AUTHOR ~•~ "Why, hello! Elina." Sarah Holloway spoke up, her broadest smile plastered on her model-like face. As she spoke, she moved closer to the woman, while ignoring her husband's death stare. Sarah noticed how Elina stared at her as though she were a ghost, someone who had just risen from the dead. When she stood in front of the tall and curvy woman, she stretched her hand to her, requesting a friendly handshake. But, there was nothing friendly about Sarah's intentions for the woman. She knew that Elina wanted her husband, Elina had always wanted her husband. Three years had come and gone, so if Ivan was still hers - which he had to be, considering the fact that they were both still married - he would be hers forever. Until of course, her mission was fulfilled. Elina stared down at the hand, before taking it in hers. Sarah gripped hold of the woman's hand, sending her a deadly smile that screamed "run for your life." But, Elina would not deter. She had only backed down for
AUTHOR ~•~ She stormed into the study with her phone in her hands. She pressed the speaker on her right ear while she frowned, her right foot tapping the marble floor continuously. It was obvious she was angry, very angry. Her husband never seemed to miss out on a chance to humiliate her and Sarah Holloway was not sure how long she could tolerate him. "Tranquilla, non ti preoccupare. It's okay, do not worry about it." The voice at the other end of the phone tried to assure her, but Sarah was far from assured. "No way, Papa. No way! You needed to see what he did to me at the office today. He embarrassed me, in front of his whore papa! His fucking whore!" Sarah scoffed and placed her sweaty palm on her head. "Well, you are right about that. She did sleep with him while you were gone. But, it was only once." Sarah scoffed and settled into her husband's luxurious furniture. She crossed her legs as she leaned into the sofa. "Thank you, dad. I feel a lot better." The reply was sarca
CAMILLA~•~ First of all, what the hell was happening? One minute, I was in my room still thinking and brainstorming ways to switch mister Ivan's drugs, the next minute, I was being threatened by his wife. Ever since I found out he was being poisoned with antidepressants, it had been hard to think of anything else. I had thought about speaking to his wife, but I could not bring myself to trust her, and I did not understand why. To clear my head and protect my sanity from the noise the children blissfully created in the hallway, I packed my books and stepped out of the room, locking my door behind me. I walked down the stairs and walked to the kitchen, but when I heard the voice of the baby boy upstairs crying, I thought it was best to inform Antonio. Their mother and I were not exactly the best of friends, especially as I was rapidly growing feelings for her husband. And let's not forget how I had begged him to fuck me. He was right about one thing. At that point, I was grieving,
CAMILLA ~•~ I couldn't sleep that night or the nights after that. His invitation continued to replay in my head. The way he held onto my legs, the way he sought comfort and support in the most subtle of ways. It had me wondering why Sarah had left in the first place. Yes, I must admit the man had been a complete douchebag when we first met. He was obnoxious, irritating, and believed that everyone had to do everything his way because he was synonymous with God, law, and order. He did annoy the living daylight out of me and I never believed that living under his roof, with him, could turn out to be one of the best things that had ever happened to me. Knowing that someone needed me, knowing that I was important to someone and they needed me, was the best feeling I could bring myself to feel. Mister Ivan said the party was on a Sunday night, so we had to fly into Napa on a Saturday evening. It would only be a one-hour flight, at most an hour and thirty minutes. So, I packed up a few c
IVAN~•~ The entire journey with Camilla by my side was torture. Not because she was a bad traveling partner, but because for more than half of the journey, I wanted to reach out and touch her in ways only I could imagine.And that was the reason why I opted to stay in my room when she wanted to stay in the lounge. There was no way I could be in the same space with her for more than thirty minutes without wanting to tear her dress to shreds and take her there and then, right in the lounge. We landed in Napa after two hours, which was fair, seeing as it was a night journey and the pilot had to be very careful. From the airport, we were picked up by a limousine and driven to the hotel where we would be staying. The five-star hotel was fully paid for by Trofin, so we did not need to bother. I only checked our names on the guest list, before I was given the key to our room. Yes, that was the problem. Vladimir Trofin, God bless his old age, did not think that I would want to sleep in
AUTHOR ~•~ Ivan Holloway turned sharply towards her. His eyes widened as he looked down at her small frame. "Fuck it." He gnarled. With one swift move, he pulled her to himself and crashed his lips on hers. Fire and ice, that was what he felt when his lips tangled with hers for what appeared to be the third time.He kissed and sucked on her lower lip, but it occasionally. Every time Camilla moaned against his lips, Ivan felt a new wave of madness sprout up from his belly. He had kissed women, a whole lot of them. But none had ever consumed him as she did, no woman's lips had ever left him aching for more, praying for more. Their hands were on each other. Camilla's lean fingers dug into his blonde hair, making a mess of the gelled strands. He lowered himself, his kisses traveled from her lips, down to her left ear. He lingered there, kissed, licked, and sucked the lobe of her ear. Camilla felt her skin burn with delight underneath his touch. She moaned, with every stroke his fi
