"Let's see if the mafia heir can get me a price." I said with a mouth full of cotton candy.
Matteo said he was going to win me a big stuffed panda. They're my favorite animals. They are just so cute and adorable. I also need a stuffed animal for my bed, so this is actually beneficial.
He knocked on the last of the clown, and he won. He has had good practice with aiming.
"Accuracy, breathe, and stability." I audibly thought the words out.
"It's so cute and fluffy and soft." I hugged the panda, and I snuggled my face into it. "Why can't I get a hug?" He was confused.
"Meet my new cuddle buddy." I teased, and he actually glared at the panda.
"Not for fucking long." He lowered his voice and I cackled at how overprotective he is being. Over a stuffed panda, seriously?
It was 5 pm already, and most of the people from the carnival were starting to leave. I looked up to see that it might be starting to drizzle. The clouds were gray, and it was getting a bit cold.
"Amore. Stay here. I'm coming back." Matteo said, taking off his jacket and putting it over my shoulders. I watched as he exposed his forearms with the sleeveless hoodie he was wearing. I almost drooled as I saw the veins on his hands, I don't know why, but they are so damn sexy. He could pass for an American if it weren't for the accent.
I nodded, and I stood under some shelter to get away from the water droplets. I hugged my stuffed panda tight to be warmer. I grabbed Matteo jacket with my other hand to be extra warm.
Someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned around to see Adrian.
"You missed me?" He smirked, and I had a small smile on my face, showing my actual emotions for the first time ever.
I was glad that he was okay.
"A." I acknowledged him, and his expression changed. He started looking on the floor.
"Kyla. Someone is hunting me, and I'm afraid I don't have much time." He said, and I nodded my head, urging him to continue speaking.
"Let's just say your boyfriend knows." He said, and I already knew that Matteo knew. I have known since he wanted to send us to Venice. It wasn't just to find some person, I could see through Matteo's lying facade.
"Why don't you go back to Rome? It is safer." I stepped towards him to analyze his facial features. The scar he has on his right eye has faded us a little bit. He has some freckles on his nose, and his hair looks wet almost every time I see him.
"I can't. I should skip the country, but even if I do, they'll manage to catch me." He mentioned, and I saw a figure coming towards us.
"Kyla, get in the car." He held Adrian's shoulder and squeezed it harshly. Matteo's blue eyes stormy blue like the clouds right now. I could barely recognize him with that murderous look on his face.
"No." I tightened my hold on the stuffed bear. I probably looked like a toddler. "Kyla," Adrian started with a guilty look on his face. I wondered why that look of guilt.
"Where the crown can be found. Not the original crown, just the crown of laurel, is where you'll find all the answers, including the ones of your parents." The mention of my parents made me clenched my fists.
"Kyla. I'm sorry." Matteo had drugged me. I can't feel my legs or my arms or any other body part for that matter. My eyelids began to feel heavy. Matteo apologized right after drugging me on purpose. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he doesn't care about me. Maybe he's just using me.
"A. Please." I could not properly comprehend a sentence. Adrian became blurry, and I saw something grayish blackish pointed at his temple.
"Don't worry about me, Kyla. Just solve the riddle." He said, and I heard a loud bang sound, and he was dead. The crimson blood on his head showed that he was dead.
I felt weak, and I slipped into someone's arms. I vow to solve that riddle, and this time, I'm against Matteo whether he likes it or not. The words played over and over again until my eyelids closed shut.
*************************************
Matteo's P.O.V
"Don. Do you really think that was the wisest thing to do?" Marco asked from the driver's seat.
"He was one of the spies from the other side. He was manipulating her." I was sure of it. It was for own safety, although the pain in her eyes made me doubt it.
"Was it wise to also overdoze her with Midazolam?" Marco asked, and I could hear the doubt in his voice.
"Yes." I replied as I looked at her sleeping figure. Crown of Laurel?
That is the meaning of Kyla's name, but what could it mean?
We entered the driveway, and I carried Kyla to her room. I even resisted the urge to kiss her good night, so I didn't.
"Mi dispiace." I quietly said to her before I got out of her bedroom.
I went downstairs to find my uncle busy with some paperwork. He looked at him, and I already knew that he wanted me there.
"Matteo. The ragazza isn't fit for this life." My uncle pointed out, but I knew Kyla, and she was. They were all wrong, she could, she's mine, she has to.
"Do I look like I give a fuck what you think?" I asked my uncle and he gave me a heartless chuckle.
"Matteo. You better leave your little fling right now. Your mother and I have settled a deal with Valentino, so you will marry her daughter." When he said I was livid but my calm exterior remained as it is.
"I will fucking not, Angelo. I'm the heir. Grandpa said he wanted me to be the heir, and as soon as I turn 21, you will not be able to dictate me. Oh, and as for La puttana, she will never marry me. I would kill her if I wanted to." I snarled at my uncle.
