants me to hear him a child, which would mean that he¡¯d want me around to take care of his children ¨C which means I was useful for that one thing at least, and pretty indisposable. Compared to me who hadn¡¯t ever satisfied him in bed sexually¨C he probably doesn¡¯t even want a child yet, if not, he¡¯d have done what he had to do to get me pregnant on our wedding night. I was pretty useless to me for now. Why was I even thinking about all these now? It wasn¡¯t like I wanted him toe and put a baby in me¡­ because I honestly didn¡¯t want that. I still felt like a child sometimes, where everything would seem so gloomy and blurry, all I wanted on days like those was to be petted and cuddled and treated like a child. I had started having those carvings a few days ago after I sustained that injury and had been pretty much dotted on by everyone, including Luca¡­ and I hadter admitted to myself that I loved that feeling of someone dotting on me and taking care of me a lot more than I was ready to admit to myself. So, I still felt like a child myself and wouldn¡¯t be able to handle birthing a child and taking care of them¡­ that sounded like a lot of physical and emotional work. I continued off from the part I had paused on the article and continued reading, silently absorbing it all into my head. She started off by exining that as a girl child, we didn¡¯t need to only live in the shadows of our husbands since this was a new age and the world was already lengthening their knowledge of almost everything, except the equality of male and females. She continued and I quote¡¯ ¡®Although you¡¯re married as a girl child, doesn¡¯t mean all your past dreams while growing up have to end of the world, but believe me when I say that it isn¡¯t. We¡¯ve all just have to make the best of what we have on ground at the moment.¡¯ I paused and rested my head against the backrest of the couch, absorbing all that I¡¯ve just read and seeing a huge point in all that the writer had written down¡­ it was all just starting to overwhelm me a little. I sat up once again and proceeded to continue what I was reading, nodding my head along with the next few paragraphs even though I was fully aware that I was reading it and that the writer wouldn¡¯t be able to see me through my phone screen. ¡®Some of your husbands might be a bunch of assholes and honestly there¡¯s nothing you can do about it if they turn out to be like that. I wouldn¡¯t lie to you or deceive you by convincing you that there¡¯s something you can do to change them, because honestly there isn¡¯t. If a man isn¡¯t going to be wicked, he isn¡¯t going to be and whoever amongst you girls gets married off to a nice man is one lucky girl.¡¯ I gawked on my lower lips as thest part of the paragraph I had just read sank into my mind. Luca wasn¡¯t wicked. At least, he wasn¡¯t wicked to me, because I¡¯ve heard way too many rumors about him to be sure of whom to believe at this point now that I was seeing him from a different point of view as each day passed, which were way different from the one I had been expecting to be greeted with. He wasn¡¯t wicked to me yet¨C at least, that means I was still luckier than a lot of girls, right? I decided to continue with the article from where I had paused at and ghosted my eyes over thest long looking paragraph. ¡®As you¡¯ve all seen for yourselves at this point, we¡¯re being caged in the house almost every time, which means there¡¯s only a little thing we could do that they¡¯re going to give us permission to be able to do. We¡¯re going to have to work with what we have at our hands. How does that work? If you¡¯re part of the set of fortunate girls amongst us here, these are the lists of things you can start to do. These lists of works are not for you to take all of them seriously, they¡¯re for you to have another more important reason for waking up in the morning. It¡¯s also so your whole life wouldn¡¯t be centered around your husband, trust me when I say that, that can be depressing as hell.¡¯ I started to chew on the side of my lips once again as I absorbed all what I was reading, seeing a lot of sense in all what whoever this person was had written down in this article. Although I wasn¡¯t even up to a week into the marriage yet, it honestly is starting to feel a little depressing that I don¡¯t have something I need to wake up to. At least,pared to when I was at home, I had books I¡¯d read and wrote tons of reviews on each one of them during the day. I also had school to wake up to. There was also my younger brother, who was my biggest priority whom I wake up to everyday ¨C making sure he was fine and dotting over him as best as I could so he wouldn''t have to feel the loss of a mother¡¯s love too much the way I did while growing up. I knew perfectly well that I couldn¡¯t measure up to the amount of love and care he¡¯d have received assuming they hade directly from our mother, but I did the best I could do seeing as I was only three years older than my younger brother, andpletely sure that he appreciated all that I did for him while growing up, and had always made sure to express his love and gratitude to me in the privacy of our rooms. I continued from where I had stopped at the article, seeing as the article was almost at the very end. ¡®Those fortunate girls can pick between painting, baking or anything that was going to involve a whole lot of effort to perfect. And then you can ask your husband if you can be allowed to do whatever you¡¯ve picked out. If your husband isn¡¯t an asshole, it wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to agree for you to start to do something like that.