DENISE'S POV I have stayed out of the way of Ellie ever since she came to my room. If she takes left then I take right. It still doesn't stop her from taunting me each chance she gets. Whenever Gregory is home she looks for ways to humiliate me and make me feel less of myself. Whatever I face here isn't what scares me but the realisation that each day that passes, my time with my baby is coming to an end. I won't get to see her hazel eyes. I won’t get to feed her, to coo her to sleep, to kiss her when she's in discomfort. It stings me more than I can imagine. So many times Carolina has seen me in a lost state. She often confronts me to find out what is playing on my mind but I lie through my teeth. Feigning happiness whenever I am caught in my gloomy state. Everyday I make her assure me that she'll take care of my baby and love her as much as she can.“Well, well, well if it isn't the pathetic man snatching bitch”. Her hands are crossed as she stands in front of me. You stole my ma
It's been a month, a month since I brought my precious Ivy Gianna into the world. With each day that passes she webs her little self over my heart, I loved her since she was in my womb, to the moment I birthed her. With each day that passes I love her more. I don't know how it happens but it does. From her little cries, to her sleeping face, to how she suckles, I am in love with every single thing about her. It saddens me to know that in less that eleven months from now we would part. Rosie is pissed about the news, she's hell bent on figuring something out to stop this. I appreciate her effort, I do but I have accepted that we can't fight against it. In the beginning I was certain that I wouldn't let him keep me from my child but everyday I realise I can do nothing to stop it. I mean what plan do I have?. At some point, running away with ivy was my plan but where would we go?. My mum’s place is not even an option, Gregory could easily find us. My only other close relative is my aunt
“Greg… I've gotten the information you need”. Isaiah tells me through the phone. If there was one person I could trust to dig out things that would be Isaiah. The reason I haven't asked him to look into the people attacking my business is because things with him work quite differently. It's a whole new level of illegal. “Talk to me”. I mutter quietly. “Diaz…..”. He breathes with a heavy sigh. I just know it's going to be a long talk. “Patrick Diaz born in 1994 to an American mother and a Mexican father, he stayed in the states for most of his childhood. He only left when his father allegedly beat his mother to death in front of him, by then he was ten. His father fled to Mexico with him. He finished high school in Mexico. "Barely finished it by the way”. Isaiah notes. “Started selling drugs for the Sànchez when he was thirteen. Dad was a drunk and a druggie, leaving him to fend for himself. Somehow he grew in ranks from a small drug seller till he eventually hit it big and met one
Gregory's POV:“Where was I?”. Isaiah questions me.“The part where he raped her”. I responded.“Yes!”. He continues.“The bastard raped the poor little girl”. I can imagine Isaiah shaking his head and clenching his fist. Ariella is almost the same age as poor Audrey. If some dares touch a hair on her head Isaiah and I would burn the world down and destroy that person. Truth be told, if the flashback I had is real I will crush that man for having touched Denise. I might not understand what is going on but I will not let him attempt to violate her and go free.“He was caught by their father, the retired don. He was really old so he couldn't do much. When he tried to raise an alarm the bastard Patrick unfortunately killed him in front of the little girl”. He sighs. I can imagine how gruesome it must have been for her experiencing that much pain and loss in one day.“He knew he couldn't stay there any more with this much damage, so he eloped. Mind you, The Sànchez scraped off every part
Denise's POVThe day Gregory had that episode I was so scared. I thought something bad was going to happen to him. Luckily for us he's fine. In all my time of living with him something like that has never happened. When he screamed I felt the pain in his voice and without thinking I dashed out of my room towards his. He was on the floor cultching his head in pain, his eyes were shut tightly. I had no idea what to do. I rushed to him and crouched down to his lying form and began running my hands over his back hoping it would calm him down before the others could figure out what was wrong. He was always in control of everything, I almost believed he was invincible but alas even the might get hurt. I shook my head at my thoughts, focusing my eyes on the beautiful flowers in the garden with Ivy close to my chest. The feeling of being watched crawls up my body. It's not the first time I have felt it. The guards are always watching me, shaking off the feeling, I surmise that it must be the
The door clicks open making me whip my head to the entrance. “I came as soon as I heard”. Isaiah’s voice is strained. Gregory finally raises his head to the owner of the voice. I cannot understand the silent communication they have. Isaiah's usual perfectly styled hair is dishevelled. He moves forward standing beside his cousin. His hands clutch the railing of the bed till his knuckles turned white. His eyes are hard but his face shows nothing. This seems to be the reaction of the men in this family, their eyes show their emotions if you look hard enough but their faces show nothing.“Is there anyone you suspect?”. Isaiah breaks the sorrowful silence with a thick Italian accent. Revealing that when he is emotional his accent is pronounced.Gregory opens his mouth and shuts it, just the way a fish would act. He raises his eyes to fix it on me. This time I cannot tell what his eyes say. Isaiah's eyes move to me too. His mind is working out things I cannot understand. The wheels in my
