Chapter 8

Alora's POV

I had had enough of Bianca threatening me like she was some queen. I was my own person, and she had no right to talk to me like I stole her treasure. I walked into my room and slammed the door hard behind me.

Just as I headed to the bed to rest and think about what Dante had said during breakfast, a knock sounded on the door. I groaned, covering my ears with the pillow, but the knock didn't stop. I sluggishly walked to the door. “Gianni, I swear if you don't–”

Luca's smiling face greeted me from outside. Oh, it's not Gianni, then. “Hello, Alora. Can I ask you something?”

“Uhh, sure,” I replied, staring at him skeptically. What exactly does he want to ask me? My heart thudded with anxiety.

“Would you like to go out with me this afternoon? Just for a stroll in the garden. I want us to be friends, if you wish.”

I furrowed my brows. Friends? Okay then. “Okay… but let me get a scarf. It's really cold outside.”

“Sure, go right ahead. I'll be waiting for you in the living room,” he said, smiling brightly before turning to leave.

I quickly pulled on a blue scarf, which the maids must have brought to my room during breakfast. When I reached the living room, my eyes widened at the sight of Dante sitting cross-legged on the couch, his head buried in his phone.

After our almost kiss, it was really awkward for me to be around him. I felt a nervous flutter of butterflies anytime I thought about it. My plan was to walk out quietly without him noticing, but he quickly lifted his eyes from his phone and locked them onto me. My face flushed bright red, and I looked at the floor, trying to avoid his intense gaze.

“Hey, sorry I'm late.” Luca's voice startled me, and I jumped. I turned to look at him. He was dressed in dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt that hugged his body tightly and showed all his muscles. His eyebrows were raised as he looked at me. “Are you okay? You look nervous.”

“Oh, I'm fine,” I replied hurriedly. “Can we go now?” I asked, wanting to leave Dante's intimidating presence as soon as possible.

Luca looked at me weirdly before nodding. He held out his arm, and I placed my hand in his. We walked out without looking back, although I could feel eyes boring holes into the back of my head.

During our walk, I discovered that Luca was actually a cool guy to hang out with. He made jokes and was really interesting. Unfortunately, time cut us short as I had to go back and care for Gianni's injury. He was getting better, and we would soon take off his stitches.

When I walked into the room, Gianni jumped up from the couch and rushed to me, his expression frantic. I wanted to shout at him for jumping when he wasn't completely sound yet, but the scared look on his face made me worried instead.

“Alora, something is wrong. My gut keeps telling me something is about to go wrong in this house.”

“What do you mean, Gianni?” I asked, my face contorted in a worried frown.

He ran a hand through his mop of black hair. “I always have some sort of bad feeling when something's about to go wrong. Most of the time, it's accurate. Like the day I got attacked. I could feel that something was about to happen.”

I didn't know what to say, so I kept quiet. Gianni sighed and then said, “I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe it's just because I'm hungry.”

I knew he was just trying to make me less worried about what could be happening. But I didn't argue, since I was supposed to ease his stress. “Fine, let's go eat something and then change your dressing.”

He groaned, making me laugh. His annoyed gaze reached me, and I laughed harder. He was so cute. I held out my hand for him, but he ignored me. He just walked past and went out the door. I followed closely, still chuckling.

However, all hints of amusement escaped me as we reached downstairs. The house was in total chaos, with chairs and tables flipped upside down and papers scattered across the room. Mafia men stood lined up in front of Dante and Luca.

Dante's face was red with fury as he walked around the room purposefully, standing in front of each man and whispering something that made them gulp. What was going on? This looked like an interrogation.

Gianni walked forward while I remained standing cowardly by the door. The moment Dante saw him, his face loosened up a bit. He still looked dangerous, but Gianni didn't seem to care. And why would he? Dante was his brother. After talking in hushed tones with him, Gianni returned to my side.

He now held out his hand, and I placed my shaky hand in his. He squeezed gently, as if reassuring me that all was fine. Once we were a safe distance from Dante and the mafia chaos, I turned to Gianni. “What is going on there? Dante looked furious.”

He smiled faintly. “It's nothing for you to be worried about, Alora. Just that someone stole some mafia documents and jewelry worth 25 million.”

My mouth dropped open. What? Who would be so stupid as to steal from a mafia? Were they crazy or did they have a death wish? “Have they found the culprit yet? What would Dante do to him?” I asked in a shaky voice.

Gianni laughed, and for a second, I felt like the laugh had a sinister edge to it. But Gianni was a kid. I was just being paranoid. “Well, whoever thought it was wise to steal from the Don's office should prepare to reunite with the mud he came from.”

His words came out cold, making me shiver as a chill ran down my spine. How was this child seven years old?

Gianni must have noticed my worried state because he quickly added, “Dante will just punish them as long as they're willing to pay for what they've stolen.”

I understood what he was trying to do. He was the child here, not me. He was trying to cover up what would really happen when they caught this person. God, why was I wishing they didn't? It was just money, right? Nobody had to die for it.

After that discussion, we changed the topic. Neither of us revisited that scary topic. But my mind kept running back to it. I tried to stay focused so Gianni wouldn't notice I was worried.

Later in the evening, we went down for dinner. The house was no longer a chaotic mess but had been thoroughly cleaned and looked sparkling. Nobody who hadn't seen it this morning would believe if they were told.

We greeted Dante and Luca, who sat at the head of the table, and took our seats.

Gianni broke the silence once we started eating. “Hey, brother, any update?” I froze, my ears straining so I wouldn't miss any words spoken, even though they would be speaking these words in my presence.

“Soon, brother. Soon. The men are searching all the rooms as we speak. Anytime now, and they'll have it here. The person couldn't have gone out with it.”

I gulped as the tension rose in the room. I looked at my food—a delicious plate of pasta and chicken. But it just looked bland now. All this violence had made me lose my appetite. But it seemed like I was the only person who lost their appetite because the two men and one boy continued eating and chatting away happily.

I soon became like Gianni, having a terrible feeling tug at my chest. Something was about to go really wrong. But what could it be?

My question was answered immediately as the doors slammed open, making me jump. Dante's men marched in, their heavy footsteps pounding against the floor. In the hands of one of them, something shone so bright, glinting under the light.

It was jewelry. They had found it. Oh my goodness. An innocent person could die.

“Boss!” the man carrying it said, laying it gently before Dante.

His lips curled slowly into a menacing smirk as he nodded his head. “Good job, guys. Now, where was it?”

The room fell into a thick silence as everyone waited for the man's response. He gulped noticeably before lifting his hands slightly and pointing towards the thief.

My breath hitched in my throat, my eyes widening as his hand landed on me.

“Miss Alora, boss. She's the thief.”