Her scream fell on deaf ears as he kept walking closer and closer. She shifted back in fear till her back collided with the wall, her heart pounding in her chest. His shadow loomed over her, and she could feel the heat of his breath on her skin.
Adriana shut her eyes, willing herself to disappear. The gruesome scene couldn't stop appearing in her head and all she felt towards the man before her was fear and hatred.
But then, a hand touched her shoulder and she let out a scream. Riccardo recoiled in surprise. He held up his hand and moved back a bit.
"Don't touch me, don't!" Adriana screamed, shaking her head frantically. She lowered her head, unable to stare at him in the eye.
"You shouldn't have done that in the first place," his voice was cool but Adriana was having none of it. She was way too afraid. What if he decides to behead her too just because she maintained an eye contact with him?
"Your punishment awaits you soon, be prepared for it," with that, he turned and left the room.
When he was gone, Adriana let her hands down from her face as she released heavy breaths consecutively. Her eyes were stained with her tears as she tried to calm down her breathing.
Since her escape plan had gone wrong, what'd be her fate now? Would she ever see her kids again?
•••••••
MILAN≈ITALY
"Hey, easy! You're gonna hurt yourselves!" Alessia yelled at Emelio and Emiliano who raced to the dining room.
"See? I got here first" Emiliano bragged, raising his shoulder high.
"That's a lie, I got here first. You're so slow like a snail!" Emelio retorted.
"Aunt Alessia, be our judge and be fair please. Who got here first?" Emeliano turned to Alessia who had already gotten to where they are.
Alessai stared at the both of them for a while, touching her chin as though she was in deep thoughts.
"It's a draw!" She clicked her fingers. The twins frowned. That was a lie, they could sense that.
"Nevermind," they chorused and sat down on their respective chairs. Alessia sighed as she watched them. They were so adorable and she just couldn't wait to also get married and have her own kids.
Noticing the sudden change in their mood, Alessia sat opposite them and suddenly banged the table just to gain their attention.
"Would you like to go anywhere today?" She asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
"Yeah. To my Mom," Emelio said in a low whisper but Alessia heard him.
"I missed her so much, it's up to a week now," he added. Alessia sighed as she watched him picking his food slowly.
"Can we go to visit her and then come back later? I also wanna see her face, I missed her smiles," Emiliano added.
"Is that what you want?" Alessia asked after sometime.
"Yes! Yes!" The twins chorused and she smiled as their moods brightened up instantly.
"If you promise to finish up your meal, I'll call your Mother and…" before she could finish her sentence, they were already eating their food.
Alessia laughed as she watched them. They were just so cute and Adriana was damn lucky to have them. The love they both have for their Mother is out of the world.
Her smile faded off when she remembered something. Another person had reported to her that Adriana's restaurant had been closed for a while now. It's unusual of Adriana to act that way and she was deeply worried.
What if something had happened to her? Was she safe? Alessia couldn't stop the thoughts flowing in her mind.
That minute, she made a mental note to call Adriana behind the twins back. She needed to know if everything was okay with her.
••••••
BLACK ACE MOB≈NOON
Adriana released an exhausted sigh. She dropped the two towels in her hands tiredly and rested her back on the nearest wall. Her punishment was here, and it was to clean the whole hallway with no place left untouched.
Riccardo had came by himself to inspect what she had done, he had even asked her to start all over again, claiming the tiles weren't clean enough.
Adriana wiped the corner of her eyes which was stained with her tears. She had no choice, she needed to live. She needed to see her children again, she needs to watch them grow before her eyes, she needs to.
Just as she wanted to resume her work, Haunter appeared dressed in an overall black jumpsuit.
"You look tired, you can rest, I'll have someone take over the rest," she muttered when she got to where Adriana stood.
Adriana shook her head tiredly. "No, I have to do this. I want to live," she whispered.
Haunter stared at the woman in front of her with deep pity. She wondered why the Don had asked her to clean the hallway herself. Over five cleaners were assigned to do this particular job, why did he asked her to do it alone?
Adriana coughed heavily and that brought Haunter's attention back to her.
"You should take a water at least, you look so pale," she muttered.
Adriana didn't dared to refuse. Truth be told, her throat felt parched. She needed to drink water or she might to lose it at this rate.
"Thank you. I'll be back," she whispered to Haunter as she made her to the room.
Haunter bent slowly and began cleaning the floor. To worsen it all, Adriana wasn't offered a mop so she had to clean it with her hands. She might be a mobster, but she can't just stand still and let a lady like her suffer.
Meanwhile, Adriana walked into the room sluggishly. She felt exhausted, she needed to rest so she could regain her strength. She hadn't expected Riccardo to go this far, indeed he wasn't the old Riccardo.
As she walked deeper into the room, she saw him standing by the bedside, holding something familiar with him. Wait, her phone!
