VINCENTI sat beside Katerina and she took my hand in hers, still smiling. It was like she could not stop smiling, and I could not stop staring at her. That smile looked amazing on her face, her scary. What in the world was this woman up to now?The hall buzzed with anticipation, the kind of tension that builds right before a show starts. People milled around, sipping champagne and making small talk, glancing toward the stage where my mother was set to make her big entrance. The murmur of conversation filled the air, a mix of curiosity, gossip, and excitement. Katerina sat close enough that I could feel the warmth of her arm against mine even as I held her hand, though we hadn't said much since finding our seats. I glanced over at her after looking around for a couple of seconds—almost a minute—taking in the way she casually held her glass, looking serene while the room buzzed around us. But she also looked different. Good different or bad different? I had a feeling we were about to
KATERINA"This is what you've been planning…" Vincent did not ask, he simply stated it, and I just answered his question with a brief smile in his direction."Why did you not inform me?" He asked, sounding offended. I sighed, finally pulling my eyes away from the spectacle in front of me which consisted of Da'ana looking for where the video was being projected from, and then it just started being projected on different walls, then the crowd going crazy and her cousin bawling her eyes out."I did not inform you because she is your mother. I do not trust that you would not be emotional when it comes to your mother in stuff like this. Also, I could handle it myself." I answered. He nodded."When have I ever given you the impression that my loyalty lies with my mother and not with you?" He questioned, looking really disappointed. I shrugged."Years ago. I do not like repeats."His expression was blank but I could tell that I had struck a nerve. I swallowed, facing forward and trying to fo
VINCENT"Katerina! Katerina, stay with me. Are you okay?!" I yelled in her face, shaking her furiously in an attempt to wake her up. Her eyes peeked open and I realized just then, how tightly she had been shutting her eyes.I pulled her up properly and she blinked, placing a hand on her ear as she looked around with her chest heaving up and down from the way she was breathing fast.The atmosphere in the hall had shifted in an instant. One moment, the crowd was buzzing with anger and bad wishes for Da’ana, and the next, chaos erupted. I stood frozen, trying to control my heartbeat as the sharp sound of three gunshots rang out, cutting through the chatter like a knife. The crowd, previously vibrant and full of energy, froze in shock before erupting into panic.Guests screamed, their faces pale and wide-eyed, some dropping their glasses, the champagne spilling like a torrent on the polished floor. People stumbled backward, pushing against one another as they tried to escape, their rants
KATERINAOne minute, I was walking and the next minute, I was swept off my feet in bridal style and rushed towards Vincent's car. Vincent shoved me into the backseat of the car with an urgency I had never seen in him before. He barely managed to close the door before snapping at his driver, “Go. Now!” The car jolted forward, and I grabbed the seat, my pulse pounding as the city lights blurred past. I could feel Vincent’s tension radiating beside me, his hand gripping the edge of the seat. “Vincent, what’s going on?” I asked, trying to make sense of his panic, but he didn’t answer immediately. He kept glancing over his shoulder, out the rear window, and it was then that I realized with panic that there was a car coming after us."Vincent!" I said again, louder this time. He finally looked at me, and there was something in his expression that made my stomach drop.“It’s her,” he said quietly, his voice tight. “My mother’s following us.”I didn’t understand at first. Why would Da’ana b
KATERINAThe trees loomed above me, their branches twisting like skeletons against the black sky, and I could feel the ground beneath my feet, damp and unfamiliar. My heart was pounding, my breath coming in short, panicked bursts as I tried to make sense of where I was. But nothing made sense.I spun around, disoriented, trying to make sense of these figures but always coming up short. The shadows were moving toward me, slow at first, but with purpose. I tried to shout, to demand who they were, but my voice came out weak, almost swallowed by the air. “Who are you? What do you want?” My words echoed, but there was no answer. Only silence, and their steady approach.I backed away, but they were closing in from behind as well. My chest tightened with fear, my skin prickling with cold dread. “Please… someone… who are you?” My voice broke, tears welling in my eyes as the figures drew closer. There were more of them now, emerging from the shadows, their forms starting to take shape, coming
VINCENT"Sir, please can you spare twenty dollars for me and my baby? I really need to get something for both of us—" I turned to look at the person who was asking, and my eyes met a woman who looked like she was not even done being a teenager. She carried a little child in her arms, and quite frankly, the child looked very malnourished. The woman in question had fiery red unkempt hair, but was still freakishly beautiful, just like the baby.Without saying anything, I took out a few dollar bills from my pocket, not bothering to check how much. I knew it was a couple of hundred dollar bills which I had taken with me last minute as I hardly liked to carry cash around.Her hands were shaky as she accepted the money with moisture gathering in her eyes. I took out a card almost immediately too and handed it to her.After she had collected it, I told her, "That's my organization. They take care of people like you; you will get shelter and good food, coupled with education for your child wh
