2 - LUCA

Fizz arrived at the mansion soon after. I waited patiently in the living room for him, with my arms wrapped around Zara, giving her the reassurance and comfort that she needed.

Fizz made his way into the room, and his eyes widened as he saw Zara sitting there.

But it was safe to say, that he wasn't fucking surprised. He knew that I hadn't been able to stop thinking about her ever since I saw her at the casino.

"Bro…" He trailed off his sentence, taking his head into his hands, exasperated. Running his hands through his hair stressfully. "Please tell me you haven't done what I think you've fucking done."

Zara scratched her arm awkwardly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Zara," he smiled at her kindly. "A pleasure to meet the woman who's made my best friend lose all fucking sense of self and thrown his common sense out of the window."

The three of us burst out laughing, before getting serious again, as the full extent of the situation hit us like a ton of bricks.

"So you've kidnapped her from Marcello. How the fuck did you get her out of the restaurant?" Fizz asked.

"Punched the motherfucker down to the ground. Ran away before he had the chance to catch up with us," I snarled.

Fizz jolted backwards. "You do know that it's just a matter of time before all hell breaks fucking loose, right? He's probably sent out an army of men to take back what belongs to him. The guy is fucked up. I warned you about this back in the casino."

"Look, I need you to keep Zara safe here. Keep her safe so that no harm comes to her," I breathed. "She'll be safe here. We have our Sicilian Mafia members here at her disposal to take care of her and attend to her. Wire the place up with bodyguards, I want no stone fucking unturned. I'll find a way to deal with this bastard Marcello myself. Once we deal with the kingpin… Dealing with the rest of his fucking army becomes easy."

"Agreed," Fizz nodded. "What's the plan, bro?"

"I already have something in mind," I shrugged. "You don't need to worry about it. You just do what I've fucking told you to do."

Fizz nodded. "Come on, Zara. Follow me upstairs, and I'll get you some food and have one of the women take care of you."

Zara swallowed, still trembling and shaken up by this whole thing. I knew that she blamed herself for all of this, but I just wanted to hold her in my arms and reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

None of this was her fault…

I wanted to save her.

I was doing all of this out of my own will.

I just wished that she would see it that way.

"Go with Fizz, baby," I said softly. "I'll be back soon. Don't worry about me."

She ran up to me, throwing her arms around me, and I could feel my heart shatter into millions of tiny pieces. Just seeing and feeling how much she relied on me, how much she cared about me.

I just hoped that I would make it back in one piece…

If not for my own sake…

But for hers.

I pressed my lips to her forehead, wiping her tears with my thumbs.

Giving her the reassurance that she needed.

"I'll be fine. You take care of yourself, baby girl," I whispered against her hair.

She nodded, giving my lips a soft kiss that made me yearn for more. I pulled away from her, before turning on my heel, making my way out of the mansion.

Needing to sort out this motherfucker once and for all, so I could finally have Zara all to myself.