Zoey p.o.vLike a cemetery, the surrounding air hissed with deadly silence in the car. John parked the car at a good distance from the scene, also getting a clear view of what's going on.I was too scared to come down from the car, too scared to find out the truth. I was being brave earlier, but right now, seeing the damages up close I fear for the outcome.I could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles surrounding the site, creating an eerie glow in the dark night. Cops and firefighters were everywhere, going in and out the building carrying dead bodies out.“Donna, I don't think you should go there.” John advice, staring at me with sympathy, I glared at him shutting him up immediately.They are claiming my husband is dead, and I shouldn't go there?I was fuming and scared at the same time.I shakily step down from the car, my whole body has gone limp from shock. My legs buckled the minute they touch the ground, I rest against the car to support myself.My breath were short a
Zoey p.o.vI was dead.I must be dead. There was no other reason against it. The level of comfort and lightness I was feeling, it was hardly describable. My mind was finally at a place of perfectsilence. So peaceful, I would rather not wake up. I didn't think I could, but then, I did.Forcing my heavy lids open, I lifted my weary head from a leather cushion. Suddenly, much like the lightning, a rush of blurry memories illuminated my mind. A more realistic jolt I felt shooting through my body as I awake and became fully conscious.I sat up, the brightness in the room blinding me for a while, I squint adjusting my eyes to the brightness. It's morning, I didn't check what time it is, I came down from the bed. Memories from yesterday were already floating in my head, but I tried to stay calm. Maybe it was just a vivid nightmare.I said to myself, Marco should be home now. I hastily went across the room and swung the door open, two guards were standing outside my room. “Donna.” They bo
Zoey p.o.vIt's been two days now, two long days since the supposed death of Marco. Today also happen to be the funeral, they're fucking holding a funeral for Marco. This is becoming too real to reject, why am I the only one still in doubt?I had to be here, even though I didn't want to. I haven't accepted the fact that Marco is gone – The funeral is being held at the back of the mansion.For some reason, he wasn't buried in a cemetery, rather their family has a big tombstone territory. It was like an ancestral burial ground, all their past members were buried there and Marco will not be exempted.It wasn't weird to be until I felt some certain way, I couldn't place a finger on how I was feeling. In the mixture, I felt a bit of reassurance- of what?I sat down, just watching the whole process. The invites were close relatives of the Alfonso family and important associates, they came to me one after the other giving out their condolences, but I couldn't bring myself to cry again.“Zoe
Zoey p.o.vI woke up this morning feeling the usual, the feeling of nauseous cutting short my sleep. I rush to the bathroom, throwing up all my guts. These have been going on lately, I've been feeling fatigue, nauseous and dizziness.At first, I didn't put much thought to it, but it's been getting worse recently. I could hardly stay awake and the few times I'm awake it's either I'm throwing up or feeling light-headed.Marco's mom said it was because I've been skipping meals, and thinking too much. She right on that, though, I haven't been myself since Marco's death. I don't eat well, I sleep but not fully rested.Nothing was the same anymore, and it causes a pang of immense pain in my chest. Drifting to sleep at night was, but actually having a good night rest was hard for me. I missed him so much.Every time I think about him, reliving our moments in my mind it increases the pain in my heart making it difficult for me to breathe.The thought of not being able to see him again in this
Zoey p.o.vFive months later.....I held on to Alice as she assisted me down the stairs, I am round and full now that I'm in my third trimester. I feel heavier and bigger for obvious reasons, my feet are the worst of them all as they are fuller.“Ouch.” I hissed, baby kicked my abdomen again. The pain wasn't unbearable, but was still pain.“The baby kick again?” Alice asked, small smile playing on her lips.“Hmm.” I hummed, rubbing my left palm over the place, soothing it.“It's a healthy child.” Alice commented. “Be a good child and don't stress mummy too much, okay?” She spoke softly, bending close to my stomach.It moved again, but this time it didn't kick, more like a wave of hand to say okay. I giggled at the movement, it's one of the moments that keeps me going.This kind of moments did greatly remind me of Marco, and how his lack of presence has impacted our lives deeply. When I was with Adriano, he would speak to him, telling him how eager he was for him. Sometimes he would ge
Zoey p.o.vAs I finished eating a meal that could have easily fed ten people, I leaned back in my chair with a contented sigh. “I feel alive.” I release a burp nosily, Adriano giggles pointing at me.“Momma, you farted with your mouth.” He laughs further as if it's the funniest thing in the world.I smile, my heart swallowing with great Joy, he's my bundle of happiness. He's the one person I look at that keeps me going for the past months. My son and unborn daughter are my strength, His laughter was interrupted when he releases a burp, and that too noisily. He quickly slap his mouth shot as if to keep the sound in, Camila and I burst out laughing at his surprised expression.“You farted too.” Camila told him, pulling him into her arms tinkling his stomach. Their laughter spread over the kitchen, I watch them with the most perfect smile on my face.“I did not, Aunt Camila.” His pronunciations aren't correct, but understandable.“You did.” Camila threw him up in the air, catching him
