Katerina De Luca

"Do you, Arosio De Luca, take Katerina Avery as your lawfully wedded wife?" the catholic priest questioned as Arosio stood in front of me, looking dangerously handsome in his black and white tuxedo. As soon as I confessed my feelings to Arosio on his private jet, we returned back home and decided to have our wedding that week.

The priests words tore me out of my thoughts as I heard him address me as 'Avery', making my brows furrow in confusion. Arosio caught that action and simply smirked at me as if he knew something that I didn't.

"Yes, for eternity," Arosio stated within seconds, a rare breathtaking smile on his face as he held my hands tightly in his. Little Elijah stood beside me, clinging onto the white material of my wedding gown with a bright smile on his adorable face.

"And do you, Katerina Avery, take Arosio De Luca, as your lawfully wedded husband?" I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I remained silent for a few seconds. Not because I don't want to, but because something felt like it was missing. Hearing the priest call me Avery made me miss my maternal grandparents even more.

It was a small intimate wedding, Arosio's family, and my two best friends, Ethan and Rylan were present. At first, Arosio refused to allow Ethan and Rylan to come due to his jealous nature but I managed to persuade him. Arosio's family wanted to have a grand wedding but I preferred something small and simple.

I wanted my grandparents to come too but they were still in Canada for grandpapa's recovery and grandmama wouldn't return any of my calls. It was Arsenio who walked me down the aisle of the luxurious hall, and even though I am extremely grateful, I still wish I had someone from my family here with me.

"Move, boy! My baby is getting married and I'll be damned if I miss it!" a familiar loud voice suddenly broke through the silent wedding hall as my gaze snapped over to the front entrance.

A gasp escaped my lips before I let go of Arosio's hands and covered my mouth in complete shock. Tears began to pour down my eyes once I witnessed grandpapa sitting in a wheelchair with grandmama pushing him towards us.

"Grandpapa! Grandmama! You...you...you're really here!" I cried out in joy and was about to run to meet them halfway but froze when Arosio held onto my hands once again.

"An early wedding gift for you, tesoro," Arosio smirked devilishly before laying a soft kiss onto the back of my hand. I barely had any time to process what he meant before grandpapa called out to me.

"What, you're not going to greet your grandpapa and grandmama?" grandpapa sulked with a sad expression on his face as they made their way towards us. I instantly ran to him and bent down to hug him tightly. We stayed like that for a few moments, the familiar scent of grandpapa made me feel safe like when I was a child.

Ever so slowly, I let go of grandpapa and reached out eagerly towards grandmama but my arms stopped merely inches away from her when her previous words rang in my ears.

She wouldn't want a curse like me to touch her...

"Oh my sweet, sweet baby," grandmama cried out before taking me by complete surprise and pulling me straight into her warm embrace. Her hands rubbed my back up and down gently and I could feel her hot tears fall on my shoulders.

"Grandmama was wrong, so very wrong. I was so worried about grandpapa and said so many hurtful things to you. Grandmama is so sorry for everything, please forgive me?" my mouth practically hit the floor in shock as I heard grandmama's apology and I couldn't help but cry out even harder.

"I missed you, grandmama, I missed you grandpapa. I called so many times but you never answered. I thought you wouldn't come," I sobbed out before hugging grandmama even tighter and refused to let go of her. I know she said hurtful things to me but she raised me for 24 years and cared for me like a mother would.

"I know, grandmama was wrong. I never answered your calls because I was too ashamed to speak to you. Thankfully, your husband sent one of his friends in Canada to speak with us and told us about your wedding. Your husband even paid for our flight back here," grandmama explained as I slowly let go of her and turned around to look at Arosio whose tender gaze had remained on me the whole time.

"Arosio..." I breathed out after a few moments of silence, not knowing how to thank this man for giving me back the only family I had ever known.

"Technically, I am not her husband yet. She hasn't said yes, right Father?" Arosio smirked mischievously towards me as the priest nodded his head and cleared his throat before addressing me again.

