◇ MYKAELA ◇"Everyone, please refrain from leaving your seats for the next 15 minutes. Cabin crew, light turbulence ahead." The pilot's muted announcement jolted me out of my nap. I glanced down at my watch. About five hours left. We'd be in Rome around midnight. As the pilot announced our current altitude and explained our new ETA, I sat up straight, rubbing the remnants of sleep out of my eyes. They stung a bit. I squinted at the lights. Dimmed with a yellowish tint. Like the last time Enzo and I used this private jet, the interior looked spacious and clean. Minimalist. It smelled of men's perfume, but not his scent. Mostly beige seats. And the same dark brown carpet. The cabin was still too cold for my liking. Hence my jacket, sweater, and thick socks. Before we got to the airport, I thought we'd be sitting in the front seats. Closer to the cockpit. But Enzo needed a nap. We chose the couch behind the partition. My thighs sandwiched the back of his neck pillow while his head re
◆ MAXIMILIANO ◆ "We'll take another good look at the figures and the revised Strat Plan after our meeting with the executives. Same time next week. Ciao." Finally. I sighed at my cousin's peremptory announcement as the others got up from their chairs. Practically racing to get out of here. I stayed in my seat in the farthest row, opposite my cousin Amara who frequently headed our weekly meetings in this conference room. Her new assistant turned off the projector and gathered Amara's belongings with one arm, then exited through the glass doors, leaving me alone with my older cousin who probably couldn't wait to fire me. She always thought she knew which employees were essential and which ones weren't. And with Mamma pushing her to be our next VP for Operations, Amara's ego would only balloon even more in the coming months. "Maxim, you busy tonight?" My "new boss" stood by the huge whiteboard, looking a few years younger with a wavy bob that framed her angular face. Amara feigned a s
• Ostia, Rome • ◇ MYKAELA ◇ Maybe this was what Miles meant when he told me, "Savagery is the default state of humanity." From outside, the house didn't look old or dilapidated. Not at all. Just a bit lonely. Sad. Too quiet. The paint on the five-foot concrete fence looked weathered. But only some portions. Like Enzo mentioned during the 20-minute drive, he no longer had the time or money to renovate this property. It wasn't huge, but it didn't look much smaller than his brand new house and lot in New York. "Where's Rafa?" I asked while Enzo stood next to me. "My calls go straight to his bloody voicemail," he sighed after shaking his head slightly. His eyes and hands stayed glued to his phone. Carrying their handguns, Lele told us to stay on this patio, leaving us alone with the new guards. Next to the weed-grown front yard. With Marco, Lele snuck into the house through the damaged and unlocked backdoor. A big padlock secured the iron gates when we arrived, but the rest of the
◆ MAXIMILIANO ◆ "I know some French recipes. I mean, a dozen at least." "Yeah?" "They're not too complicated." Adreana spoke with a restrained smile as I led her outside, walking her through the wide hallway. The random topic switch from that fake marriage agreement to her culinary skills lightened the tension between us, eventually forcing us out of the conference room. We lapsed into silence and stepped into the empty elevator. She leaned against the silver rail, carrying a leather handbag while I held my work tablet. I pressed the topmost button on the panel beside me. We reached the 29th floor after the awkward small talk about French dishes I didn't like, and the local ones I could make from scratch. "Of course," she murmured, grinning again. "You're more Italian than American." "Most of the time. But, pretty sure you're a better cook." I led her straight into my office. The only four corners I could call my own in this building. My office wasn't big and extravagant, but pri
• Rome, Italy • ◇ MYKAELA ◇ "Dominico? Your cousin?" I whispered to Enzo while the maids helped Raffaele elevate his wounded arm. I just finished taking care of his injury after extracting the bullet. The whole process took half an hour or so, including the wound cleaning and dressing. We had to cover up the gunshot wound to fend off a bad infection. The bleeding should stop in a few minutes. The bright red bloodstains on his arm, leg, and on his clothes would make any normal person worry and panic. I'd already explained why taking him to a proper hospital for some tests would be best. Safety-wise. However, Rafa insisted that he didn't want to leave. Couldn't, he said. So I made up a treatment plan for him. Considering his near-perfect health before today and pretty impressive pain tolerance, being stuck inside this house for the next 24 hours shouldn't be a big problem for him. "Yeah," Enzo replied, glancing at me with furrowed brows. "But, why does he think Dominico knows?" I
◆ MAXIMILIANO ◆ "Was that something new? You hangin' out and havin' fun with them?" I looked up from my phone and paused my strides, the muted question snapping me out of my grim thoughts. I just texted Niccolo to get out of Russia this week. He should, before Ilya's sons found out that Nicco worked for my father before Pappa went missing. Although it was mostly blackmail, their arrangement, I bet Ilya's mob-boss-wannabe sons wouldn't take Niccolo's reasons at face value. "I looked like I was having fun?" To my right, Adreana fiddled with her gold necklace, staring at me with a frown that showed genuine interest and some bemusement. "You weren't?" "The wine tasted like piss." She laughed and took a step forward so we'd be facing each other. "I mean, at first, you clearly looked like you'd rather be somewhere else." "It's just not something I'm used to," I mumbled. When she kept staring at my face, I redirected my attention to my phone screen. "Having fun with your family wasn'
◇ MYKAELA ◇ Time to check up on my patient again. The two tests Raffaele paid for at the diagnostic clinic didn't really prove that he was already out of the woods. Because of his recent encounters with the Italian police, he still wouldn't go to a proper hospital. So for the next twelve hours, I had to monitor his gunshot wound and vital signs every now and then. Especially his temperature. "Rafa, you up?" I knocked on the black door, pressing my ear close to the edge. "Yep!" "Can I come in?" "Yeah! All good." "Okay." I stepped inside Raffaele's bedroom and smiled at his relaxed posture on the bed, then closed the door behind me. Unlike the rest of this mansion, this room showed a much darker palette. Mostly shades of midnight blue and slate gray. The décor and furniture looked more modern as well. A few 3D abstract pieces hung on the wall behind his huge flat screen TV, while a geometric woodwork separated his bed from what looked like his paperback collection and his C-shape
◆ MAXIMILIANO ◆•1 new messageMykaela"We're here. You guys on the beach?"Today 4:12PM•I stared at the message on my phone screen and rubbed my nape. I massaged the crick in my neck until the tension lessened. I was running on barely five hours of sleep. My eyes and legs were tired, but an odd nervousness wouldn't let me take a nap.What Adreana shared about what she endured while she was living with that lying, cheating, money-laundering prick in Rome still gnawed at me. I just didn't expect she'd gone through all of that abuse and got out of that city with her sanity still intact. Just one more thing that reminded me of Kel...Shit. Why her? Of all people.It was almost driving me nuts. They were just too similar in more ways than I wanted to admit—beyond their looks, demeanor, and the way they dressed. They were practically the same person. Except Kel wanted a different career, and she still had her family and a few close friends to run to whenever she needed them.Adreana