XanderViolet sucks in a deep breath. Again. “You could learn to love me, Xander. I mean look at you and Kenna. You never even loved her when you were married.” I hate it when people state the obvious to me, it really irks the living crap out of me.“Not the point, Violet.”“That is the point. Now you can’t have her, all of a sudden you want her. That isn’t love, Xander. It is infatuation and your downfall is always wanting something you cannot have. That is all it is.” She sounds satisfied with herself. I can imagine Violet’s face looking all smug.“That is not true, Violet. I can’t tell you what happened or how it happened. I was a fool to have ignored Kenna for all the years we were married. An absolute fool. And maybe now is too late but you need to know, sister-friend, that she and I will marry again.”I hear an almost choking, laughing sound. “Are you kidding? She will never marry you again, Xander. You are out of your damn mind!”“It will be written into the new Bodega contract
Kenna“Are you ready?” The man asks me, as he holds the mobile to record. I nod, tears are streaking down my face. I just want to be back at the hotel, safe and warm without this man threatening my life. I have heard him on the phone to Xander.“He will do anything for you, he is going to pay the ransom. You are a lucky woman, Kenna. Do you understand that?” He pauses and shifts to get a better angle. “That man must really love you, not anyone would agree to give five million dollars for just anyone.” He snarls, like he is jealous of that. And I am confused as to why Xander would do this. Surely it should be Isaac paying the ransom, he is my stepfather. I am nothing to Xander anymore and I have been a total bitch to him of late. But agreeing to pay this fuck up five million dollars is no small thing to do.Maybe he was being serious about wanting me back, only no matter that he is agreeing to pay the ransom; I still cannot go back to him. How possibly could I when my heart now belong
KennaIt seems like an eternity since he left the building and then I hear it. A noise at the entrance and see Xander running in. “Thank God! Kenna, Kenna. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Xander’s voice is almost desperate. It must have been an hour so wherever they had the drop could not have been too far. I am still confused how they managed all of this so quickly. “I am fine, just sore from the ropes. No he didn’t hurt me. Can you get me untied? I feel like my arms and legs are so numb. And I need the water, my mouth is so dry and parched.” Xander drops to his knees in front of me and begins to untie my ankles. “Have you got the police with you, don’t they need to try and get some samples to find out who the man was?” Xander shakes his head. “The deal was no cops.”What the fuck? They aren’t even going to try to find out who kidnapped me and threatened my life? Well, we will see about that then. I have my own team of people and money that I can use. If Isaac, Xander and the bas
KennaWhat am I supposed to say ? This is the man who practically ignored me for those three years of marriage. The man that I married as part of a pact and now he sits here actually looking vulnerable with sincere eyes, telling me that he is in love with me. I feel awful because as much as I have tried not to, I have come to like him again. But things will never be the same and even though Xander has promised to love me forever. He is not the man I want to be with. It is Dante my heart belongs to.It might be that what I felt for Xander before was some kind of infatuation. But he doesn’t make my heart flutter in the way that Dante does. I can’t lie to myself and be with Xander when I have strong feelings for another man. Yes, Dante is my stepbrother but like I keep saying, we are not blood related and if Isaac chooses to be difficult about it - then so be it. I will take the risk. In any case he has already threatened me if I do not marry Xander.We arrive at the hotel and my body a
KennaI am incensed, the woman is a witch. Somebody needs to stop her and all because of a man. I am way too exhausted and torn up to even deal with the likes of Violet right now but I do message her back.Xander is all yours. He declared his love for me this evening. However, I am not interested in being Xander’s wife again. He is all yours. As for you, I know you were behind what happened to me today. There will be revenge, you little bitch. So, watch your damn back! Because I know that Xander will do whatever it takes to make whoever did this to me or was involved, pay.I want to throw my mobile across the room but it is the only one I have and I can see that Dante has left me several messages and been calling me nonstop, it would appear.Slipping out of my shoes, I throw myself on the bed resting my head against the cushions and let out a deep, shaky breath. How could Violet even consider doing this to me? There is something very unstable about the way she thinks. All of this beca
KennaThe morning comes all too soon for my liking. I feel as if I have the flu. My entire body aches from yesterday being tied up. However, I am fuelled with seeking revenge but first I must get this site visit out of the way and then I can go back home to Dante. I cannot wait to see him and feel him hold me close and offer me comfort. My phone beeps, I check. It is Xander.How are you feeling this morning? I can go to the site on my own, you do not need to come with me.I am fine, aching and sore but I will meet you in thirty minutes. We still have time, I am just running a bit behind. I overslept.Np. See you in the foyer in thirty. And Kenna, please don’t worry too much about today. I will speak with Isaac this morning in order to resolve all the issues surrounding the contract. I didn’t have much sleep last night, I was on to my lawyer and representative to rewrite the contract.I let out a sigh of relief, thank God. Because there is no way I could go back to Xander and having g
