My hands are clammy and I sit on them to stop them from shaking. "What's wrong with you?" Phoebe asks, giving me the side eye. I spent some money from the absurd amount sitting in my bank account and bought her a full kit of makeup. She refrained from asking me how I could afford it because she probably knew I got it from Alessandro. Sammy is sitting dutifully on the other side serving as a model. "How do you know you love someone?" A pair of green and a pair of blue eyes turn to me, making me feel even more uncomfortable. But who the hell am I supposed to ask these questions to? I'm certainly not going to ask Alessandro. "I loved my high school boyfriend." Sammy speaks up. "You never told me you had a boyfriend." I'm surprised. "Well, you've never been interested in boys, so I didn't think you'd care." She shrugs. "Of course I care." I say softly. "Gosh, have I been such a bitch?" "No, you were just always very focused." Sammy smiles, but I'm sure it's just so I won
Alessandro Moretti is a conniving man. One that orchestrates the world so that everything can fall into place the way he wants it to. And right now what he wants is me, so he's eliminating all potential threats. First, he got Sammy that job interview, then Phoebe a job at the club and a gig on a reality show. And just when Sammy got a bit worried about me not spending time with her, he invited his friend over for dinner. A friend beyond famous in the entire world, who people very rarely see out in public. Alessandro Moretti is a fucking mastermind. Or a psychopath who I really should run far away from. Yet I'm glued to his side, enthralled as I watch him interact with Evan Micheals. "So how do you two know each other?" I ask the question that is burning in both my and Sammy's minds. Evan blushes adorably as he looks at Sammy from underneath his eyelashes. Well, well, well. What do we have here? "Alessandro saved me from getting beat up in high school once." Evan repli
"Is it really necessary for a wheelchair?" Phoebe moans as I wheel her out of the hospital. "Are you not supposed to be grateful for going home?" I retort. "No, it was fun in the hospital." She looks back up at me, pulling a face. "And there was a hot male nurse who gave me foot massages." "Wow, they really gave you the royal treatment." "All thanks to your boyfriend." She chuckles. "Have you given up the goods yet? I was thinking you shouldn't keep him on his toes and on edge. We might get a luxury vacation next." I don't know if she's being serious or mocking me, but I don't ask because Enzo is already waiting out front. Alessandro and I have reached some sort of impasse. I haven't brought the fact back up that he has eyes on me at all times, but I'm still not satisfied with it. He did promise to give me some space when Phoebe gets discharged. Then there's still the little fact that I haven't told him about the football game yet, I can already see his face when he hears
Phoebe and I are sitting next to each other on the couch as if we're in the principal's office, Alessandro sitting opposite us, that frown still marred on his forehead. Phoebe's leg is bouncing nervously, a sure tell-tale sign that she has something to hide. Alessandro narrows his eyes at my calm demeanor, he knows I have no tell in stressful situations. That's what makes me dangerous. "How do you know who John Campbell is?" I want to know. He tilts his head at me. "I've made it my mission to know everything about you." "And why is that?" I can see him slowly losing his cool with me, but he inhales deeply to center himself. "You know why." "So you can sleep with me?" I taunt him. "Get the bragging rights that you're finally the man that got what no other man could?" He's quiet, just looking at me, a myriad of emotions flashing in those beautiful brown eyes. He didn't get to where he is by letting his emotions get the best of him, so he turns his attention to the easi
"Is he the only one?" The question hangs in the air amongst the three of us and Phoebe looks nervously at me through tear-filled eyes. "I do not, nor will I ever regret killing John Campbell." I tell Alessandro. "He preyed on innocent children and when he got the chance, he raped my sister, so I did society a favor." "What did you do with the body?" Alessandro wants to know. "Why do you want to know? So you can use it against me in the court of law?" Alessandro gets up swiftly from the couch. "You're meeting my family tonight, I'll pick you up at seven." With those words he leaves, with me and Phoebe sitting there and wondering if this encounter truly happened. Neither of us has ever told anyone what happened with John Campbell. I had to hold a crying Phoebe for almost a year after the incident. In my opinion, justice was served. Had we gone to the police, they would have done a rape kit, made her sit through court hearings, possibly testify, and relive the horrendous mom
There's complete silence in the car as we drive to god knows where. Not a single mention of the cold-blooded murder I committed. But is it considered cold-blooded if he was raping my sister? I don't think so. Maybe a jury would agree with me when it all blows up in my face. "Where are we going?" I ask eventually, the silence between us becoming stifling. Alessandro doesn't even spare me a glance. "I told you I'm taking you to meet my family." "Do they live in another state or what?" We left the city about twenty minutes ago already. It would have been nice to get a heads-up, what if he's planning on killing me and then getting rid of my body? Phoebe and Sammy would for sure miss me, even if it's only two people. Alessandro doesn't bother answering me and I sigh, turning my head to look out the window, but it's dark out and I can't exactly see anything. I fiddle with the radio and let some soft music play. The two of us are always arguing, the silence is just weird. We
