CHAPTER 159 : Commitments and Complications. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "You see? You're making that face again." Bianca accused. "No, I'm not." Damon denied with a pout. "Yes, you are!" She smiled and intimately wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I find it extremely sexy." She purred and tentatively grazed his lips. Damon instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing their bodies together. "Then move in with me." "But we have to learn to trust each other." She said. "It'ld be easier if we stay together. That way we..." Bianca let him steal a kiss. "And when we aren't together? Then what?" She held his gaze. "We'll still be suspicious of each other. We should live apart and learn to trust each other that way. Plus....I'll be getting your attention nonstop." She giggled. Damon rested his head on hers and remained quiet for a long time. That was the deal about commitments. They were alway
CHAPTER 160 : Into The Early Hours Of Dawn... ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) The Mob boss walked into his new matrimonial bedroom and met his gorgeous bride on the bed, lying horizontally like the temptress she naturally was. Natalia's head was on her outstretched left hand while the other clutched the beautiful silky sheets near her lips. Her long lashes fluttered over her eyes in her troubled sleep. A light crease marred his brows as he laid quietly beside her....and noticed the difference. Beads of sweat stuck to her face and her agonizing moan filled his psychotic senses with lust. His hand tentatively travelled down the curves of body, ignorant of the raging fever her vibrant skin had. Suddenly, Natalia's eyes flew open in anticipation rather than fright which aroused him beyond control. Was she really psyched up for their first night together or... The Mafia Don's lewd thoughts were interrupted as his bride suddenly made a dash
CHAPTER 161 : Angus Anderson. ( Beverley Hills, California. ) A security guard walked into the room after a response with a paper bag. He dropped it with Arian, bowed to the C.E.O and the heir before walking out wordlessly. "That was quick." Arian muttered. "Did you..." "Your dinner." He completed for his dad, picking up his coffee mug again. Richard raised an eyebrow. "Wait for it... Tommy sent it?" Arian shrugged. "Like I said earlier... Anyhow you want it." "You know, there's something else that's really important in business...." "Transparency? Not in this case though." Richard chuckled and the eye bags disappeared for a while. "What's left for you to review?" Arian pulled the documents his way as his father opened the bundled up paper bag holding his favorite French cuisine. "I'm thinking of a merger with a company that's already involved in drag racing. You know, the tracks, the experience, the br
CHAPTER 162 : The Scent Of Power. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "Satisfying a bunch of gossip mongers is the least of our problems right now. No one will be giving any other further information until we find the Empress. So stick with the plan." Elva stated, and she nodded before returning to her work. Just then, Max knocked and walked in. "Ma'am, there's been another murder." He reported. "A Kelion?" "Yes." He answered and dropped a couple of snapshots on the table. "The police are getting real interested in the murders. He was a Kelion hitman and died the same way the others did.... A bullet in each circle of their triskeles tattoos.'' The two women both looked at the pictures. "Who could it be?" Elva wondered, furrowing her brows. "Does it really matter? We should be grateful." Naomi seethed. "Any news of Jake yet?" "Not yet, ma'am. We're still searching though." "And the reports?"
CHAPTER 163 : Baby Danielle. ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) "What the hell's going on here?!" An angry voice bellowed from the elevator. The maids flew up from their seats in terror but Natalia leaned more comfortably into hers, the head chair, with a smug expression. "What do you think, old woman?" She viciously snorted. "Having a cookery lesson?" Lady Rosa held her breath as well as the entire room. "And did I order you to stand?" She glared at the trembling maids. After they had hesitated and quivered so much, they oh-so-slowly sat down back. Lady Rosa angrily marched over. "What is the meaning of this madness?! When did..." "Look..." Natalia tiredly interrupted her. "It's too early in the morning to argue with anyone and heaven knows I've got no strength to talk much. If your dimwitted old eyes can't notice it's breakfast time, I don't need your annoying presence either. "So quietly find a place to sit or mo
CHAPTER 164 : Deadlier Than A Two Edged Sword... ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) It must've been sometime during the night when Natalia felt him slip in beside her. The former her would've jerked up in a heartbeat and try to scramble away, but she laid still. After all, her doctors had put her on sedatives at her request to help her sleep. Natalia didn't expect the Mob boss to be back so soon after the dork said he'ld be back during the weekend!. But, maybe Draco wasn't lying because; "I missed you." Leonardo muttered and placed a kiss on her skin. Natalia breathed softly, continuing her 'sleep' without reacting. He gently moved her neatly brushed hair aside and rested his head there. Then his arm encircled her waist and brought her closer to himself, possessively. Natalia mentally cringed, wishing she had worn her jacket over the strapless nightie instead! She remained still when his kisses resumed. But it didn't stop there. The per