CAMILLA ~•~ First of all, I'd like to get something straight. Remember when they told you, or us, that the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest? Yes, they did not lie, not at all. For some reason, the things you could not have appealed to the eyes and mind much more than the things that were yours. That was how it felt like with mister Ivan. Knowing that he wasn't mine by law, that his last name belonged to another woman, yet he was here with me, filled me with so much pleasure. I watched with smiling eyes as his eyelids parted and he opened his eyes to stare at me. I would have given him a flashy smile. Hell! I had already prepared my small wave. But, immediately his eyes caught sight of me, a frown formed on his face. I found myself withdrawing my face from his. He looked over at me and sat up, leaning against the exquisite headboard of the bed. I sat up straight and turned to him. This was the moment of awkward silence. It was the moment he woke up to realize he had made a te
IVAN~•~ Even while far away from her, it was impossible to keep my eyes off her because I did not want to. It was torture being by her side every moment, not knowing if or when she would be snatched by someone. I could only hope that she listened to me and stayed in a place. I made sure I did not go too far from her - or, I did my best to make sure - but I could not keep up for long. Vladimir insisted we walk around the beach and I met all his grandchildren before he let me go. "Where is your lady?" He asked while he put his hand over my shoulder. I merely managed a chuckle and shook my head in silence. I was not about to expose Camilla to more danger than she already was. "You're not with a beautiful woman?! My boy! What has gotten over you these days? You should relax more, Holloway Empire is as big as it gets. You'll do great, your father had faith in you." I knew he did and it was the reason I never wanted to let him down. As we walked down the beach, something in me asked
AUTHOR ~•~ Voices. He could hear them all around him, echoing from a distance. It surprised him how he could hear people speak despite the ringing in his ears. He did not know where he was, but the smell of bleach that stole its way into his nostrils told him he was in a hospital room. No other place in the world could reek of such a harsh disinfectant. "Is he going to be okay?" The female voice asked. Something in Ivan sparked up. He stretched his hand slowly, as though reaching out to grab the voice. "He suffered a major heart attack, which is very strange for someone as young as he is. But with his medical history and the situation he was in, there is nothing we can completely rule out now, is there?" The female doctor spoke. Camilla heaved a heavy sigh, adjusted her glasses on her face and slipped her hands into the pockets of her jean trousers."What about the baby? The two-year-old boy, would he be alright?" "Both of the kids are still…shaken. It's not everyday a child
AUTHOR~•~ Freddie pointed the gun at the back of the man's head. He turned to Camilla again, his eyes asked her if she was sure he was the one. Camilla frowned and nodded affirmatively. Her heart was already beginning to pound so loud, it was a miracle the man in the warehouse had not heard it. Immediately - and without hesitation - Freddie pulled the trigger and fired the gun. ~•~ 15 MINUTES EARLIER ~•~ Camilla and Freddie had followed the sound of the shooting, past the bushes, down to an old warehouse. They found two cars parked in front of it and Camilla recognized one of the cars as the one Antonio had driven. Freddie continued to watch his best friend lead the way to the side of the building. As they hid at the back of an old Honda truck, they peeked around the warehouse, just to make sure that there were no guards or anything of that sort around. "I really do not know why we have to do this, Camilla. How do we know he is in there?" Freddie spoke and Camilla did not hav
IVAN~•~ Sarah fell to the ground beside her father. I watched as blood oozed out from the back of her hair and formed a small puddle around her. Ian smiled and kissed his teeth as he looked down at me. "Two down, one to go." His voice echoed in my ears as he stepped forward. He trampled upon the dead bodies to get to me. When he stood in front of me, he lowered himself to stare me straight in the eyes. I did not know what I felt at that moment, I did not even know if I felt anything at all.All I wanted to do at that moment was to reach out to my daughter and hold her. The revelation that she was not really mine, to know that nobody had ever been on my side, all of that made me want to die here. Life was no longer worth it. How was I supposed to walk around knowing that everyone I had trusted the most turned out to be traitors in the end? Would I ever come out of this trauma with a clear mind and heart? How was I supposed to ever trust anyone again? Out of everything, what hurt
CAMILLA~•~ "What the fuck?!" Freddie screamed. In one swift move, he pulled me closer to himself as if he was going to shield me from something. I couldn't lie, the sound of the gun shot in the air was so loud that it had sent shivers up my spine. We had just gotten out of the car. We had followed Antonio behind, all the way to this very creepy and lonely road. Freddie did not want to keep going, but I had to continuously beg him. Freddie released me from his grip and rushed back to the car. I turned to him with a frown on my face. "Where are you going?" My heart was starting to beat faster. This was no longer a psychological rescue mission, it was a physical one. Freddie opened the door of his driver's seat before he looked up at me. "I do not know if you haven't noticed, Camilla. But we might just be walking straight into a gunfight." He replied, before putting his head into his car. My frown deepened, I could feel the creases on my forehead. "So you're just gonna leave?"