I must be in the twilight zone, or a fucking horror movie. So Raquel Whittle is now Dario's fiance? Did they do a Switcheroo or something? To my knowledge, Alessandro planned on marrying the spoilt, rich princess for a business deal, but now she's marrying Dario instead. Gabby fawns over Raquel as well, who is eating up the attention and talking about wedding venues and dresses. Is this the same bitch who was highly upset that I "stole" Alessandro from her? Because she sounds extremely happy to marry Dario now, one would say they've been in love for ages the way she's pretending. Yeah, maybe this rich and famous life is not for me, not with all this fake shit going around. "Your fangs are showing." A male voice chuckles in my ear and I turn around to look in the mischievous eyes of Dario Moretti. He looks so much like Alessandro up close, yet so different. Where Alessandro is always serious or dominating, Dario seems fun and playful with a naughty twinkle in his eye. He's dre
"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Gabby asks and I can see where her son gets the puppy dog eyes from. "I have meetings in the morning, Ma." Alessandro holds my coat out for me to put my arms into. "And Farrah has class, maybe some other time." The woman is too sweet, so I smile at her. "Maybe over the holidays? Then I'll have some time off." "Oh, that sounds wonderful!" She beams. "I can't wait." We eventually leave after extended goodbyes, I even get a kiss on the cheek from Antonio. "I have too many questions for you!" I say when we're in the car. "I wouldn't have thought otherwise." Alessandro smiles. Something makes me look in the side mirror when we're out of the estate, and I frown. "I think there's a black car following us." "Yes, it's only Enzo." He confirms. "He didn't follow us when we came here." I frown. "The way you're so observant turns me on." He's trying to deflect from the fact that there's never been someone following him before. "Why i
I look down at my three babies, where they're all bundled in the same incubator. They were born on thirty-three weeks, but none of them had to be incubated. I'm so proud of them, all of them able to breathe on their own. I was so worried, but they did it. I've never cried so much as I've been crying in the last week. The pediatrician said they should stay in the incubator for at least two weeks, and they were each placed in their own one. But the nurses said when they're apart, they cry, and when they're together, they don't. It's the cutest thing ever. Alessandro can't tell them apart because they look exactly alike. I don't know how, but I know who is who. Their father proudly named them, and right now, Arcangelo's mouth cutely yawns, even though they're sleeping. One week until we can take them home. Right now, they've wearing onesies courtesy of their aunt saying Thing One, Thing Two, and Thing Three. I miss Phoebe in the house, but she has to follow her own path, and she
FARRAH "I'm so sorry, Thomas." My bodyguard is a lone figure at the grave of his wife. "Me too." He says softly with his head bowed. "I was so busy with..." He doesn't complete the sentence, so I take his hand in mine and squeeze his. "It's okay to say it." "I was so busy protecting others, I didn't take care of my own family." He completes the sentence on a sob. "You know that's not true." I tell him. "You were looking after all of us. You just didn't think her past would catch up to you." "But I should have!" He turns guilty eyes to mine where I'm sitting in a wheelchair next to him. "That's what I was trained to do, and I failed my own wife." He's going to feel guilty for a while, probably forever, so I don't say a word. Alma's killer was from a religious society who has been following her and Thomas's lives for a while now. They believe that she betrayed her country and her religion. She would have been stoned to death if she was in her own country. The government has tak
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Trey looks worriedly at me, his eyes darting back and forth in the dark street. "This ends tonight." I go over my body again, making sure for what seems like the hundredth time that I have all my guns and hand grenades in place. It seems like the fuckers are playing right into my hands. Thanks to Enzo's intel, I have the remaining four elders all under one roof in one night. By now, they must know that Fabiono is dead, but they still think I'm inside that jail. They probably know it was me, too, so they're most likely having a meeting to decide what they're doing next. Little do they know, I'm striking while the iron is still hot. Trey shakes his head, his eyes on the surveillance footage on his phone, all courtesy of Evan. Farrah was right, I did orchestrate Evan's bullying so I could be his savior. It was one of the best things I ever did, too, because I now have access to a satellite that gives me vision all over the world. And I have a gre
