CELINE HERRERA POV "Xavier" I called, refusing to believe that I was staring at Belshar. Where the hell was I? Raising my hand, I rubbed at my eyes and when I opened them, my spine went rigid when it was still him sitting right in front of me "Yes, it's me Belshar. You do not have to look so shocked," he rumbled, his deep voice causing tremors to race up my spine as I jerked my gaze from his. The room I was in was huge and unfamiliar. Was he going to kill me? How could I have messed everything up so badly? The plan had been to run into him, pretend that I couldn't remember who I was and that I'd just woken up to find myself at Atlas and was barely getting by all by myself, but I'd gone to blurt out his name the moment I laid eyes on him.I probably also gave myself away by reacting too vividly when he mentioned Xavier's name. But I'd been so out of it with fear when I couldn't reach Xavier, I'd just reacted and even now, I couldn't help but wonder if he was still alive. He hadn't a
XAVIER POV"You shouldn't have let her go. You should have made her yours when you had the chance," David said, and I glanced at him before lifting the glass of wine to my lips."I could have, you are right, but I didn't," I said and took a sip of the hard drink, but it didn't quite take away the ache in my chest. I glanced at David who stood watching me, the grim look of disappointment in his eyes glaring. "Do you want to know why"He clenched his fist and moved a step forward as if he wanted to punch me, then thought better of it."Because you've grown weaker. You and Belshar, Celine make you both weak, and you can't fucking see it. We were good, we had our own territory, and we ruled like kings before you learned about her, and then everything came crashing down. We are on the run like fucking fugitives and the only pawn we had to protect ourselves, you let her go without a second thought. You had her, and not once did you touch her, even when you knew she wanted you. What did you
CELINE HERRERA POV Belshar was going to fucking kill me if I didn't find a way to end him first and as he let go of me to pace the room and punch at the wall until blood seeped down his hand, I couldn't help but watch him with bated breath, my lips tingling and throbbing."Are you in love with Xavier? Is that why you left with him," he asked, his hand grazing through his hair in agitation."I don't know what you are talking about," I said, and he turned to face me, looking calm and collected, but I could see the pain in his eyes, and it made my heart twist viciously beneath my ribs. Why did his pain hurt me this way?"Tell me the truth, Celine. I know you hate me because of everything I did to you in the past but it's different now. I know why you refused to tell me about Crystal; you didn't want me to hate her; you wanted to protect her till the very end. I know you didn't push Crystal off that building, Celine. You were telling me the truth and I refused to acknowledge it. I treate
BELSHAR NESSAR ABED POV I watched her run, my heart burning darkly. I'd wanted to test her, to see if she was going to stay with me even if she saw an opportunity to escape, but I should have known she was going to run. No one wanted to stay by a fucking monster anyway, but that didn't mean I was going to let her go. Celine was mine and I refused to let her leave me. I already lost her twice, to lose her a third time was a call for insanity. I thought that she was starting to warm up to me, especially since she'd been a bit more agreeable than she was before. I should have known better. She was just waiting for a chance to go back to him, and no matter how much I racked my brain, I just couldn't understand why she would want to be with Xavier.But I noticed something strange, though; Celine was totally convinced that I'd been the one to arrange for her to be kidnapped and killed off and that I was just pretending not to know about it because I wanted to mess with her head. She was
CELINE HERRERA POV I expected Belshar to fall flat on his face, unconscious. Instead, he turned, totally steady on his feet, and snarled at me as he rubbed at the back of his head while I stood there clutching at the wood in my hand. "That was a mistake, Celine" he rasped darkly, the dark intentions in his eyes glaring.I panicked and swung back the wood, but he didn't wait for it to connect; he lunged at me, his hand hitting the wood out of my hand. The branch flew out of my hands, and Belshar slammed down on me like a brick wall, sending us both crashing to the floor.I groaned, clenching my eyes as branches and roots dug into my back, making me gasp at the pain.I shouldn't have attacked him, but everything had hurt, and I couldn't breathe. Then I had cut my foot on something, and I knew running was only going to get it worse, so I'd decided it was either fight or get caught. I should’ve known I could never win a fight against him.Belshar growled as he planted his hands on eit
CELINE HERRERA POV I stretched out my hand, presenting to him my wrist, and watched as he pushed the looped rope through my hand to my wrist, and then pulled at it sharply. I let out a sharp gasp as the rope tightened, my gaze jumping to those of Belshar's intense ones. "Now let's get you cleaned up; your hair is a mess," he said, carried me up, and went into the bathroom. He gently dropped me into the bathtub that had already been filled up, the water warm and soothing against my cold skin, and I stared at him; because of everything I expected, this was not it. What was he up to? What was he going to do?I watched, my mouth going dry as he started to undress, the ripple of his muscle as he took off each piece of clothing mesmerizing, and when he undid his belt and tugged down his pants, I looked away, heat flooding my cheek because even though I had turned my head, I'd gotten a glimpse of just how big he was, and how hard, and how beautiful. "Stop it," I blurted out, then raised m
