I woke up feeling a lot worse than I did before sleeping. I had very little experience with hospitals from when I was still home but I was certain the world had not changed enough for hospitals to go from being a place where people got better to becoming a place they got worse. A groan slipped past my lips as I tried to stretch myself. The pain had gone from being localized to my head to taking over my whole body. My muscles ached and my limbs felt like I had run a marathon and only stopped when I passed out. The dry feeling in my mouth had returned too. Overall, I felt like I’d been hit on the head and dragged through concrete. “You’re awake, good,” Ronan commented, walking into the room. “I should’ve woken you earlier but you looked so peaceful.” “I don’t feel peaceful.” I croaked out, instantly regretting the action. My throat felt rough and charred and the sound felt like dragging a pointy finger through an open wound. Ronan poured a glass of water and emptied the contents
BELLA“Hurry,” Ronan called out, glancing behind him to make sure I was keeping up.My muscles ached, my feet felt like I had run a marathon and my head was about to split. I let out a pained moan, struggling to catch up with Ronan. Why did he have to park so far away? “Just keep going, we’re almost there.” He said, slowing down his pace for me to catch up.“I need to rest.” I groaned, sitting on the floor. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was in pain, my whole body was on fire.I wasn’t expecting us to run this long before getting to the car. Ronan gave me some painkillers before we left but there didn’t do a thing.I felt nauseous, the whole world was spinning and it didn’t help that it was pitch black and I could barely make out the shape of my own hands, not to talk of anything else. “Do you not understand what is at stake? If Don or any of his men finds us, we’re dead meat. There’ll be nothing left of us. You’ll rest when we get to the car.” He scolded, his voice heavy with urgenc
Bella “We’ll be spending the night here, tomorrow we’ll get on a ship heading to the Caribbean.” Ronan casually said, dropping his duffel bag on the bed and falling next to it while I watched awkwardly. I don’t know what I was expecting when he said we were going to stop at a motel to spend the night but a shared bed was not one of them. I stood next to the vanity, transferring my weight from one foot to another. I didn’t know what to do. Was I supposed to go lay next to him till sleep came or was I to wait for him to sleep before getting in bed? “Are you going to stand there all night?” Ronan asked, lifting his upper body off the bed to get a better look at me. I unconsciously wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing them against each other to create a bit of warmth. “Oh, I totally forgot.” He unzipped his bag and pulled out a T-shirt. “Here, you can sleep in this.” He said, stretching out the clothing to me. I forced my legs into motion to collect the shirt from him and
BELLA “Good morning little Pajarita.” A cold voice pierced through the fog of my sleepy gaze as I stretched, causing me to hold the blanket closer to myself. Pajarita? As far as my knowledge goes, Ronan did not speak Italian and even if he did, his voice did carry a characteristic chill. My heart picked up a murderously fast rate and I held my eyes shut, praying to God and all things holy that I’d open my eyes to find Ronan messing around or playing tricks on me. Last night got really emotional and we talked about our fears. In the course of the conversation, I admitted Dante was one of my biggest fears. Maybe he was pulling a fast one on me, right? Everywhere was deathly still, I couldn’t tell if anyone was breathing. If it was Ronan playing tricks on me, he would’ve said something by now. Also, I doubt Dante would be patient enough to wait for me to take my precious time waking up. I shut my eyes tightly, sending one last word of desperate prayer to the big guy upsta
DANTE“Riddle me this,” Enzo said, watching me send the punching bag off its hinges. “A man gets a splint stuck in his thumb. Thankfully, it’s not a big one neither is it deep enough to require surgery. Yet, said man has refused to take said splint out or allow anyone to take it out for him. Instead, he cradles his injured finger and lets the weight of his pain fall on everyone around him. How could this be?”I ignored him, picking up the punching bag and attaching it back, readying myself for the next punch.I intentionally refused to spar with Enzo today, I did not trust myself to not batter his face. As resourceful as he was, he wasn’t the best fighter. A defect he seemed to take pride in. I vented out the weight of my anger on the bag, this time, sending it flying across the room and too far for me to retrieve. Rubbing my fists together, I stared murderously at the bag resting close to the exit and turned to Enzo who immediately shook his head indicating he’ll neither be pickin
“I don’t know what it is about you, but I’d be very for my life and live what is left of it quietly if I were you,” Collin one of Dante’s guards said as he walked into my cell with a bunch of keys. “Stand.” “Huh?” I questioned, peering at him through heavy lids. I was tired. Not just physically but emotionally too. Honestly, I felt more drained emotionally than I did physically. “Get up!” He ordered harshly and I rose on wobbly feet, holding the wall next to me for support as the room spun around me. I had not stood on my feet since Dante shoved himself into me and discarded me like a used condom. It took a moment for my body to get used to bearing the weight of my body again. Collin walked around me and I heard the jingling of keys before I felt the weight of the chains drop from my wrists. I spun on my heels and felt immediately nauseous, “What is going on? Where are you taking me?” He ignored me, bending to unlock the chains around my ankles. “Miss Carter w
