Chapter 40 – Third PersonPOVMaria sits on the edge of the bed waiting for her husband to come out of the bathroom.“Maria!” Nikolai calls from the bathroom.She jumps running to the bathroom. She opens the door.“What are you just standing there, come here and help me!” he snaps.Maria walks in and helps Nikolai out of the tub. He walks out and she cleans the bathroom after his gone.She hears glass breaking.She drops the towel in her hand and ran into the bedroom.Nikolai laying in a pool of his own blood scared her. she looked toward the window seeing it broken.The bedroom door opens and a man she didn’t recognize walked in.She backs away…“Don’t worry I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to save you, or whatever…” Alex shrugs his shoulders.Frightened, Maria looks at Alex.“Dammit. I’m not good at this. We need to leave before people find out the fat bastards dead.” He sighs when he says she’s not making a move.“Yo, Amara I need your help…” Alex says into his comm.He hands hi
Chapter 41 – Mattia Greco’s punishmentAlexsei PopovPOVI scratch my head as we walk down to Rowan’s basement. I’ve been looking for a house around here. I want to give Sofia everything and I know she’d love to stay close to her family, plus for safety reasons I want no one to have access to her.Damien opens the door, and we all follow him in.When the bastard sees us walking in, he spits toward us.I roll my eyes. He’s tied to a chair, leather straps around his wrists. The same for his ankles. He’s butt naked, he’d given Sofia the same treatment.Damien slaps him across the face.He lets out a low chuckle.I shake my head. “Schastlivy ubludoc, esli by ya dobilsia svoyego, the byl by mertview…” I was waiting my turn. {You’re lucky motherfucker, if I had my way, you'd be dead…}I run my tongue over my teeth.When I see the questioning is going nowhere.I grab the hand drill from the table walking over. I drill a nail into his hand. He lets out a cry.“You mother fucker are you insane
Chapter 42Rayna Constance RussoPOV"Come on Ray don't be like this." Andre looks at me in confusion. Acting like he has no idea why I’m upset.Trembling in rage I glare at him. "Like what exactly Andre?" I snap.He sighs. "Like this. We've known each other since we were kids. It's just that I was in shock. I didn't mean for it to sound like I assumed you’ve been sleeping around. I don't know why you're so angry..." he says softly.I look at him in disbelief. How dare he? "I'm upset because I feel played. I feel like after what happened between us. We'd talk about it. No, you ignored me and snubbed me, like I was a pes. An insignificant bug under your blood-stained boots. Now when I want space you won't give it to me. What the fuck is your problem?" I ask. I was so fucking pissed off; I could feel steam coming out of my ears."Ray we've been friends..." I cut him off."Friends don't fuck Andre!" I snap.He flinches at my tone."Ray..." he sighs. He takes a seat on my hot pink love se
Chapter 43 – A real proposalSofia PriestPOV“So, what did you need help with?” Alex asks Rayna as soon as we’re seated in her apartment.I poke his ribs to stop him.He glares at me. “What? We need to find out why she called us here.” He tells me.I roll my eyes.“Th-thank you for coming…” she stutters. “Uhm, by now you must have heard I’m pregnant…” she announces.My jaw drops in shock. “No, we didn’t hear that. Congratulations Rayna…” I get up and hug her.“What does that have to do with us?” Alex asks.I sigh pulling away from her.This man has no filter. He is always saying whatever comes to mind and what goes on up there doesn’t always just hurt you but crushes your soul.“Well, I know your sister she’ll get the two of you off the grid I want her to do the same for me. I’ll pay her…” she adds the end.Alex frowns. “Who are you running from?” he asks.She bites her lip. “Andre Rossi.” She says softly.My eyes widen I take a seat beside her my arm wrapped around her shoulders. “A
Chapter 44Andre RossiPOVWhen I realized, Rayna wasn’t going to budge, I had to take extreme measures, so she’ll listen to me.She needed to listen to me. I know once she hears me out, she’ll understand.I step in front Eira’s grave placing the peonies in front of her grave. I bend touching the head stone.“Hey Eira. Leaving without is hard. Not seeing your face as soon as I wake up has been an adjustment. The crushing pain on my chest as gone away. That doesn’t mean I don’t miss you. every day without you hurts still.I’m having a baby with Rayna… Remember how I told you about my history with her.” I look away from her grave.I swallow.“No one knows about what happened then and I will never tell them. I’d never disrespect you like that…”Everyone believes Eira and I have this amazing love story. Because that’s the story we went with. Keeping her safe was my main concern and protecting her secret.I’d always loved Rayna, and Eira was my best friend, losing her hurt more than I’d li
Chapter 45Rowan PriestPOVSitting in bed with my wife I keep thinking about how to be there for Andre and Rayna without overstepping.Andre was there for me through my darkest moments, I want to be there for him, help him.I don’t want to overstep by telling Rayna the truth. Andre helped me realize that was in love with Grace, he told me to move on with Grace and I know we wouldn’t be where we are without him.“What’s going on with you?” Grace pauses her show and looks at me.I shrug my shoulders. “This whole drama with Andre. I want to help.” I tell her honestly. Though it wasn’t the whole story, Grace knew there were parts of my life I could never be honest about.She’s never held it against me. When I say Grace is an angel, I’m not lying. She knows I’m a terrible man, that I’ve killed people. That our empire was built on other’s bones, yet she still finds it in her heart to love me.She’s not only an amazing wife but an amazing mom to the twins. I don’t know what I’ll do without
Chapter 46Four months laterDamien PriestPOVWe’re at a studio getting Amara and my pregnancy photoshoot.She’s only six months pregnant. But there’s are for our baby shower, Amara has this whole plan for the baby shower, she’s been planning it since she found out we’re pregnant again.This being our rainbow baby, Amara’s been extra cautious. She’s handed the reigns over to me. letting me take care of her.Do we still mourn the baby we lost before, yes. She’d insisted we get scans as soon as she found out she was pregnant. She wanted something to hold onto. We didn’t have anything for the baby we lost, no stuffed bears, no scans not a piece of clothing nothing.“I’m so excited to get this done…” Amara says with a smile. “Sutton will look back at these pictures and love them…” her smile bright her blue eyes shining brightly.Sutton our daughter’s name. We found out last month. We haven’t informed our family yet. We’re doing it at our gender reveal in three weeks.Sutton Wren Priest…
Chapter 47 – The dressSofia Boyle - PriestPOVToday is one of the best days of my life and the day hasn’t even started yet. Today is my wedding dress appointment.Today I’m getting one step closer to walking down the aisle.I have no idea what the men are getting up today, but Alex said Rowan and Damien asked to see him. I’m also well aware of the fact that if they didn’t, he would find a way to sneak into my appointment. He hates leaving me alone, even when we’re with family.He's constantly looking over his shoulder making sure Ellie and I are okay.Ellie will be joining us at my appointment today, she’s just as excited to pick out her own dress.All the women are joining. My mom, Amara, Grace, Sasha, Mia, Rayna and Ellie"What are you doing up so early?" Damien asks walking into the kitchen."I couldn’t sleep…" I say taking a sip of my coffee.He smiles he leans against the cabinet crossing his arms and legs.“What?” I ask.He shakes his head. “Just I never thought the day would