TonyI check my watch for the fifth time in less than ten minutes, too anxious to pretend otherwise. Where the fuck are they? I told Armando they should be here before eight in the morning. The courthouse will open to the public after that and my plan will be damned. I'm in the backseat of one of my blacked out SUVs, this time not my own, in front of the hotel where Chloe is getting ready. I look out the window, noticing a few guests stepping out of the hotel entrance, but there's still no sign of Chloe or Armando."Shit, what is taking them so long?" I hiss to myself."Should I go and check, Boss?" Franco offers in response from the driver's seat. He's been my driver for the past four years, and he's as reliable, discreet, and tight-lipped as I need him to be. He is so quiet that I had almost forgotten he was here. That's when I see Armando stepping out, leading Chloe toward us. I'm fucking mesmerized by the sight, so focused on her that I forget I know how to speak for a moment. S
ChloeI remain silent the entire time as we leave the courthouse. I have no idea where Tony is taking me now, but just as before, I simply know he won't tell me a thing if I ask, so I keep my curiosity to myself. Besides, I don't trust myself to speak now. I have so many conflicted feelings going on inside my head and heart right now, that I just can't express how I feel.I'm aware of Tony's strong presence next to me the entire time, and I can't help but feel tense and uneasy. This shouldn't be like this. This is not what I wanted…not like this anyway. But like everything else in my life, I didn't have much of a choice either.I must confess I wasn't expecting him to be as kind as to give me such a beautiful ring. Sure, it's all for appearances, but the piece he picked is so…me. Simple but classy, sparkly but discreet. He knows my style and what I like. And it fits my finger perfectly. What he said to me in the courthouse about our night together two years ago got me blushing so h
ChloeTony's mansion is beautiful. I'm in awe as I stare out the window of the car. We cross the tall iron gates out front and clean brick walls with big windows and sharp-looking hedges welcome us. The house is massive, towering pillars leading the way to the front door. It feels almost intimidating.Franco parks the car and opens the passenger door for me, offering his hand to help me out."Are you okay to go in by yourself, Mrs. Bellini?" he asks. I'm caught off guard by him calling me by Tony's last name, and I blink a couple of times, simply staring at him. "Mrs.?" he calls again, eyeing me expectantly."Yes, sure. Don't worry, Franco. Thank you," I finally reply.He types a password into a digital keypad, making sure I see the code as well. Then he swings the door open and steps aside, making way for me to pass. I walk into the grand foyer and my jaw drops to the floor. I've been to mansions before, but this one is simply magnificent. "Will be right out here if you need anythin
TonyWhen I finally park my car in my driveway, I turn it off and lean back, exhaling sharply and closing my eyes for a minute. This has been a fucking busy and long day. After I parted ways from Chloe this morning, I had my men spread the word to every syndicate in New York about the head of the Saints being a married man, hoping the news will trickle down the eastern seaboard, all the way to Miami. I want Mateo to fucking know Chloe is mine now.I must confess it kind of makes my blood pump faster with adrenaline at the thought of seeing the cartel's reaction to this. It also makes my skin crawl when I think about how Miami was never an easy place to deal with, and I know what Mateo is capable of. But there isn't much he can do from so far away, and I'm not playing lightly either. Not when he's messing with Chloe.If anything, I want to be the one to make him pay for all the atrocities he's made her suffer. The bruises I saw on her arms still haunt me in my sleep. The fear in her e
ChloeThe following week is busier than I expected, however I managed to set up a new routine for both me and Ellie. As a toddler, it'd be bad for her not to have some sort of routine, and I am glad I got to give her a sense of normalcy after a few bustling days in the city. I am happy to have my mother's support during all of this, otherwise I wouldn't know what to do by myself. I am definitely not ready to put Ellie in a school or a daycare center yet, especially knowing Mateo is still lurking around.The mafia wife duties aren't easy either, and they sure consume a lot of my time. Every day I leave dinner ready for when Tony gets home from work, knowing he wouldn't prepare himself anything after midnight. It’s also a guilty pleasure of mine. The way he seemed to have loved my food the first day I prepared it made my heart warm and beat frantically in my chest. I sort of want to do that for him. After what he did to protect me and Ellie, it is the least I can do. Having to keep up
TonyAs much as I hate to admit, the married man's life isn't as hard as I imagined it would be. Not for the reasons I expected anyway. Sure, it fucking kills me to have Chloe living under the same roof as me and not being able to touch her, or get close to her whatsoever, but her presence–and Ellie's for that matter–is like a balm to the soul. One I didn't realize I needed.Not to mention the delicious food Chloe leaves prepared for me every night. She doesn't have to, and I made sure to tell her that, but she makes it anyway. I can't say I don't like it though. She might not be doing it because she wants to make me feel good or anything, but my ego is not that big to refuse a nice meal after a hard day of work.Today is one of those days, and my mouth is watering just by thinking of what I might find when I get home.I'm currently in my office at the deli, surrounded by Armando and some of my men who seem to have nothing better to do than smoke cigars and play poker on my coffee tab
