ELAINE "You'll put on a little show for me. Take your clothes off and touch yourself. I want to see you come."To say I was shocked by Giovanni's order would be the understatement of the year.I knew he was bringing trouble as soon as he kicked my door in and stormed his way inside, but I would've never thought he'd insist on this.Even though common sense and propriety told me to call his bluff and run as fast as I could, my traitorous body was excited at the prospect of being naked in front of him. For him.I couldn't deny that despite the bitter spat we were currently in the middle of, his staring at me with those devilishly hooded eyes inflamed my red-hot attraction for him that I thought I'd buried all those years ago.Insanely embarrassed by where my thoughts were going, I reached behind me and drew down the zipper of my skirt.By then, I'd managed to quell my tears. There would be no more weeping for today."You can do this, Elaine," I muttered to myself before I let go of my
GIOVANNI This woman was going to be the death of me.I'd once again underestimated how powerfully seductive she was.I'd gone to her apartment intending to get my money, and one look at those doe eyes made me lose my composure and all control over my dick.I just had to have her.Although she protested at touching herself in front of me, I was pleasantly surprised to see she did it without much coaxing from me.And Dio mio, (my God) was it a breathtaking sight to behold.Watching Elaine with her head thrown back, moaning in pleasure, felt like injecting coke straight into my veins. I almost came right there without even touching my dick. I knew that image would forever be burnt into my memory, no doubt coming out to torture me at night."Good day, passengers. This is Captain Gregg speaking. Please fasten your seatbelts as we begin our ascent." The pilot's voice over the speaker brought me out of my reverie.We were in the soft, warm interior of my private plane on our way to Paris, w
ELAINEWe landed in Paris about an hour ago and were driving through the vibrant streets of Paris on the way to Giovanni's house.I hadn't known this was our destination until we pulled up to the gated estate. As we drove, I stared in awe at the stunning mansions we passed.I was grateful Giovanni had opted to take a different car and leave me with his two buff bodyguards. It allowed me to openly feel the awe from seeing such magnificence that was obviously all over my face.I noted armed guards in black patrolling every giant house we passed. Living here must cost a fortune. No wonder Giovanni owned property here. Just another reason to flaunt his massive wealth.Mixed feelings of anger and giddiness enveloped my stomach as his name popped into my head. The man blew hot and cold, and it was confusing the hell out of me.One minute he was sweet as pie, comforting me when the roar of the plane terrified me, showing me that he was capable of tenderness. The next moment he was brushing m
GIOVANNIThe car lurched to a stop, and jerked my eyes open.I could feel the three glasses of vodka I'd had at my meeting, but I wasn't drunk. I couldn't afford to be for what was waiting for me tonight.The car stopped just outside the mansion's doors, and I stepped out with Stone by my side. The world swayed for a minute, but after a second, I was stable."Are you still going to check out the problem at the club, sir?" the guard asked.I waved his question off. "We'll take care of that problem tomorrow. Right now, my sweet bella is waiting for me in bed. I won't miss that for the world."Stone smirked and crossed his arms. "At this hour? She might be asleep, padrone. (Boss)."I sent him a glare before heading up the stairs and through the threshold of the mansion. Ignoring everything else, I climbed the spiral staircase and straight down the silent hall to Elaine's door."Cazzo!" I cursed as I tried the handle, and it didn't budge. It was locked.It pissed me off she had the nerve
ELAINEFear.That's all I feel when Giovanni mentions my little boy. My sweet little boy.“I don't know what game you're playing, Giovanni,” I stammered through my wildly beating heart. “But you need to leave my son out of it.”“Then you need to comply,” he growled. “So that doesn't happen. Follow my instructions like the good little toy you are, and we won't have any problems.”Unshed tears burned in the back of my eyes. That wasn't nearly as painful as swallowing my pride and nodding my agreement. “Okay, fine. Whatever you want. Just leave my boy out of this.”When he threatened my little boy, I had no other choice but to concede and do what he said. He started to undo the delicate little buttons holding the pink nightie I was wearing together. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. They broke free and slipped down my face.As Giovanni worked, I hated how my body responded to his every touch. My nipples hardened and strained at the fabric of the nightie, begging for attention from h
ELAINE It had been three days since that first night of our arrangement. As Giovanni had told me, a nice-looking female doctor had stopped by. While she was pleasant and smiled throughout, getting her to say much was impossible while she worked on me with cold, robotic hands. She checked me for infections—telling me what I already knew about being clean—and injecting me with a short-acting contraceptive that'd last the duration of our arrangement. When she was done with me, I tried to discreetly ask about Giovanni's sexual health. All she would give me in her halting English was that he was clean. After the doctor's visit and the green light to have unprotected sex, it seemed Giovanni's sex drive became insatiable. We had sex all through the night and again the next night when he returned from wherever he went in the daytime. As usual, after we both came, he'd get up, clean himself up and leave me be. Any form of intimacy we had during sex diffused quickly. He'd leave me for th
