82Armando Anything that I ever wanted was this lady to stay by my side and be safe. How should I make her understand this world did not think the way she thinks? This world of sins was not for someone like her but unfortunately, she was a part of it, she had to be here because she was written for me in the name of love. The day our pages joined together, I vowed to protect her from the devils of the darkness, who loved to suck the soul of an innocent in the name of power and revenge. This wife of mine who was sleeping peacefully in my arms never paid attention to see how much I worry for her. How much I get afraid of losing her every time she would do something stupid thinking that stunt of hers would help me. No! That never helped me. She should’ve considered a thought about what I would feel if she would’ve run away to that bag of shit and gotten under her along with our son. She never cared to think about the consequences. It’d only worsen the situation. But then, my mind repli
83ArmandoI gathered my men in my room, it was exactly three in the morning. I didn’t care how inappropriate timing it was as I could care less about my people because I pay them for my obedience. I had other things to catch up on such as destroying Claire the way she wanted to diminish my life. Dream on, girl. Many had tried but none could succeed—so as your brother who had a fire of revenge burning within him. I was sitting in my seat, everyone was standing before my eyes, their hands clenched together and eyes towards the ground. I cleared my throat as my right hand held a cigarette and left one resting on the desk. I gaped at them openly, calculating which person was perfect for which task. At last, I decided to break the silence because we had less time and much bigger things to handle for the war. The way she threatened me told me she was prepared for the attack and with that, every second of these days were precious to me, anything could take place in the next minute. “Ther
84ArmandoI’d been longing for Lana from the moment I left her embrace and went to my wardrobe to pack my essentials for the counterattack, it’s like I left my heart with her and now, I wasn’t able to breathe properly. Within fifteen minutes, my belongings were packed and I left for the airport, not forgetting to give a farewell kiss to my little kitten; Isabella. She awoke by the time I was about to leave the room. I was forced to spend some time with her when she opened her arms for me to pick her up, although I was already running out of time but I couldn’t neglect my daughter or my wife no matter what, they’d always come first.After those moments together, I rushed to the airport. When I sat in my car that waited long for me on the porch, I observed my bodyguards' faces holding a question concerning about my late arrival as it never happened before. I was dangerously punctual before my kids but now, things have changed. I was a family man and I had to mould myself for my loved o
85ArmandoIt’d been two hours since Mason left for the operation with his team and in a few minutes, they would be reaching the villa and executing the mission. I was all eyes and ears, my gaze glued upon the screen and all I could think of was Sebastian stepping in the penthouse, hugging my tight in a few hours and I would be the luckiest man alive by then, and after I would get my little man here, then I would start playing with Claire’s fate. “Master, we are at one command’s wait, all teams’ positions are set, we are ready for the attack,” Mason stated through the walkie-talkie. I picked up my receiver and put it closer to my face, listening to each word attentively and calculating the perfect timing. “Are you inside the Villa yet? Turn on your camera,” I commanded Mason. “Yes, sure, I’ve cleared the wall, hiding in the bushes,” Mason informed. I pushed the red button that connected the mike with all men’s devices. “Are we steady?” I asked everyone and each man one by one roge
86LanaNo, no, no, no, NO! Claire was going to hurt my family, she was either going to kill Sebastian or Armando or in the worst case; both. No, I wouldn’t let her do this to my family, how easily she could think it’s easy to diminish my realm with her finger’s snap. No, she was forgetting I wasn’t the Lana anymore when we met each other for the first time. I was Misses De Luca now. I would do anything to make sure my family stays safe, I would go to any extent to keep my loved ones protected. And that all means, I would have to move to Puerto Rico in order to save the already fallen clan and control the situation with the best that I have otherwise things would go horribly wrong and our empire would fall on its knees. I could feel it in my chest, something was going down, furiously. I need to save it before it vanishes into nothing. I was staring at the blank screen all the while till I felt my guts shouting at me to wake up from the bubble I tended to be in, I gasped the next mo
87LanaIn a matter of hours, my feet were finally touching the grounds of my enemy’s city. I never thought of coming here in terms of a battle but here I was, landed here to save my husband and son. As I started walking towards the SUV, every step that I took towards it reminded me of the last time I was here with my husband. A trip that I could never forget. The kisses we had, the love that we made in the back of the seats as we were accompanied by the plash of the rain, the fun that I had, the penthouse that Armando gifted me on my birthday, the same penthouse that was now being used for scheming against the Knightley. Everything, everything touched me in the seconds and yet I got hit by the reality as I got into the car all alone, remembering I was here as a backup plan, not to celebrate our victory that was supposed to happen according to my imagination. I sat in the car, the chauffeur drifted the car to the penthouse without any words exchanged. I closed my eyes as I kept conc
