I searched my chest for everything that was missing, but it was too much. Things that had been stolen: my childhood, love, passion for life, and everything about happiness and hope. Hope... since when did holding onto hope become something dangerous for me?"Wakey, wakey." Someone woke me up. It was Gallena, with her brilliant voice that could annoy anyone.I looked at her with my irritated eyes.She looked at me innocently. "What? I just woke you up. It's already eight in the morning.""Well, you need to know that I'm not working today."It's Sunday. I've told everyone I will be lazing around, to which Mama replies that it's a good idea. Apparently, being lazy was the only thing she approved of rather than us choosing to be passionate or free. I honestly wanted the latter. Being in Demonio had always been a good idea. But my parents were still here, visiting a pointless party. I, on the other hand, couldn't do anything."Yeah, everyone already knows that." She threw her body onto my
His kiss was hard, like he always did, until it could break down whatever walls were inside of me. Piece by piece.His hands moved to my waist, and I realized I had no defense against him. Nobody makes me feel this way.With Nicholas, I was no longer trapped outside of time. My body was shivering with cold. Instead, I blazed a hell of longing and lust, fantasy and forbidden pleasures.I've never looked for myself. What I wished for and my hopes collapsed before my parents moved me. I realized that I couldn't do it, and I stopped wishing.And that scared me the most: I was so used to feeling empty that I didn't know how to fight. Fighting a man who somehow fits inside me like the second half of my soul.Even if he is the worst thing for me.Even if he threatens the stability, I find in other people.Nicholas didn't wait for my answer before moving his mouth along my jawline, his scent seducing me, his heat enthralling me, his spells entwined so tightly I was powerless against him.I ca
I'm starting to think this attraction is my punishment for him. This was karma. While he was touching me, I was expecting someone else, and that someone came in the form of my sister's fiancé.The rest of Sunday passed with nothing but humidity, cold air conditioning, and thoughts on my mind. Before him, I was a virgin, having never even kissed a man. The whole world of lust and sex was always there, but I didn't realize it until I stepped into a low-income apartment holding the hand of a man I barely knew.He knew White Princess. He didn't care, and that was all that mattered to me.When I walked out the door, with a broken chain lock and a cheap ring on my finger, as a different woman, with a red stain that I could never get rid of and a deeper, darker desire in my blood.You can't go back once you set foot into that hazy, mundane corner of the world. The clever part is that you don't even want to. I attributed this to my problems and accepted the small fact that I was losing my mi
"Don't play with him, Gretta." Baron's low warning voice sent chills down my spine.I took another shot of vodka before resting my head on the bartender's table. "Believe that's what I want." I closed my eyes, wincing when it came out of my mouth at a speed I didn't want.It wasn't like I didn't want to tell Baron about everything. I wanted to do that because he was the only one in my family who always understood me. I wanted nothing more than a friend to share stories with. He was already a safe person. But it was more challenging than I always thought. Shame and self-reproach would come. I was afraid of him judging me. That was the last thing I wanted. So I kept quiet, but with him clearly seeing Nicholas and me yesterday... my secret was no longer mine.Baron constantly warned me that I should avoid him with my utmost effort. It must not create any loopholes. Made me come to the conclusion that the danger I had thought about my sister's fiancé was underestimated. He was more danger
His kiss was different from the previous one. It is slow and gentle. His two hands cupped my face, rough hands with the shadow of blood caressing my skin so gently like I would be fragile."You want me." He whispers into my mouth."I don't," I lied. My chin lifted, and Nicholas narrowed his eyes, trying to understand whether I was telling the truth as my voice let out or lying through my sly little mouth.His gaze is directed upwards, and he grins at me before pulling my bottom lip down as he leans in. I stood, not moving as he closed the distance."Aren't you going to stop me?" He pondered softly, "or do you also want to go back to remembering what it was like?" His eyes flash with satisfaction, and when I make no move to stop him, he lowers his mouth to mine in a burning kiss. His tongue brushed, and I moaned and kissed him back. I want this. I want it.My face gets crushed between the huge hands, and I grip his jacket as he plunders my mouth and lies to submission. I couldn't refus
I hope what happened to me was just an annoying wet dream in the middle of the night. But that hope collapsed when I felt two strong hands hugging my stomach from behind. It's heavy and real.And while the disaster was him sleeping in my bed this morning, another disaster was that he was my sister's fiancé: this was the ultimate disaster. Something stupid I shouldn't have done. Even though I had heard Baron's advice, agreed that he was a danger and I had to stay away from him. But loook, the drops of vodka that flooded into my stomach had a worse plan.Shit, what should I do?I lay stiff on my own bed while my sister's fiancé slept so peacefully. His soft snoring breath hit the skin of my neck, our naked bodies still touching each other, and I could feel something between his thighs touching my buttocks cheek. My heart beats in an anxious, frantic rhythm, but there are so many mixed feelings that I just can't seem to put them down.A knock on my door interrupts my morning reverie, I
