“You cannot.” Alexandro deadpanned, shocking me. I recovered fast.“It’s either you take me there yourself, or I leave behind your back.” I threw at him.“There’s a third option. I lock you in and make sure you never leave this house.”“I’d like you see you try. So which is it going to be?” I didn’t want to sleep on it. we would decide what happens there and there.“Emily, the moment you step your foot into Paris, the Ortega will launch out against you, who knows what they’ll do to you?” He winced.“My My, and here I was thinking you cared about me. But guess what you selfish asshole, I’m not going to sit while anyone tries to control my life. You might not realize it with your eyes all over every woman in town, but I’m grown up and it’s time I begin to decide for myself.” Alexandro’s eyes caught fire. “Selfish? You call me selfish? Do you know what I’ve given up to keep you safe?”I never asked for that! The words were on the tip of my tongue but I knew they would be ineffective for
EMILYI looked at my mom, looked back at sarah, looked at her Amelia again, and then back to Sarah. I saw Amelia frown in disgust.“You didn’t tell her?” She turned to Sarah.“I figured it was yours to explain.” Sarah closed her eyes in annoyance but all my mom did was hand me a sun cream.“Rub this around my back.” And she turned her back to me. Sarah jerked it out of my hand and pushed it back to Amelia.“The girl isn’t here to help you from sunburn she wants an explanation. For God’s sake Amelia.” She snapped.I couldn’t help but stare at the both of them. My dad has said I looked like my mom but he couldn’t be more wrong, Sarah could have been mistaken for her younger sister.My mom didn’t look as hold as I thought she’d be. I didn’t know her exact age but I knew she would be approximately in her mid-forties. She was pretty. There was no point denying it, Amelia knew it, Sarah knew it, I knew it and even the guy sitting opposite us and checking out Amelia’s ass knew it.I didn’t k
EMILYSarah’s flat was a regular one—a tiny space in a building with over 200 other flats. It was small but neat, and she had a cat.“Sorry about the size, I know you’re not used to staying somewhere so small.” She apologized.I saw in her eyes that she wished she had more to offer me, wished she could give me more. What she didn’t know was that she had given me more than enough. I went through today unscattered, thanks to her alone. I wondered how it would have gone if I had navigated the whole place myself.“What’s her name?” I asked, referring to the cat.“It’s male and his name is Emerald.” She replied behind me.I ran my hands through the sleeping cat’s fur and watched it wake up, “Oh, the eyes.” It had beautiful glassy eyes, blue and sparkly. Emerald. “It’s beautiful.”She smiled, proud of herself, “He’s just getting started, he’s going to be so big and magnificent, he;s a siberran breed.”“Ah,” I nodded, I had seen one before, they were indeed magnificent.“How do you feel?” Sh
EMILY“That was delicious. You’re going to teach me how to cook like you.” I said as I stuffed my mouth with food.A blush rose to Sarah’s cheek and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was really older than me. Her phone buzzed and she picked it up, “Oh, it’s my dad, he’s in town. Is it a vacation period? He’s at the resort too.” Then her eyes perked up, “Do you want to meet him?” She asked.I shrugged, I was jealous of her relationship with her dad but what could I do, “Sure.”“Okay, we’ll go there tomorrow.”Later, it was getting late and my eyes grew heavy, Sarah noticed, “I’ll take the couch and you’ll take the bed.” She said.I frowned. “Why can’t we share the bed?” I didn’t like her sleeping on the couch for me. I hated sleeping on the couch, it made my whole body hurt, a year of luxury had changed me in so many ways. Alexandro had seen to it that a mediocre life would never appeal to me again.“No, it’s too small for two people,” she said taking me to the room. I had nothing open
EMILYWe contacted Alexandro first thing in the morning, telling him I was fine and he shouldn’t try to find me. They wouldn’t even guess I was with Sarah so I knew they were on a long way in the opposite direction of finding me.Sarah and I agreed to go see her dad this morning and while she seemed excited about it, I was internally praying we didn’t bump into Amelia. I did not want to see her. I hoped I never did too.Sarah changed into three different dresses before she threw her hands in the air in defeat. “I don’t know what to wear.” She cried.“You’re good at choosing clothes. Just pick anything.” I shrugged.“The thing is, my dad, loves sexy dresses, heels, and those sorts, but they’re not my thing, and we're going to a beach, I fear I might embarrass myself. But there’s also a higher chance of him agreeing straight away if he loved my dress and-.”“Wait.” I just had to stop her, she just said something that was very much foreign to my ears. “You’re going there to ask for his p
EMILY“This is freaky!” Sarah exclaimed. Yeah, enough to freak her out. It was bad enough that we walked into people having sex but it was worse when one was a mother we shared while the second party was her father.“I need to delete the last two minutes from my memory,” I cried. “I think I saw your dad’s ass. And I didn’t even see his face.” I cried.“They are together?” Sarah’s face was still plain with shock as we sat on the balcony.“I doubt, I think he’s trying to win her back, he wouldn’t buy her diamonds if it were just to get an orgasm.” I shrugged.“You’re crude. I’m serious, this can’t be happening.” I shook her head but I doubt if her thought was about deleting the memory of the sight we just saw.I couldn’t feel whatever was going on in her head because our situation was different. Although we shared a mother, we had different fathers and for her, it was her mother and father involved.The sight of Amelia and Sarah’s dad's tangled limb was enough to snuff any goodwill I ha
EMILYI thought I’d be happy that Sarah had finally gotten her senses and would stop loving her father blindly, but as I saw the look on her face the moment the realization hit her, I felt like a bitch.I just broke a family and disbanded a team. Sarah had been on her father’s side all her life and now she was going to be alone. I wasn’t her teammate yet. Although we started on the right foot now no one knows tomorrow. We might never become very close.And now she was alone, all thanks to me. Would it have been better to let her be delusional? Delusion is the solution. No. delusion was delusion. It was only less painful.I was no different from Alexandro.“Let’s get out of here.” Sarah didn’t wait for me to answer before she stood up and walked away.“My diamonds.” Amelia cried but Sarah didn’t look back. I followed her out.Sarah took giant strides and I had to run to catch up with her. We met in the elevator. “Maybe you should talk it out with your dad. Don’t let Amelia influence yo
EMILY“Where have you been?” I murmured sweetly, sounding like I missed him when in truth it had been him searching for me.Alexandro slipped a possessive hand around my waist and faced Portia. “You should know not to cross your boundary.” And with that, we walked toward Nina.“Emily!” Nina shrieked as she sighted me, “Have I ever offended you? You just disappeared.” She scolded but her eyes were light. I wondered if it was real.Bella had made me skeptical about even people who acted nice.I played along, trying not to show my doubt and being as sincere as I could be. I kissed both of her cheeks and whispered into her ears, “Honeymoon phase.”Maybe because I was so close to her, she saw her eyes flicker, and her next words were carefully picked, “Should we expect a baby soon?” Nina asked sweetly.I didn’t know why I was so sure but I knew. She knew about my baby. I willed myself not to show my pain and moved back to stand beside Alexandro before I replied to her. I needed his support
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