In the hidden darkness of a dilapidated warehouse, a beautiful woman sits atop her wooden throne, her face set in hard, straight lines.“What’s the status report?”The woman before her trembles like a leaf.“I’ve tried all I can to keep them apart. I have executed all your plans just like you asked. We’ll just have to wait to see the results.”The queen rises to her feet, the flowing tail of her dress dragging behind her.“I’m beginning to think you’re becoming incompetent. Maybe you don’t want to see him again as much as you claim to. Maybe I should just do away with him.” Her voice oozes evil. Pure, calm evil.“No! No, please. I promise I’m trying my best. Please don’t do this. I beg you.”The queen pretends to be deep in thoughts for a second.“Wanna see something amusing?”The woman raises red, tear drenched eyes, her stomach tightening with foreboding. Things the queen finds amusing are never amusing…they’re traumatising.Taking her silence as an answer or not really caring at a
MIRAIt’s been twenty four hours and Mason hasn’t come yelling, screaming and wrecking havoc all over the place like I’d imagined. We haven’t even heard a peep from him and Damon. I’m supposed to be happy…relieved, but all I feel is a strange, empty hollow in my chest and mounting panic that perhaps Mason has decided to forget about me. Perhaps he’s realised that I’m not worth the trouble. Fuck, I’m a mess.A part of me wants to stomp over to La Magnifique and ask him if I am that quick to forget, if what we had, no matter how volatile, never meant anything to him. While a part of me just wants to be relieved that he seems to be giving me a break.I cannot deny that I miss him. I miss him so much, it’s beginning to hurt. I went to bed last night clutching the pillow to me and imagining it was his chest. I’ve fallen for Hades’s dark angel and there’s no going back.Saturday night rolls into Sunday evening. When Anna and Vanessa can no longer stand my long faces and new habit of cons
MASON“Hello, uncle.” I greet, not bothering to get to my feet as Escobar Scuderi walks into his huge office where I’ve been waiting for him for the past hour.“Nice of you to finally show up.”The older man takes in my calm demeanour with suspicious grey eyes, and I rein my temper tighter. My uncle likes keeping out bait, waiting for his prey to fall for it so he can snap you back into his jaws like the predator he is.I, on the other hand, learned to stop falling for his bait a long time ago. Currently, only Mira is allowed to make me lose my temper.Escobar takes his seat and spears me with a piercing look.“I see the prodigal son has finally come home.”I clench my fingers into fists to stop myself from lashing out.“Quite the opposite, actually. The prodigal son had come to deliver a warning.”The air in the room immediately becomes stiff with tension. I can feel Escobar’s soldiers become more alert from their perch at the door all the way from here.Escobar smiles.“Let’s hear i
MIRA Monday morning breezes in and there’s still no sign of Mason. No texts, no calls…no nothing. The hole in my chest has grown wider, and the pain, probably sharper.I can't believe he just tossed me aside. Is he really planning to forget about me?“Thing is, I have no idea if I still have a job or not.” I whine while lying on Vanessa’s bed.My best friend stares at me through groggy eyes,“Bitch, it’s six AM in the morning. Why are you even on my bed?”I ignore her.“I mean, should I just dress up and go there? Maybe I could ask him face-to-face.” The thought of seeing Mason again makes my heart beat in crazy rhythms.Vanessa huffs and pretends to have a mini swoon. God knows she’s tired of my antics. Just then, the doorbell rings, startling us both. After two seconds of staring at each other like idiots, I finally shoot to my feet.“I’ll get it!”“Take a weapon with you just in case it’s the big, bad wolf.” Then she throws the covers over her head and falls back to sleep.I do n
MIRAWe finally arrive at Mason’s office building and Darth ushers me in. As we go through the gleaming reception, I hear him mutter into a transmitter,“Boss, she’s here.”My heartbeat quickens when Mason says something inaudible.Seconds later, I feel Darth’s palm on the small of my back.“C’mon, miss, we’re going straight to the boss’s office.”My palms turn sweaty. I want to argue but Darth is already shoving me into the elevators. Within minutes, we arrive at the maze of desks that make up the common area. It’s probably a busy day because the place is buzzing with people carrying files, making phone calls and literally doing office stuff everywhere.“Oh. There he is.”My head snaps up and I follow Darth’s line of sight to find Mason leaning against one of the numerous doorways, legs crossed.I come to a halt, trying to catch my hitching breath. Suddenly, it feels like all the air in the room has been sucked out. The buzzing atmosphere is stripped bare and all that exists is Mason
MASONRestraining order my arse. Restraining order my fucking arse.Mira Fernandez has no idea that she’s just unleashed a monster from his gilded cage. Maybe I was possessive and overbearing before.Maybe I was a stalker.Maybe I was the devil.Maybe I was hell’s archangel.But Mira has completely succeeded in ripping open the darkness I tried so hard to keep hidden. She has unleashed the dark side I swore never to show after I killed my father.It’s funny how she thinks a restraining order can stop me from having her. A mere sheet of paper. I don’t care if it was her idea or not. I don’t care if she wanted it or not. All that matters is that at a point, she accepted it. She signed her signature on those documents. She agreed to bar me from having access to her…and she knows how uncomfortable I get when I can't touch her when I want to.She thinks she’s played me, but I’m not regarded as the most dangerous billionaire in New York City because I give up easily.If I stalked her be
