Marco's POV ‘Give Elara's head in exchange for revenge… It won't be betrayal because you don't love her…’Ripped apart, I slowly drifted out of reality. ‘... You don't love her… Marco?!’ I don't love her. I silently repeated, hoping it would change the way it came off on me. My skin literally crawled, and my heart raced for a minute… it was strange, too strange, that I reacted this way. Just maybe it was the sad look on her face when she eventually realized that she was bait… But of course, I don't love her. “Master?” Her soft whispering drew me to her small pretty face, innocent blue eyes, lips swollen from my rough kisses, one she indulged. “Do you want something?” My mouth said the first thing it registered. I was still stuck in limbo. So I just stared and mopped. “What more could I ask for?” Her smooth hands trailed my body. One minute, she clutched her hands in a modest prayer, the next minute, she was offering herself as a prey. Perhaps the prayer was for a peace offe
Marco's POV Right before me, they wheeled Madre's corpse out of the ward, her body covered in a neat white cloth. What was left of me? Revenge? Or perhaps her promises?For the first time in my life, I was dumb. Plain blank dumb. Not even Padre’s death made this much impact. “Take me home.” I mumbled incoherently to Kaid. Slowly walking like a wounded lion, I let him lead the way. Home?! The word felt strange. What was home without family? The soldati wouldn't make up for it, not even Sofia or Lorenzo. Leveling in the back of the car, I gently hummed to my mother's favorite song. The last time she put me to sleep, the very last night Padre let me be a child, mama sang me a lullaby. I pulled out my phone, tempted to switch it off, but stopped. A wounded lion never went to bed without licking its wound. I needed my retribution, and seeing me sulk would be their victory. “Speak.” Cold, I demanded once I picked up Lorenzo’s call. “What the fuck am I hearing?!” I removed the p
Marco's POV “One silly move and the blade will smoothly slit your throat.” I dragged on my cigar and puffed, releasing thick smoke into the air. First, he robbed me off happiness, then, a long moment with Elara, what I had longed for all day long, and now… He wasn't talking. SMACK!!!I decked his face with my balled fist, letting the heavy rings on my knuckles break his jaws. The impact pushed him forward, causing the blade to sink into his flesh, with blood pouring out like a river. “Fucking speak!” I ordered, awakening my Rottweilers as they barked simultaneously, the room in the underground shaking with their heavy paws. Lorenzo stood at the end of the attic. He had a black fluffy coat draped over his shoulder. With his cigar in hand, he smoked without a care. One Don to a fucking prisoner, so he didn't interfere. As if to crawl under my skin, he spat out thick blood in front of me, and ducked his head, letting his blood flow and his head wave carelessly. The place I had
Marco's POV Elara… My mind raced through a million things at a time. Her father was the last person with Don Russo before he left the states. Plus, his arrival was quiet which was unusual. I zoomed in on her photo, tearing down her pretty perfect features and analyzing her flaws. ‘Is she a part of the conspiracy?’ I paused and looked at her pretty round eyes which oozed innocence. ‘She was the first target, remember?’ Answering my mind, I resumed the rollercoaster. ‘What if that was a cheap stunt? He may be bound to miss her. That wasa freaking stunt to take her off limelight!’My mind was at war. A part of me wished to exempt her and her little monster from the bloodshed, but with every fucking minute, it seemed to be impossible. For scrutiny, I had cracked into the city's footage, and was taking the time to watch every of Russo's movement while Lorenzo did the same. Turned out he was right. “Don,” Kaid called by the door. I stopped boring into Elara’s photo and locked
Marco's POV Alone. Armed to kill. Broken. My heart was shattered in a million places. Even though I was the Don of the country, surrounded by millions of soldiers, it felt like I was alone. There was a mole amongst us, smart, fast. So far, the person had succeeded in destroying trails of evidence we managed to gather, only to meet a dead end. Now, watching the arm of the faceless soldier, with a scar sacred to them, it was my secret and I was playing solo this time. I pulled out my phone and ran through a few files. The scar was familiar… too familiar to be skipped. Scrolling through numerous photos with no trace, I continued the video, zooming in on the face of the guy…He was masked. Another freaking dead end. “Don?” The door opened narrowly and Kaid poked his head in. “Do you have a minute?” I shushed him off, engrossed in my hunting game. The door shut, leaving me in my racing mind. Then, it hit, as hard as a thunder. I was in my car, monitoring the transaction betw
Marco's POV I was losing it; blood, sanity, life. Driving to my penthouse was a miracle. My pants were soaked with my blood, down to the leather seat of my car. Once I pulled over on a random spot, I crawled out of the wheel, feeling my heart beat faintly each passing minute. I barely had an hour left. Dragging out the fucker, Lucas tumbled down with a heavy thud. He was already struggling in the bag. Thankfully, I had him cuffed and chained, else, I might be his victim in my own territory. Groaning and biting down pain, I opened the zip lock to allow ventilation, before stumbling into the main house. Schwartz. I desperately needed to call him, but I needed this location to be discreet. Finally getting to the bathroom of the ground floor, I loosened my soaked from my shot abdomen, and wrapped a bandage tightly around it, to help with the stoppage of blood flow. Holding back a cry, I secured another bandage over it, almost splitting my abdomen in halves. Next was my shoulder