CHAPTER 165 : The Warm blooded Artist And His Dear Rosella... ( In The Carribean Ocean. ) "Yes?" Natalia looked cocky. "You're having a steady recovery, ma'am. But I must warn you to avoid excessive stress. Your energy level is still low but every other thing is okay." The doctor respectfully reported. "Can I still have the sedatives? It's hard for me to fall asleep by myself." She asked. The man remained silent for a while thoughtfully, after staring at her with eyes Natalia found more than suspicious. Of course the medical practitioners had noticed the missing bottle of Ipecac! But since the Mistress had never been in there before and believing no one in the fort was stupid enough to break the rules, they'd kept their diagnosis as simple as they could. Besides, they couldn't just report it to the cold Mob boss that his wife had plotted with some smart thief to steal something that had endangered her life without leaving with
CHAPTER 166 : I'm Sorry. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) Jeffery's bleeding finger hung limp by his side and continued to add a bright splash of red to the white tiles. The blonde was lost in thought, obviously ignorant of his cut. Against her will, Nicky got lost staring at the beautiful changes on him. Even though Jeffrey looked stressed, his dreamy ocean blue eyes and angelic face still looked so pretty. His hair, like the color of golden beach sand, was no longer in messy fringes around his forehead. They sat daintily at a corner of his face with a little undercut. He looked just like his mom, his birth mom. Nicky sighed and shoved a fluffy napkin from the coffee machine into his hand. This broke his trance as his head snapped to her direction in a split second. "See a nurse or it'ld get infected." She muttered and continued on her way out, trying to ignore the familiar delicious tingles when their fingers brushed. "I'm sorry
CHAPTER 185 : Final Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "What are you doing?!" She bulged her eyes and moved away. "What?" Arian sheepishly groaned. "Don't 'what' me! You know what I mean!" She stated, playing their usual nightly 'what' game.....which usually followed the same pattern. Arian seductively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "We have the rest of the night to ourselves." He deliciously bit his lips and swept down to capture hers.But Natalia stepped away. "I need to check if the twins have yanked their heads off already." She tried to escape but Arian blocked her. "You're just coming from the nursery." He sexily pouted and Natalia almost gave in. She shook her head to reject the temptation. "I think it's time for Adrian's milk." She tried again but Arian easily caught her. "Adrian's asleep and his milk isn't until midnight. So..." He kissed her and slowly
CHAPTER 184 : Epilogue (2). ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "By the way, where is Jake?" Elva curiously asked. "He had some work to do and promised to be here this evening." Naomi answered. Natalia had set up a special committee of her most trusted ministers to hold the Empire for a few days. Jake was among the members so he had a little delay. "I really admire you." Naomi continued, taking the attention away from herself. "Being an Empress, a wife, a mother, a philanthropist and also a role model, all in one package!" She dramatised. "It's no wonder you haven't changed much with three kids! On the contrary, it made you hotter. I'm just expecting my second child but I feel like a granny!" Nicky joked and fondly rubbed her huge baby bump. "No! You're not a granny. You're my mommy." Louisa raised her head and pouted.The girls giggled when Nicky blushed. "It's no wonder you don't miss Jeffrey whenever he goes away on b
CHAPTER 183 : Epilogue. ( Beverly Hills, California. ) "How was your night?" Arian kissed Natalia as Adrian rubbed baby drool all over his face. Natalia stretched lazily and closed her eyes. "Stressful." She pouted. "I know, right? This champ is quite a handful at night.'' He tickled Adrian who hung on his neck like King kong. "Da-da! Da-da!!" He squealed happily which echoed arouund the room. "As if you weren't a handful yourself." She scoffed and turned away, pulling the duvet closer around her. It made Natalia a little jealous that Adrian hadn't yet learnt to call her mama. In fact, Dada was the only word he knew! Arian noticed it and chuckled, pulling her back to face him. As usual, he was shirtless wearing only sweatpants. Some habits were just so hard to break! Not that Natalia was complaining though. It made her husband look uncontrollably sexy! Adrian grinned down at his mama in his diapers. Fa
