Romano and Maximo had left before dinner since they needed to get to Milan for business. I had noticed that Nikolai and Maximo seemingly bonded and bordered friendship.Despite not agreeing, I trusted Nikolai’s judgment.If he thought that Maximo was a good guy who only made a few bad decisions then I thought so too. No one knew to read people more than Nikolai.Then again, Maximo looked like he was very hard to read. In fact, I knew that he was hard to read because his face always had a neutral expression.“ What are you thinking about?” Nikolai asked.I shook my head and turned to face him. I had been applying oil to my legs when he interrupted me. I was wearing a flimsy nightdress and he was shirtless and in his pajama pants. Lately, he was sleeping in bed with me which made me happy.I put my arms around his shoulders and his hands went to my waist.“ You smell so good, “ he whispered into my ear.I raised my toes to bury my head in his neck because I loved the comfort and warmth
After spending the morning dancing on the sheets with Nikolai, I headed out of the house in a hurry without taking breakfast. I was in a hurry to get into the office in time for a meeting with a potential investor.As the driver went as fast as he could, my eyes kept glancing at my wristwatch. I was already late for the meeting and I kept tensing. I knew how much people hated to be kept waiting. I just hoped that they thought of waiting a few minutes for me to arrive.“ Can you hurry up? “ I asked the driver.He glanced at me through the rearview mirror before glancing back to the road.“ This is as fast as I am allowed to go,” he said.I already knew who had instructed him on how fast he was going to drive the car. However, I was stubborn and I didn’t want to risk potential funding for the new project.“ Says who? “ I asked, wanting him to say it out loud so he could see how stupid it was that he was following the orders of a man who was not around to reprimand him.“ Nikolai, “ he s
After making sure everyone was okay, I heaved out a tired sigh.“ Are you okay?” Corinna asked as she approached my desk.My chair was facing the floor-to-ceiling windows that gave me the perfect view of the city of Sicily. Since it was getting dark, the lights made the city look magical. Without turning to face her, I sighed again.“ How okay can I be after someone assaulted my workers and some customers? “ I asked.Corinna came and stood at my side, watching the city just as I was.“ Are you not going home? “ She asked.“ My husband is not picking up my calls. To be honest, I am afraid of what I will find when I get there. “ I said truthfully.It was the most truth I had told in the past couple of weeks. Being in the mafia had made me a seasoned liar. As much as I hated it, it was true.“ He loves you, doesn’t he? “ She asked.I laughed realizing where she was going with everything.“ I am not saying that I think we are over. I am afraid he found trouble somewhere and I will go home
Nikolai had been finding a way to deal with Claire while she wreaked havoc all around Sicily. She didn’t show up to the company because she knew that on top of doubled security, there were officers and we were expecting her.That was a relief since the workers were starting to lose faith in us. Some of them even went as far as quitting. Thankfully, I had convinced the investors that their funds were safe with us in the company.I would have found her and slit her throat myself had they pulled away. The company would have crumbled and we used it to launder funds.“ What is he planning? “ I asked Anabelle as she changed out of her bloody clothes and into others.I didn’t see the point since I knew that she would dirty them again.“ I can’t tell you. Nikolai told me not to tell you because you would get angry. It is important that you find out last minute. “I groaned and fell back on her bed. Nikolai had told me the exact same thing. I knew it was something bad if Nikolai was refusing t
“ One of you people killed my daughter! “ She yelled, her calm façade faltering.It seemed very weird that she hadn’t thought that Nikolai would take her children. Maybe she had banked on me to convince him not to do that. She thought I was still the same Brianna I was when I left New York.“ Lily killed herself. I was there trying to unlock her door while I called out to her. She didn’t answer me because she was busy giving up on life.I found her in the closet hanging from the ceiling and a stool was toppled over on the floor. We all lost a companion in her. Don’t act like you’re the only one grieving. “ I said with tears gathering in my eyes.Claire scoffed and shook her head, refusing to believe what I was saying.“ Liar! No one was as resilient and hopeful as Lily. You brought her into the mafia so even if she did kill herself, it would be your fault. “ Claire said.“ She fell in love, Claire. She fell in love with a man and refused to go back to Seattle no matter how hard I begg
Since Claire died, our lives were fairly peaceful. Nikolai and I still worked and then met at the end of the day. It was domestic and for the first time, I registered that I was married and I loved it.“ What do you want to do now? “ Nikolai asked.I knew that he referred to all the free time that we had since we were free now that we had nothing to worry about. We were in the garden relaxing. He was laying on the grass and I was laying on his chest.I sighed in contentment and snuggled closer to him.“ You know I just remembered that we have never gone on a honeymoon. We got married and didn’t take that opportunity for a getaway. “ I said.I knew I should have realized earlier but with all that was happening, a honeymoon was the last thing on our minds. I missed a vacation.“ Oh, yeah? I didn’t realize it either. Do you want to go on a honeymoon? “Nikolai asked.I shrugged my shoulders because I didn’t know what I wanted. On the one hand, I wanted to go on the other hand I thought th
Viv held my hand as she guided me through the sand.“ I should have worn a more comfortable dress. I am never trusting you again, “ I said.She chuckled and pulled me harder to where she was taking me.“ You will thank me later for this outfit. Now stop complaining and shut up. “ She said making me grumble even harder.We came to a stop and my hand was held by a much bigger one. Goosebumps rose on my skin at the familiar touch I felt. I knew that it was Nikolai before I even saw him. He placed his hands on my waist and turned me so that my back was on his chest.“ Hey, “ he greeted into my ear.Just like that, I started blushing like a complete idiot.“ Hey, “ I greeted back.I felt him take off my blindfold and I squinted my eyes open, trying to adjust to the light. “ What is all this? “ I asked while I looked around. It was everything I had told him I wanted and more.There was a table at the center of the beach that was candle lit. There was a wine bottle on the table and a wine g
For the next three weeks, I planned the second wedding. It wasn’t like last time because then, I didn’t have a choice. This time, I would get to have everything I wanted for my wedding and no one would stop me.I was happy as I chose the themes for the wedding; black and gold. I got to experience how women felt when they were planning weddings and I was going to make the most of it. I now understood why they said it was the most special day of a woman’s life.You only go to plan it once. My only regret was that I couldn’t plan it with my mother like most brides did.Nikolai, like most men, only nodded and went with everything I said. Of course, he was the one paying for the whole thing so the least I could do was plan it myself.“ Place the flowers there, “ I instructed.I was in the rented residence where the ceremony was to take place. There was a garden where we would say our vows and an indoor reception. I sighed, feeling anger rising when he didn’t do what I said.“ Didn’t you he