You never needed me, you only needed to believe in yourself.”I could feel my eyes blurring as I looked at my imaginative Aria. “You need to let me go. I have always loved you, my banana, but now you love yourself enough for the both of us.”“Goodbye, Aria. I love you,” I whispered softly.Valerio looked at me with a small smile just as the doors opened. My eyes were quick to look at Valentino, who seemed just as nervous as me. Valerio and I walked in slow strides toward the altar with my smile never leaving my face. As we were walking, my eyes were brimming with tears of joy.We continued down the aisle until we finally made it to the altar, where Valerio kissed my cheek.“Who gives this woman to this man in marriage?” the priest asked.Valerio glanced at me before taking my right hand and placing it into Valentino’s.“I do,” he answered.I smiled at him once more, feeling so thankful to have met him. He then took my left hand and placed it in Valentino’s as well after I had passed m
"Dad, I'm going to miss you," Isabella whispered as she stared at the closed casket. Everyone had already left the cemetery hours ago, so she was alone-drenched in her tears. Soon, she got up from her kneeled position and walked toward her car. As she trudged along the short journey, visuals of her father's death entered her mind. The poor girl was beginning to go a little insane, as she attempted to push the torturing thoughts away. A dinging came from her phone, which indicated that she had received a text message. Isabella's blurry eyes gazed down at the text sent from her mother. She scrunched her brows together at what it stated: I want you to move in with me now. Isabella could clearly remember the last time she had seen her mother. It was something she always tried to avoid thinking about, because her mother was a terrible person, in her eyes. However, although she didn't want to go, she had no other choice. With her being eighteen and still being in school, it wouldn't be e
She turned her head back to her mother when she heard a knock against a door."Come in." A dark, enchanting voice had called out from behind it. She looked down and watched her mother twist the knob before pushing the door open. The first feature Isabella noticed was a long scar on his eye; it trailed from his eyebrow to his lip. He had black hair on top of his head and eyes that screamed danger. When he looked up, he smiled at his wife before his eyes turned to Isabella.He got up from his seat and pushed the chair into the jet-black-colored desk. "Is this the lovely daughter?" He asked as he crossed his arms against his chest. Her mother smiled at him before standing beside him."She is. Isabella, this is my husband, Angelo Romano." Her mother introduced. Isabella looked at him and she could feel herself slightly shivering in fear from his cold gaze. He held his hand out, leaving her to place her small hand into his to shake. "Nice to meet you. Your mother has spoken so much about
Isabella's pulse raced in her chest as she continued to gaze into Alex's eyes. The terrified child moved slowly by him and dashed down the stairs in pursuit of her mother. She rushed past a group of maids who glanced at her perplexedly as she approached Angelo's office door. She arrived moments later and knocked right away. Angelo opened the door quickly and with a smile. "What's wrong?" He inquired, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. She wanted to weep out of fury and dread."I want to go home." She remarked as she backed away slightly, concerned. He chuckled as he opened his office door further. He moved back to his desk, and she took a timid step inside, then another."I don't bite." He informed her when he sensed her hesitancy. "Why must you want to leave so soon?"Isabella nervously stood in the corner of the room. "I just don't feel comfortable here." To be honest, she was OK until she met Alex; something about him made her want to flee, and she could tell he was up to no good.
Isabella followed her mother out of the room. "This is Alex's floor," her mother said as they went out of the room, before adding, "No one is allowed on this floor, except Alex himself.""If no one is allowed on this floor, why am I living there? And why are you allowed to be on it?" Isabella inquired as she peered down the hall."To give you a tour of it, and you are living there because you are his sister. Plus, this is merely a three-story house; where else would you live? Maria inquired, and Isabella narrowed her eyes at her mother's receding figure. "I don't know, maybe on one of the two other floors." She mumbled rudely and discreetly. Her mother smiled and kept walking without hearing anything."This is Alex's room." Never go inside; it's one of his major pet peeves. Her mother pointed to the door just beside Isabella's. She fought the impulse to roll her eyes at this reality. They continued walking, and her mother showed her the kitchen, lounge area, hot tub, and balcony on t
"It's really none of your business," she muttered not even caring if he could hear her or not. Immediately, she tore herself from his hold. Turning around, and advancing towards the door, her movements came to a halt when his hand wrapped around her wrist. He was pulling her in closer to his rock-hard body."I'm going to ask you again," she could feel his lips lightly brush her ear as he spoke. "Where the hell do you think you are going?" He asked lowly and deep as if it were a growl.She couldn't hide the fact that she shivered. Her entire body just quivered at the close proximity and the slight scent of mint on his breath. "Home.""Home? You are home," he muttered. The tingles that shot through her body were evident as he pushed her hair behind her ear."I mean my r-real home," she stuttered out nervously. She wanted to kick herself for being so nervous. He was just her stepbrother, and he shouldn't be making her feel so awkward. Thanks to the amount of awkwardness she had already b
When she saw him walking towards the vehicle; she followed him. He opened the door for her before walking around the front of the car and then getting into the driver's side. She sat back in the cool leather seats before sliding on her seatbelt. He seemed like he was actually being kind. Seconds later, he drove off down the road.Out of the corner of her eye, she allowed herself to gaze upon his features. He looked like the type of guy to get whatever he wanted. If there was an unattainable female due to the amount of attractiveness that radiated off of her, he'd end up with her. A Greek god would be an understatement to the way he looked.She wondered who his mother was. Obviously, the looks of his father were clear, but there was something about his face that looked very different from his dad. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what, but maybe it was the slight amount of freckles that littered his skin. Maybe it was coldness in his eyes that his father seemed to hide. It was something.
