ENORA The same nightmare had hunted me since I was a child; a woman with a face like my own staring back at me, a man with a voice like my papa’s roaring, screams from a voice I was not familiar with, and the sound of my own voice crying.It always felt the same whenever I woke from the nightmare. My body was always wet with sweat, my heart pounding as if it wanted to explode, and I had this feeling that it wasn’t just a dream.Deep voices and footsteps came from downstairs. I remembered falling asleep after Nikolai humiliated me and left the room.That man had an effect on me that I didn’t like one bit. A single touch from him evoked so much emotion in me and he knew it. I knew he was baiting me, making me go crazy for him until he decided it was time to devour me.Yet, I couldn’t resist him. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.I’d been so wet, and he would have discovered that if he’d stayed back to touch me a little more. Goddamnit! I was even wet right now just thinking of him. I’d tr
ENORA “I want you dead.” I didn’t know if that was even the truth anymore. “I fucking want you and every other bastard like you dead.”Intense darkness seeped into Nikolai’s eyes. “Guess what, sweetie?” His words came out like a bare whisper. “I am hard to kill.”He tossed my hair away, making me lose my balance and fall to the ground. He lowered himself to a squat, brushing a bloody thumb on my lips. “There are many things you do not know, many things.”“Maybe there are.” I shook my head to fling his fingers away from my lips. “But I do not want you close to me. You’re fucking disgusting.” I didn’t know that I wanted to say those terrible things to him. I hated that I wanted to see to this man’s death myself. I hated that he’d just gone ahead and killed someone for me. I hated it even more that a part of me liked what he did, and that part of me wanted to pull his bloodstained body in and kiss him. Maybe I was a monster after all, maybe I was just like my papa and every other bl
NIKOLAI I found it quite odd how repelled Enora was by the sight of blood considering she’d had it covering half of her face the first time we met. I’d even thought she’d be more pleased if it was the blood of that fucking raccoon who had the guts to laugh at her to her face.I’d had him tied to a chair and tickled till his eyes turned crimson with tears and his lungs almost ran out of air before cutting his tongue out like he fucking deserved. I had no regret, even if Enora thought otherwise. I’d be quite satisfied killing a hundred more men who dared to cause her pain.Carlos Patrizio included.Footsteps padded into my room just as I was about to turn off the shower, I picked my glock from the phone holder by the wall and threw a towel around my waist before leaving the bathroom. I’d not bothered to turn off the shower; in situations like this, it was better to let the intruder think you weren’t aware of their presence.A clang sound came from the room as soon as I was able to ope
ENORA I’d always thought men like Nikolai were somehow immune to pain, but now that his blood was dripping on the floor, and his eyes were flickering with fury and…pain, I couldn’t escape being trapped in my own conscience.Truth is, I hadn’t intended to stab him, I’d thought he would move away before the knife reached him. He didn’t, and blood was dripping down his chest, the part where my name was inked on.It wasn’t the right time to note something like this, but he looked like the painting of the hottest demon in hell.The drip, drip as crimson liquid fell to the floor was the only thing heard in the room for the seconds after I cut him. My nerves were working up, making me anxious. I knew I’d crossed a line. What Nikolai would do to me now could only be left to my imagination.And I wasn’t going to apologize.“You really shouldn’t have, malysh.” He grabbed the knife from me and tossed it across the room, smearing the floor further with red. His jaws twitched and his eyes gloomed
ENORA I complied; he’d turned me into a horny idiot.“Take your hands off,” he demanded. “I want to see everything.”Slowly, I moved my hands away from my breasts and let them fall to my sides. His eyes beamed with something I couldn’t quite pinpoint as he stared at me.“God, baby. You’re so fucking beautiful.”Heat rushed to my cheeks, maybe because he just picked up another nickname for me, baby. Or because he just called me beautiful. Could have been both.“Lie on your back with your legs apart.”I gasped, my throat dry with a slutty thirst.“Now!”I lay on my back, spreading my legs with my eyes closed. I heard Nikolai’s footsteps and he came to me before I felt his paper-light touch on my thighs. “Beg me to lick you, malysh.”There was no way I’d beg him, he either wanted to or not. But that was until his finger slid into my pussy; this man would make me go insane. “Please.”“Say it like you mean it, baby.”“Lick me, please,” I panted. It was hard not to with the way his finger
ENORA Nikolai definitely chose Mikhail to chaperone me out of spite, that much I was sure of. The man hadn’t moved his eyes away from me since we entered the tattoo shop, but that was less of a problem compared to the fact that he hadn’t spoken a single word to me for the past three hours since we left the house, not even when I asked what type of tattoo his brother would like.Truthfully, I’d only asked because I wanted the exact opposite of what Nikolai would like, but when Mikhail returned my question with a glare more terrifying than death itself, it made me feel like I was being ridiculous. He was probably one of the old-school kind of guys that thought women had no right to tattoos. Most men in our world were like that, closed-minded and misogynistic. Ewww!“They’re so pretty,” the tattoo lady said to me with a beam. “How did you think of something so lovely?”I glared at Mikhail standing by the door like a mannequin made for the gym and then gave the tattoo lady my kindest sm