VINCENT"Who the hell are you?" I barked, struggling to hold myself from from combusting. She straightened, flipping her hair over her shoulder then swallowing, she told me, "Hi, I'm your new baby mama. My name is Angie." She had a nervous smile on her face which fully indicated that the lady was fucking lying to me. I was still a man known for self-control, so I decided that a trivial matter such as this was not going to make me lose my temper.Angie was cute. She looked like she would not be doing this if it was not for the money involved. She shifted her foot from time to time, trying her best not to look nervous but ended up looking it anyways.She was average height, dressed in an raunchy manner, and not even half as pretty as my firecracker. Another fun fact, I was pretty sure now that I had not seen this women in my life.I walked up to her, my steps menacing and fucking slow until I got directly in front of her. "You laid your hands on my girl because of your stupid lie?"He
KATERINARealizing that woman was a bloody liar did not bring the relief I had thought that it would. Instead, my blood simply boiled as I thought about his confident she had seemed, strolling into his house like she owned the place already. Like she could just snap her fingers and send me out immediately.It rubbed so badly on me, reminding me of my past so accurately; Whitney stepping foot into my house and taking my husband away from that day on. What were the odds that it would not happen again? I had asked myself when I saw her and she lodged her complaint.The bitch had really laid her hands on me. It was the first time in a long time that I had fought anyone, but I was not even ashamed of it. I threw hands and I did not even care if she caught them. By the time we were done, she had more bruises than I did. It made me more than okay.I kept wondering who had sent her though. The only person I could think of was Reina, but as far as I remembered, we did not even have that much
KATERINAWhitney refused to tell us anything more after that. We stood there, threatening her with all manner of things, but she never budged. She just sat there, smiling crookedly and laughing occasionally.I finally convinced Vincent to leave there and we both went home, hoping to figure out what exactly Whitney meant with everything she said about Ava ourselves.This morning, I woke up in his arms and peered up to see that he was awake already, focused on his phone. He had wrinkled lines in his forehead and dark circles around his eyes, and I could not help but feel a twinge of worry for him.The man had been working so hard these days and somehow, I knew that it had something to do with what Whitney had said about his child.Ava was acting… well, she was still detached from her father but she was every bit the bubbly child around me. Her nanny lived with us now, and continued to take care of her, in better living conditions… it was what she wanted, and she had been very grateful.
VINCENT I slammed my car door shut before I went over to the other side to open up for Katerina. "Thank you," she muttered, looking as eager to see Whitney as I was. She looked even more eager, but then again that was probably because the woman literally wore her emotions like a sleeve. We walked briskly inside the prison walls without really saying anything else to each other; we had talked enough on our way here. It was only when we were getting to her cell, that Katerina turned to face me, telling me, "I am going to let you talk to her. You are the one who is mostly affected by this, I would let you question her and whatnot without any interruptions but I also want to say stuff to her too, just so you know." She informed me, and I nodded, not wanting to say anything in response at first, except that nod, but after a quick glance at her face, I could see the desperation in her eyes for me to be okay and just like that, I just couldn’t keep to myself any longer. I threw m
KATERINA"Oh God, Ava!" I cried out as the little girl bolted away from the living room as we all had reacted too slowly because of course, no one had expected that from her.Vincent was the first to run after her, and also the first to recover from the shock. He was behind her in no time, and I was next, followed by the nanny.Luckily, the butler was quick enough to stop her. Ava was crying and kicking in his arms, demanding to be set free, but he was not having it."You aren't going out of here without adult supervision, woman!" He yelled, but she was not having it."Let me go! My mommy will hurt me, she says he's the bad guy, I cannot be around him, please…" She continued to cry. My heart broke in pieces for her. What kind of a mother was Whitney for crying out loud? "Your mother hurt you, and you still think your daddy is the bad man?" Vincent blurted out and I pinned him with a look, but he did not spare me a glance, his eyes were still transfixed in his daughter who refused to
VINCENT Katerina pulled the door open for me, mumbling to the butler, "Never mind. I got this." And then she smile widely at me after opening the door, wrapping her arms around my body in a tight hug. Her smile was nervous as fuck, as if she had something to tell me, and I knew that she did. A child was in here, at the living room. I had peeked through the surveillance, because my girl sounded nervous as fuck and I had to know what was making her like that. It was either that or me storming out of the meeting I was in. There was a nanny with the little girl too. She was claiming that the child was mine, and Whitney was her mother. But how the fuck did that even happen? Katerina pulled away from me, her face twisting in an offended frown, "You don't want to hug me back?" She started to step aside, but then my hand gripped her waist and I pulled her to me with force so her body collided with mine. Katerina gasped, then burst into a fit of giggles as I planted kisses al
KATERINA There was some commotion outside the front door. I had just heard it as I got out of the bathroom, trying to prepare to go shopping at the mall for a few essentials since I did not have work today. I ended up just throwing on Vincent’s T-shirt and a pair of shorts before heading downstairs to see what the noise was about. The noises grew louder as I approached the door and I pulled it open at once on reaching it. When my eyes met with a little girl's with her dark curls falling softly around her face, clutching a worn stuffed bunny, I almost thought she’d stopped at the wrong house. But then I noticed her eyes—a striking, familiar gray. The same piercing color that belonged to Vincent, with a touch of softness that reminded me of Whitney. Next to her stood a woman, exhausted, holding the little girl’s hand firmly, as if afraid she might lose her any moment. Our butler was asking questions, his gaze shifting between the woman and the little girl with polite suspicion.