IVAN ~•~ "Why, hello Ivan!" Sarah called out as she stood in front of me with a small smile on her face. My eyes drifted to the pistol in her right hand before it traveled to her face. To say I was confused and shaken would be a grave understatement.I needed to understand what was happening. I looked around the dimly lit room. There were two huge wooden doors at the front, the room was filled with iron barrels that reeked of petrol, sweat and dust. I found a lighter on top of one of the huge barrels and my eyes widened. Shock came before fear, fear was followed by confusion, and the confusion was accompanied by grave anger. I turned sharply to her, my eyes held a lot of questions, I knew I did not have to voice them out. Sarah shook her head and pulled her gun back into the right pocket of her black leather jacket. My wife had her blonde hair in a messy ponytail, her eyes held an expression I did not quite understand. "Sarah," I managed to speak. She turned her back towards me a
IVAN ~•~ My eyelids parted slowly, but with much effort. Darkness enveloped me almost immediately, the stale smell of sweat greeted my nostrils and I sneezed on reflex. My eyes stung, I needed to scratch them. Groaning in frustration, I fought to bring my hands to my eyes. I could not, my hands were tied behind my back, and the more I struggled, the more the thin rope dug deeper into my flesh. "Shit!" I cried out. Nothing made any sense, what was I doing here? How did I get here? What was this place? I struggled to find something, anything to give me a clue. Nothing.I saw nothing besides absolute darkness. No windows, that was certain. But I could not tell whether or not there was a door. I looked around once again as if looking over the room time and time again would bring something I had not seen before to sight. "Hello! Who's there?!" I screamed, my echoes thundered all over the room. Two things were certain; the room was empty and it was large. The struggle to free m
AUTHOR ~•~Elina Washington looked at her phone again for the umpteenth time. She had been expecting a call from a certain stranger, but nothing was coming forth. It had been impossible to get any sleep last night, not without thinking of the hundred possibilities, hundred different things that could have happened; one of them being that he had been caught! Elina shook her head as she rose from the stool in front of her grand piano. She covered her chest with the silk robe of her night dress and paced about the piano room.She had told the man not to call on one condition; that he had failed. But she knew his type of man. Whether he was successful or not, he would have asked for something, even if it was half of the original price. Yet, here she was, confused and scared because she had not heard a word from him.Ding dong. The sound of her doorbell echoed around her house. She turned in the direction of the metal door of her piano room. She had not been expecting anyone. The man
IVAN~•~ I opened my eyes to the sound of sirens blaring all around me. The first thing my gaze met was the sight of the roof of my car. I could feel my legs dangling from the edge of my car seat. I tilted my neck to look to my left, blood was splattered all over the leather of my car seat. I struggled to sit up, but the back of my head stung like hell. I could barely remember anything. I held on to the driver's seat while I fought hard to sit up, it was only then I took note of the situation.There were police cars all around me. I saw Sarah weeping terribly, a female officer continued to tap her shoulder. Sarah was clad in a black blanket, her hair and makeup were both in a mess. She was saying something, everyone around me had their mouths moving for one reason or the other. His face flashed through my mind.Johnny! I looked around for any signs of him. The only thing I saw was a body on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance. Panic seized my chest immediately. What had ha
AUTHOR~•~She had watched from the terrace as the woman got into her husband's car and the driver drove her out of their driveway. She had seen the lady carry along with her a big suitcase. She had seen the look on the woman's face. The pain in her eyes made it evident that she wasn't returning. Sarah smiled to herself as she watched the car run off into a distance, away from her home, away from her family. She did not know what had happened while the woman and Ivan were away, but whatever it was, it had caused Ivan to return to his senses. Sarah turned around and found her father standing at the foot of the door. He had a tray of coffee and fresh toast in his hands. Sarah swallowed hard. She knew how her father could be when he caught her slacking. "What are you trying to do? Waste our time?" He growled. Sarah maintained her remorseful expression and bowed her head. "No, Papa. It's just…" "Parlami quando ho risolto i problemi, non sprecare il mio tempo mentre li risolvo. Don'