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Author: Lindsay
last update Last Updated: 2024-09-27 07:36:24

CATERINA

I force a smile as I step up to the desk in the lobby of the police station. How long has it been since I stood right here in this very spot? Thinking back to the last time I was here, I think I was twelve or thirteen and so excited and thrilled about visiting my dad at work.

Back then, he was important, a higher-up. Funny, I never would have guessed that everything would change less than ten years later. Excitement would become embarrassment; a sadness encompassing me as soon as I walked through the double doors. Being here now, everything is different. I’m here to help my father, not to visit him. He’s no longer the hero I worshiped as a little girl. Not anymore.

I wrinkle my nose upon my first deep breath into my nose. The place reeks of stale coffee. The tiled floor could use replacing, and the fluorescent lights… well, fluorescent lights never do anyone any favors. It makes us all look washed out and gaunt. I try to ignore the lingering stares as I stand waiting. A handf
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  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   64

    GIANNI“Now, everybody knows,” Roger announces.Yes, I have no doubt Roger’s right. The men I employ are tough as nails, although that doesn't mean they won't gossip like a bunch of women when given the opportunity. They only need a pitcher of mimosas, and you'd think they were at brunch.“Who cares if they know?” I hold his gaze as I stand outside his cottage. Nightfall makes it difficult to read his expression.“I guess I'm just wondering if we're ready for the repercussions it will bring. Her father showed up here with a gun yesterday, and you let him go. He essentially got away with threatening you without a hair on his head being disturbed.”“What was I supposed to do? Yes, he came here looking for a fight, but the guy was at risk of hurting himself more than me.” Folding my arms, I stare carefully at him, trying to get a read. There’s a reason we’re having this conversation here versus inside the house, so close to the others with big ears and even bigger tongues, ready to speak

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  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   65

    Fuck, Caterina is wreaking havoc on my mind and body. Destroying me from the inside out. Chipping away at the old pieces of me, causing something new to grow in its place. When I reach my office, the light aroma of vanilla hits me first.I smell her before I see her. She’s seated in my chair, her feet up on the desk. She's holding a glass of whiskey in one hand, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling. Her dark russet brown hair hangs in thick waves over her shoulders, and her full mouth is pursed in thought.Incredible, the number of reactions a person can have all at once. Joy floods me, followed by relief. She’s here. My arms ache to hold her as my hands stir to reach out and touch her. It's been days since I’ve last touched her skin. Even now, I have to wonder how I’ve lived this long without the feel of her skin, the smell of her hair, and the touch of her soft curves beneath my fingertips. As always, there's that hunger burning low in my gut, threatening to unleash itself.To

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  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   66

    Yes. This is how I need her. Emotional, burning with rage, ready to break.Hot, blazing satisfaction burns through my veins while I launch myself across the room, taking her by the arms even as she tries to throw punches. I pull her from the chair and drop her ass onto the desk. “You wanna kill me?” I snarl, so close our noses touch. “You only wish you had the balls to get rid of me that easily.”She snarls at me, her teeth clenched. “Yes! Yes, I do! I fucking hate you!”“Then, by all means, little bird.” Reaching behind me, I take hold of the Glock, pulling it from my waistband and placing it on the desk. “Do it.”Her eyelids flutter, her already flushed cheeks turning a darker shade of red. “What?”She’s shocked, it’s obvious. She didn’t expect me to put a weapon in her hand.“You heard me.” I force her legs apart with one of mine, wedging myself between her thighs. She bats at me with her hands even as I take hold of her wrists, squeezing hard enough for her to suck in a pained bre

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    CATERINAI’m dreaming. I have to be. If I’m not, then I somehow have to sort all of this to make sense and I don’t know if I can do that. He can't mean what he’s saying. This is just another game, another test. It’s his way of finding out whether I'm for real. Pushing me the way he always does.Nonetheless, he sounds like he means it.When he says he loves me, it sounds real. I want to believe it. No, I need to, or else what was all of this for? I know what this is, except I’m afraid to believe it. That’s the problem. It could be another game. Another level to the mental torment he puts me through. Will I shoot him if he says he loves me? And what if I did? Where would that get him?None of it makes sense, but then again, nothing about him ever has.“Pull the trigger,” he whispers, the fight draining from his voice. He sounds sad, like he's giving in to the inevitable.“You know I won't.” I still grasp the butt of the gun without taking my finger off the trigger. “I can't.”All that l

