"Have you seen today's papers?" Angelo all but shoves the paper into my face as I enter the kitchen.

"Morning to you too, Angelo." I say in a dry tone and he rolls his eyes. Luciano peers over my shoulder to read the headlines. My eyes widen as I look at the huge headline with a picture of us from yesterday below it.

"LUCIANO MORETTI ATTENDS HIS FOUNDATION'S GALA WITH A DATE. How did they get my name so fast?" I ask when I read the rest of the article.

"That's not all they got. You're all over the Internet. They know everything about you." Emilia says, showing us TMZ's website on her iPad. She was right, every tabloid magazine and online news site had us in the front page and they certainly had details about me such as my job and so on.

"I just got word. Paparazzi is camped outside of CCC and your apartment. One of your neighbours said that you haven't been living there for the last two months. So, now they're speculating that the two of you are living together and you've been together for a while." Luca walks in with Sofia, his phone in his hand.

"Was it like this when you guys got together?" I ask them and all of them chuckle, shaking their heads.

"We made the papers but not the front page for sure."

"You're dating a billionaire, Alessa. An elusive one at that." Sofia says and I whirl around to face Luciano, who's watching me thoughtfully.

"You're a billionaire?!!!" His eyes widen in embarrassment and surprise.

"You didn't know?" I shake my head and all he says is "Oh."

"I mean I knew you were loaded but I didn't-never mind. It doesn't matter anyway." I say sheepishly and he just chuckles lightly, squeezing my waist.

"At least I know you're not with me for my money." he says jokingly and I stick my tongue out at him.

"You couldn't pay me enough to put up with your grumpy ass."

The others burst out into laughter while Luciano groans.

"I swear my parents love you more than they love me."

"I don't blame them, I mean I am pretty amazing." I shrug haughtily and he smirks mischievously, pulling me closer and kissing me lightly on my lips.

"Okay, you guys are cute and everything but is this gonna be an everyday thing?" Angelo groans and Emilia nods, grimacing.

"Yeah, I really don't need to see my brother flirting and getting it on."

"It's so weird seeing the two of them be so..happy all the time." Luca pipes in and I roll my eyes at them.

"You guys wanted us to get together." Luciano says in a slight mocking tone and I nod.

"I guess that's why they say be careful what you wish for." Sofia says defeatedly.

"Umm, Don?" We turn towards the door and find one of Luciano's men standing there.

"What is it, Antonio?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt but Thomas Winston is on the line."

Luciano's face darkens and he nods, dismissing his men.

"I'll be in my office in a minute."

"Actually, it's for Donna." he says looking at me.

I stiffen before smiling politely at him.

"Thank you Antonio. And please, call me Alessa like you always have."

He glances back at his boss for approval but Luciano is too distracted.

"I'll be there in a minute."

He leaves us and Angelo pipes up cautiously.

"Something tells me he's seen the papers today."

"You think?" Luca says sarcastically and Sofia whacks his arm, motioning silently to a seething Luciano.

"I'm gonna see what he wants." I say, turning to leave the kitchen when Luciano's grip around me tightens, preventing me from moving.

"Let me talk to him."

"I got this." but he doesn't let me move and I feel my anger rising.

"Vinc-"

"Dolchezza, I said I will talk to him."

"And I said I got this. He wants to speak to me, not you. If you want to talk to him, call him later." I say in a tone that leaves no room for argument. He stares at me for a few long seconds before sighing.

"At least let me be in the offi-" A deadly glare from me causes him to trail off.

"How about you call me if you need me?"

I smile sweetly at him, glad he made the right choice.

"Good idea." I kiss him on the jaw before walking out.

"Holy shit, she's the Luciano Whisperer!"Angelo's voice floats from the kitchen in shock before yelling out a curse as a loud thud is heard, most probably from Luciano.

Stifling a chuckle, I close the office door behind me, locking it. Staring at the phone, I take a deep breath before picking it up.

"Alessandra Morino."

"Alessa, please tell me that your relationship with Don Moretti is part of your plan to get Connor." Thomas's voice comes through the line, low and angry.

"Good morning to you too Thomas. I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"I'm not in the mood for your sarcasm right now. What the hell are you doing?"

Sinking into Luciano's huge chair, I fiddle with a pen on his desk.

"I was about to have breakfast until you called. How about you?"

"Alessandra." he says in a warning tone and I sigh.

"Sorry to break it to you but we're not faking anything."

"Have you forgotten who you work for?"

I bristle slightly but continue calmly.

"My job has nothing to do with this. Many of our agents are married or in relationships."

"With other agents or regular people. Not the freaking Don of the Italian mafia."

"There's a first time for everything ,I suppose."