ChloeAfter Rocco leaves me at home, I get inside and prepare a nice, hot bath since Ellie is still with my mom and I have the entire place just for myself. I can't remember the last time I’ve been by myself, so I plan on making the best of it.I rush to my bathroom and gather all the expensive products my mother made me buy while we were shopping, saying I should take care of myself more. I use all the salts and oils I can find, and get inside the tub. I don't know how long it takes, but at some point, I end up falling asleep and only wake up when my phone rings with a message from my mom asking if Ellie can sleep over with her tonight.At first, I'm hesitant. I'm not used to sleeping away from Ellie, but I trust my mom and I know she has bodyguards stationed around her house too, so it shouldn't be a problem. It'd be nice to have some time off to myself as well, so I answer her with a 'yes'. I need to learn to chill out a bit, otherwise I'll become paranoid. More than I already am
ChloeI never expected that being in a ferry heading to the city with Tony for a date would be the way I'd end this day. My life was never predictable before, but being asked on a date by him was never a thought that crossed my mind. Sure, he didn't have to say it outright that it was all just for show, and I didn't feel the need to clarify with him either, but I can't help but wonder if there's more to it than he's letting on.I'm probably kidding myself, I know. But as we stand side by side, leaning on the railing and overlooking the moonlight reflecting on the water, my mind goes back to the day we met two years ago in this same place, and my heart betrays me. Again.I still remember exactly how I felt when I saw him. When he shattered my phone and ruined my purse. And when I boldly sort of invited him on a date. I was so intoxicated by his presence back then that I still don't know what came over me.We never talked about that day, and I wonder if he still thinks about it as frequ
*Tatiana*I lie against Angelo’s chest, staring blankly at the wall, his thumb circling gentle caresses on my back. The sun is setting outside, and I have lost track of how long we’ve been here. For all I care, we could just stay here forever. I wouldn’t mind.I wonder where the other guys are or if they know what we’re doing in here, but I don’t bother to ask ngelo about it. Not that I’m embarrassed about what we did, but we’re supposed to be enemies, kidnapper and kidnapped. This isn’t how things were supposed to evolve between us.I bet they hate me for not giving them what they want, for wasting their time, and for fucking Angelo–something they’re all probably aware of by now.But what can I do? It’s not like I forced him to sleep with me. I didn’t even try that hard to seduce him.“What are you thinking about?” he whispers against my head, placing a soft kiss on my temple.“Not much,” I reply with a shrug.“I doubt that,” he says, continuing his featherlight strokes on my skin.H
*Tatiana*“Then what is the problem?” I stare into Angelo’s eyes, waiting for him to explain why he’s suddenly being so cold to me.His body language is fuckng confusing as hell. I see desire in his eyes, but he’s keeping his distance from me. I wish he would stop playing games and just be upfront with me. I don’t have time for bullshit right now.“Listen, you already know the situation we’re in. I don’t want to lie to you or pretend everything is okay because it is not,” he begins. The weight of this presses down on him enough that his shoulders slump a little.“I know,” I state firmly. “I’m not a child. I understand the situation we’re in right now. Trust me, you don’t have to worry about that.” If he only knew the things I’ve seen…. I take another bite of my steak, but I’m no longer hungry. I force myself to eat anyway since I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to.. If this conversation goes south, this might be my last meal of the day, so I’d better force it down.Angelo sig
*Tatiana*At first, I’m shocked by what’s going on, barely reacting to Angelo’s lips on mine. But it lasts less than a couple of seconds before I groan against him and grant his tongue the access he so desperately wants.Angelo pulls my body against his, his hands wrapped around my waist, keeping me trapped against him. His kiss is so delicious, so enticing, so… sexy. He knows exactly what he’s doing, his tongue dancing inside my mouth as if it wants to commit this moment to memory.When he sucks my bottom lip, I forget all the reasons why this is completely wrong. I shouldn’t let this happen, but right now, I can’t find any answer within me as to why not.A moan escapes my throat when I feel his hands moving from my hip, down to my ass. He grabs and squeezes before pulling me tightly against him.He’s already hard for me, and that’s the only sign I need to know he wants the same thing I do. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down and deepening the kiss even more. Angelo doesn