"Yes, I will repeat, do you, Katerina Avery, take Arosio De Luca, as your lawfully wedded husband?" Arosio held his hand out towards me but instead of taking it, I jumped straight into chest and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Yes, a thousand times yes," I screamed happily through tears and felt Arosio smile against my shoulder before kissing my head and wrapping his strong arms around me.

"I love you, Mrs. Katerina De Luca" Arosio whispered into my ear as the hall erupted into loud cheers and claps from both of our families.

"I love you too, Mr. Arosio De Luca," I whispered back through my happy tears, and meant every single word. The amount of happiness I feel today is something I will never forget, and it's all thanks to my loving husband.

"Miss! Miss! Wake up, we've arrived to the Los Angeles Union Train Station," my body lurched forward in shock before I took a deep breath and rubbed off the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead.

A dream... no... a nightmare?

What was once the happiest day of my life, is something I deeply regret now.

I wish I had never said yes to marrying that monster.

If I never said yes then I wouldn't have had to meticulously plan my escape for the past few months and run away as soon as Arosio left to board the flight to Italy with his family an hour ago.

Luckily, Nonno is a smart man and seemed to have known in advance what I was planning. I am not sure if he saw through my act or if he had spies in the De Luca mansion but he didn't try to stop me.

Instead, he sent the guards home for the night, stating that he wanted me to get fully rested for our flight in the morning and didn't want the guards making any noise at the De Luca mansion. Then he said goodnight to me and went to his bedroom to sleep but not before passing me a thick envelop with money in it.

"Non essere testardo, ne avrai bisogno per il mio pronipote," he stated with his thick Italian accent as I lowered my eyes down in guilt and slowly took the envelop out of his hand. He looked at me one last time before retiring to his bedroom for the night. (Don't be stubborn, you'll need it for my great grandchild).

"Miss? Hello? Are you even listening?" the taxi driver, a younger brunette haired man, waved his hand in front of my face as I snapped out of my thoughts and sent him an apologetic smile.

"Yes, I am so sorry. Here you go, thank you," I rushed out before handing him the money and made my way towards the trunk.

"You're welcome. Here, let me help you with your luggage, you shouldn't carry heavy things whilst pregnant," he stated before taking the luggage from my hand and placing it onto the cement ground.

My eyes widened in shock at his words and I instinctively pulled at the oversize black sweater I was wearing. It was three sizes bigger and I was hoping it would be enough to conceal my bump. But clearly, I was gravely mistaken.

"Ah, yes, thank you. Have a great evening," I mumbled before taking my grey suitcase from him and proceeding towards the train station.

Truthfully, I debated between taking a flight to another country and starting over fresh. I am now in my second trimester so it is safe to fly but I remembered how easily Arosio had found me when I tried to escape the last time by flying to New York to see Ethan and Rylan.

Thinking of how much power he truly has, I quickly realized that I would have to get more creative.

Which is why I chose this train station after a lot of research online and by asking the De Luca family's housekeepers about their travel experiences here. This station is not frequented as much since a new train station was recently built on the other side of town.

From the outside, it looked somewhat abandoned and the security cameras were barely functioning. But still, I took extra precaution and tucked my red hair into a black baseball hat with big sunglasses covering my eyes. I didn't want anyone on the cameras to recognize me.

This time, I am prepared.

I won't let him catch me and drag me back into his dark, cold world.

***

"Miss, I wouldn't recommend that whilst pregnant. Ya know, when I was carrying my baby girl, I avoided these kinds of things. They say the toxins in the hair dyes will seep through the scalp and harm the baby in your tummy, don't you know this?" the older African-American woman behind the cash register cautioned as my fingers quickly let go of the dark brown hair dye that I had taken out of my shopping basket.

It was currently a little past midnight and almost two hours since I ran away from the De Luca family mansion. Even though Nonno didn't stop me, I doubt he wouldn't have called Arosio and told him what happened.

These thoughts made me even more scared and frantic. I practically ran around every part of the grand train station in order to find a store open. There were few people in the train station at this time and I wanted to ask one of them if they saw a store opened but I couldn't bring myself to trust any of them. They could be one of Arosio's underlings for all I know.

