FifteenAudrina Bianchi “Where are you going?” Marie Bianchi asked. It was Friday, and I had managed to arrange a club outing for Daniela. Luca and Niccolo would be there, and so would Louis. I was wearing a silver, Valentino dress, with a matching pair of strappy, silver high heels. “I’m going out.” Marie Bianchi was a tall, dark haired woman woman in her forties whose plastic surgery had been paid for by the work I did as a model. “Do you actually care?” I asked. If she were the kind of parent that gave a crap, she would have. Especially since I had been arrested for having drugs in my purse and that was the whole reason we were in Boston in the first place. She was sitting on the couch in the living room of our loft, flipping through a magazine, not even looking up from it to talk to me. “No. But I received a call from Andre this afternoon. He’s very upset that he hasn’t seen you recently. And you know, he is footing the bill for this place.” At this, she looked up from

Seventeen Audrina Bianchi Maybe I shouldn’t have given in this easily. After all, sex in relationships was a power move, wasn’t it? I hadn’t expected Andre to come back. I hadn’t expected Luca to offer to buyout my family so that I could run my business. Without my family involved, then I would be able to run an honest business. One that didn’t involve smuggling drugs in with my merchandise. And we knew the location of where my daughter was. On my darkest nights, I had thought that she was in another country because I had searched everywhere for her. I didn’t have her yet. But I had no doubt with Luca by my side that I would get her back. Luca was the one person in my life that I had been able to count on. Even when I had betrayed him. He was still constantly trying to save me. The only reason that he had given up on me was because I had pushed him away for his safety. And I’d killed Giuseppe for his safety too. If Niccolo had stayed in power, Giuseppe would have used Luca as a p

NineteenAudrina Bianchi When I got home from going to the club with Luca, Andre was there in my apartment with Marie. The two of them were sitting by the couch, talking and laughing like they were old friends. “Oh, you’re home,” Marie said when I came into the door, “Andre stopped by to visit. He was awfully upset when you weren’t here.” Andre looked up, his blue eyes roaming my body. My stomach twisted in knots. It wasn’t like when Luca looked at me. When I wanted him to. No, this felt like Andre trying to take something---someone----that wasn’t his to take. Because I didn’t give a fuck about Andre. I hated him. And if it weren’t for his connections, and Marie’s coke habit, I wouldn’t have anything to do with him. “You look nice, all dolled up,” Andre said, “I was planning to take you out on the town. But it seems you’ve already done that yourself. Maybe, instead, we could stay in and have some fun together, eh?” Marie smiled. “Andre got me and my friends reservations for th

Twenty-one Audrina Bianchi The first few years of my life weren’t that bad. I had a happy family, even. Mama---that’s what I called Marie before I found out the truth----took care of me during the day. I remembered coloring at the kitchen table while she baked in the kitchen, humming to herself along to the old radio we had. At night, Dad would come home, always with dinner and a smile for the two of us. Dad would kiss Mama and spin her around, until she’d hit his chest making her burst into laughter. It was a happy time. Things changed on my thirteenth birthday. Grandfather Lorenzo always made the biggest deal out of birthdays and holidays. Everyone would gather around for a celebration. I had a frilly pink dress Mama had gotten for me. There was a giant, pink Unicorn cake. I’d already been modeling for a few years at that point and there were a few other girls that I’d made friends with who were models also that came. Grandfather themed the back patio of his upstate, New York ma

Twenty-three Audrina Bianchi I hadn’t planned on going back to Andre after the fight. Except that I’d been pacing in the back yard of Luca’s mansion, worrying what he was going to do with me now, when something hard pressed into the back of my skull. A strong hand gripped my shoulder so roughly that I was certain that I was going to have bruises on there. “If you don’t come with me, your daughter is going to die.” It was his voice. The voice that had had so much control over my life. Andre. Slowly, I turned around to face him. “How did you find me?” He laughed. “I’ve been here before, remember? When I tried to get you back after that little shit stole you from me. Your Grandfather wanted us married. We were supposed to unite our families. And you screwed everything up.” I spat in his face. “Your brother tried to kill me!” Andre’s eyes darkened, and he wiped the spit from his cheek. “Funny thing about that, Audrina. You know that they found my brothers body recently?” The hair