*Tatiana*I wake up in a strange room, my entire body sore, my head pounding, my leg muscles weak from all the running yesterday, and to make it all worse, nightmares kept me up all night, so I’m also groggy–and irritable.Visions of my parents being murdered flashed before my eyes all night long. The blood dripping down their faces, Oleg’s vicious grin, a silent scream stuck on my lips. I’d wake up in a cold sweat, only to fall back asleep and start the cycle all over again.Each time I screamed, I woke up my babysitter. It wasn’t fair to him, and at one point, I considered staging away. But I couldn’t do that. I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open.Still in bed, I look over to find that the armchair Angelo stayed in all night is empty with no sign of him ever being there, other than the fact that it is closer to the bed than it originally was. My screaming must’ve alarmed him enough so that he moved it closer.Was he concerned about my well-being or annoyed that he had to keep cr
*Angelo*Tatiana falls asleep as soon as she gets into bed, despite being suspicious of me watching her. I didn’t really think she’d try to escape through the window, not only because it’d be a hell of a fall if she tried, but also because I have men outside, guarding every inch of the safe house.But for some reason, I don’t want to leave her alone. Despite her tough exterior, there is a sadness in her eyes that just makes me want to be here for her, in case she needs something.She probably doesn’t trust me yet. I’m not entirely convinced I can trust her either, but still… it’s nice to think we might be able to get along and help one another out. Her hatred for Oleg seems genuine. I can see the same pain I feel reflected in her eyes whenever she mentions him. What are the chances she’s just an extremely good actress? Not likely.I watch the blankets move up and down slightly, her breathing even. I answer some texts and emails, trying to keep myself busy and kill two birds with one
*Tatiana*My eyes don’t move as I watch my kidnapper’s face contort in confusion at what I just said. It was a gamble, but it was my last shot since I came to terms with not being able to escape from this place unharmed–if not fucking dead as a doornail.I doubted it would work at first, but I seem to have hit a sensitive topic when I offered to help him with information about Oleg. It’s not like I have much on him anyway, since I was barely ever in the same room as him while I was his prisoner, but if it’s Oleg that he’s after, I’m more than happy to help him with his vendetta.My determination seems to do its job because my kidnapper climbs off me and extends his hand to me. I hesitate, staring at his large hand while wondering what the hell might have made him change his mind.Maybe he’s playing games with me, pretending to believe me so he can tie me to that chair again.“Come on, I won’t tie you up again.” Is he a fucking mindreader? His brows shoot up as he waits for me to grab
*Angelo*This goddamn woman is not only beautiful but also clever as fuck. She definitely knows how to use her appearance and charm to her advantage, blinking those beautiful eyes at me. Even in a T-shirt and jeans, she looks sexy as hell. She doesn’t need to wear anything seductive or whisper dirty words in my ear. Just being under her gaze is enough for my dick to start twitching inside my pants. Fuck!I don’t know why the hell I fell for that, believing she actually needed to go to the bathroom. Maybe, deep down, there’s still some good left in my corroded heart. Or maybe I just didn’t want to believe that she’d be able to trick me. But she almost broke free from me, which would’ve been fucking embarrassing when the guys outside had to bring her back to me, seeing me rolling around on the floor with my smashed up cock in one hand. Needless to say, the pain she caused me made my blood boil. But even so, I can’t force myself to strike her. Not yet. Instead, I pinned her to the floo
*Tatiana*Okay, fuck, that does sound like a genuine threat. He’s definitely not new to any of this, and he’s used to stubborn people like me. He’s probably faced worse in his years in the mafia, assuming he’s from another syndicate. Judging by the way his eyes are hungry for information, I doubt he’s just a normal person Oleg owes money to or had a bad business deal with.Lev taught me how to hold on during an interrogation as long as I could in several of our lessons in the past, but he never really tortured me while doing so. How am I supposed to act when the real deal is actually happening? I thought I was prepared for this, but maybe I’m not?Am I ready for this man to cut my skin, hold my head under water, pull my nails out of my fingers, and all the dreadful things these people are known for doing? How long until I break?Panic creeps through me again, and I realize I need a plan B before I lose the grip on my self-control and have to start pleading for my life. I don’t wanna
*Tatiana*I feel like I must’ve gotten run over by a truck. My head is pounding so hard, I feel like vomiting, but even so, I force my eyes to open. There’s no light here except for a dim stream coming through a tiny window near the top of the wall in front of me, so it’s difficult for my eyes to adapt.There are strands of hair in front of my eyes and face, and when I lift my hand to push them aside, I realize my wrists are tied behind my back in what feels like a very thick, tight rope. My legs are also strapped to the chair, both my ankles tied. I can barely move.Panic starts creeping through me as I realize what’s going on. Images of the recent events flash through my mind, making me remember how I ended up here, wherever I am.I look from one side to the other, taking in my surroundings. Even though it’s dark and humid here, I spot some tools and boxes that make me think this has to be a basement. The place is quiet, and there seems to be no one around, although I doubt they’d l