88ArmandoI took a deep breath and let my senses go with the flow. I was wheeling my car, off to the destination which could be the last place I would see before closing my eyes forever. I wished to die beside my wife, so that I could watch the love of my life while taking my last breaths in her lap but now I thought it wasn’t written for me that way. She better stay away from all the mess I made in the first place by loving her and then forcing her to love me back. And now, look at us, where do we stand? I never thought that having a family would mend me into such an incapacitated punk. I never considered myself as a frangible prince charming, I had never been one. I was one ruthless man who used to live on the blood of others but since the day I got Lana in my life. My life had changed by taking a 360-degree shift. I was no longer a vampire who sucked blood but a man who craved the sincere touch of his girl but look, where do I stand today? In the mouth of death, because for viole
89Lana“I want to see him taking his last breaths in front of me,” I said it with all the hatred I ever had in my bosom and I couldn’t understand how I managed to say it too venomously. I said it for a man who I love and that got me doubtful on my own self, was I even loyal to him?What kind of stupid question it was. Yes, I was, am and will always be loyal to a man who sacrificed the world for me. More than that, we shared kids together, so that made us inseparable in this lifetime at least.“Yea, you should see him suffering too, you deserve it because you have been the most affected one in the house. I’m glad I hear it from you and also to know that you realise what is your worth and real place,” Claire replied, her tone getting electrified on the fact that I was revengeful towards Armando which meant she somehow trusted my lie; but not to forget, she could trap me too. “Yes, I have been finding ways to take revenge on him. He ruined my life, from childhood till now, he made me s
103Warning: This Chapter Can Be Challenging For Readers To Read. Kindly Pause Reading If You Feel Anxious Or Depressed. You’re Already Warned. LanaIt was a female. It was her. I knew I would be stabbed by Nathan’s cousin who’s jealous of me or who would accuse me of seducing him. Maybe, she would throw me in the river like my intuition tried to tell me but I ignored it lately. I should’ve considered my gut feeling rather than Nathan’s request. Look, where I stood; in the mouth of death. I tried to struggle in her hold but she roared at me, keeping me in the hold. I tried to shout but it wasn’t loud enough to call for help. I thought she would push me any second but the hope of survival arose when the sirens started to buzz, deafening us to death. Within seconds, there was an army steadied to kill this culprit. Their weapons were locked on their target and the voice that soothed me came across my ears. “Leave her alone!” Nathan shouted at the top of his lungs. My breath started to
102LanaI wasn’t ready for this night. My heart was racing horribly in my ribcage. Something was not right, something would go wrong and someone was going to pay for it terribly—maybe this child in my womb. Maybe tonight I would be stabbed by one of Nathan’s bitchy cousins who would accuse me of seducing him, just like Armando’s cousin did back in Spain. I prayed to God for the abortion and yet I tried to convince one of the doctors during the clinic visit but no one agreed without Nathan’s approval. My heart just said this child won’t see this world. It would die. I just didn’t want to go through with the stabbing pain once again. I wasn’t that strong to bear pains anymore. I had enough and if this time, anyone would try to harm me, I would end myself with my sinful hands. This was it, this was the solution to end my problems. Maybe, after all the while God wanted me to end myself. He gave me enough clues yet I delayed realising them. It had been three hours since I was continuou
101Next Week Somewhere In LondonNathanIt’s a beautiful feeling to be a dad again. I waited long enough to feel this moment again, yet I had never known that I had to force the pregnancy on a married woman—but it was written to happen under such circumstances and I should be less guilty about it. All because Lana left me no choice. Moreover, not only I was happy because I would be a dad again but also that it was time to finally eradicate that motherfucking Armando and his two carbon copies from the earth. Lana wouldn’t have to bear much pain once she would give birth to our baby. Those little devils would be gone and my little human will replace their space in my queen’s heart.Everything was going perfect the way I wanted and sure enough, it would end the same way I planned—except the culprit’s escaping part. Armando’s breakout wasn’t on the list yet he successfully flew away, killing four of my men in the process which he will pay really soon as I got the lead about his whereabo
