Thirty-one: Audrina Bianchi The dress that was left out for me to wear didn’t provide much coverage. I’d worn less at photoshoots but it was different when I wasn’t given a warning before hand. And someone I hated was making me wear the thing. It was off the shoulder, backless, and red. I had no idea how I was going to wear it. I also didn’t want to be wearing it while I met my young daughter for the first time. But I knew what would happen if I didn’t wear it. I left my hair down and once I finished, there was a knock on the bedroom door. “Audrina?” I heard Andre call. “Are you ready? Our guests are here.” I took a deep breath. Then I opened the door. Andre’s eyes roamed over my body, and I tried hard to keep my face perfectly neutral even though the lust he had for me was making me want to throw up. I had never once wanted him the way that he wanted me. I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t just let me go. But Andre was all about control. It wasn’t that he loved me. It was
Thirty-two: Luca Capaldi When my father was alive, everyone second guessed me. They would look to Giuseppe, then Niccolo, then me. But only as a last resort. And usually because it was something neither my father or my brother wanted to do. Now though, I was the head of our family organization. I had power and people to do things for me. The Fixer said we had to take on the Barretta’s together. Because if we didn’t get rid of them, they would come after all of us. I had my family with me. Niccolo, who had come back when I explained everything that was going on. My cousin Domitus, who was from the New York branch of the Capaldi family. Along with his brothers, Felix, Anthony, and Benedict. Then there were the cousins from Miami. Marius, Julian, and Noah. And the ones from Los Angeles. Cristian, Gio, and Xavier. Thirteen of us all together and that didn’t include the other men that we had underneath us. Or The Fixer, who was the important part of all of this. “Explain to me w
Thirty-three: Audrina Bianchi I kept on pulling at my hair on the car ride to my daughter’s home. “Where did you say we were again?” “Connecticut,” Vale said. I glanced back at him. “Why Connecticut?” “You really think anyone from the organization was going to think she was here? Audrina Bianchi’s long, lost out of wedlock daughter?” I coughed. “She wasn’t born out of wedlock. Remember, I married Luca in Vegas.” “That was real?” Vale said. I nodded. “Yes.” “I always figured that was just something the two of you cooked up so that Andre would leave you alone.” I shook my head. “No, it was real. And Grandfather Lorenzo still tried to make me marry the bastard even after he knew about everything that was going on with him. He kept on threatening to get the marriage to Luca annulled. Said that Luca had taken advantage of me.” Vale raised an eyebrow. “He didn’t, did he?” “No,” I said, “he didn’t. If anything, once I saw him, I wanted him more. I was the one who sent
Thirty-four:Luca Capaldi When I brought Audrina home on the night of her birthday, Augusta was in the kitchen. She was preparing the weeks meals for us. She never knew if we would be home or not when she was and she liked to have freshly prepared food for when she wasn’t available to cook. Augusta was playing Frank Sinatra on the radio and singing to herself as she made fresh pasta. I told Audrina to wait out in the hall. “Augusta?” I called. Augusta looked up and smiled at me. “Luca, nino, what are you doing home early? I thought that you were supposed to be out with that girl you have a crush on. Dani said something about a birthday party for her?” I blushed fiercely. “Daniela talks too much.” The older woman smiled at me. “She is my daughter. Of course, she does. So, did something bad happen?” I shook my head. “Actually, uh. I brought her home with me.” Augusta wagged a finger at me. “You better not get that girl pregnant. She seems like an ambitious young woman. She
Thirty-five: Audrina Bianchi I had never been happier. I had met my aunt. She knew who I was finally. And she was going to get me out of the Barretta family grasp. I would get to marry Luca. The boy that I loved. And everything would be fine. I let Luca take my hand and lead me to his room. The second I was out of Augusta’s eyesight, Luca started kissing me. “You’re going to be my wife,” he growled, as he bit down on my lower lip. Wife. When Andre had talked about it, being married felt like a death sentence. When Luca talked about it, the idea of being married to him felt like heaven. I giggled nervously. He was pressed up against me, and I could feel his cock in between my legs. “Are you going to fuck me finally, then?” He laughed. “Not until I make an honest woman out of you, Beauty Queen. But Augusta did tell us to go to my room. Of course, there’s all kinds of things that we can get up to in there. I can still give you what you need, huh?” “Good.” I kissed his neck, and
Thirty-six: Luca Capaldi Here’s the thing about being a Capaldi. It comes with a lot of wealth and a lot of privilege and a lot of power. And a lot of secrets. There are things that you have to do to protect the ones that you love even if they don’t like it. On the morning after Audrina’s birthday, there was a knock on my door. It woke me up. I got up carefully and went to the door to answer it. My father stood there. “We’ve got a problem,” he told me. “What happened?” I asked. “There’s a man that owes us money. He refuses to give it to us. I am going to take it. And you are going to help me.” I glanced back at the room where Audrina was sleeping. She was curled up in my bed wearing one of my t-shirts. It was the sexiest that she had ever looked. Then I looked at my father. “Pop, I’ve got a girl here…. not just any girl. Didn’t Augusta tell you what was going on?” Giuseppe nodded. “Augusta told me everything. You think that you are ready to be a man, to be married, then you ar
Thirty-seven: Audrina Bianchi The night of my birthday had been one of the best nights of my life and one of the worst. I had walked away from the people I had called family. And then the boy that I was in love with had told me that he was going to marry me. All we had to do was get Giuseppe to agree then we could go to Vegas and get married. Andre wouldn’t ever be able to touch me ever again. Augusta knew the truth about me, and Daniela would know soon. I would have an aunt. I would have a sister. When I woke up in the morning, I expected that I would find Luca there. That we would fly off to Vegas and get married quickly. Then I could move in with the Capaldi’s and I would never have to worry about the Barretta’s or Andre Antonov ever again. Except when I woke up in Luca’s bed, I went to reach for him and he was gone. Frowning, I got up and I grabbed my cell phone from the night stand. There was no text telling me where Luca had gone. There was, however, one from Andre. I con
Thirty-eight: Luca Capaldi Audrina and me had both killed people. Niccolo wouldn’t tell me what had happened the day after Audrina’s birthday but I knew that someone had died. I also knew that The Fixer was in the hospital. We stayed there for a while, waiting to see if he would wake up. When he didn’t, I asked, “What do you want to do?” She looked up at me from the chair that she was sitting right next to me in. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like we can get married now. There’s no way that Marie would sign off on me getting married.” “I took care of that.” I raised an eyebrow. “Pop, what did you do?” “I had an…. encounter with the Ramono’s. I told Alessandro about my plan. That was why we took care of that thief, Luca. Because I did a favor for Ramono and he agreed to do a favor for me. He signed the marriage certificate.” Audrina’s eyes widened. “But he’s not on the birth certificate.” “Oh that?” Giuseppe said. “I fixed that too. It was part of the agreement.” “Yo