DELIA HERRERA POV "I want my money back," I said, and Kail looked up at me from his phone, a bored expression on his face."I do not have it," he replied nonchalantly, then grinned, and for a second, I had to take in a deep breath so I didn't explode. "Don't fucking mess with me Kail, even if you are the most feared killer in the world, I will fucking destroy you" He stood up all of a sudden and I backed up as he towered over me. The look on his face was psychotic."Do not fucking threaten me, Delia. You should learn to read the room and realize that I am a minute away from bringing out a dagger and slicing that pretty throat of yours" he grinned, his eyes flashing.I glanced at his fist clenching by his side but there was no other weapon in sight. "If you hurt me, you won't get away with it," I said, trying to sound brave.He reacted by throwing his fist in my face, stopping a second before it connected with my nose and I stood there, my hand staying uselessly by my side because h
DELIA HERRERA POV "Delia," someone called, and I turned in the direction of the voice. Bella was standing there and as I took in her appearance and the look on her face, it didn't look like she was here by chance. "What a surprise running into you here. Such a small world isn't it" I forced a smile. "You are absolutely right, but just so you know, I usually do not frequent such dingy places, but I came here to eat once and the food was so good, it became one of my favorite places to come when I am having a bad day""You're having a bad day? And here I was thinking that you came here to celebrate your sister being found after she was declared dead," she said, and my fake smile stretched."What can I do if the world doesn't revolve around Celine Herrera? There have been some troubles at the company. I needed a break from all the toxicity"She nodded as if she understood me. "Of course. Making money should always be our priority, and if the business is experiencing bad marketing, you s
KAIL NESSAR ABED POV "Victor stakov" the man gasped, blood spurting from his mouth. "It was Victor Stakov," he shouted, then screamed when I pressed the branding rod against his skin.The sizzling sound and the smell of burning flesh filled the room, everything mingling to create an atmosphere charged with an intensity that made my blood surge through my veins as if I were riding out a high God I missed this. How long had it been since I last tortured anyone? I'd made a lot of coffee and cakes to keep myself occupied but it was always so monotonous. It got boring too. This. This was exactly what I needed. Dropping the rod onto the burning coal, I raked my hand through my hair and stared down at the man on the table. His body was covered with my brand, his skin bruised and burnt.It was a work of art, really, but there were still some spaces that I hadn't marked, and my fingers itched to pick up the rod and fill it up."Please" he gasped, spitting out more blood. "Don't kill me. I
BELSHAR NESSAR ABED POV My heart was in my throat. Fuck! I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. I was speeding through the highway but I didn't care. I should have known that something like this was going to happen. "Argh" I roared, my hand clenching on the steering wheel. "I'm going to make you pay bastard"Just how was Celine feeling right now? My heart raced with every terrible scenario, Fear clawing at my chest, its icy grip suffocating me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't fucking wrap my mind around the fact that she had almost been hurt.I watched it all happen too.I veered off the road, my tires screeching as I turned a sharp corner. Kail's cafe loomed in the distance.When I arrived at the spot, I noticed that the car the hitmen had used was still parked out front. The windows were shattered and bullet holes riddled the door. My hands trembled, the rage in my chest suffocating. The guards were still standing around. Their greeting went unheard as the roaring
CELINE HERRERA POV Belshar still wasn't saying anything. Anytime I got a picture, I asked him about his day, hoping that he was going to tell me about the girl and why he was meeting up with her but each time I asked, he just told me how work went and how boring everything was while skipping out the most important thing I wanted to know about.There were six pictures so far, and I was starting to get angry. It all came with messages too. Messages that ruined my day every time I thought of them.Was it a reporter sending the images? Are they going to call soon to demand money or threaten to release the picture?They probably wouldn't, especially since the photos were not that incriminating.The most intimate one was the first picture I got and that was because the lady had been in a bathing suit.I dragged my finger through my hair and then sighed. "Should I just ask Belshar about it?" We had real enemies to worry about, so why was I allowing this to chip away at me? What was I so af
