HIS WOMAN

FLASHBACK≈ONE WEEK AGO

"Everything you ordered for has been prepared, Boss" Riccardo heard one of his workers say as he stared up at the moon through the glass window.

He turned and nodded slowly. He stretched forth his hand and the guy immediately placed a file in his hand. Riccardo flipped the papers as he glanced through the content.

"The address and everything you need is in there, no details are left out," the guy further said. Riccardo nodded in satisfaction before releasing a dark smirk.

Not long after his brothers had left the company, he received a call from Ambra. She had informed him of Adriana's suspicious moves and without anyone telling him, he knew she intended to escape the clan.

"The car is ready, we can leave now," the guy said again when he hadn't received any response from Riccardo.

Riccardo walked over to the chair and picked up his black suit, he wore it and adjusted his collar, then he left the office.

They got outside and the driver immediately opened the car door for him. Riccardo sat inside the car just like the Boss he is, and the driver drove off without any words. He's aware of Riccardo's destination.

Soon, the car parked in front of a small apartment. It looked simple, yet beautiful. Riccardo stared at the house for a short while before getting out of the car. His men were already waiting for him, so when he got there, they only had to open the door for him.

"Make sure the door is locked, I'll call you when I need you," he instructed. The men nodded in understanding. Just as Riccardo entered the house, the door slammed shut immediately.

Riccardo looked around the room, taking in the features of the house gently. Then, his eyes landed on a portrait by the wall. It was a picture of two identical boys. He sped across the wall, taking a perfect look at the portrait. Oddly, the children looked so familiar to him.

His eyes went to another portrait just beside it, it was a picture of Adriana with the two boys in a graduation uniform. They were so little, their blonde hair gleaming and their blue eyes shining brightly. He could tell that they looked so happy.

For five minutes, he kept staring at the pictures, his eyes darting from one portrait to the other. He needed no one to tell him the children belonged to Adriana as there were some little handwritings by the wall.

For a brief moment, he had thought Adriana had gotten married and born her children for a different man. But, deep down, he knew that wasn't the case. Not when the kids in the picture have a striking resemblance to him, their features are just the same as his.

Riccardo tried to fix the pieces together, but nothing made sense at that moment. He simply walked over to the couch, chased the thoughts away from his mind as he awaited the arrival of Adriana.

•••••••

Days passed and yet Riccardo couldn't take the pictures of the boys off his head. Who were those kids? Why do they look so much like him? Were the thoughts running through his mind.

One particular day, after ordering Adriana to clean the whole hallway, he had gone back to his room with the intention of taking her phone.

As he unlocked the drawer, he heard the buzzing of a phone. At first, he thought the sound was from his phone, but when he brought his phone out, he discovered that it wasn't his.

Tracing the sound of the phone, he discovered it was beneath the pillow. Curiously, he picked it up just in time to see the name "Alessia" as the caller.

The call ended and the phone wallpaper came into view. It was a picture of the identical twins he had seen right in Adriana's house days ago. This time, the picture was so clear and he was seeing himself in the two kids.

As he stared at the picture, he felt Adriana's presence in the room. When she got closer, he was short of words. He didn't know what to say.

"Are you married? Who's the father of your kids?" He was tempted to ask these questions but he kept his cool. Instead, all he did was to stare at her as she collected her phone from him.

She looked uneasy, he could sense that, and he decided to give her the space she needed. That didn't end there, he decided to do research. In the space of three hours, he had gotten the information she needed and the location of the kids. He wasn't a Mafia Don for nothing.

•••••••••

MORE ON FLASHBACK≈THREE DAYS AGO

Alessia had taken the children to the fun park so as to relieve the thoughts of seeing their Mother off her mind. They were back, the kids were playing in their room while she sat in the living room, watching one of her favorite Spanish movies, 'Culpa Mia{My Fault}'.

She smiled at the scene when Nick and Noah engaged in a hot makeout in the pool. Her eyes were filled with envy, she wondered when she was finally going to experience the word LOVE with the right man.

Her thoughts were shortly disrupted by the sound of the door bell. Dropping her phone by her side, she walked to the door and opened it.

On sighting the person standing before her, her breath caught up in her throat and her eyes widened like saucers.