Zoey's p.o.vI was frozen in the spot. For a moment, my breath caught in my throat, and my brain refused to function. I felt the rest of the world fading away, and the room closing in on me. My eyes picking him out and blocking everyone else. I blinked, once, twice, and for the third time, thinking I was hallucinating. The man sitting behind the desk in front of Matthew was none other than my husband – my supposedly dead husband. Marco.For the love of God, my freaking husband, whom we all thought was dead is sitting here, before my eyes.Confusion and disbelief warred within me as I tried to make sense of the impossible sight before me. Marco had died in the fire accident seven months ago, or so I had been told. “Donna.” Matthew freaked out, rushing to hold me as my legs buckled. I lift my hand, stopping him, supporting myself by leaning against the closest wall.“Marco?” I whispered, my voice barely audible. I was afraid that speaking too loud would shatter the fragile illusion
Zoey p.o.vI sat by the window staring outside, the night isn't young anymore, and it's way past the two hours Marco promised to come to me. I couldn't sleep, my mind filled with a whirlwind of emotions. I felt happy, confused, and hurt all at once. Happy that Marco was alive and breathing, confused about why he hadn't kept me informed of his plans, and hurt that he had seemingly forgotten about our meeting. I felt a sense of peace wash over me. Marco was safe, that's all that matters. The sound of the door cracking open reaches my ear, I don't bother to see who it is because there's only one person who could enter this room without any form of permission. And that person is Marco. “You should be asleep.” He spoke, confirming my guess. “Fuck, it's windy there, it's not good for you.” His footsteps approach me.I felt his presence, his warmth, before I physically saw him. I won't be able to get enough of his presence in this lifetime, his overwhelming presence is a reassurance to m
Melanie’s POVI woke up tangled up in Adriano’s arms, feeling deliciously sore.Last night was hands down, the best night of my life. It turned out that, Adriano was an insatiable beast in the sheets judging by the number of times we had sex. At some point, I even stopped counting my orgasms.I wasn’t a virgin, but being with the way, Adriano handled me, I might as well have been one.I felt a kiss on my head.“Good morning, little nurse,” he said in his hoarse morning voice.“Good morning,” I replied. “I’m going to need a lot of coffee to get through this day.”“Why?” he asked.“Because a certain young man couldn’t get his hands off me long enough for me to get a decent amount of sleep,” I said.“I’m not going to apologize for that, little nurse, because you enjoyed every single moment of it,” he said.That’s right. I did.“Do you want to call in sick from work today?”
Melanie’s POVAdriano’s lips were on mine, warm and commanding, and every time they moved, I felt like I was unraveling piece by piece. His hand slid up my back, strong and steady, pulling me closer until there was no space between us. The soft leather of the couch pressed against my skin, cool and grounding, but it did nothing to calm the storm inside me.I opened my eyes for a moment, catching a glimpse of him. His sharp jawline, the dark stubble brushing against my skin, and the intensity in his gaze always made me feel like I was the only thing in his world.I could barely breathe, but I didn’t care. Every kiss was like a promise, dark, intense, and utterly consuming. His fingers tangled in my hair, tugging gently as he tilted my head back, exposing my neck to him. He trailed kisses along my jawline, slow and deliberate, his breath hot against my skin. I arched into him, my fingers clutching at his shoulders as his lips trailed
Adriano’s POVThe soft light of the living room barely cut through the weight of the night as I watched her. I blinked thinking I might have imagined the words I heard earlier.Melanie stood a few feet away, still in her jeans and that worn leather jacket she seemed to love so much. I noticed because ever since the cold rolled in, she had been wearing more of that jacket. She looked like trouble and comfort rolled into one, the kind of combination that could destroy a man if he wasn’t careful and I’ve never really been careful around my girl. In fact, I was fast losing the patience I thought I was holding on to and if she was messing with me, I would be pissed.Now, though, something had shifted. Her eyes met mine, and I knew we were past the point of trying to avoid the sexual tension that existed in perpetuity between us.“Kiss me,” she said softly, but there was nothing timid in her tone. It wasn’t a question or even a
Melanie’s POVAdriano led me into the restaurant and we were led towards a private booth. The servers were very polite and a little too eager to server but it was to be expected.The man booked the whole restaurant to take his girlfriend on a date. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he was influential.The food was amazing!I had a hard time deciding between two dishes but I ended up going for the chicken cacciatore while, Adriano ordered the second dish I was considering for himself.I tried not to swoon at how attentive he was to me because I know for a fact that he ordered that dish because of me but I didn’t want to draw attention to it.And as I suspected, when our food arrived and we began eating, he asked me if I wanted to try a bite of his food and somehow, half of his parmesan ended up on my plate.Thank God he ordered enough servings.The conversation also flowed freely all
Melanie’s POVI clocked out and ran to change out of my scrubs, ignoring the numerous eyes that were on me. Some were staring at me with approval but most of them had looks of jealousy and envy, like I somehow stole what belonged to them.Well, that was none of my business. The fact was, Adriano is my man and they can look all they want but can't have him. So that was one way to look at it. Besides, I wasn't a stranger to being stared at.I changed out of my regular clothes and when I got out. She was glaring at daggers at me but there was no mistaking the envy in her eyes when she saw, Adriano earlier.I smiled at her. Take that you petty, conniving, bitch. Yes, you can think you're all that and try to take away surgeries from me but you'll never have my man.I got to the nurses’ station, half expecting to meet, Hayley alone but to my surprise, she was engrossed in a conversation with, Adriano and they were laughing.