"You look like you just woke up after fucked up sex."I coughed up the mineral water that was still in my throat at Elena's comment.Though I've tried to cover up my messy appearance. Putting on a 'I'm in a good mood-just a fever' guise, but Elena somehow always had strong instincts. Plus, how could she come to that conclusion so directly? Did she see me and Nicholas last night?Gallena across from me snorted, “Stop teasing her, Elena. She is sick!" my twin can be supportive sometimes. Gal went back to eating her lunch without wanting to add to the argument."Well, no one believes it anyway." Elena said with an amused laugh. "The fragile Gretta is the White Princess who is always protected."I refrained from rolling my eyes, and restrained myself from denying it. Telling them that this White Princess is dirtier than them. Screwed my sister's fiancé, and has no regrets about it. But I chose to return to my food.I ignore whatever ramblings Elena has, whereas Gal often replies nonchalan
I sat on the edge of the bed, watching the first snow this month pouring through the balcony's glass doors. I stood up, walked forward to open the balcony door, and went out. Standing behind the iron fence and looking down. Our swimming pool was frozen over, there was a pile of snow on it, and the sight calmed me down a bit. There seems to be nothing to stand in the snowfall, the dropping temperature, and feel the serenity.I hugged myself, staying here even though the cold snow pricked like sharp little needles on my skin. It's nothing. The pain in my mind is more terrible, and it is nothing compared to standing under the falling snow in a light nightgown.I came out of Demonio with a weight lifted. Now, even I don't feel guilt or remorse after taking someone else's life. I know that the man I just killed is the most detestable. No one can deny that, but shouldn't I at least have some pity? However, maybe I have is no room for pity in my heart; nothing bothers me, and it's appropriat
Nicholas really took me away. It was a long trip because we were on a plane, and I only found out when the pilot told me where we were going."Spain?" I asked, looking at Nicholas sitting beside me with so much surprise.He nodded. "Put your seatbelt on, baby."I shook my head. "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to go back."Nicholas shook his head with a frown on his forehead. "I'm sure you'll regret it.""Then tell me where you're taking me!" my voice rose an octave.He only raised an eyebrow and let out a long sigh. "Gallena."My eyes widened."I'll take you to Gallena's place."My heart was beating so fast with emotion that I almost fell forward as the plane began to take off. He clucked, wrapping one arm around my waist. "Put your seatbelt on." He growled.I put it on quickly. Leaning against the seat as the plane began to take off. I turned to him with a twinkle in my heart. "Do you mean it?"Nicholas nodded."Is she in Barcelona?""She's in Ibiza, I think it's a safe place f
Flashback :The hollow emptiness going on inside me didn't fix anything. It was empty and frozen. I've had many losses, and I don't know what could break me more than this one. It consumed me more than any previous loss.My baby...I haven't even had a chance to see what my baby looked like before it left me.And...Why my baby?Why wasn't it just me who died?I huddled under the thick blanket that was not familiar to my nose. A hospital bed, pillow and blanket. Which was unfamiliar because I had never experienced a hospital stay. It was excruciating, and I didn't want to come back here again. But this was still better than Mikhaelovich's death house if I could choose. It was a good thing I'd been expelled, strange because the relief seeped through me like water in a dam that was never released.I stroked my stomach, something I always did these days, even though the pain seemed to split me in two.A click came from the door behind me. I didn't need to turn around to see who had just
Two Months Later Time seemed to fly by until the church doors finally opened wide, the warning of the bride's arrival making everyone look impatiently toward the entrance. I stared at the beautiful woman in a bone-white wedding dress with a high bust. After my challenging debate with her, I finally won. Of course, with a very effective tactic: making her unable to walk with our long sex and making her surrender. And I have absolutely no regrets. She was so beautiful, gorgeous, and fabulous. My heart swelled stupidly. Like the mellow atmosphere of those cheesy romance movies she always liked, but different from those stupid movies, I liked what I felt now. Enjoying everything in every part of her. I love her. Loved her so much that I thought I would kill myself when she was in pain. That agony was behind us, and I learned my lesson. We both did. Learned to be better and accept each other. My mom said it's love and doesn't always go smoothly. All we can do is stay together and go