VICTOR STAKOV "I don't think our plan is going to work out, "Gabby got out as she strode toward my desk. "No, I know it is not going to," she said, stopping in front of me. She leaned toward me, her hands slamming down hard to get my attention. "Belshar is being very difficult"I glanced up from the laptop in front of me and then flipped it close when she arched a brow. Exhaling roughly, I inched close to her. "How many times are we going to go over this, Gabby""As many times I meet up with him and he ignores my very existence"I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Give it time, it's going to work. You're just too impatient for your own good""No, that's not the case this time. It's been two weeks. Two weeks of trying my damned best to get his attention. We've met a total of six times and I am still not close to getting his attention as at the start""You told me he spoke with you the last time you pretended to run into him at a conference""He also spoke to other women there," Gabby s
CELINE HERRERA POV "What's wrong. You look pale" Victoria noticed, her eyes flaring in concern.I shook my head and dropped my phone. "Nothing, I just got a message from Belshar that's all. I think he will be home late today""You don't have to look so sad just because he's staying out, I am here to keep you company am I not"I forced a smile. "Yeah, but you're not Belshar"She rolled her eyes. "I don't know what I do at this job of mine. I'm just getting paid for doing nothing""Isn't that the dream job?"She grinned. "It is, but sometimes I need to feel the adrenaline from working hard at something"I shook my head. "You are so weird," I said, then reached for the fruit and popped one into my mouth. It didn't taste good, not with the image I'd seen replaying in my head over and over again.Why had he gone to the beach? What was he doing with her?Did they know each other from before? He hadn't even looked at her at the restaurant. Was that all a facade?God, my brain hurts just thi
CELINE HERRERA POV "I think Kail is stalking me," Karen said and I glanced up at her. "What?""I don't know Celine... I feel like I've been running into him a lot lately""Define a lot""Like every day of this past week. He runs a cafe so how is that even possible? Just how much time does he have to be going around like that, and that too everywhere I go? We don't have the same bloody schedule." She turned to face me, her back resting against the railings. "Do you think I am being paranoid""No, I don't think so," I said since it was Kail we were talking about. Just because he turned a new leave and was acting like a saint now didn't mean that he hadn't once been the epitome of all things evil. Also, I'd noticed the way his gaze had been on Karen the last time we were at his cafe. He'd stared at her as if he was trying to see into her soul.Karen pushed away from the railing. "Should I be worried? I can't imagine what he could want from me""I think he likes you," Victoria chipped i
BELSHAR NESSAR ABED POV"Do you have anything to report?" I asked Christian. The words that Victor had said to me a week ago rang in my head, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. It had been a threat. Was he going to target my wife? My fist clenched. "There is nothing so far. All Victor does is work and attend conference meetings. He's been creating a network for his business that has started to work from how much progress he made this week, but rest assured, all eyes are on him"Was that what he was hoping for? For all of my attention to be on him while he worked in the shadows to strike those closest to me."I want you to plant a mole in his mansion. I need to know what goes on when he's alone in his house.""Already working on that. We'll have inside information soon.""Celine has been home for a while now, but she's going to get bored as time goes on, so assign more bodyguards to her whenever she gets the urge to go out""Yes boss"I let out a rough exhale, then glanced up at Chris
CELINE HERRERA POV I was out with Belshar, and the Sky looked so blue that I couldn't help but feel a little thrill as I gazed up at it."Nice weather, huh?" he asked as he took my hand in his.I nodded. "It's really nice""We just have to walk for a few minutes and we'll be at the restaurant. The doctor said you need to walk more than you already do""Do we have to do everything he says"He grinned. "We don't want to give that man a heart attack, so let's just follow his advice, okay? He worries over you more than I do"I chuckled. "True. Off we go then," I said, and we started to walk.The street was a lot quieter than usual, and all of a sudden, I couldn't help but think if a hitman was lurking in the shadow, waiting to get a perfect angle and take us out.It was all because of Victor Stakov. That was the name of the man who was threatening to destroy the peaceful happiness that I and Belshar currently shared. It was unfair. Belshar said he had eyes on him and that the man only s
CELINE HERRERA POV "You look exhausted," I said as I hugged Belshar. His scent was intoxicating, and I inhaled it greedily. His arms tightened around me."I missed you so much" he murmured against my hair, the sound of his voice resonating deep within me."Is that why you're back so early" I grinned. "I was sure you'd be another four hours""I couldn't breathe for that long without you," he said, his strong hands gliding down my back and sending delicious waves of pleasure through my skin."Oh yeah," I moaned, enjoying the feeling, but there was something off. I pulled back to examine his face.Belshar looked down at me and as I stared at him, he leaned close and tried to press his lips against mine. I moved my head back, evading his kiss as I noticed the worry in his eyes. He looked anxious too, as if there was something heavy weighing on his mind."What's wrong" I asked when he made no more move to kiss me. "Did something happen at work"He shook his head, then let go of me. "It wa