ALESSANDRO As soon as I stop in front of the quaint cottage, a shot gets fired from me from somewhere in the house, and I duck. I slowly get out of the driver's seat with my hands in the air. If this guy is as dangerous as Thomas said he is, I will be dead in the next second. "My name is Alessandro Moretti, I believe my wife is in there." I shout, hoping they can hear me. I take it as a good sign when I don't get shot at again. The front door opens, and a sight for sore eyes greets me. I run to that door as fast as I can, and then I scoop Farrah in my arms, her smell that is uniquely hers enveloping me. "What the fuck did you do, asshole." She sobs in my neck. "Are you okay? I thought you were in jail." I pull back so I can look at her. There are dark circles under her eyes, and she looks tired, but she's always the best thing I will ever see. "What are you doing on your feet?" I ask her. "You're not supposed to be walking around. You're supposed to be still." She hugs me ag
ALESSANDRO Dario is waiting for me when I walk out of jail the next morning. I don't like the look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" I want to know immediately. He holds the keys to his car out for me, and I grab it. I may be the younger of the two of us, but I've always been the one that was in control. He's never seemed to mind. It's just how our personalities work. "Farrah is gone." The earth drops from beneath my feet for a moment, but I take a deep breath. With Farrah, I've found that there's always an explanation. I get behind the wheel and wait for him to get in beside me. "What happened?" "One of her bodyguards was found with a single stab wound. Luckily, he's not dead." Dario sounds worried. "The hospital's cameras were conveniently out of order for about two hours, but both her and Phoebe are gone. And the other bodyguard." "What about Thomas?" "Still missing." I'm trying to keep my cool, but I bang on the steering wheel. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" Thomas has a few numbers I
FARRAH "Oh my God!" I scream. "T.J!" Damian doesn't even stay at the crash. He just swerves his car and goes around the wreck. "What are you doing?" Kevin shouts at him. "You have to stop, we have to help her!" "Are you okay? "Damian looks at me in the rearview mirror. "I'm fucking fine!" I'm about to lose it. We just left a kid there in a crashed car. "We have to go back and help her." Damian is still calm as he grabs his phone from the console and dials 911. He calmly tells the operator that there was a crash with the address, and then he disconnects before the operator can ask any questions. Phoebe is sobbing next to me, and I feel my own tears wetting my cheeks. We just left Alma there. What if she was badly hurt? Who was that behind the wheel of the truck, and why did he crash into her? The windows weren't even tinted of the car. If they were looking for me, they would've been able to see I wasn't in that car. "The three of you better listen to me and listen to me carefu
FARRAH "Is something going on here that I should know about?" Damian looks accusingly at me in Dr. Sanchez's office. "I've been calling Abe with no luck." Abe is the other bodyguard who's currently on shift. "I think that was my husband's uncle on the way to my room." I gulp, my heart rate skyrocketing. "I'm not sure, but with everything going on with my husband right now, I think he might be trying to hurt me." Hurt is a mild word, but Dr. Sanchez is in the room, and she already looks freaked out. I don't want to worry her any more than she already is. "And you were planning to do what exactly?" Damian wants to know. "I need to get out of here." "Against my advice!" Dr. Sanchez looks at me like I'm crazy. "What if you need blood? You do realize how serious your condition is, right? You are not just risking the lives of the babies, but yours, too." "I'm a sitting duck in the hospital." I shake my head at her. "And if someone kills me, there will be no babies or me anyway. Trus
ALESSANDRO Edward Whittle looks like I'm going to jump him any minute. But like I told him, I'm not here for him. He deserves to go to trial for what he's done, to be torn apart by the public and sentenced. Killing him would be a mercy he doesn't deserve. The asshole starts crying after I don't give him any attention, and I look at him in utter disgust. Those girls in that container were crying, too. I wonder how many girls he's smuggled in containers over the years. What has happened to those girls, were they still alive? Edward Whittle should get life in prison and become the bitch of a thousand men. And even that punishment won't be enough. He follows me around like a little puppy when it's dinner time. The dude jumps at the tiniest noise. That's what you get when you play on the wrong side of the law, and you don't think of the consequences. The inmates seem to know who I am and avoid me, so I get my food that looks like someone puked on it in peace, with my entourage of o
FARRAH "You can't leave the hospital." Phoebe drags both her hands through her hair. "We have to come up with something else. Plus, I think you're being paranoid." I don't know how to explain it to her. All I know is that my gut is never wrong, and I can feel that impending gloom. Nobody is hurting my babies, I would kill them first. Even if I have to do it kicking and bleeding. "I'm not paranoid." I sigh. I wish Alessandro would let me in on his damn plans and stop leaving me blindsided. "Call in one of the bodyguards." Phoebe looks at me skeptically, but do as I ask. The guy is well-built and looks like he belongs on a magazine cover and not outside my hospital room. He nods his head at me. "Mrs. Moretti." I'm still not used to being called that, but I do like the ring to it. "Do you know where Thomas is?" I ask. There's no way he just dropped off the face of the earth. "No ma'am. Thomas just gave us strict instructions that the door should be guarded at all times and that