HANA I haven't heard from Enzo again. It's like he has disappeared from this planet. The more I think about it, the more suspicious I have become. Seb yawned, raising his hands in the air and looked around. His eyes found mine, and he stared at me for a while. I leaned into the cradle and smiled at him. "Hi, Junior," I whispered, gently touching his nose with my finger. He looked at my fingers in wonder. He has been doing that a lot, staring at his little fists and mine. His umbilical cord fell off two days ago. He started to make little noises, and he started to recognise me. I would be lying if I hadn't felt proud of myself as though I had a lifetime achievement. "It's just you and me, now." Seb cooed in return. "I will take it as a yes then." I started to record everything he did so that Shalini wouldn't miss a thing when she woke up. My heart aches for her. No matter what happens, she can't turn the time back and be with Junior. I wanted her to know
HANA The maid who brought my Seb took us out of the room where we stayed till now. I jerked my hand away from her. Seb hasn't woken up from his sleep yet and I don't know if it is a good thing or not. "Where are you taking me?" I asked her. She said something in Italian. We passed through a dark hallway with bold wallpaper and abstract art decorating the emerald walls. In what looked like a living room, an older man in a three-piece suit sat on an eight-seated leather couch, his legs crossed and one of his hands stretched on the top of the sofa. His eyes are sea-green, just like Bash's. Except for the few wrinkles on his face and the grey hair, everything about screamed one thing- Bash's father, the monster Rose wrote about. They are so similar from head to toe. I swallow a gulp in my throat. What is Bash doing with this man? Behind him stood a guy probably in his late thirties. He has a twisted smile on his face, and he gives me creeps. On the o
HANA "She would do good at Wildwood??" I stared at the men before me in pure horror. I know self-defence. But there's no way I can outdo them, not with Seb in my hands. He started to stir. It's high time he wakes up from his nap. He would start to cry and it would make things only worse. "She is not to be touched," Bash said in a controlled mechanical voice. Yet, hope bloomed inside my chest. He will help me. I still couldn't believe that he didn't feel anything for me. Of course, he doesn't. If he did, he wouldn't have done what he had done in the first place. I don't know what should I be terrified of- at Bash or at men who casually assessing if I would fit in one of their brothels or not? "I will not let you put a woman in brother for spreading her legs on my bed." I heard Bash said to his father. I close my eyes, trying not to be affected by his words and already grieving them all at the same time. He left leaving me all alone with these men. H
HANA I finally held my Seb, not because he was crying, not because he was afraid. He is still asleep after Bash coaxed him into sleep. I hold him because I need something to hold on to. Bash made a few phone calls. Someone, wearing a black mask came into the room and cleaned the mess I had made. Even Greta was a part of it. She glared at me. But she carried out Bash's orders perfectly. His actions were robust. An hour passed, and the room became as good as before. It didn't look like a place where someone was killed. It is as clean as before. I didn't know how. Because there are only things three that played in my mind; me under him, Bash above him, slashing his throat, and Seb crying alone on the bed. "Hana, snap out of it." Bash's words brought me back to reality. I focused on his eyes, watching the concern for the first time in a year and a half. "You don't know anything. You didn't do anything. Nothing happened here, and you didn't even get out of the room. Print these words
HANA I watch as three angry faces stare at me. I focused on only the person in the wheelchair. I wanted to tell so many things, show so many videos, and need to vent out a lot. All I could say was, "I am sorry." "She is bedridden for another month. But she wouldn't listen." Mateo whispered in my ears. An old woman whom I saw in one of the pictures Shalini posted years ago, stood behind Shalini, her grip on her wheelchair tightened with every passing second. "They are her parents. They saw a photo of us it seems. They won't stop crying about how he looked so much like their lost son." Mateo explained. I nodded my head as Shalini looked at her mother and the woman immediately took Seb from my hands. The couple looked at him in awe as Shalini's eyes teared up at Seb. She caressed her cheek, lovingly. How I wanted to see them like this in the last three months now. "He looks so much like Sebastian." Her mother whispered. I tried hard not t
HANA "Delirdin mi? Git ve ölecek başka bir Kamyon bul?" (Have you gone mad? Go find another truck to die.) The truck driver yelled at me. He did pull over instead of running over me. But Ahmet was fast. "Daha hızlı olmalıydın." (You should have been faster). I countered. "You realise that it is your fault, right?" Ahmet pinned me with his stare. I hate how I have to lift my head to look at him. It's not the lifting I hate though. It is a fact that the person before me was not Bash but someone of the same height. The driver cursed under his breath and climbed back into his truck. The engine roared to life, and he left. "It is not a movie. The driver had stopped his Truck." I tried to defend. But Ahmet gave that look again, a look that I used to give to spoiled little brats at the parties my mom forced me to attend. "Care to explain why you pulled a stunt like that?" He asked me. "Care to explain why are you guardi