VINCENT"I feel like I cannot leave this bed even if I tried to." Katerina groaned and I smirked, turning back to face her."Same. I think you would not be able to walk throughout today. After what that pussy had to go through last night." I muttered, and she was quick to chuck a pillow in my direction, and I chuckled, letting it hit me as I turned my face to the side."You're such an animal in bed…" She whined, trying to sit up, her cheeks pink with a blush. I stopped to stare, my cock hardening again as I watched her. So fucking gorgeous, I always wondered how I was lucky enough to bag her again…Those brown eyes peered up at me through her thick lashes, and I could jog help walking over to her to plant a kiss on her lips. She let me, placing a hand on my naked chest while the other hand held the duvet tightly over her tits.I laughed, pulling away from her lips as I looked down, "Why are you hiding my girls from me?""Because you get hard faster than I snap my fingers and this tim
KATERINAA MONTH LATERThe energy in the room was electric. Owen’s business launch had pulled in a crowd and the air buzzed with excitement and the hum of conversation filled the grand hall. New York City sprawled in glittering lights beyond the tall windows, adding to the glamour of the night. All these did not still sit well with me. The mafia men starting up businesses just to cover up their tracks which consisted of money laundering, drug trafficking, murder and so much more. However, Vincent had recently explained his reason for joining the mafia after swearing off it all his life. There was really no way out, so I had to learn to deal with all these… at least, for him, and the sacrifice he made to keep me safe.Standing near the bar, I sipped my champagne, scanning the crowd until my gaze landed on Owen’s girlfriend, Mae.At first, I did not fully recognize her because I had only seen her in pictures, but then I looked more closer, I realized it was truly her. She was all curls
KATERINAShe missed.Whitney missed the shot by one tiny inch and just as she aimed to shoot the second time, a stick slammed into her head from the back.The gun dropped from her hand and fell with a clatter to the ground. I saw the moment that the blood started to drip down from the side of her head and her eyes drooped almost shut. Whitney fell to the ground in a heap and I looked in front of me to see Vincent finally making it to where I was crouched in a sitting position. I placed my both hands either sides of his face, crying hard. Everything that was happening just did not make sense to me. It was true that I wanted to hurt him in the beginning, but now I just could not stand seeing him like this. My heart broke in pieces just looking at him while he seemed so helpless, so pale, like he could just pass out anytime soon.The room still spun with smoke, thick and suffocating, the scent of burnt wood and fabric searing my lungs. My mind barely registered what had just happened—on
KATERINASmoke filled the room, thick and suffocating, the heat growing unbearable. My throat burned with every breath, and my chest felt like it was about to collapse from the pressure. I could hear Vincent struggling, his body tense beside me as he worked to cut through the ropes around his wrists. The flames crept closer, inching toward us, consuming everything in their path."I'll get it. I'll get it, firecracker. We will get out of here." He swore while he kept struggling to loosen himself.I felt the tears sliding down my cheeks, but it wasn’t the smoke that made me choke this time. I thought about how close we’d been to ending all of this madness, to finally being free. But now, trapped and helpless, every second felt like an eternity ticking down to an end I wasn’t ready to face. Panic clawed at me, making my heart race wildly as I pulled against the ropes that bound my wrists, desperation filling every fiber of my being.Finally, with one last, fierce yank, Vincent broke free