BELLAI felt someone’s fingers threading softly through my hair, I should have been startled but it felt so good.I lay there, savoring the feeling of being touched softly. I couldn’t remember the last time someone touched me with the slightest bit of care or affection. I didn’t know how much I craved to be held softly until now. Every finger that had touched me was from a place of selfishness and was born of sexual desires. If I got a hug, I might just fall apart from the weight of the emotions I’m carrying.The person who probably held my hand with the slightest bit of care was Ronan. There was Vivian too but that was a long long time ago.She was the only one who would tackle me with random hugs, try to braid my hair, and even cuddle me sometimes.I always pushed her off, claiming I wasn’t a fan of physical touch but the truth was, I didn’t know what to do with affection, nor did I know how to return it.The concept of it felt too ambiguous and almost laughable to me. What do you
BELLAI paced back and forth while waiting for Vivian to exit Miss Carter's office. I couldn’t relax knowing I was the reason she was in there and I won’t forgive myself if she got into any trouble because of me.I nervously chewed at my thumb, glancing at the wall clock for what would be the hundredth time, and the whole of seven minutes had passed with her in the witch's lair.I always guessed I had a bit of bad luck, I mean I’ve been screaming it since day one but now, I wasn’t sure it was just ill luck. Maybe I was cursed, maybe some evil French woman did some sort of voodoo on me because how does shit always seek me out wherever I go?Ill luck was me getting into troubles that were sometimes of my own making. This was everyone who tried to as much to stand up for me getting into trouble and even losing their lives while the culprits always went Scott free.I heard Miss Carter's door open and practically dashed to it to be met by the unpleasantness that was Anna.She was wearing a
DANTEIn the Bratva, we don’t start families out of love, romance, friendship, companionship, etc. Families were born out of duty, either to continue the line or to form an alliance.A love match was a laughable concept amongst made men and our women understood that. It was better for any man in the Bratva to marry one of the women, that way, expectations are lowered, understanding is mutual and the union works.The most important aspect of marriage is the provision and protection for the women and the continuity for the men.So long as the women were protected and provided for, they had no right to point fingers at their husbands and the men were free to do as they pleased. Take mistresses and whatever they desire.A complete No was bringing the mistresses home or having kids with them. Then it’s considered that the woman has been dishonored especially if she is a mafia princess. Most people were betrothed at birth or early in life and only had to attain a certain age before they w
BELLA“Where are the clothes?” I asked, skimming through the clothes on the aisle and finding outfits far worse than I was currently putting on.This was the third aisle I was on and the second store we were checking out and it was the same thing. Just different styles and colors.“They’re on the racks.” She said, still wearing the same look she’s been wearing since we left the house.“These are basically lingerie and barely qualify to be called outfits.” I pointed out, holding a sheer body-fitting dress I pulled off the rack.She gave me a once-over as if to say ‘You’re currently wearing one of those.’ Before proceeding to act confused. “Oh, my mistake, I thought a place like this would be better suited for you.” This bitch. She’s had a permanent scowl sewn to her face from the moment we left the house and has not failed to find new ways to call me a slut.A positive side effect of being raised the way I’d been raised was an unshakable confidence. And while I couldn’t care less abo
BELLAEnzo and I cleaned up after breakfast and he was currently teaching me how to play Monopoly. It was a nice game, it had to do with real estate, negotiations, and money so naturally, I was drawn to it.“I’ve contacted Celine, she’ll be here in an hour or two. Tell her everything you need and she’ll get it.” Dante’s voice filtered into the kitchen ahead of him.“Hey! That’s my money.” I yelled, snatching my paper money from a thieving Enzo who lifted his hands in surrender. He keeps trying to steal from me.He’s been here for almost two hours and I can say I’ve had the best time in years. He was the first man who had spoken to me like a human being in a while.In our short time together, he has made no comment about my status, or my presence in Dante’s house, he didn’t even ask how I came to be here.He just waltzed into the house and found me on top of the kitchen stool searching for food in the cupboards and the only thing he said was “I don’t think Chinese would require so much