¡¯ I paused at the end and threw my phone on the couch beside me now that I had seen her ideas¨C a bunch of idea which were starting to give me different kinds of ideas almost immediately. When I had asked my father if I could start a hobby, it was about singing ¨C I had nned to lie to him that singing was suddenly part of my hobbies and that I¡¯d like to grow my talent since the school was organizing a singingpetition back then, and a lot of my friends had registered immediately after speaking to their mothers who had spoken to their fathers on their behalfs. Of course I had tried speaking to my mother at first, but she had dismissed me immediately, telling me I didn¡¯t needed to grow any unnecessary said talent before sending me off to my room to go practice on my retentive memory since our school was nning to attend apetition which they were invited to, and I had choosen as one of the school representatives because I was one of the best in school back then. I had gone upstairs to cry instead because everything had felt so depressing to me, all my parents cared about was me bringing honor to them by always bringing back home the cup. My school ended up attending thepetition and out of the five representatives chosen from my school, three got thest positions, one got a second position and I got the first position. As expected, father has been proud, showering me with praises which onlyes if I ever make him proud by doing extremely well in school, and so I drank the praises up, trying my best to always be the best, just to see a smile on his face and feel his ¡®said love¡¯ for me. Not knowing that he had only been loving me back then on a condition and I had been too desperate for someone to love me back then¡­ young me, what did I know? I had been so dumb that I want to cry for the past me. Want to cry and hurt for her. Want to go back to that schoolpetition and carry back home thest position and see what would happen¡­ if he was going to hit me until stop breathing or something? I feel so small and powerless all of a sudden. Never in my life would I be that desperate of love. I promised myself in my head, blinking my eyes a couple of times and shaking my head a little to get the hair out of my face. I dragged in a deep shaky breath, sniffling in a deep breath on feeling my eyes start to tingle and prickle, the telltale signs of tears. I sat up once again and dragged in another deep, slow breath, determined to not let any tears fall, there was no use crying over spilled milk after all. ¡°Are you alright, ma¡¯am?¡± A voice suddenly called out from the back of the couch I was currently sitting in and jolted in shock, turning around immediately and staring up at Ryan who was standing a few feet away from where I was currently sitting, staring down at me with his signature nk expression. ¡°Oh, me? I am.¡± I replied to him and forced out a smile on my face, my cheeks starting to hurt almost immediately because of the forced smile I had on my face at the moment. ¡°You don¡¯t look fine, ma¡¯am.¡± He started to say again, his position still not moving from the spot he had been standing in, a few seconds ago. I sniffed in a deep breath and shook my head, my smile wavering a little. ¡°I am. I am alright, nothing¡¯s wrong.¡± I replied to him again after puffing out a deep breath, hoping my voice had been a little firmer and sure this time,pared to the first time whereby my voice had wavered a little. ¡°But you¡¯re about to cry¡­ there¡¯s tears swimming in the depths of your eyes.¡± He pointed out, starting to look a little bit worried and I noticed the way he took a step closer to the couch I was sitting in right before I turned back around until I was staring down at my gown covered thighs once again, ignoring hisst statement about tears swimming in my eyes because I know it was true¨C and also choosing to not give him a reply, because I didn¡¯t even know what to say to that. I bet I looked really pathetic to him right now, me sitting on my own and suddenly about to cry like a little cry baby girl. I couldn¡¯t help it, I sniffed once, before sniffing again, at the very next second. Maybe I really am pathetic. Pathetic little Sofia. I sniffed once again and swiped the back of my palm against my eyelids on feeling the tears about the fall at the veryst second, the back of my palms getting stained with fat teardrops immediately. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, ma¡¯am?