Elara's POV “Just a little bit more, Elara.” Marco's deep tone groaned in my ear, his face buried in my collarbone. He sniffed the area, nuzzling up the length of my bare neck. He kissed my collarbone and bit it, grazing the area with his canine. “Hmm,” I moaned, still weak from the first round. He licked off beads of water from my skin like he was tending to my bruised body, his hand gripped tight to my stomach, holding me back from falling. Naked and in total surrender, I knew it was just the beginning. For eternity, I caged his beast, and letting it out, I'd bear all that came with it. Gently, he twirled me to face him, and anchored my shaky frame to his body. His soothing glare eased my tensed muscles. Like a baby, he carried me to the room and dropped me on the bed. Like a god, he hovered above me, his flaccid cock dangling in my view. Oh, fuck… My bruised pussy craved him even though what it needed was a proper massage with me soaking it up in a warm tub. Slowly, sed
Marco's POV Tick. Tock.In my world, comfort was only for a moment, which was why I left Elara’s side to be here, in this dark underground. It's been a week since Lucas's arrival in my private penthouse. Barely been fed, his awful odor slapped hard. His fat sweaty pores were sticky like glue. I hated it. Hated that I had to leave Elara for this. “I'd make it real quick,” I pulled a neat chair by the end and drew it in front of him, not so close for my sanity. “I've got better business to tend to.”He rolled his thick head with lean jaws, trying to be stable. Since the incident, I had only fed him thrice, once in two days. Now, he was weak as fuck. “Lucas, one more time, who the fuck sent you?”“Fuck you!” He cussed, his voice dry and weak. I clenched my fist, ready to smack the living daylight off his lips, but I paused, taking out time to look at my neat gloves. For now I didn't need no saliva and blood on it, certainly not his. Going to the next resolve, I pulled my phone ou
Elara’s POV The long trip and stress evaporated in Marco’s arms. Right here, just where I belonged, we rode in a smooth rhythm, our bodies grazing, drowning us in our warmth.Our sweat mixed just as our moans blended in a gentle symphony. He shot in harder, trapping my breath at the back of my throat. We hit climax, panting like teenagers and moaning helplessly.“Whoa,” he collapsed on top of me and buried his face in the hollow of my neck. I lazily rubbed ruffled his hair and pulled him closer to my bare body. “Thanks for coming, Tesoro.” He lazily rolled into his back. We remained silent for a moment, trying to catch our breaths. Sheets clutched across our chests, we stared at the ceiling. “Anything for you, Marco.” I turned to face him, hand tucked under my head. “So, is there something else you want to try out?”His brows furrowed. “Actually, I think I have just one tiny thing…” he reached to grab me and I pushed to the edge of the bed.“Marco!” I giggled. “Stop… please.” I s
Elara’s POV “Hey,” Marco’s steel voice stopped me from leaving immediately. He was standing on the terrace, back pressed to the railing as he smoked and sipped from his glass of whiskey.“Take my card, get whatever you want.” He pulled out his black platinum card and stretched it over to me.Quite confused, I tilted my head to the side to get a better view of him. My eyes rolled, demanding he explain further. I was already dressed and ready to meet Evelyn. “I’m not going shopping,” I mumble on my spot. “I just need to speak with her.”“Without appeasing her? That’s lame.” He shrugged. “I know girl’s meetings are sometimes lavish.” He still kept the card in between us. “Do something for fun.” I chuckled and watched him drag on his cigar, then puffed. The heels of my boots clicked as I approached him. “I’ve got my own money, Mr. Marco Conti.” “Well, I want you to spend my money, Miss Elara Saint Clair.”I pushed my bag to the back and wrapped my arms around him. He dropped the gla
Elara’s POV Evelyn texted back!I stared at the phone long enough that the screen would split from any slight pressure. Considering the way we ended and how long it took her to respond, I guessed she must have either blocked me or changed her line. Oh, my god. My emotions were all over the place. I clutched hard on my phone and started texting back. Marco noticed the sudden change in my attitude. All of my attention was diverted to my phone and he hated to share his moment, but right now, I care less about his fits. ‘That’s a mean thing to say, Evie!’ I pouted as if she could see me, then resumed typing. ‘Heavens! I’ve missed you so much!’“Tesoro, is something up?”I ignored him and clicked the send button, then palmed the phone to my chest and waited for her response. Hopefully, she would be quick.“Elara?” His tone deepened. Now, he was solely focused on me.I expelled air and grinned. “It’s Evelyn, she finally texted back.”He hummed, uninterested as I expected of him. “Took