HANA It's funny how I thought I forgot how I used to feel when I was with him. But memories flooded into my mind again. The pillow he threw at me because I was using my phone instead of sleeping, the mug he used to drink coffee on my bed while staring out of the window, the warmth around my ankle when he held it to check the shoe size, the way the corner of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, the way he raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his face with his sleeves and every little thing came back to me, striking me like a hurricane and swept me to the world where we were together, walking hand in hand. I wasn't just happy then. I was free. I felt young. I felt someone who was in her twenties, and I felt valued. This world and life made sense with him by my side. I shouldn't be so co-dependent like that. But for someone who resented everything and everyone in the world, Bash made a difference. Now I realized why he acted the way did in our final days. Every touch
HANA Bash pinned me with the same cold stare he gave me the last time we met. Even in that coldness, I found comfort in his green eyes, green like the ocean, like a forest, like home, like the universe, my universe. "Mr. Merrick. Good morning." I gave him my best professional smile. Dhalia smiled, tucking the strands of her blond hair behind her ears. "She is Hana Levine. I think you should be acquainted with each other since she will be replacing me starting next month." She waited, interlinking her hands together while moments passed as Bash and I stared at each other. His eyes hardened as he stared at the chain around my neck. My maroon blouse has a boat neck with the chain tucked inside it. For others, it would be a normal chain. But Bash knows its significance. Dhalia cleared her throat to gain attention. Bash averted his eyes from my chain and focused on Dhalia. "You are fired." He tells her and goes back to doing what he had been doing; typ
BASH There's going to be a war and that's not the end of it. I am sure whatever breathtakingly stupid reason compelled Alessandro to kidnap Colton's daughter is going to cost all of us. When I looked at the girl who was hardly nineteen or twenty years old, sitting quietly in the corner of the room, feigning courage, all I could think was how familiar her eyes were, just like my bee's. "Why the hell did you bring her here?" I questioned Sandro. "We caught Romero. Her father tried to kidnap Mateo and failed miserably. It's a tit for tat." "Colton failed because I was there. I don't think it's a good time to play tit for tat." The girl in the corner sniffled, catching our attention. I walked to her slowly so that I wouldn't startle her. She shifted where she sat. "What's your name?" I asked her gently. "Luna." "Hana and Luna. Sisters indeed." Vincenzo commented for the first time. That's when the girl named Luna who was Hana's half sister
HANA "I couldn't walk," I complained, sprawling across the bed. "You don't have to." Bash placed a chaste kiss on my cheeks before buttoning his shirt. After I asked him to marry me last night, Bash brought me straight home. We couldn't even make it past the front door before he was inside me, his thrusts urgent and intense. He took me on every flat surface. It felt like a sex marathon. I didn't know when I passed out after coming multiple times. When I opened my eyes again, he was inside me, his hands caressing my head. I was so satiated but when he looked at me with those intense green eyes, I begged him to take me again, my pussy hot and throbbing just for him, for my man, for my Bash. As a result, I can't even pee because my pussy feels like it's burning. Oh, God. It will hurt like a bitch for the next two days. But last night was incredible. That's all that matters. Watching him roll his sleeves, revealing the veins on his muscular hand made me hot and bo
HANA For Bash, to talk like an adults with me is him being inside me. I joke about it all the time, and I even got annoyed when he did that when we were discussing the most important decisions in our lives. But now, I missed that feeling of being filled up and conversing. I should have cherished them when they last. I shouldn't have avoided them before. Now the fear of losing that kind of bond gripped me. Now, he is sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to me when he asked me what happened in my old apartment. Now we are discussing like real adults when my body and heart craved what he attuned them to. I told him everything Jonathan disclosed to me. With every truth, his back stiffened and I fought the urge to reach out to him. A long whelming silence followed after I completed speaking. After what felt like an eternity, he got up and paced back and forth in the room. "So, Colton is your fucking biological father? He raped my mother, Hana. He abused her and drove her t