DANTE I went from making one bad decision in a decade to making a hundred reckless, horrible, and ill-thought decisions in the space of seven months and it all started with the appearance of Isabella Blanchett.Her comment about being eight when she was abducted had me going through her files and searching for clues. What to do with the clues, I had no idea.Every time I had picked up the file in the past had always been to see how Charlotte raised her and maybe get a few insights as to why she was so fearless.Today, I was currently putting off preparing for my meeting with Enzo in favor of digging down an Isabella-sized hole. Alright, that didn’t come out as I expected, still, I was digging and if ended up in any of her holes I certainly wouldn’t mind.According to the file, she grew up in a village in France and was abducted when she snuck out of her house at night.I rolled my eyes at the statement, of course, she was caught sneaking out. Good to know her knack for running away
BELLAThe drive to Dante’s house was mostly quiet and long. I had rushed to my room to inform Vivian of the recent development, I didn’t have enough time to provide context but I guess she got the message. She even commented how she always thought my encounters with the Don were a bit bizarre. Bizarre was certainly one way to put it.A lot of thoughts were racing through my head as we drove, not to mention how suffocating Dante’s presence was. I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes and he just sat there, staring into the road ahead, his face hard and if he tightened his jaw one more time, a vein might just pop. I on the other hand sat next to him, staring into the dark like a lamb that was being led to the slaughter. I had a shit ton of questions to ask but I doubt he’d be receptive to them with his driver present.We finally came to a stop in front of a classic-looking gate and I readied myself to get out of the car because everyone knows after the gate comes the house. Par
BELLA My eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sound of his request. “Can you say that again, I think I misheard you.”He leaned back into his chair, giving me a pointed look. “Be mine for a year and I’ll let you go afterwards.” He repeated casually like he didn’t drop the biggest bomb on me.“You already bought me, you’ve made it clear at every meeting how I belong to you, what difference is this supposed to make?” I heavily at him, feeling a burning sensation course through me.The nerve of this man. You render my ass with welts, fuck me in front of a dying man, make death threats at me every chance you get, lock me in a dungeon for almost a month, and sit there in a pressed suit and casually ask me to yours. I’d be damned if I took him up on his sick offer. If he was looking for some desperate Diana to play with, he had a surprise coming for him.I wasn’t foolish and I was familiar with his game. He promised to set me free to get me to soften up to him and when he’s done
DANTE“I’ll ask you one last time, who sent you?”“I don’t know, I was….” I slammed my fist into his face, feeling the satisfaction course through my veins at the familiar sound of bones crunching beneath my fist. His agonizing scream only pissed me off. I hate it when men cried like bitches.. If you have enough balls to mess with me, I expect you have the resilience to withstand a few blows.“I don’t know! I swear on my mama!” He cried, spitting out the second tooth I was knocking off him today. Blood dripped from his lips to his chin and down to his chest.I watched the trail in fascination, wondering if I should make a permanent trail with my knife. “No! Please no, I’ve told you everything I know. I opened my door and found a package, inside it was a check and a burner. The phone went off immediately the call was over and it wouldn’t come on again.” He pleaded, watching my hand skim over my extensive display of knives. “Hmmmm” I replied, my eyes not leaving my knives. This ans
BELLAFuck me sideways.The big guy upstairs really did say he’ll deliver my enemies into my hands and he just did it in the best way. When my shock at the scene before me finally wore off -which happened in seconds, as I had no prior high expectations of the duo- I could feel a shit-eating grin stretching out my lips as I watched them look at me in part horror and part hatred.“Fancy seeing you here Miss Carter, or should I say, Rose.” I smiled, walking out of my hiding place and her glare intensified. “The situation at hand is quite the leveling ground, you certainly don’t expect titles after what I just witnessed,” I said, gesturing at their current state of undress. I let a fake shiver run through me as I directed my attention to Anna. ”Please put on some clothes, the sight of your bare body is giving me the heebie-jeebies. I already have a lot of nightmares plaguing me as it seems.”She was oddly quiet and compliant for a renowned talkative and bully and I got the dopamine kick
BELLAI paced back and forth while waiting for Vivian to exit Miss Carter's office. I couldn’t relax knowing I was the reason she was in there and I won’t forgive myself if she got into any trouble because of me.I nervously chewed at my thumb, glancing at the wall clock for what would be the hundredth time, and the whole of seven minutes had passed with her in the witch's lair.I always guessed I had a bit of bad luck, I mean I’ve been screaming it since day one but now, I wasn’t sure it was just ill luck. Maybe I was cursed, maybe some evil French woman did some sort of voodoo on me because how does shit always seek me out wherever I go?Ill luck was me getting into troubles that were sometimes of my own making. This was everyone who tried to as much to stand up for me getting into trouble and even losing their lives while the culprits always went Scott free.I heard Miss Carter's door open and practically dashed to it to be met by the unpleasantness that was Anna.She was wearing a