ZaraThere’s something heavy pressing down on my belly. Does my baby already weigh so much? I try to turn on to my side but the weight would not budge. I open my eyes in panic and look down at my belly, coming face to face with a mop of dark hair. My first instinct is to scream as loud as I can. So, I scream until the head of hair raises itself.“La chingada! ¿Qué onda es todo este escádalo tan temprano?” ( fuck! What is all this noise so early in the morning?)The owner of the head rises to his full height, rubbing sleep from his eyes and then he stretches in a way that has my heart beating rapidly. He’s shirtless, in nothing but the pair of slacks he had on yesterday, slightly unbuttoned. But that’s not the part that almost has me hyperventilating.It's the very large and obvious tent in his pants that has my eyes glued to him. The tent starts moving until it is right in front of me. “ I said , my eyes are up here, Sugar”That snaps me out of it. I stare at him, willing myself to
ZaraI throw on a pair of leggings and a large t-shirt. I almost didn’t go downstairs on Marcello’s request. I mean, who’s he to boss me around? But, my grumbling stomach became a motivation. I could quickly pop into the kitchen and grab a bite. Maybe listen to what he has to say in the process. Not that it’s important anyway.I meet him sitting in his usual position at the head of the table, surrounded by an array of mouthwatering dishes. Damn, Julio has outdone himself again. I look around the kitchen to catch a sight of him but I don’t see him anywhere. “ Julio’s not in. I sent him home early”I look around the table again. If he went home early, when was he able to make all these?“ I ordered the food”I raise my brows at him. That’s surprising.“ What’s the occasion?”“ Well, Julio told me you always wanted to try Indian dishes, so I got you some.” Julio and his big mouth.I pull the seat at the other end of the table to get as far away from Marcello as possible but he stands up
ZaraAs soon as I woke up this morning , I decided that I have in fact, had enough of Marcello Andres’ annoying me. No more crying myself to sleep over frustration or trying to help him keep his image in front of the media. I’ll show him why I never act out of character.There was a bouquet of white roses outside my room when I walked out of my room this morning. There was a note inside that read: Dinner tonight, 7pm. And that was that. No apologies, no promise to shave his head if he ever offended me again.Don’t get me wrong, the gesture was indeed beautiful but it wasn’t enough to soothe all the anger I have felt in these two months. Marcello Andres is going to have to tender a proper apology to me, even if I have to watch him choke on his overinflated ego.I called the girls on my way to work and we agreed to meet up later in the evening by 7pm.***On returning from work, the first person I run into is Celine with her signature scowl. I swear I’ve never seen the woman smile, s
Marcello I expected Zara to try to pull something tonight but what I did not expect was for her to stay out so late. I’ve been calling her for the past five hours, since 7: 30 after I got home and didn’t meet her there. The housekeeper, Celine , told me that she left home in the dress I sent, so she thought she was coming to meet me.Numerous thoughts float through my head. Who is she with? What is she doing? Is she safe? I even called Carlotta , in case she went over to my parents’ just to spite me. But, Carlotta said she wasn’t with her and she had no idea where she could be. I have called her number a total of 50 times, if not more. But, each time, I am net with the constant beeping at the end of the line. After I have called her office and her parents, it suddenly dawn’s on me , whom she could be with. Her friends. But, I have no way to reach them. Then, an idea strikes me. Michael picks up on the third ring. “ You better have a good reason for calling me this late, dipshit.