Melanie’s POV“Ugh… you guys are so cute it’s disgusting,” Aria said, once again interrupting our moment.“Shut up, Ari!” Adriano barked at her.“Whatever, I’m going to be with, Alice in the kitchen so wrap this up because we’re all having dinner together and I don’t want you making googly eyes at each other at the dinner table,” she said.“You still haven’t said it, Melanie,” Adriano said when we were finally alone. “I need to hear you say it.”“You need to hear me call you, baby?” He nodded. “Yes, I do because you’re mine and I’m yours. Every part of me belongs to you. So I’m your baby and it feels fucking good to hear you admit it.”I would have laughed if he wasn't being incredibly sweet. A grown-ass man was happy I called him, baby. Now that was a first.“Still, you shouldn’t have yelled at your sister that way,” I told him."She can handle it besides how do you expect me to let out
Melanie’s POVAdriano and I spent the day watching movies and munching on junk food after he finished the entire jar of cookies I made for him.I’d never seen someone that obsessed with cookies and it’s actually funny to see, Adriano react that way to the cookies.I must admit that it made me feel good that he loved my baking, now it got me wanting to do more. Maybe bake a pie or some muffins. I might start a bit easier and go with brownies instead but we'll see.When we got tired of staying indoors, he suggested we go out for a walk around the grounds and I gladly agreed.I had never really wandered around the house except the insides. I knew that the staff quarters were also in the compound but I'd never been there, and neither do I know how they live over there. It turned out the quarters were an array of bungalows for the staff.That way everyone had their privacy. There was also a large kitchen. Apparently, th
Adriano’s POVI have never loved being injured more than this moment.Melanie has been treating me like an incapacitated child and I had no complaints.Thanks to the ibuprofen she made me take after breakfast, the pain in my arm wasn’t unbearable and thank God I gave in to her.The pain was quite intense at night and the only comfort I had was having Melanie sleeping in my arms since I was doing a shit job of that.However, she woke up at various intervals throughout the night to check on me and I did a good job pretending to be asleep at those times. I knew that because she didn’t dispute what I said when I told her I slept great.“Thankfully you didn’t pop any of the stitches in your sleep,” Melanie said. She was in the middle of changing the bandages on my arm.“I’m a good patient,” I told her.“Whatever,” she scoffed and finished bandaging my arm.“Thanks for taking care of me, Melanie,” I said.“You don’t need to thank me but you’re welcome all the same,” she replied.I leaned i
Melanie’s POVI woke up feeling something poking me from behind I immediately knew what it was.I was tempted to rub myself on him but, Adriano was still asleep and I didn’t want him to wake up while I was in the middle of whatever I was doing because I wasn’t sure how I would recover from that embarrassment.I felt him stir a bit and I feigned sleep, but it turned out I wasn’t that great of an actress because he knew I was awake.“Good morning, little nurse,” he whispered in my ear. “You can stop pretending to be asleep now.”I groaned. “You’re annoying in the morning,” I said.“Nope, I’m a ray of sunshine especially because I get to wake up next to you,” he replied.I ignored him and rolled over so I could face him.“Did you sleep well?” I asked.“Yeah, I did. I told you I can handle a little pain,” he answered.That wasn’t what I saw when I woke up a few times in the middle of the night to check on him. His face was contoured in pain and it was obvious that he was having a fitful s