DAMIANAlice statement throws me off guard and sets me right on the edge. It would be better not to introduce the topic of Irina because the circumstance around her discovery is not something to share yet. All everyone needs to know is that she is a part of the family now and there are no two ways about it.As for Liliana, what am I to do with her?That question lingers as I decide to freshen up for the day. Zoran would be here soon and I have businesses to take care of.By the time I'm settled in my office, Andros walks in. He inclines his head in greeting.“Pakhan.” I nod, eyeing the sling around his neck. “Don't you think you should be resting that arm?” “There's no time to rest when duty calls. Besides, it is just a gun wound. I've had plenty of them in the past. It won't stop now.”I'm impressed but my face remains impassive. I gesture to the couch. “Take a seat.”Sydney comes in. “Pakhan.”“You're late.” My eyes rivet to him from his colleague. “Do you know what I feel about
DAMIANAs planned, before midday, my schedule has been cleared and I have finished the tasks for the day. I updated Sicily's paycheck and he gifted me two cars which according to him is his means of appreciation. I don't ask that of him but he does them willingly. Not only are they cars, but they are limited editons as well, specially customized to my taste. I had Sydney and Andros take it home while I rounded things up at the port and greased some hands. Currently, I'm seated in the private VIP lounge in one of Zoran's pubs waiting for his arrival. I'm irritated that he stood me up when our meeting is supposed to be an hour ago. I take a sip from my glass, eyes studying my watch for the umpteenth time. Where is the man who instilled in me the discipline of being early?Speaking of the devil, I hear Zoran's voice. A while later, he peeks into the private room. His face brightens up when he sights me.What the fuck is he so happy about on a goddamn Monday afternoon?“Little brother
LILIANA My entire body thrums with bone deep weakness as I struggle to open my eyes. So far, I've only managed to pop an eyelid open while the other remains closed in laziness. I'm alone in the room. A different room actually and it's not the dungeon. Thank God. A sharp exhale then I try to raise myself up on my elbows. The warmth of the sunlight’s rays streaming through the balcony says its past noon. “You're awake.” I freeze at the sound of the voice. It's not Alice's, neither is it that big buffoon’s. Awfully familiar it sounds yet I cannot for the life of me, place a face to it. I turn my head in that direction, shivering lightly as my eyes come to rest on that creepy little girl. My eyes fly open and all the weariness vanishes. “What the — why are you looking at me like that?” She is seated at the bottom of the bed, her brown eyes trained on me, unblinking. “Alice said to keep an eye on you. I have two.” She says with a dead ass face. I push away a shudder
LILIANA “What the hell just happened?” I muse, still in wonder. I'm blinking at the door that has been left ajar. Gone is the heat of his rage and in its wake is the lingering scent of his cologne intertwined with his masculine scent. I admit to pushing him to anger in the past with words that would cause even the strongest of men to cower and crumble. It cannot be the words I said. No, I doubt they caused as much as a dent on him. As usual, he takes the crown for reckless display of savagery. “Laura?” A voice gasps in the doorway. Recognition strikes me as I take in the image of auburn hair and wide hazel eyes. “Rachel?” I'm dumbstruck at first, however when I recall their betrayal, a scowl takes over. “What are you doing here? Have you come to finish me off like your father did?” “I work here. What are you doing here?” “Shit Sherlock, I'm harvesting ripe grapes.” I grouse with my eyes rolled far back into my head so far I fear they'll drop into my stomach. “Tha
LILIANAI place my hands on his broad chest with intent to shove, and against my will, they remain planted to the spot.Why am I letting him kiss me? Better still, why…does it feel so dang good?His tongue invades my mouth with a savage intensity that leave me breathless and before long, I fist the front of his shirt as an anchor. “So…divine.” He whispers hotly against my lips.His hold on my neck pulses in tandem with the clench of my pussy pressed onto his strong thigh. I feel his erection resting against the outside of my other thigh while he drives me to the brink.What starts out as slow movements, graduates into a steady rhythm that picks up in every passing second.This is wrong… This is repulsive… Yet, I find myself responding to the urgent demands of his thigh by grinding feverishly against him like my very existence depends on it.His kisses hold me ransom and I'm paying back with one of mine, matching every hot lash of his tongue with one of mine.It is like a battle for d
LILIANAAlice rambles about so many things at once as we head out of my room, chirping excitedly about the clothes we could try on and how long it had been since she played dress up. She doesn't strike me as one who takes part in such frivolities.I, on the other hand, am too unbothered to listen and too distressed about my recent deed to ask her to stop. I hadn't noticed a smaller building, well technically small next to Damian's mansion. Although it looks quite garish, I can't shake off the feeling that there might be more to it. Made men don't invest or build without reason. Anyway, the place is bigger than my newly assigned bedroom with racks of clothes lining up every corner.If I wasn't in a precarious situation, I would swear the place is a woman's wet dream.Robotically, I let Alice toss me this way and that, using me to satisfy her childhood fantasies and to be honest, it doesn't bother me as much. Somehow, it takes my mind away from my worries.She pulls away from the r
