ENORANikolai left the room and returned with a pile of neatly folded clothes, all black and white. “Wear these.”Are those his clothes? They smelt just like him. Was I going to wear Nikolai-freaking-Lantsov’s clothes? I was getting more excited than I needed to be—which was probably zero excitement because who gets excited just wearing their captor’s clothes?“Will these do?”“I will manage with them for now,” I replied as I unfolded them, seeing that they were all designer clothes, just the way I liked my clothes to be. Turned out Nikolai and I had something in common other than the New York dark underworld we were both involved in.Nikolai leaned on the wall, watching me as I put on a pair of black baggy shorts and an oversized sleeveless shirt from the pile he brought in. “You didn’t thank me, malysh.”Truth, I hadn’t even had time to address the way he called me “malysh.” I was not a child, especially not his, and I hated how he somehow had fun calling me that. “I suppose you kn
NIKOLAII should have anticipated how wild Enora Patrizio would drive me before I considered holding her captive. The image of her full breasts bouncing up and down as she moved made it hard for me to think straight, and it took me thinking about bloody dead men and chopped body parts to keep myself from spanking her well-rounded ass when she turned around.Fuck, thinking about it again was enough to make my cock hard and needy. With an ass like that, it was not a surprise how Enora was able to seduce some of my men to their deaths. I had a feeling I’d have ended up killing them if Carlos did not beat me to it, the same way I wanted to erase the memory of everyone who was standing in the hallway when she came out of her room.Seeing her on that staircase with a black thong and arms wrapping around her breasts made me want a personal painting of her, a painting only I could see because I’d be damned if anyone else saw my little Enora naked again. God help me, I might have to kill th
NIKOLAIShe brushed past me and all I could think of was how well my shorts and sleeveless tee fitted her. She’d curled her hair into a bob, and I could bet all my ill-gotten money that she naturally smelt like strawberries. I swiveled to steal more glances at her as she walked to Camilla.“Nice to meet you, I’m Enora Patrizio.” She stretched her hand out to shake Camilla’s, but Camilla scoffed and slapped her hand away. Enora smiled psychotically and then withdrew her hands to herself.“I know who you are,” Camilla spat spitefully. “Some call you morte, but I think you are just a whore.”“Am I?” Enora’s psychotic smile widened, making her look crazy as fuck. I really considered calling the psychiatric ward just in case, and maybe I was just as psychotic because I liked that crazy, killer-witch expression on her. “I think I prefer being called morte.”“Well, whore.” Camilla closed the space between her and Enora so that the fabrics of their clothes were rubbing against each other. T
ENORANikolai Lantsov really did live up to his name as a lunatic who toyed with women, and I hated how I’d manage to add myself to the list of women who became weaklings in his presence.I exhaled, trying to blow out the frustration that had built inside of me. I closed my eyes, ashamed of myself for how easily I surrendered to his touch. Fuck. Even now, the feeling of his light touch on my face and his warm breath on my skin still lingered. Weird things were happening between my legs, tugging at my self-control and needing more of his dangerous touch.I’d tried to deceive myself into believing my body was only reacting how it would biologically after the way he tried to seduce me but why was my heart pounding nervously? Why did a tiny part of me feel bad that he did not have any interest in me and was just teasing me?This was not good. Not good at all.Liquid dripped between my legs, alerting me of how hornily helpless I was, and my brain strayed and made me think of his lips on
ENORAI tilted my head to Nikolai who was still busy on his phone. What if it was Camilla he was talking to? I shot up from my seat and dragged his phone from him. He glowered at me with complete shock, and I could see Mikhail and Dimitri stand up cautiously to defend Nikolai from me as if they’d be able to save him if I intended to really kill him.“Don’t you have any manners?” I yelled at Nikolai. “You don’t use your fucking phone at the table! You can’t just keep everyone waiting till you decide you’re ready to eat.”Nikolai did not say anything in response to my correction, which made me even more upset. “Won’t you say something?” I queried.“Something, like what?”I scoffed, he had to be the most annoying person in existence. “You’re really a heartless bastard.”The calm in his eyes turned into a raging storm. For a minute, the dining room was noiseless while Nikolai and I had a cold war on who would look at the other in the cruelest way possible. “Sit down…or I’ll press you t
ENORAMornings were my least favorite part of the day. Sometimes, I wished I died in my sleep, and a few times, I’d even wondered what it would feel like swinging down from my ceiling.Maybe Papa will care. Maybe he will hurt for me and finally look at me with love. Those were my thoughts every morning.But with each morning I woke up and saw the dread on his face. Every single time he treated me as nothing more than a war dog and a killing machine, I learned something. Papa would not cry for me if I died, he would simply toss my body into a river and if I was lucky enough, he would toss me in with me a nice black casket to keep the sharks away from my lifeless body.I woke up one morning and I no longer craved his love or for him to treat me like a father would a daughter.I woke up one morning and I became morte.The sky was still pitch black that morning, but it had been void of stars. I closed my eyes; I could still hear the rough wind whooshing in my window and the footsteps do