¡± Ryan''s voice drifted into my ear again from above my head and I figured he had alreadypletely closed the remaining distance separating him from the back of the couch I was sitting in. I ignored his question, wondering why he couldn¡¯t leave me be seeing as it was pretty obvious to anyone with a little bit of sense at this very moment that I was having an emotional breakdown but didn¡¯t want anything to witness me breakpletely. ¡®Go away.¡¯ I wanted to say to him but couldn¡¯t bring myself to push those words past my lips. I dragged in a deep breath and wiped my hands against my eyes, collecting the second drops of tears that were about to slide down my cheeks¨C before picking up my phone from where I had thrown it in, beside where I was sitting, and pushed myself to my feet almost immediately. I refused to meet his face nor nce upwards as I made my way out of the sitting room, but Ryan was standing at the doorway now, and wouldn¡¯t let me go through the doorway. ¡°I know something¡¯s wrong, ma¡¯am. Something¡¯s probably bothering you or something. Would you like me to get Sarah for you?¡± He asked and I shook my head without replying, because I knew my voice was most definitely going to sound like that of a frog¡¯s. ¡°What about Mr Ri? Want me to call him?¡± He asked again and I shook my head immediately, finally ncing up at him to find him still watching me, his usually nk face morphed into that of a concerned expression. ¡°Are you sure, ma¡¯am?¡± He asked slowly as a look of realization suddenly started to pass across his face¨C as he was most definitely currently reminiscing about when I had agreed to go to the hospital immediately, the moment Luca¡¯s name had been ongoing¡ª and also suddenly concluding within himself that I wouldn¡¯t want Luca to know that I¡¯ve been crying. I nodded my head before sniffing and rolling my eyes at him a little when the knowing facial expression still haven¡¯t left his face. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Luca about this.¡± I said to him and waited as he stared down at me quietly for a long seconds before finally cocking his head and mumbling out. ¡°But you actually looked really distressed back there, I am actually really worried, seeing you crying and all.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t crying.¡± I said to him immediately, narrowing my eyes at him, knowing damn well that tears were currently swimming in the set of eyes I was narrowing at him. ¡°Right.¡± He finally agreed, sarcasm dripping off his voice effortlessly, which made me sniff back catarrh and tears as I rolled my eyes a little once again. ¡°Just don¡¯t tell him about this, ok?¡± I pressed on and watched as he pursed his lips and remained silent for long seconds once again before finally nodding his head once. ¡°Thank you.¡± I whispered to him as I started to make my way past his side but paused in my tracks as his low voice drifted into my ear. ¡°Just please be fine.¡± I didn¡¯t bother replying to him as I made my way past the sitting room¡¯s doorway, up the stairs and into the bedroom I shared with Luca. Chapter 60 Chapter 60 Sofia¡¯s POV I closed the bedroom door the moment I got into the room and leaned against it as I dragged breaths into my lungs while blinking repeatedly. Once my breaths were starting toe out at a normal pace once again, I moved away from my spot against the door and walked deeper into the bedroom, heading straight for of the bean bags chairs in the room and the other side of the bedroom and sank into it, pulling my legs up and warping my arms around it. I dragged in another deep breath and puffed it out ever so slowly, my ribs rising and falling along with the slow intake and exhale I was performing in order to calm myself down and stop the tears that had been about to once again fall down since the moment I exited Ryan¡¯s presence. I was going to me these unusual overwhelming emotions that had suddenlye to visit me this afternoon on my period. Yeah, it had got to be it. My hormones are most definitely messed up at the moment, hence the urge to cry. I shifted a little and sank morefortably into the beanbag while questioning myself as to why I was just sitting in this chair for the first time since the day after I arrived here¡­ it felt sofortable and had warmed up to me immediately. My mind started to slowly drift off to the article I had read in the sitting room, on my phone, this afternoon ¨C right before I had started thinking about other things, like some of the things that had happened between my parents and I which had all ended up in making me unnecessarily emotional, and I had been almost about to shed tears, before Ryan had showed up. I moved a little in the beanbag, stretching out my legs and allowing them to dangle over the chair as I dragged in a deep breath and allowed it to flow out of my lungs through my mouth ever so slowly. I absentmindedly cradled my right arm, my fingers lightly tapping away on the spot where hadn¡¯t been hurting at all from the very start, on realizing what it was that I was doing, I stretched my arm out to check once again if I was going to feel any kind of pain ¨C and a small pull of pain did vibrate in the middle of my arm,pared to this morning