Silence.After Aurora stomped out of the basement with tears and anger swarming in her eyes, silence took control of the entire room and the humans breathing in it. The slogging drops of water tapping against the surface of the sink became more prominent now—almost annoying.Zarina was the last person to know anything remotely about Venice. She had been, after all, kidnapped on the very first day in the city. But Julie wasn’t a foreigner and neither was her husband. They were natives, born and raised around these busy streets. However, Zarina still couldn’t find it in her heart to question literally anything. Other than giving some time for the old wounds that had been freshly clawed and bruised to heal. Or, at least, for them to come to terms with it.Julie had slumped against the wall of her cell and sat down, holding herself tightly. As if it was the only way to save her from falling apart. Marco had resumed his mad pacing, pulling at his ha
Sitting in the backseat of the white Mercedes, parked right outside the Perazzo mansion, a flood of memories overwhelmed Aurora. Her heart raced, her hands grew sweaty, and her breath hitched in a way she had never experienced before. Maybe they were right. There's a first time for everything.Who would've thought that simply seeing this massive white mansion, where she had spent almost a year of her life—a place she believed she had left behind for good—could make her question the entire purpose she had been living for?Why?Why was she putting herself through this?What was the point?Everything was going according to Lorenzo and Angela's plan for her ultimate freedom. This wasn't the time to feel anxious or have shaky legs. It was time to take control of her own destiny, seize the opportunity that lay before her, just like she always wanted, and claim what she rightfully deserved.However, something held her back—a naggi
Her room was exactly the way she remembered.It felt like living the worst nightmare, only all over again. Years had passed, but felt like the mighty winds of time could not tear through the tough walls of the Perazzo mansion.For a minute, it almost tasted like perhaps nothing had actually changed.The same memory played in the loop, over and over again. She would hear the faint footsteps of Vladimir growing closer and closer to the room. Her heartbeat would speed up. And with no other alternative left but to quickly slide out of the bed, she would topple to her feet. Rushing for the robe she had lazily thrown at the foot of the bed and would force it over her body, attempting to hide that exposed skin that might just tempt him. Again. But he would turn into a beast with no self-control anyway. He would step closer and closer until there was nowhere else to go, nowhere to run. And then he would take her, force his lips upon hers, lusty and disgusting kisses on
[XAVIER]I never truly realized how blessed I have been all my life. Perhaps I was too busy comparing things I did not have than appreciating what I did. Maybe I am not alone. Perhaps we all do this at some point in our lives. And that makes me wonder- why do we keep going on? Why don’t we do anything to change?When I was little, I used to be envious of my brother. I envied he got to spend more time with our father than I normally did. I hated my father would give Mir the sort of attention he never gave to me.During dinners—which our father always made sure to have with family—he would pay critical interest to the things Mir did or said. The whispers they would share behind the office doors, the places our father would take him, all the secrets they kept between themselves—all of that…all of that made me bitter. And upset.It wasn’t like our father treated me poorly or something. He was actually nice
[ZARINA]There is a new woman in the cell today.She looks old, likely in her mid-forties. Have low shoulder-length hair, salt and pepper whisked in equal portions. She has a long face that fits wonderfully with her tall and lean stature. And eyes so elegantly blue, they make me feel guilty. I can only wish when I’m of the same age as her I could be at least 10% of what she is now. I mean, this woman is practically a walking celebrity.Who is she?It’s hard to tell how much time has passed since they brought us into this stinky cellar. I really thought Aurora would eventually kill us off, so what was even the point of keeping track of the days? Am I right? But to our dismay, she never returned to finish the job. Not to forget the food, from time to time, strange men come to feed us. And medicines. Things I’ll give to know what these people are planning to do with us...Julie stopped pacing the floor, and so did he
It did not take long for Vladimir’s men to land on the whereabouts of Angela Moretti. Locating her home was even more effortless. And to walk into it, nothing but a piece of cake.Vladimir rigorously instructed Vector to ask his men to wait and keep an eye outside and cautioned him to stay in hiding until he said otherwise. Vector obeyed with a nod and walked out without a word. His men caught his steps and quickly shuffled to their feet, locking the door on their way out.For now, everything was going according to plan. Yet, Vladimir knew better than to not have a backup. It had been way too long for him to be in this temperamental business, to know what were the odds of circumstances like these, to fully go according to how they needed. They rarely ever did. And he dreaded that today was going to be any different.The reason was the woman they were here for.Angela was a crafty woman. Mir knew her that much, and had heard of all the dirty jobs (an
Vladimir—no matter how many times he tried, shook his head or attempted to get his head in the game—failed to stop his mind from racing back to Aurora. His wife, who was supposed to be dead. She was alive. What the fuck?At first, the shock that arrived with this new piece of information felt like a new, warm wound. It didn’t hurt or sting, just hummed. But gradually, as he allowed his head to coil around the actuality and the betrayal it arrived with, the same wound started to bite and throb. Painstakingly. Making him ache at places he wasn’t even aware he was hurt.It felt like someone had torn a cardinal part of him and flung it away to decay some place in the sewer. It felt like someone had whacked him to death but didn’t finish the job, leaving him at their charity. It felt like someone had wrung all the air out of his lungs and he couldn’t breathe. He could not breathe. He could not breathe.A cowardly part of him wished to go back in time and stop himself from doing what he did
Vector looked himself into the mirror and saw a tall man in a perfectly tailored suit. His eyes were sombre and dull as ever and not even a shadow of a smile attempted to venture anyplace near his lips. He appeared in all business, precisely what they deemed him to be. Before leaving the room, he made certain to pick a briefcase from the side cabinet. It had all the papers Mir had asked for. Although Vector suspected they would get the time to make a bargain. Everything that included his boss was short-lived. But it wasn't always a bad thing. Particularly not with their business. Patience was a virtue but waiting for too long led to one's downfall. Despite his messed-up personal life, Mir's lack of patience and trust had led him to where he was today, on top of the underworld of business. He was the only one standing, the only one they feared. "Vector, wait!" Lizzy called out from behind. It was becoming a routine of sorts. She would say nothing when he was home but as soon as he rea
“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