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
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
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
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
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
ALEXANDRO'S POV“I do not need a wife.” I barked at my brother over the phone, not caring that people were staring at me or I was in a hospital. No one dared complain, I had bought the hospital along with every damn staff in it the day before.“You do not actually, but if you want to lias with the old man, you need a woman you’re legally bound to standing beside you. It’s the rules.” Ian replied over the phone. “Besides, marriage is not so bad a thing,” Ian concluded. The man believed in love.“I think you just got lucky. I’d see what I can do to get the old man’s attention.” With that, I hung up.I didn’t need a woman giving me a headache, women meant too much trouble and I just wasn’t interested. They had no value beyond sexual pleasure, and I didn’t need to marry one before getting that, another thing was the legal right she would have if she decided to leave.“Please, please, give me a month, just a month, and I’ll pay up, just please take care of my dad, please, I beg of you.” A
He sat opposite me with a no-nonsense look on his face. He had looked romantic in black earlier but now he looked totally like the Grim Reaper.“So? What do you think?” He asked. We were in his house. It was a big mansion with maids running around like scared rabbits, he sat like he knew he had everyone’s lives wrapped around his fingers. Little did I know I was about to be one of them.“Why? I’ve never met you before.” I was sure it wasn’t because of my mesmerizing beauty because I had none. I looked like a homeless kid, which I was.“I’ve seen you three times before now and I think you’re perfect. Sorry about your father and the job you lost.” He wasn’t sorry, he just wanted me to know how much he knew about me. There was no empathy in his voice.“How… how did you know about my father?” I should feel my face turn white with shock.“Doesn’t matter. Here’s the deal, I’ll take care of your dad, take him to a more private unit where he would be well taken care of, and you’ll have a home
I got married in a black dress.It was at that wedding I knew my husband wasn’t an ordinary man. We got married in a hotel I found out he owned. It wasn’t a regular wedding although a vicar was called to join us together. The press came in swarms and every breath I took was caught on camera. The only people that looked normal were a man I found out was Alexandro's brother, Ian, and his wife Hannah.“One minute Xandro is against getting married, the other minute he’s having a wedding. Who are you?” Ian asked me when the wedding was over, although I had heard there was a separate part at night.He was the one who gave me away, he looked curious, but I didn’t see a look of disapproval on his face.“We met last year, at NYU.” I began to reply as Alexandro had said I should but joined in and interrupted.“We don’t need to lie to me, brother,” Alexandro said smiling, he looked at his brother around. Today he looked very handsome, his dark hair had been perfectly styled, making his dark eyes