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  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   68

    Like he wants to prove his point, he moves back between my legs, burying his tongue in my pussy to lap up what’s still flowing from me like a river. It takes seconds for him to make me burn again. My nerve ends sizzle, and the tension that just eased starts to build again.I’m consumed with the desire to touch him. I reach down and wind my fingers through his hair. “Gianni…” I moan his name while lifting my hips.I offer myself to him, grinding against his face when the pressure from his tongue isn’t enough. Whenever we’re together, he turns me into this greedy, needy slut. Unable to think about anything but more. His rumbles vibrate against my slick, throbbing flesh as he runs his tongue from my asshole up to my clit and back down again, circling my tight asshole before applying just enough pressure to make me cry out.“Yes! More!” I barely recognize the sound.Another broken animal sound tears itself from my chest when he pulls my hands from his head and stands. He tears off his shi

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  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   69

    GIANNII have prepared for meetings with highly violent, volatile men and felt less pressure than I do now, putting together a tray of food and coffee in the kitchen for which I plan to bring up to the bedroom. Caterina was asleep when I left her there, sprawled out on her stomach, her hair fanned out across the pillow. I could have laid there for hours watching her. Soaking in her soft sighs, the rhythm of her breathing, and the way her brow would sometimes wrinkle. Like even in her sleep, her troubles follow her.Today is a new day, and I hope, as I gather breakfast with Sheryl's help, that between last night and this morning I can convince my little bird that I'm committed to taking as much of her troubles away as I can.“I take it Miss Caterina is back?” Sheryl's eyes twinkle as she fills up a platter of muffins, fruit, and cheese. “This is what she likes best for breakfast.”“I'm sure she'll appreciate your thoughtfulness.” So do I, but it's unusual being in this situation. Almos

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  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   70

    “I get it.” It’s the rest of the world I don’t trust. That’s the last thing she needs to hear after having Charles for a father. No doubt his work tainted the way he raised her, not to mention how his wife died. The hair on the back of my neck stands at the thought of her. I set Roger on the task of digging up information the day Charles showed up, and as far as I know, there’s been nothing yet. The woman was innocent, the way her daughter is.“So you’d back off with the following me and tracking if we were together?”“If?” The word stirs uncertainty in my gut. “What do you mean by if?”Her head tips back until it rests against the headboard. “You know how I told you that my dad thinks you killed my mom—and even though I don’t believe you did it, he does.” Her chin quivers before she adds, “It would kill him to know we’re together.”He already knows, little bird. It’s on the tip of my tongue, prepared to tumble past my lips and throw our entire conversation on its head. It might be ea

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    Something snaps inside my head. No, no, this isn’t happening. Not to me. Not to my baby.Every self-defense lesson Dad ever taught me comes rushing back. I can’t breathe in if I want to stay conscious, so I hold my breath while stomping a foot against his instep with all my might. He grunts in pain but doesn’t release me. In my frenzy, I reach out, sinking my nails into any flesh I can touch, then I drive an elbow into his ribs.“You bitch,” he growls before slamming me headfirst into the trunk of my car. Everything goes dark and foggy. My body slumps when I lose control of it, and I can’t help but breathe in.My baby. My baby…I don’t lose consciousness, though. Not completely. It’s more like being sedated; my brain still works. I hear everything, but I can’t make my body move. I’m floating in a dream-like state, but this is all very real. A living nightmare.“Get moving,” one of the men snarls, shoving me into the car. I can’t open my eyes. My head is pounding.Tatiana’s body slumps

  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   95

    CATERINA“Hey, what are you looking at?”My heart just about jumps out of my chest as I quickly close my browser before turning in my chair to find Stephanie standing at the entrance of my cubicle. The way she lifts an eyebrow while folding her arms reminds me too much of my best friend—it hurts, since we haven’t spoken all week.I touch a hand to my chest, laughing. “You're like a ghost, I swear. How are you so quiet?”“Maybe you were too busy looking at naughty things to notice me coming up behind you.”“Naughty things?” The idea makes me giggle, because she couldn't be further from the truth. It was dirty things that got me pregnant in the first place. Now, I am reading advice columns and googling baby names when I should be working.“Nobody closes their browser that fast if they aren’t looking at something they shouldn't be.”“Sorry to disappoint you, but I was reading junk on Reddit.” At least it's a believable lie. “I don't want to get caught screwing around.”“Who cares?” she s

