TonyChloe's scent on my sheets woke me up, but not finding her beside me left a sour taste in my mouth. For a moment, I wished she was there with me, so we could spend some time together, even if just talking. I wouldn't mind doing more if she wanted though. Judging from the way she groaned and squirmed under me last night, I could only assume she liked it.Now I can finally remember what she looked like when she was under me. I can finally remember her moans when I pleased her. I can still feel her soft skin on my fingers… God, she is so damn perfect it hurts.I wished I could stop time and just have her to myself for an entire day, not having to worry about anything other than making her happy and satisfied. That'd be a fucking dream.But when I stepped out of the shower and saw an incoming call from Dante, I stiffened on the spot. He doesn't normally call me, so I picked it up immediately. When I heard he was in town, I stormed out of the room, quickly kissing Ellie and Chloe good
Chloe"Eleni?" I blurt out in shock.My old friend smiles at me from across the door, her newborn cradled in her arms. He is so cute, his round cheeks reddened by the chilly breeze outside. "Oh, my God! Come inside!" I rush her, urging her to get out of the cold weather with her baby. "Are you crazy? What are you doing here? Didn't you just give birth?" My mouth is agape as I take them both in.Eleni chuckles, lulling the kid who looks almost asleep, his little eyes blinking heavily. "This is Ilias," she tells me amusingly. "And yes, I did. But that's one of the perks of having a private jet. I get to travel more comfortably. How have you been? I missed you a lot." She manages to give me a hug while still holding Ilias, and I welcome it, having missed her a lot as well."I missed you too. And I don't even know where to start," I admit, guiding her toward the living room. "I can't believe you're here. Come on, I’ll make some coffee. Do you want decaf?” I think back on Ellie’s newborn
TonyI get to Cal's casino bar in record time. I hate when he is enigmatic in text messages, but since our businesses have to be kept in the dark, I can't blame him for not telling me right away what the problem is. The urgency in his words made my skin crawl, but I have no idea what to expect when I walk into his bar.His guys gesture for me toward the basement, a place I have been only twice ever since I met him. Both times weren't for nice businesses. That's where he deals with dirty shit, in all senses of the word. My stomach is twisting as my footsteps echo through the empty, sultry hallways. I bump into a few other men who seem to be guarding the place, and that only makes me anticipate even more what I am about to find.When I reach the last door to my left, I encounter a scene that isn't at all unfamiliar to me. A young man who seems to be in his early thirties is tied to a metal chair, his arms and legs wrapped with tight ropes. The room is dark, but I can see his face is swo
ChloeAfter my mom left, I took a shower and decided to prepare dinner for when Tony arrived. Ellie only woke up to have dinner and then went back to sleep, and I was glad, because I'd have time to cook something nice without having to watch her.I’m not sure Tony will come back for dinner though. He left in the morning and I haven't heard from him since, but when I hear his voice frantically calling me from the front door, I don't know what to think. He sounds worried, disturbed even, and when he shows up at the door, I notice how pale he looks. "Tony? Is everything okay? What happened? You seem like you have just seen a ghost," I ask softly, not wanting to frighten him more. But he doesn't say anything. He doesn't answer me. He simply strides toward me, wraps one arm around my waist, and pulls me flush against him. Then he kisses me, so desperately that it catches me off guard, almost stealing my breath away.I don't know what got into him, and even though I'm dying to ask him, I
ChloeIt takes longer than I planned to have dinner served, but eventually I manage to get the food out of the pan and onto our plates. Tony and I eat together, talking about trivial things. I feel the elephant in the room, lurking in the shadows, but I don't bring the sensitive topics to the table.I feel like we're both in such a nice place now, that I fear whatever and whenever I mention Mateo, the little bubble of happiness we are building might pop and my life will return to its usual nightmare. I’m dreading the idea of it.I don't know how to bring up the topic of Ellie being his daughter, either. He’s probably still mad at me for keeping it a secret from him, and even though I know we will have to address it eventually, I want to postpone it for as long as I can.When we finish dinner, I tell Tony to go take a shower while I clean up the kitchen. He does as I ask, even though he tries to fight me on it for a while, saying he will stay and help me. Once I'm done with my chores,
TonyChloe's sweet scent hits my nostrils before I even open my eyes. Having her sleep in my bed again feels like a dream. I stretch my hand to her side, hoping to find her and pull her into my arms, but all I find is emptiness, the sheets already cold from her absence.I snap my eyes open and sit up straight, looking around the room, looking for her. But she's nowhere in sight. She's not in the bathroom, either.Fear threatens to consume me before I pull myself together. There’s no way anything happened to her inside the house. I have my men stationed outside and I'd have woken up if anyone burst in. But it doesn't sit well with me that I can't hear or see her anywhere, so I jump out of bed and head for Ellie's room, hoping to find them there.But the place is also empty.My heart is beating rapidly against my chest as I move through the house searching for them. I let out a sigh of relief when I find a note written on an orange post-it saying they went out to meet with Eleni and so
