Isabella I stretched my blissfully sore body against the comforting warmth of Damon's body. The man had barely let me sleep last night. He started out worried that he would hurt me because of his newfound strength. "I think the strength would make things better," I said, feeling a smile on my mouth. "The strength did make things better," I thought to myself as my hand spread across the plane of his chest over his tattoo. The tattoo was of a floating skull with thorns coming out of the eye socket and the hole for the ears. It was truly an interesting depiction, I thought to myself, and started to flick his nipple until he woke up. The part that woke up, however, was his dick, not him, making me laugh and lightly smack at him until his eyes fluttered open. "Am I not going to see this Roman?" I asked, wondering when we would go. "Eventually," he mumbled as he grabbed my waist and flipped me over until my back was on the bed and his head was somehow on my breasts. His arms had cage
Isabella He first looked deep in thought. But then Roman’s smile widened with each thing I said until his face was stretched into a full-on grin. "My father spoke of your dad as a man capable of seeing through people. It appears you have emulated his character to a fault. I never met Marcel. I heard his unusual kindness cost him everything. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with kindness, but there's everything wrong with softness in this line of work. Take a look at the current King. He's a hard man, scary. In my opinion, he's a brute. He rules with brute strength, force, and fear. I must confess, the man is truly a force to be reckoned with. He has no weaknesses. I've tried to find where his base is located, but I can't. I don't even know what he looks like underneath the mask. So, instead of trying to find out that, I chose to chip away at his empire. But even as it's done, the only thing I'm able to keep is the harbor. I'm left with pocket change that is very much a far cr
Isabella "Now I just feel like you're patronizing me," Damon said as he laughed softly. "I'll be done here in about 30 minutes. Wait for me." I nodded my head, and when I turned to leave, Damon smacked me on the ass, earning a few whistles and catcalls from the men. I couldn't help the way my cheeks flooded with blood as I laughed. Even though I tried to walk with even steps, I still felt embarrassed. *** Damon sat in my room, having breakfast while I waited, nibbling on a piece of strawberry. The reddish juice had already stained my fingers from eating so much, but I was bored waiting for him. Finally, he finished after what felt like an eternity and smirked at me. "When is the next meeting?" I asked. "We have meetings every two weeks. Sometimes, if there's no order of business, it could last a month before we have any. But I called for another one in two weeks." "So I have two weeks before we figure out whatever the hell is going on," I said, and he grunted in response. "Is t
Damon I stepped on the gas, driving as fast as I could to the hospital that Alessandro had told me about. Without wasting much time, I parked the car and we made our way inside. It looked the same, eerily so, but the man behind the counter was different. "Are you his family?" the doctor asked as we stood waiting in the ICU. "Yes," Isabella said. "What happened?" she asked, turning to face the doctor. "He has been stabbed multiple times," the doctor said plainly. "His vital organs were slightly damaged but redeemable. The rest was mostly blood loss. That's why we didn't spend so long in surgery," the doctor added, as though he wanted to pat himself on the back. Andrew looked fragile. A tube was in his mouth, an oxygen feeder in his nose, delivering air directly to his lungs. His chest was open and stuck with as many monitors as possible, connected by wires to various beeping machines. His eyes were closed, his chest moved up and down steadily with each breath he took. Isabella s
Damon The wait for Miguel and Jacques to come back was grueling. I would have preferred that Valentino wouldn't have been the one to stab the one he called friend, but whatever we were presented with, we would take. Most of the men had left the room, leaving just a handful of us. Finally, I heard the footsteps of the two men, and when they came into the room, I breathed a sigh of relief. Jacques opened his sketchpad to reveal different drawings of Valentino from different angles. It also captured his face in many negative emotions that ranged from sadness to anger. Finally, he flipped open a page. "Don't mind those ones," he said. "I was just getting angles of what Valentino looks like from different perspectives... We don't need to know about that right now." The Frenchman smiled, knowing that I had caught him. "Forgive me," he said sheepishly. He flipped several pages and revealed a startling scene: Valentino crouched over Andrew, who was already bleeding. Valentino's hands
Damon "Let's go. I've heard what I need to hear," I said and resumed the walk back to the helicopter. "What now?" "I need to make a few calls to Rome." Just as I was talking, I received a phone call. "Martino," I said, recognizing the caller ID. "There's a problem, King," Martino said nervously. "Valentino made some calls. He's closing in on me. I don't know why. He's shutting down some of my businesses." "Come," I said. "Come where?" "Come to the city. You've spent long enough. Before he takes everything you have, consolidate, liquidate, and come here. I'll figure out a place for you." I hung up after that. "Why do you offer him a place here?" "Because he deserves something. He's balanced on the edge from Valentino's side to mine. Besides, those he considered enemies have long since been destroyed. Martinez is dead, and Revaldi is on our side. There's no need for bad blood to continue. I'm sure he'll fit in just right." "Do you intend to put him on the council?" "Maybe. It
Isabella "So what are you saying? Do you mean that he would literally be walking around as my friend as we speak? But why?" I leaned up and sat. "Why would he do this?" Damon stayed lying down but moved to his back. "I was hoping you would tell me that." I shook my head. "I can only see. I only have permission. I don't know what people are thinking. It would be nice if one of your men had that ability." Damon suddenly started laughing. "There is. But this happened before… Michael left before he discovered it." I debated whether to tell Paula about it, but I didn't think it would be wise. I leaned back down and put my head on Damon's chest. His steady heartbeat began to comfort me. Just as I was beginning to fall asleep again, I heard the pesky sound of his phone vibrating in his pocket. "I'm sorry, bird," he said with a laugh when I smacked his chest. "Is it that bad?" he said slowly. "Give me a moment. I'll send you some help." I peeked at him from my lashes and blinked, al
Isabella "But not now," he said after pulling away from the kiss, leaving me cold. "I understand. We definitely need to resolve this issue with Valentino and Martinez. But Damon… I'm so happy. This means so much to me." I couldn't help the flood of tears that gathered in my eyes. He let them fall before wiping them away with a kiss. He pulled me into a hug and began to rub my back soothingly as I continued to tear up on his shoulder. Hours later, after several more rounds of lovemaking, I stood in front of Paula's room, nervous and almost unable to knock. "It was just news," I told myself as I raised my hand for the umpteenth time. I dropped it again and began to pace in front of her room. Finally, the door opened to reveal Ted. "Come in, please," he said with a sheepish look on his face. I entered to find Paula coming out of the bathroom, dressed in a silk robe similar to mine. "Dude, you've been there for a while." "Couldn't sleep," she said with a laugh. Ted walked back towa