The room around me is silent. My eyes feel stucked as I try to pry them open. With much effort they fall apart by nano centimeters, my lashes the only thing visible to me. Another effort, and I pry them open wider. There isn't any bright light or white wall, an indication that this isn't a hospital. On further inspection the place looks like my room. There's a dull ache at the back of my head. ‘God what happened to me’. My mind is a bit fuzzy, my body feels heavy. Ivy flashes my mind and with intent I turn my head to the direction of her crib. Something obstructs my view or rather someone. “Good, you're awake”. A sweet baritone voice that I recognize says flatly. Gregory is seated on the bed, his back on the head board, his legs stretched and crossed, one atop the other. He has no shirt on his upper body. A fit sculpture to behold, pleasant to the eye. He has a dark grey sweat pants on. He looks relaxed as he scrolls on his tablet. His eyes briefly scan my face. An expression resem
Ellie shuts the door behind her and the room is silent, a very awkward silence on my path. My mind is racing trying to understand what occured here. The man who has been unperturbed by anything concerning me is the one who is here, on my bed, with his legs leisurely crossed as he scrolls through his tablet. What changed? Only few hours ago he was mad that I didn't tell him things, now he is asking for me to be served. My eyes trail over to the side of his face. He looks relaxed, freshly shaven but there's a bit of stress around his eyes. I bet it's from the attack of his father. “Is there any reason your eyes are on me?”. There's no doubt of the slight mockery in his tone, he caught me gawking at the side of his face. You can't blame a girl, scratch that, a woman. This man has been mean to me for months and now he is causally sitting here like nothing happened. “What do you want?”. The question is out of my mouth before I know it. There's no going back since it's out on the table.
DENISE'S POVNot long after we woke up did my greatest nightmare walk in. Blood drained from my face and for a split second, my heart forgot to beat.“Patrick”“Why, Hello there sweet peas” his smile broad as a Cheshire cat.“Never thought we would meet in these circumstances, what can I say the Lord is good”. It's sickening, him mentioning the Lord. This brute knows nothing about the Lord.“Now, now, don't be sad, this will only last a few hours and we can be happy. We could even play hide and seek if you like”.He stalks closer to us, no me.“Get away from her you psycho” Luke screams. Patrick pays him no mind as he moves even closer. He raises his hand to graize my temple, I flinch in reaction. “Get your hands away from me”. He laughs heartily at my reaction.“And why would I do that, huh, sweet peas”.“I owe you nothing, I paid all of my debts with interest. So. Get. Your. Hands. Off. Of. Me”. I seeth.“Come on sweet peas”. He draws. “This isn't about debt, this is about how muc
“Dee…” Rosie badges into my room. Luke called, he said he has something to show us. My eyes widen a fraction. “He has figured out something” I murmur. Rosie nods her head frantically at me. I waste no time picking up my bag as we dash out.“Carolina…, we will be back soon”. I hollered at Carolina who was cradling Ivy in her arms.“Ra tat tat” Rosie knocks on Luke's door. There is no answer at first but the second time the door swings open. Luke stands there with an awkward smile that doesn't reach his eyes. He looks kind of nervous. “Come in” he opens the door wider allowing us enter.“Luke are you…” the words are choked shut in my mouth as something hard hits my head. I hear Rosie scream before I black out. The pain at the back of my head is heavy. I try to raise my hand to rub the spot but I can't, my hands are bound.“Ah…” A wave of pain shoots through my head. I blink slowly several times to get the black dots out of my vision.“Ro…..” I call out to my best friend. She is lump
"Target has locked in”. Luke the tech guy tells me on the phone.“This is going to take roughly thirty minutes to one hour. Rosie found a way to get me invited, being Gregory's wife propelled it though. They gave me front row seats but I declined. I opted to sit behind. Sitting behind will keep me away from the prying eyes of Ellie. My eyes are on Ellie the moment she steps in. She's wearing a cream coloured A-cut short gown. She is wearing a black heeled boot to match. She looks good, I won't lie. She greets Peggy Ross. They exchanged pleasantries soon after the show starts. I take subtle glances and I notice how she suddenly feels uneasy after checking her phone. Is she unto us.? Has she found out her phone is about to be tapped. I quickly text luke. He doesn't respond, this gets me worried. My fear bites deeper, my legs bounce on their own accord revealing my anxiety.Ellie puts down her phone focusing on the models as they walk down the runway. I watch her for a long time and
The sad thing about me is I tend to forget too quickly. I forget how he can be and then I get hurt. I need to constantly remember my place. In less than three months I would be gone from this life.My ears perk at the sound of my name. Rosie pokes her head into my room. “Denise” she calls me in a quiet manner. Her eyes stare directly at me as she walks in. “Denise, l knows you are mad at how Gregory reacted towards our suggestion. She sits down on the bed getting comfy. “And just because he says it doesn't mean we are going to stop. You have my full support to pursue this to the very end”. She stretches her hand placing it tenderly on my arms. I wrap my hands around her instantly. Having a friend like Rosie who supports you is a big blessing. “What are we going to do?. We don't have the necessary information to help out”. I detach myself from our hug. “I was banking on our alliance with the guys to get info”. Worry plasters my face as I tell her this.“Don't worry we will figure
Denise's POV: Gregory and Isaiah have been avoiding Rosie and I. Purposefully if I might add. We know the reason they are avoiding us. It's so they don't get to give us details on what's going on with the Ellie thing. They leave the house pretty Early and return late at night. We are asleep when they return and we don't get the needed information. Tonight is going to be different though. Tonight we are not sleeping a wink till they return home and tell us all we need to know. “Dee, I'm not sure I can stay up any longer, my eyes are closing on their own”. Rosie yawns. Her eyes shutting down completely as she yawns. “Common Ro, we need to stay awake if we want to know what's going on.”. Rosie nods her head at me with her eyes still shut. When I look at the clock for the fifth time this night, it shows it's just eleven forty five. I sigh in annoyance knowing any moment from now I'll be falling asleep. I need to stimulate myself in order to stay awake, not just me but Rosie as well.