when it hadn¡¯t hurt one bit, making me say to myself that I wasn¡¯t going to be making use of the drugs given to me by the doctors anymore and would only attend the set appointment for checkups tomorrow and that was it. I guess I was going to make use of the said drugs this evening and before I go to bed tonight, just to be more sure about my arm beingpletely fine. My mind drifted back to the article and I ended up agreeing with myself that I was going to start learning how to paint. The word ¡¯Painting¡¯ had almost never crossed my thoughts throughout my whole life except whenever Angelo mentions it to me, seeing as his big dream was to further his education, studying architecture and he had always been enthusiastic whenever he was discussing it, his eyes having that particr spark in his eyes that I¡¯ve always loved to see in his eyes so much. I haven¡¯t bothered pointing out to him that his choice of career would ever end up changing at a point and that there was only a very slim chance of it being the same one he had chosen when he was really younger. He had asked me what I¡¯d like to study in future at a point when he was just nine years old. I had crackled out a humorlessugh and asked him who told him I was going to be furthering my education? And that where was it ever heard off in the mafia world that a woman had furthered her education past high school. He had stared at me weirdly and had demanded I exin what I had said to him further since he hadn¡¯t understood any of what I had said but I had shook my head and distracted him with something else, and that was the end of the conversation. As he grew up and understood how things in our world worked, he never brought up that topic because he knew where I was going to end up once I came of age¨C right since he clocked eleven. Angelo was such a smart kid and even before he clocked thirteen, he had started helping me with somethings as well. And ever since then, it wasn¡¯t just about me giving and giving but also about me receiving as well. I watched him grow up¨C and had practically been the one to bring him up to be who he was today, or to be who he was until the day I got married off to Luca, because I honestly had no idea about how he was fairing back at home without me. I shifted a little in the soft chair, different cushions pressing into my head and back as I checked the time on my phone. It was currently some minutes past six p.m and I moved around a little before finally lifting myself out of the chair and heading towards my side of the bed. There, I sat down on the bed and picked up my drugs which I had been given by the doctor at the hospital for my arm injury. I know fully well that I shouldn¡¯t be making use of drugs on an empty stomach, but I didn¡¯t feel like getting anything into my stomach and wanted to make use of the drugs so bad because I hadn¡¯t made use of it this morning, and that could be the reason why the inside of the arm was starting to hurt me a little. I made use of the water on the table and swallowed the whole drugs down before returning the tablets unto the bed side table once again. I stood up and made my way into the bathroom where I washed my hands thoroughly until the smell of different kinds of tabletspletely left my fingers. I returned back into the bedroom and sighted a gun and a bottle of water on the side table on the side of Luca¡¯s bed. Someone who makes use of a gun is automatically a bad person, right? I breathed out a sigh and moved away from his side of the bed, towards mine where I flopped into the bed and stretched my arms out a little, the soft material of the ck bedsheets scratching soothingly against the exposed skin of my body where the gown I had on hadn¡¯t been able to reach well. So, I was going to start painting everyday, and I was going to be doing it because I wanted to be better. It was going to have to be my biggest priority in life from the moment I¡¯d get it. I started to wonder where I was going to be drawing in. The bedroom wasn¡¯t a good option because I didn''t know what I¡¯d do if I mistakenly got paint everywhere in the room while trying to get a hang of it. I was going to need somewhere else, maybe a corner or some spot where I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about getting something important stained with paint. But what if I ended up not getting a hang of it? Knowing that I wasn¡¯t going to be getting any physical training or teachings and would have to totality rely on the tutorials I was going to be finding on YouTube. Or I could just leave the painting out of my mind and focus on baking? But have I ever been interested in anything concerning baking anything? I honestly had no idea my inability to prepare a thing in the kitchen was because I wasn¡¯t ask to do so while growing up, or because I had never purposed you do it throughout my life while growing up ¡ª because I¡¯ve somehow known at the back of my mind that I wasn¡¯t into anything concerning the preparation of food or anything that concerns baking either. I guess I¡¯d have been forced to know how to prepare different kinds