Blood & Roses

Chapter 13 -Home

Present Day – Adrian's POV

Undisclosed Location

For years, I had trusted my instincts. They had kept me alive through the transition, my uncles' betrayal, and the love of loved ones. But this hit me hard, especially the fact that I failed to notice this was a rot from within. I had been living with traitors inside my organization who were probably feeding my routines, my schedules, my weaknesses to my rivals.

The damage had been done but I hd plans to purge them and sanitize my ranks. I bet most of them were jubilating over my demise. They were in for a shock when they discovered their plan failed.

My mind drifted to Bianca. She was not the weakness they envisioned, far from it. She had drawn the face of a mole and pieced together his identity and mission. Funny enough, the guy she sketched was not among those mentioned by the men I interrogated in sector seven. He was different, which makes me wonder how many more went undetected. She had noticed him in the stairwell, aiming a gun at me, and she had remembered his face from before.

An artist's eye.

I had always admired her for it — the way she saw the world, the way she noticed details others missed. She was smart and this was not the first time she had outsmarted me. I smiled as I remembered how she found her way out of my mansion three months ago . . .

THREE MONTHS AGO

Adrian's Office

When my men told me Bianca had slipped out of the mansion, I was furious.

My anger intensified when I watched the footage of her wandering through the garden and slipping into a truck conveying apples to the distillery. The driver also called to report a case of a young lady stowed away in his truck. His description fit Bianca to a T.

"So ingenious of you, Bella." I couldn’t help but admire her resourcefulness. "She's smart, resourceful, and loyal, I thought. And also a mischievous and stubborn girl."

She thought she could run away from me? I smiled while hefting her phone in my hand. An old Samsung model that had seen better days. She had forgotten to take it with her when she left my office. I had an excuse to meet her again, plus danger was lurking, especially now she had been seen with me. She was out there with zero protection and I felt really uncomfortable about it.

Gritting my teeth, I turned to my right-hand man and chief security personnel, Pedro. “Get the car ready, and tell Rocco to meet us there.”

Pedro nodded and left; he knew where we were going even though I did not elaborate. Having been with me almost all my life, he, Roescoe and Marco knew what I was thinking 70% of the time.

Those who knew me knew I never got close to women, my interaction with them was purely transactional.

Most of the women I moved with were just escorts for social functions or to sate my urges. They were usually compensated handsomely and discharged whenever they got too clingy. You would never see me with the same woman twice, and none of them had weever made me feel some of the things I was beginning to feel.

Until Bianca.

The thought of her getting hurt because of me twisted something inside me. I couldn’t name it.

.........

THREE MONTHS AGO - Bianca's POV

Bianca's Home

After I washed up, I took a much deserved nap and woke up in the evening. I went down to the kitchen to grab a bite. Mother asked me to brew her some tea, so there I was chatting with mother and Matteo about school stuff when the knocks came.

They were heavy and demanding, and came in quick, impatient succession. I looked at Matteo and at Mother. We exchanged curious glances,

"Could that be the caretaker?" the mother asked.

"But I've paid rent already; we don’t owe him a cent." I had given him an advance from my savings while waiting for the weekend for my first weekly paycheck from the club.

“Who could that be then?” We didn’t have many visitors and weren’t expecting anyone. I walked to the door and peered through the peephole.

What I saw astounded me.