GIOVANNI“Sì papà, (yes father), I’ve seen to the shipment myself,” I told my father on the phone. “There was a slight delay, but everything is on track to arrive this week.”My father started in fast Italian, but I tuned him out as my office door opened and Elaine and Butch entered.My French secretary, Julie, looked up from her tablet and scowled at the interruption.My eyes locked with Elaine's blue ones, and a smirk formed on my face as she glared at me.My dick twitched as she took a defiant pose in front of me with her arms folded. Her beauty was somehow enhanced when she was angry.She was still fully clothed, and I hadn't touched her, but already my dick was ready for action.Eager to get to business, I nodded to Butch for him to take his leave. Getting my non-verbal message, Butch gave a nod of assent and retreated outside. With my father still going strong in his tirade, I turned to the only other person in the room: Julie.“Ce sera tout. Tu devrais y aller maintenant, Julie
ELAINEThe hard oak of the office table was digging into my chest. Still, I could care less about the discomfort because Giovanni was pounding into my core from behind and releasing wave after wave of pleasure.I tried to keep my moans inside, but it felt so good I had no control over them, and they slipped through my clenched mouth.My body proved to be forever traitorous as it enjoyed everything Giovanni to me, even when deep down, that's the last thing I wanted.A tear involuntarily slid down my face as I moaned when Giovanni thrust deeply. Deep in his pleasure, he muttered a few words I couldn't catch but sounded Italian.My mind repeated what he said earlier as I sniffled back the rest of the tears.He’d called me a worthless little thing and told me that besides Lia and Adrian, I had no one in this world.The fact that there was nothing but truth in those words hit me like a ton of bricks, and I had to bite my tongue to keep the sob in my throat.Unfortunately, I was too slow,
ELAINE “Please, God, please don’t take him away from me…Don’t take my baby away from me…”Perched on the edge of the hospital bed, I felt the weight of exhaustion press down on me as I rocked back and forth, murmuring fervent prayers for my little boy.As I pray, I'm reminded of the saying: God doesn't give us more than we can handle. But that’s bullshit. Because there was no way I could handle the utter chaos my life had devolved into.Everything I touched or involved me seemed doomed to fail—from almost being kidnapped, Giovanni’s brewing trouble, and now my son. I was just so tired.I was tired of the constant cycle of trouble, which I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to outrun.Hands shaking, I reached out to touch him, my fingertips trailing gently across his forehead to the tip of his nose before I settled my hand between his shoulder blades. My heart ached as I leaned forward and gently kissed his soft cheek.“Oh, sweetie. I’m so sorry,” I whispered, a lone tear falling. “I’m sor
GIOVANNIThe tiny clock on my desk chimed, indicating it was now 7 a.m.That meant that I was now up for fourteen full hours, but I hardly felt it. Partly because I was running on frustration and a healthy amount of whiskey.It seemed like, in the last few hours, I had spoken to every single person in Paris. Shaking anything shakeable in the hopes that some helpful information would drop out. But as if the universe was conspiring against me, I got absolutely nothing. On top of that, my father had been calling nonstop, obviously looking for answers that I didn’t have.I groaned and pulled at my hair in frustration. It stung, but I welcomed the pain. I probably looked awful right now, but I didn’t give a fuck.A sharp rap at the door shattered the tense calmness of my office, jolting me from my weary reverie. Irritation prickled at my senses; who dared disturb me at such an ungodly hour? I knew it wasn’t Stone. He’d been in and out of my office this morning—albeit with no answers of his
ELAINEIf someone had told me a year ago that this would be my life now, I would’ve laughed my head off. Back then, I wasn’t by any stretch of the word comfortable, but I was safe, and most importantly, I had my little boy.Now, I had neither safety nor Adrian, and it felt like my entire life had no meaning or purpose.The door to my room swung open, making me stand up from the bed. Mrs. Jacques, who’d been in the room with me, stood up, too.Giovanni, Billy, and Butch entered, and I waited with bated breath as they walked in, dreading what they were about to tell me.It’d been a particularly torturous few hours. I’d paced every inch of this room and cried what felt like buckets as I tried Lia’s phone over and over. But there was nothing. The call just kept going to voicemail.A gnawing sense of dread had settled deep within me, an ache that resonated throughout my entire being. It was a feeling I knew all too well—my body’s instinctive response to Adrian’s distress. I couldn’t ration
