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Chapter 140

Author: El&DA
last update Last Updated: 2023-12-21 18:14:40

He returns it easily, his steel-blue gaze glinting. “I was nearby and thought I’d pop in. See what you have on display. Just bought a place and I’m in the process of furnishing it.”

I assess him. Expensive clothes, perfectly trimmed dark hair, and parked out front is a car that must be his. A black-on-black Bentley. Besides that, however, there’s an air of confidence and power rolling off him in waves. Generally, people with a lot of money have a designer do this for them. Unless they’re extremely controlling.

“Are you looking for anything in particular?” I ask. “Landscapes, modern, still life?”

“I prefer things that are…” He rolls his hand as if searching for the right word. “Unique. Usually pieces found in private collections,” he says.

Before I can open my mouth to tell him we’re not selling anything privately, my father steps downstairs.

“Mr. Kroos ” he says. “I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow.”

The man smiles. “I was in the area.”

“Em,” Dad says. “This is Robbert Kroos .
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    “No. I have a date with Nathan in a little while.”His lips pull tight. “I was afraid you’d say that.”“What’s in this?” I ask when he hands me the manila folder, though I can already surmise.“Noah Russo doesn’t exist. Neither under that name nor anything that sounds remotely similar.”I pull out the report that shows the searches done on Nathan . Along with several screen shots saying he’s not found, there are photographs of him in the gallery and our house, taken on different days.“Not a single camera was able to capture his face,” he states with unmasked disgust. “He knew there were cameras and purposely avoided them.”“You can’t be certain of that.” I shove the folder back at him and stand.“Yes, I can.” He grabs my arm before I can walk past him and spins me so that I’m left with no choice but to listen. “You know what kind of man knows how to avoid facial recognition? The kind who doesn’t want to be identified. He’s a criminal.”“Stop it.” I tug my arm out of his grasp. “Just

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    I give him directions to a pharmacy I spot across the street. “I’m going in to grab a few toiletries. I sort of ran out with nothing but the clothes on my back. Thank God I wasn’t wearing pajamas.”“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”Two hours later, I’m sitting comfortably in Nathan ’s living room, staring at the flames dancing in the modern fireplace.“Here.” He offers me a cup of chamomile tea. “Katy says it calms her nerves.”I take it and sip the delicious brew. “Thank you. Being with you calms me too.”He sits beside me, crossing his legs in that casual manner men do, with his ankle over his knee. “I’m sorry that I’ve caused a rift between you two.”“It’s not your fault.” I smile but don’t feel it. “We just need a few days apart to cool down. Then I’ll go back and talk to him.”He frowns. “I know he doesn’t like me, but what spurred this fight?”I peer into my cup, drawing little circles over the rim. “He did a background check on you.”“Ah,” he says, as if that clarifies it all.

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  • Contracted Husband    Chapter 143

    “Areyou?” Biting my lower lip, I turn back to the fireplace. “He consults with me on certain purchases. I know more about canvas art than he does.” “Look at me,” he says softly. When I don’t, he brings my face to him with a finger beneath my chin. “I just want to know you. No judgment.” Firelight bounces off his irises, reflecting in shards of golds and reds. “I want to know things that can’t be found by a background check.” A familiar warmth permeates my soul and radiates throughout my body. “Do you mind if I stay here for a night or two? I want to give Dad time to cool down. Maybe you could come with me and talk to him. Show him you’re not a criminal.” Reaching for me, he cups my cheek. “You can stay however long you want. I want you here.” I press myself to his chest, laying my head on his shoulder, and breath in relief at the sound of honesty in his words. He wants me here. “Thank you.” His arms wrap around me, lifting me onto his lap and engulfing me in his protective embra

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    We ascend the narrow stairwell and when he opens the steel door, a cool, humid breeze hits my face. Although it’s slightly illuminated by the buildings, moon, and stars all around us, as he promised, all the lights on the deck are off.I go to the edge of the spa and dip a toe. “The water’s warm.” Turning to him, I narrow my eyes. “Were you expecting me?”He drops the towel and grins, exposing his very hard and ready cock. “I was definitely expecting you.”The seats in the hot tub double as steps, and they’re steep. Nathan goes in first, then extends his arm to me. Nervously, and with one last glance at the tall buildings all around us, I drop my towel. Even though I know we’re not easily visible in the dark, we are, in fact, visible. It makes me giddy and wickedly aroused.I take his hand and sink into the rippling hot water. He cups my ass even before my feet touch the bottom, inviting me to straddle him. Which I do because it’s becoming instinctual to wrap my arms and legs around h