"Alessa, need I remind you that you have knowledge of highly sensitive information and being in bed with the head of the world's most powerful mafia isn't the best combination."

"Are you questioning my loyalty, Thomas?"

"What I'm saying is that my job is to protect the CCC no matter the cost."

I sense the underlying meaning and sit up straight, logging on to Luciano's computer.

"Check your computer."

"Excuse me?"

"Check your computer. I just sent you something."

I hear him tap on his keyboard before the line goes silent. Leaning back, I start fiddling with the pen again, enjoying the heavy silence from his end.

"Where did you get this?

"That's none of your concern. I'm gonna make you a deal, Thomas. From here on out, I cut all ties with the CCC and promise to never divulge any of my dealings over the years. In return, the CCC will leave me, Luciano and the Italian mafia alone. Should anything happen to any of us, that tape you just watched will be the least of your problems."

Long silence ensues and I hear Thomas sigh.

"I've trained you well." he says and I can hear the defeat yet respect in his voice.

"You have, which is why I don't want to go to war with you Thomas."

"Neither do I. You would have made a great successor for me., Alessa"

I scoff, "that was never going to happen, with or without Luciano."

"A man can only hope. Just answer me this, is he forcing you to do this?"

"No, god no. He's made me realise that I want so much more in life Thomas. Things that I've sacrificed for the job. I don't know what my future holds but I do know that I'm gonna start living for me."

"I'm proud of you. I know I've never told you this but I am. I knew you were a special one from the minute I saw you as a child."

I swallow the lump in my throat, "Thank you for everything Thomas. I mean it."

"Don't be a stranger. You may not work for me anymore but I will always be here for you."

"Take care Thomas."

"You too Alessa." He hangs up and I place the phone down. I don't know how long I'm zoned out for until a certain gaze sends tingles down my spine

I turn to the door to find him leaning against the closed door. It's just the two of us in the room. He doesn't make a move towards me, giving me my space, those grey eyes watching me carefully.

"I quit."

"I'm sorry baby." Sadness crosses his face and I shake my head, "Don't be. It was bound to happen."

"I know, but I'm the reason you've had to do it now. There's a spotlight trained on you because of me."

"First of all, I made the choice to go public with you. I didn't expect the attention to be this widespread, I admit but I knew what I was getting into. As for my job, I was tired of it, tired of that life. You made me realise that I was alive but I wasn't living. So, thank you. Thank you for making me know what it's like to have a family, to have friends. What it's like to be loved."

His eyes soften and he walks towards me, leaning against his desk in front of me and pulling me close.

"I should be thanking you amore. You've saved me, accepted me flaws and all. I don't deserve you angel, I really don't but I'm too selfish to let you go now."

"Then don't."

He smiles, leaning to down to place a scorching kiss on my lips.

"Have I told you how good you look in my chair?" he says with a sexy smirk on his lips and I giggle, I fucking giggle before continuing to kiss him.

A knock on the door pulls us out from our haze and Luciano curses.

"What?" he barks at the person, annoyed and the door opens to reveal Angelo and Luca.

"Sorry don but the Russians are here for our meeting."

Crap, I had totally forgotten about that. We were meeting with Nikolai and his men to finalise our plan to infiltrate and take down Connor in a few days.

"Show them to the meeting room. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Yes don." They shut the door and Luciano turns back to me, groaning.

"Nikolai has perfect timing."

I laugh at his words, standing up. Pointing at his bulging lower region, I smirk.

"You might want to do something about that, babe."

He looks down, letting out a string of curses as he adjusts himself, mumbling something about Nikolai being a cockblocker.

We enter the meeting room hand in hand. Nikolai takes one look at us before groaning.

"Does it have to be him, little one? Of the billions of people on earth, you choose this one?"

"Fuck off." Luciano growls, taking his seat at the head of the table.

"Play nice boys." I warn and Nikolai sends me a fake innocent look.

Luciano pulls out a chair for me, motioning for me to sit. I glance at him, eyes wide open at his gesture. Why, you may ask? Well, he pulled out a chair right beside his at the end of the table. It was common knowledge that only the Donna sat there, her rightful place beside the Don. Luciano offering me the seat meant more than I ever imagined-he was showing everyone that I was his equal, that I had just as much power as he did. He gazed at me tenderly, seeming to understand what was going through my head. Taking a deep breath, I take my seat, Luciano taking his beside me, holding our clasped hands on the table for everyone to see. Nikolai has the biggest grin on his face along with the others. I'm still reeling in shock so I maintain a neutral expression, staring straight at the screen in front of me. Luciano does the same, subtly squeezing my hand tenderly. "Let's begin."