Chapter 70
ALEJANDRO POV
Pain sliced through me. The kind of agony that made me weak in the knees.
I’d fucking seen that bloody red dot as it danced around her. But I was fucking slow. Too slow to react and was not faster than a damn bullet. Horror landed inside of me in all its form as I raced up the raised deck, watching with eyes snapped wide as Rayana went lax in her seat.
Her head rolled to the side, and her eyes found mine just before she closed them and collapsed.
I caught her body before it could collide with the floor, then placed my hand on the reddened spot where her blood was coming out in gallons.
The tether of her pain echoed all around me, and I could all bu
Chapter 71ALEJANDRO POVNausea and fury rolled inside of me like hot green acid. I had hoped that the solo drive after the damn ambulance would calm me the fuck down, but the annoying wee! Wee! Wee! Oof the bloody siren made me want to gut the steering wheel right out of its cradle. Every single sound of it meant Rayana was inching closer and closer to death, and that could only mean one thing. My days of pure and unsullied happiness were over!And no. That couldn’t fucking be. I couldn’t allow it. Rayana was not going to leave me because if she left, then she’d leave with the little remaining piece of my soul.And that would be the worst punishment any man cou
Chapter 72RAYANA POVAwareness came in bits and pieces. I could feel it by the slow intake of breath and the blood thrumming inside of me that I was alive. But I was not in the world where the sun rose from the east and set in the west. That one was very much evident. Where I was, everywhere I looked, everywhere my eyes landed on was nothing but pure and raw darkness. It was cold, bone-chilling and there was this eerie sensation that kept on washing over me, like cold fingers caressing my skin and making it crawl. And the funny thing was, I felt like I was floating. There was no ground beneath my feet, and my whole body was lighter than a feather. But in this darkness, nothing else existed. It was just me and the deep nothingness that had swallowed me. There was no pain, no joy, and the entire place was void of any sort of feeling.That’s when I heard it. A low murmur of voices, like I was somehow inside a closed drum and they were coming from the outside. That would fucking explai
Chapter 73RAYANA POVGrowing up, I always imagined that my wedding was going to be the grandest of all times. I imagined it being the most iconic, even more grand than Princess Diana’s herself. I pictured the entire country going on a national lockdown to celebrate the holy matrimony of the Archducke’s older daughter.I imagined chariots, horse carriages straight out of Disney movies, cherry blossoms littering the ground I walked on. I imagined a literal fairy tale, straight out of the books and brought to life. I pictured myself wearing a beautiful princess gown, all white, my teeth brighter than the golden rays of the sun.It probably would have been like that if my dad was still alive, or maybe if Luke was still alive and it was him I was tying the knot to. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever pictured myself being pushed down the aisle in a wheelchair by my younger brother, while my family stood at the head of the chapel watching with eyes filled with tears. At that point, I j
Chapter 74ALEJANDRO POVEvery time THAT thought crossed my mind, my whole body shook. Shivers rattled my bones and an unknown force slammed right into my chest, causing goosebumps to erupt all over me and sheathe my body like a second layer of skin.At some point, I almost freaked out thinking I was scared, that I was regretting all of this… But then I figured it was because everything was all too surreal. All unbelieveable. A man like me didn’t deserve this much happiness. A man like me with a closet so full of skeletons that they couldn’t be hidden anymore, deserved nothing but isolation for the rest of his life. Cause as they all love to say, people in our world were all beyond redemption. Right now, I was starting to wonder if that was even true.