LILIANAThe next few days pass by in a blur, the possibility of my escape becoming bleaker than a candle's flame in a hurricane force wind. Andros is stuck with me every passing day because of his shoulder injury, like a stubborn tick on the side of a shaggy dog. At least his presence is sufferable. He makes little jokes and is a little friendly. When Alice kept sending food to my room, he suggested she get a mini fridge for chocolates and the likes so I can help myself to it, and she doesn't have to come all the way up.It was surprising because we just barely finished speaking about it. I figured if I am to be held without explanation, then I deserve humane treatment at least. I'm not having anything less. Still, it won't cancel out the burning hatred I have for every soul in the house.Well…except for Alice and Andros. I can't help but indulge myself in their lovable personalities.“What are you looking at the door and thinking about?” A gruff voice cuts through my train of thou
LILIANA I'm leaning over the balcony feeling the warm breeze as it carries the scent of blooming flowers and the distant hint of water. The sun dips behind the clouds tinted with shades of coral which streaks across the sky like wispy brush strokes on a canvas but I'm too anxious to appreciate their beauty. Why does his absence bother me? I should be using my relationship with Alice and Andros as a leverage for an escape. Andros stepped out and it has been thirty minutes since. He usually doesn't stay out longer than this. I should make active moves to flee but I don't. Instead, I'm haunted by the memory of Damian's mismatched eyes, his smile, his presence and it's as if his absence has created a void within me that I'm desperate to fill. I scoff, “This isn't the plan, Liliana.” I grip the balcony railing tightly until my knuckles whiten with tension. The scenery is a perfect model that I want to bring to life through colors, however, I can't shake off the feeling
LILIANAEverything is a blur around me. The array of colorful dresses that Rachel spreads on the bed and her robotic response when I'm too numb to do anything but stare blankly at them.Alice comes to style my hair and when she's done, Rachel picks out a red number. I know that the dress is only going to make me more noticeable in the crowd. But hopelessness keeps me quiet.“We don't want to be late, the Pakhan is going to be angry.” Rachel says in a quiet voice. When I look at her face, she looks away from me.These days, she's been terribly distant and avoiding me generally. She barely steps foot in here except with Alice's prodding. I can tell she's burdened but I know she won't say what it is.Whatever it might be, I hope she deals with it. At least, she's lucky she's not about to be sold off to some brute whose existence she has no idea about. This will become my life in a few hours, oh Zot! {Oh God!}There's shuffling around me, Rachel flinching as she moves out of sight and A
LILIANAI've made it my mission to avoid him at all costs. If I hear his voice echoing somewhere in the house, I stay locked in my room. When I do leave, I take routes I know he wouldn't. It's easier this way—less suffocating.I avoid Zip too. She's taken a sudden liking to Melanie, and the two of them seem to find joy in whispering and laughing just loud enough for me to overhear.“Isn't it pathetic?” I once caught Zip saying in the hallway. “Acting like a guest when she's just another debt. How long until he gets bored and tosses her out like the rest?” “Ouch!” Melanie exclaimed dramatically, a hand pressed to her chest. “That was too harsh.”“You know you're worth more to the family than worthless tramps like her.” Zip said in a bid to appease her.Their cruel laughter followed, and I've steered clear of them ever since. Lately, I've been feeling worse than usual. On most mornings, I don't even get out of bed until noon. My body feels heavy, weighed down my feverish spells that c
NEW CHARACTER POV ALERT!RACHELThe patio smells like mint and cigarette smoke, ruining the afternoon breeze which is supposed to be spilling in. Zip leans back in her chair, legs stretched out like the billionaire woman that she is. She inspects her nails, her tone bored.“I told him if the car doesn't scream custom, don't even bother parking it outside my house. He threw a fit after hearing that and now I'm the one who's childish.”Melanie sits cross-legged, exhaling a long thin stream of smoke. She smirks. “And they still show up with stock rims and half-assed cologne. It's embarrassing.”“Embarrassing? Please. Try insulting.” Zip flicks her fingers like she's brushing off dust. “The last guy? Told me his ‘investment’ portfolio was NFTs. NFTs, Melanie. As if I want to deal with someone whose assets are digital clipart.”I roll my eyes from where I'm mixing Melanie's cocktail drink. Isn't she the one leeching off Damian by being his whore?Oh, for a chance of freedom let me send he
