KATERINAIt was a miracle that I had not died of cold by the time we got to his house. My sundress clung to my body like second skin at this point.. not that I cared about that too much. The main thing on my mind was how to freshen up and change into a new set of clothes.I had rejected Vincent's clothes back then, yes, but it was mostly because I loathed the man. Accepting a ride from him was already a step too far, and I would not have done it if I was not convinced that I would actually die if they left me alone there.Some boys had come up to me right after Vincent and his assistant left, and they dragged my purse off my hands before I could even fully grasp what was happening. It took a while before I could get over my shock and run to Vincent's car before they came back for me when they realized they had stolen an empty purse, and to top it all off—an inexpensive one.I was simply thankful the attack had not gone beyond that and I was at a shelter for the night, even if it was a
KATERINAI woke up as early as I had wanted, and I slipped the contacts back on, ready to leave his house already. I slipped my semi-wet sundress into a small bag, folding it properly. Then, I pulled the curtain open a little to see that the storm had stopped and I started to walk briskly to the door.I planned to leave a message with his butler, so I closed the door to the room I had come out of as gently as I could, not wanting to alert anyone."You would have to be more discreet than that." Vincent's house almost had me jumping out of my skin at the sound of it. I spun around to face him, a frown marring my facial features.He looked slightly refreshed, like he had a bit of sleep but not too much to say it was a good night's rest. Typical Vincent; the most workaholic man I had ever come across, if I was being honest. In a white singlet and multicolored pyjama pants, he looked like he had just escaped being trapped in some magazine. The man's body was ripped to perfection, coupled
VINCENTSo fucking sensitive and goddamn pliant when touched…Who would have thought?I could not stop thinking of the taste of her lips and the sound of her moans as we ground against each other. She was perfect and yet so fucking wrong. We were both wrong, and what had happened was a mistake like she had noted. Did not mean I would not do it again if I got another chance.I sat behind my desk, letting thoughts of a short-haired woman distract me from work, when there came the sound of knocking on the door. I sat straighter on the second knock, after which the door opened and Whitney appeared at the entrance.She had a huge smile on her face, one which I was not the least bothered to return."Hey pookie! I've missed you so much, you know… I—""Unless you want to be thrown out right now, I suggest that you keep your voice down, Whitney. This UD s work space." I warned, and her lips puckered in a pout."Oh come on, I'm not even that loud." She plopped on the seat across mine and propp
KATERINAI saw her again at a beach.After looking all over New York and beyond for Whitney, she simply appeared in front of me at a beach where I had gone to relax, offering me one of the drinks in her hand.She was still as sexy, tall and fit as ever, and above all, she looked like she had not aged a day. Her skin was a bit tanner now, and she also looked like she added a few pounds, but the weight went to all the right places in their right proportions.I dragged my eyes away from her body as it now seemed like I was gaping at her, and I looked down at the drink in her hand.It was one of those drinks that was sipped with a straw, inside a coconut pod. I accepted the drink with a half-smile and played along,"Thank you, babe. How did you know I was actually thirsty?" I asked with a small laugh. She shrugged, smiling,"Instincts, I guess. And I just needed an opportunity to talk to you, to be fully honest." She plopped beside me, on the beach chair by my side. "Oh. Hopefully there
VINCENTKaterina's body was the physical representation of sin.Now, I was a man who liked to pride myself in my level of self-control, yet it was something that this woman that this woman never failed to test when she was near.Her beach wear was lethal; barely covering anything.. not leaving much to imagination. It was simply a pair of bra and panties but with multiple strings here and there. Her breasts were firm and round, sitting perfectly in the bra she wore, and the panties.. they were distracting as hell, was all I could say. Her hair was packed in a messy bun, and her skin glowed, matching the yellow beach wear she had on, in a way that accentuated her beauty even more.Half of the male species had their eyes on her, and it made me even more pissed at her. She knew she was wearing something so scandalous, she should have argued harder with me to keep the coverup on.Letting me convince her so easily when she knew she was practically fucking naked…I walked behind them with
KATERINA"Rina? Are you in here?" Whitney's voice caused my eyes to snap open completely after being dilated for minutes while his fingers were inside me.I pushed Vincent with so much force that it was a miracle that he caught himself before he could reach the ground. I waved apologetically at him, snapping my panties back in place in time before she appeared through the corner, her eyes lighting up in surprise as she saw me there. Even more, when she looked to the side and saw Vincent standing by the side as well."Hey!" I called out to her, trying to distract her from whatever was going on in her head. It worked and she turned to face me, so I continued, "Turns out the particular flavor I wanted isn't really available anymore. He wanted same thing, so we decided to go in search of.. probably someone who made something similar."I finished talking, then waited for her to acknowledge what I had just explained but she just stood there, an unreadable look on her face for sometime befor
