[VLADIMIR] “Did you miss me?” I asked, smirking as I slowly, but confidently, approached her. With each step I took, her once radiant smile seemed to fade away, as if she had come face-to-face with a haunting apparition. And in a way, I couldn’t argue with that. To her, I was nothing more than a ghostly presence, a monstrous figure, a devil incarnate, and everything else that was far from good. Her smile was truly captivating, and I longed to capture it, to preserve it deep within the pits of my heart, never to let it slip away at any cost. But her affection was off-limits to me, forbidden territory. I couldn’t make her mine, and that was an undeniable truth. I knew she despised me for whatever I had done to her, but how could I explain that I had no other choice? Making her hate me was the only way to set her free, to avoid repeating the same disastrous mistake I had made years ago. “Because I missed you like hell!” I confessed, but I refused to show her how much I cared. Instead
“Shut up, Aurora! You’ve gone too far!” he shouted, tears welling up and his fist clenched tightly. Vladimir, the boss of a ruthless crime syndicate, had never experienced such intense emotions before—feelings of weakness and guilt. “Why? Because I’m telling the truth?” Aurora snapped, looking away and trying to calm her own frustration. But his loud voice only made things worse. “Come on, Mir! Wake up from your fantasy. I was never yours and, just so you know, I never will be,” she said harshly. Her words cut through him like a sharp knife, piercing his skin and hurting his heart. Aurora let out a frustrated breath and ran her hand through her light brown hair. Shaking her head, she turned to face him. “You made a promise, Mir. You don’t have the right to hold me back. Just let me go,” she insisted, determination evident in her voice as she prepared to walk away. “No! You’re not going anywhere. I won’t allow it,” worry crossed his handsome face as he attempted to prevent her from
[UNKNOWN] "Why are we here again?" I groaned for the millionth time out of sheer boredom and slumped down in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest. "Sweetheart, can you do me a favor?" Angela, a forty-five-year-old woman sitting right next to me in the passenger seat, chimed in with her sugary voice. "Just shut up!" She snapped, compelling me to roll my eyes. This reaction didn't surprise me. Angela wasn't exactly the most patient person on the planet, and I quickly learned that on our very first day together when she came to my rescue. "We've been waiting for an hour, and honestly, I have much better things to do," I said, though Angela seemed completely oblivious to that fact. Sure, Angela might be the only person who seemed to care about me, but it wasn't my fault that I had serious trust issues. I didn't trust anyone, not even myself, for that matter. "Sitting in front of the TV all day and getting wasted at night doesn't exactly qualify as 'better things,' I'm pretty sure
[ZARINA] I haven't moved an inch since we arrived at the driveway of the Perazzo mansion. I just can't bring myself to move. Memories are flooding back to me like a torrent, overwhelming and exhausting. And to make matters worse, the person who is the source of my anxiety is standing right in front of me. Vladimir Perazzo. The devil himself. I can't decipher his expression, but there's something different in his deep brown eyes. The sinister passion that used to send shivers down my spine is absent. Instead, there's something unfamiliar, something unrecognizable. His eyes are tinged with a hint of crimson, and his lips appear dry, like a withered leaf. His shoulders are slumped as if he has experienced the greatest defeat of his life, leaving him drained. I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is real or if my mind is playing tricks on me with another lie. Unconsciously, my feet shuffle backward as he takes hurried steps toward me. But before I can entertain any thoughts of doing someth
[ZARINA] "Zarina, wait up! I can explain," Xavier hurriedly followed me as I started walking away, going who knows where. Honestly, it doesn't even matter. The one person I trusted the most completely deceived me. And it wasn't just any lie, it was a colossal mistake, a total catastrophe. Hazel is the child of Aurora and Vladimir. That means... that means... it means that Aurora was Vladimir's wife? But Xavier told me Hazel was his daughter and Aurora was his wife, right? Hold on! He never actually said she was his wife. Ugh! But that doesn't change the fact that he lied to me. He lied not just once, but every single day. Every minute. Every second. He's a dishonest person. A LIAR. "Zarina, please! Let me explain. At least..." he abruptly interrupted, surpassing my walking speed and blocking my path. "What?" I yelled, staring at him with a mixture of anger, irritation, hurt, and my chest heaving with breathless
[XAVIER] I'm not surprised by Zarina's reaction after finding out the only truth I tried to conceal. I'm just a little disappointed in her perception of me. Maybe I got a bit selfish and only wanted to hear a resounding "yes" when I asked her to portray Aurora in front of Hazel. I was afraid that once she learned the truth, she would never agree to help. It's true that she's being held against her will, and if I wanted to, I could have forced her to comply. But I wanted her involvement to come from the heart, not from coercion. The only difference between me and Vladimir is that my intentions were solely focused on giving Hazel something she had never experienced before—a mother's touch and the love that comes with it. But maybe I went too far in my attempt to make it all seem real. Perhaps it's all my fault. Maybe that's why I couldn't bear to stay in that room for another second. Her words felt like stepping on landmines. Every time
