𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 | 𝟏𝟖+

𝐗𝐕 | 𝐍𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆

We are born in blood and die in blood.

"Oh, there's that face again, what's up Gigi, come here," Dante said, motioning with his hand to come over. I sighed dropping my gardening tools before walking over. Slipping off my shoes, I sat down on the pavement, letting my feet soak in the pool. Dante gave me a sip of his margarita before speaking again. "Ok, spill it, what has you worried?"

"Where do I even start? God, this place is so peaceful but we're never going to get away from the reality of our lives. Sofia talks about her dad every day and I'm trying to find him but everything leads to a dead-end except for one person who I have my suspicions on. Which is Lorenzo," I sighed. Dante took a long sip of his drink before setting it down.

"Working with Lorenzo gave me a little information which I told you about. Also, Rowan didn't trust him and a bunch of other mafias in the Italian don't like the Marcelio's either but no one knows why, the only people that know are the Russo family." Dante paused, looking over at Sofia. "Sofia will get her dad back, but we need to work harder to make that really happen. I called Axel to let him know about the situation and he's going to start looking into it. He has more ties to gangs and mafias than the both of us."

That was a relief. Axel succeeds in almost everything he does, at least, that's how I see it. We had a better chance with him on my side and he knows how much I care about Rowan. Hell, he was there when I met him and blurted out that I'd marry him one day. Which I'm still going to do when I get my fiancé back.

It took me a while to realize and process everything but now I understand what Rowan was trying to do and tell me. He was never my enemy yet I sought that because of the safety of my child. And I had every right but now he's missing and my daughter needs him the most-I need him, too. I wasn't going to stop until he was back in my arms.

"That's perfect, so will he call me if he gets anything?"

"Yup, you should get feedback tonight, I'm going to take Sofia to the park once you leave, and then we're going to have a horror movie marathon tonight," Dante smirked, looking back at Sofia. "You hear that Sof, horror movie marathon, woo!"

"That's right, it's going to get spooky!" Sofia yelled back.

We both broke out into a fit of laughter. "God, I don't want this to end but I have to get back out there at some point," I groaned.

"Don't worry, when this is all over, we're going to come back here with Sofia and Rowan and be one big happy family, and hey, maybe Rowan will knock you up again with a son so I can have a little wingman. Do you know how many women I pick up just by taking Sofia to the park? Just wait until they see a baby between these thick muscles, ooo, they won't be able to resist!"

I burst out laughing, clutching my stomach. "Jesus, why don't you make your own baby with one of those women?"

"Because I enjoy being single and having casual sex with no strings, I am rich and happy, drama-free-relationship-wise. This is the life I want and I'd rather you make all of the babies." I rolled my eyes nudging him a bit.

"Rowan always talked about having a son, even hoped he'd gotten me pregnant when we had our little... reunion. Maybe we'll have a son one day, I wonder what he'd look like or be like." I trail off getting lost in my thoughts. "Um... I know dreams aren't real but I did have one."

Dante raised a brow for me to continue as he crossed his arms on the pavement.

"I was in a dark room, and I was pregnant, it kept flashing to hands cutting me open and the agony I was in. I think I even heard Sofia crying. The dream ended with the cries of multiple people including a baby." My eyes glistened as I met Dante's sad eyes.

"Look, fuck those crazy-ass dreams because that won't happen. We're getting out of this with a happy ending and from what it looks like, you aren't getting pregnant any time soon. It was your self-conscious worrying about the possibilities of what will happen because you are always so stressed and worried about everything. We both will get out of this alive, I promise."

His hand grasped mine tightly, I leaned down placing my forehead against his with a sad smile. Sofia broke the silence after a couple of seconds, running over to us. "Look at all of these, Uncle D, let's make a strawberry pie tonight and then surprise mommy with it tomorrow," Sofia whispered.

"Oh ok, just make sure she doesn't know because then it won't be a surprise," Dante whispered back. Sofia nodded with a salute before walking away, I don't know if they were being sarcastic or not but burst out laughing in the end.

"Come on, you hellions, I have work in a little bit."

***

My shift ended five minutes ago, I had to close up for the night so I stayed cleaning up what I could before arranging the cash from the cashier. Picking up my bags, I finally looked at my phone to see a bunch of messages from Dante.

D: There are people dressed in black standing outside of the house.

D: You need to get home; I don't want to have to kill a bunch of people in front of Sof.

D: Gigi, please answer, we're currently hiding, they got in!

That was the last message sent, all of them spaced out through the hour. I rushed out only to be tackled by a big body. "Shit, get off!" I elbow him in the nose rolling off of him. He dragged me back with my feet but I didn't get far before I slammed the heel of my foot in his face. The man groaned holding his shattered nose as I quickly got away.

In the distance, I could see two black SUVs start their cars as I got into my car. My foot slammed on the gas in an attempt to get away from the vehicles following me. The mansion wasn't too far from here but if I took a sharp turn in the opposite direction, I could get there before they do. Speeding up, I turned a corner losing them for a second, allowing me to make a swift turn into the alley.

The SUVs raced past where I was. I stepped on the gas again, racing toward my home. When I got there, bullet casings were shattered on the ground, the door kicked open, and some of the windows were shattered. My heart beat quickened in worry as I ran inside the house, yelling out for Dante and Sofia. The place was vacant and a total mess. Things were broken and torn, and the mess all led upstairs to one of the guest rooms.

They were gone, they took them and left and now I don't know where they are. My eyes land on a note laying on the closet floor. Crouching down, I lifted the note, reading what was on it.

I'm done waiting, Principessa.

My heart stopped for a split second. Lorenzo had done this. Oh, oh, oh. They were all right-my gut was right. Lorenzo was also the bad guy, he didn't want to help me fight off my father, no, he wanted me for himself. For power. I knew what was coming, and there was no way I could hide from it.

Suddenly, something sharp pinched my skin causing me to wince and fight back. But my vision had already started getting blurry, the world quiet. The last thing I could see were men dressed in black, kneeling in front of me as they dragged my limp body. Then everything went black...

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