Lina stared at the box with the pictures of Matteo stacked in it, ready to be closed and forgotten, for, like the therapist had said, it would be hard but also do her good.
She had rounded the house, picking things that reminded her of Matteo, but she knew all of it wasn't going to do, for when she looked at Luca, she saw him; she saw her Matteo, staring back at her face.
and that had her restraint crumbling into dust.
Their relationship has strained a lot since Matteo died; he tried, and she knew he tried, everything to get to her and bring her back from the shadows she was slipping into, accepting it was all his fault even though she knew it wasn't.
They hadn't spoken for almost a week now since the last fight. When she told him he was both a bad father to Matteo and a bad husband to her, she'd seen the hurt in his eyes as he left her alone in the room, and so badly she wanted to reach out, but then didn't he deserve it?
He made Matteo go through a lot, denying him what he wanted the most: to be close to his own father. His own father, who was supposed to support him, didn't, instead picking up every opportunity to drag him through the mud.
And she? Lina gulped as the tears began to fall again. She'd just watched and prayed that things were going to get better.
She stood up from the bed, bending to pick up a picture frame of baby Matteo and hugging it to herself, the sobs coming down now in torrents.
When was it ever going to stop—the sleepless nights, the sudden tears, and then finally forgiving Luca?
The future looked blank.
The door suddenly slammed open, and she raised an eye to see Maya dragging in a stumbling Grace, who didn't look so sure about what they were about to do.
There were tear streaks on Grace's face, which contrasted deeply with Maya's excited ones. And why was Maya in a robe? Couldn't the news wait before she got dressed?
Maya frowned when she saw her on the floor and asked, "What the hell are you doing there?" Her support system suddenly placed a hand against her hip.
Lina wondered if Maya had suddenly gone mad in the space of one night.
"Get up, Lina," Maya ordered, walking to her. Now behind her, she began to drag her up. "I said get your ass up, Lina."
Lina's forehead creased. "You go crazy, Maya?"
Maya pinched her on the side of her hips, and she "oowed," adding, "What's going on here, Maya?" She turned to look at Grace, who was shifting on her feet and chewing on her bottom lip. "Grace, did anything happen?"
Anything worth disturbing the moment she shared with her son?
"Grace has something to tell you," Maya announced, holding her shoulders. Lina could feel her bubbling with anxiety. "Come on, Grace, say something," Maya urged.
The young girl began to sob, "Aunt Lina, uhm, I shouldn't...."
"Speak Grace, you're not too old to receive a spanking." Maya's voice wasn't stern enough, but the girl still shuddered, "Now tell her."
Grace swallowed, "Aunt Lina, I'm pregnant." She raised her lids to look at the two women, "for Matteo."
Lina froze and staggered back; Maya held her so she didn't go crashing, and for a while she heard nothing else except Maya's distant voice, "Lina, Lina, say something; Lina, are you ok?"
Maya was in front of her in seconds, placing a worried palm on her cheek and tapping gently. "Lina!"
Finally Lina gasped, her fingers beginning to tremble so much that she clenched them at her side.
"Grace" she whispered, "Grace are you rea..."
Grace nodded, her voice shaky, "I got the test results, aunt Lina," she wiped the tears, "Aunt Maya, my mom will kill me if she finds out about this.."
"Oh God!" Lina gasped again, her eyes falling on Grace's stomach, not hearing Grace, who was still rumbling.
"I swear to God, Aunt Lina, I know you're going through a lot, but I swear I didn't mean to get you another chore; it's ok if you can't...
"Shut up, Grace." Lina's voice came up strong for the first time.
Grace's lips pressed against each other.
Lina's legs felt heavy as she walked up to Grace, finally in front of the younger woman, and she searched her face, hope plastered in the tired eyes. "Are you sure, Grace?"
"Hell, she's sure, Lina," Maya suddenly yelled, hurrying to them, "I saw it—every damn thing."
Lina raised her shaky hands to the girl's face, and then, in a swift second, she wrapped the girl in a strong, shaky hug, tears of joy pouring from her face. "Oh Grace, how can I thank you enough?"
Grace had other concerns of her own: "Aunt Lina, my mom will kill me."
"Shhh, darling, Maya take care of Abby."
Maya groaned playfully, "Why me now?"
Lina hugged the girl to herself, laughing and crying at the same time, as she caressed the girl's hair.
Matteo wasn't gone forever after all.
The future didn't look blank after all.