ENORA“I need something expensive.”She gave me a full-length glance, condescension lurking being her polite smile. “Uhm…”“What? You think I can’t afford to buy something expensive?” I’d worn another set of Nikolai’s oversized baggy shorts and tees which I understood could make me look shabby, but they were designer and looked as expensive as they felt on my skin.“No, ma’am, not at all.” She gestured for me to follow her. “I’ll show you our new arrivals.”“Thank you,” I said, holding a confiscated smile.I spent the next hour picking out new clothes, bags, and shoes and by the time I was done, my knees were weak and my stomach was rumbling. I regretted not having breakfast before leaving.“Your bill is fifty thousand dollars, ma’am.”I removed Nikolai’s credit card from my shorts with glee and handed it to Sophia. It felt good spending someone else’s money, at least someone who wasn’t my papa, not that he limited how much of his dirty money I spent. I just didn’t enjoy spending it a
NIKOLAI Enora Patrizio was going to be the death of me—that was a fact I didn’t need to deny. Sitting in this dark container with these freaking Chicago Al Capone was the last place I really wanted to be, especially not when I had an ass as soft as Enora’s to get back to.It’d been five fucking hours since I left her earlier today, yet I couldn’t get the image of her naked body out of my head. Her delicate olive skin, her full breasts that kicked every sexual nerve in me into action, and Christ, her loud moans.I took a pack of cigarettes out of my suit jacket, pinned one between my lips, and lit it. Every pop sent smoke and dirty images of my little slut to my head. I’d even lost control and fucked her so roughly that her skin was purple with marks this morning. It was probably for the best that I marked my territory on things that were mine.My phone bleeped; it was a message from Mikhail. He’d sent a picture of Enora’s tattoo; she’d made one that looked almost like mine except f
LyraA few days passed since I returned to my father, and that passage of time only got harder to endure.When I gave in to the boredom, I started reading the stack of books in the bedroom without paying all that much attention to them. It didn’t take long for me to finish them, leaving me with nothing at all.A knock at the door early morning on the fourth day tore me from my empty thoughts, sitting up in bed.Dad poked his head inside again, carrying a tray of food for me. He had the chef make me an omelet with toast and berries on the side. It smelled good, but my stomach had been in knots since I arrived home.An unreadable expression moved across his face while he placed the food on my nightstand. “You’re being returned to the Lantsovs today, my dear.”My heart stopped immediately, and everything around me seemed to still. I blinked through my astonishment, murmuring weakly, “What?”He nodded, handing me the glass of orange juice.I was being handed back over to them. While that
ValentinThe war between us Lantsovs and the Romanos was raging, and we had been horribly ignorant of how big their numbers truly were. We had blind faith in ourselves without ever seeing the bigger picture.We were fortunate to have the Chesters as backup, even if that was a sore spot. Lyra’s betrayal put Barnes’ interest and loyalty into question, but he swore up and down that he had nothing to do with it. He never even knew they were communicating.Something in the way she had been so secretive about it helped me believe he didn’t know anything.Gritting back my anger, I looked down at the casino floor, fists clenched.Likely thanks to Lyra, the Romano men had grown immensely since they managed to intercept multiple dealings. With all the money and resources they snagged from us, they multiplied their numbers and reached beneath our noses.We were forced to up our guards since then, especially around me and the casino. We weren’t taking any chances, not after what had happened.I
LyraCarefully, Dad crossed the room and sat against the edge of the bed, offering me my space still. “For making you choose such a difficult decision at your age without asking for the full picture. And for wagering your hand to advance my position in New York. This isn’t an excuse, but I did it for our family.“I know it only drove a wedge between us, and it hurt me every day to know you were out there on your own because of me, just as it was when I married you off to Valentin. You are right. It was all because of me, but I only hope you can see things from my perspective too.”“It hurt when you wanted me to abort my child,” I managed to say through the tears. “I needed your support, and you tore it away from me. I was prepared to never forgive you for it.”Dad nodded, cloaked by his own sadness that surprised me. “You have every reason to be angry with me. You don’t owe me forgiveness, but I hope one day I may earn it again.”The thought of simply letting go of everything that had