CHAPTER 182 : The Seal Of Their Love. ( Astheria, Australia. ) Still sitting on the floor, Naomi slowly arranged her things inside a cardboard box. She shivered a bit because she was still wearing her clothes. But Naomi didn't care. There was more important things to be done than caring if she had gotten a cold by wearing her wet clothes for so long that it'd dried still on her. A knock sounded on the door. "Please go away. I'm a little busy." Her hoarse voice sounded. Naomi knew the visitor wasn't on an official business. If the Empress or the royal assistant needed her, they'ld have easily sent an email. And so far, they hadn't. Naomi couldn't blame them though. She felt embarrassed and hated her family's history. And after everything they had done to the Santianas, she couldn't bare to look at anyone anymore. After a while, the knock sounded again and this time, the person walked in without consent. Naomi didn't bother to l
CHAPTER 181 : Where's Naomi? ( Astheria, Somewhere in continent Australia. ) ( Hours Later. ) "She's not in danger but I still recommend a lot of rest. You can see her. Just make it as quick as possible." The aged doctor whispered and walked away. Elva Thompson and Jake Buniz nodded before walking into the Royal study. They found Natalia leaning on her desk, gently running her fingers over her grandmother's diary. Louis had kept it safe like he'd promised. "You should be resting. Doctor's orders." Elva let out a small frown in displeasure. "I'm fine." Natalia curtly said and stood up. The thick sweats she was wearing matched with her pale skin. She returned the diary to one of the drawers and faced them back. "Tell me. The casualty report?" She ordered. "We lost a good number of our men while the rest are being taken care of." Jake reported. "And Max?" Jake lowered his cold eyes in hes
CHAPTER 180 : The Battleground (3). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) The Mob boss snickered which sounded like something made in hell and back hugged Natalia, erotically pulling her closer. Arian fought the impulse to take a step and lunge at him! He was purposely riling him up to draw him into the sensors! "Tsk! Don't make her feel bad!" He clicked his tongue. "You were smart, my love. But sentimentality was all I needed to sneak into your lives.... And you gave it to me." He nuzzled her hair and possessively trailed kisses down her neck. Arian's insides cringed feeling his control slowly snap while Natalia's self hate increased each passing second. "Let her go!" Arian snarled, running out of patience and clenched his fists. "And you expect me to ask 'Or what?'." Leonardo cocked a cocky brow. "Look around you, fool! We ain't in some shitty movie. This is my turf! I run this freaking game!" He viciously barked. "What do you want?" A
CHAPTER 179 : The Battleground (2). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) Meanwhile, the automatic doors trapping Arian De' Argent in the hallway reopened after the lights had suddenly turned off and returned after five seconds. Arian turned to continue the search for his love but stopped when Naomi froze....and then fainted. He hastily caught her before she could crash land. "Hey, hey!" He called seeing her drowsy eyes. "What..." The French heir froze on his interrogation when he saw four darts pierced into her pretty brochette and a fifth one stuck on the skin of her neck. Naomi had thrown herself in front of Arian when she noticed the danger he was in without thinking. Arian pulled them out and tapped her lightly. "Hey, stay with me, okay?" The timid spy tried to nod but the snake venom was working tremendously fast, already at the second stage of the symptoms which was total paralysis. "Hey!" Arian yelled. "What?!" Max yelle
CHAPTER 178 : The battleground (1). ( In The Carribean Ocean.) "Who do you want to go first?" He casually, but deviously asked. The gunshots continued more fiercely and through the cameras, Natalia and the few in the room could see the gory battle going on. As observers seeing the whole battle ground, anyone could bet that Astheria had an upper hand! "The only game we'll be playing is the one you'll be losing." She seethed in confidence. Leonardo coldly smirked which gave her goosebumps for some reason before placing his hand on a screen which scanned his fingerprints. "Good evening, Master. How may I be of service?" The voice of an artificial intelligence echoed from thin air. "Ava, place the fortress on lockdown." He ordered. "As you wish, Master." A moment later, metal doors sprung up trapped everyone in. Those who were fighting outside couldn't get in and those who were in couldn't get out. Natalia's heart skipped a be
CHAPTER 177 : Let's Play A Game, Shall We?... ( In The Carribean.) "Something is wrong." Jake Buniz stated, pacing restlessly around the communication tent. The geniuses among the little battle squad was in the same tent, doing what they did best with the gadgets and devices in there. They were all dressed the same with silent and serious features. "She should've made contact by now." The Captain of the army continued. "Let's think more positively. It could be that Naomi hasn't yet located the Empress.... Even though it's not really a positive thought. However, you above everyone else knows how shady these Kelions are. There's still a few hours till midnight. We should give her a little more time." Max offered, more relaxed than his superior as as he typed away on a computer. "I trust my instincts. And right now, something doesn't feel right." Jake stopped behind him and leaned over with a hand on his chair and the other on the table.