DAMIAN Two days later…I occupy myself instead with plans of the Grand Casino opening happening in less than a month from now. Everytime my thoughts stray, I have to remind myself that I'm no longer a teenager to be fantasizing about a woman like an obsessive prick.The air in my office is thick with cigarette smoke and the low hum of conversation. Zoran leans against the edge of my desk with his arms crossed while Andros flicks his lighter repeatedly, a faint click-click filling the silence between words. Sicily is in a corner, swirling whiskey in his glass like he's got nowhere better to be. Sydney lounges in the chair opposite me, already halfway through his second drink. The scowl never eases off his face. “We need to be smarter about the guest list,” Sicily says at last after an argument that ensued between Sydney and Andros on whom to invite. “Inviting Sergei could backfire.”Andros had suggested we invite all the Bratva heads regardless of if we've had a fallout, but Sydney
DAMIANThe way to my room feels too goddamn far away with my arousal making an embarrassing tent in front of my pants. It takes effort to not wince while walking. Something as mundane has now become so difficult 'cos of it.How do I make it up there in record time before I spill my seeds in my trousers like a fucking horny teenage boy?I feel like a seventeen year old again, thanks to my carelessness. Thankfully, the hallway is quiet which means the house helps might have retired for the night. Who would want to bump into their Pakhan in this sorry state?“Pakhan.” Turns out I spoke too early. I turn around to see one of the house helps coming from the stairs leading to the living room. “What?” I snap.Sighting my discomfort, she lowers her head immediately, color staining her cheeks. “Lady Alice wants to know what's taking so long.” “I'll be back. If they can't wait, they can continue dinner without me.” I tell her and resume on my way to my quarters. As soon as I get to the land
DAMIANCall it selfish. Say it is depraving. But I never assured you I was a good man. I'm fucked up in more ways than can count and I have scars to show for it but it doesn't mean I don't have an iota of what justice is…“Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!” She clenches hard against my fingers. So hard that I fear they'd break from the force. Her head thrown back, she shamelessly rides on my fingers, milking it for all its worth. …And it's the reason I can't let her go. My pride would take the hit if I release her after what her husband did. I don't want to forgive him and therefore, she has to take the fall for it. Soon, she will. She whimpers again, a loud drawn out cry of ecstasy but her hips doesn't relent. We're out in the open space, while she chases after her release like a sex starved woman.She simply has no shame. Didn't Kyle treat her right? Well, how could he when he had such a small dick.I love how tightly her walls wrap around me, how wet her hole is for me. It's driving m
LILIANAThe sound of the tie sliding through his fingers is maddening slow, heightening my anxiety as I hold onto the railing for my dear life. I should be rebelling now if I were in my right senses but somehow, I'm doing every of his bidding without so much pressure from him. How the fuck did I go from fighting him at every turn to agreeing dumbly like a lamb to be sacrificed?His hand brushes my wrist to loop the fabric around it, and I nearly jump. His touch lingers on my skin, warm and firm and very unlike…unlike Kyle's.What is wrong with me for fucks sake?!I hate the way my skin tingles under his fingertips. It's foreign to me and causes a lot of sensory overload. I manage to, very discreetly, press my thighs together to quench the pressure building in my cunt. His fingers reach to fully cup one of my sensitive breast, kneading and pinching the nipple in between his thumb and forefinger. I grip the railing tighter with an audible gasp. The metal grounds me even when my body
LILIANA I sift through my closet in search for something that is halfway decent. Most of the clothes here are too extravagant or too casual for whatever Damian's plans might involve. Finally, I settle on a simple fitted, black dress and lay it on the bed. Instead of putting it on, I sit down with my hands in my thighs and stare at them. The thought of his sudden decision to have me sit on the table with them jingles like an ominous bell. Why am I even invited to dinner when I'm his hostage? The invite feels like another one of his power plays or another chance for him to humiliate me as always but for the life of me, I can't even figure out why. And then there's his warning—don’t be late or you'll regret it. The memory of his cold tone tightens something in my chest.I sigh as I rub my palms over my thighs. Should I just go downstairs and get it over with?Or would staying here prove I'm not playing his game? My thoughts spiral, arguments at war in my head until there's a brisk
DAMIANLiliana. Her name sticks in my mind like a thorn. No matter how much I try to drown myself in work, she's there. Green-eyed, sharp-tongued and impossible to forget. She's the fire I don't want to touch but can't seem to step away from. I don't want to do this having just lost something precious to me, yet I want to be scorched by her. Is this also another craving of my twisted soul? When a servant had delivered her test results from the doctor, I felt a tightening in my chest that I refused to name. The thought of her being pregnant for her late husband shouldn't have mattered. But it did. Alice's observations had planted the idea and I'd convinced myself I didn't care either way. Then I saw the report. A mild flu. Not pregnant. Relief hit me harder than I wanted to admit, followed closely by something darker. Guilt?No, I shove it down. I'm not that man. I can't be. Whatever I feel for her is nothing more than irritation, and…and blinding lust for the soft curves of her b