The minute he pulled into the mansion's driveway, he put the car into park. I noticed how he didn't turn off the ignition, he just sat there. A tear had made its way down my cheek before I harshly wiped it away and looked at him."You were right, okay? I don't have anybody. I don't have a home. I don't have a family. I don't have a love or a want. No one wants me! Okay? You were right!" I shouted as tears began to pour down my cheeks. All the emotions that I've had pent up since the funeral began to come out of me."No one wants me," I sobbed out before continuing, "And I'm so damn used to it!"I looked over at him, but I couldn't make out much due to the tears that were blurring my vision. "I'm used to people not wanting me. Sometimes when I look in the mirror don't even want myself," I muttered as another sob climbed out of my throat.Not realizing that I was having a complete mental breakdown in front of a psychotic stranger, I looked away and out of the window. "What would you ca
You never needed me, you only needed to believe in yourself.”I could feel my eyes blurring as I looked at my imaginative Aria. “You need to let me go. I have always loved you, my banana, but now you love yourself enough for the both of us.”“Goodbye, Aria. I love you,” I whispered softly.Valerio looked at me with a small smile just as the doors opened. My eyes were quick to look at Valentino, who seemed just as nervous as me. Valerio and I walked in slow strides toward the altar with my smile never leaving my face. As we were walking, my eyes were brimming with tears of joy.We continued down the aisle until we finally made it to the altar, where Valerio kissed my cheek.“Who gives this woman to this man in marriage?” the priest asked.Valerio glanced at me before taking my right hand and placing it into Valentino’s.“I do,” he answered.I smiled at him once more, feeling so thankful to have met him. He then took my left hand and placed it in Valentino’s as well after I had passed m
ANASTASIAIt was definitely not a ‘woo’ experience. Being dressed in an all-white dress that looked so beautiful and elegant should’ve made me feel like a queen. I didn’t feel like a queen at all. My belly was swollen with a baby girl and I couldn’t help feeling nervous.As I stared at myself in the full-length mirror, my hand rubbed my giant baby bump. There was a frown on my face as I looked at myself. I was marrying the man I loved with all of my heart, I was going to have a baby, and I should feel like the happiest person in the world—why was I so scared?“Are you okay?” Isabella asked, coming into the room with Sarah.“Yeah, I just…”Suddenly, I began to cry. I tried my best to not mess up my makeup, but it was already too late. Everything was going to change after this, and I knew it.“Sarah, can you go get her mom?” Isabella asked before walking over to me and bringing me into her embrace.She held me tightly as she rubbed my back up and down.“Don’t cry. If you want, I’ll go s
I got down on my knees and quickly undid his slacks and pushed them down. His erection was long and thick, just perfectly in front of me underneath his boxers. He grabbed my hair and kept my face level with his cock. I pushed down his boxers and bit my lip at the sight of him.I began to stroke it once it was free. I braced myself with my hand on his hip and gripped his shaft with my other hand. I began to jerk him off, slowly at first. When he pulled my hair back, I took that as my cue to stroke him faster and grip his cock tighter.Soon, I started to blow him in earnest. My tongue swirled around his shaft as I brought it into my mouth. Bringing his cock deep into my throat to the point I was at his base before I pulled back while running my tongue along the underside of it. Suddenly, I was bobbing my head faster and faster before I looked up at him. He let out a groan while tossing his head back and shutting his eyes. I sucked him gently, which resulted in me taking his whole shaft
ANASTASIASeven months later“I am really going to miss you guys,” I told Isabella and her big baby bump.She was going to name her baby boy Andrea, and I wished I could witness it all. That day after she was shot, she learned she was pregnant. It hurt to think about how we could’ve experienced everything at the same time, but Valentino helped me let that hurt go.Her recovery was very fast. She was able to walk again in less than a month, seeing as the bullet didn’t hit anything too major. Isabella was quick to forgive Valentino, and the same for Alex.Isabella placed one last small bag into the trunk of the car. It was the last day I would be seeing her. She didn’t want to stay in the lifestyle Valentino and Alex were born in, which I understood. I only wished I didn’t have to miss so much with her gone.“We will make sure to visit at every possible chance.” Isabella smiled. My shoulders fell as I looked at her. It was really going to be lonely without her there.“You ready?” Alex a