The exhaustion in her eyes cleared off instantly as her heart began to beat fast. Why was he with her phone? Has he found out about her boys? Will he try to take them away from her?
"Is this yours?" Riccardo's deep voice made her stare at him. Slowly, she nodded and he stretched forth his hands towards her.
Adriana gulped down hard as she began walking towards him, her legs trembling beneath her. She got to him and collected the phone from him, he only stared at her.
Her phone rang that instant, and she immediately hid it on her chest. A picture of Emelio and Emiliano smiling together was her wallpaper, she couldn't risk him seeing it.
"I'm sorry if I had my phone with me, my bag was with me when I was brought here and…" she bit her lips when he wasn't saying anything. He kept staring at her and surprisingly, he didn't utter any word.
She had expected him to question her as to what she was doing in the room, but he did none of it. She had even forgotten she was in the room to drink water.
To her relief, he walked out of the room. She instantly picked the call, it was from Alessia.
"I thought you weren't going to pick up," Alessia spoke up. Adriana uttered her apologies as she walked to the bathroom for safety purpose.
"Your kids are out for now, you have to be honest with what I'm about to ask you," Alessia muttered. Adriana hummed slowly. She had even made up her mind in telling Alessia the truth, she doesn't need to hide anything anymore.
"Where are you? Your restaurant had been closed for days, it's unlike you," Alessia asked with concern evident in her voice.
"I'm at Riccardo's," Adriana whispered as she bit her lips hard.
"What?!" Alessai whispered yelled. She looked around the room before she continued speaking.
"How? Is he aware about the kids?" She asked.
Adriana shook her head. "No, I couldn't tell him. He hates me now," she whispered.
"He's not the Riccardo I once knew, he's totally different. He's a devil," she cried silently.
"What are you talking about? Is he treating you badly? Should I call the cops over?" Alessia rushed.
"No," Adriana mumbled. Even though Riccardo was treating her indifferently, she knew within her that the feelings was still there. How could she ever forget her only love? The Father of her kids?
"I'm paying for my sins. I shouldn't have done that to him, he almost died," Adriana's cries grew louder.
Alessua roughed her head in frustration. "What the hell are you talking about, Adriana? It wasn't YOUR FAULT! Didn't you tell him so? Your life was at risk and you were fucking pregnant with his sons back then! You had no choice, Anna," Alessia yelled. She was unable to keep her voice low.
"Get a grip of yourself,Anna. You met him again, let him know everything single thing he needs to know about your children, he's the father anyways," Alessia whispered after sometime.
"I… I'll try to. For the main time, take care of my kids for me. Don't let them know anything please, I beg of you," Adriana cleaned her tears as she said those words.
"Take care of yourself. Keep me updated about everything, I love you!" Alessia ended the call. She couldn't even tell Adriana that her kids wants to meet up with her. She knew Adriana needed some time alone.
After the call ended, Adriana cleaned her face once again and went out of the bathroom.
She left the room just in time to see Haunter and Ambra yelling at each other aggressively.
"Who the fuck do you think you are to go against the Don? Are you playing the nice lady card here?!" Ambra yelled.
"How I do my thing is none of your concern. You could have just walked away instead of poking your nose into something that has nothing to do with you!" Haunter fired back.
Adriana got to where they are and Ambra faced her with a deadly look on her face.
"You! You think you're all that great because you're his ex? You're just a cheap whore who tries to gain his favor by spending every night in his room!"
"And you know what? He doesn't care about you! Look, he even asked you to clean the entire hallway, you're just a slut in his life! An unwanted slut!" Ambra yelled at Adriana whose heart was already heavy with anger.
"This is what peeps like you deserves!" Before she could tell what was going on, Ambra picked the bucket full of soapy water and poured all the contents on Adriana, drenching her whole body instantly.
Adriana gasped. The humiliation was far too much for her to bare. Tears threatened to pour out of her eyes but she kept them at bay.
Instead, she moved closer to Ambra and landed a blow on her face. Ambra fell to the floor due to the force, hitting her butt hard on the cold floor.
But Adriana wasn't done. She bent to where Ambra laid and continue descending blows on her face, venting all her anger on her.
Haunter didn't bother to stop them. Ambra deserved everything she gets since she couldn't control her mouth.
"You!" Blow. "Have.." Blow. "No.." Blow. "Right.." Blow. "To.." Blow. "Say that…" Blow. "To me!!" Blow.
Adriana groaned as she made those statements. Ambra tried to defend herself but Adriana's grip was way too strong.
Meanwhile, Riccardo stood faraway from them, looking at the scenario before him. He had his arms folded across his chest as he stared at one person none other than Adriana.
"Do you think I should stop them? She might kill Ambra at this rate," Bruno said beside him.
"No. Let's keep watching," he muttered, looking fixedly at Adriana who looked so fierce like a lion.