After my shower, I wrapped myself in a towel. Walking over to my reflection, I used my hand to push away some of the water droplets from the mirror. I tried to smile. It shouldn’t hurt to smile, but it did.“Nana, you know what makes me happy?” Aria asked with a smile playing on her lips. She was lying down on her bed while I was across the room on mine. I turned over to look at her and saw that she was already gawking at me.“What?” I asked. Her gaze strayed over to look out the window, where the moon was brightening up the room, even with the dark sky trying so hard to keep the light away.“Knowing that I have power…even if it’s just the power I have over myself. That’s powerful,” she said, bewildered.I thought about her words, allowing a smile to come to my face. She’s right, controlling our bodies, emotions, and actions is very powerful.“You know what makes me happy?” I questioned. Her eyebrows rose as if she were asking me ‘what?’ without saying the actual words. “When you shut

VALENTINOWhat the hell was wrong with me?Anastasia was all I could think about. From the day I saw her glowing blonde hair on the pole and her plump fuckable lips, I couldn’t get rid of the thought of her. She had a way of burning herself into my mind and being too damn stubborn to get out. Even when one of my men handed me a note, written by Dmitri, explaining how he was coming for his daughter, she still heavily occupied my mind. I should have worried more about how close Alex had been getting with the girl, but I couldn’t. The whole plan was going to shit, but all I could think about was one blonde girl in particular.As soon as Valerio notified me of Anastasia at the club on her day off, I knew things weren’t good. I didn’t completely know her, but I knew her well enough to understand she was not the kind of person to party.There was a sadness that lurked in her eyes, and I knew it all too well. Never in my life would I openly invite a girl to live in my home? It was rare that

A sob ripped out of my throat, followed by another until I found myself just breaking down. I couldn’t stand feeling this unfathomable pain, but it was the only way my heart seemed to know how to survive. My heart hurt, and there was no escaping that. No alcohol, no boy, no person could ever heal me in the way Aria could.“I should be ashamed of myself,” I whispered pathetically.Careful not to ruin my makeup, I used the pad of my fingertips to wipe away the mascara running down my cheeks. I had to take many calming breaths to rid myself of the need to cry again.Suddenly, my phone began to ring out of nowhere, leaving me to jump in fright. I quickly unzipped my boot and pulled my cell phone out. Just before pressing accept, I made sure that I had sobered up all my tears before putting my phone against my ear.“Nana,” my mum cried into the phone.Running a hand through my hair, I already knew what was going to happen. She was preparing to

ANASTASIA “Good morning!” I chirped. “I made you some breakfast.” I was carrying a tray full of food that I had prepared for my mother. It was finally the day everything would change in a positive way for once. My mother had finally accepted that she needed help. That was the first step to recovery, and today would be the next since she would officially be going to rehab. Her eyes were still shut, and the blanket was slightly pulled down, resting at her waist. Sitting the tray of food down on the nightstand, I began to shake her until her body began to shake wildly of its own accord. “Mum!” I shouted frightenedly. She just wouldn’t stop and I quickly realized that she was having a seizure. After moving her onto her side, I grabbed my phone and frantically dialed 911. My hands were shaking as I spoke to the operator. The lady was speaking but it sounded like gibberish as I was trying my best not to panic because I knew she needed me to be strong. As we waited for an ambulance

“Why would you bring her out here? Do you know what you’ve just done?” Valentino spat, his teeth clenching with anger.“I don’t understand,” I whispered, my brows furrowing.“This is Alex’s girl. She is not allowed out of that house unless he’s with her,” he explained.My eyes widened. Alex was the boss, the don. He made ruthless decisions every day, and the last thing I needed was to be on his bad side. I couldn’t comprehend why she couldn’t leave the house without Mr. Rossi, but I knew better than to question them. Their business was none of mine.“I didn’t know,” I gasped.“I’ll take care of my brother, but you—you owe me.” He smirked before letting me go and dragging Isabella back into the house. He was nowhere near gentle as he manhandled her. I felt bad for the poor girl. For some reason, I felt like there was more to the story.      The drive to Jacob’s house was short, seeing as he owned a huge place not very f