Chapter 75RAYANA POVAlejandro balanced me on one arm as he attempted to open the door, but I beat him to it and twisted the door hand. He pushed it open to reveal a pathway of roses and candles all around. My mouth fell open in a small gasp of surprise as my eyes took in every little detail. Somehow in a span of few hours, they had managed to turn my bedroom into a whole honeymoon suite. The entire room was filled with red and white, from roses to the white small throw on the red bed… And everything else reminded me of the time he first took me. The time he claimed me and destroyed for any other man, living or dead. My breath hitched at the memory and heat spread all over my body like wildfire.“Wow…” I breathed out softly. Alejandro simply le
Chapter 76RAYANA POVI woke up curled into Alejandro’s side, his whole being wrapped around me like a warm comforter. I let my eyes take him in fully, let them wander on every single nook and crook of his face. I printed each detail to memory, and for the umpteenth time, I was awed by the beauty of this man. Long lashes, thick eyebrows that only models could get from terrible laser operations, lips so full and lush that the V dipped so down low. He had these beads of sweat on his forehead that I just wanted to lick with my tongue because that’s how much I loved him. When sleeping, he looked so beautiful. No angry grunts, no heavy sighs, no tiredness that weighed so heavily on him that it was all evident in his simple glance… Just peace. His scent was the soothing elixir I never knew I needed. I was never really a big fan of scents and personal odors, but Alejandro made me find out things about myself I never really knew I had in me. If it were a few months ago I would cringed at t
PROLOGUEALEJANDRO POVThe tension in the room was thick and cloying, the air dense and heavy to breathe. I pinched the bridge of my nose and stared at the small chair that was placed in the middle of the office, curtains closed and shadows hiding underneath the blinding light of the crystal chandelier above. It was a good place, the one grandmothers used to have. What enticed me was not the chair… No.It was the bambolina dressed in a white dress, hair pulled in a tight bun on top of her head. She had on her feet white stiletto heels with red bottoms, and her face held no emotions whatsoever. “Signorita, please. I did not mean to…”“To betray my husband and I? I know.” She nodded with mock understanding, then pulled the white gloves from the pocket of her white fur coat that was draped behind the chair, and dropped them to her lap.My blood ran cold with what came next!“They had my family. My wife and my daughter… I didn’t know what to do.” The traitor bawled from the floor in fr
RAYANA POVIgnorance is bliss!And so were the times I pretended to be one of the million citizens of Great Britain without the duties and the expectations of my ‘holier than thou’ last name following closely behind me like a shadow. Very unfortunately, those times did not end well; it so happened that every time I stepped out of the shell that had cocooned me my entire life, things just had to go to shit!And to shit they go. I raised my head as the heavy metal door slammed shut a few yards from where I was canoodled on the cold floor, blankly staring at my sparkly two-toned green and silver Jimmy Choo’s. Something about the gems studded into the fabric fascinated me!“Get up, princess. Looks like today is your lucky day.” The mean Latino officer intoned as she jiggled heavy cell keys, the sound creating a hollow echo inside my brain. The deadlock bolted into place before she yanked the bar door open, and then held it ajar. I got up from my pitiful position and straightened the non
Chapter 76RAYANA POVI woke up curled into Alejandro’s side, his whole being wrapped around me like a warm comforter. I let my eyes take him in fully, let them wander on every single nook and crook of his face. I printed each detail to memory, and for the umpteenth time, I was awed by the beauty of this man. Long lashes, thick eyebrows that only models could get from terrible laser operations, lips so full and lush that the V dipped so down low. He had these beads of sweat on his forehead that I just wanted to lick with my tongue because that’s how much I loved him. When sleeping, he looked so beautiful. No angry grunts, no heavy sighs, no tiredness that weighed so heavily on him that it was all evident in his simple glance… Just peace. His scent was the soothing elixir I never knew I needed. I was never really a big fan of scents and personal odors, but Alejandro made me find out things about myself I never really knew I had in me. If it were a few months ago I would cringed at t
Chapter 75RAYANA POVAlejandro balanced me on one arm as he attempted to open the door, but I beat him to it and twisted the door hand. He pushed it open to reveal a pathway of roses and candles all around. My mouth fell open in a small gasp of surprise as my eyes took in every little detail. Somehow in a span of few hours, they had managed to turn my bedroom into a whole honeymoon suite. The entire room was filled with red and white, from roses to the white small throw on the red bed… And everything else reminded me of the time he first took me. The time he claimed me and destroyed for any other man, living or dead. My breath hitched at the memory and heat spread all over my body like wildfire.“Wow…” I breathed out softly. Alejandro simply le
Chapter 74ALEJANDRO POVEvery time THAT thought crossed my mind, my whole body shook. Shivers rattled my bones and an unknown force slammed right into my chest, causing goosebumps to erupt all over me and sheathe my body like a second layer of skin.At some point, I almost freaked out thinking I was scared, that I was regretting all of this… But then I figured it was because everything was all too surreal. All unbelieveable. A man like me didn’t deserve this much happiness. A man like me with a closet so full of skeletons that they couldn’t be hidden anymore, deserved nothing but isolation for the rest of his life. Cause as they all love to say, people in our world were all beyond redemption. Right now, I was starting to wonder if that was even true.