[ZARINA]I have no sense of what’s happening. One moment I was apologizing and the next we were kissing.Iam kissing. This was not something I had in mind at the time I ascended the stairs and called out to him, asking him not to change too. Told him he was nowhere like Vladimir. It just...just happened.My mind is completely blank. I have no sane inkling of how I should react or act. Other than this voice echoing inside, screaming to kiss him back.His lips are soft against mine, and he seems in no hurry. Smoothly, he is exploring every corner of my lips and I’m feeling my heart sailing fiercely. It is effortless and dreamy, comforting in ways that words would never be. His one hand is below my ear, his thumb caressing my cheek as our breaths mingle. Not sure what to do, my own hands scale up and palms against his hard chest. So warm, welcoming and heartening. Something that I am really in need of, hence I can&rs
[ZARINA]Nothing would have prepared me for what momentous turn my life was about to take the moment I stepped out of the Perazzo mansion. I knew that something was not right. This feeling, this odd burning nervous sensation pulsating inside my chest was warning me of something bad that was being unleashed my way, but as always and conventional to my helpless and hopeless self, I hearkened to the stubborn part of my heart. The one who wanted freedom more than anything. Nothing would have prepared me for what future my fate held before I committed the terrible mistake of my life.* * *For good or for worse, I was finally out of the mansion. I’m still not able to swallow the mere fact that Rose is the one helping me to get out of here. The one who was hellbent on obeying the orders of her ‘masters’, as if they were written on stone.“Remember what I told you?” She whispe
“My world is a less scary place with you in it, baby. I will kiss you a thousand times every day if that’s what it takes to keep you in love with me for the rest of our days.” [VLADIMIR] "Do you take Vladimir Perazzo as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?” I would be lying if I said those words spoken by the priest don’t fill me with dread. Because they do. Something inside me is awfully worried for no specific reason. Perhaps it’s the fear of being tricked by fate again. Perhaps I’m afraid that the past would repeat itself in a much more monstrous and hurtful way. It’s just there. Ticking like a bomb. Making me break into some serious amount of sweat. But I hold it in. Not because there’s no other choice now that dozens of people are watching us, but because the woman standing in front of me is looking at me with so much love and w
[ZARINA]“Mir, this is...” I gasp.“Do you like it?” pressing those words into my ear, he grazes his teeth below my lobe.“...gorgeous. It’s gorgeous.”After our deep and long conversation, the previous night, Mir and I woke up with someone causing a ruckus at the door. It was only then it dawned on me that I ended up sleeping in his room. Something Aunt Alessia had been warning me since the moment we got here. Even though she was quick to assume that we had already done the deed, she expected us to be patient until the marriage and keep our desires to ourselves.And now that we’ve broken one of her directions, she sure sounded angry beating the door outside. To be honest, I panicked a little originally. Not wanting to give anyone a reason to be upset with us. But Mir had different thoughts regarding the matter. He blatantly and outrightly ignored all her screams and peeled the covers off me instead. Despite my reluctance and attempts to reason with him, he moved between my legs with
[ZARINA]Frozen to my spot and shocked to the deepest of my bones, I struggled to get some air into my lungs.Did I really hit him? But why? Was that because he was doing something I did not approve of? Or because...he wasn’t himself?No matter what the reason was, my face seared with embarrassment. My heart palpitated poorly against my ribs and the knots in my stomach tautened to the extent I couldn’t breathe.After fixing me with a glare for a minute too long, Vladimir retreated and stormed into the bathroom. He shut the door so loudly that my entire body shivered. My nerves caused havoc; wild goosebumps crawled like insects all over my skin. Regret pierced my chest like a cruel knife, and the more I thought about it, the deeper it burrowed.It hurt. So much. But why? He was the one who crossed the lines. Why was I on the verge of breaking down? Why were my eyes damp and blurred with tears? What was this pain...Sucking my lips, I leaned my head against the wall behind me and closed
