My head slams into something hard on descent, stirring me awake. I moan at the pain, but my voice is muffled, my lips dried and hurt around a foul tasting piece of cloth.A gag.My vision is tinged with darkness and my air filtered as I breathe in deeply. It takes a moment to realize the darkness is a hood over my head and my legs and hands have been bound, skin chafed raw from restraints.I kick, frustrated, screaming into the gag, rolling and hitting into anything I can feel around me, but I only end up hurting myself. I instantly recognize the steady hum of aircraft and engines that drowns out the sound my assault, and my blood runs cold.Where am I being taken? I knew freaking out wouldn’t help but being somewhere in the skies, literally anywhere right now, in the entire world, doesn’t exactly calm my nerves.How long have I been out and who took me? Was it the enemies Rizzi spoke of?Was it Jaxon?Every hum, every shift of the engines sets my nerves on edge. My heart is pounding
“H-home?” My breath lodges in my throat, and for the first time, I notice the woman standing behind, speaking in hush tones into her cellphone. Waves of full red hair falls over the back of a black long dress and her arms drop, her body tilting to face me fully. Icy dread pours through my veins, turning my blood to frost as the world around me closes in on the click of red heels and equally red smile. A crushing weight presses down on my chest and the nauseating stench of wrongly layered perfume suffocates me. A hand comes down on my hair, running down my face and I curl back, my ass hitting the floor and my heels scraping against stone. “N-no. Get away from me!”Valentina gives an order and I am set back on my knees roughly, my head pushed down until my lips brush against Morwenna’s feet.“I’ve been looking for you, Susanna,” Morwenna says with faux worry, her hands threading lovingly through my hair. “Why do you do this to me? Do you have any idea how worried Jax is? How could yo
Two months later...The water in the tin can is drugged. I reach for it and drink every last drop of it. It hits the ground with a loud clank and I slump against the cold metal wall.Mice squeak as they scurry past my bare feet, biting, nibbling. I barely feel it as a numbing cold spreads through my fingers and toes, fatigue drenching into my very bones.I welcome it, chasing after the usual fog that comes over my mind after consuming the sedatives. But it never comes swiftly, and I can hear the usual shuffling of feet coming down the dark path leading to my cell.My eyelids droop slowly and I drift for mere seconds before a feminine voice, sharp and wicked, cuts through the haze temporarily. “Nothing still?”“No,” the new guard who’s been positioned outside my cell responds. It might have been days or weeks since the last one was replaced. At some point when I was thrown in here, I kept tabs on how long the shifts lasted. I don’t know why I had bothered hoping. For escape. For him t
I kick my feet forward and wicked hands grab my calves, pushing them back until my ankles are secured as well, my legs spread so far apart, my thighs cramp.Testing the restraints and finding them unmovable only has wild panic flaring in my blood.The beatings, I could take. Being kicked around, used and abused...I would back fight until I was knocked out or thoroughly overpowered. But being restrained like this, unable to lash out and protect myself for however long it takes to shield my mind from the depravities about to be unleashed on me...it would be the end of me. The end of my will and strength. It might truly break me.“Please.” It is more a desperate snarl than a plea as the guards exit the room. “Please!”A velvety smooth chuckle runs along my spine, snapping my attention from the door to the lone figure approaching me. White suit. Smooth lines. Clean. Empty blue eyes. Fear closes around me like a fist, whole, dominating, absolute. My bladder loosens slightly as the light k
On some days, the burden of the guilt is too heavy to lift. On those days, the pipe is never too far, filling my lungs and head with oblivion. He would discover it soon, my sin. And he would punish me for it. I often wondered if it would be a shot to the head, like he’d killed Mario for touching her, or if it would be slow and painful, like the deaths of the men he already has rotting in his basement for abducting her in the first place.Of course, I had to kill them when he left. I couldn’t risk them giving him my name, not when I knew Zefiro Visconti was the devil that never forgave. I might be his wife, but there were lines we Italians didn’t toe with each other.Lovers and wives were targets during the power wars, but everyone knew touching a single hair on the women’s heads wasn’t just a crime. It was a sin. There would be no forgiveness. Blood would call for blood, and the only way Zefiro wouldn’t have me chopped in pieces for what I have done is if I killed him.When I was yo
There were no more beatings, the crack of the belts and whips on my skin necessary only during coitus. There were options. Safe words. I never uttered them. Jaxon didn’t want me to, anyway.I never fought him, never spoke back. There was no need to. He’d given me everything I no longer deserved. I was reduced to the status of inhuman, degraded to something lower than an animal, but he still lost himself between my legs, told me that he loved me.I believed him.Sometimes, when I sleep, my mind conjures images of a different time. Of a different man. A darkness to Jaxon’s blonde, and eyes that were not nearly of this world. But when I wake up, those memories slip through my fingers.I let them, because they are worth nothing.He didn’t come for me. Jaxon did. Jaxon broke me, but he’d saved me. So, I made myself forget him, his name, his smell, his touch. It was the only way I could love my husband again, and truly appreciate him.Still, I couldn’t part with the ring. Couldn’t chunk it