KennaThe driver eases the car in through the wrought iron gates of Dante’s property. A tingle passes through my body at the mere thought of being with him. It has been an extremely long day and Xander was the perfect gentleman. He kept checking everything was okay with me and offered for me to leave the Dallas tour early. Which I took him up on. He will fly to Chicago this evening and be shown around and introduced to everyone tomorrow. Thereafter, there are a couple of down days before he flies down to Georgia where I am to meet him. This is a good thing because my people have put feelers out and done some investigations and I happen to know that the adoptive family of my daughter, have a residence in Georgia. I have a phone number and tomorrow I will plan to call them. My lawyer said it would be best if he were to contact them, but I insisted that seems way too formal and may alarm them. Personally, I think contacting them is a more amenable approach. Lawyers often scare people hal
KennaOh, his dirty words make me tighten and coil even more. I am not used to a man with a dirty mouth but fuck, I like it. The kids I went with in college before I met the professor were all tame shall we say. And the professor, well he was an infatuation and not a man like Dante with his strong, masculine body.“Put your fingers inside you, baby,” he tells me, his eyes hooded, the irises so dark that his eyes look almost black. His desire is evident all over his face, spurring me on and turning me on more than I could have imagined.My heart is racing, I can feel the pressure mounting in my ears as I lower my fingers to my slit. I am so wet, I can feel my slickness dripping onto the sheet underneath me. Easing my fingers into my pussy, I gasp. Every nerve ending is on fire as I push in further and move my fingers slowly in and out.“Get undressed,” I tell Dante as he holds his hand over his package in his pants. “It’s not fair that I am the only one naked here. I want to see your b
KennaTalk about having to do a man’s job and if you want anything done, then do it yourself. Honestly, I thought Xander had more balls than that. Although I do surprise myself with how brave and bold I am right now. There is too much to lose with a man like Antonio out there trying to harm me to get back at Xander. I have no hesitation in having someone shit the life out of him or even wipe him off this planet. But how I am now involved yet again in Xander’s business is unbelievable.I call Dante and wait for him to pick up. My whole day has been literally turned upside down. The meetings I was supposed to have are now cancelled and shifted out. The flight I wanted to take to go and visit Riley was also moved out. Fucking pisses me right off. His phone picks up.“Kenna, everything okay?”“No, Dante, not really. Xander has told me everything and it isn’t good. This Antonio guy thinks he has some kind of debt owing to him because of Violet and her drug running days. Who knew, eh, that
Xander“With me?” I am in my penthouse finally having a break from the tour. Everything is how I left it and my day lady has taken care of everything. I remind myself that I need to give her an increase. There are even fresh flowers in the vase on the high sheen, walnut table in the entrance hall. God, I have missed my views across Manhattan. The skyline is impressive although part of me longs to be at my country home where I can see the mountains for miles.“Yes with you, Xander. Do you know a man called Antonio Guilopo?”Fuck, it hits me like a gut punch and winds me. I need to sit down and I need a hefty scotch but it is still only two in the afternoon. “Well?” Her voice is impatient.“Yes, from a long time ago, Kenna. Why do you ask? He isn’t someone that should even cross your radar let alone the name come from your lips.”“Here’s the thing, Xander. I was followed this morning to work from Dante’s house and crashed into by a black 4x4, from behind. They tried to take me off the
KennaThe meeting is dragging, it is all about our new development in Asia. I didn’t even know Isaac was expanding into Asia. Holy smokes, why didn’t anyone inform me? This is utterly ridiculous. I have only been out of HQ for a couple of weeks on the tour and nobody thought to inform me via messaging or email. Why wasn’t I included? Maybe it was because Isaac had decided to drop a bombshell.In any case the unit looks impressive over twenty floors high, all smoked glass on the outside from the generated images. “And the projections?” I ask our head accountant, he looks like he has aged since I was last in HQ. I am not surprised with this new development and where is our CFO? He runs through the figures and I have to admit they are impressive, we will be hiring only local people nobody will be hired from outside the area. “And we are sure there is expertise locally?”“Yes, we have done a lot of research, Miss Bodega. You know we wouldn’t even be considering this as an option if it