100LanaIf it’s true then I was gone. I was busted to live anymore. If Armando was to hear about this I would be much more than trouble. Pregnant? With some other man’s child? I did everything to avoid it. I even bribed Mary to steal birth-control pills for me, how come I got pregnant. Argh, I wanna vanish my existence. If the pregnant part was real, I would really jump off the cliff. I couldn’t prepare myself for the bloodlust of my children or this foetus. This unborn had to die or Armando would kill him and me. I knew how far he could go. He was a maniac in my case. And as far as he was possessive about me being only his. I could predict I would pay a big price for Nathan’s deed. “Good to see you, Mr. Knightley, how may I help?” Malinda’s voice rang in my ear like a driller screwing my head. Though she had a velvet voice but right now, she was the person I needed to stay away from. Her clicks of heels grew louder as she came closer to me and Nathan who had been playing with my h
99LanaPhew. Thank God I successfully got control of the situation before I could finally be thrown to the bed and lost my chance for a dinner outside of this room. It had been fifteen minutes since leaving the house. I was sitting on the passenger seat beside Nathan who was driving his posh Lamborghini. It was the smooth black ride up in the mountains and the view I was having all the while was completely mesmerising. The street lights and the moonlight seemed like having a competition to glorify the route for me tonight. I would’ve enjoyed this moment even more if Nathan would be in his casket like he should’ve rather than driving the car like my man. I sighed at this thought. The pleasant feeling in my chest faded away with realisation of Nathan’s presence. I couldn’t just swallow the thought that I used to die for this man once, I even prayed to see him again when I had affection for him. But the very affection died when Armando started becoming a man of my dreams. He deliberat
98Lana“Speak,” Leone said with the second line connected. My heart palpitated but I overcame my growing anxiety. “Leone, It’s Lana…” I enlightened him. “… They imprisoned us separately for months. I had no connection to Armando even though I tried to encounter him once, Nathan had security at every step. I am not sure if he’s still in his torture cellar or they have done something to him or sent him to God knows where,” I ran my mouth like a bullet train, giving him no chance to speak. “Is everything good on your side?” The second I asked this question had me panicking inwardly. “We are drowning, my lady…” he said in a monotone but the effect his words brought was enough for sinking my heart, “…Our businesses are being sealed by the board for illegal conspiracies. Someone had cracked our shares in the underground sector and we are losing our men count. Our weapons are being stolen from the ports and many more harm’s been done. Everything is out of order. We lost three hundred me
97LanaNathan caught me faking my sleep. I had my eyes closed when he came near and sat beside me on the bed. He didn’t do anything for ten minutes, just quietly sat there and admired me from afar—that’s only what I could get with my eyes closed. But later, I felt his thumb striking with my cheek that ascended inside the blanket and he ended up scooping his hand inside my panties, rubbing my core and wetting me. When he slid a finger in me, I moaned and my eyes wide-opened. I gawked at him with astonished eyes. “What the heck, Nathan, leave me for God’s sake,” I huffed, disapproving his touch in between my moan and got his hand out of my pants, for a fact I hated reacting to his touch so intensely, that makes him full of himself a little more every time. He honestly knew all the perfect spots—but this time his perfection wasn’t my main focus. It was basically the fact that I had a phone and key hidden in my socks that churned my stomach for bad.“I was checking if you were still hot
96Two Months LaterLanaTwo months. A heck of a long time that I spent in a single gigantic room as a hostage. These fucking two months had me crying, screaming, begging for help, pleading for mercy and at last swearing at Nathan for being an asshole with me. I never thought Nathan could be like this. He raped me often. Yes, I would call it rape. He didn’t care what I said to him he only wanted to be inside me thrice a week.He provided me with clothes, food, Netflix and everything any other girl would desire but I was more interested in being able to breathe freely. Moreover, I missed my kids. Not even a single day passed by without me weeping for them. I never left them alone. I didn’t know if Sebastian reached home safe to Nancy or not.I was only stuck here for nothing and I see this situation going to nowhere good. I was hugging my knees, trying to think of a breakout for the thousandth time since two months. This time my escape wasn’t easy because I wasn’t sure if they kept Arm
95Lana“Then, I can even make you have dozens of kids containing your blood just now,” Nathan stated fearlessly. I blinked twice as his words sank in my stomach, each word containing tons of heavy metals that felt like ripping through each ounce of my soul.Making babies appeared to be a joke to him. How could he mock something sacred so efficiently? He wasn’t like this before. I remembered him as someone gentle and considerate yet now, he was portrayed to be cold and selfish. “I don’t want to believe in my ears, speak something real, Nathan,” I replied, foggily. “Do my face tell you I'm joking to you, Lana? If children are the only reason that’s bonding you with that generational motherfucker, then I shall eliminate the root cause and set you free,” I wanted to believe that it was Nathan speaking with such a grudge but somewhere my heart denied. His awful mindset was making him loathe myself for falling for him once. Maybe God saved me from an absolute devil through a qualified de