HANA I used to think that this life could not break me more than it already has. I am wrong. I always am. It can become worse and worse. I didn’t expect my dad, I mean Jonathan to show up at my old apartment. When I looked at him, I didn’t see him. I saw that hand raise to slap, I heard the yelling, I saw the shards of glass on the floor, and I heard the fights between my parents. That’s all he has ever been to me, a trauma. “You are making a mistake, Hana.” That’s the first thing he said to me. It’s either I am a mistake or I am making a mistake, never a how are you? I can’t blame him though. He lost the investment because I ran away from the marriage. I sucked in a breath, carefully taking a step back. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?” An ugly smirk spread over his lips. “Your boyfriend isn’t that powerful, Hana. He cannot stop me. He cannot stop Colton.” My father is many things, but he never ever trembled before someone. He has too much pride to admit that
BASH I had a text message from her an hour ago saying she was going to her apartment to pick up some things. I called her immediately. She picked after the third ring. “Bash, can I call you again? I am in the middle of something?” She immediately said, her voice was breathy. “Where are you? Are you alone?” She paused and lied, “Yes. I came to pick up some things. I will call you later.” Then she hung up on me, making me ball my fists. SHE LIED TO ME. My chest rose and fell in erratic bursts, each breath heavier than the last at what I’ve learned till now. My fists clenched and unclenched at my sides. I look at David for one last time before stomping out. “Nice,” Sandro commented from behind. “If there’s anyone who can do that she is the one.” With a sudden, fierce motion, I grabbed his collar, yanking him off balance and slamming him hard against the brick wall. “What the hell are you implying?” Sandro’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. “I wonder what makes you lose
BASH “What do we have here?” I asked Sandro who was clearly amused with me for god knows what. “You do realise that this isn’t a corporate meeting, momma boy?” Marco commented with a smug face. They are all wearing black as if it’s s uniform. But they gave me the vibe of goons in movies who nods their head to whatever a stupid villain says. I’ve just arrived from a meeting with Mr. Sato whom these idiots couldn’t know. It’s a waste of time to explain anyway. “You do realise that I can buy your men with this suit right?” I commented back. Marco sneered. “You can’t buy anything with money.” “Says the guy who failed to protect a kid and who kills for the very same money.” Honestly, everything these guys do is to gain some extra money in illegitimate ways. Although that could be wrong for men like Elio, Sandro and Vincenzo. It’s not just money they want. They thrive on bloodshed, power and control which are useless without money in my opinion. Marco raised his voice
HANA Calling him clingy is an understatement. He wouldn’t let me out of our bed for a second. All the food was served in my room. It’s been 24 hours since I had gone downstairs. 24 hours of blissful sex, food, chatter, laughter, and sleep. For a second, I wished the time to stop here at this second. I hop out of the bed, stretching my hands. I didn’t notice where he came from. In one swift motion, he tossed me on the bed, with him above me. “You are not going anywhere.” He says, grinding his hardness against my pussy. Less than thirty minutes ago, he was inside me, chasing his orgasm. But my need for him started to grow with every passing second. Wetness pooled between my legs. I don’t have the panties on. My shirt rode up when he tossed me on the bed, leaving me exposed for his sweet torture. “I am sore...Oh my gosh...” I didn’t get to complete the sentence before before he slide inside me. My eyes rolled back, my lips parted with the fullness. “You
BASH “We need you here.” “Hey, hi, Marco. Good morning. How are you?” I drawled, sitting on the couch in my living room. “That’s how humans converse nowadays. Oh, I forgot. You aren’t one of them.” “He he he. Very funny, Cillian. I would have laughed if it was a good joke.” “I wasn’t joking,” I told him as a matter of fact. I heard him sigh from the other end and muttered something under his breath. If it was any other person, he wouldn’t have let that go easily. “We need you here. We brought someone for questioning from the Matri,x, and I have no fucking clue why Sandro thinks it would be better if you were here. You are the Capo’s son after all.” He muttered something inaudible and I’m sure he took it as an insult to make me involved in his torture session. But, I got the underlying message. Sandro always wanted me to be involved in their so-called regular lives to prove a point – that I’m not capable of being their Capo. This is true, why be a capo when I can
HANA "What the ....oh my god! How did you find me again?" I looked at Seb who was glued to Bash's leg, and tried hard to climb over him. "He is coming out of nowhere. He either wants my leg to climb up or my thumb to suck. Did you see this?" Out of these two, Bash was more complaining. I shook my head laughing at him. He likes to think that he is not good with kids but I think he would make a great partner in crime with the said kids. "How about we come to an understanding? You make a sound before you attack my leg because I'm scared that I'll hurt you. He feels like a pillow." "He can't understand that, Bash," I told him as a matter of fact. "Oh, he understands everything just fine." "He is just seven months old." "Really?" He took out his phone and showed it to the junior. "You want it?" He asked our Seb and he eagerly threw his hands up to reach the phone. "See. He understands what he wants to understand." Shalini watched everything sil