Chapter one. Six months ago. Nala. I woke up from my sleep from the loud noises in my room. I slowly opened my eyes and I saw my father storm into my room angrily and he started throwing my clothes on the bed. Completely in shock, I immediately sat up wondering what was going on when he grabbed my arm roughly pulling me off the bed. He dislocated my arm in the process and I shrieked in pain as tears started running down my eyes. I looked up at him in pain trying to see if his face gave away anything about what was happening but his face was expressionless and a little irritated. "You are leaving today Nala." he finally said tossing my already in pain body on the ground as he pulled out my suit case. "Pack up all your stuff and come to the dining room in the next twenty minutes. And you better hurry up." he said before he stormed out of the room. He is usually grumpy and always uses any opportunity to mishandle me but this was different. It was a lot more than his usual disgust
Chapter Two. Nala. Present. It was amazing how fast a pregnant woman could run with the right motivation, and I was very motivated to get away from Salvatore. I bolted into the kitchen, barely avoiding one of the runners and i winced when the Chef roared his displeasure.'Pregnant women do not belong in my kitchen. Go, go! Get out!' Of course, that same ornery chef slipped me a meal at the end of my shifts eachnight. Not one from the menu, but a dish he prepared just for me. The baby needed good food to grow big and strong, he always said. Chef was a true Italian through and through.I dipped past busy waiters and a sous chef or two as i rushed towardw the back door. When i slipped past Chef, hoping that his gruff demeanor coated a good heart, i patted his back with a low apology and a few desperate words.“Stall him. Please.” I said breathlessly. The swinging door to the kitchen slammed against the wall, the boom overriding the sounds in the busy kitchen.“Nala!” Salvatore's a
Chapter Three. Nala. Olive skin, midnight hair, strong features and heavily muscled body… all so familiar. Even the gray fur that peppered his flesh and the yellowed eyes that overtook the normal chocolate hues were familiar. I knew his body almost as well as i knew my own. We had touched, tasted, and loved each other for three montjss before it all came crashing down. And now he was back. Would he destroy me all over again?Probably.Fury coated his features, and i knew it was only a matter of time before his roars echoed off the walls. Rather than causing the spectacle in the middle of the hallway, i brushed past him and carefully made my way into my home.“Salvatore,” i murmured as i passed by him. I didn’t miss his growl.I would brave this out. I would explain my position, tell him exactly what would happen, and then he would leave. I thought to myself, giving myself the strength I so desperately needed. “Nala,” he snarled my name.I ignored the violence in his tone and looked
Chapter Four. Nala. I wasn't sure what to expect when I woke up, but it sure as hell wasn't to find myself flying across the ocean in Salvatore’s private jet. The interior was well known to me, with its slick surfaces and plush leather seating. The soft carpet always gave way beneath my bare feet, and i had more than one good memory of flying the skies with Salvatore at my side. He had introduced me to so much in so little a time, and It had only taken a few choicesand deadly words to end thefairytale. Well, it was gone but he seemed intent on dragging me back into hisworld.I carefully glanced around the room, closing my eyes when dizziness overtook me again. I didn’t need to see him in order to know Salvatore was nearby. His scent permeated everything around me, and it was clear he had been at my side very recently. Gathering what little strength i had, I forced my lids to part once again and i blinked against the brightness that invaded my eyes.The low murmur of voices reached
Six months ago. Nala. It was way past midnight, she hadn’t seen her husband in days. The gala was tommorrow and they were hosting some of the most powerful drug lords in the region. So he had to come home at some point. Nala looked out from her window over the Hamptons view as the sun set. Tears streaming down her eyes like a downfall. She slowly stepped away from the window closing the curtains and lay in her bed in tears. She was drifting off to sleep when she heard her, she could recognize that condensensending laugh anywhere. Nova?! What was she doing in her house? Wasn't she supposed to be in London? Or was she finally losing it. Halucinating her. She heard her again, this time louder. Nala quickly got out of bed rushing downstairs without thinking about putting on a robe or something to cover her skimpy night gown. Sofia had gifted her the sexy black dress, she had said she should wear it for her husband. Men like that. From above the stairs she could see half the livi
Six months ago. Nala"So I guess she will be coming to the gala too?" Nala found herself saying out loud as Salvatore opened the limo door for her. "Are you jealous?" he asked casually catching her off guard. "Why did you agree to marry me if you didn't want me?" "You ask alot of questions.""Humor me, why marry her sister." Luna said sitting back in the limo as Salvatore joined her. "You must have known I was her sister.""She suggested I marry you. Okay?" "What? What sick games are you people into?" Nala asked shocked. Why wouk her sister want her boyfriend to marry her. "My father is sick Nala, he wants to see his grand kids before his time comes. And your father owed us a lot of money. There was only one solution.""But you could have married her, Nova. Why bring me into it.""Because she can't have children and yoo can.""What?whaat do you mean she can't have kids?" "Nova was diagnosed with cervical cancer, she had her womb removed. I wanted to marry her still, but she wan