MIRA The scent of that familiar, expensive male cologne hits me and I go still. The room is pitch black so I cannot make out his face, but I finally let go of my panic and fear long enough to feel his touch and the electrifying feel of his heated breath against my skin.He doesn’t give me the chance to breathe. His lips rove over my neck, kissing and nipping until my knees are quaking and the only thing holding me up is his body against mine.“Mason. Mason, please…”“Shh, Mira.” He growls almost angrily. “The only sounds I want to hear from you are your moans of pleasure. Don’t say anything else. Don’t even look at me.”His words slice through my heart like a sharp blade. I try to push him away but he only presses me harder against the wall.Trapped. I’m trapped.“Trying to escape me is fruitless. Very fruitless. You’ve already gotten permission from the law to keep me away. I understand you do not want me around. Fair warning, Mira. It’s my turn to take. And I’m going to take from y
MIRAI realise two things immediately when I take my seat in Halloway’s office. One, it is extremely uncomfortable to walk around without panties underneath a skirt.Two, Halloway Stephens had not learnt her lesson. The bitch sits on her high and mighty throne and stares daggers at me with a little smirk.“I thought you were supposed to brief me for a meeting.” I ask, trying to control my temper.She shrugs.“Last I checked, Mason was supposed to handle it. Oh, wait. You slammed him with a restraining order.” She puckers her red lips in a fake pout. “Bummer. Must be hard.”At this point, it’s a goddamn miracle that I haven’t exploded from rage yet.“The restraining order means nothing. Mason and I are still very much together…”“Doesn’t look like it.” She cuts in, her icy eyes glinting. She leans forward and props her chin on her open palm, “I have honestly never seen my Mason look as angry as he did when you told him about that order. My, my, my. It’s a disaster.”Her Mason? Her Mas
SNEAK PEAK OF MY UPCOMING DARK ROMANCE NOVELTITLE: AUCTIONED TO THE RUTHLESS, ITALIAN DAREDEVIL.***He is Edoardo Vicenzo, son of Dante Vicenzo.They called him the most dangerous man in Italy, the boss of all bosses, the leader and owner of men.He had everything he could ever want… money, cars, women. Everything. While I, on the other hand, had absolutely nothing to my name.All I had was my pride. And my beloved sister.When my sister came home from school one day, crying that she was almost raped by one of his men, I lost it. I ran crazy. I became unhinged.My father warned us to keep quiet about it because he was obviously benefiting from the evil reign of Edoardo’s father in the city, but my name is Annachiara Giovanni, and I’ve never been known to keep silent.My blood boiling with rage, I went to fight for my sister that night and ended up nearly being forced into a sex battle. One thing I did not realise was that my sister wasn’t just assaulted by one of Edoardo’s men… she
THREE YEARS LATER... MIRA “Hello, beautiful.” I look up from the cake batter before me and my heart literally sings with joy as I watch my husband come in through the back door of our Victorian home. His handsome face breaks into a full blown smile and those smoky gray orbs shine as bright as the midday sun. I drop the whisk in my hand into the bowl and open my arms wide, beckoning at him with a grin of my own. Without hesitation, Mason covers the distance between us and wraps his strong arms around my waist. He lifts me off the floor and twirls in a half circle, eliciting giggles of delight from my throat. He finally puts me down and buries his face in my neck. “Mmm, you smell delicious. Did you miss me?” I whisper against his chest. “Yes, baby. I missed you so, so much.” My heart warms at those words, but I can’t help but tease him. “You saw me just twenty minutes ago.” He holds me tighter and breathes in the scent of my hair. “It doesn’t matter. The last twenty minut
MIRAI nearly sag from the force of relief that spirals through my veins.My lips stretch in a smile and before long, my pregnancy hormones kick into action and I’m crying all over the place. “Mira!” I hear my sister scream behind me. “He’s awake! Mason has finally woken up!”She wraps her arms around me from behind and I lean into her and shut my eyes, soaking in her love and relief as I sob against her chest.Before long, Vanessa also wraps her arms around us and we stay like that for a long, long time. Anna pats my hair and whispers.“I knew he’d wake up. I just knew it.”I lift my head slowly and stare at her through my tears.“How did you know?”She shrugs.“After he rescued Dutch and I from Halloway and her evil sister, he promised that he’ll always protect us. Mason always keeps his promises.”My tears fall faster and I cup her cheek, trying to smile.“He does, doesn’t he?”“Come on, pregnant lady. You need to sit down.” Vanessa chirps in.With Anna and Vanessa on both my side