Zara“ If you’re not being a brat,, then why do I want to spank you so bad?”My breath catches in my throat and every train of thought dissipates into thin air. “Wh…what?”He steps close and cages me between his body and the adjoining bedroom door. The heat from his body holds me in a vice grip, threatening to suffocate me if I don’t find air. But, not just any air, I want him to be the air. I crane my neck to look at him and audibly gasp at the intensity of his eyes. His eyes carry promises of things that could damn my soul and have me burning from the inside out but I don’t think I mind. He looks like he is fighting to stay in control of his instincts and for some reason , that excites me. That I am able to get Marcello Andres like this , looking feral like a prey. “ Yes, I want to spank you. When you’re being a brat, when you strut around in those skimpy night dresses that make me see red. I want to spank you until you can take it no more, until your legs are shaking benea
Marcello smashes his lips on mine in a heated exchange of breath and impatience. I return the kiss with equal fervor, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, and spreading my legs further to accommodate his weight on me. He was being careful not to smother me but I needed him everywhere. He pauses and we both take much needed breaths. When he looks into my eyes, my stomach does a violent summersault. How is it possible to be so beautiful as a man? If I thought he had dark eyes before, they were even darker now. The intensity of his darkened pools awakens something strange within me. In a breathless daze, I whisper, “ I wonder how your eyes will look from between my legs. " He smirks and I blush in horror. “ I’m so sorry. I don’t know where that came from.” I attempt to avoid his gaze due to the embarrassment I’m currently feeling but he holds me in place by my chin, with his thumb and forefinger. “ You’ve been thinking about my eyes a lot, haven’t you, Sugar?” I try and
ZARAI’m still asleep but it feels like I’m in a trance. I hear the chirping of birds from outside the window, which is strange because even though this place is surrounded by trees, I have never heard a bird sing outside my window.Soft winds pass by in a whisper, lifting the blinds around and causing them to brush my skin. There’s a halo of sunshine around my face, making it impossible to keep my eyes shut for longer. The bed feels unfamiliar but comfortable. I fumble around to get hold of the extra pillows I keep around me. I can’t sleep without surrounding myself with them. My hand makes contact with a hard, silky surface beside me. It doesn’t feel like my pillow and that’s when the alarms go off in my head.Wait a minute! My bed is positioned on the middle of the room. So, why? Did I roll of the bed in my sleep? I jump into a sitting position first without opening my eyes but a sharp pain in my side halts me . I lay back down and slowly open my eyes, slowly regaining my beari
Marcello Employees nod at me as I walk past them on my way to the elevator. My private life maybe nothing to write home about but my work life? I take that shit seriously. My blood, sweat and tears lie here , in this very building. My secretary, Amber greets me at the front door with my usual coffee order. “ What is on my schedule today, Miss Hunter?” She walks behind me, reading off my schedule as I hang up my suit jacket and settle in my chair. “ …and by 1pm, you’ll be meeting with the CEO of Crest Holdings to sign the final revised agreement.” “ Has the Legal team been duly notified?” “ Yes Sir.” “ Alright. We’ll be welcoming a new addition to the company later today. She’ll be working closely with me and the PR and Legal teams.” “ She?” I lift my head from my computer to her. “ Yes, She. Do you have a problem with that Miss Hunter?” She looks down “ No. No,Sir” “ Good. Because I do not pay you to approve or disapprove of the people I decide to work with.” “ T
Zara’s POV Mama doesn’t let us leave immediately, insisting that we stay for dinner. Hence, me hiding out in Carlotta’s room. Left for me, I would take a cab home , so I don’t have to face my ugly impulsive decisions . I know I have said this before but let me reiterate; Marcello is cancerous. One minute I was bawling my eyes out in Maria’s arms and the next, I let go of my morals in Marcello’s. This stupid, stupid pregnancy hormones. Carlotta is downstairs helping out with dinner and Marcello is well…being Marcello somewhere around the house. I hope he stays busy until we have to leave . If I face him now, I might simply die of mortification . I offered to help out also but Mama chased me out with a spatula. At a few minutes past 6 pm , Carlotta pops in to let me know that dinner’s ready. When I get to the dinning room, I see Mr. Hernandez already seated, reading a newspaper with his glasses perched atop his nose. He puts down the paper when he sights me and beams “ Mi Queri
Marcello's POV True to her words , Zara stormed out of the house with a duffel bag. I could only watch, stunned, as she walked past me with every determination in her. It was only after a few minutes, that I came to terms with what just happened. Thankfully, she had Uncle Phillip drive her. One less thing to worry about…I immediately thought of calling Mama to inform her that a very angry, pregnant woman was headed her way. Mama laughed when I explained the entire ordeal to her and then proceeded to scold me for letting my pregnant and very emotional wife out of my sight, without running after her to pacify her. She promised to take care of her and threatened that if I didn’t drag my behind home within the next hour, she would personally make sure that Zara die snot return home. I really cannot understand women . Hence, I am en route the family home and I didn’t forget to buy a lot of gifts to pacify Her Royal Majesty. I have heard men say things like ‘ happy wife, happy home’ b
Zara’s POV One thing I didn’t expect that accompanied my recent bouts of morning sickness ,is the heightened appetite. Not just the appetite to eat good food, I have the most insane cravings these days; especially spicy food. Desi, Thai, Korean, Chinese , Japanese, you name them. And Marcello, bless his heart, has been a sweetheart, offering to buy me whatever I crave. Pretty sure the man has visited all the indigenous food places in New York in the span of one week but I am eating for three, so…This past week, I have gotten used to his tendency to call me random endearing names. At first, thinking about it gave me a major migraine but I’ve decided to just go along with the flow. Just as long as he keeps buying me spicy buffalo wings…I woke up this morning craving egg tarts and Julio has been MIA for a while now, only coming in one day out of five. Not gonna lie, I’m a bit worried about his absence but I’m not one to pry.It's Saturday and I know that Celine will be ordering a tot