Six months ago. Salvatore. The rest of the ride to the party was spent in silence. I was busy on my phone while Nala just sat there in silence. Today everything had been different, when we had sex it was like I loved her, I couldn't deny the intense connection between us which made me want to pull away from her. This couldn’t happen. I had too much at stake to care about her like that. As soon as we got to the party I ditched her and immediately went to Find Nova, she was the one I loved, the one that I would rather come to such events with it. But my father could not accept a woman who could not have kids as my wife Which is why he set an arranged marriage for me. "There you are, you look flushed are you okay?" Nova asked as soon as she saw me. "Yeah am fine, just missed you thats is all." "i missed you too baby." she said kissinge and in that instant I saw Nala looking at us with tears in her eyes. I quickly looked away. "Shall we dance?" Nova suggested moving to the da
Six months ago. Nala. I cleaned myself up and slowly walked to the already waiting limo. Paul was outside and he immediately opened the door as soon as he saw me. The sexy strange man I had been dancing with had disappeared on me. I never even got his name, I slowly got into the car and we left. After the nigh that we had, I expected my husband to come back home, he had promised. We needed to talk about everything including who he was. I quickly went upstairs to clean up as soon as we got back to the house. I still believes we had a moment earlier in the car. I soaked my tired body In a warm bubble bath, as I tried to imagine what it would be like living as a family. After a thirty minute bath, I got out of the shower and put on a roe seeing how much time had passed. Despite everything, I had a feeling Salvatore was about to open up when he had been rudely interrupted, so I went downstairs and prepared a meal for both of us. Me being the servant of my family growing up
Nala.I woke up slowly taking in my surroundings. All the walls were white with no painting at all. It was just plain walls. And then then there wS the smell of medicine that made me nauseous."What's going on?" I asked no one in particular sitting up. That's when I saw him sleeping peacefully by my bed. He looked so peaceful, but also so uncomfortable sleeping in that chair. "Hey, hello beautiful." he said as soon as he saw me, "How did you sleep? How are you feeling?" he asked coming to my bed as he helped me sit up properly, putting a few pillows for me to lean on. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." i said slowly feeling the pain of my incision. "No it's okay baby. Am glad you are up." i said looking around. "The baby?" I said almost absent mindedly. I do not remember at all having the baby, I just felt pain in every part of my body. "She is Fine." Jordan said proudly, "and yes it's a she. They just fed her she is sleeping. You will see he when she is up.""I am sorry
Jordan. One moment, we were dancing, I was holding her, monitoring her breaths, smelling her rose vanilla hair, the next she was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. This was not happening to me. It could not be happening. I felt as if I was losing my mind. I could not believe what I was seeing. It could not be. It just could not be. I dropped to my knees next to her. My hands were shaking. Jesus, God, no. Not her. Not her. Not my miracle.She was looking up at me, with a strange expression on her face, as if she was surprised to see me, as if it was me that was hurt, as blood was oozing out of her wound and spreading into her stomach area of her lavender dress. The assassin had been aiming for me, but he had hit her instead. This was all my fault and I knew it was Salvatore. I had taken his son away from him, he wanted his revenge. One more shot rang out and I heard the shrill announcement.“It’s clear! We have him!”“Hey you,” she said softly. Then she frowned, her hands were
Nala. A shiver crackled through my spine at his words. Because I knew that look in his eyes, the almost ferocious gaze and I knew what usually followed after that.The last time he had had that look in his eyes and told me to get over to where he was, I had been fucked against a doorand left in a puddle at his feet.“Um,” I swallowed. “I need to go to the Ladies first?”“You are going to be sorry if I have to repeat myself.”“Please. Someone could come in.” All I could think about was his mother or sister or even father walking in on us. “No one will come in until I allow them to.”Through the glass, I could see the other people around us, and people passing in between. I was pretty certain that theycouldn’t see into our own encasement, but they would definitely be able to hear us especially since there was no way that I would be able to stay quiet after he touched me.“But people can hear us,” I whispered.His gaze darkened even further, and I had to accept the painful truth, tha