LyraI never thought I’d ever see the inside of my childhood bedroom again, but it turned into my makeshift prison.Valentin said he wasn’t my jailor, but he gave that responsibility to my father instead.The driver brought me back to Philly and handed me back to my dad as if I had never been married to Valentin in the first place. Beyond unworthy of even my apparent husband’s presence. They were worried I was still a threat to their empire, keeping me as far away from it as possible, thanks to my apparent betLyral.It made me worry he was working toward getting a divorce.Worst of all, I was kept away from Charlie. No matter how I shouted and screamed, nobody would bring my baby to me.Being separated from my son was the hardest part. It tore me up inside, leaving my cheeks stained and eyes dry from crying so much. Even if my marriage was ruined, I just wanted my boy. I had never been away from him for so long, and it was killing me.If everything else was lost, I at least wanted to
LyraPacing the length of the living room, I debated texting Valentin then and there. I had to warn him before anything happened—before he could be injured or killed. The thought gripped the back of my neck like an icy hand, and regret flooded my chest.Even if I hated him for what he did and for agreeing to the marriage pact, I never would’ve wanted that for him at his worst. He didn’t deserve to be hunted down by someone I didn’t even know.He was the father of my child, and we had gotten so far with our unorthodox relationship. Everything had been perfect, except for my inability to tell him about the unknown number. We had started to trust one another again, and I was sure I had ruined it immediately.Our time together had reignited those old feelings I had for Valentin, and I had to fix things before they got worse.Unable to handle the thought of waiting any longer, my hand shook as I pulled out my cell phone and pressed his contact.Before I could type anything, the door slamme
Valentin More disbelief flooded my system at that, wondering what he could possibly be on about. Things between me and Lyra had been perfect. We found a mutual understanding, and I had been working to fix things between us.Our sex life had been mind-blowing, and it felt like we were taking steps in the right direction.There was no way she had been texting anyone behind my back. I would’ve known. She wouldn’t dare.“That’s impossible,” I grumbled beneath my breath, aware of the dread that loomed above me, waiting to strike. I fished my phone out of my pocket and clicked through my apps.“What are you doing?” Nikolai asked in a hushed tone, glancing at my phone.“Making sure this rat isn’t telling the truth, or else he’ll be wearing a bullet in his head.”“It is the truth,” Enzo added, eyes filling with concern. “I have no reason to say otherwise.”“Shut up,” Dimitri growled, slapping the captive with the butt of his gun.The man yelped in pain, shoulders slumped as he breathed deepl
ValentinTensions were high in the warehouse. Our captive from the ambush was bound to his chair in the middle of the room, blood dripping from his broken nose. His breath shallowed, glancing between us lazily.Nikolai and Dimitri stood before him, with the latter’s knuckles already stained crimson. He flexed his fingers, unbothered by the hits he had already given him.“What’s your name?” Nikolai asked, looking at him with a neutral expression.The man hesitated, then grit through his teeth, “Enzo.”“Well, Enzo, consider yourself lucky that you might just be useful to us,” he murmured, pacing in front of him slowly. “But the moment that stops, we won’t hesitate to send a message.”All it took was a glance in Dimitri’s direction, and he swung, hitting his face with a sickening sound.Enzo recoiled in his chair, taking full force without any other choice. He grunted from the impact, chest heaving. Blood seeped into his mouth, and he spat to the side, breathing hoarsely through the pain
LyraI was surprised by how smoothly life had been ever since Valentin explained himself.The weeks had gone by, and we were doing better than we ever had. We were in a good place, co-parenting Charlie and working on understanding one another better. I was glad, and we were happy.I even noticed a difference in our son since his father came into our lives. He had always been a good kid, but his excitement and joy were contagious. Whenever he had the chance, Valentin spent time with him and took him places, always looking to expose him to new experiences.He seemed to flourish, and I enjoyed watching them interact with one another. Seeing his effort first-hand was everything I had hoped for.Padding down the hall and into the kitchen, I saw it was nine in the morning, and the condo was suspiciously quiet.A sticky note on the counter caught my attention, and I reached for it.It was from Valentin, letting me know that Charlie was with Enora and Liliya for the day. He was at work, and
LyraThe feeling of his lips against mine was enough to make my knees weak, forgetting all the previous grievances I once had with him. While I wasn’t one to forgive so easily, the sincerity in his eyes was enough to convince me of just how sorry he truly had been.The way he melded our mouths together like it was the first time helped too.Pressed against him, he wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled away just enough to murmur against my lips, “You are more than I deserve, and I know that. I will never forget it. But you are my wife, and I mean to work at proving myself to you.”Swallowing against the dryness in my throat, a familiar pulse returned between my legs, dissolving every ounce of resolve I ever had. That resistance was gone, and my body knew exactly what I wanted.His palms glided up and down my back while his minty breath fanned my lips. “It didn’t take me long to fall for you the first time, and those feelings never truly went away. Let me show you just how badly