ENORAExactly an hour later, I was dressed in a white dress that looked like it had decayed in a trash can. It was ripped all over and I was so pale, I looked like the corpse bride.The damn dress wasn’t even decent enough to cover my shame.Truthfully, I’d thought I’d seen Maria smile mockingly at me when I climbed down the stairs, but I’d been imagining it. I honestly wouldn’t blame her if she laughed though, I looked horrible and this fucking thing on my body was laughable. I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t the one getting married in rags.I hadn’t worn this dress because I was afraid of Nikolai, I’d worn it because, for some reason, I preferred being Nikolai’s hostage rather than Mario’s animal.Nikolai smiled at me when I reached the patio, and I rolled my eyes at him. I wondered if he knew how much I wanted to play Russian roulette with my pistol pointed at his head. The fucker probably knew, but he definitely underestimated me.Ego was a common disease with men in our world. They
NIKOLAI“Didn’t I tell you, malysh?” I moved closer to her, expecting her to pace back, but she didn’t. “You’re mine. Mine to torment, mine to punish, and mine to touch.”Enora sneered at me, her beautiful gray eyes sparking with mischief. “You’re really a nutjob, aren’t you?” She folded her hands over her chest. “I’m not an item, Nikolai. I do not belong to you.”She walked to her bed and sank down on it, looking away from me.Did she know how much her stubbornness turned me on? If she did, she wouldn’t try to argue with me. She would’ve tried to do as I said.It’d been almost two hours since we got married. Two hours since I forced her to say I do.After I leaned closer to her ear and marked her as mine, goosebumps spread across her skin and I heard her little yelp.Enora was scared of me. I could see it despite how hard she tried to hide it, and I was glad she tried really hard to.The last thing I wanted was a little white-haired Italian woman cowering with fear whenever she saw
AriaI couldn’t take the mortification any longer and brought my lips to his, wanting to get the hard part over with. Our lips melded eagerly as he inhaled sharply, gliding his palms up and down my back.Wiggling my hips above his, I tried to find that rhythm from before, grinding against his cock. But my hips were stilled by his strong hands.With a rush of movement, I was scooped up and laid out across the couch, left confused as he moved down my body, pressing kisses down my stomach.I took in a sharp breath as his tongue glided down my skin, fingers hooking into my panties. In one sweep, they were removed, and nothing was left between the two of us.Roman kept going until he was level with my core, and that teasing tongue continued.Black rimmed my vision once he flicked it against my clit, immediately making me arch away from the couch. His hands secured my hips down, making sure I didn’t move too much.A throaty moan fell from my lips, overcome by his impeccable skill. He focuse
AriaHis lips were hasty in their movements, devouring mine like he was trying to get nectar from them. His palm traveled around, resting on my hip as he poured everything he had into the embrace.I did nothing but comply, so overcome by how amazing it felt. He moved with such precision that I was rendered useless, silently begging for more of him.There were other men I had kissed before, but never like that. Never with such fiery passion that it was almost tangible. The whiskey made it easier to stomach just how overwhelming it was to be so close to him, to feel him, and to taste that electricity between us.Roman was intimidating in many ways, but from how he kissed me, there was nothing left to fear. It was a side of him I had yet to discover, and it was unbelievably worth it.His tongue flicked against my lower lip, sparking pleasure through my sensitive skin. I shivered, caught off-guard by it, yet eager to part my mouth for him.Our tongues clashed as I gripped his black tee a
Aria Color flooded my cheeks upon hearing that he could so easily recall what was in my notes after having read them, but I pushed it down and nodded, paying close attention.Roman ran me through it, showing me parts of the weapon and how it worked. He did so with expert precision, letting me know that he clearly had a lifetime of experience with it all.His fingers did nimble work, somewhat splicing my attention away from the demonstration. I swallowed hard and silently told myself to focus, even if my mind began to wander, thinking about how close we were standing to one another, or how I could feel his arm brush against me from time to time.I felt depraved for even noticing it.Remembering myself, I followed along as Roman showed me more of the armory, picking up the occasional weapon and going on to describe it for me. It seemed like second nature for him to ramble on about the family business while pride gleamed in his eyes.It was clear that he loved his family, and he cared d