  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   94

    The look of heartbreak on Caterina’s face makes me want to order a hit on Amalia at this very moment. “That you’d want me to get an abortion if you found out because you didn’t want any more children. That the last thing you wanted was to be tied down again.” The anguish in her voice slices me down to the bone.I’ll kill her. It’s as simple as that.How long have I told myself I must spare her pathetic life because she’s Tatiana’s mother? She’s never been a mother to her, anyway. I could have done Tatiana and the world a favor by getting rid of her, but I didn’t. Now it doesn’t seem to matter if she’s alive or dead.“For one thing,” I speak carefully so I don’t spook her, “Amalia does not have the first clue on how I would feel about anything. She doesn’t know me. You should know by now that she wants me to be miserable, which means making everyone around me miserable by association. Plus, she’s herself, so I’m sure it must make her jealous, knowing you’re going to have my child—a chi

  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   93

    GIANNI“Patience,” Roger advises, his eyes constantly moving as he scans the area around us while we stand beneath the covered stoop in front of his cottage. “Just because I haven't found anything yet doesn't mean I won't.”“It isn't you I'm frustrated with,” I grunt, trying not to appear suspicious. There are no fewer than five guards within my line of sight, and I can't help but wonder if it's one of them.The traitor.“It's barely been two days since I installed the software,” he reminds me. “Give it some time.”“I get it, but until then, I have to pretend I trust everyone equally, and that’s frustrating as hell when you know one of your men is sharing information he shouldn’t be.”“There is another solution. It’s faster, if that’s what you’re looking for. You could just fire everybody and start over.”He recoils under the sharp glare I shoot at him. I know he wasn’t serious, but I’m not in a joking mood. “I can't afford to lose my entire team at a time like this. Not with a new de

  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   92

    “Not really.” Tatiana looks me up and down. “Are you feeling okay? You look a little green.”Once we move closer to the register, the feeling gets worse. Only once the girl behind the counter reaches for Tatiana’s clothes do I realize it’s Tatiana’s perfume that sets me off. The stronger the smell, the sweatier and more nauseated I get.“I’ll meet you outside.” Nothing in the world matters more than getting out of this store. The glass doors are my sole goal, and I walk toward them as calmly as possible, even as my insides start churning. Stupid me, thinking if I never got sick like this before now, I’d be one of the lucky ones who never had to go through it.I burst through the double doors to the outside, sucking deep breaths into my lungs. The sunshine is so bright, glaring off the concrete, but there’s an awning over the wide front window, and I take shelter beneath it. A few minutes pass, and the nausea seems to pass with every breath I take. Shit. Suddenly it occurs to me that I

  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   91

    CATERINA“How come you're not trying on any clothes?”Damn it. I was hoping I’d get away with it.We’ve been shopping for the past half hour, and only now has she thought to ask why I haven’t picked out anything. I was kind of hoping she wouldn't pay attention. She's having a good time trying on skirts and dresses and jeans. Now she’s frowning at me from the three-way mirror outside her dressing room stall. “Why aren’t you shopping, too?”I’m sure the response: I don't know how much longer I'll fit into anything. It would be a waste of money to buy anything in my size when I don’t have the first idea of how pregnancy will affect my body... wouldn’t go over well.“I feel bloated,” I groan, rubbing my stomach. “It's just not a good day.”“I'm sorry. Would you prefer we go back home?”I like that she thinks of it as home for both of us. “No, I’m fine. I just know I would hate myself in everything I tried on.”“You always look great, if that helps.”“Thanks. And you look hot in that dress

  • Best Friend's Daddy, Billionaire Devil   90

    “There he is, going around with all these suspicions without solid proof. I'm finally starting to understand how he must feel.” That, and how Caterina seems determined to look after me—the way she does with him.“Speaking of which, have you reviewed the list of names I compiled?”If my head doesn't fucking explode, it will be a miracle. I walked into this room feeling good, energized, confident. All it takes is a catch-up session to remember how overwhelming the past few weeks have been. Caterina or no Caterina, I've got enough on my plate to make any man want to throw in the towel.I made her a promise. I’m going to find out who killed her mother. I only hope she isn’t in a hurry, since at least a dozen possible culprits could’ve had reason to send a message to Charles.“I scanned the names,” I confirm. “And I'd like to set up meetings. Only this is touchy, so we can't make too much noise, or word might spread that I'm digging.”“You realize one of those names was Salvatore Costello.

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