of foods while growing up whether I wanted to or not, or whether I loved it or not¡ª but I wasn¡¯t brought up to learn how to do any kind of domestic chore like cooking, other than cleaning my room myself and making my bed, and that was all. And now that I think about it, I think I was going to end up picking the option to learn how to paint instead. It sounded really fresh to my ears, anding to unravel it and figure out how everything works and it could end up being a lot more fun than I was expecting. I turned around on my stomach and squeezed my left palm underneath my stomach to press my palm against my stomach when it started to slightly cramp. I didn¡¯t need a soothsayer to point out to me that my stomach was going to hurt a whole lot throughout the night the whole of tomorrow. I moved a little and pressed my hand more firmly against the lower part of my stomach, wondering why my stomach was starting to cramp up seriously by this time¨C when it normally starts seriously at midnight on the first day. I turned around unto my stomach and grabbed one of the pillows, pressing it absentmindedly against my stomach as I chewed on the side of my lips a little, my teeth tugging on the lower part of my lip over and over again. I reached my right hand forward in the bed and grabbed up my phone, waving the phone over my face so the phone could unlock automatically. I checked the time first after the phone got opened and chewed on the inside of my lips as my eyes settled on the time. It was thirty minutes past seven p.m in the evening at the moment. I wonder if Luca was already making his way home now. Come to think of it, he was extremely sickst night and just today, he was already overworking himself and staying out thiste. Or he was going to end uping back home the normal time he does? After I had fallen asleep? Not that it was any of my business, I was only a little worried about his health I guess. He could do whatever he wants with his life if he wanted it. I turned around andid over the pillow, pressing my stomach into it when it started to cramp once again. Perhaps I should go get something into my stomach, perhaps it wasn¡¯t even the cramps hurting my stomach at the moment but the drugs I had taken on an empty stomach. Or it could be the cramps since my hormones had priced to be messed up this afternoon after it had made me start feeling extremely overwhelming emotion all of a sudden. I breathed out a slow sigh and rolled out of bed when my stomach started to cramp really bad and picked up my phone before making my way out of the bedroom, closing the door slowly behind me. I moved down the stairs and climbed down carefully, pausing on the second to thest stair when my stomach had started to hurt really bad and I had unconsciously let out a small cry of pain before going down and sitting on the staircase while clutching at my stomach. ¡°Are you alright, ma¡¯am?¡± A voice had called out from the end of the staircase and I nced up and stared into the eyes of Ryan. I nodded my head at him immediately and slowly pushed myself unto my feet, clutching at the banister of the staircase to give myself more strength which it felt like my legs were currentlycking. ¡°I am, just heading to the kitchen.¡± I replied to him, still clutching the banister and I faintly felt my legs wobble a little. ¡°I heard a cry from here and thought that was you.¡± He started to say and I shook my head immediately, feeling embarrassed color started to flood my cheeks. I started to climb down thest two stairs and winced a little, biting on my lower lips to stop another cry from slipping out, fully aware that Ryan was still watching me and had obviously figured out where the cry he had imed to hear was from. Once I was on thest stair, I paused in my tracks to stare at my fingers which were tightly wrapped around the banister, silently wondering how I was going to sessfully make my way to the kitchen without falling down on my face. And worse, Ryan was going to witness everything. Ryan was always around each time I was about to have an embarrassing moment, every time. It was starting to be a little offing and extremely embarrassing that it had to be him EVERY TIME. Countless embarrassing moments at this point¡­ just why can¡¯t Even be around whenever I am about to have an embarrassing moment? Or better still, let the guards be far away from me when those moments arrives. I unwrapped my fingers from the banister I was tightly holding and started walking towards the kitchen, grateful that my legs were even working even better than I expected when I was still standing on the stairs and it had felt like wobbling from side to side. Perhaps I had spoken way too fast because three steps away from the staircase, another sharper wave of pain suddenly rushed into my stomach, stabbing at the sides and middle of my stomach all at once and I groaned out a cry before my legs gave out beneath me and I starting falling down immediately. But then Ryan caught me before I could end up hitting the floor, his arms holding me up around the upper part of my back before he allowed me to sit on the floor, his hand still holding me up around my shoulders¡ª which I really appreciated because it felt like I¡¯d lie downpletely on the floor without his hand holding me up, because how weak I was feeling at the moment. ¡°What¡¯s happening to you?