I grabbed a champagne flute from one of the servers that were passing by and sipped from it slowly as Nik led me to greet other guests. I maintained a conversation with those who were friendly but I also knew when to be quiet. My feet were starting to kill me. I was uncomfortable as I walked. Nikolai must have noticed because he led me to a table." Sit tight and rest your feet a little. I'll greet guests and then go for a meeting. Don't talk to anyone. I'll send Viv to keep you company. " I nodded my head and took out my phone. A few minutes passed as I sipped on my champagne and played games on the phone." Shall I order another one for you? " A man asked as he gestured to my empty flute. " My husband will get another one for me. Plus I've had enough. " I answered.The guy in front of me looked like he was in his early 20s. His blonde hair was slicked back and his brown eyes held mischief.He must have been only a few inches taller than me because he looked short. He had a baby fa
The car entered the estate and I started feeling the heavy weight of the tiredness in my body. I wiggled my toes and made sure not to attract the attention of Nikolai.Not that he even saw me. He was busy typing away on his phone. I couldn't tell why I was angry at that but I was. I clutched his coat harder. He had given it to me when he saw me shivering. The car stopped and he put his phone away. Before I could get out of the car, he grabbed my hand to stop me." You can't walk barefoot. " I rolled my eyes. We were literally at home. A few steps surely wouldn't hurt." You're not carrying me again. " " Roll those eyes at me and I'll bend you over my knee and spank that sweet little ass until you can't sit. " I snapped my mouth shut and I opened the car door. Before he could stop me again, I had already gotten out. I walked with fast steps towards the house but I had short strides.When I looked behind me, I saw Nikolai inching closer towards me. I took off in a sprint but he cau
We fucked all night like rabid animals. I didn't even know at which point in the night we fell asleep. It must have been very late because we went several rounds.The soreness I felt between my thighs was a reminder of what had taken place. I opened my eyes and touched the spot beside me. To my surprise, it was empty and cold. My eyes snapped open. I turned and confirmed that Nikolai was gone. There was an ache in my chest because of that. I felt like nothing more than a ' for the night ' fuck. I wanted to wake up next to him because I was a lover girl. I wanted all the affection. I called out to him with a hoarse voice due to all the screaming I had done the previous night. A part of me hoped that he was still in the room but my heart was broken when I heard nothing but silence.He was gone and he hadn't even left a note. I sighed and dragged my sore muscles to the bathroom. I made myself a bath, sank in, and relaxed under the warm water as I slowly cleaned my body. When the wate
Within seconds, Nikolai had pulled me from the man's grasp. He pulled me behind his body and punched him in the face. The music stopped and all the attention was on the dancefloor. Nikolai held the man's collar in his hands and glared at him." Who the fuck do you think you are to mishandle my wife like that?! " He shouted.To my surprise, the man was not even drunk. He looked very sober. I hugged my hands to my body and stared at the floor. I felt dirty and disgusting." She was the one dressed like a slut-" The sound of bone breaking reverberated through the air. The man fell on the ground and screamed in pain while his hands were on his left eye.I rushed to Nikolai and put my arm around this." It isn't worth it, " I whispered and he looked at me with his hard glare. It softened a little before hardening again." Damn right it is. Everyone needs to know that my wife is not to be touched by anyone. " He proceeded to pull his hand from my grasp and get on the floor. He punched t
I had cleaned Nikolai's wounds and bandaged them against his will. He was stubborn and he wanted to bear the wounds like a man. His words, not mine.I had woken to him gone again. I sighed, realizing that it was best if I got used to that already or I would wake up disappointed every morning.I went downstairs in my pajamas because I was too lazy to change into my clothes. When I started going down the stairs, I heard screaming and shouting.It sounded like Viv and Nikolai." Why did you lie to me that you went to Russia?! I knew your ass was lying!" " Careful Viv. Remember who you are talking to. Just because I've let you shout at me doesn't mean you should think that you can disrespect me. “ This empire is mine and I built it alone so I owe you nothing. " " You do-" " I said I owe you nothing! Don't play with fire, Vivienne. Being my sister doesn't exempt you from being burnt. "" Did you just threaten me? "" That was a warning. You know better than anyone that I don't threaten
Nikolai was home like had promised. It was late and I was sleepy but I knew he had arrived. All I felt was a pair of hands pulling me to a warm familiar body. I tried to turn and look at him but he stopped me." Shh, baby, go back to sleep, " he said softly.I closed my eyes and basked in his warmth as I drifted into sleep with a smile on my face.When I woke up the next morning, I felt a warm breath fanning my neck and muscular arms against my waist. My ass was against something hard. When I woke up completely, I realized that it was Nikolai's erection. Even in his sleep I still found a way to turn him on. I felt his hands snake up to my breast and fondle it. Before I could turn, the hand that was on my waist went inside my pants.He stroked my clit with his middle finger while I moved my hips to try and make him go faster." Patience, " he whispered into my ear.His seemed to have worn thin because he pulled down my pajama shorts and pushed his cock inside me. I moaned at the sens