After almost half an hour of searching, I finally found this small seven-eleven store that was still open and my plan was to dye my hair a dark brown color in the lady's room before my train takes off in an hour. I chose the furthest state from Los Angeles which is Texas and if my plan goes well, I'll be starting afresh in Texas tomorrow.

"Oh, um... I didn't know...I just..." I ranted nervously and pulled at my sweater that clearly failed yet again in its job of concealing my bump.

Before I could say anything else, the bell of the doors chimed, indicating that another client had entered. My eyes flickered over to the door for a brief second but it was enough to make all of the color drain from my face.

Two intimidating looking men dressed in black suits and sunglasses, stood at the front of the store and were scanning the area. Their builds were huge and muscular, with a snake tattoo peering out the collar of the blond man's shirt. Anyone could tell that their line of work was anything but decent.

As soon as their eyes landed on me, the darker haired man pulled out his phone and held it up in the air as if he was comparing something in his phone to me. My heartbeat increased tenfolds as I quickly turned back around to face the store owner and adjusted my black hoodie over my hat.

"Maa, don't scare her! There's no scientific evidence behind your hair dye theory anyway," her daughter suddenly appeared from the back room and placed her phone down before scanning the rest of my items.

Her mother said something back but I could barely hear her, all of my senses were heightened and focused on the two men who were slowly approaching the counter where I was standing. Their movements were steady and calculated, probably not wanting to raise any suspicions in front of the store owners.

"That'll be 25.96$, would you still like to purchase the hair dye, Miss?" her daughter questioned, as my panicked eyes snapped back to her before I shook my head and looked around the cash counter for something to protect myself with. There was candy, chocolate, and other random items.

"Please add these, here you go," I handed her the lighter and scissors I found on the side before quickly placing money on the counter and grabbing the bag. By now the men were only a few steps away from me and my heart was practically beating out of my chest.

Without wasting another second, I grabbed my luggage and shopping bag before practically sprinting out of the store. There were a few more people than before in the train station, making me smile in slight relief before I heard the store's door chime behind me, indicating that the two men had followed me out of the store.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw them standing at the back of the crowd, scanning the area for me. I willed my feet to pick up the speed and walk even faster, dodging the random people around me as I tried to get to a safer place. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the ladies restroom, making me release a sigh of relief before running into there instead.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" A young woman yelled as she watched me enter the bathroom and lock the door from the inside.

Ignoring her, I reached out to the nearest wall before slowly crumbling to the floor while holding my stomach and taking deep breaths. All of that running and panicking was beginning to take a toll on my body and I could feel the fatigue almost taking over.

"Oh no, are you okay? Should I call a doctor, Miss?" I could barely hear her voice and flinched back in fear when she knelt down in front of me and suddenly took my hand into hers.

"Relax, I won't hurt you, I'm only trying to help, okay?" she whispered softly before placing two fingers on my wrist and staring at the luxurious watch on her arm, probably taking my pulse.

My eyes were hazy as I blinked several times while trying to focus my gaze on her. Her long blonde hair caught my attention first before I met her beautiful light blue eyes and angelic face. There was something about her aura that made her seem both innocent yet a bit dangerous.

She looked to be about the same age as me, maybe a year or two older and I couldn't help but notice how she was also dressed in all black like me and had a black baseball cap on her head with only one suitcase beside the sink.

"Your pulse is steady now, keep taking deep breaths though. Here have some water too," she spoke gently before uncapping a bottle of water and handing it to me.

"Thank you, Miss. Are you a doctor?" I mumbled softly after placing the bottle back into her hand.

"Aha, no silly! My mom has a heart condition so I learnt how to take her pulse from a young age," she replied before standing back up and helping me off the ground.

"I see, I'm sorry to hear about your mum. Thank you for helping me, but I need to go now," I whispered back to her before swiftly turning around and was about to unlock the door but she caught my hand in a tight grip.

"Wait! Look I don't mean to be nosy, and I sure as hell am not in any position to help anyone, but are you sure you'll be okay? I work in the media industry and I've met with all kinds of people, something tells me that you're running from someone," my mouth parted in shock when I heard her words and more tears gathered in my eyes.

I'm so tired of lying and running away. I just want my normal life back.