Right before her was the man she least expected to see. Riccardo Moretti.

He was dressed richly, looking manly than ever. His eyes held a bit of impatience in them and she swallowed hard. How in hell did he find out about her house? Was it Adriana who told him?

Riccardo stood before her, his hand inserted into his pants pocket. He stared at the lady before him, she had grown over the years. He could still remember when she turned eighteen, he had gotten her a phone. Her first ever phone.

"Hey. It's been long," Alessia stuttered as she suddenly didn't know the right words to say.

To her surprise, Riccardo walked past her, entering the house while she hit her shoulder lightly with the wall. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she watched him walk over to the sofa, and to her utmost dismay, he sat on a sofa and crossed both his legs and arms, staring at her intently.

Such a gut - she scoffed inwardly. She slammed the door shut behind her and walked up to him.

"You… What brings you here? I wasn't expecting you…" Her words died down in the air when she discovered he wasn't listening to her. His gaze wandered around the room as though he was searching for something.

Just like she predicted, Emelio and Emiliano came rushing into the living room, holding her personal computer with them.

"Aunt Alessia, could you check this out for me, please? Anytime we try to play the game, then boom! An advert suddenly shows up!" Emelio cried out in frustration.

Alessia couldn't reply to them. Not when a particular eye was staring at the children keenly. The room suddenly felt hot.

"Who's he? He's so creepy," Emelio shuddered when he noticed Riccardo's presence in the room. He was staring at them and it annoyed him to the core.

"Why do you keep staring at us? If you can't take your eyes away, then we'll take them for you!" Emiliano shot.

"Hey!" Alessia cautioned, gesturing them to return back to their room with her eyes. The twins were adamant, they folded their arms on their chest as they stared back at Riccardo.

Riccardo got to his feet. He stared over at Alessia who was uncomfortable throughout. His presence was dominating.

"Are they mine?" His question threw her off guard that she momentarily forgot how to breathe. Her eyes went to him, he was looking dead serious.

"What? How could…"

"Then, they're mine." He cuts her off. Her eyes widened. Just what the hell was has gotten over this man in front of her.

She watched as Riccardo bent to the twins figure, he touched Emelio's shoulder but Emelio immediately slapped it off.

"Don't touch me!" Emelio yelled, glaring at him fiercely. Riccardo was taken aback. He stared at Emiliano who had the same expression just like his brother and he sighed. This wasn't going to be easy like he thought.

"Erm… can you just explain this to me? Like, I don't understand.." Alessia tried saying but he beat her to it.

"I'm staying over for three days," he announced, which made Alessia gasp. She watched as Riccardo stared at the twins who still had a frown on his face.

"I can't believe they're mine," she heard him whisper. He held their shoulders each, they tried to slap it off but they couldn't, his grip was strong though not hard.

"Hey buddies, I'm Rick," he smiled warmly at them while Emelio and Emiliano exchanged glances.

••••••••

Getting along with the twins wasn't easy for Riccardo. They were feisty, they wouldn't hesitate to give him an earful if he dared do something they didn't like.

But, Emelio and Emiliano wouldn't deny that they found his presence interesting. He was fun to be with, he would give them a ride around the city, buy some delicacies for them. He also took them to the mall and bought some expensive dresses for them, he bought for Adriana too.

"You know our Mommy?" Emiliano asked on one particular day.

"Sure. We're great friends," Riccardo replied.

Three days were over and Riccardo had decided to take them along with him. He had purposely left his phone inside the drawer to avoid any unnecessary calls from his brothers or anyone. This trip was to get along with his children.

"Are you sure we're going to see our Mommy there?" Emelio asked after they're done packing their things. Alessia smiled and touched his shoulder.

"Yes, and she's so much expecting you," she replied with a smile. The twins squealed in excitement and rushed to the car. They both entered it while Riccardo faced Alessia with a light smile.

"Thanks for everything," he muttered. Alessia nodded gently. Riccardo glanced at the kids who were busy playing in the car.

"I still can't get over the fact that they're mine. I can't believe I had these gems all along," he muttered softly.

"She had her reasons. I can't tell you that, but I'm sure she'd confide in you when it's the right time," Alessia said.