I looked at Gretta, who was lying on the bed.In a quiet corner of the room, the serene atmosphere inside the hospital room was only interrupted by the regular hissing of breath from the bedridden Gretta. Her face reflected profound exhaustion and sadness as if a disaster had rolled over her like an endless storm. I sat beside her with a blank look. The miscarriage had robbed us both of the glimmer of happiness they had just begun to achieve.Everything that surrounded us was messing her up, messing me up. Us.The pain split me in two. Realizing what we had lost, the cause of my own carelessness. If only I hadn't come and thrown a bomb at her, if only I hadn't brought her to my apartment, if only I hadn't abandoned her.. that fetus would still be between us. That baby.. whether a boy or a girl, would have been a testament to our feelings. I loved her, damn it. I loved her so much that jealousy about her leaving me ruled me more than my trust in her. I should have known better than
My heartbeats shattered one by one, making my chest ache.My vision blurred behind the tears and the glare of the sun on the marble floor. Once the crying started, my tears flowed like I had just opened a dam that had been closed for years. I stood in the middle of a beautiful apartment and felt nothing but cold and empty. The emptiness expanded until it threatened to eat me alive.How accurate was my belief that Nico was an addiction because this felt like the worst kind? I began to realize that it was more than that-it was love and it was heartbreak.I went to the master bathroom, turned on the shower, went inside, and cried some more. My mind was spinning with desperate thoughts of how to fix it, but it all ended on a desperate note when I thought of her cold demeanor today.Nausea rolled around in my stomach.I've been trying not to fall for him, and I've fallen so hard that I'm physically sick from his rejection. I could have laughed if I still had the energy left to cry.I got o
"What are you going to do?" Baron's hoarse voice came into my ears."Keep it." I took a breath and let it out softly. Calming the chaos inside me. "I will tell Nicholas about this, but I will wait for the right time.""If he doesn't accept it..." Baron stroked my arm. " ... you know I will always be here for you, right?"I nodded, hugging Baron tightly."He's crazy about you, Gretta. I know that. He'll accept it. He won't dump you or do anything bad to you." He said as we broke the hug. "Everyone can see it. He's just too stupid to admit his feelings."Well, I hope that's true. I nodded. "I'm waiting for him." I looked down at the bracelet on my right hand, which I never took off. "I have to do something first to give my heart to him, Baron."Because I will never let go of the past if I don't let go of it myself."Are you sure that you've disappeared from his shadow?" asked Baron.I nodded. "I'm sure," I replied. My whole heart had flown away, and I was about to move back into my froz
I saw the news and couldn't imagine what was going on in my family. I was sure my parents were cursing me and Gallena, planning what would happen to their two rebellious daughters.I was the one who ran away from my fiancé's house and was with my affair. While Gallena ran away from home pregnant. They thought we should return the favor about all that they had given us, the luxuries and stuff, the limited freedom, and the damn convenience of staying in our rooms. Ironically, that's not the same as what most parents give their kids.So, now, what do I do? Do I stay here and hassle Nicholas until I can stand on my own, which... I don't know when that will be? Because I can't possibly depend on him entirely.What are we? We were nothing other than me having sold my body for my own gain and falling in love with him while he didn't love me back. I sighed.Or could I go back to my parents' house-because it had never been my home-take my things, and then go to Baron's place? They couldn't d
My control was hanging by a thread as I listened to my men. Lorenzo also seemed intent on easing our uncle's burden.Uncle Benito and Gerald seemed to be quarreling secretly, but I was sure they were planning to overthrow me behind closed doors. Benito is a coward, and Gerald is only slightly better, but eventually, they will act. Perhaps Gerald would send his remaining legitimate son to kill me."War is inevitable," I growled. "You know that as well as I do. Don't pretend you haven't been waiting for an opportunity to spill Outfit blood again." My Underbosses nodded, and so did most of my Captains. But not Benito and Gerald.My eyes were fixed on the high ceiling of the power plant. I had chosen it at every meeting of my Captains and Underbosses over the past three years to remind them of my bloody declaration. I felt their memories needed to be refreshed.Gerald banged his fist on the table, returned my gaze to him, and swatted away Uncle Torre's calming hand. "Enough," he muttered.
Being stuck with Nicholas felt different from being stuck with Louis. I realized this a long time ago.I couldn't even spend five seconds next to Louis; a strange and uncomfortable feeling always surrounded me when I was with him, even before he was forced to become my fiancé or before I knew all his secrets.But now, when I was with Nicholas, I had a different, disturbing feeling. It was as if all the storms were coming together, and I wanted nothing more than to be with him as long as possible, even though I knew he was in darkness and danger. His name is a disaster; you must escape him if you do not want to be destroyed.But here I am, and so is he. Instead of a disaster, he became one of the people who saved me from the real disaster. He's the one by my side, caring for me more than everyone who should do it for me. For the first time, I know what it feels like to be truly loved, although I don't know if he feels the same way about me.I found him in the kitchen after I'd had enou