ChloeBrunch with Eleni and the other wives is funnier and more entertaining than I was expecting. When she texted me this morning to meet with her before she had to return to Greece, I figured she meant just the two of us–and maybe the kids–but it turned out she invited all the other wives, too.After the night I spent with Tony, I wanted to stay beside him when he woke up, but I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to see Eleni one last time. Who knew when we would see each other again? With a newborn, I doubt she will be coming back to the states anytime soon. It’s already surprising that she’s here just weeks after giving birth. I don't think she’ll try this again soon.That is why I got up, dressed Ellie and headed out of the house without talking to Tony. I made sure to leave him a note so he didn't freak out when he didn't see us, but other than that, I didn't say anything else. We still have things to solve and discuss, but life seems to be getting in the way a lot late
ChloeMy eyes are full of tears a few hours later, while I'm on a flight to Vermont on Tony's private jet with both my mother and Ellie beside me. The other seats are occupied with the soldiers Tony assigned to guard us while we're at the hideout. There are five men with us on this plane, but the others will be meeting us there eventually.I have no idea how large the tactical force that Tony has set up to be in charge of us in Vermont is, but I hope most of the Saints stay in New York–especially Staten Island–to protect him. I hate that he made me leave like this. I hate it even more that we didn't get the time to talk through things. I didn't want to leave him behind. I didn't want to run away. And even though I understand why he’s doing this, I just can't accept it.I knew Mateo was coming for me all along, but running away again wasn't an option. I have to protect Ellie though, and if Tony is sending us to a safehouse, he must not have everything under control like I thought he h
ChloeThe first few days after I learned that Mateo was no longer on this planet were a bit chaotic. Tony and his men had so much to do: cleaning up the mess, assigning the new positions each one of them would take when it came to protecting our family and the house, determining who would go back to dealing with the Saints’ businesses, and so on. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve managed to create a routine for myself and Ellie. It took me a while to process that I wouldn’t have to continue hiding or running away anymore, but eventually things just became… easier. It’s funny how easily and quickly humans get used to things. In the first few days, I was still scared to leave the house by myself, even with a couple of guards accompanying me, or Rocco taking me from place to place inside a bulletproof car. I would always watch over my shoulder, expecting someone to jump out of a bush or something and kidnap me–or worse–kill me.But Tony assured me he wouldn’t get rid of the security s
ChloeOur warm kiss turns into something more passionate as our hands begin to roam each other’s bodies. There are so many emotions bottled up inside us that it is hard to express them with words. Tony’s hands explore my body while he devours my mouth in a heated kiss, suffocating my moans. My head is still spinning from his confession that he loves me, and I can barely focus on what he’s doing. My distraction seems to catch his attention because he pulls away from me, his eyes studying my face carefully. “Is everything okay? We don’t need to do this if you don’t want to. I–”My lips are on his before he even finishes his sentence. Like hell I’d let him stop right now. I urge myself to be present, storing his confession for later, when I have time to dwell on it over and over without being interrupted. I wish I could’ve recorded it so I could listen to it whenever I need reassurance about how he feels about me.But this is Tony. I know he will shower me with affection and love whenev
ChloeAfter I welcome Tony home, I make sure to wake Ellie up so she can have dinner with us. She needs to eat something since she has been sleeping the whole afternoon, and she also needs to wake up now so she can get some sleep later. I’m not looking forward to staying up all night because she slept too much during the day.The three of us have dinner together as a family for the first time, and it just feels… right. Like how it’s always supposed to have been. Neither one of us brings up the elephant in the room. I’m sure we’ll have time to talk about it, but right now, I just want to enjoy this moment while I can. Watching Tony feed our daughter, playing with her, and getting her to laugh is just so adorable that my heart can barely take it.It’s a dream coming true right in front of my eyes.“Come on, baby. Let’s show Mommy how you’re a good girl who eats all her dinner,” he muses, making airplane sounds as he flies the spoon toward her gaping mouth.Ellie chuckles and opens wide
