The cards were spread before us. The huge man that had grabbed the boys did the shuffle. The boss man kept his eyes on mine. “Do you know what happens if I win?” He asked, drawing my attention away from the amazing skill display of cards the huge guy was doing. The sight was a bit intimidating. All I knew were the card arrangement and little tricks on how to win. The way he shuffled the cards got me scared. There were lots of things I didn’t know how to do. I was almost sure that I’d lose. “I don’t know what happens if you win, but if I win, my friends and I are walking out of here and we won’t be owing you a dime,” I said the words with bravery that was faked. My insides were quivering in fear, but I dared not show it. My dad had said cards to sense fear and anxiety, he that played with shaking fingers will never win. I took a deep breath in an attempt to banish my fear. All the men at the table burst into laughter at my words. The sound echoes around the room, making everyone t
I only wanted to see if I had lost or not. He seemed so confident. We both knew he had tried to use his looks to distract me. When he refused to lay his card, I dropped mine. I wanted this to be over. “A queen of spades.” He read my card aloud. Then he dropped his. It was a king—a king of spades. The king was greater than the queen. I had lost. “Don’t give me that look. A king is as important as his queen.” He smiled, playing with the cards. He placed them side by side and turned them to face me. “What do you think?” He taunted. I wished I could look into someone else’s eyes, but everyone seemed so far away. When I looked up, I noticed the boys were gone but Darcy sat where she had been sitting. At the same time, the door opened, and her brother busted in, fury written all over his face. He went straight to his sister and tried to pull her away, but the huge guys blocked him. I couldn’t hear the words they said but he was mad that they wouldn’t let go of his sister. Hell, he w
EMILY KINGPRESENTLYI smiled at the memories, watching spread the cards again over the table. I had no plans to lose but I confirmed my credit card in my purse before the game even started. Everyone looked at me with watchful eyes as I was asked to shuffle.I picked it up and displayed the only shuffle trick I knew. After my mom died, only cards kept him sane. We played for hours. We were best friends in the game but whenever I got my hopes up and thought he was finally feeling better, he drew back into his shell as soon as the cards were away from his hands.I could play cards a lot better now, but I was no closer to my dad.I called myself back to the game as I laid the cards I had shuffled. I lifted my head to see keen eyes watching me.“Where did you learn to play cards? I heard from behind me. “Did Alexandro teach you?” it was Nina. I might have lied and agreed if it was someone else, but I liked Nina enough to be honest with her.“No, I learned this before I met Alexandro. My f
I got home tired and had a bit of a headache. I was starting to refer to this beautiful suite as home, I would miss it when I got home. Funny enough, as soon as I got in, I couldn’t sleep so I picked up my phone. I wasn’t drunk but maybe I wasn’t very conscious of my actions or the alcohol I had drunk earlier made me brave. I went to my contact list and dialed Alexandro King. “Hello, Cheater.” I greeted as soon as it beeped to signify, he had picked. And that was the last thing I remembered. ALEXANDRO KING She had to be drunk. How could she not be? I swerved as I noticed my favorite parking slot was free. A valet had offered to help me park, but it was my favorite car, and I wasn’t in a hurry. I had not intended to come back to the hotel till the end of the week but all I could think of was what mess Emily would put herself in. Then Baxter reported to me that she had attended last night’s party. I had not expected her to attend in my absence and was a bit worried, but when I hea
Her bra and panties lay abandoned on the floor, and she was spread on the bed. In only one piece of clothing. It was my shirt, but now it was no longer just on her hip. She is wearing it. Her head was resting on a pillow which her both hands were tucked under. On the table was an opened wine and a glass cup. There was still wine in it but she hadn’t drank much of it. I moved towards her and sniffed in her smell. There was a little alcohol on her, but it didn’t seem like she had drunk much, I took another sniff but all that invaded my nose was the vanilla smell of her hair. I couldn’t resist the urge to touch them. On my touch, she moved, curling herself before stretching again. Revealing the rear of her and making me wish I had stayed away. I couldn’t resist touching those legs. I laid a hand on her knee and heard her give a deep sigh. I let a little chuckle escape my lip, she wouldn’t hear it. I loved how sensitive she was. My hands moved down her legs, loving how smooth they w
Emily King No, no, no, no. This did not just happen. But it did. If the pleasure running in my veins wasn’t enough proof, the clenching of my insides for more should sprinkle a cold bucket of reality on my face. If that didn’t work, all I had to do was open my eyes to see the man standing in between my legs. “Open your eyes, Emily.” He called. His voice was gentle, was patient, like that of a lover. He was not my lover. Her was Alisha’s. “Let go of me. This didn’t happen.” I muttered the first words to him then the second to myself. “No, no, Emily, don’t do that, except you want a reminder.” He spoke, and I could hear the chuckle in his voice. It sounded cold and triumphant, like that of a devil when he knew he had won. His hands tightened over my hip and I felt the tip of his nose gently nudging the side of my core. My whole body swelled in response to his touch, betraying me. I tried to buck off him but instead, I just brought myself more into his face so I strayed still, emb