AriaSomething was eating at Roman, but I didn’t know what.Everything seemed to be going well between us, and I couldn’t help but wonder where things had gone wrong.Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Did he regret telling me more about the mafia?Unable to keep it to myself, I peered over at him and watched how indescribable thoughts moved through his eyes.“Is everything alright?”He met my gaze once more and swallowed, looking like he’d rather not say. But he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just…family business things. My screw-up was a big problem that landed me in some hot water. How I fix this will determine what my brothers think of me.”My face softened at his words. “That sounds like a lot of pressure.”“That is correct,” he managed, staring off into some part of the room. It seemed to be bugging him, and it made me feel bad.I didn’t know how he managed to make me sympathize with him so easily, yet I just couldn’t help it. Despite how strange our circumsta
Something flickered in her eyes as she waited for an answer, seemingly vibrating with anticipation.For some unknown reason, a part of me didn’t want to tell her the truth lest she think I was some sort of monster, someone who couldn’t wait to shoot at any given time.I wasn’t some bloodthirsty goon, but I had taken my fair share of lives for my family. I couldn’t hide from that fact.“Yes,” I managed to get out, gauging Aria’s expression. “None were senseless. Everything I’ve ever done has been to protect my family, and if anyone gets in the way of that, we have our means of dealing with it.”Aria swallowed hard, studying my face closely. While she had tensed at my answer, she eased back into place. “That sounds like a difficult thing to stomach.”“It can be,” I said with a sigh, thinking back to the lives I had claimed, and the ones my brothers had taken as well. “But in the moment, when your brothers’ lives are on the line, it’s easy to forget you’re all human and fighting that sam
RomanTwo Weeks LaterIt had been a long day of work, and all I wanted was to become one with the couch.Having swapped my usual attire for comfortable joggers and a black tee, I was more than ready to forget about everything else. I walked into the living room, not surprised to see Aria already curled up on the couch and balancing the laptop on the side of her propped leg. She was completely focused on the screen, lost in her writing.She had come out of her shell a bit more in the few weeks that had passed, straying from the guest bedroom to linger in the living room. The laptop was never far, which was a relief. I was glad to see her getting good use out of it, even if she had been reluctant to at first.My attention went straight to the lavender sleep set that clung to her curves and accentuated her skin beautifully. The thin straps left little to the imagination, but I wasn’t prepared to complain about it. Half of her dark hair was held up with a clip, leaving her looking comfor
Aria That struck me harder than seeing all those bags on the floor.Immediately, guilt swam in my chest. I didn’t want to let that money go to waste, but it felt strange to accept. My financial struggles and difficult relationship with money made me consider how devastating it would be to let all those things go to waste due to my pride.I didn’t come from much and fighting every day to have enough in my account to cover everything had always been my reality.The thought of the laptop being tossed because of my inability to accept the gift made my stomach turn.Finally wrangling my mind into giving in, I sighed and hooked a finger around the handles. “It’s really too much, you know. Especially the laptop.”Roman chuckled to himself and leaned against the counter behind him, long legs crossed. He looked even more intoxicating than the day prior.“You seem keen on writing. Focus on that for now while I fix the mistake I made. And I won’t hear any complaints about it.”The sincerity in
AriaSunlight warmed the bedsheets while I lay there, staring up at the ceiling.I slept better than expected, and I quickly chalked that up to the bed being far more luxurious than anything I had experienced before. The guest bedroom was leagues better than any of the rooms I had in the past, and I couldn’t help but linger beneath those silk sheets.Plus, I was delaying the inevitable. Part of me didn’t want to get up and face my accidental captor. I didn’t know what to do or what to say.Thank you for the comfortable bed? And for choosing not to kill me?The thought of eating breakfast near him was unbearable, even if he was easy on the eyes.All of it made my skin crawl, and staying in bed was enough of a bandage to keep me there.Once my bladder was too full to ignore, I eventually hauled myself out of bed and made my way to the ensuite. It was ridiculously nice as well and was certainly the most extravagant place I had ever done my business in.Wiping the sleep from my eyes as I
Roman Our brother tipped his head in acknowledgment. I wouldn’t be surprised if he already had that information in the works.“Very well,” Nikolai said, downing the rest of his whiskey. The weary look dissipated from his eyes. “If you feel that is the best way to handle it, then I trust you know what you’re doing. But remember these words. Don’t make matters worse for yourself.”My brows furrowed, not understanding what he meant by it.“Keep to yourself. She might be your unexpected guest for a little while, but don’t let yourself get attached. Letting her become something to be used against you would be your undoing.”A crack of something hot moved through my chest as I took offense at his warning. I wasn’t one to get attached. The prospect of relationships and feelings was a natural deterrent for me, and I had no desire to find myself in such a position. My brothers knew that. Surely he was mistaken.Pushing through that slight irritation, as it felt like Nikolai had no faith in m