"Take care of them for me, mostly Adriana, she has gone through a lot," She further added. After exchanging a few more words, Riccardo left her house and headed back to the clan.

Throughout the drive, the twins never gave him the time to rest. He'd glanced at them through the rearview mirror to find them bickering at each other. Occasionally, he'd laugh since he found them so cute.

"Wow! This is a castle!" Emeliano exclaimed when they arrived at the mansion. Riccardo chuckled and stared at him through the rearview mirror.

"Do you want this?" He asked.

"Yes!" Emiliano quickly exclaimed.

"Then, it's yours," Riccardo smiled. Emelio scoffed.

"That can't be true. Are you sure our Mommy is here?" He asked.

"Just watch and see," Riccardo muttered. He parked the car and they all alighted from it.

Emelio and Emiliano watched as every man or lady who walked by greeted Riccardo. Was he some kind of president? - they thought.

"Where is our Mommy?" Emelio asked, obviously not interested in whatsoever going on. Riccardo was about to reply when he suddenly heard someone calling his name. He turned and found Bruno running to him.

"Don! Good thing you're back! You need to do something, they'll kill her!" Bruno yelled.

"Who?"

"The lady in your room. Your brothers are here to kill her!" Bruno exclaimed.

"I tried calling you but your number wasn't going through. It's been three days, they kept torturing her and…"

"Shit!" Riccardo attempted to run off when Emelio held his wrist. Riccardo faced him with an impatient look on his face.

"You haven't shown us our Mommy," Emelio frowned.

"Give me just a few minutes, I'll be back," Riccardo said but they were having none of it.

"You're not leaving here until you show us our Mommy!" Emeliano said.

Bruno's gaze went to them. Who are these kids to his Boss?

"Buddies, I said I'll be back," Riccardo tried to talk them out of it, but it wasn't going through. How could he let them in the dungeon house?

"No!" The twins chorused. Riccardo had no choice but to let them go with him, he didn't dare last any longer before it's too late.

When they got to the dark cave, the twins clung onto him tightly till they got to the door.

"I hate the fact that she's still alive and breathing, I want to kill her!" He roared.

"Don't stop me, Antonio or you won't like what I'm gonna do next," Riccardo heard Vincenzo's voice and he wasted no time in forcing the door open.

"Don't you dare touch a strand of her hair!" He growled as he made an entry. His eyes immediately went to Adriana whose hand was chained, he almost couldn't recognize her. Blood boiled deep inside him.

"I already told you I won't spare her alive!" Vincenzo thundered.

"If you dare touch the mother of my kids then forget about me being your brother!" Silence hung in the air as soon as Riccardo said those words. The knife fell from Ambra's hand as she stared at Riccardo in shock.

Riccardo stared at Adriana whose eyes were filled with tears. In a flash, he rushed to her and caught her in his arms just when she lost consciousness.

"Wh…" Vincenzo never had the time to complete his statement when two identical figures rushed into the room. No one needed to tell them what was going on as they're the exact replica of Riccardo.

As soon as the twins' eyes settled on their mother who was already unconscious with her body full of blood, they screamed out.

"Mommy!!!!" With their body burning with anger, they rushed to Vincenzo who was still gripping Adriana's hair.

"Let go of our Mommy, you monster!!" The next thing Vincenzo felt was two tiny teeth digging into his skin.

The little devils had just bitten him!

Vincenzo screamed out agonizingly when their teeth pierced deep into his skin. "Get off me! Get off me!" Through the help of Antonio and Theodore, he was freed from their tight grip.

"Unchain her now!" Riccardo growled as he stared at Adriana's bleeding face. With no words exchanged, Antonio released Adriana whose unconscious body fell straight into Riccardo's arms.

"Mommy!" The twins rushed to him. Soon, they began crying loudly as the thought of their Mother leaving them so soon struck their heart.

"I told you not to do a single thing!" Riccardo yelled. He glanced at Theodore who wasn't uttering out a word.

"I told you to watch over the clan, and this is all you have to do?"

"Just pray she makes it alive or I'm going to rip off your heart. Forget the fact that I'm your brother, I don't joke with my woman!" his voice was so fierce that silence descended in the room immediately.