Elara’s POV ‘I almost died, Evie… Can you not be so blinded with rage?’My fingers danced around my keyboard as I contemplated wiping the text and letting things be. A part of me wouldn’t allow it, especially since I wronged her so badly. First, I owed her an explanation, and second, I needed to be close enough to know how far Matthew’s investigation was coming up. I mean, I hated that Marco was a lover of blood, but Matthew wasn’t a saint either, and I would hate to see Marco go to jail for doing the world a favor.“Is there a problem?” Marco’s voice was soft in my ears. I spent my day trying to please him, cooking and sizzling myself as an extra dish. Now, we were cuddled in bed. His arm was over my shoulder as he pulled me to himself and kissed my head.“Nothing much.” I tapped send and locked my phone. The thoughts of Evelyn flew out the window and got blown away with the night’s air when I stared into his cool eyes. There was love and comfort, and something I couldn’t really
Marco’s POV “Francesca, sit.”My command was stern, just as my tone was cold and gripping. She looked scared to her bones. Her eyes widened, body went still for a brief moment. Her eyes darted from me to the creamy brown mess on the floor. Without further hesitation, she sat on the edge of the bed, summoning as much composure as she could. “The coffee,” I looked at the broken chunks of the thick mug. “Who was it for?”“Ma'am Elara.” She said with a gentle bow. “She demanded I make her something soothing, but I don't know why.”“Hmm,” I scoffed. “Who handled the drugs from the doctor?” “Me, Don.” She taps her bosom. “He gave me the prescription as she should…”“Hey,” I snapped her out of her wildness. “You only speak when spoken to and only reply to what is asked.”She nodded. Her face looked terrified, it wasn't odd, considering that this side of me was new to her.“Since when do you have an Espresso in your room?” My feral gaze rested on her, monitoring her like a beast. “And wh
Marco’s POV As cozy as a family, we lounged in the garden. Elara was beside me on the fancy bench lined by lilies and blooming flowers. Her head lay on my shoulder and her arms curled around my waist. I hugged her arm and pulled her in, my chin rested on her hair. I watched the little girl play freely in the garden. She chased Birdie and collapsed when Birdie was about to win. When the poor cat came to her rescue, she would hold the cat down, and run off. Elara's blood.Would our kids be this loveable and bubbly? I was a cold fucker. It would be awful if I had one resemble me, except the kid takes on Madre's genes. She was way too loveable. Violet ran in my direction and suddenly crouched on her knees. She giggled and crawled after the cat.“Baby,” Elara groaned. “You're gonna get yourself dirty.” Her motherly instinct swiftly kicked in. “Mama is tired, you'll have to wash them.”She reached for the little girl and I held her back. “Let her.” My eyes remained on the sweet sou
Elara's POV “I love you, Elara.”My heartbeat raced hard against my chest. For ages, I've waited till this day. I had planned my exact reply and how I would react, but now… I was dumbstruck.“So badly that I'd give up my life for you.” Marco continued his overdue confession, his tone was deeply laced with sincere emotions, anyone could feel it. “Elara, If you ever desire, I would give up my empire, and build a cozy family with you in the countryside.” His voice trailed off. He slightly ducked his head, but not without me seeing the glimpse of teardrop. My Marco Conti… The only man who made being a slave a luxury. “But if also wish to leave…”I didn't wait for him to finish, didn't let him try to push me away any further… and certainly didn't let my rational thoughts ruin this moment. Like a bee to hive, I latched onto him, melting into his arms like Gelato. Our worlds merged into one, with his taking a good dose of my sanity. My hands palmed his hard face and I kissed him. Hard
Elara's POV ‘Marco is a fucking bastard! A freaking piece of shit who will never deserve me!...Nor his child!’My heart was ripped into tiny shreds when I woke up to emptiness. The sedation had worn off, leaving me with subtle traces of pain from the odd burning sensation of the poison. At first, I was okay with the absence… a matter of fact, I didn't want him to know… I wanted to recover and go home. Then, Dr. Schwartz came in and informed me of my dead baby and Marco's departure. I wasn't sure how to feel… I wasn't sure if to explode…I still am not. It was how easily he chose his selfish desires over my well-being. And now, I would never live with an iota of regret for keeping his child away from him. “You're now free to go, Miss Elara.” Dr. Schwartz’s croaked voice blared. I looked down at my phone, and Marco still wasn't responding. I've been on it since last night. How cruel could the sweetest man get?Tears rolled down my cheeks and I turned away to wipe them, hiding m
Marco’s POV‘Food poisoning?!’This was the first… and she wasn't close to Evelyn for me to recklessly throw the blame. Elara wasn't psychopathic either to try to poison herself…Oh, no!My heart was racing hard against my chest. I shut my eyes and tried to even my breath, just so the nasty thought would go away. I was losing my damn mind.Like a cripple, I bent and reached for the couch at the other end, then slumped in it. Slowly, I tried to take control of my emotions. Schwartz saw it. He knew it was his cue to leave.“I’m a call away.” He set the test result on the bedside table and hurried out.I stretched my long legs and my jaws clenched. My dark eyes pinned on Elara’s weak frame.‘Did she try to abort my baby?’I couldn't help but nurse the crazy thought. ‘Marco. FERMATI! STOP!’My mind screamed at me. But I couldn't push the thoughts away. ‘The baby was three weeks old, she might have gotten a clue, right?’‘Else, why did she choose for the time I was away to get terrib