I woke up at the crack of dawn and made several calls. After spending the previous day doing all the research I needed, everything was set. Nikolai hadn’t even been in bed when I got up. No matter but badly I felt because of that, it worked to my favor.He looked stressed because of something and I didn’t need to guess what was stressing him out. He had probably heard what I had heard myself. He had been out of it since we spoke to Vincenzo. He was probably wondering if I was worth all the hassle.Well, I was. Now that I had gotten comfortable in the mansion, I would be damned if I allowed anyone to take that away from me. Especially a misogynistic jerk who did nothing but belittle women. He had found the wrong woman to belittle.I was a Lucchese and people were going to find out.“ Ma’am? “The person at the other end of the phone called out.I apologized for zoning out during our call. I explained to her everything I needed and told her who was going to pick it up since the estate wa
I walked out of the room, leaving the ranks shocked. That had been my plan all along; to instill fear. I wanted to eliminate the mentality that they had about finding comfort in crowds. Immediately the doors closed, I started hyperventilating.I had never killed anyone in my entire life. I tried my best to keep my breath steady as I climbed up the stairs to my room. When the door closed behind me, I took off my coat and then unbuttoned my shirt. Suddenly, I felt suffocated.My breaths were heavy, my hands were shaking, and sweat was trickling down my body. The burden of guilt weight heavily against my shoulders. It didn’t matter if Vincenzo was the enemy or the fact that it was either him or me.I had taken a human life and that was that.The sick part of my brain was relieved that he was gone but the better part of me reminded me that they should have been another way. There was no other way and I knew it. Still, I felt like a bad person. The very person my mother never wanted me to
My eyes felt heavy but my ears were alert. I heard the beeping of machines and the voice of a woman speaking. Was I finally in heaven? I knew if that shit was real, I was going to hell for all the horrible things I had done.“Is he going to be, okay? “ I heard an angelic voice ask. It sounded awfully familiar like I should have known who it belonged to but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Why did it sound so sweet and inviting?“He will be. He should wake up any day now. “ A male voice replied.For some reason, I wanted to hit the male and tell him to stay away from my angel even though I couldn’t see how close they were.“You said that last week, “ the angel said with a sigh. There was sadness in her voice and it broke my heart. I had to open my eyes to look at her.When my eyes finally cooperated, there were white walls everywhere and two people in a corner. One of them was wearing a blue dress and her copper hair was in a messy bun.That was the moment we made eye contact and sh
“We will attack from this point right here and then Luca and the other men will go from the back. Make sure all your coms are working when we get there. If you encounter something, you tell us. “ I instructed.Esposito and Romano were standing on either side of me looking at the map I had. Thanks to a tip, we had a possible location for where they were keeping Nikolai and I was determined to find him.“So-““Why is nobody looking for Lorenzo? “ Viv asked from the door. I turned to face her with a hard glare on my face as I crossed my arms against my chest.“You’re not allowed in here, Viv. Why are you here?” I asked even though I had heard her previous statement.She scoffed and came deeper into the room, making me fold the map and hand it to Luca. With a nod of my head, he understood what I was saying and he left.“I asked where Lorenzo is. Last I heard from him, you sent him on a mission and he never came back. That was three days ago. Why aren’t you looking for him?” Viv asked.I d
Anabelle lowered the gun and placed it in the back of her jeans without taking her eyes off me. She proceeded to take my gun from the ground and unloaded it. She placed the bullets in her pocket and then tossed me the gun without any bullets.“Tell me what you meant when you said all my men are dead, “ I said, not wanting to beat around the bush.It was then that I realized how insensitive I was being. She had been through a lot and I hadn’t even heard what had happened to her yet I was prioritizing my needs over hers. I shook my head and gave her a soft look.“What happened Anabelle? One day I left you with Lorenzo, Viv, and Florian, and the next, I came back to find my mansion in ashes. What happened to your arm and where have you been?” I asked.She sighed and sat down on a rock. I followed her lead and sat beside her.“We were all in the mansion. Florian and I were in the basement interrogating someone when we heard the commotion upstairs. We stayed back and watched through the li