VINCENT".. I'm so sure he's the one carrying out all the dirty work on her behalf. Why do I have a feeling she does not even approve of some of the things he gets done?" James ranted, while I just sat back, watching the video over and over again.The bastard, Kelvin, had not learned anything from the last time. He must think that I cared about his miserable life even the slightest bit. He sent a video to me which had Maggie in it, and she was confessing to spying on them and also, sabotaging their white wine production. Yes, the bastard made her confess to a crime she did not fucking commit.If the fool was in his right senses even the slightest bit, he would realize that ticking Maggie off as the one behind the sabotaging would just mean that he had given the main culprit a free pass; a free window to continue with the wine content distortions.He was asking to meet me face to face so he could hand Maggie over to me. According to him, he could easily hand her to the cops and have t
KATERINA "Tell me it's not true." Was the first thing I begged Kelvin when he walked into the living room, having just turned in to the news and seeing that Vincent was not lying. His company was under fire for poisoning a lot of top rated men, and even their families. This was kind of the plan, but we had not agreed to poison, per say. We had agreed to sabotage their wine like he had sabotaged ours.. not okay with people's lives… Kelvin stopped in his tracks at the sound of my voice, looking confused, but that only lasted for a moment. He walked further into the living room after sometime and sighed, plopping onto the chair. "Alright, alright, you caught me there. There was no date. I went to see a friend." He answered with a small smile on his face as he looked up at me. Where was the Kelvin that once did everything in his power to try to save his uncle's life until the man was pronounced dead? "He's still here. Why are you looking for him?" Kelvin questioned, ma
EPILOGUE KATERINA Forever and a long ass day; that was how long I wanted to be with Vincent. It was finally happening today, our wedding, and I was the happiest bride. Ava stepped into the suite where I was getting my makeup done, all dressed and looking every bit of the princess she was, and I could not help but fight back tears. Within the past few months since she got here, she had grown so much. She was so beautiful, looked happier now and more healthy. I loved this child so much… She had a single rose and a box in hand as she walked towards me and I shook my head, my smile refusing to leave my lips, "Vincent, right?" I questioned. She nodded with a wide smile, "Daddy asked me to give this to you, mommy." Yeah, she called out me ‘mommy’ not too long ago, and has not looked back ever since. With a grin on my face, I took the gifts off her hand and then tore the box open to reveal a blank cheque which read; THANK YOU FOR MARRYING ME… AGAIN. And I would do it o
VINCENTI could not believe what I was hearing. That fucking nanny had almost killed my wife-to-be, and her death was made that easy? I could not let my driver take the wheels on this one, I took hold of the steering myself, heading straight to the hospital I had been directed to.Katerina was not picking up any of my calls and I hated it. I wanted to know how she was doing, how my daughter was doing too. I wanted to make sure they had not ingested that fucking poison in any manner. If by any chance that poison had gone down any of my girls' throat, next believe I would be killing that bloody woman all over again.The drive to the hospital was long as hell, but I finally got there and practically jumped out of the front seat, heading straight inside the building.The moment I walked into the hospital room and saw Katerina sitting there, alive and well, I felt like I could breathe again. There she was, her face pale and tired, yet still the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eye
KATERINAThe house was quieter than usual that night, and I was starting to get that uneasy feeling again.I sat in the living room, reading a book while waiting for Ava to finish kissing her nanny goodnight so we could go to bed together.Vincent was out for the night handling some business, and I was left alone with Ava and the domestic staff. That's when I heard it—hushed voices from down the hallway. I couldn't make out everything, but the tone caught my attention. It was sharp, scolding. The words became clearer as I stood and crept toward the kitchen. "How could you mess this up, Ava? I told you to make sure she ate the eggs, not the chicken!" Her nanny hissed. "I—I thought she ate everything. I saw her do. I didn't know." Ava's small voice quivered, her words barely audible through the door. I could not then laugh at her little grammatical blunder at that moment, as I froze where I stood, my stomach twisting into knots. The eggs? What was she talking about? "Your mommy
KATERINA "Can I speak to mommy on the phone?" Ava asked quietly, looking up at me with desperate eyes. This was not the first time she had asked it, and it broke my heart for her that I could not give in to her request. "Sweetheart, I told you many times… mommy is out of reach. You cannot speak to her yet, but you will, I will take you to see her one of these days. I promise." I did not care if Whitney wanted her to see her like that or not, they'd have to meet, I decided. "Alright, K. Thank you." She muttered. The nickname always filled my stomach with butterflies. Fun fact; she had come up with it herself. In fact, she had requested to call me that. Though I secretly hoped she would eventually call me mommy, I decided to make do with this. We sat there while she colored on a new drawing hook I had bought for a while, until the smell of roasted chicken wafted through the room, and I looked back, noticing the nanny walking towards us. I almost moaned in relief. Finally. "So
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.