Chapter 73RAYANA POVGrowing up, I always imagined that my wedding was going to be the grandest of all times. I imagined it being the most iconic, even more grand than Princess Diana’s herself. I pictured the entire country going on a national lockdown to celebrate the holy matrimony of the Archducke’s older daughter.I imagined chariots, horse carriages straight out of Disney movies, cherry blossoms littering the ground I walked on. I imagined a literal fairy tale, straight out of the books and brought to life. I pictured myself wearing a beautiful princess gown, all white, my teeth brighter than the golden rays of the sun.It probably would have been like that if my dad was still alive, or maybe if Luke was still alive and it was him I was tying the knot to. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever pictured myself being pushed down the aisle in a wheelchair by my younger brother, while my family stood at the head of the chapel watching with eyes filled with tears. At that point, I j
Chapter 72RAYANA POVAwareness came in bits and pieces. I could feel it by the slow intake of breath and the blood thrumming inside of me that I was alive. But I was not in the world where the sun rose from the east and set in the west. That one was very much evident. Where I was, everywhere I looked, everywhere my eyes landed on was nothing but pure and raw darkness. It was cold, bone-chilling and there was this eerie sensation that kept on washing over me, like cold fingers caressing my skin and making it crawl. And the funny thing was, I felt like I was floating. There was no ground beneath my feet, and my whole body was lighter than a feather. But in this darkness, nothing else existed. It was just me and the deep nothingness that had swallowed me. There was no pain, no joy, and the entire place was void of any sort of feeling.That’s when I heard it. A low murmur of voices, like I was somehow inside a closed drum and they were coming from the outside. That would fucking explai
Chapter 71ALEJANDRO POVNausea and fury rolled inside of me like hot green acid. I had hoped that the solo drive after the damn ambulance would calm me the fuck down, but the annoying wee! Wee! Wee! Oof the bloody siren made me want to gut the steering wheel right out of its cradle. Every single sound of it meant Rayana was inching closer and closer to death, and that could only mean one thing. My days of pure and unsullied happiness were over!And no. That couldn’t fucking be. I couldn’t allow it. Rayana was not going to leave me because if she left, then she’d leave with the little remaining piece of my soul.And that would be the worst punishment any man cou
Chapter 70ALEJANDRO POVPain sliced through me. The kind of agony that made me weak in the knees.I’d fucking seen that bloody red dot as it danced around her. But I was fucking slow. Too slow to react and was not faster than a damn bullet. Horror landed inside of me in all its form as I raced up the raised deck, watching with eyes snapped wide as Rayana went lax in her seat. Her head rolled to the side, and her eyes found mine just before she closed them and collapsed. I caught her body before it could collide with the floor, then placed my hand on the reddened spot where her blood was coming out in gallons. The tether of her pain echoed all around me, and I could all bu
Chapter 69RAYANA POVA rattling shudder rolled down the length of my spine as we rolled down the long, narrow, and carpeted hallway inside Buckingham Palace. It felt like forever since I had stepped foot in here and I hated the fact that I wasn’t so thrilled about being back to my office. If it were any other day, I would have been on the fucking cloud nine. “You alright?” Alejandro’s hand dropped to my lower back, and the heat from his palm seemed to permeate right through my skin and disperse the concentrated tension down there. I let out a huge puff of breath before staring at him in my peripheral, then gave him an unsure nod. I had wanted to carry out the press conference in my own time and on my own terms: when I felt ready to take over the world again. But that visit from my aunt had me sleepless for days, gnawing and churning me from the inside. The disapproval inside her voice had been deadly; but despite all of that, there was no way I would undo what I did. Yes, I und
Chapter 68ALEJANDRO POVMolten lava leaked into my stream with a haunting stance. I rolled my head on my neck trying to rid it of the sudden stiffness that held me captive. Having the attention of the Bratva was bad enough on its own, but having the Queen’s meant shit had really hit the fan. “Come. Playtime’s over.” I took Rayana’s hand before jumping off the ring, then held my hands up and caught her before settling her on her feet. She had a puzzled look on her face but didn’t probe until we were inside the lift and it was soaring skyward. “What is it? You are scaring me.” She said in a small voice. I turned to look at her, feeling a muscle working in my jaw. “You