My hands couldn’t stay in place, I tried to keep him in place by pulling his hair, but I couldn’t word the need for him to go slow because the breath I got was barely enough to keep me breathing.He let go of my his to use the hand to keep my hand in place but instead, he allowed me to buck against him, trashing up against him and reducing the pleasure on my neck.“You don’t want to be a good girl, do you?” He growled. He moved away to free his tie from his neck.Excitement bubbled through me in the hope that he was about to undress but only the tie came off. It came off him then came on me.He grabbed both my hands and wrapped his tie around them.“What are you doing, Xandro?” I asked, a little fear crawling up my throat. I had never been tied before, hell, I had never had sex before.“I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.” His voice was reassuring, I believed. Then he smiled and said, “At least, not today.”I didn’t know what the fuck that meant, but I held on to his words about not
EMILY KINGI watched the horror that rose on his face before he withdrew totally from me. He took a moment to tally untie my hands before moving off the bed, away from me.His expression moved to annoyance as he got to the edge of the room before turning to face me.“What the fuck, Emily?” He spoke harshly. Anger was evident in his voice yet I had no idea what my sin was. When did being a virgin become something abominable?“I don’t know what the problem is,” I said it wasn’t being in denial, I just couldn’t accept that he was mad because I was a virgin.“Why do I not know that…. That you’re…. You’re… a…” He trailed off, running his hands through his hair.“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m what?” I snapped.“Wait! Are you still drunk?” He asked in wonder as he moved closer to me again.Was I drunk? Maybe a little, but I was very much aware of what happened tonight, and I doubted I would forget when I became sober.“I’m not drunk.” I denied. Freeing my hands from the tie, he
EMILYAlexandro was too restless to do anything. he wouldn't sleep, we literally forced him to eat. All he did was sit and watch his baby.Our Miracle.I stood by the door. I was sure he hadn't noticed my presence, all his attention was on our son. It was like Alexandro wanted to memorize every one of the boy's features."You have all the time in the world. You will watch him grow, we both will." I said to him.Alexandro broke into a small smile but didn't turn to me. "Are you mad I didn't tell you earlier?" I asked. I hoped he wouldn't be.He shook his head, "I'm a bit glad you didn't, I fear I might over thought t if you had told me. Thank you for being a strong woman Emily. You did very well in my absense.""But I am not doing too well in your presence, am I?" I asked."Of course not." He murmured. I hid a smile because I knew what was wrong.I wrapped my arms around him from behind. His muscles were taut like he was tense and scared, I couldn’t help rubbing my cheeks against his ba
EPILOGUE 2ALEXANDROParis prison shouldn’t even be considered a prison. It was just another place where I was King. I ruled the whole ward in the first month I got there and was worshiped during the rest.What a year in prison couldn’t do, just five minutes with Emily did it. made me scared, made me feel weak.I saw through her façade and saw the anxiety she tried to mask her nervousness.“Well, it’s not that.” She murmured, avoiding my eyes.I would have thought it to be impossible but Emily looked even better than I remembered. Prettier. Her violet eyes shone brighter, and although I knew she was nervous, true happiness filtered out through her eyes, and my heart broke.“Who is it?” I asked.“What?” She looked somewhat lost.“Who is he?” I knew from her eyes. She was happy. She had met someone else and he made her happy.“DO you know why I couldn’t visit you even when you finally permitted me to?” She asked.I broke her gaze. I had started it by refusing to see her. I needed her to
EPILOGUE 1EMILYOne year Later.I was late.Technically anyway. They would wait till I got there.France's government had taken it upon themselves to deliver Alexandro back to America. I think it was their way of making amends considering the worth of the properties he had in their country.As his wife on paper, I had to be the one to pick him up.If it were up to me, the whole family would follow me but I didn’t trust them not to leak my big secret to Alexandro before I did. And I wanted to be the one to do it. I was a bit uneasy about his reaction, maybe scared but what was top on my heart was to see him.I wonder how prison had treated him. I was also guilty he had gone there because of me. My fault.“How do I look?” I turned to Chloe, giving her a 360 degree view of my dress. More than anyone else, Chloe was most displeased with me.A little bit jealous too that I came back with my mother.“Very much more dashing than you should.” She replied, her face stoic but I could see her ey