Nala.The round lights in the ceiling as they rolled me into the OR barely registered. The only thing in my mind was the brutality of my contractions. Waves of paincoursed through my body and my fingers dug into my palms to help relieve some of the pressure.I had never in my life been in so much pain.But then I remembered his promise. Everything will be fine. I believed him, and that more than anything gave me thestrength to hope for a time beyond this pain that seemed as though it would never end.The Anesthesiologist put a mask over my face. “Count backwards from ten, ” she said kindly.10, 9, 8, 7… 6… then everything went dark.I woke up slowly. My whole body felt heavy. Even moving my fingers was an effort. I knew I was in a hospital. I felt fear.My lips moved.“My baby,” I called weakly. “Where is my baby?”It was only then I realized I was not alone. There was an arm and a head on my thighs. The arm lifted and he straightened.I stared at him in shock.He looked haggard. Mo
Jordan. we were riding back to Torrington Hall. Our bodies at least two feet apart. I stared out at trees, all cast in darkness, as we left the city.Who was I angry at? Was it at myself? For reacting like a jealous fool. Or was it at her for pointing it out? I couldn’t decide, but either way it didn’t feel good.I knew she was scared for her friend’s safety, but I had no intentions of doing anything to him. At that moment when Isaw him touch her so casually I wanted to throttle him, but now that my blood was no longer boiling, I could clearly see he was only a little gnat. Even the tiny effort required to squash him would not be worth my time.“ I… uh… I wanted to speak to you tonight about the greenhouse, ” she said hesitantly. Her tone was soft and docile.I turned my head to look at her. In the soft light coming fromthe console, her skin looked like alabaster.“Thank you for allowing me to work there,” she continued.“I need to buy some seeds. I will purchase them on my own of
Jordan. I felt as if I was losing my mind. I could not believe what I was seeing. It could not be. It just could not be. I dropped to my knees next to her. My hands were shaking. Jesus, God, no. Not her. Not her. Not mymiracle.She was looking up at me, with a strange expression on her face, as if she was surprised to see me, as if it was me thatwas hurt, as blood was oozing out of her wound and spreading into her stomach area of her lavender dress. The assassin had been aiming for me, but he had hit herinstead. This was all my fault and I knew it was Salvatore. I had taken his son away from him, he wanted his revenge. One more shot rang out and I heard the shrill announcement.“It’s clear! We have him!”“Hey you,” she said softly. Then she frowned, her hands were still cradling her stomach. “What happened?”I shuddered as my hand went to touch her face. I was so terrified I was almost paralyzed. “It’s okay, ” I whispered even though I didn't really know if it was. “Everything i
Jordan.I took her to Boston’s harbor hotel with its Sixty foot stone archway and its panoramic views of the city’s skyline. It was also a personal favorite for other reasons. Security was easily monitored by my men, and my requests for privacy were always immediately fulfilled.As I mostly moved in the shadows and appreciated places that helped me maintain things that way.Across the terrace, private and heated transparent igloo-like boxes had been erected to both tackle the frigid winter air,and to provide privacy. One of the things I liked the most about these encasements were how the glass made it possible for you to see out, but for no one to see within.I sat at my usual enclosure with my customary glass of Dirty Martini and tried to imagine Nala working in the greenhouse… and couldn’t. I’d never even been inside it. I had to admit I’d never given the idea of gardening muchthought, but I had formed the general impression gardeners were gardeners because they couldn’t find bett
Nala. It was still dark the next morning when I got out of bed and went to the kitchen. There was no one else around, but Jordan's mom was already up andsitting at the table drinking something from a cup and. looking into an open notebook. She looked up at me and frowned.“Is something wrong?” she asked worried I shook my head. “Nothing is wrong. I was wondering if I could have some cake or cookies.” I said feeling embarrassed "Ofcourse yes. I can't tell you how much cravings I had with Jordan. I gained over one hundred pounds." she said smiling as she served me a plate of chocolate chip cookies with warm milk. I looked at her confused, wondering what she was talking about or why she was even telling me about that. She saw the confusion and smiled again. " oooh, Jordan told us about your news.""What news?" I asked even more confused as ever. "That you are pregnant." she said looking at me with that judgemental look of hers. "My son always wanted to be a father you know and g
Jordan. 001It had taken a lot of pursuading to say get her to come with me. But I needed her there. I needed her to see how hard I was working to make things right between us. I needed her to know I was doing everything in my power to get her son back. I glanced at the poised woman by his side as i wound my way through the curvy hills toward my home. The top was down, and her gold red hair blew in the wind in a tangled mass, but she didn’t seem concerned. Her pursed lips told me she was thinking hard, probably getting into character to meet my family. It was not the first time, but it was since she recovered her memories. During the last twenty four hours, I had learned a lot about Nala. Unfortunately, the tiny glimpse only made me crave her more.The vivid green of trees and brown earth flashed by and welcomed me in a way that soothed my soul. My family owned land from generations back, which had all been passed to me. But i had always known from my first visit to New York City th