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    After he’s lubricated himself as well, he places the tip of his cock against my hole, and pushes in a bit. I expect it to hurt. It does slightly. But it’s the pressure that has me catching my breath. “Relax, sweetness,” he whispers against my ear. He drops his head and nibbles on my neck as he continues to work himself in. One push, two, and he waits, giving me time to accommodate him before, in one powerful thrust, he enters me. I cry out, not from pain but from the intense fullness. And as he begins to pump, his shaft sliding in and out of me easily with the lube, I begin to feel him everywhere. Every cell, every nerve is impacted as he fucks me. “It’s so fucking tight,” Nathan groans. “You feel so good, Natalia . So fucking good.” I’m so sensitive that when he swells just a bit more, he might as well be adding inches to his girth. My moans grow with my arousal, and when he reaches between my legs and cups my pussy, applying pressure to my clit with the heel of his hand, I com

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    I chuckle as I peer into her brilliant blues. “I know patience very well. You, on the other hand, probably can’t even spell the word.” “Yes, I can. F-U-C-K-M-E-N-O-W.” I arch a brow. “Is that how you spell it?” “It doesn’t matter. It’s what I want. Will you give it to me?” “Gladly.” I bury my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her skin a moment before I lick it. Natalia moans and writhes beneath me. “Nathan , I need you inside me.” Shit. Her words travel straight to my cock, and I go hard as steel within seconds. I need to be inside her too. Desperately. Just then, her phone, which is sitting on the coffee table, rings. It’s the same tone that’s come in several times since she arrived. One I now recognize and resent. I lift my head to glare at it. “Ignore him,” Natalia says. “I already texted him. He’s just mad I took the tracker off, and he wants to know where I am.” I look at her, stunned. A fucking tracker. It hadn’t occurred to me that she might be

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    My gaze flicks from her to the elevator and to the rooftop access door, wondering if I could somehow reach either of them. And if I did, are they unlocked? As if from out of thin air, Nathan produces a piece of rope. When he tries to take one of my wrists, I make to get up again, but I’m slammed into the damned chair again. It doesn’t matter how much I fight, he easily pulls my hands behind me and ties them. “You wanted her, there she is,” he says to her, and I notice with at least a bit of satisfaction that he’s panting. I guess I wasn’t that easy to subdue. Nathan ’s stepmother comes toward me, her hips swaying. She sips her wine as she studies me. “You killed my husband.” I don’t bother to respond to her comment. She doesn’t care what I have to say. If she did, she would have asked me if I did it. And if so, why. All she cares about is revenge. The who, what, and why of it doesn’t matter to her. Turning to Nathan , I realize he’s not once asked me either. They’re the same. Part

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    “Mmm. Is it that or that you have Natalia Kane in your bed?”I stiffen, feeling my heart leap into my throat. She knows my name?“Who I have in my bed is none of your concern,” Nathan says.“It is when that whore killed your father! That’s right,” she adds, “I know it was her.”My heart isn’t just in my throat anymore. It seems to have stopped. Suddenly, my blood pressure drops and every pore in my body releases sweat.“John ” I hear Nathan murmur just as I pull away.There’s walking, the sound of heels clacking against the wood floors. “John was loyal to Gustavo and Leo . Of course he would be loyal to me as well.”“Then he’s useless to me,” he says.“You’ve known it was her for days and have done nothing about it!” she shouts.“It is at my discretion to decide what and when I will do something, Katy .”“The godfather only has power so long as the men respect him. How do you think they will react when they find out that instead of killing her, you’ve been fucking her?”My mind racin

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    Or maybe I’ll just fuck you until we both die.” Her eyes fly open, and for a moment, there are no walls between us. The pain, betrayal, and lust are bared fully. “Then fuck me,” she finally says. “And maybe we’ll die together.” My mouth is on hers then. I slide my fingers from her cunt and we both work savagely at getting rid of my clothes. All the while, we kiss with a passion that only the dying know. The instant I’m naked, I’m inside her, thrusting, burying my dick all the way to the balls, pulling back out, and slamming home again. Natalia is wrapped around me, arms and legs holding me tightly against her as she lifts her hips up, meeting each of my thrusts. We fuck like we’re drowning and these are our last gasping breaths. Deep and desperate. She fits me like a fucking glove, her pussy tight around my dick, her body molding to mine perfectly. The way she tastes, smells, feels… It all fits me like no one else ever has, and for the briefest of moments, I almost wish I’d neve

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    I flip it open and freeze, focused intensely on the drawing of a pair of eyes.Myeyes. Only, they’re not the way I’m accustomed to seeing them. They have the same shape, same dark spots on the irises. There’s a deep crease between them. But in the drawing, they’re slightly upturned and crinkled at the edges, and there’s a slight gleam to them, as if I’m smiling.Because I was.Several times, she called my name, grinning so widely when I looked at her that I couldn’t help but smile. She captured those moments.Does light penetrate shadows, or do the shadows drown out the light?I asked that question not long ago. The answer is both. She’s managed to light up my eyes while I’ve filled hers with darkness.Blowing out a breath full of exhaustion, I set the sketch aside. Tired, I shut my lids and must drift off instantly, because a bolt of lightning that rumbles even through the sound barriers I’ve erected around the loft wakes me. Instantly, I glance at the door.Though she has access to w

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