“You’re a long way from home, Visconti,” Jaxon says, his voice smooth but unmistakably hostile. His fingers flex on my thighs, parting them wider as he grips hard, a deliberate move because of the man at the table’s head whose gaze washes over me like honey on skin. “Most find the climate in Moscow harsh and the streets hostile. In truth, I had hoped you might get mugged to death in the streets, but it’s not too late, I assume.”I don’t flinch or look, but I hear the smile in Zefiro’s voice as he responds, “Your message was well received, though, I can’t say the same for your mercenary.” An amused glance to the left--I have no idea when my gaze drifted to his beautiful face--and Mr. Visconti’s man...another face that brings me memories and a little bit of relief, brings forward a bloodied man, beaten beyond recognition and limping on both broken legs. His ripped up suit marks him as one of ours, and his eyes turn pleading once they land on Jaxon and me. The demon at the table’s head
Zefiro tsks. “Shame. A year, then.”El Diablo pushes his cash forward as well, hopping on the bargain, and the look Jaxon levels him is one that promises death. But he isn’t the only. Jaxon has left every man salivating with need after me and they’ll bargain for their pound of flesh, fight for it even.“One night,” he growls. “That’s my only offer.”Some men nod, delighted enough that they get a taste of my flesh for just one night. Surprisingly, Alexei concedes, his attention returning to his cellphone, like he’d only chirped in to force Jaxon’s hand.Zefiro, however, isn’t through. “I’ll win, but I’ll let you keep this if you give her to me for a month.”His eyes flick to the cash laid out in the briefcase I hadn’t noticed beside him until now. It’s the largest briefcase I’ve laid eyes on, and I’ve never seen so much money in my life. Millions of euros, I’m sure. Maybe even tens of it. Could be more.Why bother, I think. Why bother spending so much for some public pussy, just for a
Alessandro There’s a woman by the bar. A friend of Susanna’s, I suppose. Nice tits in that golden silk dress, jade green eyes that seem haunted, yet alive in a strange way, a trim waist and a dip in her hip. Usually, I hated those. But she’d turned slightly and I had been graced with a fucking boner when I caught sight of her ass.Round and fat. Fuck.And then, she’d opened her mouth and sang for Susanna. While everyone around me had been held captive by a voice that didn’t quite belong in this world.My mood had gone from zero to a thousand. A steady bitterness coated my tongue at the sight of Visconti’s tongue down Susanna’s throat, while my sister rotted in the hell of his choosing, the guilt and hatred eating me alive. I wanted to have even a taste of the sweetness Zefiro had in his life. Wanted to have his wife and his son. Wanted to have his power and his lack of fear. Wanted to be the mother fucker.And a little dainty thing had walked past my line of sight and distracted
Zefiro Eighteen months laterThe spoon smacks back. Soup hits me square in the cheek, thick and warm, sliding down my white shirt.Silence.Golden-hazel eyes blink up at me, wide and innocent. Then, a delighted squeal. “Fa-fa!”Nonna laughs, reaching down to pluck Dominic from his high chair. I wipe my face with the back of my hand, scowling, while she presses a kiss to his chubby cheek, murmuring, “Stellino mio.” My little star.I wonder what that makes me. Everyone has forsaken me for the little shit.Even Susanna calls our boy her greatest love, giving him most of her time, kisses and affection. It’s been nine months since she delivered, and due to the difficulty of her delivery and the severe degree of tears and trauma, the doctor advised strongly against…penetration.I understand this. I refuse to let her cajole me into ripping more of her stitches, but it doesn’t mean I don’t get jealous when Dominic has his lips latched around her nipples, blinking up at me with eyes too
He says nothing as he carries me inside. I spot Fabian and Erica pressed against one of the stone gargoyles, kissing like they’re about to rip each other apart.I look away quickly, swallowing the longing in my gut. “You have been avoiding me.”His eyes flick to mine briefly and his throat works slightly. “I’ve been occupied.”“You’ve been sneaking out of your bedroom before I wake,” I counter as he walks us through the crowded hallways of his mansion. His lips press together. His ears go slightly red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”I sigh, looping my arms around his neck as he ascends the stairs. “I know you’re still mad at me, but you can’t ignore me forever.”He doesn’t answer.“What do I have to do to get you to forgive me?”His gorgeous eyes slant at me suspiciously, but he stays silent. When we reach his bedroom, he sets me down gently on the bed. “You should rest. The party will go on past midnight, and I have business to attend—”“It’s our wedding night.”His eyes