When he squinted his eyes open and saw the place had white walls and illuminations, Zayne knew he wasn't dead yet, for heaven was in no way a resting place for him with all of his atrocities.Although, it didn't hold its allure anymore since Matteo wasn't there anyway.He sighed with disappointment, murmuring obscenities with every breath he took—one couldn't even stay unconscious longer.He began to sit up, and why wasn't he feeling any pai—Fuck!, he gasped, falling back on the bed as the pain stabbed into his back like thousands of daggers."Oh, I'm so glad you're the one on that bed right now," he heard her voice, and he grimaced, turning to his side to take in her figure, standing in front of a table, drawing liquid substances into injections."Hello, Coz," Clara mocked, throwing him a glance before returning her gaze to the tray. "You look like death himself."Zayne groaned, pushing himself lower so he could rest his side on the bed. Hearing her chuckle, he glared daggers at her
Gia's POVThe water ran down my body, damping my hair and soothing my bruised and sore skin. I breathed in and out, raking my sleek hair back, shutting down every thought in my head, especially those that had to do with him.But they couldn't stop coming.The memories of his blood staining my clothes as he held me, knees to the floor, his fingers gripping the cloth on my back as he sucked in the pain of the bullet landing on his back,I tightened my lids. But it kept replaying in my mind.My heartbeat was wild, thudding hard against my chest as his grew faint, and when I raised my head to look into his face, I noticed his eyes were shutting down."Boss, you ask me to do it; remember, you said I could do it," Guiseppi had chanted over and over again.Matteo had immediately snatched the gun from Guiseppi and helped Zayne out of the room, constantly calling, "Don, don't close your eyes, just a few more steps to go."Everything felt unreal like I was watching it from afar, my spirit starin
Gia heard the knock on her door, and soon she was scrambling on her feet, climbing down from the bed, wrapping the robe firmly around her body, and waiting.The knock came again, and she was moving closer to the door, and before she could reach the center of the room, the door slammed open, and in came a beaming Amara, who was wearing blue jeans and a black top and had a bag crossing her shoulders."Hello girl," her voice was funnily sassy, and soon she was wrapping Gia in a hug, to which Gia wrapped her hands around her back, crooning of how much she missed her and was also happy to see her.She and Amara had started on a rough note, with her tagging Amara as rude and blunt, but after spending time together in Don's pub, the two girls had formed a bond that strengthened with each passing day.Apart from Amara helping her with her shifts after the last sent her to the hospital, Amara had also been there for her during her lowest moments, and both of them had allied hating the Don.Ama
The car screeched to a stop in front of the club, and immediately he heard his soldiers jumping down from the truck and cars just behind him and Maximo's ride. He was out in seconds, the goons taking their place in front of him as he walked in, pulling the gun out of his side.He looked up, seeing the bouncers at the entrance of the pub, on alert, hands on the trigger, waiting for a provocation.He heard the gunshots and sighed upon hearing the bouncers drop; he didn't spare the dead bodies a glance as he walked over them, now in the pub, where some of his men waited by the door.The club was filled to the brim, as expected, and the stage had strippers sliding up and down the poles with music blaring from speakers. the rowdy mess of people bumping against each other, oblivious of what was about to happen.But he didn't need them, Zayne sniffled; he didn't come for them.He shot the gun in the air twice in succession, and soon the screams of people went up just at the same time as the
"You can leave now," the bold voice came up, standing next to the wide-opened door, glaring at her back in the face with no emotions in those eyes, "the door had always been opened."She grimaced looking at him then at the door. Why did it feel like he was playing with her yet his face was so straight and not betraying anything?"Are you.." She hated how her voice sounded in her ears; what was she doing being scared of him? "Are you sure?"He nodded, But her distrust for him screamed the loudest. There was nothing hard about finding If he was really playing with her, except that she was tired of being let down, she didn't want to feel that way any longer.She took a step forward, grimacing as the pain shot from her feet to her brain, prickly like needles. How did she ever think stepping on broken glass was a good idea?ending up only hurting herself.She took more steps, almost close to him now; he looked down at her leg, his jaw clenching, but then he faced forward, looking at the
He drove through the gates of the manor, his eyes straight at the windscreen; either he didn't feel her glare throughout the ride or he decided to ignore her.The second seemed valid.She tried hard to swallow the anger that he had sent people after her, to scare the life out of her, then wiped her tears and gave her that sarcastic smile she hated."Guess who didn't make it so far?" like she was a game he played, watching her limit, how far she could stay strong and coming for her when she was at her breaking point.She hated that she had cried, that she had folded into herself; she'd have known this was all him. He had his name written all over it.What did he want from her now?He parked the car and climbed out of it, going over to her side of the car. Finding out she had pushed it open and was stepping out, he grimaced.She wondered why until she tried to stand and her knee gave way immediately, causing her to fall back to sitting in the car. Self-loathing was so inevitable.Espec
"His mistress!" Amara was alarmed when Gia finished explaining what had gone on between her and Zayne two days ago. Two days passed, and she was still having double thoughts about his offer. "You're kidding me right now," Amara muttered this time, sitting on the bed and watching her friend pace the room.Gia stopped, wrapping the robe around her body. "You think I'll joke about something like that, Amara?" She sighed. "He wants me to be his mistress." Her cheeks turned red when she turned her eyes to the wall, and she added, "Satisfy his sexual needs.""ok..." Amara breathed in: "He wanted to kill you about a month ago. Now he wants you as a mistress." She looked at Gia again. "I have only one word for this.""What?""ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh""Amara, stop this," she sat down next to her on the bed, She was back in her room; she'd been taken there in the morning by Maximo, who, considering her wounded feet, had come along with a wheelchair, which she frowned at at first.They hadn't t
GIA'S POV I hated how he stared at me, fingers interlocked, challenging, wanting to see if I'd chicken out. "Do all the work," he said. I'll give it to him; he was calculative. I was bent on giving him the worst time of his life, but now he's making me do it all myself. "Come on, Gia," he urged gently, eyes dancing, "for someone who always has a comeback, you seem scared."I was scared; there was no lying about it. I swallowed; there was no way out of this one. I wished I had a chance to get to Amara first; she looked like she could teach me a thing or two, but here I was, as clueless as a dead fish.Finally, he shook his head and turned his nose back to his work, scribbling on the paper.This was the most awkward and embarrassing situation I had ever been in. I could feel goosebumps beginning to pop up on my body.Seduce him. He wanted to be seduced.Ok, here we go.I took a deep breath, and hearing me breathe out my readiness, he immediately raised his head to stare at me again,