¡± I heard Ryan asked above me and I bit my lips, not knowing how I was even going to start exining myself. How was I supposed to know that the drugs were going to start reacting in my body system this hard and this strongly? I had after all been making use of those pieces of tablets and they had never felt that strong in my body system. ¡°Mrs Ri?¡± Ryan shook my shoulders a little as he called out to me for my attention and nced up at him, feeling guilty all of a sudden even though I¡¯d never do something like this to myself on purpose. ¡°Thank you for not letting me fall down back there.¡± I started to say to him and watched as he ignored what I had said before starting to question me again, hisusual nk expression shifting a little to reveal a tiny bit of emotion. ¡°What did you do to yourself? Did you overdose?¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked him, blinking a couple of time at him. Why would I even think I could do that to myself? Do I look like someone that could hurt herself to that extent? Did I look like someone that could hurt her brother that way? People who overdosed on purpose were indirectly calling on death¡­ why would I want to do that? Yeah, I know how bad and messed up my life was at the moment, but that still wasn¡¯t enough reason for me to want to indirectly off myself. ¡°Did you overdose yourself this afternoon? After I saw you about to shed tears this afternoon ¨C and you did shed a little tears before you finally left for your bedroom, did you overdose?¡± He demanded again, speaking really fast and this time, not including the usual ¡®ma¡¯am¡¯ which I was grateful for. I felt extremely small as it felt like I was being scolded by him at the moment and his hand holding me up wasn¡¯t helping matters at all. ¡°I didn¡¯t overdose myself, I¡¯d never do that to myself.¡± I started to say in a small voice, feeling embarrassed color flood into my cheeks at the thought of how I¡¯d probably appear pathetic to anyone who¡¯se in and see us in the position¡­ like my way older was scolding the life out of me for something I knowingly did wrong. ¡°What did you take then? You took something, didn¡¯t you? You can¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t.¡± He used me, staring at me like he expected me to not bother lying to him since he was going to somehow figure out the truth. ¡°I didn¡¯t take anything, ok?¡± I started to say again, a voice starting to get louder than the small voice I was using before, before I continued after a few seconds. ¡°I only took my tablets given to me at the hospital, the normal dosage, why would you think I¡¯d take an overdose?¡± I demanded thest part of my sentence, wishing I could push his hand off my shoulders, but refrained form doing that since he was still holding me up. Ryan stared at me quietly without saying a thing for a few seconds before opening his mouth like he was about to say something, but got off by a small cry which unexpectedly slipped out of my mouth as a sharp biting pain stabbed into the depths of my stomach. ¡°Where does it hurt?¡± Ryan asked instead and I squeezed my hands around my stomach even tighter than they were before and shook my head with my eyes squeezed tight. ¡°Everywhere,¡± I choked out, breathing out hard from my nose and sucking in a deep breath from my mouth into my lungs every few seconds. Just what had I done to myself? Who else behaves like this if not a child? ¡°Everywhere?¡± Ryan asked as I nodded my head before sucking in another sharp breath and tightening my grip around my stomach as another stab of pain embedded itself in different parts of my body at Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org. once. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± A very familiar voice which sounded really far away from where I was currently sitting asked and I forced my eyes open to stare up at Luca. Another stab of pain came out of nowhere and stabbed in the middle of my stomach and I let out a small cry before squeezing my eyes shut and tightening my hold around my stomach once again. ¡°I think she overdosed, sir.¡± I heard Ryan said in reply to what Luca had asked and wanted to argue immediately but another stab of pain attacked my stomach at that very moment, making me let out another painful cry. Thest thing I remembered was strong hands wrapping around my waist and underneath my thighs as I felt myself being lifted high up against a firm chest, the familiar scent which I hade to love about the bedroom I shared with Luca making its way into my nose before everything ckened out. Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Sofia¡¯s POV The first thing I came to was low, unclear voices which were blending into each other, making it hard for me to figure out who was who. I blinked my eyes open and winced immediately as bright lights shown into my eyes really intensely that I had to close my eyes back for a few seconds before finally blinking my eyes open slowly once again. What happened? I asked myself as my eyes started trailing over every near you detail it couldy its gaze on. I turned my head around and stared straight down, the familiarity of the room I was currently in registered into my head slowly and I blinked once again in confusion. I was¡­ in the sitting room? I stared down at the white couch I was currently lying on, recognizing the couch immediately as one of the ones in the sitting room. I pushed myself up to a sitting position and let out a sharp noise when that sudden movement made a sharp pain tug at the inside of my head and my stomach at the same time. I didn¡¯t notice the set of heads that turned around sharply the second I let out a pained cry¨C one moment, I was clutching my forehead with my first hand while my other hand was around my stomach, and in the next moment, someone was crouching down before me and grabbing the hand wrapped around my forehead. I squeezed my eyes shut and swallowed down the second cry of pain that was starting to build up in my neck when another biting pain vibrated in the middle of my head. ¡°Hey, hey¡­ look at me.¡± Luca¡¯s voice came out sounding calm and low as it drifted into my ear slowly and I felt the hand holding my right fingers captive tightened their grip a little. I slide my eyes open and stared at Luca¨C who was crouched down on the floor beside the couch I was currently on. Never in my life did I ever imagined that I¡¯d be in this kind of position. Never did I ever imagine that The popr Mafia lord would one day be crouched down beside me, holding my hand in his and staring at me with an unreadable facial expression on his face. Or it could be that he was pissed at me for acting like a child and passing out embarrassingly like a child instead of me acting like a grown wife¡­ I blinked once, feeling his grey eyes staring into mine deeply and I felt an embarrassed color rush into my cheeks after a few seconds, which made me duck my head and suck in an audible sharp breath as another stab of pain flowed into the lower abdomen of my stomach, a small scream dying at the back of my throat. ¡°Sofia?¡± I heard him call out, his deep voice rumbling out of his chest as it crept over my body to slide into my head. I huffed out a deep breath and raised my head up to stare at him, our eyes locking once again ¨C and I briefly noticed that the top buttons of the ck shirt he had on were hanging open to reveal the brown skin of his chest and a bit of the sharp cor bones around his shoulders which were glistening a little like they he was a little beat sweaty at the moment. I dragged my eyes away from his chest area with more color staining my cheeks redder when my eyes suddenly zeroed in on a coffee brown nipple which peaked out of one side of his unbuttoned shirt. ¡°Did you overdose?¡± Luca asked, no emotion crossing his face and I felt my heartbeat start to slow down a little. I didn¡¯t know what to make of the question at first and so I stared confusingly at him while blinking a little for a few seconds before the brief encounter I had with Ryan right before I passed out, glowed brightly in my head. ¡°Overdosed? No I didn¡¯t.¡± I started to say to Luca immediately with a small shake of my head while staring wildly at him. Of course I didn¡¯t overdose. ¡°Are you sure?¡± He asked and I felt his him release his hold on my fingers, leaving my fingers to rest against the couch and for some weird reason, I started to feel cold and chilly all of a sudden¨C making my mind start to drift towards the day at the hospital whereby the moment his touch had left my skin, I had started feeling cold immediately. ¡°I am.¡± I whispered, wondering why it was so hard for him to believe me. I didn¡¯t overdose, now did I? ¡°Did you take something then? That made you start having some side effects which affected your stomach and ended up making you pass out.¡± Luca continued and I started to shake my head at him even before he could finish speaking. I started to slow down the shaking movement of my head after hisplete sentence started to sink into my head. I¡­ I had taken something. ¡°Um,¡± I started to say and noticed the way his eyes narrowed a little bit, his eyes getting a bit sharper as well as he pinned me with a hard gaze¨C harder than the one he makes use of while staring at me on a normal day. Not like any day here after I got married off to him had felt like a normal day to me. I ducked my head down and swallowed emptily, feeling the movement of my parched throat almost hurting like I had suddenly developed a soreness of the throat. I felt cold fingers grip the underside of my chin to tug my face upwards until I was staring back into Luca¡¯s eyes, his gaze a lot sharper this night.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only ¡°You were saying?