I couldn’t even allow myself to have an expression. Everything still felt so wrong. Being happy felt wrong. He lifted my shirt off of me before taking off the shorts that the hospital had given. The fresh panties I got from the hospital were already covered in blood, and as I looked down, I sucked in a breath and started crying once more.He was going to realize that I’m incapable of doing something like carrying his baby. I was a disgrace, which is exactly why Aria should be alive instead of me.“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered before bringing me into his chest.I knew what he was doing—he was trying not to allow me to see it, but it was stuck on repeat in my brain. It was my baby.He peeled off my panties, which only resulted in me crying more as I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into the crook of his neck. He pulled them down until they were off my legs before allowing his hand to climb up to the clasp of my bra. He undid the clasp and then took it off of me.When I turned
He walked right past me as if I meant nothing.As I leaned against my car, I broke down. Sobs were bubbling out of me, and my tears were falling nonstop. Suddenly, a hand gripped my shoulder, shocking me to turn around. Seeing that it was Alex, surprise stirred in me“Are you okay?” he asked. I hiccupped as I nodded with a small smile. My tears still wouldn’t stop falling.“Isabella is going to be fine. They have her sedated to make things less painful for her, but they said she will be awake by tomorrow,” he informed me. I was glad she would be okay, it felt nice to finally receive some good news. “I feel bad for the way I spoke to my brother. He may not be the best person in the world, but he’s done a lot for me and so little for himself. Even if he almost killed my girlfriend, I know he’s beating himself up for it more than anyone else could. I know my brother enough to say that he didn’t mean anything he just said to you. He gets like that sometimes, where he pushes people away. D
ANASTASIASarah had gratefully gotten the location where Isabella and Valentino were. My heart dropped when she told me they were at the hospital. I prayed they were both okay.I hurriedly made my way to the hospital, the place I’d really begun to hate with every fiber in my body. The moment I arrived, I could see Isabella being pushed through the halls. My jaw dropped when I noticed she was covered in blood. Nurses and doctors were rushing her into a room, and I tried to follow but was pushed back.“Isabella!” I shouted, tears falling from my eyes.I tried to find Valentino, but he was nowhere to be found. Worry clouded my mind as I hoped he wasn’t hurt.I picked up my phone and tried dialing Valentino’s number again, but it wouldn’t go through. It kept going straight to voicemail. This undying need to scream settled within me. I couldn’t handle the thought of losing someone I loved again.“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you’re going to have to go back to the waiting room,” one of the nurses
I held my gun with a smirk on my face. It had been so long that I wanted to see him with the barrel of a gun pointed directly at him. It was karma. I remember when I had been in his same position twenty years ago—scared and hurt.“She did.” I laughed. “Isabella, come here, doll.”She hesitated, but with one look at the gun in my hand, she came over to where I stood.“You told me you were going to prove to me where your loyalty lies, so do it. Prove it to me,” I growled.Her eyes widened when I handed her a different gun. It was small, but it could cause just as much damage as any gun could.“What? No! This isn’t part of the plan!” Isabella shouted. Her eyes were wide as she held the gun. Despite it being small, it looked big in her tiny hands.Suddenly, her dad made a move at her, leaving her to aim the gun at him. Her breathing was heavy as she stared at her father. There was a quiver as she held the gun. Perspiration coated her forehead and her chest was rising and falling dramatica
VALENTINOWhen my brother told me about his suspicions of Isabella possibly being pregnant, I almost lost it. There was no way he wanted to take part in the plan we had been constructing our entire lives. Even when I told him that Dmitri was coming in a week with plans to bring down our entire organization to get his daughter, Alex didn’t care.It didn’t make sense to me how he could be so careless over that girl. I wished I actually wanted to respect my brother’s request for us to drop the mission, but I couldn’t. He didn’t have to go through the nightmares of that day―I did. Luckily for him, he couldn’t remember the way our mother’s eyes stared at me as she begged for someone to help her. He wasn’t able to understand that our whole family looked to me in order to save them, and I didn’t. Alex was so fucking lucky that he didn’t have to go downstairs and clean up all the splatters of blood left in the house. He didn’t have to live through that shit, but I did.To think that he wanted