ELAINE“Hi, baby,” I greeted my son as Lia handed the phone to him.I’d been talking to Lia through FaceTime, and we were just through catching up. Now I was speaking to my son.He sat in the back seat of the car, dressed in his everyday clothes: a comfortable T-shirt featuring one of his beloved cartoon characters, SpongeBob SquarePants, paired with denim jeans speckled with patches that were no doubt from his adventures on the playground. Blue was right next to him. The blue dinosaur looked like he had acquired a few new wear marks since I last saw him.“I miss you so much, baby,” I told him.“You too, mama,” he answered. I had called right when they were on their way back from the grocery store.The sun had finally set on this utterly unbearable day, and so far, chatting with my son was the only bright spot.Security at the mansion had been at an all-time high, and nobody was saying anything about what was happening or why the atmosphere felt so charged.I hadn’t seen Giovanni all
GIOVANNIAfter what I witnessed today I was sure my already fucked up mind would get even more twisted. More damaged. Stone and I were en route to our cocaine depot, where our shipment had been hijacked.I gazed out the window, but it was all a blur. We’d just finished examining the exploded warehouse, and the scene would forever be etched into my mind.The warehouse lay in ruins, a hellish inferno that seared its image into my soul. The air reeked of scorched flesh. Amidst the charred debris, the twisted remains of my comrades lay, their bodies unrecognizable, consumed by flames that left nothing but grim reminders of my enemy’s brutality.The scene was a nightmare of charred rubble and billowing smoke, where the flames had ravaged with such ferocity that all traces of the building’s existence were destroyed. Only the ghostly outline of its foundation and scattered remnants of a roof and wall told the story that it was ever there. Among the devastation lay the remains of my comrades
ELAINESilence.That was all that was between us now. Just silence.We were in the car heading toward the mansion, and Giovanni hadn’t uttered as much as a word to me.That didn’t mean he was altogether quiet. Oh no, every five minutes or so, his phone would ring, and he’d pick it up, barking orders at whoever was on the other end.I had no idea what was happening because he had mostly spoken in Italian, and I wasn’t fluent in it. I caught a few words here and there, but it wasn’t enough to get the full picture of what was happening.Besides that, he never spoke to me, and it was starting to make me uneasy.I didn’t understand what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t good. His anger was practically radioactive as he sat beside me, and I didn’t know if I was unknowingly contributing to his bad mood.I couldn’t help but compare this Giovanni to the one last night who was so vulnerable, compassionate, and warm. He’d held me gently, stroked my face, and caressed me in a way a real lover w
GIOVANNIWhen I opened my eyes, the sun was on full blast, throwing warmth and light through the expansive hotel room.The entire room was in disarray, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.Still asleep with the white sheets barely covering her curvaceous body was Elaine. My arms were wrapped snugly around her as she slept without a care in the world.As I removed a lock of dark hair that’d fallen across her face, I realized that this was the first time I’d spent an entire night in her bed and woken up with her. It was my usual practice to leave right away or send her out.What’s more? This was also the first time that I’d slept without being plagued by the recurring nightmare that haunted my sleep. It was a nightmare stemming from one of the worst days of my childhood. The day that changed me completely and shaped the man I am today.I could still remember it like it was yesterday.Her pain-filled screams for mercy, the bang of the gun as the bullet was delivered straight into he
GIOVANNI“Nothing much. I’m trying to be there for you just like you’ve been there for me.”I’d been through a lot of dangerous shit and stared death down numerous times, but never in my life had one single sentence unnerved the hell out of me.My indecision and shock caused me to freeze as Elaine’s arms remained firmly wrapped around me.I looked at the smooth, creamy skin of her arms. For a second, I was tempted by the idea of accepting what she freely offered—to give into the vulnerability I was feeling deep down.But it was only for a second before I snapped out of it.Laughing, I drank some more whiskey.“Don’t be stupid, Elaine,” I told her as I tried to free myself from her hold.It was futile. She only tightened her arms. “I’m not letting go.”I let out a hiss at how unwaveringly stubborn she could be, but otherwise, I stopped trying to remove her.Silence descended between us, only our breaths punctuating the air.I took this quiet time to make some plans. I needed to contact
ELAINEWhen I opened my eyes again, all I felt was a dull ache in my head and the need to pee.I sat up and tried to take stock of my environment.Confusion quickly flooded me as I took in the empty bed and the rest of the dimly lit room.I tried to recall what had happened prior to waking up, but I was drawing blank and increasing the ache in my head.I squinted to try to make out any details about the room, but everything was unfamiliar.My gaze landed on what looked like a vanity. On top of it was something sparkly. Through the faint sliver of light from the sliding doors that seemed to lead to a balcony, I could make out the shape of the diamond pendant that Giovanni had given me.All at once, the memories came flooding back.Leaving Giovanni’s mansion, the party, the gun pressed to me as a man forced me into the Jeep and the accident.I gasped in fright as my hands immediately flew to my neck and wrists, feeling for bruises. In the insufficient light I couldn’t see anything. I co