8
It had been so many years since I saw her beautiful face.
Even though her back was turned to me earlier…
I should have known it was her when I saw her wild, bright red hair as she talked to Riccardo.
She looked hotter than ever.
Her lips plump and juicy…
With her thick thighs, curvy hips and her beautifully sculpted body.
I loved meat on my women…
And Sofia looked good enough to fucking eat.
I loved how she always colour-coordinated her clothes to match her hair colour.
Just looking at her was a huge turn-on.
The relationship that I had with her was short…
Fast.
Cut off too soon…
But every part of it was real.
I never really knew why she left me.
She left a hole in my heart when she did…
It was like she disappeared off the face of the Earth.
I tried so hard to find her…
For years and years.
Kicking and screaming.
Turning the world upside down.
Begging my brothers, Pedro, Iglesias and Donte to help me…
But I eventually gave up.
I lived a criminal, dangerous life, with my family's involvement in the Mafia…
So I thought that she was better off without me, anyway.
5
sofia
As I looked at Arturo, my heart started beating wildly.
It felt like I was hallucinating.
I hadn't seen him for years.
Since university…
After my parents forbade me from seeing him.
Forced me to cut ties with him.
I couldn't believe he was really here…
Right before my eyes.
What the hell was he doing here?!
I could feel all of the repressed feelings and emotions that I shared with this man push back to the surface.
And my heart was throbbing.
I began trembling…
Unable to comprehend it.
Unable to comprehend that this was actually happening.
It felt like I was about to burst into tears.
I knew I couldn't stand here with him a minute longer.
I wouldn't be able to talk to him without crying.
Trying to explain to him the real reason why I cut him off all those years ago…
The real reason I stopped seeing him…
Disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Besides…
I had a husband at home.
I didn't want to be caught dead with my ex-boyfriend.
My husband was an influential man.
We were both very rich…
And if somebody caught me here…
Talking to another man…
My husband Bruce would never forgive me for it.
I bolted away from him as fast as my legs could carry me.
My heart in my throat.
My mouth feeling dry.
Unable to get a word out.
Unable to compose a sentence.
I felt numb.
Hollow.
Broken.
Torn.
6
arturo
My eyes burned into her back as she left. It felt like my chest was constricting, and I was struggling for air. I could feel my eyes well with tears.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t fucking breathe.
“What the fuck was all that about?” Riccardo shouted behind me, as he joined my side.
As I continued to watch Sofia run away from me…
Slipping away through my fingers.
Like she was a figment of my damn imagination.
“Why did she run away?” Riccardo asked. “I mean, I know you're ugly, bro.” He cracked up with laughter. “Didn't think she'd run away from you because of that, though.”
I balled my hands into fists, seething.
My blood boiling to the point it almost fucking dried up.
“It's her!” I shouted.
“Who?” Riccardo denied, furrowing his eyebrows.
I turned around to face him, my eyes burning into his, welling with tears.
Unable to handle my emotions.
Unable to hide my hurt.
Unable to hide the pain written all over my face.
“Sofia Martinez?!” Riccardo breathed, his voice dropping to barely below a whisper.
“Yeah,” I murmured. “After all these years…” I trailed off my sentence, my head clouding with the thought of her. Her beautiful face etching itself into my memory. Our heated moment replaying itself over and over to myself like a form of motherfucking torture, before she ran away… “I finally found her.”
Riccardo hesitated, but then the words tumbled out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.
“And she's married.”
“What?!”
I could feel my blood run cold, as I felt my world come crashing down on me from a million different directions at once.
My life was over.
My life was fucking over.