"Please, help me, two men are following me. I just need to get to track number 9 on the other side of the station. The train is coming in less than an hour, I need to get on that train, please help me," I cried out while gripping onto her shoulders and meeting her steady gaze with my fearful gaze. I am not entirely sure why but something about her makes me feel safe and want to trust her. I feel like we are similar in some way but I don't know why.

"Don't worry, I'm also taking that train. Come with me, I promise no one will be able to cause you nor your baby any harm," she promised with a warm smile before taking my hand in hers and guiding me out of the bathroom.

Together, we began walking towards the other side of the train station. Every now and then, I would glance behind my shoulders to make sure that those two men weren't following us. Each time, the mysterious girl would squeeze my hand and send me a reassuring smile.

Within a few minutes, we reached the dark tunnel that led to the outdoor train tracks. I glanced at my watch and noticed that we had only half an hour till the train arrives. This train would only take me halfway, I would have to get off at the terminal after a few hours and take a bus the remaining way to reach Texas.

"Um, thank you again. I'm sorry I forgot to ask your nam--" I stated once we reached the main platform but was cut off by the young woman covering my mouth with her hands.

"Shh, be quiet. It's too empty, something's off here," she whispered while glancing around the cold, dark platform and instantly pushed me behind her when four figures emerged from behind the shadows of a pillar in the center of the platform.

"Well, look who decided to finally join us, Daddy. Now we can finally have our revenge on the bitch who made Arosio cripple you and had his guards beat me," my breathing almost left my body in its entirety when I recognized the chilling voice of my twin sister, Isabella Dale.

She was pushing father in his wheelchair towards us, the both of them looking in my direction with a disgusted expression while the two men who had followed me earlier were also with them. Without even realizing, I held onto the girls hand and tugged her back, wanting to run away with her but she simply turned her head to face me and gave me another reassuring smile.

"Oh, so you're the cowards who have been tormenting her? If I'm not mistaken, aren't you Samuel Dale, only heir of the prestigious businessman Arthur Dale? And you, you're the sole heiress of the Dale family, Isabella Dale, correct? I wonder what the media and public will say once everyone finds out that you are trying to harm a pregnant woman, " the girl took me by complete surprise as she recognized my family members and fearless confronted them. Isabella's eyes narrowed at her before she signaled the two men towards us.

"Get rid of her, we can't afford to have any witnesses. And bring me that stupid bitch sister of mine alive, I have some fun things planned before I kill her," Isabella spat out coldly as father smirked cruelly at me and the girl who was still standing in front of me, shielding me away from everyone.

"No! Please just go, run away to somewhere safe, I don't want you to get hurt because of me!" I tried to pull my hand away from the girl but she simply turned around and handed me her luggage instead.

"Here, hold onto this for me. Don't worry, it'll be over soon," she smiled another one of her angelic smiles that oddly made me feel safe before she turned around and faced the two approaching guards.

"C'mon, two against one? That's not fair! Oh well, I'll just have to knock both of your asses out," she giggled playfully, and I am not sure if she was aiming to provoke them or not but she succeeded in it.

The blonde haired guard scoffed at her remark before pulling out a knife and lunging towards her. I screamed to warn her but then noticed that she had already dodged his knife and punched him across his jaw, the force of it sent him to straight down onto the ground. The rest of us watched in shock as the girl didn't waste another second and immediately stole the guard's knife before plunging it deep into his thigh and ramming her knee up against his head, knocking him out within seconds.

"Whose next?" she questioned as she wiped her bloody hands on her shirt before flipping her blonde hair over her shoulders and sending the others a chilling smile.

"You bitch!" the dark haired guard yelled before running towards her with another knife in hand.

This time she let him get close to her before she expertly hit his wrist, making his grip falter on the knife before she swiped it off of him and swiftly jabbed it into his stomach. The guard cried out in pain on the floor as she pushed the knife in further before smashing his head against the cement, knocking him out within seconds as well.

"Enough! I told those bastards to use knives so that nobody would hear gunshots but you leave me no choice. I need that bitch to suffer and if I have to kill some nobody like you before I can get to her, then all the better," Isabella suddenly hissed out in annoyance before pulling a gun out from her bag and aiming it towards the girl.