LILYTHREE WEEKS LATER…“So, Mrs. Lachlan, what do you plan on doing with your husband’s ashes? Have you thought about that yet?”I sit before the therapist, totally swathed in a feeling of numbness. I’ve felt numb for the past three weeks. The only emotion that has kept me company during this dark time is pain… venomous, excruciating pain. “I don’t know yet.” I whisper, patting my swollen tummy absentmindedly.I don’t want to be here but Vanessa and Damon forced me to come after my third failed suicide attempt. They don’t understand. How can they? How can they understand that I might’ve lost my reason to wake up every morning? How can they understand that Mason is gone and I cannot live without him?How will they understand that I do not believe I have the strength to raise these children on my own?How will they understand that when the doctors pronounced him dead, I wanted to die, too?The therapist, a petite Korean lady, clears her throat and shifts closer.“Mrs. Lachlan, don’t
MASONWhile I’m still trying to deal with my shock, Scuderi’s hold on my neck tightens, blocking out any form of air from passing through my windpipe. My vision becomes increasingly blurry and my head starts to spin.“Get a hold of yourself!” My subconscious screams when I’m on the verge of passing out.At the last minute, I decide that I’m not gonna die like this. I promised Mira that I’ll come home. And I always keep my promises.Just when my uncle thinks he’s winning, I muster the last dregs of my energy and shoot up my free arm, striking him square on the jaw and dislodging him from my body immediately.“Fuck!” He snarls, falling to the side with a pained grunt. A greater part of me just wants to lie there and catch my breath, but deep down, I know that if I waste even a second here, I might not make it out alive.I quickly jump to my feet and pick up the nearest object I can use as a weapon — a baseball bat. When I turn to my uncle, he’s trying to crawl away like the coward he
MIRAThe moment I open my eyes in the morning, I know something has gone horribly wrong. I feel Mason’s side of the bed and it’s cold. Very, very cold. Dread crawls up my spine as I hurriedly sit up, trying to understand what the hell is going on.“Mason?” I call, pulling the covers aside and getting to my feet. “Mason, where are you? Are you in the bathroom?” Silence greets me. Stone cold silence.I pad barefoot to the bathroom, my stomach tightening with fear as I go. Ten minutes later, I’ve searched the entire room and even the closet, but he’s still nowhere to be seen. Now, I really begin to panic.I pull the door open with the intention of searching the rest of the house for him and standing just outside with two papers in her hand and tears streaming down her cheeks is Vanessa.I freeze, horrific images already swirling through my tired brain.“Nessa, what happened? Why are you crying? What are these papers?”She walks past me and climbs onto the bed, her shoulders tremblin
MIRAMy cheeks redden in embarrassment as I quickly look down at my bare feet. I raise my head slowly, already dreading the anger I’ll see in Mason’s eyes.However, when our gazes meet, all I see is worry and concern. He cups my heated cheeks with his palm and murmurs;“What happened, baby? Did you need something?”I’m about to reply when someone slams the table behind us and sneers.“What is this, Mason? Can’t your wife see that we’re in a meeting? How dare she interrupt us? And you’re just going to stand there and do absolutely nothing about it?”I whirl in the direction of the voice to find a stout, middle aged man glaring at us with fire in his eyes. Mason stiffens against me moments before he growls.“What did you just say to me?”The man tries to repeat himself but Damon places a hand on his arm and tries to force him back into his seat.“You do not want to get on his bad side, my friend. Especially when it comes to his wife.”The man looks from Damon to Mason and finally lowe
MIRAWe’ve been back in New York for a week now and Mason seems to grow more overprotective with every passing second. He doesn’t let me do anything… and I mean, anything at all. Sometimes, it’s a real struggle to convince him that I can brush my teeth on my own. Sheesh.I swear, if I didn’t love him too much, I’d have dumped his overbearing arse down the Himalayas mountain by now. Today is one of those days I dread very, very much. It’s one of those days when I have to convince Mason to let me step a foot outside.“But please, oh please…” I beg. “I promise we’re just going skinny dipping in the pool. We’ll be back before you know it.”“Absolutely not.” He says firmly as he knots his immaculate blue tie.I huff and flop on the bed.“Be careful.” He calls from his position in front of the mirror.I finally snap. “What?!”He turns to me, looking gorgeous and edible as ever.“Don’t hit yourself on the bed too hard. Lie down softly.”A incredulous laugh escapes me.“I shouldn’t hit mys
MIRAMason and I hurry through our bathroom niceties and five minutes later, we’re walking into the living room.“Wait for me here.” He says, motioning at a sofa. “I’ll handle them.”“No.” I retort as gently as I can. “I’m coming with you.”He lifts a brow.“There might be a possible threat out there, baby girl. Sit still while I handle it.”In response, I walk past him and gesture at the door.“Isn’t it great that I have you here in case of such threats?” I argue coyly. “Besides, haven’t you been taught never to argue with a pregnant woman?”His face is hard and unyielding for a second and I fear that he might force me to remain inside. To my surprise, his lips tilt in one of those sexy half smiles and he covers the distance between us with two long strides. Mason leans forward and places a soft kiss on my forehead.“I didn’t know stubbornness came with pregnancy as well. Fine, you can come. But you’ll stay behind me at all times. Understood?”I nod eagerly. I even salute and everyt