DanteDammit who the hell is trying to rail Kenna? I message my assistant, Lorna quickly and let her know I am going to be late as I have some personal issues to attend to. She lets me know not to worry about anything and can push a few of my meetings to my free time later this afternoon. Not ideal since I wanted to be away from the office early to have a romantic dinner with Kenna and a night of hot, steamy passion. I guess that isn’t going to happen now since there is yet another turn of events. The poor woman has already gone through so much and now this.I want to cradle her in my arms and protect her and take all her worries away. Only I can’t and as a man like myself that makes me feel like shit. What, I can't even protect my own woman now? But I will find out who is in the vehicle. Anyone touches my woman they die!Next I make a call to the P.I. on the case for Kenna. He’s an ex NavySeal and now takes on all manner of cases, his name is Chase and he lives in Boston. “Chase, an
KennaI fire off a message to Dante hoping he will pick it up. I know he himself would be getting ready to head into his offices. I have a tail, a large black 4x4. Do you know anything about this?I wait tapping my pale pink nails on the mobile with anxiousness. Who the fuck is following me? Why is someone even following me?“You need to take me to the Bodega Head Office, I have no other choice. I can’t be driving around Manhattan trying to shake a tail,” I tell the driver.“Very well, Ma’am.” God I hate it when people call me ma’am. I’m still only in my twenties, it makes me feel so damn old. Ugh! I turn around in my seat wondering what is taking Dante so long. I can see a woman driving with ice blonde hair, I squint trying to see who it is sitting next to her but they are wearing a baseball cap. I notice a dark beard and that is about it. But the man sitting next to the woman is big built. What the hell!Hey, sorry I was getting ready and didn’t hear the phone. Okay, let me get ex
KennaWe lay spent on the bed, my insides ache but it is that good kind of ache that tells you, you’ve had amazing sex. My head rests on Dante’s shoulder where it fits perfectly.“Marriage, eh?” he says and kisses the top of my head. I can smell our sex and his masculine fragrance, it’s all woodsy and pine. Almost like you’d imagine a lumberjack. It fills my senses.“Okay, I may have been getting ahead of myself there a bit.” Now I feel slightly embarrassed. What was I thinking mentioning the big M word? “I would love to marry you, Kenna. I just want to have the opportunity to ask you properly. In a romantic setting that will take your breath away.” I love his words, they fill my heart which is already brimming with love and emotion for this strong and protective man who makes me feel like I am the only woman in the universe.“I guess I should get ready, I have some meetings to attend to today,” I say as I push myself into a seated position and rest my head on the engraved, wooden h
Dante“You told him! And how did he take it?” I was surprised to see Kenna at my front door not more than twenty minutes ago. Looking as beautiful as ever this time dressed down in some skinny black jeans that look molded to her, showcasing her long and toned legs. Her baggy sweatshirt hangs off one shoulder and has Mickey Mouse on the front. She looks too damn adorable right now and I am ready to pull off her clothes, throw her on my bed and make wild passionate love to her. Seriously though, Kenna looks only in her teens, not the billionairess in her twenties. How does she do it? And how does she do to me what she does? “At first not well, but then he agreed it would be best to make a family statement. He wants the name to be clear and all the skeletons out of the closet, so to speak, for when Riley comes to live with me part-time.” She has a grin of jubilation on her face. I walk over to her in the kitchen where she leans with her back to the sink and take her face in my hands. My
KennaHis face takes on an almost purple shade. I swear I have never seen a human look like an aubergine but here it is sitting in front of me.My mother gasps and clutches a hand to her mouth.“What are you saying, Kenna? It sounds like you are disowning us? We are your family, we gave you everything that has put you where you are enjoying the best life possible.”“Yes, Mom, I know that. I am not stupid and I remain grateful for everything that Isaac has done for me and treated me like his own daughter. That I cannot fault. But this attitude of his threatening to disown me because I am dating Dante. Well, that is clearly ridiculous. I could understand it if Dante and I were blood related but we are not.”Isaac coughs and puts up a hand to silence us both.“Ladies, please. Kenna, it is for your own good. The press will have a field day and they will start to dig around and find out that I am not his father. It will have all sorts of negative impact on him. I am not a cruel man, Kenna.
KennaMy eyes feel grainy and sore, they look red around the rims but I have my trusty concealer by YSLaurent to help disguise them and the fact that I have dark circles underneath them. I sigh as I get on yet another flight this time straight back to Manhattan. It is tiring, all I seem to have done for weeks is get on and off this damn jet. But I have business to attend to and there is no time like the present. I can work whilst I am onboard.The stewardess comes to me, I notice her coral shade of lipstick and her sunny demeanour as she smiles at me. Her hazel eyes look warm and comforting. “Can I get you anything, Miss Bodega?”“A new life would be good. I’ll just take a coffee please, hold on the cream and sugar. Black will be fine.”“Very well. We will be taking off shortly, I can bring it to you after.”“Thank you.” I know the drill who wouldn’t by now.Anxiety you would think should be present since I am about to go back home and confront Isaac. Yet it doesn’t. I am ready for th