He gave me a cold chuckle because he thought I was being delusional. He shook his head in a disapproving manner.
"Oh, nipote. Come with me to the study. It's about time you learn about the De Luca history." He said, standing along with his bottle of whisky.
I followed him to the third floor of the house. I saw all the portraits of my grandfather, my father, and my uncle with my mom together. I do not remember my father very well, but he had green eyes and jet black hair.
Uncle Angelo and my dad did not get along because the old man just had to make competition between them. My dad was better than Uncle Angelo at anything and everything, which is fact whether he likes it or not.
"Let's take a look here." He grunted as he took a seat on the mobile chair. He turned it around to face the shelf with an enormous amount of files. It looked like a library with ancient books and scrolls.
"Ah yes. There it is." He gave me a black file with a wicked smile. "I wanted you to know on your 21st birthday, but now might just seem to be a good time to let you know." I held the black file with the words Salvatore's Will ingraved in golden letters and written in calligraphy.
I looked at my uncle, taking a sip of his drink without having a care in this world. I walked out of the study and went off to the stairs to sit down and properly read this.
I first went to the bar to pour myself a drink because my uncle was giving me this, personally. It has to be serious.
As I poured the liquid into a glass, I felt someone's presence behind me. I first thought it was Kyla, but it was the twin.
"Pour that for me, please." She asked, and I gave her a glass for us to sit with silence of the house and this slightly intimidating black book which may or may not give me answers about everything about my life.
"How are you holding up?" She asked, referring to the relationship Kyla and I have. Doesn't she have to be with Dante or some shit like that?
"Un uomo che sta per conto suo." She whispered as she gulped the whole drink down, and I asked myself about how much alcohol could this girl consume.
Translation: a man who keeps to himself.
"Preferisco stare da solo." I gruffly whispered back. "Not with Kyla." She said those three words, and she is observant or is that twin thing they have.
Translation: I prefer being alone
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. I do like being Kyla, but I think she might hate me now." I took a sip on of the drink with a hardened heart.
"Oh, please. My sister may seem heartless, but she has a soft spot for the ones she loves." She now starts to slur her words out. Love. I have never even felt the word before. Neither have I thought about.
"Alright. Let me leave you alone to think." She stumbled, and I grabbed her wrist. I, having to have experience in drinking, specifically strong drinks, knows she is drinking her sorrow away.
"What's wrong?" I asked, and I never thought I could be concerned with other people's problems other than my own.
"Well, I found that Dante is cheating on me." Her eyes started watering. Her hands were shaking. She really likes Dante, that idiot.
"And with your cousin too." She added quietly and weakly, sitting down again. I knew Willow had feelings for Dante, but I did know that she would be as shallow as to cheat.
"Tell me, Matteo. Am I not good enough?" Her words sound exactly like Kyla's, as her her chocolate brown eyes had tears streaming down her cheeks, and she was trying to calm herself down.
"You are, and I could see Dante likes maybe even loves you. You have to remember that he is a horny ass guy and-" She cut me off by saying, "He should have controlled his fucking urges." She was louder this time.
"You're good for him. He has...changed and it because of you, and lord knows why you chose him." I flung my hands in frustration, and she let put a sad chuckle.
"Promise me you'll at least talk to him, and if he gives you a stupid ass answer, well you dump his stupid ass." I said she started leaning at the back of the couch.
"I will. Thanks for being like the overprotective scary big brother I have never had." She said without looking at me but instead, looking into distance.
I started looking at the black document and I heard Sky's soft snores and I adjusted the couch for her to lie down like it is bed. I put a blanket over her and a blanket under her head.
Salvatore's Will, greatest philosopher I could have ever known. The first page was divided into the table of content. First there was a letter he left. My grandfather died when we I was about 13 and Beau was about 11.
The letter:
There is a time for ones beginning and sadly ones end. I'm sure the day I leave this earth could or could not be a sorrowful day. Either way, what I value more than anything in the world is family. Celebrate, concur, and mostly direct your lives towards greatness and success not to please me though. I have already lived my life to the fullest you just need to live yours
Sincerely
Salvatore De Luca
Now for the Will. I have read my part of
the will, but I know have access to all the other parts of the Will.
To my sons
Angelo: All my cars and cottages
Aberto: My hotels and one of the houses in Bordeaux
My eye went to this specific part of the will.
And I leave my two grandsons and daughter my businesses and to handle my charities.
Did I fucking read this right? Two grandsons. Maybe there is a mistake. I can't have a brother.
My mother owes me an explanation.
**************************************
A/N
Yeah, secrets be unfolding ya'll. I know you guys are probably going to hate me for making them fight, but it's for a good cause. Yeah. Anyway, please don't forget to vote and comment.