[ZARINA]After Mir left for God knows where, I spent most of the day following Aunt Alessia around. She’s a nice person. Talks really quickly and maybe a little oftener than I’m used to, but seems like she’s only excited to have Mir back. It’s been a while, she said, as long as Mir’s grandfather (her father-in-law) was alive, he used to visit nearly every month without fail. But after the old man passed away, he stopped visiting.He stopped caring.She also told me that Mir and his grandfather were really close. Together, they hung out more than Mir and his father ever did. The way she said those things, I felt as if Mir and his father did not have a smooth relationship. Though Aunt Alessia seemed as chatty as one could be, she seemed mindful not to bring up the subject of Mir’s parents.It was only then I realized I knew nothing of Mir’s past. Sure, I know about his failed marriage to Aurora and that he had a brother and Hazel as a niece, but...what about the rest? He mentioned nothi
[VLADIMIR]“What is this place?” Zarina asked, her gaze pinned on the enormous villa in front of us. The heavy curiosity in her voice did something silly to my chest, and just like that, the desire to kiss her rose once again and darted down my veins. But I suppressed it all by removing my gaze from her. It had become a pattern of sorts. Whenever I needed time off from my chronic horny aspirations, I would look away and try to think of something less provocative. Like a bald head or something.She probably had no inkling of how hard it was for me to keep my hands off her. She was right here, so gorgeous, so tempting, so ready to be my wife, to be mine—I still couldn’t fucking believe it—and I couldn’t even do things to her that haunted me day and night. I had been practising so much patience for the past few days; I fucking deserved a noble prize for it. Or maybe an academy award for the best performance of the century.But I didn’t have to try that hard this time to distract myself f
[ZARINA]An hour later, we were approximately 40,000 ft above the ground and I was yet to ask him where we were heading. With Vladimir being so dark with rage, I couldn’t muster up the courage to say anything at all, let alone the destination of our unexpected trip.Once the car pulled up at the hangar, Mir slid out while one of his men opened the door for me. The sight of the massive jet, the one I had seen only once before when he came to rescue Julie and me from that hell, brought back some unpleasant memories. However, I got little time to dawdle in the past because the next thing I knew, we were being ushered inside the jet, everyone preparing to leave.Vladimir ignored me the entire time until the jet was ready to take off. But even after he sat across from me, he kept himself occupied with the stack of papers he took out from a leather bag. He was taking his sweet-sweet time to go through each one of them. From the look on his face, they seemed of great importance to him. So in
[ZARINA]The tension in the room was so thick that one could easily cut it with a knife. It was even darker and more dangerous than the time when Lorenzo decided to be an ass. No one in the room knew how this discussion between the Perazzos and Galantes was about to end. After what happened at the church, it was safe to say, some of the people were pissed off at the way Vladimir orchestrated the entire thing.They were mad because he didn’t include them in the plan.They were mad because he deliberately made them go through hell before showing up like a damn hero who saved the day.To be honest, I was a little upset by the entire dramatics he pulled, too. At least, he could have warned me instead of letting me suffer till the very end. It was cruel and quite ruthless on his part. And once we left this God-awful suffocating gathering, I would rain him with the questions for sure. It was about to be an endless day for him.Although that was the least of my concern for now.Right now, I
[ZARINA]After waking up the second time this morning, I found Vladimir moving back and forth in the kitchen. Preparing breakfast for both of us. Something warm and sweet curled up inside as I tried not to fall so hard for him. Watching him from a distance and offering no help made me feel like a creep. But it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t muster up the courage to be in front of him as if nothing had happened the previous night.Or this morning.A ticklish dash of heat glided down my spine at the thought of his mouth on my core, his fingers pumping inside. Those sweet words he spoke in that sexy voice of his. All those hot and needy touches. Impassioned kisses. Our bare skin pressed against each other. The feeling of him and me together. Thinking about all of that was enough to drive me crazy and for my thighs to squeeze together to relieve myself of the ache he left behind. But it never eased.I couldn’t tell what was holding him back from giving me everything he had, or if he was
[VLADIMIR]Blinking against the mellow rays of the early sun, I woke up to find Zarina cuddled to my side. Her dark brown hair scattered messily over the pillow while she slept on her side with her face turned to me.I smiled, warmth spreading across my chest.Last night was anything but normal. I hadn’t expected myself to return only to find Zarina sleeping in my bed with literally nothing but my shirt. It felt like a dress on her, but fuck, did she look good in it? She looked like fucking mine.Mine.The only reason I hadn’t fucking died in the last three months was that I had to come back to her. Michael’s bullet might have driven me to the brink of hell. But it was the realization that I had in what I thought to be the last moments of mine that held me from tipping over. I couldn’t die without telling her how I felt about her. I couldn’t die without making her mine.With a deep sigh, I used my fingers to move some curls out of her face. She stirred against my touch. Her cheeks flu