ZaraDr. Meyers beams immediately she sees me and offers me a seat. “ Zara! I wasn’t expecting you today but it’s so good to see you” She looks at the Stony- gazed man beside me , “ you came with your husband too. This is great.”Marcello offers her a handshake in his usual professional manner and she accepts it. “ Marcello Andres” “ Sharon Meyers. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Andres.”“ Likewise”“ So, what brings you here today?”“ I woke up today with a really bad case of morning sickness. I’m worried because I no longer had that but I woke up today feeling like my stomach was twisting itself from the inside. Dr. Meyers hums in contemplation. “ Most women go through morning sickness until the end of the third trimester, so I wouldn’t be worried about that. However, what worries me is the pain you’re feeling . That’s not normal, especially at this stage. You’re nearing the end of the your second trimester and this is a critical time.”My heart thrums rapidly at her w
ZaraSomething smells awful. It’s a familiar smell but it something smells repulsive today. I rollover on to my right to ward off the smell but it seems to be me everywhere. My belly folds over life a turbulent tide on a beach, recoiling and rumbling in disagreement to the smell assaulting my senses. I feel the wave within trying to force itself out of my throat but I force it down, taking deep breaths. Only, that was a big mistake on my part. I jump out of the bed with a sense of urgency, almost tripping on the sheets wrapped around my ankles. The moment I kneel before the toilet, a torrent of vomit comes hurling out of my throat. Remnants of the rice Marcello made for dinner last night. My stomach twists uncomfortably with each bout of retching and it actually feels like my intestines are eating me from the inside out. I may have experienced bad morning sickness the first few weeks but they had ceased for a while. I guess I was wrong to be relaxed. I flush the toilet and rinse
Marcello’s POV The dinner ended on a good note and I’m just relieved to have gotten it out of the way. The only problem now is, I’ve been sporting a very painful boner all night. As I conversed with guests, I had to place both hands over the front of my pants, so as to not draw unwanted attention to myself. Zara Parkinson is a minx . After she whispered “ Dream on , babe”, my boner went from hard to raging. I did all I could to distract myself from thinking about her ass in the pants she wore tonight. The clothes weren’t tight or anything but I simply couldn’t take my eyes off the way she strutted away from the table. Immediately the last guest left, I bolted upstairs and ripped off all the clothes I had on and stepped into the shower. I stood under the cold spray for minutes but my mind didn’t seem to get the memo that we were trying not to go feral. Images of Zara sprawled out on my bed, her salacious moans, the way she moved and fuck! That bump. Never knew a pregnant belly coul
ZaraThe dress arrived at exactly an hour to the dinner but not exactly the way I expected it to. True to Viv’s words, I was totally blown away. Valerie was just making some finishing touches on my makeup when Emily, our housekeeper, walked in with a box. The inscription on the box read ‘ HN’ which is Viv’s brand name. I ripped through the ribbon holding the package together, barely able to contain my excitement. Only as I lifted the lid on the box, my excitement dropped several notches. A dead bird lay on the clothes, in a splatter of blood and gore. My name is written inside the box, in bright red. The bird is devoid of it's head, it's wings broken and entrails hanging out. . Whoever did this must have snapped it's neck and proceeded to slice it's gut open.I stand transfixed, cold sweat dripping down the back of my neck. . A realization hits me; it's a baby bird. My hands move instinctively to cradle my stomach. Fear of anyone ever harming my innocent child makes my stomach chu
ZaraThe day of the celebratory dinner arrives a few days later. Marcello said he wanted the event to be a small and intimate one, where he gets to share his win with his family and close associates. He even invited Valerie and Emily. All the excitement I have been feeling all day is due to the fact that I will be seeing the girls after a long while. Working at the firm and with Marcello has left me no time to socialize and have fun. Fun seems like an alien word at this point.I have been going round , inspecting the arrangements , since the dinner will be held here at the house. I pass by a stack of muffins and quickly snatch one off the table. Celine gives me the stink eye and I pretend not to notice her. Soon after, Maria arrives with Carlotta , each carrying heavy boxes and containers of food. I give them each a hug and pout at Maria. “ I told you not to bring anything, Mama. Look around, there’s enough to feed the whole of New York tonight”She waves me off. “ Nonsense, child.
Third person pov: A figure lurks within the shadows; watching, waiting and observing. The figure has been on a constant stake out , in a house, a few metres away from Marcello Andres’ building. On a table to it’s far left, multiple pictures are scattered around. Pictures of Marcello at work, in his private gym, in his study , and a more recent one of him entangled in the sheets with Zara Parkinson. The figure had watched all these time, long before the first scandal broke out, through the times Paradise group took a nosedive and when Marcello got married. Of course, the figure thought the marriage was a huge foil in his plans. But, the patient dog does eat the fattest bone, right? So, the darkness became a friend while the entity observed. The goal was to make Marcello meet his end. But simply watching his life end wasn’t going to cut it, he had to lose everything he held dear, including, it thought with a sneer, his precious little wife. Marcello deserved every misfortune in li