EMILYThe case had been adjourned three times and we had to change lawyer halfway through but finally, the trial came to an end.At first, we had thought the case and court were just for formality but it had been discovered that Russo’s long-lost grandmother was French, and the French government wanted to fight for her citizens.We claimed self defense but apart from Amelia and I, there was no one to testify against Russo in court. It didn’t help that the man was head. Alexandro had aimed for his head. His brains had popped out and the doctors marked it as intentional murder.Although I had begun to heal from the wound and my wounds were marked minor, I reported Russo’s long-time stalking and showed the pictures he had made of me. I was no longer ashamed to show it as I knew it wasn’t me but we didn’t tell the court that.Luckily, Sarah had a secret camera that had caught him kicking me. Now we were waiting for the judge to announce her verdict.Alexandro was made to pay a thousand do
EMILYI was alive.My legs hurt, and so did my chest and head but I felt no excruciating pain that should have come from a gunshot.The room was still again like everyone held their breath.“Emily.” I heard someone call. It was Sarah. I opened my eyes.Russo lay on the floor. He was unmistakenly dead and his brains had been slipped open. I closed my eyes again.Strong arms lifted me. Not sarah’s arms.Alexandro.I opened my eyes again. My head was swimming, so many things happening at the same time. “Where do you hurt?” Alexandro’s voice asked.“He hit me. My head, my legs, my chest. He hit Amelia too. Take care of Amelia.” I rasped. My head was banging. Maybe it was the noise of the gunshot. It could also be from when he smacked my head with the gun. I closed my eyes again.Alexandro’s hand touched my legs and I winced. “I think it’s broken. I’ll take you to the hospital.” Alexandro said moving me outside. “Sarah will take care of Amelia.” I nodded, letting him take care of me.I hea
“Amelia killed your dad.”EMILYMy eyes shot to my mom. “What’s he saying?”Amelia was rude and sassy, she was stuck on herself, and didn’t care about other people, but a murderer? I didn’t think so.I didn’t know what she did for her agency or whatnot, but why would she kill my dad? And I thought I knew how my dad died. Alexandro cut him off life support.But who knew what devilish things she did for the agency? There had to be a reason Sarah’s dad didn’t let her join.“Explain,” I commanded.“Explain mama.” The masked man echoed unnecessarily. “Explain how you ruined this beautiful princess’ life and mine as well.”Amelia began crying. “I didn’t know he would have a heart attack. I swear. I just wanted him to leave me alone.” She began.“He kept trying to find me, I sent letters, telling him to stop looking for me. I didn’t know how but I managed to find myself once and the agency didn’t like it. So I had to find a way for him to stop trying to find me.” She stopped, sobbing. The so
EMILY“Someone grew balls, not enough though, since you still need a mask on your face.” I rasped. I tried to sound bold but my voice sounded hoarse. The only thing I had control over was my facial expression. “And that gun.” I scoffed. “Do you know how to use it?” I placed the bag down and settled on the chair closest to the door. “What do you want?” I asked.“You have a very pretty mother.” He said, ignoring my questions and not minding my taunts. “I heard that you both aren’t on good terms.” He played with Amelia’s hair as he spoke. Then he stopped to remove the rag from her mouth.I recognized it as the kitchen napkin. He came through the kitchen while Amelia must have come through the door. He wasn’t a professional, from his muscles I could see all he had was brawn. He could smash a window open but couldn’t pick locks.I wasn’t afraid of him but I could tell Amelia was, and I couldn’t figure out why. Amelia wasn’t the type to fear.“Mommy here has a confession to make.” The man n
EMILY“You reek of sex,” Sarah complained disapprovingly as she drove me home. I said nothing but couldn’t stop smiling. “So you’re getting back together with Alexandro?” She asked.That made me frown.She was ruining the good mood three orgasms had put me in and I didn’t like it. “I don’t know yet.”“So, the sex was just a mistake or what?” She asked, avoiding my eyes. I was fine with that, I didn’t particularly appreciate it when she took her big sister role to this angle.“No, it was very intentional.” I wouldn’t deny that I even initiated it if she asked.“But you’ve not decided what you’re going to do with him. That’s a bit harsh. You’re giving him the wrong signals. You’re using him.” She scolded.Now that got at me. “Would you rather I fucked someone else? He’s my husband for Christ’s sake.” I was getting irritated.Sarah noticed because she stopped pushing but the seeds she had sown in my head began to take root and grow.Just a few hours ago I had been ranting at Amelia, but
EMILYI wasn’t going to accept being rejected. Hell no. I knew just the way to make him change his mind, it was easy when I could see he wanted me too, the bulge in his pants was very noticeable.My hands came up to the buttons of his shirt; he knew what I was about to do even before I touched the first button.“Don’t.” He moved out of the room immediately, and I followed behind. I had three buttons done by the time he turned back. “What are you doing?” He screamed.One side of the wall was glass and his men only had to pass to see me naked. I pulled the shirt over my shoulder and just in time someone passed by. Alexandro pushed me back into the room in an instant. I pulled him along and clicked the door shut, blocking it with my body, then threw the shirt on the floor.I was going to die of embarrassment if he rejected me now.He closed his eyes, willing himself not to look at me. And I smiled, victory was close.I pulled his hand, taking his fingers in between my legs to show him ho