"Watch out!" I screamed completely horrified and closed my eyes when I heard a gunshot. The girl staggered back, her mouth slightly parted in shock and I could see tears build up in her wide blue eyes as she clutched the side of her arm.

"Oh no, are you okay? We need to get to a hospital!" I reached out towards her but she simply smiled back at me and dodged my hands.

"It's fine, the bullet barely grazed my arm. How about that for a headline, the great Heiress Isabella Dale is the worst shooter," the girl let out a melodic laugh, as if she hadn't just been shot at by my twin sister.

"You bitch! How dare a nobody like you insult me? I'll kill you," Isabella screeched before pointing the gun at us again.

Before she could pull the trigger though, another gunshot came from behind us and went straight through Isabella's head, followed by a third gunshot straight through my father's head.

My legs gave out as I fell to the ground in complete shock, the pungent smell of their bloods filling my every sense and causing bile to rise up my throat.

"Ti ho trovata, la mia ragazza pazza," the dark, alluring voice of a man stated from behind us as I remained rooted to the ground and didn't dare look away from the dead bodies of my sister and father to see who was speaking.(I found you, my crazy girl)

"Cazzo! You're quite persistent, aren't you? I thought I made it clear that I want nothing to do with you, Saverio D'Amore," the girl hissed out in annoyance as I felt her gaze linger on me and her hands reached out to help me up but I flinched away from her. (Fuck)

Wait.

Did she just....

Did she just say....

SAVERIO D'AMORE?

As in Italy's Mafia boss and Arosio's best friend?

"Oh ragazza ingenua, aspetta che torniamo in Italia. Ti insegnerò a chi appartieni," the man stated darkly before he and two other pairs of feet made their way towards us. (Oh naive girl, wait till we go back to Italy. I will teach you who you belong to)

I begged my body to get up and run away but I was frozen on the ground, unable to move. The lifeless eyes of my father and sister stared back at me and held me hostage as I tasted the bile in my mouth now.

"Provami, cagna. Non sono qualcuno che puoi possedere, sono la mia persona," the girl, who I now realized is Aliana Coldwell, Arosio's step-cousin who ran away from her wedding, spat out in the direction of Saverio. (Try me, bitch. You cannot own me, I am my own person)

His terrifying laughter filled the empty station before he reached out and latched his fingers around Aliana's neck. My mouth fell open in pure shock as he smirked at her devilishly before squeezing even harder. She clawed at his fingers for a few seconds before falling limp into his arms.

"Imparerai, ragazza pazza. Ti farò accettare la mia proprietà della tua mente, corpo e anima," Saverio stated such horrifying words before lifting her up into his arms and turning around. (You will learn, my crazy girl. I will make you accept my ownership of your mind, body and soul.)

I remained completely still, barely breathing on the floor with my eyes widened as a chill shot up my back. My arms instinctively wrapped around my baby bump, in an effort to protect my unborn baby from this horrifying man.

This man...he...the way he killed my sister and father without any hesitation...without even knowing them....he's the real monster. You can practically feel and taste the bloodthirsty energy radiating off this man.

Compared to him, Arosio is...

Just as Saverio was about to walk off carrying Aliana, he turned back around and stared down at me. His eyes narrowed at my red hair that had fallen down earlier before another deep, chilling laughter escaped his lips.

"Oh, cosa abbiamo qui? Mia carissima cognata, moglie di Arosio De Luca, signora Katerina De Luca," Saverio mused aloud, his light green eyes shun with amusement as he smirked at me in a sinister manner that felt even scarier than Arosio. (Oh, what do we have here? My dearest sister-in-law, wife of Arosio De Luca, Mrs. Katerina De Luca)

Our eyes only met for a brief second but it was enough to make my body lurch forward and throw up all over his designer shoes.

Yes.

I just threw up all over Italy's infamous Mafia Boss, Saverio Fucking D'Amore.

***

Hello Lovely Readers,

Thank you for patiently waiting and sharing your opinions about the YouTube idea! I appreciate it! Here's an extra long chapter as a reward!

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