Denise's POV:Gregory mentioned Ellie has returned to her parents house. She must have figured something was up. I mean it is obvious non of us are home anymore or she is simply evading being caught either way she is out of the house. You would expect us to return hom but we didn't we are still staying in Isaiah's mansion. Isaiah has refused to let Rosie leave as well. I don't blame him though, after the whole incident he wants us to be safe. Not that Gregory's Mansion was not safe but Isaiah's mansion is on another level. The place is surrounded by so much bodyguards that are armed, I mean heavily armed. It's scary sometimes. The men don't look friendly, they all have similar tattoos but it's located on different parts of their body. It makes me wonder what agency Isaiah found such terrifying looking men. Men that have access to such heavy weaponry. Then again he is a billionaire, money can buy alot of things..Rosie and I step into the balcony were Gregory and Isaiah are having a
Denise's POV:Flashes, blood stains, pleas. I jolt up from my sleep breathing heavily. My forehead is covered in sweat despite how cool the room is. “You're awake” Gregory says, stepping out of what I assume to be the bathroom. His voice scared me a little since I wasn't expecting him here. He rushes over to my side. “You look frightened”. He noticed my fear. “I-I had a nightmare. My voice comes out hoarse. Gregory rubs my arms affectionately. “It's just a nightmare you are safe”. I nod my head and he wraps his strong arm around me holding me in a warm embrace. “I made a warm bath for you. Figured you'd be waking up soon”. He kisses me on the forehead, breaking our embrace. “Ivy”. I say. “She's fine she's downstairs with Rosie and Carolina”. Gregory holds my hands to help me out of the bed. I notice that I am still in the clothes I wore yesterday. The site of the dried blood raises bile to my throat. I close my eyes for some seconds to pushing it down. Gregory is patient with me.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND ONE (Anger)Gregory's POV The blood within my veins like molten larva ready to give way, ready to melt these people with my rage. The only thing holding me back is Isaiah and the thought of harming the mother of my child in my blind rage.Isaiah and I move closer. Isaiah takes two precise shot. The shots are faster than I anticipated. Two of the men surrounding Denise fall flat on the ground. The last guy pulls Denise fast, holding her captive by the neck with a gun pressed by the side of her temple. He cannot see us but he is certain of where the bullet came from. Her captors eyes are wide in shock and fear. His expression almost mirrors that of Denise. Hers are rounded in fear of the unknown. I can see her visibly shaking in his hold.“Come out or I'll kill this slut”. He roars, eyes focused on our location.“At the count of three if you don't come out you'll pick up her carcass”.My eyes dart to Isaiah and he has an easy smirk. In this horrible situation m
I turn my head to Rosie and her eyes are round and wide mimicking my own. “shit” I mouth. “Who’s there?”. Someone shouts from inside. The sound of footsteps approached us. My heart is beating faster than I can process. This wasn't how I planned it. I was just going to sneak up on her and find out what she's up to. The sound of a gun being corked is heard and colour drains from Rosie's face. I bet my face mirrors hers “On the count of three we run”. I mouth to Rosie. She nods to my suggestion like an understanding child. “One, two, three, run”. I mouth to her. We both rose, hitting down the cans we hid behind. They have all realised that people were indeed in their territory. Various footsteps are heard as we run; they are after us. “Boom, boom, boom”. Shots are fired at us but luckily we've taken a left. Soon enough I find some men hot on our trail. “Rosie”. I call out to Rosie as we run. She briefly looks back at me before keeping her eyes on her track we need to split up. “what!