My feet ache from being passed from one dance partner to another, and I lean against the table, swirling the orange juice in my glass. No alcohol for me—not tonight. Not for the baby, though. No, someone’s just terrified I’ll get wasted and take advantage of him again on our wedding night.Erica, on the other hand, is drinking like she’s trying to drown in it. Has everything to do with the fact that she just found out her boyfriend is… well, in the Mafia.“Lying, unfortunate dick,” she mutters, glaring at him as a cluster of women simper and paw at his expensive suit and pretty face. “Said his dad was Italian, his mom was French. That he’d only ever stepped foot in Italy last year to visit his father, since they had a terrible relationship. And I believed him. How the hell am I supposed to believe anything else that comes out of that beautiful mouth?”I bite my cheek to keep from laughing. “So, his mouth is still beautiful?”Her cherry lips twist into a sneer. “No.” A pause. A glance
I don’t have my mother or father to walk me down the aisle, but I don’t do it alone. I clutch Rizzi’s arm like a lifeline, nails digging into the expensive black fabric of his suit as we step past the arched hallway and into the garden. My pulse is a runaway train, my stomach in knots that have knots, and my heels suddenly feel two inches taller.“Is it the nerves or the dress?”My nails dig into his black suit and I try to force down more floral coated air. The yard stretches out before us, decorated in wild flowers, vines and lush greenery, the shaded walk way covered in rose petals path draped unraveling under my feet. My train catches, sweeping across the floors and soft ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ fill the air as we close in on last row of white Chiavari seats.“Both?”“If it makes you feel any better, I was too.”An ugly snort slips past my lips before I can stop it, loud enough to make even the pianist flinch. Christ. "They must think I’m a mess."Rizzi taps the back of my hand, a smirk t
I’m shown to a bedroom beside Mrs. Della Rocca’s, and I barely have a moment’s peace before I’m assaulted by an army of designers.Dress fittings. Jewelry selections. Shoes. Flowers. Colors. Styles. Over and over again, until it finally dawns on me.I’m getting married. Again.The first had been nothing at all like this. There hadn’t been any arrangements made prior and I didn’t have a choice in a single thing. Now, I am consulted about every detail. The colors for the wedding and reception dresses, as well as the designs. The jewelry—Grandmother suggested I wear something of the family heirloom when I found everything I was shown to be more than exaggerated. Shoes. The type of flowers to be used for the decoration of the yard and halls, since we’d decided on a classic romantic garden theme.Not we. His grandmother did with such glee, I couldn’t say no.I often found myself wondering if Zefiro wanted a romantic wedding. If he even had a care in the world left for me at all. Then I’d b
Zefiro doesn’t take the envelope. Doesn’t even look at it. And for a second—maybe longer—I panic.“I’m twelve weeks.” My voice is hoarse, shaky. “I—I didn’t know. Not at first. Thought it was just the stress from exams, my shitty diet, my lack of sleep. But when I couldn’t keep food down, Fabian dragged me to the doctor, thinking I had the flu, and…”My words taper off into nothing as Zefiro takes a slow step back, then another, before sinking into his chair. He drags both hands over his face, through his hair, down again. Lets out a shuddering breath.“There’s a deal with the Chicago Outfit.” His voice is quiet, almost to himself. “This changes everything.”And then, he’s peering at me with a well -guarded, well-controlled expression. His eyes flick down once to my belly, and his nostrils flare. “Do you want it?”It is phrased like a casual question, but I see it for what it is. Another choice. The last choice I’ll ever likely make when it comes to whatever is left of us. And because
I went through day after day like a wraith. And before I could tell, a month had passed since the encounter. By the end of October, I have succeeded in not only failing every class woefully, but getting enough concern to get enrolled for counseling.November is the longest month. I can’t bring myself to do anything but breathe, bathe, eat, sleep and cry. By the month’s end, my clothes begin hanging off my frame awkwardly and my appetite is as dead as I feel inside.I stop calling him and leaving messages. I wouldn’t forgive me either had I been in his shoes.The loud banging on my front door rouses me from tired sleep, but I have no strength in my limbs to answer it. I draw the covers over my face and nestle back into the pillows.My room door slamming open startles me and I turn slowly at Erica’s remark. “It’s a pig’s sty in here.”The covers are thrown off my body and I voice my protest as larger arms yank me off the bed. “Put me down,” I whimper as Fabian takes me to the bathroom a
The memories return to me in bits over the next few weeks, fueling my need to see him. To explain. To apologize. To plead. But he never returned to London, and it took an embarrassing amount of time to realize why.As the owner, it was only normal that he attended the opening ceremony. The woman who had been perched on his shoulder that night is Diana Moreau, and she will be managing Oblio Nero. He has no reason to be here, when he has other engagements elsewhere.I wasn’t enough reason for him to stay. Not anymore. Because I’ve gone and ruined everything. Again.“I can’t have children!” The words rip from my throat like something jagged and raw, something torn straight from the center of my being. I hadn’t known for a long time. Not until a couple of years into my marriage with Jaxon. He’d returned home one night, drunk and angry. I was ill and didn’t feel like being subjected to his rage. I refused and the beating had been so bad, I’d broken a rib.He’d taken me to the hospital in b