¡± His deep voice suddenly spoke up, his gaze never leaving my face for a second. I blinked once swallowed emptily, my throat hurting a little once again. I tried to unconsciously duck my head when his unnerving gaze felt like it was almost stripping me naked, right there on the couch in the sitting room. ¡°Um,¡± I whispered out again, allowing my tongue which felt very dry to slide out my mouth to swipe over my lower lips and moisture it a little. My fingers which had been trapped in the insides of Luca¡¯s hot palm moved on the couch, trying to bury itself by inserting the soft, hairy silk of the couch¡¯s material. ¡°Go on.¡± He urged, his grip still sure and strong against my chin and I blinked again, trying to focus my gaze on anywhere on his face but his eyes ¨C but for unknown reasons, my eyes were only ghosting the other features of his face to return back to eyes, like a maic pull I couldn¡¯t fight nor resist. ¡°I had taken the regr drugs for my arm this evening.¡± I started to say in a small voice, feeling very little and powerless at the moment as I sat there with Luca¡¯s fingers having a firm grip on my chin which prevented me from moving my head around as he waited almost impatiently for me to start speaking up. ¡°Did you take the drugs on an empty stomach?¡± A voice echoed out from the other side of the room and I moved my eyes straight forward until my eyesnded on a man who was currently standing, and writing something down in a book. He nced up from whatever it was that he was writing to stare at me, silently prompting me to provide him with an answer already. I dragged my eyes away from the stranger and swallowed emptily once again, feeling a hot wave of shame start to wash over me slowly. ¡°Did you take the drugs on an empty stomach?¡± Luca started to ask and I couldn¡¯t help but blink a few times before nodding my head once at him in reply to his question¨C the same question the stranger had asked me, a few moments ago. ¡°That was what made her pass out and brought around the headache and stomach pains.¡± The man started to say loudly to Luca as he started writing on the books he was writing in before. I felt Luca¡¯s grip exit the underside of my chin right before his eyes finally left my eyes to drift thoroughly over my face and I felt hot color wash into my face¡ª right before he pushed himself to his feet, a small sound sliding out of his lips as he turned around and made his way towards the stranger who was still standing on the other side of the sitting room. ¡°Are you sure?¡± I heard Luca¡¯s voice echo loud and clear in the sitting room, which made me stare up from my thighs which I had been staring at the moment after Luca¡¯s fingers released their hold on the underside of my chin. ¡°Yeah.¡± The man replied to Luca before ncing up from the book he had been writing in to focus his gaze on Luca¡¯s face. ¡°The pills she took were a really strong set of pills, and she was supposed to take them after meals, not the other way round.¡± The man whom I was starting to suspect worked in the medical line said to Luca and I felt realization started to dawn in my head and mind almost immediately. Oh. So¡­ that was why? But I take some drugs on an empty stomach on some days and nothing always ends up happening¡­ I winced a little when a sharp jolt vibrated at the left side of my head, making me life up my left hand and start to caress my fingers against my forehead in order to ease the headache I was currently feeling flow into my head in strong wave after wave. ¡°Is she going to be alright?¡± I watched as Luca asked the man I couldn¡¯t help the slow tug I felt in the middle of my stomach the moment his next few words drifted into my head¨C which was most definitely not a bite or stab of pain, because this sudden feeling in my stomach hadn¡¯t hurt one bit, it had only left a weird heat in my stomach. ¡°Oh, she is. She will be.¡± The man started to say before pointing a hand at me and continuing almost immediately. ¡°She wasn¡¯t even supposed to pass out because of those drugs she took, but she did because of some other things¡ª and everythingbined together just made her body system gave up on her. I stared at the man who was still speaking to Luca, blinking a few times as his words slowly sank into my head. Yes! I just knew that the set of drugs I took wasn¡¯t supposed to make me pass out. It wasn¡¯t something to be proud of, but that wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯d be making use of some tablets on an empty stomach. I used to take a ton of paracetamols while growing up on an empty stomach ¨C a whole lot. Depression sucks. I thought to myself right before my eyes widened the moment I noticed both men¡¯s eyes turn around to focus on me, and in the next second, they were both making their way towards the couch were I was sitting. The man crouched down, almost in the same spot Luca had crouched down in and I felt my body start to stiffen up a little. I watched as Luca stood right in the spot he had crouched down in, minutes ago, his hands deep in his pocket and his eyes staring down at me ¨C making me notice once again, just how big and tall he was at the moment. I had no idea if I was going to be as tall as he was if I stood up on the couch¨C that was how small I was