ChloeReuniting with Ellie and my mom felt overwhelming, although bittersweet. Even though I was beyond relieved and grateful to hold my daughter in my arms once more, my heart was shrinking by the minute, not knowing what Tony was up to.The Irish King’s bar I was brought to is surprisingly comfortable and welcoming. I was even more surprised when I found Cal playing with Ellie. The way she laughed at his exaggerated movements and jokes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this enchanted with another man before.After I settled down from the flight and kissed and hugged my family, Cal asked one of his employees from the bar to bring me something to eat. Mom and Ellie already had dinner since they arrived here earlier, and when the waitress returns with a tray filled with burgers, fries, and a chocolate milkshake, I almost let out a moan of pleasure.Only now have I realized how starving I am. I can’t even remember the last time I ate. So much has happened in the past twenty-four hours t
TonyMy vision turns red, and I clench my phone in my hand so hard that I hear it crack. “Send it to me. I’ll be on my way,” I inform him.Armando clears his throat, and I know he’s about to contradict me. “Shouldn’t we have a plan first, Boss? We have no idea what he’s been up to,” he wisely reminds me. I’m glad I have someone to make me see clearly now because all I can think of is putting a bullet hole through Mateo’s forehead and making sure he doesn’t take another breath in this world. “What do we know?” I ask, already starting the car.“They are in an abandoned warehouse outside the city. It’s not our territory, but that shouldn’t be a problem. No one really rules that part of town,” he explains firmly and professionally. “I have all men on hold, waiting for instructions on how we can best approach without being noticed.”“Do you think the cartel is waiting for us?” I have no fucking clue what Mateo was thinking when he invaded the safehouse to go after Chloe like that. It wa
TonyI warned Chloe not to even try and convince me of doing anything else other than going after Mateo and his men. I’d been doing my best to act cautiously, to consider every single possible outcome from this war, but after he ambushed Chloe at the safehouse, making her fight for her life, it left me blind with rage.My guilt didn’t help, either.I was so relieved when I found her on that dark street, wearing nothing but a robe covered in blood, that I could have cried when I held her in my arms. She felt so small, so vulnerable within my embrace that the monster dormant inside me snapped to life, and I simply couldn’t put this aside any longer. Even if I die, even if I don’t get to see her one last time, I will make sure to take Mateo down with me, so he never has the chance to lay a hand on my wife again. Or my daughter, for that matter.“Do I really have to go with Cal?” Chloe’s sweet voice asks from the bed, making me take my eyes off the phone and look at her. I promised her
Chloe“Listen,” Tony continues, still focused on the road. The police sirens get more and more distant as we drive away from the city, but I still don’t ask him where he is taking me. “I know you don’t want to think about it now, but I need to know what happened,” he requests in a gentle voice. I hear a hint of pain in it as well, but mostly, I can hear the guilt behind his words.I want to tell him none of this is his fault, but we’ll have time for that later. Right now, we just need to make sure no one else gets hurt, or worse, killed.I inhale sharply, steadying myself enough to share the recent events with him. I am strong, and I can do this, I tell myself. I’ve always told Tony I could handle it all, and even though I was scared as hell back there, I still managed to save myself.I can do this.“After you left, I spent a few more minutes in the office before I headed up to take a shower. I don’t think I was in there too long, but as soon as I stepped out, I heard the alarm go off
ChloeI should be dead.I was certain I’d be killed the moment I saw Mateo by the front door.I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look as mad as he looked a couple of minutes ago.Somehow, by the grace of God perhaps, when I saw him approaching me with that gun pointed at my face, I managed to take it from his hand after sparring with him and shot him in the shoulder. I think.I didn’t stay there to confirm. I didn’t wait to see if he was injured or not. I simply ran out of the house, not daring to look back, not even once. It’s been a few minutes, and I’m still blindly running through the neighborhood, trying to think of what to do or where to go. There’s no one on the street that I can ask for help, and even if there were, I’d be so afraid that Mateo would kill them for helping me that I don’t think I would ask for help anyway.It’s cold outside, and I’m still only wearing my shower robe, and even though I don’t dare to look back, too afraid of what I’ll see, I know I’m being follow
TonyComing here was a fucking mistake.Seeing Chloe did everything to me that I was trying to avoid. It just left me even more confused than before. We haven’t spent more than an hour together, and I still managed to screw it up.Being with her felt natural as if this was the only place I could be. Whenever I’m with her, holding her in my arms and feeling her close to me, everything just seems to go away. Every concern, every fear, every bad thought I ever had… I finally feel at peace.That’s the sort of effect she has on me. But I was not expecting her confession. Hearing her say she loves me and not being able to say it back shattered my heart in ways I can't explain. The look on her face will haunt me forever. It seems to have become a pattern lately. I can't seem to be able to stop hurting and disappointing her. I know what she expects from me, but unfortunately, I can't give it to her.It's clear to me that I have fallen for her, harder than I could ever have expected. It's a f