BASH My secretary stared at me as if she was seeing a ghost. "What?" I questioned her. "It is a simple question." "Sorry. Can you repeat it?" She asked me again. Impatience started to make its way inside me. Why no one in the world don't understand that I don't have enough time? I repeated my question to her. "On a scale of one to ten, how likely is a twenty-three-year-old woman like a nineteen-year-old boy who is shorter than her?" This time, I told her slowly so that she would not ask me to repeat it. "How does the boy look?" She asked me. I thought of Matteo. He looked like a kid to me. But his skin is flawless. "He has a glass skin," I tell her. She nodded her head, writing in her notepad. She writes everything in her notepad. "Is he muscular?" She asked. "He is thin." "What about the hair?" "Golden," I tell her, already getting annoyed by her questions. "Does he have ba
HANA “Eco Central Mall,” Mateo shouted, jumping like a kid. Shalini gave me her best puppy eyes which never worked on me before and never will. She added her pout to that. “Okay,” I agreed. “I will go.” They both hugged me at the same time. It’s Sunday evening for goddamn sake. Why would anyone want to go to a crowded place? Everyone does that for some unknown reason. Shalini and Mateo are so familiar with the Mall that they know every inch of it. I am sure I will get lost here even if I come here ten times. I observed all the people, some of them were enjoying their weekends or some were really shopping, and some were probably wasting money, I do not know. People in malls make me feel insecure. I started looking at my clothes and shoes. If I had been with my parents, I would not have worried about that. Now that I am barely saving any money, I spend less on my clothes. I never want to mingle in them anyway. I always avoided these thing
Bash I thought, knowing about the girl you like through her own words is decency and intimate. I had to change it now. I will have to hire a detective. Hana is far more complex than I imagined. I think she is still figuring out what she is. But her need to regard every man who showed a little kindness to be bad is beyond me. The world is black and white for her and I highly believe there is no white. She will not accept me if I say I'm simply helping her. She will not trust if a passenger is only trying to get her attention without posing any harm to her. She thinks like how I used to think before. If a person is good, then they are not really good. They have other intentions. "We should get drunk." Mateo who just found us in the middle of a street, suggested. "I really need a drink." Shalini agreed. But Hana shook her head. "I am not drinking. I have to go home." "I will drive you, home." I offered. Actually, I declared. "And why would
HANA I spent three years in a boarding school until I was sixteen. I used to look at my phone waiting for a call from my phone. Whenever I got a call, it was to inform me about an important event I needed to attend or it was to mention the name of the guard who was going to pick me up. I have two options. One is to become lonely and a depressed girl or to give zero fucks. My teenage was like that. Everything is at its extremes. But it's hard no matter how much I tried. My nightmares scared my roommates. Officially, I was the girl who was possessed. I was sixteen when my mom finally decided that I should go back to Seattle. I never liked my school. I was alone there, fighting my demons. That was the period when I hated every person in the world. I felt like the world owed me an apology for causing me this much pain when in reality it was the man who touched me and my parents who failed to trust me and take action. I didn't know at that time you were the only person who was there
HANA Shalini was staring at her phone for an hour now. Sometimes, she was angry, sometimes she was sad, and sometimes, she looked frustrated. "You alright?" I asked her, turning my chair towards her. She shook her head. "I texted him yesterday night. He hasn't replied yet." "Your boyfriend?" She nods her head. "He might be busy," I told her. I am not good at these things. I didn't have much experience when it came to relationships. I dated one guy in college, and it lasted for two months until he decided that I was not good for him. So the least I could do was listen to her. "It takes one minute to text, Hana. He is always on his phone. We don't even have much time difference. It's not even midnight in India. I don't know where it went wrong. Do you think it is because of the long distance?" She asked me. "Honestly, I can't say anything about that," I tell her. "It's not the first time he did it, Hana. Even when we were in India, his replies always came late. He is not cheatin
HANA I woke up to the pounding sensation in my head. The glare of the early sun swooped through my windows. I wished all the light in the world to be disappeared. Maybe my headache will go away. I don't know when the exhaustion of the night weighed me down, and I fell into a slumber. Apparently, it wasn't enough. But I had to drag myself to work even if I had to meet a certain someone who stood me up yesterday and a furious father who could kill me the moment his eyes landed on me. I looked at my phone. The light of it felt like a thousand needles prickling through my eyes. But I did it anyway. My call logs are flooded with missed calls from unknown numbers, and none of them is from Bash. It's my wishful thinking that he called me from another number. But I shouldn't care even if he didn't. He and I are nothing. The calls might have come from my other fraud loan apps or worse, from my mother. I expected my parents outside my apartment. They didn't show up, not y
HANA I sighed as he grabbed my arm to take me to his house. "Not now, Bash." I pleaded. "I am too tired." "Do you think I am joking around?" He growled. "No, Hana. You are staying at my home tonight." "I want to be alone." I protested. "Then stay alone at my house. ALONE. Because I will be leaving to kick your father's ass." I saw him joke around many times. But today he promised me in all his earnestness that he is going to pay my father back for what he did. "Why do you care?" I asked him, liberating my hand from his grip. God, it hurts to talk with a bruised cheek. He turned towards me, and his hands raised to cup my face before he realised I had a bruised cheek. He reluctantly withdrew one of his hands, while the other caressed my normal cheek with tenderness I didn't know he possessed. "Please," He urged with a desperate tone. "Come with me." I shook my head stepping back from him. Our proximity felt good. He is warm. Bu
HANA "Stop biting your nails. Your nails are chipped," My mom warned Violet. "Stop trying to control my every life moment," Violet yelled back at her. My mom stomped towards her and held her hand out. "Look at this. The maid's daughter looked better than you. I will send Alice. Get your nails done. Make yourself presentable at the wedding." "It's not my wedding." Violet tried to argue. "You are a Levine. You should look like a Levine, not like a beggar." My mom threw a glance at me. She hasn't said a word since I returned. Somehow, I got the impression that I made her uncomfortable. Maybe if I were a normal person, I would get uncomfortable too when a person next to me doesn't react and simply stares into the air, thinking what it would be like if the world ended. "Why am I the only one receiving orders? What about her?" Violet's chipped-nailed finger pointed at me. My mom shook her head in disbelief and walked out of the room assigne
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