As I was pacing wondering why the men we had sent to attack Bianchi’s estate had not arrived, my phone rang. I frowned as I looked at the screen because it was an unknown number. Who could it be?Thinking it could be new information regarding Nikolai, I was eager to answer it. I stepped away from Romano. Esposito had gone for a smoke so he wasn’t anywhere near where we were.“Hello, “ I spoke as soon as I placed the phone against my ear.“It’s Anabelle. I need you to make sure you are nowhere near the people around you. Walk away from everyone now. “ The voice on the other end said.I recognized that it was indeed Anabelle from her voice. I could recognize it anywhere. I put my hand on my mouth and did as she had instructed. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted anyone but my instincts told me I could trust her.“Where have you been? “ I asked, wondering why she had been missing all that time.“Look, I can’t talk for long. It was a trap. Bianchi is not an enemy. You can’t trust anyone. You’
“ You know something, don’t you? This can end right now or we can go all night. “ Lorenzo said and removed his coat for emphasis.He proceeded to fold the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows. I didn’t understand why he insisted on wearing a suit when he was only going to torture people. It was a waste of the perfectly tailored expensive Armani.We were in the basement of the new house and there was a man tied to a chair. It was only the three of us in the room. The man was believed to have known what happened to the estate. He was one of the guards who had survived.We had yet to find the rest and it begged the question of why they were hiding in the first place. I had made it my responsibility to know everyone who had died during the attack. Those who were survivors and hadn’t come forward were suspects.Before the man could speak, my phone rang and I headed out to pick it up. It was one of the suppliers and I prayed it was good news or else he would pay. My patience was thinner than
My head was buzzing and my ears were ringing. There was an undeniable pain in my right leg and stomach. I was beginning to think I was in purgatory for all the bad things that I had done. I tried unsuccessfully to pry my eyes open.Every time I did that, my head hurt like small pins were being dropped on my head. I let out a groan when I was finally able to open my eyes. I was surprised when I saw darkness everywhere.If it wasn’t for the fact that I was sure that I had opened my eyes, I would have been doubtful of the fact that they were open. I tried to walk and that was when I registered that my movement was restricted.There were shackles on both my arms, pulling them apart like I was on a cross. My feet, on the other hand, were shackled to the wall behind me but they were closer together than my arms.Where the fuck was I?I tried to remember the events of the past few days but my memory was foggy and my thoughts were all over the place. I wanted to get out of that place that had
I heard them arguing before I even got to the bottom of the stairs. They were not very discreet with their plans at all. Before I left, I heard Viv calling out to me to stop.“ Please, just listen, “ she begged and I stopped.Who could I be if I didn’t listen to her?“ What is it, Vivienne? “ I asked while turning. I crossed my arms against my chest.She reached me and placed her hands on my arms.“ Look, we were going to start today but we couldn’t until we had enough men. I am sorry we lied to you but it had to be done. “ She said, not looking the least bit remorseful.“ First, get your hands off me. Do I look like an unreasonable woman to you? “ I asked.She looked at me like she wanted to be anywhere else. Well, I wasn’t the one who told her to follow me, was I?“ No, “ she answered.“ That’s right, Vivienne. I am not unreasonable. You say you were setting up but you took two weeks. Do you think Nik can wait that long? No! Do you what he is going through? No! “She looked anywhere
Romano walked me back to his car and I sat on the seat with a lot of things on my mind.“ Where am I going to start? “ I asked him.He rubbed my back soothingly which was something so out of character with him and gave me a hopeful look.“ As long as you have me, you will always know where to start, “ he said.He drove me back to my penthouse and I expected him to go back to Milan but he followed me back.“ Don’t you have a business to take care of, old man? “ I asked.He glared at me because he didn’t like being called old and I only smiled mischievously in answer. I loved teasing him a lot.“ I am not old and I am not leaving you here without backup or a plan, okay? “ He asked. I nodded my head and placed my hand in his.When the elevator doors opened ad I punched in the code, I saw men in my living room. There were guards everywhere and Esposito was sitting comfortably on my couch looking like the place belonged to him.Not to mention he had a whiskey in his hand. These men and my
“ Why are you suddenly so quiet? “ Romano asked.He took a gulp of his whiskey and went to pour himself another one. He looked back at me and then smiled. It was a sarcastic smile because what he was telling me was too serious to smile about.I didn’t have the answer to his questions. Before I could react, he threw the wine glass to my head and I ducked. It was seconds away from hitting me square in the face. It shattered on the floor, causing a mess.I brought my eyes to him with shock written all over my face. How could he do that? It would have sent me back to the hospital.“ I expect an answer, Brianna, “ he said before grabbing another glass and pouring himself a drink.I stayed quiet because all that was happening was shocking enough to leave me speechless.“ Are you going to finish that?” He asked while pointing to my whiskey glass because I had taken a very tiny sip.“ I’m pregnant, Romano, “I explained even though I didn’t want to put it out there. That was not the way I had